The Behrend Beacon
The short
off-season is
long one for
racing fans
The holiday season should bring
cheer and excitement to everyone
who enjoys ham and turkey, pre
sents and mistletoe. But the begin
ning of the holiday season means
the end of NASCAR racing for
three months. Even though the off
season is short, fans can become
pretty impatient waiting for the cars
to take the green flag again.
The wait for NASCAR fans this
off-season will seem even longer
with Jeff Gordon, arguably, the
circuit's most unpopular driver,
dancing around with the Winston
Cup Championship.
Gordon clinched the champion
ship at Atlanta Motor Speedway
last month, making him only the
third driver in history to win more
than three series titles, joining com
pany with NASCAR's "King" Ri
chard Petty and its legend Dale
Earnhardt.
While Gordon's critics can't wait
to see the four-time champion de
throned, Gordon's fans can't wait
to see their driver climb one step
closer to Petty and Earnhardt's
record of seven Winston Cup
Championships.
For the old fans of Dale
Earnhardt, this three-month wait
will be a mix of emotions and atti
tudes towards the upcoming season.
For the first time in more than 20
years, the Daytona 500 will take
place without "The Intimidator."
Earnhardt meant as much to the
Daytona 500 as bread means to but
ter. The loss of the legend leaves a
bitter taste in our mouths and leaves
us memories that we just can't bring
ourselves to swallow.
Earnhardt will get most of the at
tention again this year when the
cars are being fine-tuned for the
"Super Bowl of Racing." But this
hype will be for a different reason.
It's a return to the track that took
Earnhardt's life; a bittersweet mo
ment for racing fans who can once
again celebrate the success of the
sport's most famous man, while
mourning the fateful day when ev
erything in racing changed.
The face of racing did change last
year, but it was for more reasons
than just one. A series that was once
dominated by a handful of drivers
at a time is becoming a series where
any driver can win on any given
week.
Ask Michael Waltrip, who won
his first ever Winston Cup race at
Daytona last year, or Kevin
Harvick, who captured his first
checkered flag in a car fit for a
champion. Check with Elliott
Sadler, Ricky Craven, or Robby
Gordon, all first-time winners in
2001. They can all tell you of
racing's unpredictability.
There were 19 different drivers
who captured wins in 2001 and only
Gordon won at least five, which is
a far cry from the 13 wins Gordon
needed to capture his championship
in 1998.
Every weekend, there was drama
on the racing tracks of America.
Whether it was the tragic final turn
of the Daytona 500, the photo fin
ish of the man filling Earnhardt's
shoes, the taming of Daytona by an
encouraged son, or the flag-waving
pride of drivers and fans alike, Win
ston Cup racing created memories
worth hanging onto and a future
that can't come too soon.
Six-month off-seasons in foot
ball, basketball, and baseball may
have become commonplace for
fans, but a three-month wait for
NASCAR is simply unbearable.
Lions prove early losses just a fluke
PHOTO BY JEFF HANKEY
Will it or won't it? That is the question for the women's basketball
team in the tirst game of the Winter Classic Tournament on Nov. 30
against RIT. Not everyone's eyes are focused on the ball, though.
The two girls in the stands don't seem too excited about the
outcome of the shot.
by Nick Nesbitt
staff writer
The women's basketball team made
a solid comeback with a win against con
ference foe Pitt-Bradford on Wednesday.
The weekend before, the Lions won
back-to-back games in its annual Penn
State Behrend Winter Classic Tourna
ment on Nov. 30 and Dec. I.
Senior Erin Phillips had the best all
around game by a Lion this season,
shooting 12 of 14 from the floor and add
ing 11 rebounds on her way to a 28-point
performance in the Lions 84-53 win over
Bradford. Phillips beat the former game
high point total of 23 she set four days
earlier.
Her 28 points also pushed her career
total past the 1,200 point plateau as she
chases Michele Madison's all-time point
record of 1,409. Phillips already holds
the record for most free-throws (390),
free-throw percentage (83), and field
goal percentage (53).
Senior Katie Weigold added 13 points,
BCS playoff system not so Swift, as usual
By Sam Donne Hon
Knight Ridder Newspapers
In his satire, "A Modest Proposal," 18th
century English writer Jonathan Swift's
solution to Irish poverty and
overpopulation was a ghastly but calmly
stated plan:
Eat the children.
The strength of the satire is its naive,
even benevolent, tone, which seduces
readers into following the author's rigorous
logic until the horrifying conclusion.
"Having turned my thoughts for many
years upon this important subject, and
maturely weighed the several schemes of
other projectors, I have always found them
grossly mistaken in their computation,"
Swift wrote before laying out his tongue
in-cheek plan.
I imagine an author of the increasingly
infamous Bowl Championship Series
saying something like this while "fixing"
college football a few years ago.
Come to think of it, I think I once saw
that quote on Bud Selig's wall, too. He is a
big fan of history, you know.
The difference is that Bud really doesn't
have a plan, and the Bowl Championship
Series is not meant to be a satire.
In fact, four years after its inception, the
organizers of the BCS still think it's a good
idea.
Which, as we now seem to discover
annually, makes it as bitterly laughable as
Swift's proposal.
Proponents of the BCS will breathe
easier if Tennessee beats LSU this
weekend. Then, its top-rated team, Miami,
will play its second-rated team, Tennessee,
for the national title in the Rose Bowl, and
rancor in the land will be minimal until
next year at this time, when these last few
messy weeks are likely to be played out
all over again.
And if LSU wins? Oh baby, cover your
ears. According to Jerry Palm, who charts
this stuff on a Web site, neither Colorado
nor Oregon can push past third-rated
Nebraska in Sunday's final BCS rankings
unless some poll voters change the order
they placed the teams from this week to
next. The Buffaloes trampled then-No. 2
Nebraska two weeks ago, 62-36, and beat
Friday, December 7, 2001
including three 3-pointers, to the winning
effort, while junior Amanda Mauser con
tributed 10 points. The Lions shot a blis
tering 55 percent from the floor, while
holding Bradford to a 39 percent field goal
average. The win brought Behrend's
record back up to the .500 level at 4-4.
The Lady Lions had only one win -
against Bluffton on Nov. 16 - before they
rallied for wins over Rochester Institute
of Technology and Albion to capture the
Behrend Tournament.
In the first game on Nov. 30, the Lady
Lions were matched against RIT in its tint
game of the year. Rochester was held the
entire day by the Lions' great team defense
as the Behrend won 71-48. Even though
RIT shot 56 percent from the field, it only
got r 9 shots off in the first tall The Li
ons stuck together for a 37-22 lead at the
half.
They came back out with the same in
tensity in the second half. The Lions held
their opponent to just 26 percent shooting
in the second half. Not a single person on
the Rochester team scored in double fig-
Texas in the Big 12 championship
Saturday, yet find themselves crunched
into fourth place in the BCS ratings game.
"Such a radical change in the polls
involving teams not playing, whether it is
done to benefit Colorado or Oregon, would
be unprecedented this late in the season
and would call into question the whole
integrity of the process," Palm wrote
Monday. "On the other hand, there will
certainly be people who say that having a
team play for the national title when it
could not qualify to play for its conference
title would also call into question the
integrity of the system."
What's wrong with that, you ask? Isn't
that a possibility at almost every Final
Four?
Yes, and that is basketball, where even
the best teams are expected to lose a
handful of games during the season.
Comparing it to football is, well, like
comparing babies to beef.
Plus, to get to that point in hoops, a
conference also-ran has to beat a slew of
conference champions. The Huskers might
reach the championship game because they
were lying in whirlpools last weekend
while others in the top rung risked
rankings, sometimes by playing head-to
head.
Top-rated Miami was tortured by its
perennial nemesis, Virginia Tech, but
survived.
Florida was dumped by Tennessee.
Oregon was trying to lock up the Pac
-10 against rival Oregon State.
Nebraska? Pass the Tostitos in the Fiesta
Bowl, please.
They sat and watched. Now, thanks to
the grand plan, initiated in 1998 instead of
a college playoff system, and revised last
season, the Huskers might make a national
championship game even though they did
not win their division, and thus could not
play in the Big 12 championship game.
Unfair? They sure think so in Colorado,
where, over a two-week span, the
Buffaloes beat Nebraska, then avenged an
early loss to Texas with a 39-37 win in
Saturday's Big 12 title game.
That's two wins over Top 5 teams in two
weeks for Colorado. Championship
material stuff for the Buffs, if not for this:
Junior Amanda Mauser passes to sophomore Erica Mozdy in front of
RlT's bench on Nov. 30. Maybe RIT should have used its second
string more, as not one starter scored in double digits in Behrend's
overpowering 71-48 win.
ures due to the Lions' outstanding defense.
Senior Kate Costanzo had 21 points, and
Erica Mozdy notched seven assists to help
Behrend put Rochester away.
The Lions then faced Albion in the
championship. Albion entered the game
undefeated at 5-0 but that did not matter
to the Lions as they won 71-64 in over
time. The Lions shot 40 percent and held
the Albion team to 36 percent. The first
half ended with the Lady Lions ahead by
a score of 31-30. They matched Albion
with 25 shots in the first half.
However, by the end of regulation, the
score was tied at 60. But it was their strong
3-point shooting that got them into over
time. They shot seven of 16 from behind
the arc compared to the 13 percent they
held RIT to in the second half.
The story of overtime was found at the
free throw line. The Lady Lions made all
seven of their free throws while not send-
PHOTO BY ERICH SCHLEGEUDALLAS MORNING NEWS
Texas Longhorns' quarterback Chris Simms fumbles as he is sacked
by Colorado's DeAndre Fluellen at Texas Stadium during the Big XII
Championship game Saturday in Irving, Texas. Colorado, despite
beating Texas and Nebraska, finds itself in fouth place in the BCS
Standings behind Miami, Tennessee, and Nebraska.
They lost to Texas earlier this season, 41-
7. That's a wider margin than the Buffs'
rout of Nebraska.
And . . . the Buffs' 24-22 loss to Fresno
State?
Those two losses negated any chance
for Colorado to play its way into the
situation that Nebraska sat its way through.
And think what might have happened had
that Virginia Tech receiver not dropped a
two-point conversion in Miami's 26-24
win Saturday .
From their couches, Nebraska might
already have been catapulted into the title
game.
There's got to be a better way. There is.
It's called, "The Way It Was."
That wasn't perfect, but it sure made
New Year's Day interesting most years. In
ing Albion to the line a single time.
Phillips led the Lions with 23 points in
only 27 minutes of playing time. Both
Costanzo and Philips were named to the
All-tournament teani. Phillips was also
named the tournament Most Valuable
Player.
The Lady Lions will be busy over
Christmas break with some very strong
competition. They host Penn State
Altoona on Saturday, travel to the Sun
Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. from
Dec. 16 through 20, and play at Buffalo
State on Jan. 5.
The Lady Lions will try to avenge
their disappointing loss to Penn State
Altoona in last year's conference tour
nament title game. They will play some
of the best teams in the country at the
Sun Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
fact, last Saturday - with all those ranked
teams playing each other, but not
necessarily in order - had the feel of Jan.
1, only without the headache.
That might come Saturday, should
Tennessee lose to LSU, which it nearly did
the first time the teams played this year.
Then, instead of eliminating all the debates
about No. 1 and bowl matchups, the BCS
ratings will have inspired such unwanted
offspring.
You can hear it already:
Benumbing Championship System.
Bickering Chaotic System.
Beyond Common Sense.
The BCS didn't start out as satire. But
even Swift would be hard-pressed to create
the delicious chaos it has inspired.
behrcolls@aol.com
Going to
Memphis
to study
basketball
ethics
by Steve Jaeabstas
Newsday
All of this is legal and aocording to the
rules. Whether it is immoral or flattening is
in the eye of the tebokler.lbese are the rules
of college basketball.
The setting is the University of Memphis,
the institution formerly known as Memphis
State- That's the school with the zero gtarh
ation mte As basketball pbyters, the school
that broughtlohn Cali* tocoach after one
suocessftd coach, Dana Kirk, Imo sentenced
to a year inptison for tax evasion amid alio.
gations that he passed money bum boosters
to players, and another coat:kirk Prkte, re 7
signed after admitting an affair with a stu
dent. It's never too late to do the tOttlftrig.
The player is Daiwa Wagret4whosatted
100 points in a game last seatxtrilkeCatatta
High School in New *say 61* hos
identified him as Met* 64*
tut thilitit‘
.
Wagner' 4 a 6-2 Pant nide It aim early
in the recruiting he would Coiro,. a college
that gave a scholarship to his best Wood,
Man limit% a ammo* one year *ad
at Candm who trabetqual* avadintiodk.
Barclay got the scholarship. The Memphis
assistant athletic dimoor, fit* Winn, sald
Barclay completed 24 ends as an ineligible
freshman and has played in each of the
team's seven games as a power forward.
Milt Wagner, 143an's fatbst ass% tithe
University of Latin& and a fanner NBA
journyman, votshkedasaxatiin raf
kethall operations even though he doesn't
have a col,lege degune. Sbadly ate,
Dajuanannmittedtolidemphisandadipatt
Athletic tlintelorß,C, kintsoo misquoted
inTheNewYorkilmesldsgieloalaitvontilt
as sayiughewasaikeracdgiloalfteles
lack oliiiewee and oc4oadtal *Caged
probably wouldn't have wanted Wl**
for Dajuan, but "I think it's pen of )1014
in& and We' WS Wipe The NCAA.
fionsthathiringibefathaloget
later no odes.
• • '',41410,0
"Merophedichi Lunt:ladle,
of tovaketteitiit 401-
lege spans. He is a &due grebe,
Indiana Urbanity and twellythe Mined
City Chiefs who is hued as:a la , wyfe bY
schools to peewit and connect wolaikin&
The classic piecekit was Lally lkown takr
ing on Ed Miming as tesitant at Kansas in
order to get Danny hotannirg, who led Mo.
sas to an NCAA deviant*
"It's a gowl question why that's ae.
cepted," Glazier said. "'The NCAA doesn't
have jurisdiction over who a crotch hers,
Assistint ditches weal charged with eau.
cation outside othasketball."
Wagner pmbably is 'mil qualified to
coach, and in annbination with adipad,
who coached dte New hmsey Nasky thtee
yews. liter& is attnagive as cc idi% to►the
NBA.
Tbiokiwurtomplesofeduoadcashmakt
be leposbories of ethical and mcxii think
ing matte Mated, like old tnik But just
a iniaule, thaes mom
Last M Niten dayallhan ham
_ and two friends were charged in Camden
with aggravated assault on adaaannat.They
were convicted of simple asiault. There's
no rule about recruiting a player on point-
Faced with Memphis' txkuattion recu
Calipaci made a:radio appeal and a fan do
need blimps to the athletic department,
which makes them available in a study mom
in case athletes want to do tichoolwotit
That's within the rules,
Cidipari met with Memphis-based PetP.
eral Exptess, which rend each player a
summer internship at 00'mi bort. The
NCAA said that was acceptable as long as
players actually showed up.
Ultimately thequertion becdines winders .
the player wants Lobe in college. The better
the player the less likely he is to slay. Play.
eis who are Wagner's height sekkat go
redly to the NBA from high scimol.Mconl
ing to the account by *III Rodrick
the Thanes, Wegner showed oil for the;ind.
versity pftsidem's meeting with *ken*
before she finished. Rochtk asked thgala
what courses he was taking. He tegard,
"Man I don't even know; nixermerths tell
me to go, I go." 'Plltir.l,
Memphis won five of its first seven
games. Freshman Wagner is leading the
scoring with an average of 223 points. Seri.
son tickets to the 20,000aera Pyramid have
reached a teconl 17.400. The student allot
ment of 5,000 free tickets were going un
used in the past and have been ratimati to
2.500 seat& Those have been unfilled this
season even though the =fined chaMpkin
pom - pnin squad alone is worth attetaknen
Whatever happen* to the **thy that
university sports program did not grist so
entertain the community?