Hoopsters Go to New York, Disappear

There is nothing so tragically poignant as a rebel without a cause, or, as in this case, a writer without a story. There was, of course, to be a story, and a fairly salacious story at that. The women's basketball squad took to the road yesterday afternoon, heading for the Big Apple and a rollicking Ivy League battle against Barnard College, an almost guaranteed win sure to hearten team members and fans alike in their pursuit of a .500 season.

Unfortunately, for those of you now on the edge of your seats awaiting news of certain victory I have only idle speculation and prolonged delay to offer you. You see, the women's hoop squad was to call in the story from a near-by city phone booth collect after the match en route to catching a Broadway show (Annie, for those of you who are curious).

Resist Freezing

Whether delirious from recent triumph or reticent from a disappointing defeat, caught and paralyzed in rush hour sidewalk traffic or in the midst of a mad dash to make the show on time. Coach Kleinfelder's band of wandering minstrels failed to make the all-important call.

To make the best of an awkward situation, the column will gallantly march on just as if nothing unusual had occured. The hoopsters, who lost an uninspired match to a lesser Yale squad on Wednesday, are now faced with a troublesome deficit in the win column at 4-11 on the season (or is it now 5-11?).

They face the prospect of their remaining season on the road, including tomorrow's game at U. Conn., a factor that can't be too helpful to the cagers' waning confidence. At this point an analysis of the season to date would only' be redundant, as the hoopster's erraticness, spotty shooting, and lethargic first half play have taken center stage in every Crimson game and ensuing game write-up this year.

The hoopsters have the talent. Now what they need is some late-in-the-running inspiration, to relocate the get-up and go that has got-up and gone so many times over the season at just the wrong times. Who knows? Maybe they'll find inspiration in the neon lights of Broadway; maybe they'll come back ready to take on the world of hoop intercollegiate competition, just like little orphan Annie and her vacuous stare takes on the big, bad world: maybe they'll be swishing to the sounds of Broadway like the Harlem Globetrotters and their Sweet Georgia Brown.

Meanwhile, when the hoopsters return from U. Conn. this weekend, tired, serenaded, and two matches more experienced, the real story will be printed, complete with scores, statistics, quotes, and all the scintillating ingredients that normally take up print in a sports column. I'll keep you posted...