BEACON SPORTS A new way to filter out the weak athletes and rank the superior By Chris LaFuria sports editor/csls()os@psu.edu Most people watch sports for the sake of the game. Others enjoy the camaraderie and compe tition that comes along with each sport. Seeing two teams genuinely battle for supremacy using their athletic prowess and advanced professional skill is highly admirable by most sports fans. Not me. I’m the sort of fan that’s in it for the action. I watch NASCAR races to see accidents When a player in baseball gets hit by a pitch. I call for a bench-clearing brawl. I watch boxing to see two foolish Neanderthals combat over who can waste more brain cells. And hockey, we all know what is most interesting about that sport. It isn’t even a debate. It is because of my sick and twisted pleasure of seeing fights and brawls that I am going to scrutinize professional sports and alter the ways that each sport is accomplished. I don’t care about statistics, awards or any sort of accolade that comes with each sport. My objective is to create matchups for professional sports brawls. Consider it comparable to MTV's clay fighting show. I’m going to pair off competitors of every sport to do the one thing America is truly aroused by: fighting. The first battle that I am sure everyone would pay to see is Shaq versus Kobe. Shaquille O'Neal, the towering force of the Miami Heat has had both on and off the court troubles with Mr. Bryant. Shaq's overbearing size would be a good matchup against Kobe's quickness and agility. Result: Let’s be honest. You take on Godzilla and you get burned. Shaq wins by way of T.O. Maybe Kobe could ask the entire WNBA for assistance. I would still side with Mr. O’Neal. The next battle most people would want to see is Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss against the Eagles wideout Terrell Owens. To make things even more interesting, this battle with be a cage match so neither can escape like a little girl. Both players have had financial tribulations and. basically, trouble getting along with the entire league. A cage-match is the only way to settle this. Result: Randy Moss wins by an Owens forfeit. I chose Moss because of how blatantly obnoxious Eagles’ fans are at University Park. The clash that will be one for the record books pins two teams of the Union in the Civil War against each other. I’m talking about the Boston CAMPUS SPECIALS MEDIUM 1 TOPPING & 2 20oz COKES LARGE 1 TOPPING & 2 LITER COKE ADD ON: Breadstix $1.99 Cheesestix $3.99 Chickenstrips $4.99 Wings $5.99 ASK FOR LARGE ORDER DISCOUNTS! JO NEED FOR COUPONS WHEN USING YOUR CAMPUS CAR Prices do not include taxes or delivery fee Sunday - Thursday 11:00 am -11:30 Friday & Saturday 11:00 am -12:30 am Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. MEDIUM 1 TOPPING $5.00 $6.50 $7.50 CALL 824-8282 Red Sox and the New York Yankees. There has been much debate over who is the favorite team. No amount of games can determine who is more of a favorite. With the Yankees high payroll and the recent success of the Red Sox, this matchup seems rather even. Result: After a long and arduous battle of evenly matched squads, the melee comes down to the two M.V.P. candidates, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Both players have led their team in every offensive category and have been a spark during their teams' slumps. Advantage: Red Sox. They don't call him "Big Papi" for nothing. There has been much debate over who will be the next Michael Jordan. Will it be Lebron James? Dwyane Wade .’ Ben Gordon? Dwight Howard'.' We all know that there won’t be another bailer like Mike for a verv long time No one flew as high as Jordan and no single per son did as much for basketball as he did. The only way to solve this whole dilemma is a tag team style event putting all of the newcomers against Jordan. Everyone vying for #23’s crown will have to literally and physically challenge the wan. Result: 1 do think Michael Jordan is the king of till basketball players. However, just like his records, his fighting ability won’t last forev er. Let’s be serious, the man is 42 years old. After taking out Wade, Gordon, and Howard eas ily, Jordan struggles with James. After a 12- round buttle. James narrowly escapes, proving superior. This battle may be a metaphor for what’s to come in James' career. In an All-Asian competition, I would like to place Hideki Matsui against Ichiro Suzuki to see which Japanese ballplayer is more superior. Ichiro, whose hitting ability is second only to Ty Cobb himself, has been impressing baseball fans ever since he began to play in the Majors. Hideki Matsui is a hitting force as well as a sure handed leftfielder for the Yanks. Appalled by the recent invasion of Matsui on his American territory, Ichiro decides to challenge him to a duel. Result: Have you seen the physique of Hideki Matsui? He's a monster. Matsui con- quers Ichiro and claims himself the champion of Japanese professional sports. His next match will be against Yao Ming to decide the overall Asian champ. Dan Marino was one of the best quarterbacks to ever play professional football. His lack of a Superßowl title will never diminish what he accomplished while in the league. Presently, there is a quarterback who possesses the same exact traits as Marino, a cannon arm, lack of mobility, and failure in winning titles. That quarterback is Peyton Manning. Recently, Manning broke Marino’s touchdown record, Manning is trying to become the best quarter back that will never win a Superßowl, because, let's face it, he will never be surrounded by the type of weapons needed to win a championship, equivalent to Marino. But, once again, I don’t care about statistics or accolades. The only way to solve this is to have Peyton Manning fight the 1984 version of Dan Marino (1984 being the year he threw 48 touchdowns). Result: Marino revenges the loss of his record and throws a cheap shot at Peyton's throwing arm, his only valuable device. Way to win a championship the Sophomore defenseman Brent Gailey looks to dribble the ball in the open field in Behrend’s last game. Thi men’s soccer team looks to improve as the season approaches the end and the postseason is in sight. Amidst accolades, men’s soccer improves By Emily Zimmerman staff writer/egzsooo@psu.edu The men's soccer team had two games this week. Another win on October 1 against La Roche College and a loss at home against Lake Erie College on the fifth. This brought the team to seven wins, three losses and no ties. The team was strong at the La Roche game. Goalie Matt Zimsak saved the goal two times, and kept the goal clear of any points. Jamie Thomas, Ahmad Salim, Marcus Taylor and Bryan Blaszczyk all scored on La Roach. Blaszczyk scored the game winning goal. Behrend won the game with a score of 1-0. Head Coach Dan Perritano said, “La Roche was their best defeat.” This is easy to see when the team defended their goal so well. The second game did not go quite as well, Behrend hockey starts up this week By Emily Zimmerman staff writer/egzsooo@psu.edu The Hockey Club starts their season on Sunday at the Igloo Ice rink on Station road at 5:15 p.m. against Youngstown State. The team has had a large fol lowing, estimated at about 250 people. Senior Rich Sgrignoli, the president of the hockey club, said, “I expect this to be a great season. We have many strong returning players and we have an excellent freshmen class.” The team has a Blue and White game on Saturday before. This will be at 9:30, also at the Igloo Ice rink. With such a large following, it is hard to believe that hockey has yet to become a varsity sport here at Behrend. However, after speaking with Chancellor Burke, and Brian Streeter the Athletic Director the estimated cost of hockey per year is about $90,000 per year. This does not include the cost of the rink. It is cost ing the team $l5O, two to three times a week, just to practice Maks sports action, sppipss* . The Behrend Beacon I 10 despicable way Dannyboy! I would just like to clarity that I am not one to condone fighting whatsoever. 1 just teel that it would really elevate the popularity of each sport, thus, increasing revenue and tan participation. Besides, no one goes to NASCAR to see cars perpetually circle a road and no one goes to hockey to watch the puck get slapped around. To provoke interest in the professional sports and to take away from the financial focus that has decimated sports, as we know them, fighting is the only answer. It may be rather primitive, however, it would solve most ot sports fans questions. however. Lake Erie's Rraya Justin scored the only goal in overtime. Although Zirnsak blocked the other three attempts, however Behrend still did not score. Freshmen Marco Loffreda-Mancilli, a forward on the team stated, “Yesterday was disappoint ing to lose. We controlled most of the game, just didn't finish our chances." Bryan Blaszcyk was named the ECAC divi sion's pLycr of the week, as well as Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the " Week. Perritano said, “This honor is a product of hard work and our team’s ability to defend, and Bryan’s distinction is a product of that over all team ability.” The team has its next game on October 8 at Pitt-Greensburg at 3 p.m. The next home game will take place on October 11 against Pitt- Bradford at 4 p.m. for one hour. This would rise to about 18 hours a week as a varsity sport. Burke stated, “I’d love to have it here one day.” For this to be feasible, great support from alumni would be imperative. Tthe original plans for the Junker Center did include an ice rink; however, the funding ran out. Both Burke and Streeter recog nize that the rink would bring in revenue by renting out ice time to the public, as well as provide more classes available for the students at Behrend. In 1991, Mercyhurst College added their ice rink facility at a price of $1.4 million. The cost has only gone up since then. After adding 11 sports in the past seven years, as well as the Junker Center, Behrend’s budget cannot accomodate every need and want of its stu dents. The track and field teams are most likely to receive a facility next. In fact, not a single Penn State school has a varsity hockey team. There is not even a single division 111 team Friday, October 7, 2005 Ennl> Zimmerman/ THE in Pennsylvania for hockey. Therefore, our men would have to travel to New York State within the ECAC West division for games, increasing their costs for travel. Other ccontributing costs include the coaching staff, another athletic trainer, recruit ing, scholarships, insurance costs, more certified equipment and maintenance of the equip ment. Hockey is one of the most expensive sports to main tain. It costs our men $950, twhich they must fundraise on their own to play each year. They receive $6,000 from the Student Activity Fee every year as well. The club has been around for seven years as a club team, and they are developing their skill every year. Junior forward Josh Grumski thinks this year will be “very good, I have high expectations.” The team is working hard on and off the ice with weight lifting and condi tioning”
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