Hockey Holds it’s Breath

Gabrielle Waldvogel

Twelve athletes clutch the metal ledge of the 8-foot deep pool, legs contracted ready to spring. A 3-pound pink puck is dropped into the pool as a barrage of splashes explodes into the air. The swimmers tunnel down into the depths of the pool and the game of Underwater Hockey has commenced. Plunging for the puck, the swimmers serpentine across the pool floor propelled forward by yellow and black flippers. Equipped with snorkels, goggles, mask and foot-long sticks, the athletes enjoy a competitive and wildly fun sport.

The world of Underwater Hockey, or UWH, is small but it is strong. Founded in the 1950’s by the British Navy, the sport has gained a small but loyal contingent of athletes. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan. The game first came to the United States in the 1970’s. Currently there are only 50 teams or organizations that play underwater hockey, and only one team in the state of New York. This team plays out of Teagle Pool at Cornell University.

Maki Inada, founder of the New York Underwater Hockey team, explains that the athletes have a unique opportunity that most other sports players do not have. “This sport is really great because you can go practically anywhere in the world and play with their national team.” Inada has made plans to play with the Japanese team. Since the sport is off the radar, serious athletes with hopes of making it to the national level must travel far and wide for games, scrimmages and tryouts.
Meghan Pressley, 27, is a member of the US National Women’s UWH team. Pressley has been playing the game since 2004 in Gainesville, Fla. By 2006, she represented the United States in the UWH World Championship in South Africa. “I travel a lot to compete, and I have to train a lot on my own in between those practices. I don’t feel like we are at a disadvantage because in every country it is the same way.”

Inada and Pressley established the Ithaca team in 2008. “It originally was created as a grad student group, but with advertising though Cornell, and Craig’s List the team expanded,” said Inada. “Currently we have 20 ‘regulars’ who range from beginner to national team members,” adds Inada. “The thing that I love about underwater hockey is that the water really equalizes people. Anyone can be good at it, and everyone can enjoy it,” said Pressley.

The sport of Underwater Hockey is a noncontact sport. “It is a challenging sport, but not a dangerous one. There is no checking or foul play like is other water sports like water polo. Water polo is a dirty sport,” explains Inada. In the realm of water sports, underwater hockey is to water polo what day is to night. Building community and relations replace the brutal competitiveness found in the chlorinated pools at water polo matches. These bonds are made with people from all over the state, country, and world.

Lori Bushway, president of the Cornell UWH team explained how currently the UWH National Organization is looking to expand. “The fan base is small because it is not a huge spectator sport, but once you get a few interested people in the water, they are hooked.” The team at Cornell often scrimmages itself to prepare for games. “It’s always fun to see people of all different shapes and sizes and ages play with each other. Everyone has a great time,” adds Bushway. The team also travels to Lowell, Massachusetts, Rutgers, NJ, and Canada for games. Once a year the team gets the chance to compete in the tanks at Sea World in Orlando, Fla. “It’s such a fun time down there,” explains Inada with a smile. “The marine mammals go crazy, they love watching us play!”

According to Bushway, colleges are the best places to start under water hockey teams. “The students who get involved really find that it is something they can take with them wherever they go.” However, Bushway adds that convincing colleges is the hardest part. “I have been trying to get a team started at Ithaca College, but the schools says there is no room for another intramural sport…Plus there is no open times to practice in the pool,” said Inada.

“I believe that if more people knew about this, the number of players would skyrocket. It is such a fun sport for anyone who is looking for a good workout, and good company,” announced Pressley.

Sammy’s vs. Domino’s

Local and Corporate Pizzerias
February 24, 2010 by bredurn
Ithaca, NY-Competition is rising due to the recession forcing several Ithaca businesses to close. Local stores like Sammy’s Pizzeria are up against corporate chains like Domino’s Pizza in using new tactics to attract customers.

The struggle to stay afloat in a costly and competitive Ithaca market has left stores like Juana’s Café, Ithaca Books, Mulberry Knoll, Smoothie Hut, and Beyond the Wall either to close or relocate away from the Ithaca Commons. Businesses are introducing new promotions and items in order to garner the strongest retention rate and attract new customers. Ithaca’s Mom and Pop shops strive to keep local businesses alive, and to drive out corporate competition.

As of Oct. 1, 2009 Sammy’s Pizzeria opened a joint store called Sammy’s Italian Buffet & Grill. A commercial found on Sammy’s website shows customers the new and improved family dinning restaurant.

“The whole nine yards, walk-ins, catering, delivery, take out, and we’re great for parties” Same Chafee, the general manager said.

At the center of the restaurant rest two large, brightly lit, dancing water fountains accompanied by the sound of chirping birds. Scene of an Italian vista cover the walls while a constant firework show takes place above. The brochure boasts “best lunch deal in Ithaca.”

Donna Holmes, a stay-at-home mother of two, recently decided Sammy’s Italian Buffet is in the rotation for Friday night family dinners. She found flyers for the restaurant at the Sammy’s Pizzeria in the Commons.

“It’s cheap, great pizza. What else do you need?” she said shaking the Parmesan cheese shaker over her son’s pizza.

“There are 22 different types of pizza at the buffet,” Asya Abramyan tells customers upon arrival. “The dessert one is my favorite,” she confesses seconds later.

Even with Sammy’s new Italian buffet, they still face competition from chain pizzerias. In 2002, Domino’s Pizzeria had their grand opening attracting many customers, and since then have used standard business tactics such new deals and promotions to keep up with the public. Recently they have added several new items to the menu and have introduced a new promotional deal of a medium pizza with two topping for $5.99.

“Local pizzerias aren’t really our competition. In Ithaca, it’s Papa Johns,” said Leah Internicola, Domino’s general manager.

“Our busiest days are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” said Internicola. There is a spike in sales during the school year, but sales tend to be regular throughout the year. They have also won several awards for having record-breaking sales within the past several months.

Sammy’s new dining establishment has not hindered Domino’s sales. Internicola explains, “Domino’s in Ithaca has been mentioned at several meetings, we’re doing really well.”

With these bigger businesses dominating the market, Ithaca may soon become Generic Town, USA. The recession has put an immense amount of stress on locally owned stores to fight against them. Some stores like Sammy’s have been able to adjust to the change in economy, but others were not so lucky. The pizzeria is located in the Commons and has maintained their spot since 2001. In the years to come, Ithacan will see either the return of Mom and Pop shops or be run over with mega-marts and restaurant seen in every other town.

The Secret Lives of Delivery Guys

The winter in Ithaca is as harsh as it is long. The frigid winds and blundering snow drives locals to shack up in the comfort of their homes. Only the bravest of the brave embark into the frosted tundra. For the rest of Ithaca, snowy nights mean pulling out the take-out menus and ordering in. The roads, while caked and matted with ice and snow are still being traveled upon even in the worst conditions by men and women all with a singular goal in mind: to deliver dinner to hungry Ithacans.

Jim Renolds, manager and deliveryman at Rogan’s Corner in Ithaca has been transporting subs, sodas, and everything in between since the opening of Rogan’s Corner. The deli and mini-mart that is Rogan’s Corner opened for business over three years ago, and continues to grow exponentially. Renolds explains since their popularity has grown, so has the risks deliverymen face when carrying food to the customers. “The biggest issue is the snow. Tip wise, you tend to get better tips when the weather is bad, but what it comes down to is whether or not the trip is worth a few extra bucks,” said Renolds.

As far as customer trends are concerned, Renolds sees a large percentage of customers are students from Ithaca College. “A hard part for us is to get around the college, but nothing compares to the back roads of Danby.” According to Renolds, the roads in the town of Danby are poorly plowed, and lack streetlights. This makes for a perilous drive for the deliverymen and women. “I have had drivers get stuck out there…while turning around. It’s a pain to try to get them out of there, and is an overall hastle. I don’t like putting my drivers in bad situations like that,” said Renolds shaking his head slowly.

When talking about his customers, Renolds described them as loyal, and fair. “We normally get calls from the college, and we have a lot of regulars but a lot of quirky customers… people dressed or not dressed at certain times.” He added with a chuckle. “And we have one customer where the guy refuses to touch a driver’s hand or the bag unless he sets it on the ground, he sets his money on the ground, and once the driver is back in the car will he pick up the bag…he is definitely an interesting one.” Renolds told with a smile.

However, not all deliverymen speak so positively about their experience with customer service. John Andrews, a driver for Insomnia Cookies, a late-night dessert shop, begged to differ. “The worst thing about delivering during bad weather is when people only tip you a quarter, 75 cents, sometimes even less than that, which is zero.” He said as he rubbed his glistening forehead with the back of his hand. “When you are risking your car and yourself you don’t find out how much the customers tipped you until you look at the receipt and realize whether it is cash or credit.” He added somberly. Many customers order from take-out restaurants online from Campusfood.com. With that option, a customer can pay via credit card online with the option of including tip money. Andrews explained that before his job at Insomnia Cookies, he worked as a taxi cab driver.

Andrews has only been delivering since November. He stopped driving taxis when he realized how his company took advantage of college students especially on the weekends. “I quit driving that taxi because I didn’t like how the students were getting ripped off. They charge them way too much money. “ Andrews explains that the taxi companies would charge the students individually rather than collectively regardless of the size of the group that needs to be shuttled. “I didn’t make a lot of money working as a cab driver because I didn’t have the heart to charge my customers those kinds of rates. It just didn’t sit right.” Added Andrews with a deep sigh.

As far as the amount of drivers needed, according to Renolds, Rogan’s Corner has had to increase their number of drivers from two to four or five. The busiest times for Rogan’s Corner tend to be between the hours of 5 pm and 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. “It gets tougher in the winter because the orders pile up as fast as the snow is…we have drivers that as soon as it begins to snow refuse to deliver. I try to get a core group of local drivers to stay year-round, they know how to handle the snow.” Renolds said motioning to the window.

Rachel’s Business Package

Delightful Delivery Dealings

Rachel Stokes

Pizza, calzones, chicken wings and sandwiches speed up and down South Hill, zoom over to West Hill and satisfy the growling hunger of Ithaca residents.  Dining venues are successful in Ithaca, but the restaurants that offer delivery options set themselves apart from the rest.

Open late into the night, DP Dough employees stuff assortments of ingredients into dough pockets, and send the warm, tasty results to eager customers around the Ithaca community.  At the same time, fresh ingredients are piled onto sub rolls and rushed out of the door of Jimmy John’s.  According to their respective managers, both DP Dough and Jimmy John’s rely on college students for a majority of their customer base.  Having long hours works well to keep the constantly hungry students happy.

DP Dough Manager Tammy Cornell says that business is heaviest in the late night hours.  “Usually midnight to close, which is between 2 and 4 AM” is the busiest, she says.  Jimmy John’s also implements late hours, which has added to competition.  “We used to be the only ones open that late, but now we’re one of at least five others,” says Cornell.

The ravenous customers appreciate these extended hours, and having a wide range of time to order their favorites keeps them coming back for more.

“I like that I can order food late at night,” current Ithaca resident Elena Rombalski says.  “It’s nice not to have to worry that the restaurant I want to order from will be closed or that they’ll stop delivering early.”

“Most of our deliveries go to the college campuses,” Jimmy John’s Manager Troy Legg says. “We do have a small area to the east and west, but mainly it’s colleges.”  He also says that their late night hours are the busiest, followed by afternoon lunch orders.

DP Dough works on having a loyal customer base in the community, according to Cornell.  She says that the calzone creators offer loyalty specials for orders that are placed for pick up.  According to Cornell these specials have worked well.

“You buy 11 calzones, you get one free.  That’s only for pick up so that has definitely helped to increase the pick-up business,” Cornell says.

Despite the loyalty programs, delivery is still the most popular way for customers to indulge in their “pizza alternative.”

“One the weekends, typically, we’ll start out with three drivers at five o’clock, then we usually have at least five, sometimes six for late night,” Cornell says.

Delivery time is a big factor for customers, so having the right amount of drivers is crucial.

“My worst delivery experience is when I ordered food…and the food never came because they forgot,” Rombalski said.  “I never ordered from that place again.”

Legg says that customers who are drawn in to speedy delivery times often begin to take the quickness for granted.

“Normally what we hear is the typical ‘Wow that was so fast!’” Legg says.  “But we kind of spoiled our customers.  When they’re used to getting their sandwich in ten minutes, if it takes 20 or 25 minutes they don’t like it.”

Both managers say that the most customer traffic is seen in the spring semester.  By that time, students are well aware of which establishments are the best and which leave more to be desired.

By second semester, “people are aware that we’re here, so we get a lot of repeat business,” says Cornell.  Legg also says that the spring is normally busier, but offers other explanations for heavier traffic.

“The weather is nicer, customers have more money to spend in the spring, at the end of the semester,” says Legg.  “Even if it’s not the end, after spring break people are no longer saving for break so they are able to spend and order more often.”

As the ravenous students leave Ithaca’s hills in the warm summer months, both eateries lose not only a percentage of their customers, but lose employees as well.  Cornell and Legg both say the majority of their employees are college students.

“It does work out because when college students leave we have less customers so we need less employees, and they’re leaving for the summer too,” Legg says.

In order to keep the word flowing through town after the talkative college students leave, both restaurants try to stimulate interest and bring in new customers.

“We do a lot of flyer-ing, handing out menus,” Cornell says.  Jimmy John’s takes a more active approach, handing out samples of their scrumptious sandwiches.

“If I send out coupons maybe some people will pay attention, but if I give out samples I know that every person I meet is going to taste my sandwich,” Legg says.

Even though some customers leave town, DP Dough and Jimmy John’s still successfully deliver the goods to hungry customers year-round, regardless of weather or late night hours.

———————————————————————-

Skedlines

Delivery Boy-

The unsung heroes of the late-night dinner have more responsibilities than just driving door to door in their noble Subaru’s bearing delectable nourishment. These men and women must brave not only inclement weather, traffic and dissatisfied customers but also the economy, customer trafficking and school semesters affecting their workability. 

Gabrielle Waldvogel

Delivery- 
Delivery restaurants flourish on the weekends when students crave a tasty treat.  Business tends to change during the week and when local colleges go on break.  Thanks to loyal customers and the variety of options available, however, places that offer meal delivery are always successful.

Rachel Stokes

Competition is rising due to the recession forcing several Ithaca businesses to 
close, local stores, like Sammy’s Pizzeria, are up against chains like Domino’s Pizza 
in using new tactics to attract consumers. 

Breann

Hello Ithaca!

There’s a big world out there just waiting to be explored. Get ready Ithaca, here we come!