The Behrend Beacon I 4
The Behrend
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Hockey deserves some love, too
By Ryan Gallagher
music editor
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Baseball. Basketball. Football.
Hockey. The major sports of the United
States. Each sport has respectable qual
ities. which the average sport enthusiast
is well aware of. so I will not dim this
article with a boring list. I would like to
say that I respect each sport entirely and
I am not bashing any of them, but 1 will
enhance the fine aspects of hockey
through some words of my own. (P.S.
the primary focus of this article is on
watching the sport - playing the sport is
a completely different issue. And if you
disagree with my views, please don't
validate your critiques by saying that 1
am just a lazy guy that could never play
sports, because I do.)
Hockey, in my mind, is the greatest
sport out there (besides Ultimate
Frisbee. naturally). It is the only sport
that continuously treats us with unique
plays w'hich differentiate at each passing
moment. Baseball is based on tradition.
The object is either to make contact with
the ball and ultimately score a run. or to
eliminate this event if you are in the
field. Each play is similar, providing us
with little variation each time. Again, I
would like to reiterate that I'm not bash
ing it - it's a terrific sport - I'm just
pointing out a few minor Haws.
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Olympics more political than athletic
Bv Rachel Reeves
opinion editor
rcrs<>s7(p psu.edu
Just lour months from the opening
ceremonies of the 2008 Summer
Olympics. China is struggling with
their controversial foreign affairs,
and the impact they may have on the
success of this year's Games.
Uprisings began in Tibet on
March 14: just two days after the
United States dropped China from
its list of the Top Ten Violators of
Human Rights. China's strong
response sparked controversy from
most of the free world. So far 660
people involved in Tibetan revolt
have been arrested, and the Chinese
government reports that 19 people
have been killed and more than 600
wounded. However, the Tibetan
government has said that at least
140 people have died in the vio
lence.
The Chinese government has also
instituted roadblocks and house
searches in the region. Foreign jour
nalists are no longer allowed in
Tibet and You Tube has been com
pletely blocked in China since it
began showing footage of the strife.
BBC. CNN. Google News and
Yahoo have also experienced black
outs. These actions are in direct
conflict with China's previous
promise to allow greater media
Imagine this page is white, empty space.
Football is also a huge attraction for
most Americans, as it grants us with the
opportunity of watching big guys getting
hit real hard. An amazing sport in theo
ry. however, the average play lasts
around six to seven seconds, leaving the
audience in a state of boredom typically
for 30-40 seconds (that's without the ads
for crappy beer).
Basketball would be the final major
sport and, while March Madness is a
crucial part of any sport addict's life, the
NBA tends to be a bit boring for me.
Dribble the ball down, pass it around,
find the open big guy, an open lane or
just fiat-out shoot from downtown.
Now my favorite part: talking about
hockey. Hockey is always moving.
Fast. I mean, the guys are on skates so
it’s hard not to. but it provides us with an
energetic state of viewing where bore
dom hardly appears. Each play has the
potential to completely differ from the
last. You can almost make the compari
son that it is a faster-paced, more cre
ative form of basketball or soccer
Saying that it's too hard to follow the
puck is a weak excuse for not enjoying
the sport. If you pay attention long
enough, you'll get the hang of it. When
three players are soaring down the rink
on one meager defenseman and the lone
keeper, the intensity rises to levels that
access in light of the upcoming
Games
President Nicolas Sarkozy of
France has threatened boycotting
the opening ceremonies unless the
Chinese President. Hu Jintao. meets
with the Tibetan leader, the Dalai
Lama. Since his term for leading the
European Union begins in July
before the Games. Sarkozy wants to
establish Europe's stance with
China as soon as possible.
President Bush, however, has
taken a more lenient approach.
Although he made a phone call to
Hu about taking up conversation
with the Dalai Lama. Bush has no
intention of boycotting any part of
this summer's Olympics. He would
prefer to remain on good terms with
China, even after their questionable
course of action.
Using the Olympics for political
leverage is not a new trick. Even
though the original intent of the
Olympics was to bring the world
together in peaceful competition,
the Games have historically been a
massive reflection of political con
flict.
It began in 1936 when Berlin
hosted the Olympics and Hitler used
the Games for his own propaganda.
America voted two and half votes
short to boycot the games, and
President Roosevelt wanted
America to attend to maintain polit-
Now fill it.
e-mail rcrsos7@psu.edu
are absolutely insane. The reasoning:
either the offense is going to develop
and capitalize on a jaw-dropping play of
the most excitement, or the goalie is
going to pull out a bigger save than
Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness.
Sorry. 1 was watching it last night.
Anyway s, the amazing amount of cre
ative potential that lies in hockey is clear
as invisible and this is demonstrated in
each and every game. Powerplays.
penalty kills, shootouts. fights. Even if
you don't enjoy the sport, you have to
love the fighting. One tight can turn the
entire game around and make it even
more physical than football in a way. It
leads to hits, hits, and more fights. The
amount of hitting in a typical game adds
to the sport because most people aren't
aware of how legal a lot of hits actually
So. essentially, we're taking the game
of basketball, adding the hits from foot
ball, throwing it all on ice, and occasion
ally we get to see some of the best fight
ing in any modern sport. Sounds good
to me.
As I said earlier. I love most of our
sporting events in America. For base
ball. football and basketball players
reading this - I love your sport. I just
rank hockey higher because it personal
ly appeals more to me. The playoffs
begin April 9. I'm ready.
ical neutrality.
Moscow hosted the Olympics in
1980 and the US led a boycott due
to the Soviet Union's invasion of
Afghanistan. Four years later, when
the Olympics were in Los Angeles,
Cali, the Soviet Union returned the
favor and led their own boycott. The
participating countries in each boy
cott clearly reflected the Cold War
divide between east and west.
In 1988. North Korea boycotted
the Olympics held in South Korea.
South Korea hoped to gain global
respect by hosting the event, and
North Korea aimed to bring atten
tion to the conflict by way of their
boycott.
Now. the supposedly neutral
Olympics continue to have powerful
political influence. Issues vary from
where the torch will run. to how
much coverage is appropriate in the
host country. Attending the games is
becoming congruent with support
ing the host country's affairs and a
boycott is the perfect symbol of
opposition. Hosting the Olympics is
a show of stability and many coun
tries that are striving to become
world powers make taking on the
event a priority.
By all means, watch the Olympics
for the swimming and the soccer.
But don’t discount how accurately it
reflects the political climate, and
even predicts major world events.
I think the world needs...
to take care of our environment. To love more and hate
less. To let people ahead of you when traffic is backed
up. To tip a good server when you’re out for dinner. To
read good books. To give money to charities. To vote.
To try to agree with people as much as you disagree
with them. To make a choice, and then stick to it.
Friday, March 28, 2008
One new
member for
the Eric
Clapton Club
By Rachel Reeves
opinion editor
rcrsos7@psu.edu
1 fell in love this week. LastFM.com
stumbled across Eric Clapton’s “White
Room" while I was packing for the
weekend, and I remember how the
music filled my room up like a tangible,
physical thing instead of the weightless
sound I was used to hearing. The guitar,
the lyrics and the sounds of words were
overwhelming and I was introduced to a
new part of myself.
It was just so different. Like when
you're listening to the radio and some
one turns up the bass or when a black
and white channel on TV flips over to
one in color. It was more like food than
art; I could feel it like nourishment.
Then the song ended and I wanted
This weekend I learned about
Clapton and all of the bands he was
involved in, from Derek and the
Dominos to Cream. I also learned about
similar artists like Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray
Vaughan, The Animals, Santana and
The Allman Brothers. I wandered off
into other genres, starting with Neil
Young and Van Morrison and working
my way into Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter
and Ray Lamontagne. The Rolling
Stones and The Who I’ve heard before,
but never like this.
I feel like a starving child seated at a
banquet table - I can't fill up on all of
this goodness as quickly as I want to.
It's hard to take it one song at a time
when each seems better than the first. I
have to remind myself that I have a
whole lifetime for music and that most
.aE
of it isn't going anywhere.
Everything is different. The blues
make me not afraid of being hurt and I
wonder how I ever got through any
thing hard without them. Folk makes
me sit still for a minute and just be what
I am - young, overwhelmed, up and
down every second. Classic rock n’ roll
makes life just plain fun again. But
overall. I feel more comfortable with
just being a human. If anything can
string together the imperfections of liv
ing in general and make it good and
worthwhile, it is this.
The best and most surprising thing in
all of this is the unofficial club I seem to
have stumbled into. At the mention of
Clapton’s name, people of every age,
from best friend to near stranger, have
been popping out of the woodwork. A
friend’s brother suggests buying
Clapton's Unplugged to tide me over
until I can get more albums. A cowork
er takes me through the history of
Clapton's bluesiest songs. A friend
begins to pull her extensive collection
together into a mix to bum. Those who
love Clapton do so passionately and are
incredibly enthusiastic about sharing it
with others.
I’m afraid I will soon become a music
snob. The girl that can’t be separated
from her iPod even to walk to class and
who sits by her speakers, head bowed,
saying things like, “it communes with
my soul, you know?” How much of my
sparse and painfully-earned money will
now go for album after album? How
disdainful will I be of radio, movie
soundtracks, and the songs that seep out
into the dorm hallways?
But how many things like this do we
meet in our lives? Something that
makes the same old world a little bit
bigger and more wonderful, something
that makes the wanting part of our
selves stop wanting so much.
Something that belongs to us so perfect
ly-
It doesn’t happen nearly as often as it
should. So, snob or not, 1 am going to
love this.