FOR FIVE DAYS, THE PLAYERS on the American University basketball team have had nothing to think about except the biggest game of their careers.
The Eagles' last game was Sunday, the rest of the students are off campus because of spring break, and night after night they've had to watch team after team punch its ticket to the big dance while they waited their turn.
"I had a chance to watch San Diego beat Gonzaga; I had a chance to watch the Butler game and the Oral Roberts game," said junior guard Garrison Carr. "I've had a chance to watch a lot of games on TV, and it just makes me excited and more anxious to go out on the court and play."
On Friday, he'll finally get his chance. The Eagles host Colgate in the Patriot League final for a shot at history: A win would grant the school its first trip to the NCAA tournament.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY'S COURT LEADER Derrick Mercer could tell that something was up because of how loud the crowd at Bender Arena had become during the final minutes of Saturday's game.
For star guard Garrison Carr, it was the smiles on the faces of his teammates on the bench — "I knew they couldn't be smiling just about our game," he said.
Then, during a break with 13 seconds left, forward Bryce Simon heard someone say that Navy had lost, meaning the Eagles were about to win their first outright Patriot League regular season title in six years.
"It's definitely special to win it outright," Carr said after American's 84-72 win over Lafayette on Saturday. "Not to sound selfish, but who wants to share a title? Winning it outright makes it that much better."
Continue Reading "Sports Talk: No. 1 Means Little in Deep League" »
WHILE BEING HONORED DURING his last home match earlier this month, American University wrestling phenom Josh Glenn could have been reminiscing about becoming AU's first Division I NCAA champion last spring. Or he could have been thinking back to his five years in Tenleytown — or his 102-12 record. Glenn, though, says he was simply thinking of his next match.
Five years ago, Glenn, then the fourth-ranked wrestler in the country, almost went elsewhere. There was tough competition to sign him, but in the end he chose to be an Eagle because of his coach, Mark Cody.
It was a big snag for Cody because Glenn has resurrected a struggling program. Since red-shirting as a freshman, he has won more than 100 matches, and he remains unbeaten in his last 35, heading into Thursday's dual meet at Binghampton (N.Y.), the last dual meet of his career.
ALTHOUGH NEIL KERWIN has been American University's interim president since then-President Benjamin Ladner was ousted in 2005 after a scandal over his lavish spending habits, today marks the formal installation of the school's former provost as president.
There'll be a campus-wide reception at the Mary Graydon Center following the 11 a.m. inaugural ceremony at Bender Arena. Tonight, expect the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Whitehaven Street NW to be jam-packed as guests head to the Italian Embassy for the inaugural ball, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
» "Presidential Inauguration" [American University]
Photo courtesy American University
A GROUP OF PROTESTERS at American University who crossed a police line and allegedly blocked the path of White House aide Karl Rove's vehicle will pay $100 fines to settle the matter after the April 3 incident, captured here on video, was investigated by the Secret Service.
Does that mean that the White House pranksters who wrapped Rove's Jaguar in plastic will face similar penalties?
» "Rove Protesters Charged" [WaPo]
» "Pranksters Hit Karl Rove's Car" [AP via CBS News]
UP AT WARD CIRCLE, the trustees at American University are set to meet tomorrow and might end up naming Cornelius Kerwin, who has been serving as interim president since the departure of scandal-tarred Benjamin Ladner, to be the school's permanent chief.
As The Post's Valerie Strauss and Susan Kinzie report this morning, some trustees "wanted a fresh start for the school after the Ladner era," which was marked by an investigation into the president's lavish spending habits. "But as the search progressed, more of the participants reportedly began to view Kerwin as at least as qualified as the other candidates."
Kerwin, pictured here, had been the university's provost.
» "Board to Vote on Letting Kerwin Remain at Helm" [WaPo]
» "$500,000 in Ladner Spending Itemized" [WaPo]
Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post
THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS is getting ready to dig up the yards of two American University-owned homes on Glenbook Road in Spring Valley, the site of a World War I-era chemical munitions testing ground.
The Army says that while air samples taken at the sites indicate the presence of two mustard gas breakdown products, they aren't at levels that are believed to be dangerous. 
The Current's Charles Bermpohl — who has been following the saga of the neighborhood munitions cleanup for years — details the toxic history of the properties in question in this week's issue. (Sadly, the Current isn't online, pick up a copy around town.)
In 1995 and 1996, construction workers and landscapers digging at 4825 Glenbrook Road and 4835 Glenbrook Road — which is the official residence for the American University president, currently unoccupied — suffered injuries including temporary blindness and severe eye and skin pain from escaping fumes, according to Bermpohl.
Long-term cleanup in the tony neighborhood continues, and the Army says it isn't sure what new digging might turn up. Overall, though, authorities have stressed that remains from the munitions tested there do not pose any immediate threat to the neighborhood. That likely doesn't keep residents from worrying, though.
So what do you know about mustard gas, which in part inspired Wilfred Owen's haunting World War I poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" ?
Photo of outgoing George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg at a gala in his honor at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel taken last week by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE what a theoretical going-away gala for former American University president Benjamin Ladner might have entailed. Perhaps a replica Cleopatra's royal barge ready to set sail from Ward Circle? But Ladner got a golden parachute instead and floated away to points unknown, and the university was denied the regal farewell Ladner likely would have demanded.
Shifting from the heights of Nebraska Avenue down to the lowlands of Foggy Bottom, George Washington University is saying goodbye to its outgoing president, Steven Joel Trachtenberg, who is leaving the buzz of campus after inspiring years of "affection, amusement, admiration and outrage," as The Post's Susan Kinzie wrote on Sunday.
There was no ceremonial barge for Trachtenberg, but there was something else. Writes Kinzie:
The trolley was covered with a huge picture of [Trachtenberg] ... who was cruising around campus on a farewell tour. Inside, school officials waved paper fans with photos of his grinning, bespectacled face; outside, at one of the dorms, students were screaming and holding out glossy black-and-white photos of him.Seriously? The nation's most expensive university is only giving out free burritos?Get the picture signed, a student explained, and you get a coupon for a free burrito.
» "Ladner's $3.75 Million Deal Severs Ties to American U." [WaPo]
» "An Exuberant Farewell to the Man Who Helped Put School on Map" [WaPo]
» ALSO: "More and More Is Expected of College Presidents. Is That Why So Many in the Area Have Left?" [WaPo]
KARL ROVE just can't catch a break. Last week, video of him dancing and rapping on stage was fodder for comedians of every stripe. Then last night, after delivering a speech at American University, students — who have been lacking a polarizing Ben Ladner-type figure in campus life — confronted the White House political strategist, who was leaving campus after speaking to a student group. The protesters delayed Rove's car by laying in front of it, chanting slogans all the while. Click on the video above to see what went down at Ward Circle.
» "Painful, But Worth It. Sort Of." [Free Ride/Express]
» "Ladner Memo in 2004 Sought $5 Million Boost" [WaPo]
» "Students Lie in Front of Car, Delay Rove After Speech" [WaPo]
» "Exclusive: Karl Rove Heckled And Pelted With Rocks" [Live Leak via ProRev]
Addison Road