Out o
‘Batch’ of surprises highlight
Ist half of NFL season
Can you believe the NFL regu
lar season is approaching its half
way mark already? I guess with
all the excitement baseball has
brought to the country, fans are
having a hard time keeping up with
the fast paced world of sports. But
the first few weeks of the football
season have set the tone and given
fans a sense of who to watch in the
upcoming weeks. And as you look
through the team standings
and the statistical leaders,
you may be surprised at
what you see. The NFL, so
far, has been filled with a
group of surprises, or in this
case, they can better be re-
ferred to as a “batch” of sur-
A number of teams that
were once laughing stocks
of the NFL are now making
a name for themselves as
playoff contenders. And a
batch of teams that were ex-
pected to rise to the top of
the league standings are now be
ginning to fall to the cellar of the
NFL divisions. And in a season that
was supposed to be the birth of a
batch of big name NFL rookies that
are supposed to be the next Joe
Montana, the real rookie stars come
in the form of, yes, another batch,
Randy Moss and Charlie Batch.
The world of football anxiously
awaited the NFL Draft this past
summer to see which of the two star
quarterbacks, Peyton Manning or
Ryan Leaf, would be the first over
all pick. Analysts were quick to
point out the strengths of these two
quarterbacks and what a valuable
commodity either one would make
for whatever team they would play.
But no one seemed to mention the
second round draft pick from East
ern Michigan named Charheßatfita,.,.
“Gharlie Batch? Who the heck
is Charlie Batch?” some fans might
udder. But the answer is quite
simple. He is by far the best rookie
quarterback the league has to offer
in 1998. An expected 3rd string
quarterback for the Detroit Lions,
Batch has proven himself to Lions’
coach Bobby Ross and is proving
himself to the league’s most domi
nant defenses.
He has not only turned the heads
of players, but by leading the Li
ons to a 27-20 defeat of the Green
Bay Packers last week, he is also
beginning to turn the heads of fans
away from those big name, unpro
ductive rookies, and is focusing
them on his arm. That arm will
enter Week 8 of the NFL season
coming off a 16-19 performance
against the Packers. He threw for
218 yards and for the third consecu
tive game, didn’t turn the ball over.
As for those unproductive rook
ies, they have thrown a combined
AMCC Athletes of the Week
Abby Crilley, Tyler Travis, and Bethany
Cummings all receive Athlete of the Week
recognition
Behrend has had an impressive tional this past Saturday. Crilley is a women’s soccer team’s second
week in the AMCC, as the sophomore from Harmonsburg, PA, straight AMCC regular season title,
women’s soccer team captured where she attended Linesville High Cummings comes from Myerstown,
the regular season AMCC Cham- School. She ran the 2.6 mile course PA, where she attended E. Lebanon
pionship and the women’s tennis j n is minutes. Crilley should be an County High School. She assisted
team also won the championship important addition to the women’s the winning goal against Carnegie
by defeating their rival Frostburg team entering the AMCC Champion- Mellon in the women’s 1-0 win. She
State this past Sunday at the Ten- ships this Saturday, October 24, at Be- then went on to score in the 3-0 rout
nis AMCC Championships. hrendat 11:00 a.m. of Frostburg State to clinch the title.
The Lions added to their week Tyler Travis also ran an impressive Overall, the week in the AMCC
by having three of their athletes race at Pitt-Bradford, finishing fifth belonged to Behrend and their con
named as AMCC Athletes of the with a time of 27:38 on the 4.7 mile tinuing success in the conference.
Week in their respective sports, course. Travis is also a sophomore These individuals all played an im-
The cross-country team had both from Edinboro, PA. He attended Gen- portant role in leading Behrend ath
a male and female rewarded with eral McLane High School before com- letics in the right direction heading
this honor. ing to Behrend. into the final weeks of the fall sports
Abby Crilley, in her first ever Sophomore soccer player Bethany season,
collegiate race, finished in 16th Cummings received a well deserved
place at the Pitt-Bradford Invita- Athlete of the Week for her role in the
BOUHuS JASON SNYDER
26 interceptions (14 by Manning, 12 by
Leaf). Manning, however, comes off an
impressive game against the 49ers this
past Sunday. He threw for 231 yards on
18-30 passing with three touchdowns.
Leaf, on the other hand, could only mus
ter up 88 yards in his error-free game
against the Philadelphia Eagles, which
saw the Chargers win 13-10.
Despite the surprising start by Charlie
Batch, he isn’t the best overall rookie.
That title would have to be held by the
Minnesota Vikings’ Randy Moss. Moss
is off to a Pro Bowl year in only his
rookie season. He has been instrumen
tal in the Vikes’ 6-0 start, and he is al
ready being compared to Jerry Rice.
That in and of itself deserves much rec
ognition. Moss is currently in the top
five for receiving yards in the entire
NFL. and has already earned the respect
of defenses, often times being covered
by the best in the business, as evident
this past weekend against the winless
Redskins’ Darrell Green.
Moss, however, isn't the only surprise
coming out of Minnesota. With a 6-0
start, the Vikings production must be
coming from someone else too. Randall
Cunningham is once again a force in the
NFL and is also having a Pro Bowl year
of his own. A one time unproductive
..quarterback for the Eagles, Cunningham
has changed his mindset and is now the
highest ranked quarterback in the league.
This was a quarterback that once had the
mindset of a running back as he came
close to rushing for 1000 yards in his
years with Philadelphia. But now, with
Moss, Cris Carter, and Jake Reed trou
bling the defenses, the Vikings could be
well on their way to the Super Bowl.
Another surprising team in 1998 are
the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons en
tered the season hoping to improve on
their shameful past and have done so
with a 5-1 record that has them tied with
the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC
West division lead. The Falcons, how
ever, just encountered a setback this past
weekend as starting quarterback Chris
Chandler went down to injury. The re
placement? The oldest active player in
the NFL, Steve Deßerg. Deßerg led
Atlanta down the field late in the fourth
quarter, throwing the winning touch
down toss. Wouldn’t it be great to see
the oldest man in football lead the once
embarrassing Falcons to the big show?
Crazier things have happened.
Speaking of crazy things, wouldn’t
it be strange that two teams with some
of the biggest defensive players in
football, combine for a 0-13 record?
The Washington Redskins and the
Carolina Panthers have defensive
names that sound like the starting line
up for the NFC Pro Bowl team.
The Redskins signed Dana
Stubblefield and Dan Wilkinson in the
off-season in hopes of
stopping the run. The
Redskins ranked 28th in
the league last season in
defense against the run.
One could only wonder
where the Redskins
would have finished if
they only had a better
defensive line. After all,
they already had a sec
ondary consisting of
Darrell Green and Chris
Dishman, and Ken
Harvey sitting at the
linebacker position. But
with the addition of these two multi
million dollar men, the ‘Skins con
tinue to struggle and are off to one of
their worst starts in franchise history.
They have given up a league worst
227 points and continue to struggle
offensively with only 93 total points
this year. Four more consecutive
losses would give Washington the
worst start for any team in this decade.
Who would have thought that a
team that won the NFC West title only
two years ago would be trying to
avoid a winless season this year, es
pecially after signing Kevin Greene
and Greg Lloyd in the off season?
Well, the Panthers have had their
problems not only on defense, giving
up 169 points, but also on offense.
With their “franchise quarterback”
Kerry Collins shipped to New Or
leans, the Panther* hep© to start over
and turn things around.
Despite the surprises so far in the
NFL, the league continues to host its
annual powerhouses. The Green Bay
Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and
Dallas Cowboys once again are legiti
mate playoff contenders in the NFC.
The AFC looks to have the undefeated
Denver Broncos (6-0), the Kansas
City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars,
Pittsburgh Steelers, and even the Mi
ami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders
challenging for a playoff spot.
So perhaps it is too early to tell
which teams will meet in the Super
Bowl this January or even who will
make the playoffs. But it looks as
though we will be seeing some new
faces in the postseason. Maybe the
1998 football season will be a chang
ing of the guard as a ‘batch’ of rook
ies begin to blossom and those one
time “laughing stocks” turn things
around and realize “those who laugh
last, laugh best.”
Sports
-
Intramural
Roundup
Intramurals
Flag Football
M, W, COED
- Games began October 14
Billiards
M, W, COED
- Singles and Doubles play
- Schedules will be posted Sunday November 1 Registration Deadline:
Play begins Monday November 2 October 30
Bowling
M, W, COED
- Individual and team competition Registration Deadline
-At Eastway Lanes October 30
- Saturday November 7
Recreation
Commuter Euchre Tournament
Registration Deadline: November 6
Behrend to induct new members
into athletics Hall of Fame
By Jason Snyder
sports editor
The Penn State Behrend Athletics
Department will hold its eighth an
nual Hall of Fame induction cer
emony this Saturday, October 24, at
6:00 in the Reed Commons.
As Behrend approaches 40 years
of competitive athletics, the college
will continue to recognize the teams
and individuals that have played a
significant role in the program’s over
all success. This Saturday evening,
in conjunction with Behrend’s 50th
anniversary celebrations, the college
will induct one individual and ten
teams into the Penn State-Behrend
Athletic Hall of Fame.
Former faculty athletic represen
tative John Grode will be the lone
1998 individual inductee named to
the Hall of Fame. Grode served as
an instructor in engineering since
1966 and held the position as faculty
athletic director from 1973-1997, a
span of 24 years.
Roger Sweeting, a former men’s
basketball coach, will have two of his
teams inducted into the Behrend Hall
of Fame this year. Sweeting led his
1966-67 team to a P.S. Common
wealth Championship, which saw his
team win 20 games, a mark that had
previously never been reached. Two
years later in Behrend’s 1968-69
campaign, Sweeting and his Lions
again reached the 20 win mark en
route to an undefeated regular sea
son. In those two seasons, the men’s
basketball Droeram went 40-5. The
1968-69 team also had one of the best
offensive attacks as they averaged
nearly 100 points per game.
Former men’s soccer coach Herb
Lauffer will also have two of his
teams inducted into the Behrend Hall
of Fame. His 1971 and 1978 teams
will be honored this Saturday for
The Behrend Classifieds
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Students and employees of Penn State Behrend are invited to submit a free classified ad in The
Beacon. Types of ads may include personal messages and items for sale. Maximum classified length is
25 words. Persons who submit ads must state their affiliation with Behrend. Classifieds are meant for
individual use. Official notices and group events should be submitted to the Calendar editor. Busi
nesses must pay regular advertising rates. The Beacon can not guarantee the publication of all classified
submitted for space purposes. Classifieds should be sent to the Classified editor at The Beacon, Reed
Building or dropped off at The Beacon offices, or sent to behrcoll4@aol.com. Deadline for submission
for publication in that week's paper is Monday at S:OOPM.
October 22, 1998 - The Behrend College Beacon - page 11
their overall success for the Lion’s
soccer program. In 1971, Lauffer led
his team to a PS. Commonwealth
Championship, which saw the team
win all four of their commonwealth
games, three by way of shutout. The
men outscored their counterparts by
21 goals when the final tallying was
complete. Due to the success of this
team, ; five of its participants were also
previously inducted into the Hall of
Fame.
Lauffer’s 1978 team went 7-6 on
their way to capturing the NAIA Dis
trict 18 Championship. The Lions
defeated Mercyhurst College twice
and gave Allegheny College the only
blemish on their record with a 1 -1 tie.
The 1981 men’s baseball team will
also be inducted to the Hall of Fame
this year. The men led by head coach
Shorty Stoner, won the NAIA Dis
trict 18 Championship going 20-11
in the process. The team opened their
season in convincing fashion, hitting
five of their record 16 home runs in
the opening game. The team is con
sidered the biggest power hitting
team in Behrend history.
The women’s volleyball team of
1984 will be honored this weekend
for their impressive season that saw
them finish 23-12 on their way to
winning the program’s first ever
NAIA District 18 Championship.
Led by head coach Jan Wilson and
the team’s three All-District perform
ers, the women placed second in the
Women’s Keystone Conference. The
’B4 season saw the women record a
total of 874 kills and 225 servine
During the inaugural Hall of Fame
year, the women’s basketball team
added to the spirit of the occasion.
In the 1991-92 season, the women
won Behrend’s first ever ECAC
Championship as they earned re-
gional and national rankings with a
23-4 record. The rankings were the
first for the women’s basketball pro
gram, and the 23 wins is still a record
for the Lions. Jen Banker coached
her team to a fifth place ranking in
the nation for defensive field goal
percentage.
Shortly after the success of the
basketball program, the
Lady Lions,softball team also went
on to win their first ever ECAC
Championship in 1992. Brett
Banker’s team finished with a 22-6
record that saw the women score
nearly eight runs per game. The
women followed that season up with
another ECAC Championship in
1993. The team won 29 games,
which are the most wins in a season
by any team in the college’s history.
In Paul Benim’s first year as head
coach of the Lions, his team’s 29-6
record was the fourth highest win
ning percentage that year in Division
111. Both of those championship
teams will be rewarded for their out
standing accomplishments in those
back-to-back seasons by being in
ducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 1993-94 women’s basketball
team will be the most recent team to
be inducted into the Class of 1998.
The women still remain the only
NCAA team in Behrend’s history.
They battled to a 21-6 record that
placed them in the NCAA Playoffs.
Roz Fomari coached the women to a
first round playoff victory against
Denison College. The women then
lost to the eventual national chamos.
The two women’s softball teams
along with the two women’s basket
ball teams that will be inducted into
the Behrend Hall of Fame this Sat
urday combined for a 95-22 record
in their remarkable seasons.