In a surprise to all at Pottruck last night, Engineering freshman Tom Lunario expressed emotion on the basketball court in a manner unseen on campus since the December firing of Men’s Basketball coach Glen Miller.
Lunario, who became captain of the co-ed Stouffer team after collecting nine signatures from interested hallmates before winter break, made sure his team wore the red pinnies against Hill Team B.
Recalls Lunario: “I yelled at the ref as soon as I got there for the red ones. I told the team, ‘We’re wearing red because it’s the color of [Hill Team B’s] blood.’” Adding, “It really fired everyone up.”
“We all laughed when he was talking about their blood and stuff” says teammate Denise Carter, “but then he shot us this look and it was like, whoa.”
Both teams in play last night belong to the Recreation Division, which the University describes as “for Penn undergraduate students who are looking for participation, fitness, socializing and fun.”
Lunario, dumped just hours before the game by Connie Archibald, his high school sweetheart and girlfriend of 28 months, reportedly did not smile during the course of the game, even when opponent James Richards tripped over his own feet with 3:42 remaining in the first half.
After a buzzer-beating shot before halftime that gave Hill its first lead, Lunario was seen slapping the sides of his head, muttering, “Come on, you idiot, can’t you hold onto anything?”
During halftime, Lunario interrupted a water break to chastise his teammates for poor defense and to introduce a new pick and roll play.
“I didn’t know what any of those x’s and o’s meant,” says teammate John Woods, “so I just hoped no one would pass me the ball.”
The second half began with a series of missed three pointers by Lunario, followed by a made lay-up by Stouffer freshman Andy Goldberg.
“He yelled at me after that because he said he was open,” recalls Goldberg, “So I snapped back like, ‘Dude, what gives?’ And he looked kind of sad.”
Lunario remained intense but quiet for the remainder of the game, which ended four minutes early in a tie so the Varsity team could begin practice.
After the game, all members of both teams went to Taglio, except for Lunario, who stormed back to his 2nd floor single, which he allegedly requested for added privacy when Connie visited.
