ASSISTANT SPORTS WRITER
TYLER DUNNE

It’s only September. Basketballs are still stored away as dust collects on them with the new season in its infancy.

But one subtle tradition continues. 

Captains lead their squad along successive grueling runs to Nazareth College. Constant treks to their enemies’ domain don’t make players regurgitate at the site of purple and gold. Instead, it allows a sixth sense to emerge.

What lies down the road sets the tone for the entire season.

“It is something that we’ve done while I’ve been at Fisher and the years before I got here,” senior guard Dan Mueller said. “While running there I get really anxious not only to play Nazareth but to finally get started with practices and to prepare for the season.”

What lies down the road sets the tone for entire Fisher basketball careers.
“At first it’s just a run to stay in shape,” freshman guard Bill Lidell said. “But then I got to Naz and realized that I’d be playing in this great rivalry for the next four years.” 

Separated by nothing but a handful of houses and backyards down East Avenue, the Fisher-Nazareth rivalry is the D-III equivalent to UNC-Duke. Whenever these neighbors meet, a few things are guaranteed. The games are automatic sellout thrillers. And like the Cameron Crazies, the Cardinal Crazies pump more energy into the gym than motivational speaker Matt Foley after four hours of drinking coffee in the basement…with a handful of fan ejections along the way.

Like Kevin McHale clothes-lining Kurt Rambis in the classic Boston-Los Angeles ‘80s battles, the “Battle of the Beaks” has seen its share of hatred. And like Michael Jordan shrugging off Byron Russell to nail a game-winning jumper, Fisher and Nazareth seem to swap buzzer beating finishes.

But most of all, mutual respect pulsates from the hearts of those on the court whenever maroon meets purple: the sign of a true sports rivalry.

The Origin

During the era of typewriters, half-inch thick glasses and Elvis Presley, St. John Fisher was an all-men college, while Nazareth only admitted women. You can probably fill in the rest. As students from both schools regularly visited each other relationships were bound to blossom.

“A lot of marriages today are between Fisher men and Nazareth women,” St. John Fisher athletic director and former men’s basketball coach Bob Ward said. “A lot of little things went on then that are probably inappropriate today. There are many old college traditions of going to Nazareth.”

Founded in 1948, St. John Fisher wasn’t co-educational until September of 1971. Nazareth, which was founded in 1924, was also gender segregated until the early 1970’s.

For years upon years, the two colleges inevitably grew together. Time spent outside of the classroom was often devoted to each others’ campuses, which progressively unified Fisher and Nazareth as undying allies. It’s a unique bond that Cardinals head coach Rob Kornaker experienced days before Fisher’s recent 69-61 win over the Golden Flyers.

“Two Fisher alum were hanging around campus, shooting in the gym, reminiscing about their days at college,” Kornaker said. “Both of their wives graduated from Nazareth and they were wondering when the Fisher-Naz game was.

“Our traditions and their traditions are very similar. We share a bond that’s a lot more important than a basketball game. It definitely goes deeper than athletic competition.”

As the “Battle of the Beaks” approaches each year, Ward encounters a slew of proud alumni that carry a Fisher and Nazareth connection.

“Weeks before the game I get e-mails from people asking about the ticket situation,” Ward said. “They ask how crowded it will be and if it’s possible to attend the game. It seems like I always run into Naz people whether it’s at the grocery store or other places in Rochester.”

As students went back and forth between the two schools, a camaraderie developed that Ward believes still exists.

“It amazes me that their fans and our fans can be so loud and supportive of their teams but we walk out in the parking lot and there’s no foolishness,” he said. “Everybody talks about the game and gets along.

“There isn’t any discussion during the game between fans saying, ‘let’s take it outside and roll in the mud.’ It seems like a manageable thing.”

‘Like Twin Brothers’

Next to Michael Vick’s glorification, painting Good Guy vs. Bad Guy scenarios is the most overhyped topic in sports media.

We see it on ESPN (Terrell Owens vs. whoever is his current head coach), on clothing (pro-Red Sox T-shirts defaming Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez far too offensive to print in a campus newspaper) and in movies (Rocky Balboa vs. anybody who dares to fight the most vicious boxer to ever have varicose veins).

It’s very easy to follow suit in these annual D-III heavyweight rumbles, especially after the 2004 melee at Manning and Napier Gymnasium. But despite an on-court fight between Fisher and Nazareth players, those who know the heart of the rivalry realize that Fisher-Naz rivalry is anything but a ‘Good Guy-Bad Guy’ brouhaha.

“That was something that happened awhile ago that nobody on our team was a part of,” recalled Kornaker in reference to the fight, which involved Fisher 2006 graduate Mike McGee getting clocked in the face. “It really could have happened against any team.”

This one skirmish in the rivalry’s 68-game history doesn’t discount the true spirit of the Battle of the Beaks. It’s a lot more about lead changes and clutch shots than haymakers and black eyes.

“It’s been such a heated rivalry that in a way it’s almost playful,” said Ward, who guided the Cardinals as head coach for 14 years from 1987 to 2001, accumulating a 260-108 record. “They play hard but they also know each other. Through the years players from both teams intermingle in Rochester. Some of their students take classes here and some our students take classes there.

“It’s almost like twin brothers going out into the backyard playing one-on-one. It’s a heated rivalry but in the end you get along. I’d like to think we have more in common than against them. It’s friendly both ways.”

But as last season demonstrated, these twins give new meaning to the term ‘sibling rivalry.’ Even though Fisher holds a decisive 47-21 edge all-time, there’s one game everyone this side of Pittsford wants back.  

Last season, Nazareth waltzed onto Bobby Wanzer court seemingly as just another victim to Fisher’s 40-plus home winning streak. Not intimidated by the Cardinals’ 12-2 record and star-studded senior duo of McGee and Sean O’Brien, Nazareth did the impossible and beat Fisher 62-60. In the 12 regular season games after that loss, the Cardinals didn’t lose, as Fisher completed its best season in team history, reaching the NCAA Division III Elite Eight.

Talk about a season turning point. 

Kornaker inherited the Cardinals from Ward in 2001 and has led Fisher to four straight 20-win seasons among several classic Beak barnburners. He points to the sheer emotion that raises each team’s level of play to an uncharted stratosphere every time they meet.

“It’s so cliché to say that you can throw the records out, but the bottom line is that when the crowds are cheering and the gym is just going crazy, it makes you play at an emotional level,” Kornaker said. “I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t a good game.

“When the game starts nobody thinks about what happened last year. We didn’t even discuss it when we played at Nazareth earlier this year.”

And of course, a sense of familiarity adds some spice to the rivalry.

“You always want to beat your friends,” Kornaker continued. “The natural tendency is to show the guys who see a lot that you are better than them.”

‘Crazy’ atmosphere

Surrounding the ten players on the court in each Fisher-Naz clash, are a sequential series of chants that shatter the laws of acoustics of Manning and Napier Gym from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. From “We’ve got football!” to a drawn out “Safety School!” to “You wear purple!” to “He’s a freshman!” to “Go down East Ave.!” to “Fun-da-men-tals!” both student sections dig deep in their brains (and lungs) for clever cheers that either reflect what happened on the court or simply get under the skin of their rival.

Choosing school pride over eye candy, the Crazies promptly turned their backs to each performance by Nazareth’s dance team. In response, one Golden Flyer faithful stealthily snuck down from the upper deck, raced to the sea of Cardinal red and swiped the signature hard hat of a Crazie during a timeout, which led to a comical chase down.

It remains an urban legend as to how many fans got kicked out of the gym Friday night but a logical guess-timate would be about six.

From freshmen to seniors, it was an unforgettable environment that epitomizes the purity of college basketball.

“I have never played in an atmosphere like that,” said Lidell, who logged 10 minutes in his Naz debut. “It was just incredible. You could feel the rivalry.”

“We really look forward to playing in an electric environment against Naz,” said the savvy senior Mueller, who calmly scored a game-high 21 points to lift Fisher Friday. “I respect them every time we play them. It’s a dog fight.”

Ward, who must police all activity in the stands said, “The game brings both student bodies out of the woodworks. Everybody is a Fisher or Naz fan for that weekend. Everybody is in the gym.”

The Future…

The men aren’t the only ones soaking the spotlight in the Fisher-Naz mystique. You can see the passion also exists on the women side. Fisher junior Allison Boehm emerged as the new Nazareth Nightmare Friday, taking the torch from Melissa Hartman, who scorched the Golden Flyers for 66 points and 35 rebounds in two Lady Cardinal wins last year. With hands in her face all night, Boehm coolly led both teams in points (22), rebounds (nine), and blocks (three) in a 67-56 win to get her team back on track.

As seniors Mueller, Dan McSweeney, and Mary Francis exit the “Battle of the Beaks” bonanza with a bang, Fisher’s new wave of talent gave Nazareth a taste of things to come. As freshman point guards Matt Newman and Corey McAdam matched wits each possession, rookie Chris Baltz caught fire in the second half with three consecutive three’s and sophomore Meagan Tubbs dissected Naz’s defense for a 11 points, eight boards, and eight assists, you couldn’t help but imagine the new heights the Fisher-Naz rivalry will reach.

After loading a massive chip onto Nazareth’s shoulder with a season sweep, the Cardinals push forward for an Empire 8 conference title. But next year the rivalry will be renewed.

St. John Fisher and Nazareth College share something that will last an eternity.