The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, September 16, 2005, Image 9
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.