Page 12 The Behrend Beacon America's labor dispute I I " - Douglas Smith I know that our sports editor wrote on this subject last week, but I am going to touch upon it with a little different twist and then we will leave it alone. What did the possibilities of a baseball strike do for me? Well, for me, it did absolutely nothing. 1 am a diehard Pirates fan and baseball fan for that matter. There are a few of us out there who hoped the players and the owners would settle their latest squabble over luxury taxes and revenue sharing just so we could go see a few more games before the season is over. I have tickets to two more games this year, including one in Chicago. However, I am currently in the minority with this train of thought. It was estimated that the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams lost Men's soccer team earns win in double overtime play by Dan Vidal Staff Writer The Behrend men's 2002 soccer sea son has gotten under way, but Behrend has yet to find its game. Last weekend the blue and white played in the Fredonia Tournament before playing against William & Jefferson last Wednesday. The Lions have one win, two draws, and two losses so far this season Senior midfielder Jason Falk said 4 000 so im Es im mum mum mum I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Large one-topping pizza & your choice (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, or Mountain Dew) anywhere from five percent to 15 percent of their fans, per team, just by taking the negotiations to the limit. If they had settled the deal by Thursday instead of the deadline day of Friday, Aug. 30 professional baseball would still have a larger number of fans at the game. Fans have made their feelings quite clear before and after the strike. Many people in America are glad that it is football season. We will get hack to that in a few minutes. The signs at games were out in full force while the contract negotiations were taking place. One, father and daughter tandem at the Pirates game had the child's sign reading "Please don't strike," while the father's sign said, "Go ahead, I don't care." Another sign read, "Figure it out or don't come back...ever. - These are pretty powerful statements. You would think that in a year in which Major League Baseball is expected to lose $225 million, they would like to keep their fan base. The national pastime has turned into more of the national argument. Which teams should share revenue? What teams should no longer exist? What the heck is a luxury tax, anyway? All I know is that they should just ask Alex Rodriguez to give back some of his salary and the MLB will be well on its way. It is a shame that this had to happen this year. The Oakland Athletics just went on quite a streak, winning 20 games they can improve "I wouldn't call it a slow start," said Falk. "It's obvious as a team we need to start making stuff happen offen- sively." On Wednesday, Behrend hosted Wil liam and Jefferson. Coach Dan Perritano feels very optimistic about his team achieving their goals this year. Coach Perritano further stated."in or der to be successful today we must put away opportunities and play a I till Behrend of a 2-liter pop w 'hos) Friday, September 13, 2002 in a row. Many of them were in late inning comebacks. It really was great baseball as their amazing pitching staff showed why everyone has been talking about them since April. Miguel Tejada, my pick for MVP, played magnificently and there were even some unlikely heroes, like Scott Hatteberg. There are many individual performances that were threatened by the labor talks. John Smoltz is on his way to an amazing number of saves in one year. Tom Glavinc, at an old age for major league pitchers, continues to baffle everyone. Barry Bonds continues to crush the ball and have a great eye to lead the league in walks. Curt Schilling is making batters miss like they have never played a game in their lives. Alex Rodriguez has hit more than 50 home runs once again. Tim Wakefield has resurged in his pitching game. This is also the best of pennant races in recent years. Last year, was great with the Diamondbacks beating the odds, but that came out of nowhere. This year there are contenders that give everyone hopes. That hope is that the Braves and Yankees will not make it to the World Series. The Cardinals have one of the most explosive lineups in professional baseball. Would they be able to beat the amazing Braves pitching staff? The Diamondbacks are strong again behind Schilling and Randy Johnson. Also, the wild -card race in the National League game, which we have not been doing." Perritano is not in panic mode about the slow start just yet. He feels confi dent that his young team is good enough to be at the top of the confer ence when November comes around. lie believes that it is only a matter of time before they gain an understand ing and learn to play with each other. Taking 19 shots. four of them on goal, Behrend forced two overtimes to pull out a 2-0 win. Making the first College Special! was all tied up on Tuesday as the Dodgers and Giants face off in a very important series. The excitement is very high. In the American League, the Twins have captured America's imagination. Torrii Hunter is quite an athlete and everyone was rooting for the team that could have been contracted. Elsewhere, the Angels are pulling close to Oakland with a win streak of their own. How often are the playoff teams the Yankees, Twins, Athletics, and Angels? That is a very welcome set of teams. (Personally, I am rooting for Oakland vs San Francisco, but I don't think the Giants will make it.) Unfortunately, all this excitement for the nonstop baseball fan isn't worth much to for most others. As mentioned, many are happy that football season started a bit early. College football got underway nearly a month ago. Penn State got a win in the first game of the season and most people are looking forward to tomorrow's game with Nebraska more than the wild -card race that will be going on for the next couple weeks. College football brings an exciting shadow with it as so many teams are looking for a national championship. Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma, Texas, and many others have a shot at the BCS this year. In the National Football League, there are many people looking for captivation from Steve Spurrier's offense to the goal was sophomore Jeff Morris. Boosting the score during overtime was sophomore midfielder Eric Nyberg, assisted by freshman mid fielder Andy Lesser. Behrend will play at Brockport on Saturday and then return home to play Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday. The next couple of games could show what kind of season it will be for Behrend. These games are very crucial because confer ence play is not too far off and the Li $6.99 plus tax Free Del i very! 897-1818 Bears' defense. The comebacks of Edgerrin James and Robert Edwards have spectators on the edge of their seas.. The NFL has an expansion team while the MLB is thinking about taking some teams away. It may seriously be time for someone to rename football our national pastime. Football stadiums are always packed. Football fans even have to deal with horrible weather. Just think about the people in Green Bay. I really hope that Major League Baseball willrecover from this latest setback. I am not sure if it will recover though. If it does recover it will probably be sometime around 2005 and then the talk of more labor negotiations will be in the air. The Devil Rays, Twins, Expos, and Orioles (maybe others) will be trying to rid themselves of the contraction bug. Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, will probably sit around on his duff, like usual. So most likely the players will have fans back and then another possible strike will keep them out of the stadiums. If that happens, I may even be hurt. It will be a shame because so many records will fall and the game superstars will be emerging. Can you imagine what it would be like if Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Alex Rodriguez are all still playing in 2005? ons like to begin playing up to their expectations as these games approach. The first of six regular season confer ence games begins Wednesday Sept. 25th at home against Pitt-Bradford. Behrend hopes to have six wins when the AMCC Tournament begins on Nov. 6. I I I I I I I I I I I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers