Adding to an already thrilling senior night at the McKenna Center on Feb. 20, Seton Hill’s (SHU) athletic department held their much anticipated half court contest during halftime of the Lady Griffins’ final regular season home game.
By Sean Maiolo
Business/Ad Manager
Adding to an already thrilling senior night at the McKenna Center on Feb. 20, Seton Hill’s (SHU) athletic department held their much anticipated half court contest during halftime of the Lady Griffins’ final regular season home game.
The contest was originally supposed to take place during halftime of the Lady Griffins’ second to last home game on Feb. 6. However, nearly two feet of snow led to the game being postponed a day and the contest until two weeks later.
The event was held in Lois Ketenheim’s memory, sister of Peggy Duffy, an administrative assistant working in SHU’s athletic department. Ketenheim was a standout softball player for the Lady Warriors of Penn-Trafford High School.
“I found a sponsor to split the insurance [cost] so we could have the shot, and went to my family and got the other sponsorship money,” said Duffy of her role in putting the contest together. “We went half with the bus company, Mlacker
Transportation, and my family and I put up the other half.”
Athletic director Chris Snyder first mulled over the contest idea more than a year ago as part of an effort to draw bigger crowds to SHU’s basketball games but had difficulty moving it forward.
“I had it in the back of my mind to get it going again this year,” he said. “The sole purpose of the event was to try and get our student body out to the basketball game to support the team.”
Snyder added that the initial proposal for the event was far different from the finished product but that the changes made to in were all positive.
“The original plan was to have a half court shot and the winner receive tuition at Seton Hill the next year,” he explained. “But the more I thought about it with some other members of the athletic department, we thought it best to open it up to the community as well and just make it a cash prize because our students would love to win $25,000 just as would somebody in town.”
In order to satisfy their insurance policy, SHU needed to adhere to a strict set of guidelines. Whoever was selected for the shot needed to meet several prerequisites, including not ever having played high school, college or professional basketball and being at least 18 years of age.
Bill Emberg, father of SHU junior forward Jill Emberg, matched the lucky ticket for his shot at $25,000. After filling out all the necessary forms at the scorer’s table, Emberg strolled to the midcourt stripe, took a few dribbles and let go a high arching underhand shot that came up a few feet short.
His efforts drew applause and bewilderment from the crowd in the gym, with the occasional jeer at a grown man attempting what most consider a weak and childlike way of shooting a basketball. So that begs the question why: shoot the infamous potty shot?
“I feel that it’s a more accurate shot,” Emberg explained. “I had planned on shooting it underhand the whole time.”
Snyder was among many in the crowd who were surprised at the strategy Emberg employed.
“I’ve seen a lot of different strategies of half court shots,” he said. “That’s one I wouldn’t have done and that’s tough to get it from half court with that technique that he used there.”
Duffy, however, agreed with Emberg’s approach to the 47 foot heave.
“I would’ve done the same thing because I can’t play basketball. I can’t shoot a basketball,” she said. “It’s my kind of form.”
Despite the undesired results, Emberg said he wouldn’t have changed anything about his shooting form.
“I would’ve put more [power] into it,” he said.
“That’s all I needed because it was straight on.”
SHU’s athletic department hopes to hold a similar event next year for a basketball game and is also contemplating plans for a field goal contest for one of the 2010 football games.