Friday, November 5, 2004
Blackout denies fans viewing privileges
Commentary by Chris La Furia
staff writer
The Buffalo Bills started the season
in slow fashion. Injuries and insuffi
cient play has kept the team from per
forming their best. Even though the
team has struggled through the year,
many fans have still managed to main
tain a level of support for their local fa
vorite.
Tickets for a game at Ralph Wilson
Stadium range anywhere in price from
$3O to $5O. Due to this lofty price, the
Bills have failed to reach an audience
over 73,000 people.
In 1973, Congress passed a law,
which today is called the NFL Black
out Policy. The blackout affects not
only the NFL and the teams involved,
but also the people who wish to view
the games on television.
The rule states that, in the event that
a home team fails to sell out the sta
dium prior to 72 hours before kickoff,
the game is not shown within a 75-mile
radius of the field and an alternate game
is displayed.
If you are a die-hard Buffalo Bills
fan, your thumb must be numb from
channel surfing to find a Bills home
game on television. With the seating
capacity of Ralph Wilson stadium
reaching beyond 80,000 seats, Buffalo
has found extreme difficulty in selling
out games. As a consequence, the ex
posure that the Bills may have had from
the regular schedule is now taken over
by other games in its place.
Women’s volleyball wins first AMCC semifinal match
Move on to championships this weekend
By Alyssa Peconi
staff writer
The women’s volleyball team has
been waiting for this week to come
since the beginning of the season. As
they finally arrive at the week of the
AMCC championships, their hearts
yearn for the title and their minds con
tinue to stay focused on winning the
games that lie ahead.
In the past three games, the ladies
have built up a winning streak that they
hope to continue throughout the week.
Phil Pisano, head coach of the women’s
volleyball team, feels that the team’s
chances of winning this weekend de
pends on how they perform as a team
and less on what their opponents do.
’’Overall we have been playing our
best in the last three weeks, have won
our last three matches, and will need to
be focused and energetic to have suc
cess this weekend,” Pisano said.
A conference game versus Medaille
last Wednesday began the Lady Lions’
victorious run as they swept their op
ponent in three games.
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Local fans have created uproar be
cause of the Blackout Policy. One of the
fine-tuned, most anticipated matchups in
NFL history involves the Pittsburgh
Steelers, who are off to one of the best
starts in team history, and the struggling,
but improving, Cleveland Browns.
The week-five matchup saw the
Steelers overcoming the Browns, 34-23.
However, the only people to witness ev
ery single play of the game were the
63,609 fans who showed up to the sta
dium, leaving many fans of the Pitts
burgh/Cleveland area exasperated at
such a scheduling flaw.
Val Pinchbeck, the NFL’s longtime
chief broadcaster and creator of NFL
schedules since the 70s, attempted to
explain the reasoning behind the Black
out rule.
Pinchbeck stated, “It is essential from
a business standpoint because you can’t
give away what you are trying to sell.”
This is the very evident and problem
atic scheme that has every NFL team
owner under its inescapable spell.
Once again, it is about money, which
is, unmistakably, the driving force to all
major sports. The vision of NFL own
ers, and the entire slough of corporate
bamboozlers agree that in order to main
tain the schedule of games on television,
crowds must attend the games.
Just this past week, ESPN’s Sunday
Night Football Game featured the San
Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears.
The ABC Monday Night Football game
included the first place New York Jets
and the dismal Miami Dolphins, a game
After that, the team traveled to
Mount Aloysius on Oct. 30 and again
swept the opposition in three games.
These wins improved the ladies’ sea
son record to 15-14 and an impressive
7-2 record in the conference.
Following last weekend’s win,
Behrend went into their first AMCC
semifinal match with high spirits
(ranked third in the conference) and
played very well to win on Tuesday
night against Medaille, who were
ranked sixth in the conference.
The lions’ again swept the team in
three games and improved their over
all record to 16-14, where they now
stand.
On Friday night, the ladies will con
tinue their conference battle when they
travel to Frostburg to play Penn State
Altoona for another AMCC semifinal
match. This semifinal match with
Altoona will be a rematch from earlier
this season when they defeated Behrend
in four games (1-3) at Altoona on Oct.
2 Pisano said, “We know that we are a
much better team than we were a month
ago, and feel that if we play to our po
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that has a history of magic with remark'
able comebacks.
The Bears edged out the 49ers in a
close matchup, to bring their record to a
paltry 2-5. The New York Jets, the only
one of the four teams with a record even
remotely close to .500, slaughtered the
Dolphins 41-14. Even though each game
had no significance whatsoever, they
were both shown to audiences around the
world.
The NFL has been formed into a mi
crocosm with its own successful
economy. With each team representing
an entire business, it is difficult to keep
up with the demands of each customer,
in this case each fan.
People need to purchase goods in or
der to keep the economy thriving. In this
scenario, people need to buy tickets to
the games in order to maintain balance.
If fans fail to support the business, there
are consequences, in this case, the Black
out Policy.
It may be difficult to build a schedule
during the off-season and hope that they
will be worthy matchups.
NFL executives have no intention of
depriving television viewers of seeing
the games that they want. Therefore,
some sort of meeting should be held
midseason to develop an altered sched
ule to forecast the games with some sort
of playoff implication or historical ri
valry.
If this is possible, fans get what they
want which will lead to higher tickets
sales, and the elimination of the Black
out Policy.
tential, we will be moving on to the con
ference finals.”
If the Lions win that match, they will
go on to play in the finals on Saturday
at 1 p.m. If the Lions reach the finals,
they expect to play Frostburg (who will
face Pitt-Bradford in the semifinals).
The Lady Lions are the ohly confer
ence opponent to take a single game off
of Frostburg this season, when they de
feated Behrend 1-3 on 0ct.23, so they
would really enjoy the chance to take
on Frostburg to compete for the cham-
pionship.
However, right now, the ladies main
focus is on their upcoming match
against Penn State Altoona. To prepare
themselves, they have been working
harder each day in practice and focus
ing on details, which have helped them
improve throughout the season.
“Now we have to believe in ourselves
and show Altoona how much better we
are,” Pisano said.
Pisano is confident that the Lions will
give this weekend their very best effort
with contributions from every player to
succeed as a team.
HOE
tions
Senior Spotlight
Tim Schultheis
Men’s Cross Country
BB: What are your plans for after
graduation?
TS: I am interviewing with a few
engineering companies now, but down
the road I Would like to get my
masters and possibly coach and teach
at the college level.
BB: What is your favorite memory?
TS: I will never forget all my
teammates and friends I made; our
results I would have to say, although
they were great, are secondary. Also
attending the NCAA leadership
conferance for a week in Walt Disney
World, that was amazing.
BB: What is the funniest moment?
TS: The new funniest moment is
always changing. You put 13 men in a
van for nine or ten straight hours and
when you are done your stomach hurts
from laughing so much.
BB: What will you miss the most?
TS: I will miss all the people, espe
cially in athletics. I had the best four
years of my life and the opportunities
were endless. If I had the chance to do
it all again, I would be back here in a
heartbeat.
*** AMCC Tournament ***
Women’s soccer
Nov. 6 @ Frostburg
Lady Lion’s take on Frostburg
in AMCC Championship finals
at 2:00 p.m.
If the Lion’s win they will
receive an automatic bid into
NCAA tournament play.
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The Behrend Beacon 111
Jennifer Baker
omen’s Socce
BB: What are your plans for after
graduation?
JB: I plan to continue my military
career and switch from the army
reserves to active duty.
BB: What is your favorite memory?
JB: The best memory I will ever have
playing soccer with these girls is the
trip to Ireland over the summer. We all
went out and celebrated Mitch’s
birthday four nights in a row. That was
probably the most fun I have ever had.
BB: What will you miss the most?
JB: I will miss my friends and the
crazy times we get to have together.
Sports trivia quiz
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
(KRT)
QUESTIONS:
1. Name the first coach to lead two
different franchises to the Super Bowl?
2. Who were the teams to play in the
first "Monday Night Football" game?
3. He was the first British golfer to
win the Masters. Was it Nick Faldo or
Sandy Lyle?
4. Which team became the Baltimore
Orioles in 1954?
5. He was the first golfer to use a
female caddie while playing in the
Masters. Was it George Archer or
Jesper Pamevik?
ANSWERS:
1. Don Shula led the Baltimore Colts
and Miami Dolphins to Super Bowls.
2. The Cleveland Browns defeated the
New York Jets, 31-21, on Sept. 21,
1970.
3. Sandy Lyle, 1988.
4. The St. Louis Browns.
5. George Archer's daughter, Eliza
beth, was the first female caddie at The
Masters, in 1983. She is now a
Presbyterian minister.
sions.
rice of 2!