Friday. September 16, 2005
Volleyball victorious over Thiel
By Mathew Turner
contributing writer
The Penn State Behrend Nittany Lions defeated
the Thiel Toineats in a non-eonl'erenee mateh-up on
Tuesday in three eonseeutive games 30-27. 30-22
and 30-15. This win marks the third in a row for the
Lions who improved their overall reeord to 5-4.
The match seemed to he in a deadlock with holh
teams taking the lead from one another early on.
The Lions rallied to win the first game 30-27. In
the second game, it again was a seesaw battle with
both teams claiming the lead for short instances.
With the score tied 16-16, the Lions caught fire.
They went on a 14-6 run that ended the game w ith
a score of 30-22. and didn't look back from there.
They opened the third game with a 14-4 run. in
which junior AMCC player of the week Elaine
Volt/ served lor seven straight points. Volt/ also
accounted for eight kills and 11 blocks.
Senior setter Amanda Evans gave the Lions a
WEEKEND SPORTS CALENDAR
Friday, September 16,2005
- Women’s Tennis, vs. Chatham, 4 p.m.
- Volleyball, at Westminster College Tournament, TBA
Saturday, September 17,2005
- Men and Women’s Cross Country, Behrend Invitational, 9
a.m./lO a.m./l 1 a.m.
- Women’s Soccer, at Mount Union, 2:30 p.m.
- Men’s Water Polo, at Slippery Rock, 7:00 p.m
Sunday, September 18, 2005
- Men and Women’s Golf, at Pitt-Bradford, 1 p.m.
- Men’s Water Polo, at Washington & Jefferson, noon
Sophomores Leslie Gentile and Eric Dilu/io look to lead their squads in this weekend's Behrend
Invitational. Both the Men and Women's team finished second in the 2004 Invitational.
boost early on. contributing 35 assists, live digs,
and three kills. Junior outside hitler Lisa Wagner
also chipped in with nine kills and 12 digs.
When asked about what the team needs to work
on. coach Phil Pisano replied. "We want to figure
out w hich team we are, the team that only wins by
three points in the first game, or the team that has
the easv victory in the third."
The team has high expectations for this season,
which is only reinforced by Pisano's comments,
"We expect that we will be one of the top teams in
the conference. We were in the conference champi
onship last year, so our goal certainly is to win [the
conference championship!, and then go on to the
NCAA playoffs."
Behrend continues on their journey for a conference
championship this Eriday and Saturday when the
team travels to Westminster College for a tourna
ment. The Lions then return home September 20
for another non-conference match with Buffalo
Stale.
C \
vJ
TORT
The Behrend volley ball team gathers for a quick huddle to prepare for their upcoming match
Cross Country refuses to slow down
By John Bigus
staff w riter
Men and Women s Cross Country teams have
been running 40 to 50 miles per week since the
beginning of June. Alter the first meet last
week, Brad Ruffo was named AMCC Runner of
the Week, jump-starling the season with a per
sonal victory. The Men's team has consistently
been ranked second only to Frostburg State.
"This year's goal is to finally get them.
"Coach Cooper said.
Veterans of last year's Women's
Championship team haven't slowed down
either. At the core of a new team of athletes are
Terrell Owens
By Chris LaFuria
sports editor
There's something about a
player who blatantly spikes a
football inside the opposing
team's insignia that really
angers me. I find that cheer
leaders should be the only ones
to have the privilege to carry
pompoms. Furthermore, there
is a certain time period allotted
to sign autographs and it does
n’t include grabbing a Sharpie
after a touchdown. For those of
you that have been dwelling in
television-deprived adobes, I’m
talking about Philadelphia
Eagles’ widcout Terrell Owens.
Terrell Owens is one of the
most natural wide receivers this
game has ever seen. He can act
as a decoy to open up the run
ning game and can go long for
a 50-60 yard completion.
However, his mouth and his
ego soar higher than their team
namesake. After receiving $7.5
million in the 2004 season,
Owens told CNBC in an inter
view that he needed a new con
tract to “feed his family.” Even
with the recent natural disaster
and rising prices, $7.5 million
is more than enough to raise a
family.
Owens may not be the first
person to mock and ridicule his
opponents, fans and even his
own team, but he is the first
player in any professional sport
that makes the world want to
take a timeout. After scoring a
touchdown against the
Baltimore Ravens, Owens
decided it was a good idea to
mimic the dance done by Ray
Lewis after a big play was
made. In the early portion of
training camp, leading into
Week One of the season.
hist year's Sara Lucas and Leisl Sorgel.
"They've put in a tremendous amount of train
ing." reports Cooper. "Since they've come back,
they've reached a new level.”
The goal in Cross Country is to score the
lowest and the ranks athletes achieve in finish
ing races determine their point score. The first
five team members to arrive determine a team s
score, the earlier team members arrive, the
lower that team's score. Stamina and speed rule
this competition.
This Saturday, September 17, is the Behrend
Invitational. Penn State's team competes from
11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at Behrend Fields.
has me T.O/d
Owens possessed all of the
headlines in the newspaper and
was on the lips of every sports
lan in America. I could spend
an entire day or even two dis
cussing how pathetic and
immature Owens is, but my aim
is to reach the media and news-
papers to take a timeout.
During the media's coverage
of Terrell Owens, the major
football fans missed out on
coverage of many other impor
tant stories. Many might have
missed the suspicious but inter
esting return of Ricky Williams
to the Miami Dolphins. Some
fans may have missed the trag
ic death of 23-year-old Thomas
Herrion of the San Francisco
49crs. Finally, die-hard fans
that track their teams may have
missed coverage of their squad
due to an “important" interview
with Owens. Like bad reruns
of Friends, interviews of Terrell
Owens seem to litter the televi-
sion screens of American
households.
Muhammad Ali was known
for his ego. Ali would stroll up
and down the boxing ring, flail
ing his arms and yelling, “I
shocked the world!” The dif
ference between Ali’s ego and
that of Owens is that Ali was
the Heavyweight Champion of
the world and Owens is purely
heavy weight on an overrated
Eagles’ squad. A leader and a
true champion docs not get sent
home from practice because of
a catlight with a teammate.
Furthermore, genuine men
can complete an interview
without the aid of an agent,
answering questions for the
subject. It doesn’t matter if
Owens signed a waiver, making
him responsible for any injury
endured in the Super Bowl.
The Behrend Beacon I
Michael Jordan played in a piv
otal playoff game with the llu
and rose above what was phys
ically expected of him.
In a 2004 interview' with
Playboy Magazine. Terrell
Owens was given the topic of
his ex-quarterback Jeff Garcia.
Acting like a junior-high bully.
Owens hinted that he thought
his former teammate was
indeed gay. First off, T. 0.. it
takes a real man to respect
another’s sexual orientation.
Second, just because you
couldn’t help your former team
have a decent record, doesn’t
mean you need to assume far
fetched concepts about others.
Even though Owens may
have a bad reputation as an ego
tistical, pompous jerk, there is
hope for him. With a loaded
offense and many weapons sur
rounding him, Owens may have
the utilities to overcome what
harm he has done to his name.
All T.O. must do is start catch
ing the ball, finishing plays in
the end-zone, and collecting
rings for the Eagles, or whatev
er team has the cap space to
deal with him.
Fellow sports fans, I am mak
ing a plea that Terrell Owens
receives less airtime than David
Spade. Players such as Peyton
Manning, who is heading
towards a record-breaking
career, Tom Brady, who out
shone Owens in the Super
Bowl and Ben Roethlisbcrgcr,
who is coming of a Rookie sea
son to remember, should be
covered way more than Owens.
Let’s leave Owens to suffer
from his own ego and not boost
his ego more by giving him
newspaper articles of himself to
cut out. Let’s take a timeout
from T O.