Campus Corner

Basketball offers a chance to warm up inside Savage Arena

The Blade features periodic columns from area college students as part of our Campus Corner feature. Daniel Roman is a senior at the University of Toledo.

Nobody likes winter. Even skiers and snowboarders, the usual cold weather proponents, end up getting warm at the ski lodge when their run is finished.

But with winter comes increased time indoors and that means University of Toledo Rockets basketball. I recently sat down with head coach Tod Kowalczyk, freshman forward/center Delino Dear, and senior forward Anthony Wright to capture a glimpse of their lives off the court.

Kowalczyk, Dear, and Wright are all new residents to the city of Toledo and I was curious about their time here so far.

Delino is from Chicago and Anthony is just coming off four years of playing at the University of Michigan, so I wondered what they think about Toledo.

Delino quickly mentioned that it’s definitely quieter than Chicago, a lot more laid back and peaceful. Anthony added that he enjoys the strong sense of community in Toledo. I asked them where they like to hang out and both agreed that grabbing some Sonic food and hanging out at the mall is at the top of the list.

Some of Kowalczyk’s favorite places to grab a bite to eat around Toledo include The Beirut, Mancy’s Italian, and Calvino’s.

In November, 2008, a $30 million renovation and expansion of Savage Arena and the adjoining Charles A. Sullivan Athletic Complex was completed so I asked the two players what they thought about their home court.

Anthony laughed and said “At Michigan I got in trouble for saying this but the Savage Arena is easily one of the nicer arenas I’ve not only played at, but that I’ve been to. I love it here, it’s great to come home to the Savage.”

You can find out for yourself how nice Savage is Saturday night when the Rockets take on the Miami Red Hawks at 7 p.m.

Best of all, you can get out of the cold.

Contact Daniel Roman at
droman3@rockets.utoledo.edu.