Students come out for music of their parents’ generation at Dylan concert

Bob Dylan, the social critic that progressed the spirit of his generation through music in his 1960s heyday, released his latest studio album Together Through Life in April and his recent holiday album, Christmas in the Heart, which received three of five stars in a Rolling Stone review.

Dylan, 68, rocked the Liacouras Center on Monday, Nov. 9, and the crowd that flooded Temple’s campus for the show was a mix young, old and everyone in between. The packed Liacouras Center became an intimate show for the icon. With the generations coming together to appreciate Dylan, atmosphere was lively.

Sean Brondi, a senior risk management and insurance major and Bob Dylan fan, said he enjoyed the show.

“[Dylan was in] even better shape than I thought he would be in,” Brondi said, adding that the convenience of the small venue show and the student discount made the concert a great opportunity to have the experience to see a living legend like Dylan.

“He’s the biggest name I’ve ever seen in concert,” Ryan Toole, a freshman sports and recreation management major, said.

Toole said he was surprised that Dylan played the relatively small show, but said he felt the music legend didn’t disappoint his loyal following.

“It’s exciting for students to have the opportunity to go to the concerts that are right down the street,” Toole added.
M.P. Lauterbach can be reached at mark.lauterbach@temple.edu.

Practice makes perfect

He’s just one of the guys.

Or, in this case, one of the girls.

And though he’s not the first and probably won’t be the last, at the moment, senior psychology major Mike Mullen is the lone male practice player on the women’s basketball team.

Five days a week, except during road trips and on game days, Mullen either wakes up for 6 a.m. practices or heads to the Liacouras Center or McGonigle Hall after classes for the evening ones.

“He’s on the team. Mike is really on the team,” senior forward Shenita Landry said. “He’s been here for two years. He wakes up and comes to 6 a.m. practice. He comes to evening practice. Everything. He’s truly one of us. You see him around campus, and it’s the same. You sit down and talk to him. Honestly, he helps us just like a regular teammate.”

Mullen joined the practice squad at the beginning of last year after a friend told him the team needed more people. That friend ended up quitting after a few days, but Mullen has stuck it out since.

“It’s better than just going to the Pavilion and playing basketball. It’s actually a much better workout,” he said. “And they’re all very accepting. They’re all cool with it. I’m just glad that I can help.”

Mullen doesn’t spend time working with any specific players. Rather, he and four of the women form a practice squad and act out the upcoming opponent’s plays.

“Most of us have played with guys before if you want to play on this level, but playing with him, he actually really helps us better our game because he jumps higher, he shoots, he’s better than all of us,” Landry said. “In order to be a great defensive player, you’ve got to be able to stop him.”

Mullen echoed those thoughts and explained why he helps the women’s team instead of the men’s.

“Well, the men don’t really need it because they can just play against each other. They’re all better than me anyway,” he said. “Some of us are better than the women, well not maybe better, but faster and some of us are stronger. So it’s more useful for us to help them.”

Perhaps the toughest part for Mullen, though, is that his help can’t physically extend onto the court on game day. He can only sit by idly in the stands as the game unfolds in front of him.

“It’s interesting because you recognize what’s going on, and I’m familiar with all the team’s plays now so sometimes you feel like you can yell something out to them,” he said. “It might be the opposing team forgot to do something like set up a play, and you see it happen.”

But for freshman forward Kristen McCarthy, just showing up to support the team at its games is enough.
“He’s just been awesome. He’s been here,” she said. “He doesn’t really miss any practices, and it shows how much he cares. He doesn’t get anything for this. He just does it out of the goodness of his heart.”
The love didn’t end there.

“I always see him. He comes to all the games. He supports us on and off the court,” McCarthy added.
And that’s what teammates are for.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Mullen said. “You feel like a part of something.”

Jennifer Reardon can be reached at jennifer.reardon@temple.edu.

Cardoza ready to take over the sidelines

The newest face of the women’s basketball team, Tonya Cardoza, was formally introduced as the program’s newest coach during a media conference at the Liacouras Center this afternoon.

Just 56 days after Dawn Staley left the Owls to take over the reigns in South Carolina, Temple found its successor.

Cardoza, a former teammate of Staley at Virginia, brings with her 14 years of coaching experience. As an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma at Connecticut, Cardoza is familiar with winning. She helped guide the Huskies to five national championships and a 464-41 overall record.

“At Connecticut, we strive to be the best, and I’m trying to do it right away [at Temple],” Cardoza said. “I know that there is a foundation [at Temple] and the players are willing to work. I’m willing to work and we’re going to try and do this as quickly as possible.”

Cardoza, an offensive specialist, worked primarily with guards at Connecticut. She trained WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird and pledges to remedy the Owls’ inconsistent offense.

The Owls shot only 40.7 percent from the field last season and relied heavily on senior guard Ashley Morris. Cardoza promises an “up-tempo” style of basketball, in which everyone gets involved offensively.

“I know I made the right decision, and I’m excited to be apart of your family,” Cardoza said. ”Dawn – she set the bar, and I’m ready to take the baton and run with it.”

Anthony Stipa can be reached at anthony.stipa@temple.edu.

(Photos by TTN Photo Editor Rachel Playe)

18-year-old male shot near Liacouras Center

TYSON MCCLOUD
SHANNON MCDONALD
The Temple News

UPDATE: Police have named the victim as Khiry Caldwell, pictured to the left. As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, he is in stable condition at Temple Hospital.

An 18-year-old male is in critical condition at Temple Hospital this afternoon after he was shot in the back around 4:15 p.m. near the 1700 block of North Broad Street following his high school’s graduation ceremony, police said.

The male, who had graduated from Strawberry Mansion High School in a ceremony that ended minutes earlier at the Liacouras Center, was struck when shots were fired outside of the Barnes & Noble at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue after a fistfight among about 12 males, said Capt. Laurence D. Nodiff, commanding officer of the 23rd police district.

Police have five men in custody and are looking for another potential suspect dressed in an orange shirt, Nodiff said. He did not provide any other details about the men in custody or the potential suspect and said he did not know if they were Strawberry Mansion students.

Nodiff also said that no gun was recovered at the scene.

“This is supposed to be a day of celebration,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters while standing within the yellow caution tape that surrounded the front of Barnes & Noble. “It’s unfortunate.”

As Strawberry Mansion graduates exited the Liacouras Center, a fight erupted outside of Wendy’s and progressed past the Barnes & Noble, Nodiff said. As the scuffle continued past the bookstore, Temple Police arrived and attempted to diffuse the situation when shots rang out.

Students, friends and family who were filing in for Martin Luther King High School’s graduation ceremony – which was held after Strawberry Mansion’s commencement – were among the crowd that gathered outside the Liacouras Center following the shooting. Local TV news trucks were parked along the street as helicopters hovered above and passerby looked on.

The Liacouras Center, a 10-year-old, 10,200-seat arena, hosted three high school commencements today, including Dobbins Tech High School’s ceremony in the morning, said two of the facility’s employees who asked not to be named.

Caution tape was removed from the scene at 6:05 p.m.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, authorities said.

Stay with temple-news.com for continuing updates on this story.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.
Shannon McDonald can be reached at shannon.mcdonald@temple.edu

Photo courtesy myspace.com.

Katt Williams steers clear of dangerous ‘comedic wall’

Every stand-up comedian reaches a point when they just can’t seem to connect with the audience anymore. This fate is known as the “comedic wall.”

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[Williams on the comedic wall]

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Katt Micah Williams, a 34-year-old stand-up comedian, actor and rapper, showed just how high he can hurdle over that “comedic wall” when he performed at the Liacouras Center last Friday night during his It’s Pimpin’ Pimpin’ tour.

Williams, who was the second highest-grossing comedian in 2007, attracted a nearly sold-out crowd to the North Philadelphia venue. As spectators watched to see if Williams could avoid stumbling over the “comedic wall,” he did what he has consistently done in the past — he sailed clear over it.

He kept the audience in laughter throughout his entire act, especially with jokes about politics, drugs and other anecdotes. He even made a joke about Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

His recent visit to Philly was quite different than when came here several years ago as a less successful comedian.

“When I was coming to Philly initially, I would come here and do jokes and I’d get paid, like, $150 for doing four nights of shows,” Williams said.

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[Hear Williams talk about Philadelphia]

His struggle and hustle in the beginning of his career help him relate to audiences.

“People want to hear from somebody who [has] already been on the track,” Williams said.

With two highly regarded comedy specials already under his belt – The Pimp Chronicles Pt. 1 in 2006 and its sequel, American Hustle, in 2007 – and a third on the way, Katt doesn’t seem too concerned with any barriers right now.

“I’m a hurdler, so I don’t look at the wall the same way that other people look at the wall,” Williams said. “I’m trying to figure out what’s on the other side of the wall.”

After finishing the successful Pimp Chronicles Tour in 2007, Williams could have laid low and let his success sink in. Instead, he embarked on the 15-city American Hustle tour, which ran from October to November 2007, and then on this year’s It’s Pimpin’ Pimpin’ tour.

“It’s a new age and a new time,” Williams said about his back-to-back tours and specials. “People want it quick, and people want it thorough.”

Williams said he knows what he achieved in 2007 and what he could potentially achieve in 2008, but he tries not think about how famous he may actually become.

“For the last six months, I’ve been in a cocoon,” Williams said.

Focusing too much on fame can lead to a lack of concentration for a stand-up comedian.

“It’s easier to hit a wall, than not hit a wall,” Williams said.

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[Hear Williams talk about other Dave Chappelle]

There are other noteworthy stand-up comedians before Williams’ run who have hit the “comedic wall,” particularly Eddie Murphy, who stopped doing stand-up after a prominent run in the ’80s.

“For some people, that wall is what’s supposed to happen. The wall is supposed to catch most people,” Williams said. “That’s what the wall is there for. To stop progress.”

Progression is not a destitute aspect of Katt’s career right now. Since 2001, he has been climbing that “success ladder.”

His addiction to laughter is what makes him seek out comedic excellence. For Williams, applause is his drug of choice.

“I got to get the same high every time,” he said. “I got to get it and I’m never happy till I get it perfect.”

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[Hear Williams talk about comedy as a drug]

On Friday night, Williams reached for perfection once again.

When he arrived on stage, there was not a “wall” in sight. There was just a sign of withdrawal.

But within minutes, he found the drug that he is constantly seeking – laughter and applause.

“As soon as I get it,” Williams said, “then I’m ready to come down and go back up again, just like any other drug.”

Ron Davis can be reached at rmdavis@temple.edu.

Photo Courtesy of Ron Davis