SPORTS
January 26,2000 • the Seahawk
15
B-BALLfrom DaqeU:
more aggressive.
“They contested shots better than we
did. Our turnovers led to easy baskets
for UNCW. They played better than us
defensively,” said head coach Mac
McCarthy of the Rams. “UNCW is
strong, aggressive and physicail and we
didn’t react well to that.”
He acknowledged the role of the fans
recognizing how the Seahawks “fed off
the crowd, they got easy points on tran
sition baskets and second chance
shots... It’s loud, hot, small and they
have vocal fans. Overall it helped
UNCW win tonight.”
Blizzard agreed, explaining that the
fans step in to provide encouragement
when players’ strength is waning.
“When the crowd gets up, they just
make you want to play good defense,”
he said.
The action-packed first half came to
an end less than six minutes after the
peak score differential of 19 points,
with the Seahawks in the lead 35-28.
Both teams kept a fast pace through the
first fifteen minutes of the second half;
with five minutes left in the game,
UNCW began to ease up on the pres
sure.
“We relaxed towards the end,” said
Blizzard, commenting on the 20-second
time-out with only 3:10 left to go.
“Coach put us back on track.”
“I think this was the best we played
this year,” Wainwright said. He also
gave credit to the Rams: “I feel VCU.
is one of the top one or two teams in
the league. I don’t feel that we are. The
benchmark of a really good team is to
have a good away game.”
That chance arrived with last
Saturday’s away match versus ECU, and
tonight’s game at James Madison, be
fore returning home to play American
University this Saturday, Jan. 29.
Mu/ic,
F00», /mack/, BEEfi,
& Bovung
Every Thursday night from 9 p.m. till
midnight bowl all you want for $5.00.
(Finger foods and drinks are just
$1.50 each!!)
• •
Cardonal Lanes
7026 Market Street or 3907 Shipyard Blvd.
686-4223 or 799-3023
Lions fan enters football Hall of Fame
ROSEVILLE, Mich. (AP) - The Pro Foot
ball Hall of Fame has honored a Detroit Li
ons fan for his dedication to the team.
Peter Cucinella is one of 31 fans of NFL
teams who were inducted into the Hall of
Fans exhibit at the Hall of Fame in Canton,
Ohio.
The 65-year-old resident of this Detroit
suburb left Sunday for a two-day, all-ex-
penses-paid trip to Canton.
A ceremony Tuesday showcased his spirit
for the Lions in the form of photographs and
testimonials. The exhibit also features fa
mous fan mementos, a film about the NFL’s
most dedicated and outrageous fans and a
plaque honoring past inductees.
This is the second year the Hall has hon
ored some of the NFL’s most passionate fans
with an exhibit.
Cucinella is a longtime Lions devotee,
dating back to when he saw Bobby Layne
and other greats of the 1950s play at Briggs
Stadium.
But he was honored for his past 10 years
of fandom. He has attended every home game
except one and nearly half the away games
since 1990, a year after he retired from Rouge
Steel.
“My brothers Sam and John said I worked
hard for this honor, but I don’t consider it
work,” Cucinella told The Macomb Daily of
Mount Clemens. “If it is work, it is a labor
of love.”
Every Sunday during football season,
Cucinella paints his face Honolulu blue and
white and goes crazy for his team.
He dons an “I Love the Lions” sweatshirt,
rhinestone pants and Borsalino hat on which
he pins dozens of buttons displaying photo
graphs of him with players and celebrity fans.
He screams, twists and shouts, trying to
fire up the players and the crowd, sometimes
losing his voice. He sits in the first row of
section 103 behind the Lions bench.
TV cameras often catch his act. He is a
regular on NFL highlight films.
The players know him and are friendly
with him. Cucinella talks to them before, af
ter and sometimes during games.
Most of the players realize he is looking
out for them, although he said he is not
blindly loyal.
“I walk in and out of the stadium with
them,” he said. “I give them input and tell
them how they did. It’s tough love.”
Being a Detroit fan isn’t always easy. But
Cucinella is willing to ride the highs and lows
with a team that has won only one playoff
game in more than 40 years.
“Just because the baby is ugly doesn’t
mean you give up the baby,” he said at his
home, which has walls covered with Lions
photos and paraphernalia. “I’m going to stick
with them. Things are going to get better.”
SPORTS THIS WEEK:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26:
MEN’S BASKETBALL:
UNCW at James Madison, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28:
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:
UNCW at East Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
TELEVISED: HTS (cable ch. 47)
MEN’S TENNIS;
UNCW at Greenville tennis center, TBA
SATURDAY, JANUARY 29
MEN’S BASKETBALL:
American at UNCW, 7:30 p.m.
MEN’S TENNIS;
UNCW at Greenville tennis center, TBA
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD;
UNCW at Navy Quadrangular, TBA
SUNDAY, JANUARY 30
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:
UNCW at James Madison, 2:00 p.m.
MEN’S TENNIS;
UNCW at Greenville tennis center, TBA