Ken Dryden '69 and Bill Bradley talk sports, politics, and more
Ken Dryden '69 and Bill Bradley talk sports, politics, and more
Winning is good—but sometimes losing is better for you. That was the theme that ran through a ninety-minute give-and-take between Ken Dryden '69 and 1965 Princeton grad Bill Bradley. Titled "Lives on the Run: Sports, Service, and Leadership," the September 10 Bailey Hall event was moderated by sports journalist and former Daily Sun editor Jeremy Schaap '91.
Both men know a lot about winning. Dryden was the brilliant goaltender who led the Cornell hockey team to its first NCAA championship in 1967 and went on to capture six Stanley Cups and a host of individual awards with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. He also earned a law degree from McGill University and eventually entered public life in Canada, where he has served in the House of Commons since 2004. Bradley, probably the finest basketball player ever to come out of the Ivy League, was a three-time All-American who took a break from sports after graduating to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He then joined the New York Knicks, winning two NBA titles in his ten-year career. After retiring as an athlete in 1977, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New Jersey, serving three terms. Both Dryden and Bradley were inducted into the Hall of Fame in their respective sports.
The evening began with videos highlighting the careers of "the two greatest scholar-athletes ever," as Schaap called them. Bradley said he always enjoyed watching films of himself playing basketball because he never missed a shot; and after seeing the segment on Dryden, he quipped, "Until I saw that, I didn't know how good you were."
Winning a championship, Bradley said, left him with a feeling of elation that lasted about forty-eight hours. "We tried to stretch it to ninety-six," said Dryden, "but after a while people start to look at you funny when you're walking around with your fists in the air—especially around the house." Losing was the opposite. Bradley said that while many of his athletic defeats had been tough, the political ones were even more difficult—most notably, his failed run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000. Dryden, who lost in a 2006 bid to become leader of Canada's Liberal Party, agreed. "It's rejection, and that's tough to take," he said. "In a game, there's always a way to win. You may not find it every time, but there's always a way. In politics, it's not like that. So you have to ask: if not this, then what?"
Dryden noted that being an athlete had taught him how to accept criticism, which proved useful when he was running for office. "I wasn't nearly as good as people were saying I was, when they were saying that," he explained, "and I wasn't nearly as bad as people were saying I was, when they were saying that." In both sports and politics, he added, you can't be motivated by what others think of you. "You have to live up to your own expectations, or it won't be your own life."
Asked about the importance of integrity, Bradley said that it requires going "a couple of steps beyond what is legal, and acting on that." As a politician, he said, trying to act with integrity hadn't necessarily hurt his career, although it might have meant that he was more inflexible than others. Both men lamented the way a perceived lack of integrity has contributed to a low opinion of politicians. Public distrust, Dryden said, "makes for a tough environment to work in" and exacerbates the difficulty of finding common ground.
Dryden expressed hope that his party would soon come back into power and that he might again serve in the cabinet, where he was Minister of Social Development from 2004 to 2006. Bradley said that while he is no longer seeking office, he remains actively engaged in the debate about important issues, like health care. "My job as a citizen," he said, "is to stay informed and speak my mind."
— Jim Roberts '71
The event was presented by the Sigma Phi Society's James Oliphant Distinguished Speakers Fellowship program, with financial support from Lawrence Tanenbaum '68.
Sports Shorts
FAST START Genna Hartung '13 took little time getting comfortable with Cornell's Moakley Cross Country Course, setting a course record during her collegiate debut in a meet against Army. Hartung covered the five kilometers in 18:21.9, 12 seconds faster than the previous record. Teammates Katie Kellner '13 and Stephanie Pancoast '10 also topped the previous record as the Big Red posted a 17-44 win over the Black Knights.
BIG BLOCKER Cornell's lone representative in the NFL this season is Kevin Boothe '05, who's in his third year with the New York Giants after spending his rookie campaign with the Oakland Raiders. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Boothe was the Giants' top reserve on the offensive line in 2008, playing in all 16 games. At Cornell, he was a three-time All-Ivy League selection.
TRUE NORTH Hockey Canada's women's teams have a Cornell flavor this season, with two Big Red players on the national squad and three on the Under-22 unit. Rebecca Johnston '11 and Brianne Jenner '15 (who has delayed her matriculation) have been named to the team that will represent the country during the 2010 Winter Genna Hartung Olympics in Vancouver, and Laura Fortino '13, Lauriane Rougeau '13, and Catherine White '12 were on the Under-22 team that played a three-game series against the national team in August, during which Rougeau scored twice and White once.
ON THE WATER The United States men's lightweight eight entry in the World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland, had three Cornellians aboard: Andrew Diebold '06, Matt Kochem '08, and Kerry Quinn '10. They finished second overall, just over three seconds behind Italy. At the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in the Czech Republic, Drew Baustian '10, Christopher Frendl '10, and Michael Rossidis '09 were part of the fifth-place men's four with coxswain; also competing were Thomas Davidson '12, eighth in the lightweight men's pair, and Singen Elliott '10, 17th in the men's quadruple sculls. At the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel, Caroline Post '10 earned four gold medals; she rowed in nine races over five days, winning the single sculls, double sculls, pairs without coxswain, and quad.
HAT TRICK In September, former Big Red hockey standout Douglas Murray '03 notched three goals and an assist for the NHL's San Jose Sharks in a preseason game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks won the contest 6-0. Murray, better known for his tough defensive play than his scoring prowess, has tallied only one regular-season goal in his NHL career.
ON THE BALL Three Big Red baseball players had strong summers on the diamond. Brian Billigen '12, Corey Pappel '11, and Jadd Schmeltzer '11, were all named among the top pro prospects in their college leagues. Billigen was rated fourth best in the Prospect League after hitting .313 with the Butler Blue Sox. Pappel was the third-rated pitcher and sixth-ranked player after going 4-3 with a 1.55 ERA for the Elmira Pioneers in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Schmeltzer was the ninth-ranked player in the Hawaiian League, where he hit .280 and also had a 1.35 ERA in five pitching appearances.
EN GARDE Women's fencing coach Iryna Dolgikh served as a coach for the United States National Veterans Fencing Team that competed in the Veterans World Championships in Moscow in late September. The U.S. team collected 10 medals, including one gold, during the event for fencers aged 50 and up.
NEW SITE For some, the ECAC Hockey Championships conjure up memories of Lake Placid or Boston. More recently, they've been synonymous with Albany— but the league has announced that its championship tournament will move to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for at least three seasons, beginning in 2011.
TEACHABLE MOMENT In Fred Bowen's young adult novel Touchdown Trouble (Peachtree), twelve-year-old Sam's winning touchdown on the final play of the game gives his team an undefeated season. Later, when a video shows that he scored on an illegal extra play, Sam and the team must decide whether to keep silent or forfeit their victory. The boys use the outcome of the 1940 Cornell-Dartmouth "Fifth Down" game as a model for doing the right thing.
Big Game
September 26, 2009
The Cornell football team got a bulldog off its back with a 14-12 victory over Yale in New Haven, the team's first win at the Yale Bowl since 1996. The Big Red took the lead on their first offensive play, which covered 81 yards and began with QB Ben Ganter '10 lateraling to Stephen Liuzza '10, who then tossed a long pass to wide receiver Bryan Walters '10. Cornell never trailed after that, although Yale threatened to force overtime on its last play, a two-point PAT try that failed. On the following Monday, safety Anthony Ambrosi '11, who ran back an interception for the Big Red's second touchdown, was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.