The Behrend Beacon
You bet,
First off, I am not writing about Puff Daddy or P.
biddy or Huffy Puffy or whatever he calls himself.
If you want more on talent-less artists go to
MTV.com. No, what I'm talking about is good old
fashioned mullah, the big green, the almighty dollar,
the, well, you get the point.
You see, it's that time of year, between Christmas
and Thanksgiving, when people are beginning their
holiday shopping and snow is accumulating
(usually). This is also the time of year when baseball
owners hand out enormous multi-million dollar
contracts to free agents in hopes that these players
can bring home a championship to their club.
Although we will not see the any contract as huge
as A-Rod's $252 million package last year, this year
looks like yet again one more step towards the
continued separation of the haves and have-nots.
Word on ESPN.com is that the Yankees, the worst
of the haves, offered Oakland first-baseman Jason
Giambi a deal worth $ll9 million over seven years.
I want to know where Steinbrenner comes up with
this money. He already has players like Derek Jeter,
Bernie Williams. Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens,
Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera, who, along with
Giambi if he signs, would eat up $lOO million of
The thoughts and general ramblings of professional snowboarder Brodie McNei
by Andy McNeil
staff writer
Life as a pro snowboarder is like a box of
chocolates, you never know what you'll pull
next. For one such rider, Brodie McNeil, corn
ing from Vail, Colo. to Mammoth Lakes, Ca
lif. proved to be his turning point. From his
start on the mogul monster to M 3, here are
his thoughts (many of them irrelevant) as
asked by the Beacon's Andy McNeil, Brodie's
cousin.
Beacon: So what's it like to be an old man
(23)?
McNeil: I wouldn't go quite that far there
greenhorn, but yeah, as far as the sport is con
cerned, I'm pretty much in my bedwetting
Beacon: Isn't your real name James?
McNeil: Yes, my first name is James, hut I've
always been Brodie. I'm pretty psyched be
cause girls react to hearing my name, "Oh,
like in 'Mallrats', and then get their numbers.
Women's Basketball
School C.R. Overall
La Roche 0-0 2-0
Penn State Altoona 0-0 1-1
Pitt-Bradford 0-0 1-2
Penn State Behrend 0-0 1-4
Lake Erie 0-0 0-3
Pitt-Greensburg 0-0 0-3
Frostburg 0-0 0-4
NASCAR
2001 Winston Cup
Final Standings:
Race 36 of 36
Pos. Driver
1 Jeff Gordon
Tony Stewart 4763
Sterling Marlin 4741
Ricky Rudd
Dale Jarrett
6 Bobby Labonte 4561
7 Rusty Wallace 4481
8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 4460
• Kevin Harvick 4406
10 Jeff Burton 4394
11 Johnny Benson 4152
12 Mark Martin 4095
13 Matt Kenseth 3982
14 Ward Burton 3846
15 Bill Elliott 3824
Jimmy Spencer 3782
Jerry Nadeau 3675
Bobby Hamilton 3575
Ken Schrader 3480
Elliott Sadler 3471
Ist_
iMIOII (311
St,rP's
it's all about the benjamins
the team's salary. How much money can one owner
throw at a club?
No wonder baseball is considering contraction;
there's no way the have-nots can compete with this
sort of money. That's why there are roughly 12
teams that are annually fighting for playoff spots.
The rest can't afford the to pay the high salaries for
the players that carry teams. The have-nots have to
rely on homegrown talent, like this year's Minnesota
Twins. That almost never works though. Just look
at the Pirates.
Even by eliminating two teams, baseball's
financial future still is in jeopardy. As long as the
bigger market clubs continue to increase their
payroll at a faster rate than the smaller market clubs,
the sport is headed for a breakdown. The Yankees,
uncoincidentally, are worth nearly seven times as
much as the Expos. You can't expect salaries to
continually increase without eventually running into
major problems. I'm just sitting on the edge of my
seat, waiting for an owner to declare bankruptcy
because he was too stupid to realize you can't spend
a lot more than you make.
Speaking of debt, commissioner Bud Selig told
reporters at a news conference to announce his
Beacon: Really?
McNeil: OK, I never get any didgies
Beacon: How long have you been a rider
and how did you become one?
McNeil: I've been riding for about 12 years
now. I started at this sledding hill about three
blocks from my house. I saw some kids from
the neighborhood building a jump and hitting
it. For the next few days, I wouldn't stop nag
ging my parents to get me a board. They fi
nally broke down and got me a Black Snow
Mogul Monster from Target. It was basically
a P.O.S. Just a plank of plastic with two ghetto
straps.
Beacon: That sounds like my first board
too. The real question is what's your favor
ite brew (alcoholic/non)?
McNeil: I really don't have a favorite: I like
"lawn mower" beers, Pabst Blue Ribbon,
MMMMM
Beacon: How much is Red Bull and Vodka
Men's Basketball
School C.R. Overall
Penn State Behrend 0-0 2-2
Frostburg 0-0 1-1
Lake Erie 0-0 1-3
La Roche 0-0 0-1
Penn State Altoona 0-0 0-3
Pitt-Bradford 0-0 0-3
Pitt-Greensburg 0-0 0-3
National Basketball Association
League Leaders
Points Per Game(PPG)
Player Team POS PPG
K Bryant LAL G 27.4
A Iverson PHI G 27.3
P Pierce BOS F-G 26.9
N Van Exel DEN G 26.7
V Carter TOR G-F 26.5
Points
5112
4706
Rebounds Per Game (RPG)
Player Team POS 'RPG
D Forston GS F 13.4
T Duncan SA F-C 13.3
K Garnett MIN F 12.4
L Wright MEM C 12.2
D MutomboPHl C 11.9
4612
Assists Per Game (APG)
Player Team POS APG
A Miller CLE G 10.7
J Kidd NJ G 9.6
G Payton SEA G 9.3
J Tinsley IND G 9.2
J Stockton UT G 9.0
Field Goal Percentage (FGP)
Player Team POS FGP
D Marshall UT F .603
J Smith MIN F .538
W SzczerbiakMlN G-F .533
S O'Neill LAL C .533
R NesterovicMlN C .530
SORTS
Friday, November 30, 2001
Personal foul
Mike Bello
contract extension that baseball owners lost a
combined $5OO million this year. Only five of the
30 teams actually made a profit. According to my
computer calculator, that equals $2O million for the
other 25 clubs. Hmm, I bet we'll hear owners crying
very soon about how they are unable to support
their teams.
If these numbers are true, and if Selig isn't
blowing them out of proportion just for the Senate
hearing next week on baseball's antitrust
exemption, then owners can only look in the mirror
for a source of blame. They didn't curb the wild
spending by general managers, and now they are
in Mammoth?
McNeil: Too much
Beacon: Favorite trick?
McNeil: Rodeo 7s, Underflippers, Switch B/
S 7s, B/S 180 double grabs, and the "Taliban
Tripod"
Beacon: Describe your style?
McNeil: Kamikaze Huckster vs. Smooth Tran
sistor- Lanky, hut I hope its smooth.
Beacon: Who's writing the checks/ hand
ing out freebies? Sponsors?
McNeil: Val ,Surf in California, 686 Cloth
ing, M 3 snowhoards, emagenetwork.cotn.
Beacon: So how many cars have you to
taled?
McNeil: I haven't "totaled" any cars, but I
just recently got in a little wreck, my fault of
course. I also "Tommy Boy'ed my door ear
lier in the summer "Whudchudewwww?".
Beacon: Are you a millionaire?
SCOREBOARD
BEHREND SPORTS
Men's Basketball Stats
Player PPG RPG
James Curren 11.0 8.7
Steve Merrill 10.0 1.3
Randy Conley 9.7 6.0
Casey Ponsoll 8.3 1.7
Matt Keith 7.0 1.3
Dave Hairston 6.3 2.7
Marty Timm 5.7 0.7
NATIONAL SPORTS
National Hockey League
League Leaders
Points (Pts)
Player Team POS
J Iginla CGY RW
B ShanahanDET LW
S SamsonovßOS LW
M Parrish NYI RW
D AlfredsssonOTT RW
Player Team POS
J Iginla CGY RW
B ShanahanDET LW
M Parrish NYI RW
P Demitra STL RW
P Bondra WSH RW
Goals Against Average (GAA)
Player Team POS Yds
B Boucher PHI G 1.50
T Conklin EDM G 1.62
P Skudra VAN G 1.75
J Hackett MTL G 1.80
P Roy COL G 1.84
Penalty Minutes (PM)
Player Team POS PM
K Sawyer ANA LW 109
P Worrell FLA LW 85
J Weimer FLA C 82
B ShanahanDET LW 80
D Brashear VAN LW 80
Goals
Goals
20
17
16
15
15
paying the price (literally).
The revenue sharing plan that baseball executives
said would pull the game off its teetering financial
pedestal a few years ago has done almost nothing.
The money the large market clubs give to the small
market ones isn't enough to help them land even an
average position player, much less bring the teams
out of debt. Revenue sharing doesn't seem to bother
the Yankees; their payroll grows by at least $5 million
per season.
Contraction won't help baseball either, because
the players on the two teams (most likely Minnesota
and Montreal) will be drafted into other teams. The
small market clubs won't be able to afford the decent
players (Vladimir Guerrero) and instead will be stuck
with the Derek Bells from the two teams .
Contraction just gives clubs like the Braves, Mets,
and Dodgers a chance to snag the players worth
multi-million dollar contracts.
Speaking of those, I wonder how many zeros the
likes of Bonds, Gonzalez, Alou, and Boone are gonna
see soon. Bonds, despite being 36 years old, is most
likely going to see a four and five year contract worth
$2O million per. It's a given he won't equal this
year's stats, and when he's 40 he'll he struggling to
McNeil: Nope.
Beacon: What was the last book you read?
McNeil: The Perfect Storm, I'm now reading
Tale of Two Cities and The Tao of Pooh.
Beacon: Have you won/ been in any con
tests?
McNeil: 1 won a game of horse with one of my
friends in Mammoth. As far as legitimate con
tests, no wins, but I've gotten third in a
slopestyle and ninth in a Big Air. I didn't com
pete much last year, just focused on riding and
having fun.
Beacon: Views on contests? Selling out?
McNeil: Contests suck, I get so freaking ner
vous, and almost never ride well. I guess
they're kind offun if you're there with all your
buddies, and it's a jam format. They need more
of those.
Beacon: What do you think about
America's War on terrorism?
MCNEIL'S RAMBLINGS
continued on page 16
Women's Basketball Stats
Player PPG RPG
Kate Costanzo 13.0 3.0
Erin Phillips 9.5 7.5
Erica Mozdy 8.8 7.0
Christine Charnock 7.5 1.8
Danielle Bemis 7.5 1.8
Crystal McGarvey 5.5 4.3
Carly Cochran 5.3 2.5
NFC Statistics
Passing Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
K Warner STL QB 3000
B Favre GB QB 2530
J Plummer ARI QB 2473
D CulpepperMlN QB 2472
K Collins NYG QB 2468
Rushing Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
A Green GB RB 938
R Williams NO RB 912
S Davis WAS RB 842
G Hearst SF RB 776
M Faulk STL RB 682
Receiving Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
D Boston ARI WR 1065
T Owens SF WR 970
K Johnson TB WR 891
I Bruce STL WR 842
J Horn NO WR 834
Sacks
Player Team POS Sacks
M Strahan NYG DE 16
K Biamila GB DE 11
C Clemons NO LB 9.5
L Little STL DE 9
P Kerney ATL DE 9
hit 25 home runs and a .275 average. Is that worth
$2O million? By these standards, Sammy Sosa, the
most complete player in the game, should be worth
$lOO million.
Baseball's future is looking pretty grim right now.
The growing disparity between the haves and have
nots might eventually force the top 15 teams to buy
out the other 15. Then you'd see ratings and
attendance fall faster than Pamela Lee's chest size.
Let's not mention the fact the players' contract
expired in early November. We've been fortunate
not to have a repeat of '94, but that doesn't mean
labor troubles won't come back to bite baseball next
year. Especially if the players' union and Bud Selig
lock horns over the salary cap issue.
Who loses in this constant seesaw battle between
owners and players? You, the fan. The only way to
pay for these salaries is to raise prices on tickets,
merchandise, refreshments, hot dogs, programs,
BEER, etc. As long as salaries increase, then it will
cost the average fan more and more to attend a single
game. After all, you hear about clubs raising ticket
prices all the time, but when was the last time you
heard of a club lowering ticket prices? Yeah, that
happens as often as Britney Spears wears bras.
National Football League
behrcolls@aol.com
Brodie McNeil doing, well, some sort of trick
PELT
BEHREND
LIONS
AFC Statistics
Passing Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
P Manning IND QB 2709
T Green KC QB 2344
R Gannon OAK QB 2324
B Griese DEN QB 2318
D Flutie SD QB 2195
Rushing Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
J Bettis PIT RB 991
C Martin NYJ RB 983
P Holmes KC RB 902
S AlexanderSEA RB 894
L TomlinsonSD RB 869
Receiving Yards (Yds)
Player Team POS Yds
R Smith DEN WR 1029
M Harrison IND WR 934
Troy BrownNE WR 885
Tim Brown OAK WR 862
J Smith JAC WR 850
Sacks
Player Team POS Sacks
J Abraham NYJ DE 10
M Wiley SD DE 9.5
J Kearse TEN DE 9
R Johnson SD DE 9
2 tied with 8
Page 15
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