USD Magazine, Spring 2002

El ALCALA ALMANAC

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Gettin' Jiggy With It Frank Toddre, a junior majoring in history and political science, had just taken his courtside seat before USD's first-round game with USF when he got the call to enter the game. And he's not on the roster. It seems the student who usually plays the Torero mascot was late, and Toddre got pressed into service by a frantic Renee Wiebe, assistant athletics marketi ng director, to get the home crowd pumped up. "She just came up to me and said, 'Wanna be the mascot?"' Toddre said. He got fi ve minutes of Mascot 101 before climbing into the 9-fooc-call inBacable suit. The regular masco t arrived shortly chereafrer, but not before Toddre got a new appreciation for what ic cakes ro be the top cheerleader. "You look out of the chest, and th at cos– tume is a lot heavier than it looks," he said, the sweat still pouring off him minutes after removing the costume. "le was kinda hard ro move my arms. I had a hard time raising the roof in chat thing!" The Number One Fan While the Hooligans shouted themselves hoarse and the USD cheerleaders ralLed the crowd during the games with USF and

W hile perennial favorite Gonzaga prevailed at the 2002 West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament, the USD men's Toreros had the powerhouse worried with a scrappy second-round challenge, losing to the Bulldogs in the final minutes, 87-79. T he women Toreros were knocked out in the first round by Santa Clara. But not all the highlights of the tourney, held Feb. 28 through March 4 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, made it to ESPN. Here's a few things you didn't see:

Sleeping Attire Optional T here's no question the Jenny Craig Pavilion is a comfy place for Torero fans, especially Allen "Murph" Jones '00. Jones was in the front row wi th the Hooligans - USD's rowdy student booster group - for the USD-Universicy of San Francisco game decked ou t in the same striped bathrobe he's been wearing to games since his freshman year. While the robe may be a sentimental favorite, there's no denying its special powers as a chick magnet. Jones was wearing the robe at the 200 I WCC Tournament when he met Lisa Mrkvicka, a Santa Clara University student. The two were engaged earlier this year. "The robe was definitely

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unique," Mrkvicka said. "I thought he was fun . Kinda quirky, but nice." Evidently, fun-quirky-nice has its limits. Mrkvicka was taking in the game from behind the USF bench - directly across the court from her fiance. "It's our third game today," she said with a Senior Andre Laws played his last game as laugh, "and he's really loud. I needed a break." a Torero against Gonzaga.

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