SO I’m getting excited for summer. Which not only means an excuse to wear less clothing, it also means college football is right around the corner and this year the Buckeyes have a few more tricks up their sleeve. Not only will Terrelle Pryor, the the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder 2008 No. 1 high school football player from Jeannette, Pa., be joining the Buckeyes this season (who recently chose to play for OSU over Michigan) but so will… former Wolverines offensive lineman Justin Boren. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Boren plans to play for the team after sitting out the 2008 season, as required by NCAA transfer rules, which is too bad because I would love to watch him play the rivalry game this season. Boren left the Michigan program last month, saying its “family values have eroded” under new coach Rich Rodriguez. Hmmmm. So much for Michigan’s threats about a new coach to change the progam. Boren went to high school in Columbus Ohio and I applaud his decision to return to his roots… and to the better team. Boren is a sophomore who just finished the spring semester at Michigan and said in a statement through Tressel that he is “…looking forward to the chance to help the Buckeyes continue their excellence in any way I can.” Something that said a lot to me is the fact that Boren is making the switch, even though it means a loss of money for him. Under Big Ten rules, he will not be able to receive an athletic scholarship from the Buckeyes, which means he’ll be paying his way through the next 2+ years of college, simply because he’d rather play for the scarlet and gray.
So not only are the best players out of high school choosing OSU over Michigan, they’re transfering with less benefits. Smart move.
Third time’s the charm…
Everyone’s familiar with intramural sports. The athletic activities of soccer, basketball, ultimate Frisbee and the newbie of the bunch, tennis. These sports allow the general populous of the college to participate in sports with one another in a competitive yet friendly setting. However, in some cases, the even keel of fairness has been tipped noticeably to one side. Often times, the rules which should be in place to foster a competitive and friendly setting are completely ignored by those in power in the intramural sports department.
I have some examples from personal experience to use. During the Challenge League basketball playoffs the other night, there was a clear change of personnel during the #2-7 seed match up between Shake n’ Bake and Team Starbury. Unlike when the teams had played previously during the regular season of the intramural season, Team Starbury had a surplus of players on the sidelines. In addition, there were some new faces out on the court during the start of the game. Why is this? Because in the playoffs, Starbury input a few players onto their roster that were not on the roster at the beginning of the season or playing in games during the regular season. For one reason or another, new kids on the team were dropping dimes for easy baskets or spashing down 3’s from beyond the arc.
Now this shouldn’t happen in a league with rules which promote fairness amongst their teams. Regulations should safeguard against teams doing this during playoff time. However, there were no rules which prevented this from happening. It was clear this provided Starbury with an extra edge in the game en route to their upset victory in the first round. This has to beg the question of where the authorities were to step in and stop this from happening. Referees? Intramural Coordinator? Scorekeeper? Who is making sure rules are followed during the most crucial time of year for IM sports?
I have another example of rule-breaking from a game played directly after the game I just mentioned. During the #1-8 matchup between The Bell Ends and Shawn Kemp’s Legit Children, a fiasco between players on both squads broke out. Coarse and derogatory language, pushing, arguing and physical play broke out between teams. Even still, jawing was going on between players and fans of the game. Where were the referees to step in and restore order? Why was the clock allowed to continuously run during times in play where the situation clearly dictated that the clock should be stopped? Why were derogatory terms allowed to fly around like a football in a game of 500?
Something is clearly wrong with this picture. There should be a hard line stance here to prevent the things which transpired from happening in the first place. I am sincerely disappointed in the way this IM season has been handled and the way the rules are treated by those of whom are supposed to enforce the rules. I have no suggestions on what to do. It is not my responsibility nor is it my place to tell IM what to do. All I can do is read into what I’ve seen. All I can do is respond to the behavior I’ve seen exhibited.
Apparently the message here is anything goes. So I must tell you, intramural athletes of Whitworth, do whatever you want; the IM staff is okay with it.
Ah Soccer. It’s what the rest of the world is obsessed with (though under a different name) and if you have hung out in the HUB at all recently, you know how many people have clobbered around the television set in the coffee shop to watch the pros around lunch time. For those Whitworthians who love the sport, but lack a legit Whitworth Soccer jersey, there is infamous intramural soccer. Fun, but still competitive, these after-hour athletes pull out their balls in
One of Whitworth’s most humble teams is the legendary Aromim FC captained by none other then Whitworth’s own Kyle Ritter. “Aromim FC is the greatest team ever assembled at Whitworth, because we have more fun than anyone. We’re not the greatest team, but we have camaraderie usually only seen on medieval battlegrounds,” said Ritter. “Unfortunately, we keep having to forfeit because our team is full of extremely busy people (like Young Lifers and people who work like 180 hours per week)”.
Jeff Warner, Captain of Team All Day, also expressed busy schedules as a frustration. “A lot of times my players can’t show up, so I think we have quite a few forfeits,” said Warner. “but when we come, we’re a good team.” Team All Day faced off with Aromim FC this past week, beating them in what Ritter called “a heartbreaker”. “We fielded a whole team and we played them well. We had roughly a million shots on goal, but Pat Bech played like an all-star and kept us to 3 or 4 goals,” Ritter said. “It was fun and I accidentally yelled a cuss word once when I missed a shot.”
While Captain Warner loves soccer for the strategy and athleticism, Captain Ritter loves soccer, like being captain, for the side benefits. “It keeps me from getting fat. I mean it keeps me active,” said Ritter. “It’s also a great team sport, because we have Brian Stenberg on our team, and if you don’t know anything about him, he’s the most amazing athlete I’ve ever met and he still can’t beat the other teams by himself. You can’t just rely on one good player (except Pat Bech, apparently).” Moral of the story? Get Bech on your team.
The 2008 NFL draft is this Saturday and Sunday. The big question is who will the Miami Dolphins take with their first pick? Recently, it is said that the Dolphins have been having discussions with Jake Long, the huge tackle from Michigan. It is rumored that they are trying to negotiate a deal with Long, so he can start learning the Dolphins system as soon as possible. Last year, the Raiders selected Jamarcus Russell, the huge quarterback from LSU. They didn’t agree to a deal until training camp was done and finished. This has delayed his development and will hurt the Raiders this season probably. Jake Long is going to be a solid pick for the Dolphins and will become a great player in the NFL in my opinion. He is a franchise offensive lineman and is something the Dolphins desperately need. They actually need help at a number of positions, but this pick makes the most sense to me. A change in this years draft is the time given to each time to make their pick. In the past, team’s have had fifteen minutes to make their first round pick and 10 minutes in the second round. This year there will only be ten minutes in the first round and seven minutes in the second round. I don’t understand what took them this long to change this. They have four months to evaluate all the players and decide what players they need to target in the draft. To me that is plenty of time, so when it comes draft time they don’t need fifteen minutes to make their pick. Hopefully, all you football fans out there enjoy this weekends draft and your team doesn’t disappoint you.
It is that time of year when all the senior athletes are coming to the realization that they will probably never compete in the same way ever again. It is in these times that you have to ask what the meaning of sport really is. Is it merely the physical aspect of it that means the most, or is the relationships built and the comradery most important? You will always remember the big win or your best pitch or shot, but you will always remember those things because of the teamates you spend those times with.
Every team has a certain attitude. Whether it be a very serious business like one or one that is more freespirited, all teams carry an identity. I am a tennis player, and this past weekend was our season finale at the Conference Championships in Yakima. We were seeded fourth and left finishing a disappointing fifth. I felt especially bad for our two seniors, Ed Anegon and Scott Donnell, because their careers would not end on the highest note. Then I started to think about how the rest of the league treats us. We had other teams come up to us and comment on the Backstreet Boys video we made (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3EQZjAYHzg), and just simply enjoy our company. Our fun-loving attitude was rubbing off on the rest of the conference. Basically, the traditions Ed and Scott celebrated for four years are being passed down to us underclassmen, and that is almost more important than the sport itself.
Sports are sports, but teamates are much more. The lasting relationships that are created and the overall tone of the team is passed down from year to year. So as the year comes to a close, I salute those senior athletes who will be leaving us and thank them for holding true to the traditions of their sport and handing them down to others to carry on.
Last night, I am in my room primed to go to bed. It’s been a long day, and I want to go to sleep.
One of my roommates, though, is watching a video on YouTube. Compelled by what he’s seeing, he calls me and one of our other roommates over to check it out.
This is what he showed me. The squeamish and faint of heart (or stomach) might want to turn away.
Would you rather….
-have your favorite team play their rival in the championship game and lose or not have either team go at all?
-be on an average team that is really close or win nationals and hate your teammates (not that thats entirely possible)?
-be famous or make bank being an all-star athlete?
-be featured in Sports Illustrated or make the #1 play in the Top 10 on SportsCenter?
-listen to a game or sports talk on the radio?
-get paid 30,000 to play your favorite sport or make 100,000 in an office cubicle?
So not only is Terrelle Pryor the 2008 No. 1 high school football player… he also happens to be a very smart man. This decision proves it: http://rivals100.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=787763
I’m excited about this year’s playoffs. The Western Conference is unbelievably competitive this year with a small difference between the number one seed and the eight seed. The Eastern Conference will most likely come down to the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams shown throughout the season that they have the talent and leadership to make it to the final. For the Western Conference I have a little bit of a bias prediction. I want and hope the New Orleans Hornets make it to the finals. With MVP candidate Chris Paul running the team I think they have the ability to achieve this. There record proves that they can beat any team in the western conference. Now that we are talking about the MVP talk I would like to announce who I think deserves the honor. In my opinion I believe Chris Paul deserves the MVP. He took his team that missed the playoffs last year and brought them to the second seed in the West. Without Paul in the Hornets lineup they look terrible and wouldn’t have came close to getting the second seed. If you have watched Paul play then you would understand what I mean. His understanding of the game is second to none. He leads the team and is in some sense the conductor that everyone else follows and who keeps everyone else in beat.
Travis Jette
Who is Katie Staudinger? She is a tennis player for your very own Whitworth Pirates, and she generally plays number three or four singles and number two doubles. Now why in the world is her tennis playing significant? Well the women just finished up one of their best seasons in years, and Staudinger was as big a part of it as you can possibly be. They finished in second with a record of 14-2 with both losses at the hands of number one Linfield.
Back to Staudinger though. She came in as a freshman and did not lose a match all season. Let me repeat that. She did not lose a single doubles or singles match in the entire Northwest Conference season. To make it better, she did not even drop a set the entire year in singles. This kind of thing happens maybe once every fifteen years for a Whitworth player. It barely happens in the entire conference period. So a tip of the hat to Miss Staudinger on a rediculously good season.
If you see her give her a pat on the back. She is about 5′7,” rosy cheeks, probably carrying a tennis racquet, and if you make eye contact with her she will probably give you a kind yet awkward facial expression in return.
