2008 Woodie Awards
Feature: Women's Basketball features on CBS national television
Team invited to be crowd on The Early Show
David Pfeffer
Issue date: 1/26/07 Section: Sports
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A full moon hovers in the dark night sky; morning dew still coats the ground; the air is crisp, cold from the long night: It is 5:45 a.m., and on any other day, the women of Stevens Institute of Technology's basketball team would still be sleeping. This morning is special, though - only 8 hours earlier, Coach Jon Hochberg had gotten word that the women's basketball team would be appearing on the nationally televised CBS Early Show. One by one, they gather outside the Schaeffer Center, sitting in an oval on the concrete shelf. Shivering in the chill, the girls start chatting.
"What time did you wake up?" Jean asks the girls. Jean is one of the team's best players, "showing the biggest in the biggest games," as Hochberg later described. "5:30," is a common answer. "I don't understand people who wake up hours before they have to go somewhere," one comments.
As they continue to wait for their coach, the team mentions the 43-degree weather, cold amongst the unseasonably warm days surrounding it. They never complain; they are tough.
Coach Hochberg steps outside from within the Schaeffer Center, producing a wave of mock protest from the team. "You get to stand inside in the warm while we freeze out here," one jests. Another needs something from her locker, so she and Hochberg step back inside.
It is 6:15 a.m. now. No sign of the sun yet, but the moon slowly gets lower in the sky. Coach Hochberg and the team walk through the 6th Street gates like an army on a mission, determined. They walk down River Street and through Stevens Park, which is eerily devoid of the friendly noise of parents and their children. The team is mostly quiet, except for a phone call trying to locate a friend who is on Washington Street. They walk into PATH, and purchase Metrocards to get them into the system. "Keep your receipts," Hochberg says, "so that you can be reimbursed." The women pack into the train which is already crowded with commuters.
On the train, the team comes alive. One girl snacks on string cheese, getting laughter from the group. Jean braids the string cheese and claims she could be a surgeon because it is as easy as doing someone's hair. Hochberg exclaims "I don't think I'd ever let you operate on me."
"What time did you wake up?" Jean asks the girls. Jean is one of the team's best players, "showing the biggest in the biggest games," as Hochberg later described. "5:30," is a common answer. "I don't understand people who wake up hours before they have to go somewhere," one comments.
As they continue to wait for their coach, the team mentions the 43-degree weather, cold amongst the unseasonably warm days surrounding it. They never complain; they are tough.
Coach Hochberg steps outside from within the Schaeffer Center, producing a wave of mock protest from the team. "You get to stand inside in the warm while we freeze out here," one jests. Another needs something from her locker, so she and Hochberg step back inside.
It is 6:15 a.m. now. No sign of the sun yet, but the moon slowly gets lower in the sky. Coach Hochberg and the team walk through the 6th Street gates like an army on a mission, determined. They walk down River Street and through Stevens Park, which is eerily devoid of the friendly noise of parents and their children. The team is mostly quiet, except for a phone call trying to locate a friend who is on Washington Street. They walk into PATH, and purchase Metrocards to get them into the system. "Keep your receipts," Hochberg says, "so that you can be reimbursed." The women pack into the train which is already crowded with commuters.
On the train, the team comes alive. One girl snacks on string cheese, getting laughter from the group. Jean braids the string cheese and claims she could be a surgeon because it is as easy as doing someone's hair. Hochberg exclaims "I don't think I'd ever let you operate on me."
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