The Observer, February 9, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 16
Spartan Spotlight: Bernie Jacobson
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Name, year, et cetera: Bernie Jacobson is a computer engineering student graduating in 2008. He dives on the swimming and diving team for the Spartans.
Hobbies and extracurricular activities: SigEp. I'm the house manager.
Favorite athlete: Pat Rodjom or maybe Lebron James.
Jeffrey T. Verespej: Enough with the rapid fire, I need to comment. Those two are very similar. What's your best diving memory?
Bernie Jacobson: Winning both one and three meter boards at the Wooster Invitational this season.
JTV: And your worst diving memory?
BJ: Landing flat on my back from three meters above the water after a bad back two and a half take off. Then having to go back up and do the dive again in an actual competition. It happened at Cleveland State.
JTV: Tough waters and tough competition on the Euclid Corridor. What makes diving stand out from other sports?
BJ: I get to steal two lanes from the swim team all for myself, sit in a hot tub when I'm not actually diving, and get intense adrenaline rushes from flipping and twisting so much. Oh, and at the moment I am the only one at Case that does it.
JTV: If you could participate in any other sport, what would you pick and why?
BJ: Ski jumping. It's like diving but higher and more dangerous.
JTV: So is cliff jumping. I could see a career as the less popular Evil Knievel. What's your least favorite part about diving?
BJ: Back smacks, belly flops, and landing on "the goods."
JTV: Just think of the sport before Speedos were invented. What's the high point in a diver's season?
BJ: Standing on the podium at conference.
JTV: Is the podium really greater than some of your jumps? That's an extreme medal ceremony! Do you have a favorite quote?
BJ: "Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere." –Van Wilder
JTV: I once heard a similar quote from Bob Niccoli about a different subject. So what's something most people don't know about you?
BJ: I've played violin since I was four.
JTV: If we play two truths and a lie, I am so going to win! If you could invite any three people to dinner, who would it be?
BJ: I'm having a hard time taking this question seriously, so I'll say Will Farrell, Chris Kattan, and Molly Shannon. We would go to the Roxbury.
JTV: I'm offended that you would try to take any of this seriously. I must not be doing my job well. If you could be one place but Case (like you would ever want to leave), where would you go?
BJ: Carnegie Mellon. Just kidding! I'd probably go on a cruise or something.
JTV: Not funny. Here's another chance: If you could be a girl for a day, what would you do?
BJ: I'd make a bad movie, just like Rob Schneider did.
JTV: Now you're 0 for 2. You dropped the ball, it's rolling away. Make up for it please.
BJ: Here's a really random thought. We need soap dispensers installed in the second and third floor bathrooms at SigEp. If a three-month-old maintenance request doesn't get the job done, I figure that a plea in The Observer might.
JTV: The pen is mightier than the sword. Well played. Finish everyone's favorite sentence: Diving is like a girl…
BJ: …because you get the best score when you go in straight with a clean entry.
JTV: Glad I'm taking notes. Lastly, what's it like being a sex symbol to millions of lonely Case girls?
BJ: They just don't ever give me a break.
JTV: I'm sure. But I bet it might be easier if you got them a singing Valentine from the Case Men's Glee Club next week. Try it!
