ex(PR)essed

So, perhaps by now you’ve heard that Messiah’s women’s basketball team is ranked first in the country. First. In the country. That means Messiah has the best DIII team in all 50 states. Way to go, ladies!

The new rankings came out yesterday (Messiah moved from third to first), and the ladies validated their rise by defeating Juniata last night (63-32). This victory is their 17th in a row and brings their season record to 19-1. The Patriot-News wrote a great article today about the ladies and their No. 1 ranking. Did I mention they were number one? Yep.

In other Messiah news, J-Term ends today, so it will be a quieter few days around campus. It’s also pretty c-c-c-cold, and we’re all holding our breath to find out what Punxsutawney Phil has to say! C’mon spring!

It seems only appropriate to properly introduce myself before I take off full-steam-ahead on my blogging adventure, and the best way to introduce myself seems to first help you distinguish who I am not.  See these pictures? These are photos of me, Beth Lorow (left), and Becky Kasparek (right). Notice a resemblance?

Numerous cases of mistaken identity have made for plenty of laughs in the public relations and publications offices here on the third floor of Old Main. I guess the combination of our hairstyles, eyeglasses, names starting with B, and communications-oriented job responsibilities make us somewhat interchangeable in people’s minds. We joke about diverting tasks to each other. PR crisis? Go to Becky. Far-fetched idea for “The Bridge?” Go to Beth. (If you haven’t caught on yet, Becky handles “The Bridge,” and I handle PR.)

Seriously, Becky and I truly don’t mind being mistaken for each other. What’s especially ironic for me is that in my previous job, I was always mistaken for my colleague Amy. Apparently, even though I don’t have a biological sister, I have a few twins running around out there!

Separate from others’ penchant to confuse me with colleagues, here a few things about the writer of ex(PR)essed that you might like to know: I grew up in Meadville in the snowbelt of northwestern Pennsylvania where we rooted for the Pittsburgh Penguins and took visitors to see the ducks walk on the fish at Pymatuning Lake. I have a brother (recently married and living in southern California), and pretty much the best parents ever. I am a graduate of Lock Haven University. I have lived in Central Pennsylvania for seven years and married the love of my life, a Messiah grad, in May 2006. A few additional miscellaneous items –I rode a century on my red Trek road bike in honor of my thirtieth birthday, I’ve seen Jars of Clay in concert at least a dozen times, and I insist that the colorful morsels sprinkled on ice cream be referred to as sprinkles NOT jimmies. Welcome to my blog!

1,000 points! Two of our athletes recently reached this admirable milestone in their basketball careers. Sarah Ringer sank number 1,000 on Jan. 13. Jared Yoder netted his thousandth just last night. Now, both are among an elite few at Messiah to accomplish this feat. I’m impressed. I think the only time “1,000 points” would be associated with my name would be if I had a month’s worth of good Scrabble games against my husband!

Separate from individual accomplishments, both men’s and women’s basketball are having terrific seasons. Both teams are undefeated in their conference. Overall, the women are sporting a 17-1 record and the men are 13-4. Check out the great coverage both teams got in the local newspapers today – the Harrisburg Patriot-News and the Carlisle Sentinel.

You might think the big news from the past weekend at Messiah would be about the sold-out Regina Spektor concert. Or, maybe the Tim Warfield jazz coffee hour. Or, the fact that a high school senior from Ohio won a full ride to Messiah after wowing Messiah faculty and members of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra with his piano performance of a concerto by Chopin. But, no. The big news seems to be the snow, the light dusting of grainy, slippery snow that fell lightly on Sunday night and lingered throughout the day on Monday. I’ve heard more than one student comment on the long-awaited snow, and I’ve heard more than one wish for much, much more. I suppose many think the only justification for the current seasonably cold weather is if it’s accompanied by a good snow…

I’ve just marked my one anniversary at Messiah, so my perception of J-Term has little historical perspective. But, I’ll go out on a limb and assert this nonetheless – Messiah seems to really be hopping this J-Term! My case in point: Regina Spektor sold-out Brubaker, the women’s basketball team is ranked third in the nation (!) in the DIII standings, tickets for The Decemberists go on sale Feb. 5 for the March concert, and a very hip, 80-year-old retired postal worker from Pittsburgh is displaying his jazz-inspired sculptures in the Aughinbaugh. I could go on and on and on. And, I will…but just to mention one more very cool thing. Retired art faculty member Catherine Prescott has a portrait, “Girl With a Mink Pelt,” in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. The Smithsonian — wow! The Patriot-News covered the reception Messiah held in Prescott’s honor and gave us great placement on the front of the Local and State Section. Unfortunately, a quote and the presidency of Messiah College were attributed to Kelly Phipps instead of Kim Phipps, but thankfully we have a president with a sense of humor and a newspaper that prints corrections!