Where Caught in the Grasp Douglas Smith AL: Trash talking has long been a part of sports. Do you think Jack Lambert intimidated opposing players simply because he took his partial out of his mouth? Funny thing is that the press seems to highlight anything that may be said that could possibly upset anyone nowadays. Should trash talking he highlighted in the news? Why do certain players always seem to he the ones on the news for trash talking? This topic is raised again because of Kevshawn Johnson's few choice words for the New York Jets prior to their match up this past Sunda. Johnson put down his ex teammate Wayne Chrebet despite Chrebet's constant contribution the past three years. Many of the New York Jets simply tried to avoid commenting on the statements simply because they know Johnson's personality. Football fans mav recall Johnson's famous statement, "Gi e me the damn hall. - It has come to he second nature for Johnson to open his mouth \‘ithout thinking anymore and with that it has hecome second nature for toothall tans to disregard anything he There is a lone_ list of players who use words to either upset other players or just to get into the spotlight again. John Randle, Warren Sapp. and Troy Edwards seem to he among these players. However, it is not just football players. Some say that the famous "our-nionuna - jokes originated at the foul line in NBA games. John Starks has been known to talk a mean game, and of course Michael Jordan •.could chat to his defender e erytime he stuck a jumper in his face. Behrend Scores Women's Soccer Sept. 2.3 at La Roche W 4-3 Men's Soccer Sept 23 at La Roche L 2-0 Volleyball Sept. 21 at Lake Erie W 3-0 Cross Country Behrend did not participate in any meets this past week. Women's Tennis Sept. 23 at Frostburg W 9-0 Sept. 24 at Penn State Altoona W 7-2 Men's Golf Sept. 21 at Riverside finished Bth Sept. 23 at Lake Erie finished 7th Men's Water Polo Grove City - Tournament vs. California Institute of Tech noloev 1 21-1) s. Washington and Jefferson I_ 16-1 vs. Salern-Teikyo L 10-8 vs. Grove City L 22 2 Sept. 24 at Slippery Rock L 14-4 'yam IP ' . 1 VY \ ,•L V" di h4 * .s. (ft 0 ) 0 Co is the game really played? Should the public think anything of these stupid statements? The professional players should not need aggressive words from the other team to get pumped up for any game. They are professionals and are getting a lot of money to play for a national audience. Saying that this past weekend's match up between the Jets and Bucs was "Keyshawn Bowl I" is a little excessive. Johnson knows he is in the spotlight, so that is why he continues to open his mouth. His production has not been very good this season, so he finds other means of being kept in the limelight. John Randle is one who seems to use comedy in his trash talking. NFL Films often keeps a microphone near Randle simply because he says phrases that mean nothing and make no sense. Screams and bellows will often come from his mouth to keep things lively. Michael Jordan was good enough to keep chatting in his defender's ear every time down the court. When the Chicago Bulls squared off with the New York Knicks in the year Jordan came back from retirement, he scored 5.5 points and had two strong opponents in the trash-talking arena. He was being guarded by John Starks and ran past Spike Lee every time down the court. Lee succumbed to Jordan's amazing athletic feat, but Starks kept on jawing as Starks scored 33 in that same game. In the end Jordan would win the battle, but Starks would not give up. Despite his travels through many cities, Starks continues to talk up his game, learning from the hest in the game mentioned above. However, Jordan was consistent, averaging 30 points a game. He was entitled to opening his mouth simply because he was the best. That is not to say that those who know they are good will he the trash talkers. AMCC STANDINGS t Standings as of September 25, 2000) WOMEN'S SOCCER School Penn State Behrend Frostburg Lake Erie La Roche Pitt-Greensburg Pitt-Bradford MEN'S SOCCER School Frostburg La Roche Pitt-Greensburg Penn State Behrend Lake Erie Pitt-Bradford WOMEN'S TENNIS School Penn State Behrend Penn State Altoona Frostburg La Roche Pitt-Greensburg WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL School Frostburg Penn State Behrend Pitt-Greensburg Penn State Altoona La Roche Lake Erie Barry Sanders was possibly the best running hack of all-time in the NFL, but always gave the ball to the referee after scoring a touchdown and never celebrated his achievements. Of course football fans see the best of both worlds as Warren Sapp talks up a storm on the field, but plays just as well, as he might be the best defensive lineman in the game today. Trash talkers have to be inventive now. It must be worthy of being posted on the opponent's locker room wall. The jokes about somebody's mother have been relegated to middle school. Johnson used the personal attack method saying Chrebet could never be as good as him. Chrebet played it off very coolly. However, Keyshawn just becomes stupid as a interview on Sunday showed Johnson saying he would play for the Jets again if the money was right. Here there is a case of arrogance. It is too bad because Johnson really could be a good wide receiver. What does this all mean? Well it seems as though the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder. Trash talking can be funny, and most of the time it is. However, many sports fans realize that it can be very stupid also, as those that choose to trash talk continue to run their mouth right up until gameday. On the other hand, teams will often get in battles through interviews, as is often the case in baseball rivalries. This can be very entertaining. Trash talking is a big part of sport today, but it seems to he the same players year in and year out doing the talking. Obviously they are good enough to stay in their respective league, so why do they feel the need to jaw. We do not need to glamorize it anymore by giving separate titles to the game involving the trash talker. Smith's sports column appears every THE SCOREBOARD Conference record 2-0 2-0 1-1 1-2 0-1 Conference record 2-0 2-1 1-0 1-1 0-2 0-2 Conference Record 4-U 2-I 1 -2 0-1 0-1 Conference Record 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 FTC two weeks Major League Baseball (As of 9/20) Overall 7-2 4-3 2-7 American League East Team New York 87 69 - Boston 82 75 55 Toronto 82 75 55 Baltimore 70 87 17.5 Tampa Bay 65 91 22 American League Central Overall 3-3 3-5 3-3-2 3-4-1 0-7 2-6 Team W L GB x-Chicago 93 64 - Cleveland 86 71 7 Detroit 76 80 16.5 Kansas City 73 83 19.5 Minnesota 68 89 25 American League West wam Seattle 87 69 - Oakland 86 69 0.5 Anaheim 80 76 7 Texas 70 86 17 Overall 9-2 3-2 3-4 0-1 0-5 American League Wild Card Oakland 86 69 - Cleveland 86 71 1 Boston 82 75 5 Toronto 82 75 5 Overall 10-1 5-7 1-6 6-6 0-10 0-1 National League East x-Atlanta New York Florida Montreal Philadelphia National League Central Team W L GB x-St. Louis 91 65 - Cincinnati 82 74 9 Milwaukee 70 86 21 Houston 69 88 22.5 Pittsburgh 66 91 25.5 Chicago 63 94 28.5 National League West Team x-San Francisco Arizona Los Angeles Colorado San Diego .d perfondknce does not mean end f the world for men's water polo By Douglas ~ ith sports editor improved with every game, which is exactly The „ men's water Po, to team struggled in what Coach Heynes asked for. Remember mu' pintever panes. The team lost to this was the team's first tournament ever. California Institute of Technology, Coach Mark Ostrzeniec leads the team with nine Josh Hey* . old team, Washington and san goal Salem. , an d twenty-one attempts. Brian Valor j e ff erso .. ,u,,,vrove ,4 MgOt and had eight steals over the tournament to lead StiPPerY,. Rock all in one weekend, but qd • Al l e n Haywood also played well. finalo the season tnderwa y . a big "This is a very very physical game under relief The_seoresmarlOok bad, but water, and the other teams had fast ec I s d,rolg the opposition had all played swimmers. Also, every team went through Water polo before, Behrend's chances were thorough ; years like we are doing this year," alreadtloW. The fast water polo game in Behrend's history was a 21-0 loss to Cal Tech. Behrend,then faced Washington and Siffarson.' Mark Ostrzoniec scored the first goal ever in Behrend Lions history, while Behrend lost 16-.1. Allen Haywwd had fourteen saves. Adam Demarco had one assist, four steals, and three turnovers. Behrend then faced Grove City and lost 22-2. Demarco had two goals, three attempts, four steals, and six turnovers, The game against Salem-Teikyo was theolosest of this past weekend as Behrend scored eight goals to Salem-Teikyo's ten. Ostrzenic had six goals, eight attempts, and one steal. Demarco added a goal, as did Brian Vallor, The last game of the weekend against Slippery Rock ended in a 14-4 loss. Ostrzeniec had two goals and Jon Harding National League Wild Card Team y-New York 89 68 Los Angeles 83 73 5.5 W L GB Arizona x-clinched division y-clinched a tie for wild card League Leaders (as of 9/18) American League--Batting Garcia parra, BOS .371 Delgado, TOR .353 Erstad, ANA M. Ramirez„ CLE .352 Sweeney, KC W L GB Home Runs Glaus, ANA Thomas, CHI Delgado, TOR Justice, CLE-NY 41 J. Giambi, OAK American League--Pitching W L GB Victories Wells, TOR 20 Pettite, NY 19 Hudson, OAK 18 P.Martinez, BOS 17 Burba, CLE 16 W L GB 94 63 - 89 68 5 74 82 19.5 67 90 27 64 93 30 W L GB 93 63 - 83 73 10 83 73 10 78 78 15 75 81 18 W L GB 83 73 5.5 ~CiTI=iR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2000 and Allen Haywood had one goal apiece. Despite not winning a game, the team said Coach Heynes. The team is going through some growing pains much as what was expected. In any sport new teams should expect trouble in the first year. "The biggest problem was setting up an offense and getting back to cover for de fense when the other team was on a fast break. Other than that, all other problems were expected with such a young team. But with game experience will come the knowl edge on how to play the game better," states Coach Heynes. The team will travel to Johns Hopkins for a match on September 30. They will then have a chance for revenge against Grove City, Salem-Teikyo, Slippery Rock, and Washington and Jefferson on October 7 and 8 at the Washington and Jefferson Tourna ment. Strikeouts P.Martinez, BOS Mussina, BAL Colon, CLE Clemens, NY Burba, CLE National League- Batting, Average Helton, COL Alou, HOU V. Guerrero, MT Castillo, FLA Home Runs Sosa, CHI Bonds, SF Bagwell, HOU Hidalgo, HOU V. Guerrero National League- Victories Glavine, ATL Kile, StL Strikeouts Johnson, ARI Brown, LA Park, LA Dempster, FLA 278 203 202 184 180 -Batting 376 356 349 338 -Pitching 342 208 204 199
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers