Bonus Q&A: The grind of going the distance

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

Enjoy a bonus portion of our Q&A on the risks of long-distance running with John Vasudevan, assistant professor of clinical physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Perelman School of Medicine.

DP: What are some of the injuries that can pop up the day after the race and beyond?

JV: So after the day of the race, of course a lot of times what happens is number one, you can do a lot of muscle damage going that distance and the proper nutrition, not just hydration but nutrition, to kind of replenish that damage is important because if you’re not caring for yourself very well afterwards, you run the risk of additional dehydration.

Marathons in themselves are obviously like any difficult workout — you’re going to feel really sore the next day. A lot of times people will kind of pick up conditions that weren’t serious enough to keep them from finishing the race, [like] knee injuries or ankle injuries.

People come to me with a sort of stress fracture after [marathons], because the adrenaline rush pushed them through to complete it, and then by the next day their body is reacting so strongly to the damage that has been done. It can be quite painful.
DP: Is there a greater risk for either gender?

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Penn v. Harvard postgame presser

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

After Penn's 75-72 victory over Harvard Saturday night, coach Jerome Allen spoke about the sense of desperation and urgency he saw in his team. Top scorers Tony Hicks and Darien Nelson-Henry talk about their performances and what it meant to play in a big-game atmosphere in a packed and energized Palestra.

This Week on 33rd Street: Feb. 22

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

After its third straight split Ivy weekend, the Penn basketball team will be back on the road again against Cornell and Columbia this Friday and Saturday. When the two New York schools visited the Palestra earlier this season, the Quakers topped the Lions on Friday before blowing a lead and falling to the Big Red on Saturday. Senior Sports Editor Mike Tony and Associate Sports Editor John Phillips preview the action:

This Week on 33rd Street: Feb. 8

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

On its opening weekend of Ivy League play, the Penn basketball team pulled off a big win against Columbia before falling to lowly Cornell the following night, losing Fran Dougherty for the season in the process. Heading into this weekend's tilt, against Yale and Brown at the Palestra, the Red and Blue will also be without Steve Rennard. Senior Sports Editor Mike Tony and Sports Editor Ian Wenik give you their lastest take on the state of the Quakers:

This Week on 33rd Street: Feb. 8 from dailypenn on Vimeo.

Behind Enemy Lines: NJIT’s Jim Engles

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

Thursday night, Penn (2-13) heads north to Newark, N.J., to take on NJIT (9-8) for the first time since the 2009-10 season (see preview). Former Highlanders and current Quakers assistant coach Ira Bowman will return to face the program for which he spent the previous four years coaching under Jim Engles (see story).

In this segment of Behind Enemy Lines, we spoke with Engles about turning around the program at NJIT, which set an all-time NCAA Division I worst record of 0-29 the season before he took over. In his first year, the Highlanders posted a 1-30 record but reached the 15-win threshold in his third and fourth seasons. Engles also has a connection to Penn — his uncle John Engles played for Penn from 1973-76 and landed in the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1995.

What was it like to step into an environment as the head coach where the team had been 0-29 the season before?
I think the one thing that really helped me to understand the environment was when I went to Columbia, we took over a program that was very similar in a lot of different ways -- really good academic school, was 0-14 in the Ivy League at the time, I think was last in the RPI, the worst team in the country. And just seeing and working for Joe Jones, working with him for five years like I did, seeing how he was able to -- in college it's a process because you have to bring in players and they have to develop and it's not like you can go out and, especially in a place like ours and in the Ivy League, you can't go out and recruit anyone. There isn't a quick fix to it. Continue reading →

The Palestra or Hinkle Fieldhouse?

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

The Palestra and Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse are two of the oldest college basketball arenas in the country and thus have often been compared to one another. The Palestra (opened in 1927) has hosted more college games than any other venue in the country, and Hinkle (opened in 1928) served as the largest arena until 1950, holding 15,000. (It now seats 10,000.)

In today's Daily Pennsylvanian, I compared the experiences of watching a game in both places after witnessing the Bulldogs beat the Quakers in Indianapolis on Jan. 2 (see column). Here, I'll give you a side-by-side visual comparison:

View from the nosebleeds, or the furthest seats from the action in each arena:

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Postgame presser: Penn at Butler

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

Here's what coach Jerome Allen, Miles Cartwright and Butler coach Brad Stevens had to say following Wednesday night's game in which the No. 17 Bulldogs topped Penn, 70-57 (see recap):

JEROME ALLEN:

Anytime you play on the road in Division I basketball, there's a couple things that you gotta make sure you cover if you expect to win, and that's rebounding the ball and taking care of the ball. And Butler's an extremely good team because they don't beat themselves and they play hard, and they cover the little things, they cover the details better than most teams, and for us it couldn't be about a function of effort and enthusiasm and not competing on the backboard, and not taking care of the ball are things we talked about as being essential in us having an opportunity to win and we didn't get it done.

On the defensive strategy and being smaller, missing Fran Dougherty --

Fran's not a tall player in terms of our roster -- I think he may be the third tallest. And it's not about just his absence, I think it's a team sport. Other guys had an opportunity to step up and contribute, and for the most part we got it in spurts. We didn't get it consistently over the course of 40 minutes, and I just think rebounding the basketball on the defensive end is a function of will. I think there are a number of players who have played this game I can document that it's not always about size. Continue reading →

Game 12 — Liveblog: Penn basketball at Butler

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Mike Wisniewski

For the first time in program history, Penn basketball visits Butler at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Quakers (2-9), who haven't won since Nov. 28, may face their toughest test of the year in the No. 17 Bulldogs (10-2), who are riding a seven-game winning streak.

Postgame presser: Penn at Delaware

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Mike Wisniewski

Coach Jerome Allen, Fran Dougherty and Greg Louis speak after the Quakers' 83-60 loss to the Blue Hens (see recap), in which five Penn players did not play as a result of a suspension for violating team rules:

This Week on 33rd Street: Nov. 16

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Mike Wisniewski

Previewing our final Penn football game of the season, Senior Sports Ed. Megan Soisson, football writer John Phillips and I break down the Quakers' 30-21 win over Harvard (see story) and debate whether or not that momentum will carry over into Saturday's bout against Cornell in Ithaca with an outright Ivy League title on the line: