FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2000
Where's the Olympic spirit?
Despite the humorous but pitiful The most obvious change that has
attempt of two men occurred over the past 104 years and
probably a legitimate argument as to
Out of Bounds
why people have lost interest, is the
110
constant addition of events to the
Jason Snyder games. There used to be events
tl4O that fell under the Olympic motto
• of ci ius, altius, fortius" (swifter,
higher, stronger). But now, I don't
to swipe the think table tennis, taekwondo, and
Olympic sailing quite represent that motto.
torch last Sports that do? Track and field,
swimming, gymnastics, wrestling and
maybe the team sports that have grown
in popularity worldwide.
Tradition might be one reason for the
lack of interest, but if that's the case,
then why were the Atlanta Olympics so
popular just four years ago?
It would be easy to say that the reason
the Sydney Games aren't as popular in
the U.S. as they were four years ago is
because the games simply aren't in the
U.S. And that may be one explanation
for it. But even more important than the
simple location is the implications that
the location can have towards the
Americans' experience of the games.
Opening ceremonies in Atlanta
consisted of Muhammed Ali lighting the
Olympic flame. In Sydney... Cathy
Freeman. I'm sure almost all
Americans know who Ali is and what
he stands for in American athletics. But
Cathy Freeman? I don't think the name
rings a bell or hits the heart of
Americans like the famous boxer's
Olympic flame still burns over the
competitors at the 2000 Olympic Games
in Sydney, Australia. And although the
flame has survived the trek through the
land down under, we still wonder why
the flame that once burned for the glory
and spirit of the games now is just a
glaring example of how that glory and
spirit are going up in flames
Maybe the observation of the dying
Olympic spirit isn't as evident in other
parts of the world, but in the United
States there can be no dispute that these
games aren't as glorified as the Atlanta
Games four years ago. And it's even
more obvious that these games fall way
short of what the Olympics stood for in
the first three-fourth's of the 1900 s.
We see the Olympics with a strong
sense of tradition and if asked, most
people would probably say that the
games have maintained basically the
same principles as they did in 1896,
when the first "modern Olympics" were
held. But many things have changed
since the opening ceremonies in Athens,
Greece
Behrend Scores
Women's Soccer
Sept. 14 at Grove City W 1-0
(OT)
Sept. 16 Vs. Mount Union W 2-
Sept 20 Vs. Pitt-Bradford W 3-0
Men's Soccer
Sept. 13 Vs. Washington and
Jefferson T 1-1 (20T)
Sept. 16 Vs. Bethany Ll-3
Sept. 18 at John Carroll L 1-3
sept. 20 Vs. Pitt-Bradford W 8-0
Volleyball
Sept. 19 Vs. Buffalo State W 3-1
Cross Country
Behrend Cross Country Invita
tional
Men finished 11th
Women finished Bth
Women's Tennis
Sept. 14 at Buffalo State Post
poned
Behrend Invitational Sept. 16
Vs. Bethany W 5-0
Vs. John Carroll W 4-1
Vs. Allegheny L 3-2
Sept. 17 Vs. Frostburg W 9-0
Men's Golf
Sept. 12 at Pitt-Greensburg
Finished 12
Sept. 16 at Pitt-Bradford
Finished 12
week, the
name does.
That may explain the loss of appeal in
the past four years. but where has the
(Standings as of September 18, 2000)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
School
Lake Erie
La Roche
Frostburg
Pitt-Greensburg
Penn State Behrend
Pitt-Bradford
MEN'S SOCCER
School
Pitt-Greensburg
Frostburg
La Roche
Lake Erie
Penn State Behrend
Pitt-Bradford
WOMEN'S TENNIS
School
Record
Penn State Behrend
Penn State Altoona
Frostburg
La Roche
Pitt-Greensburg
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
School
Pitt-Bradford
Frostburg
Penn State Altoona
Penn State Behrend
Pitt-Greensburg
La Roche
AMC( STANDINGS
Conference record Overall
1-0 1-3
1-1 3-2
1-1 2-3
0-1 0-4
0-0 5-2
0-0 1-5
Conference record Overall
1-0 3-2-2
1-0 2-3
0-1 1-5
0-1 0-3
0-0 2-2-1
0-0 2-4
Conference Record Overall
cs 4
SPORTS
competitive spirit gone over the past 20
years? It seems as if our country has
always had some sort of competitive
rival that we had to defeat, for pride's
sake rather than a medal count, which
seems to be the only story line this
summer.
For Americans, Jesse Owens set the
standard when he ran a dagger through
the heart and pride of Adolf Hitler and
Nazi Germany. The track and field star
represented America's superiority over
the dictator through athleticism rather
than violence. And even though the
event didn't end the horror of the
Second World War, it still should have
given Americans a sense of
accomplishment by embarrassing Hitler
on his home turf.
During the whole "communist scare"
of the second half of the 1900 s,
Americans sitting at home could take
satisfaction in a U.S. victory over
Russia specifically and any other
communist country that was aiding in
taking over the world. The Cold War
heated up the Olympics more than the
heated individual competitions do now.
Take the U.S. hockey victory over the
USSR in 1980. If the U.S. would have
beaten Canada or Spain, the victory
wouldn't have been so grand. It was the
elation of beating a powerhouse. More
specifically, a powerhouse that the
United States was in a race with to be
the ultimate world power.
Since the Cold War, there hasn't been
a reason for a rival to form. There
hasn't been a country that the American
people could take joy in defeating. The
1-0
1-0
1-1
0-1
0-1
Overall Record
7-4
5-1
4-5
3-7
0-6
0-8
Major League
Baseball
(As of 9/20)
American League East
Team W L GB
New York 85 64 -
Boston 79 70 6
Toronto 79 71 7
Baltimore 66 85 20
Tampa Bay 61 89 24.5
American League Central
T am W L GB
Chicago 89 61 -
Cleveland 80 67 7.5
Detroit 74 77 15.5
Kansas City 70 81 19.5
Minnesota 65 84 23.5
American League West
Team W L GB
Seattle 85 66 -
Oakland 81 67 2.5
Anaheim 76 74 8.5
Texas 69 82 16
American League Wild Card
Team W L GB
Oakland 81 67 -
Cleveland 80 67 .5
Boston 79 70 2.5
Toronto 79 71 3
National League East
Team W L GB
Atlanta 89 61 -
New York 85 65 4
Florida 71 79 18
Montreal 64 86 25
Philadelphia 62 87 26.5
National League Central
W L GB
St. Louis 89 61 -
Cincinnati 79 72 10.5
Houston 67 83 22
Milwaukee 65 85 24
Pittsburgh 62 88 27
Chicago 60 90 29
National League West
Team W L GB
San Francisco 89 60 -
79 69 9.5
79 72 11
76 73 13
72 78 17.5
Arizona
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Diego
.
#
4 ..0" "
.46
PHOTO BY KAREN T BORCHERS (TMS)
Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman stands in the cauldron after lighting it with the
Olympic torch during ceremonies marking the opening of the 25th Summer Olym
pic Games in Sydney, on Friday, September 15. The lighting of this year's caul-
dron isn't as momentous an occasion for Americans as Muhammed Ali's lighting in
1996. This is partly why the Olympics in Sydney has lost some appeal in the U.S.
athletes, when standing in front of the
American flag, see what they've done
as an individual accomplishment rather
than an American statement.
It used to send chills up the spines of
Americans to see the American flag
hung proudly above the flag of Nazi
Germany or the USSR. Now, we see
our flag above many different flags.
This may represent a more even field
among all countries excluding the U.S.,
but everyone would rather see a one-on-
National League Wild Card
Team W L GB
85 65 -
79 69 5
New York
Arizona
League Leaders
(as of 9/18)
American League--Batting
Batting Average
Garcia parra, BOS
Erstad, ANA
Delgado, TOR
M. Ramirez„ CLE
Sweeney, KC
Home Runs
Thomas, CHI 42
Glaus, ANA 41
Delgado, TOR 40
Batista, TOR 38
J. Giambi, OAK 38
American League--Pitching
Victories
Wells, TOR
Pettite, NY
P.Martinez, BOS
Hudson, OAK
Burba, CLE
one medal race than a one country
landslide.
So where has the Olympic Spirit
gone? It has decreased with the
increase of peace. Fortunately, the
Olympic Spirit is still burning. .
Unfortunately, it may take another
World War or race for World Power for
it to burn as bright as it did when bombs
were flying and countries were at odds.
Snyder's sports column appears
every two weeks
Strikeouts
P.Martinez, BOS
Colon, CLE
Mussina, BAL
Clemens, NY
Finley, CLE
National League--Batting
Batting Average
Helton, COL .376
Alou, HOU .359
V. Guerrero, MT .357
Hammonds, COL .338
Castillo, FLA .337
35'3
350
339
Home Runs
Sosa, CHI 50
Bonds, SF 47
Bagwell, HOU 44
Sheffield, LA 41
Edmonds, StL 40
National League--Pitching
Victories
Glavine, ATL 19
Kyle, StL 19
Strikeouts
Johnson, ARI 326
Brown, LA 195
Astacio, COL 193
Leiter, NY 193
Dempster, FLA 191
F
'~~a~ ' ~~
269
194
188
179
173