The Wake

Splat!

The sound is music to the ears of paintball enthusiasts everywhere. It’s also a sound that can be heard around campus, if you listen closely enough. But that wasn’t the case until recently.

After playing paintball throughout high school and during his first year of college at St. Mary’s, John Thomason transferred to the University of Minnesota and was stunned to find no club team affiliated with the National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA), a league designed specifically for college students.

Thomason decided to take initiative and sought to launch a paintball club team. “Being that the U has such a large student body, I knew I could find enough people to get the club started,” he says.

The paintball club became recognized by the U of M last September and launched with six members; since that …

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As the calendar rolled from February to March a year ago, things looked awfully glum for the Gopher men’s basketball team. Holding a 9-21 record, the Gophers were still adjusting from a mid-season coaching change, and looking towards a very uncertain future.

What a difference a year makes. With new head coach Tubby Smith at the helm, the Gophers have returned to respectability. His Gophers entered this March with a 17-10 record (7-8 in the Big Ten) and as outside contenders for a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament.

The effect that Smith has had on the fan base has been remarkable. Students are once again filing enthusiastically into Williams Arena for each home game. Judging by the promotions at the games and the t-shirts worn …

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Growing up, Beth Novak always loved to dance. When she first came to the University of Minnesota back in the autumn of 2004, she wanted to keep dancing. When she didn’t make the university’s prestigious Dance Team, she found that there were no options for a person in her position short of becoming a dance major. So she created one.

Now a senior in the Carlson School of Management, Novak has watched the dance team she and a pair of high school friends created grow and flourish over the past three years. What started out as a student organization consisting only of an informal dance clinic has now developed into Premier Dance Team (PDT), an established club team that competes against other regional dance squads.

In its first year, the program was simply a spring …

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Today I rushed toward Cooke Hall 308 where the University of Minnesota Vo Lam Kung Fu workout takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Knowing nothing about the true nature of Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu, I envisioned bloody boxing matches and street brawls that looked like screenshots from my two favorite fighting video game series, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. In point and actual fact, many of the philosophies that I have encountered in books on Shotokan karate and Shaolin kung fu highlighted the importance of harmony and self-defense. Until chatting with Josh, the instructor, about the characteristics that make Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu unique and observing him teach the participants practicing the martial art, I thought I might only see people strike each other. Josh reminded me that martial …

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Sure hovering over a checkered board for a few hours doesn’t seem all that exciting, but neither does sitting on your ass watching television if you think about it. So while some people are shocked by the amount of drugs Anna Nicole Smith had in her system, others stare at figurines of horses, kings and queens looking for answers. The tournament chess club at the U focuses their attention on implementing new strategies on the board to crush their opponents.There are many misconceptions about people who play chess, which is unfortunate because it closes the door to others who probably would have an affinity for the game. Chess is universally known as one of the most complex games where a variety of moves are employed. With moves like castling, dragon and the King’s Indian Defense …

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The University Juggling Club has experienced times of great popularity and spells of waning interested, but through it all they remain one of the most unique groups on campus with a visible presence.On a sunny day while walking to class, students can spot the club performing different tricks. It’s enough to convince any student that they ought to be doing something besides going to class on a beautiful day. Dazzling maneuvers entice onlookers and evoke admiration.The group reached a critical mass in the early ‘90s when they performed at various university functions and garnered appreciation for their skill level. The members of the group during that time parlayed that acclaim into an annual festival. The Mondo festival is now one of the largest in the country with participants coming from all over to take in …

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“Last year’s success led to the National Dodgeball League’s second annual Amateur Championship Tour,” NDL Operations Director Niki LaGrano answers when I ask her about the NDL’s decision to start a second tour. LaGrano makes the popularity of dodge ball evident. Although the Amateur Championship Tour originally began with four stops, 16 now make up the tour to satisfy the public’s growing interest. LaGrano says, “The NDL brings dodge ball across the country at both the local and national levels and hosts games for corporations, parties and charities in Dodge-It centers.” Adding to the excitement of dodge ball, the NDL’s second annual tour offers local winners the chance to earn cash prizes and move onto the next level of competition in Las Vegas on Aug. 17 and 18. By attending the Saturday, Mar. …

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Remember when swing dancing was all of sudden hip and trendy due to a commercial? We were all blessed with the music of Cherry Poppin Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Brian Setzer. I know we’ve all moved on from those days, discarding our dancing aspirations like the slap bracelets of our youth. Although some of those bands bastardized the swing music genre, swing dancing is alive and well, thriving off the original hits. U-Swing is a student group on campus that still is jumpin’, jivin’ and wailin’ away to swing music.“It’s something different, open to everyone and something you can do for the rest of your life,” said vice president Sammy Hilby.U-Swing is open to anyone interested in learning to dance. Partners aren’t necessary and guest teachers often stop by to …

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Driving around Los Angeles at 4 in the morning looking for an In-and-Out Burger, we realized that none of us had ever been to Los Angeles, we didn’t have a map, and that the men in the car next to us were not smiling and waving. Going to a national paintball tournament is always an adventure. The combination of young people traveling more or less on their own, the ever-present need to save money and the fact that most paintball players seem to be just a little bit crazy makes for interesting times. This realization was only reinforced that night as I fell asleep in a hotel room along with 12 other people and all their equipment. One player staked out the closet, using a backpack for a pillow, while a teammate slept underneath the …

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The University of Minnesota men’s baseball team looks like a solid squad again this year. The team returns 12 seniors and a potent offense that looks to help the Gophers to a Big Ten title and an NCAA bid. This year’s team has loads of talent and experience, but the season may rely upon the emergence of young pitchers.Manager John Anderson has been impressed with the pitching thus far, but the group has some work to do.“You can’t beat quality teams unless you pitch well,” Anderson said.Nearly half the pitching staff is comprised of underclassmen and the staff has performed well, posting a 4.22 ERA thus far. The squad has enjoyed success in the early season based upon solid performances from the pitchers.While some may worry about the youth of the pitching staff, the …

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I watch ESPN or any other channels showing sports when I see too many cartoon reruns. In these moments of boredom I wear down the TV, searching for snowboarding events, boxing matches or figure skating competitions. The buttons on the TV remain slightly depressed because of my indecisiveness; I frequently switch back and forth between two different sports. If the TV were alive it would hate me.I was a spectator who viewed all sports as nothing more than games that people play. No matter how much publicity the Super Bowl or any other sporting events received, I thought them no more important than sources of entertainment and easy ways for talented athletes to make lots of money. To me, only marketing advertisements and athletes truly seemed to benefit from sports with potential revenue as the …

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A tumultuous season of Gopher basketball finally concluded, leaving much more to be desired for next year. Coach Dan Monson resigned seven games into the season and left Jim Molinari to pick up the pieces of a struggling ball club. The team dealt with injuries, a transfer and mounting frustration. This group faced tall challenges all season and did the best they could with the talent they possessed. Jamal Abu-Shamala summed the season up as disappointing but added that it might help build character for next year. The most positive thing this team will take with it from this season is the experience it gained and the fact that everyone is returning next year.Dan Coleman, Spencer Tollackson, Lawrence McKenzie and Abu-Shamala will all be in Gopher uniforms again next fall. Coleman played solid ball all …

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Minnesota’s indoor lacrosse team, the Swarm, have looked for quality opportunities for the public to take notice of their achievements throughout their infancy. The team made the playoffs last year at 8-8 and lost their playoff game to the Buffalo Bandits by one goal. The games between the Bandits and Swarm have started to become a rivalry since the playoff loss the Swarm suffered last year.On March 4, the Swarm played the Bandits at home, looking to exact some revenge. What transpired on the field, though, seemed a replay of the playoff game with the Swarm losing by one goal again. The Swarm dug themselves an early hole and faced a 6-3 deficit after the first period. They fought valiantly to get back in the game, outscoring the Bandits in the third period, but failed …

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From the first kick to the final whistle” are words of wisdom every soccer coach has bestowed upon his players. It’s also the first line of text in the movie Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, and an indication of things to come. Directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, this movie cites only one actor in its cast: Zinedine Zidane. He’s a man among boys on the pitch and a god among mortals in France. Though he’s Algerian by descent, the French love him enough that they would likely elect him president if he so desired. He led his nation to a World Cup Championship in 1998, with two goals in the final against Brazil. He’s been crowned the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, first in 1998, again in 2000 and finally …

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From a front corner of the balcony, I watched three men in black tube-top dresses and red stilettos walk across the stage. The women on stage were dressed in the same attire, but naturally, the men in women’s clothing caught my eye. A dancer since the age of 5, I have learned that modern dance choreographers always have a feeling to express, a narrative to tell or a point to make when creating a dance piece. Unfortunately, the purpose isn’t always easily understood by the audience. After 15 minutes of the University Dance Theater’s (UDT) Dance Revolutions (post guys-in-heels), I thought that it was going to be one of those shows where I continuously say, “I don’t get it,” which ultimately makes it less enjoyable. To be honest, I really had no idea what the …

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