PHI GAMMA DELTA IMPORTANT DATES: F A L L Pig Dinner March 19, 2011 2 0 1 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 0 Epsilon Iota Grad at World Cup How big a deal is the World Cup to you? I’ve been watching and playing soccer since I was barely bigger than the ball, so watching the World Cup in person has been a dream of mine. For the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, I stayed up late and got up early to be able to watch the high profile matches, while catching the others on ESPN gamecast. So when it was decided that it was possible to attend this World Cup, I was as giddy as a school girl. How long had you been planning this trip? The trip had been planned for almost 2 years. I was sitting around with my sister and her boyfriend, when he said that he knew a guy who lived in South Africa. That's how the planning got started. After that I closely followed the registration for tickets on the FIFA INSIDE THIS ISSUE: E.I. Grad at World Cup Ace of Diamonds website. I was nervous that I wouldn't get any tickets for the games I had chosen. It was only 6 months before the World Cup when I purchased my plane ticket and had the details of my trip outlined. What's were your first impressions of South Africa? When I arrived in South Africa, after the 15.5 hour non-stop flight, it was approximately 10:00pm local time and nearly -5 degrees Celsius (~20 F)! I was amazed that somewhere in Africa could be that cold! Some parts of Johannesburg seemed wealthy and some impoverished, not unlike large cities in the US. Within the next few hours we traveled from Jo'burg, as the locals called it, to Durban (from the middle to the south east of the country). We ended up seeing a decent Continued on Page 2 1 Alphas Continues 2 Dominance of EI Open Announcements 3 State of the Chapter 4 James McDaniel (EI 2008) at the 2010 World Cup, making soccer even more unbearable. \r\nPAGE 2 portion of the country, everything from snowcapped mountains to the coast. Describe the atmosphere in the stadiums. It was necessary to arrive at the stadium an hour or so before the game. Having such a mass of people (anywhere between 45 and 80,000) go through the security check point, can only go so fast. Prior to pregame warm ups, the crowd displayed a lot of pride for their respective countries. It didn't matter whether their team was playing in the match or not, flags of numerous countries could be seen waving, or just painted on faces of the devout following. As the teams took the field for warm ups and the beginning of each half, the crowd would yell, blow their vuvuzelas, and wave their flags. During game play, the crowd would constantly blow their vuvuzelas, as everyone heard on TV, and wait in anticipation for the possible winning or equalizing goal. When a goal was scored, two things could be heard throughout the stadium. The scoring team's fans would yell at the top of their lungs and blow their vuvuzelas as loud as they could, and the collective sigh and groan of the scored-on team. It was debatable which sound was louder. Where were you when Landon Donovan scored his famous extra-time goal? I was able to watch the first half of the US vs. Algeria game. However, I had tickets to that evening's match of Ghana vs. Germany. Due to time constraints including travel time, pregame festivities, and finding our seats, we had to miss the second half of the US game. We didn’t find out about the final score for some time. When we finally watched a replay of the second half, we were ecstatic beyond words to see Donovan score the goal to send The world’s fastest mammal and a cheetah. the US into the knockout round. After the U.S., were you cheering on any other countries? I was partially supporting the home team, South Africa's Bafana Bafana. It was depressing to see them lose, as they were the first host country to not make it out of the group stage. Besides South Africa, I would have liked to see Holland win, since they never won the championship. Also, watching Germany was exciting. They seemed to have a mix of arrogance and confidence that wasn't matched by their opponents. Are you making plans for 2014 in Brazil? I am not making plans for Brazil in 2014, although it is significantly closer than South Africa. However, I am hoping the US wins the bid for 2018. It would be exciting to host the World Cup again. I probably wouldn’t pet a cheetah, but it would still be pretty great. Alpha Team Continues Dominance at EI Open On a beautiful day in late August, brothers reunited at the Clearcrest Pines golf course to settle who would declare themselves the rulers of the Epsilon Iota golf kingdom. In nervous anticipation, 22 participants sat anxiously in their golf carts that summer morn, awaiting the go-ahead from Clearcrest officials to begin this annual epic battle. An antsy Dave Knox (EI 2008) could be heard saying, “I’ve been practicing all year for this moment. All the time I’ve put in on the golf course could have spent finding a sophisticated older woman, but this is so much more important.” The Ace of Diamonds wishes him luck in both endeavors. When the starting whistle was finally blown, five teams started their quest for glory. The smart money was on the Alpha team, this year consisting of Jeremy Continued on Page 4 ACE OF DIAMONDS \r\nFALL 2010 PAGE Tarr (EI 1998), Chris Rafferty (EI 2001), Jim Moryl (EI 2000), Scott Newman (EI 2000), and late addition Nick Carter (EI 2001). All had at least one EI Open champion’s trophy from a previous year resting proudly on their mantle. They would play a competent game of golf and disinformation, keeping their score hidden from the Ace of Diamonds correspondent, and thus, the other teams. Meanwhile, underdogs Will Snider (EI 2006), Kevin Hay (EI 2006), Dave Knox, Geoff Keller (EI 2008), and Nick Burch got off to a thunderous start, knocking in two birdies and an eagle by their sixth hole. There was little confidence in their staying power, however, as the jostling of their golf bags suggested there was more than just clubs in the bottom. With only a few holes left in the day, the Snider et al team was leading at -3, while the other teams had fallen away or were clinging to par or had spread rumors that they were doing poorly. Then, something magical happened. The team of Joe Setnor (EI 2007), Tom Topper (EI 2004), Sean Riley (EI 2005), and Ryan Wininger (EI 2004) had been struggling all day, with every previous hole ending in a boring par. Then, Brother Setnor had an epiphany. His team should shotgun a beer before the next hole. Upon completion of this act, the foursome broke their streak of pars with three birdies, bringing them even with the leaders. However, it was all for naught. The Alpha’s had in fact broken out to an early lead, before finishing at -7 in a comfortable first place. Congratulations to Brothers Tarr, Newman, Rafferty, Moryl, and Carter for their win and thanks to all who participated or contributed. The 2010 EI Open raised over $800 for the undergraduate chapter, to be placed into the Grad Board account for house improvements or emergencies. The Alpha golf dynasty continues for another year. Announcements         Josh Zars (EI 2006) was married to Paige Olney in June. Jeremy Tarr (EI 1998) is expecting his first child with his wife, Katie. John Worthington (EI 2005) was recognized as one of the Evansville Business Journal’s 20 Leaders Under 40 for his work as a small business owner and for his extensive activity in the community. Alex Kramer (EI 2005) and wife Jana are expecting a baby. Branden Horne (EI 2006) and his wife Amanda welcomed their baby girl, Haylee, in early September. Phil Crone (EI 2007) announced his engagement to his fiancé Anna. Jay Beckham (EI 2006) is now married to his wife, Dale. Dale is a woman’s name in Australia. Rance Brown (EI 2006) married Melissa Giles in late July. Jay Beckham (EI 2006) getting married to his wife, Dale 3 \r\nState of the Chapter Brothers, The undergrads of the Epsilon Iota chapter have enjoyed the last few weeks of summer, but it’s time to dive into yet another productive and exciting fall semester. The last several months have consisted of planning and preparing for the year ahead. In July we had a recruitment workshop led by Recruitment Committee Chairman Jake Nardulli (EI 2012), and in August, we had a cabinet retreat to discuss our responsibilities and set goals for the upcoming year. Now that the roadmap has been made, it is time to follow it to success. At July’s recruitment workshop, we set ambitious targets for this year’s rush. It will take a lot of hard work from every brother in the chapter to meet our goals, but we certainly have the tools to succeed. The beginning of the year has already seen several successful rush events and we have observed a lot of visible support for FIJI on campus. When Passover arrives on September 25th, we will finally see if our hard work has paid off. Shortly after Passover, on October 1st, we will have our second annual brotherhood retreat camp- out. Last year, this proved to be a very successful event, giving the new members a great opportunity to get to know brothers in the chapter and learn about FIJI. Our next big event will be on November 13th when we host a parent and faculty dinner. We are extending invites for the first time to faculty this year, as we would like to show our appreciation for their work and give them our thanks for their continued support of FIJI on campus. This year’s Hot-Tub-O-Thon chair David Riedford (EI 2011) has set a goal of raising $20,000 for Easter Seals. We believe we can reach that lofty number by working in the fall semester, as well as the spring, to solicit the significant amount of donations necessary to claim success. Feel free to contact him at 812-4572308 if you have any advice to help us reach our goal. Another one of our goals for this year is to increase graduate involvement. After all, our organization would not be thriving without the efforts of those brothers that have come before us. Our Graduate Relations chair Jon Sturgeon (EI 2012) is eager to connect with our grad brothers and can be contacted at 219-741-9805. This semester should prove to be an exciting and transitional one for Epsilon Iota as we continue our pursuit of excellence. Hope all is well in FIJI land, and as always, damn proud to be a FIJI! Fraternally, Ben Deutsch Evansville 2012 Perge! Fraternity President Ben Deutsch Phi Gamma Delta 227 S. Lincoln Park Dr. Evansville, IN 47714 Visit Epsilon Iota on the web at www.fiji.evansville.edu “Not for college days alone.” Editor of Ace of Diamonds: Jon Kissel, jonkissel1848@gmail.com, (812) 550-4476