12 The Daily Collegian
My Opinion
Eagles go
on minus
Randall
Green Bay Packer Bryce Paup has
earned himself an endearing place
in the hearts of many Philadelphia
football fans.
He is, and will forever be
remembered to Eagles fans as the
linebacker who broke free from the
block of Philadelphia center David
Alexander and slammed right into
the left knee of star quarterback
Randall Cunningham, completely
tearing two ligaments.
He is the man who put in ques
tion the career and future of the most
prolific quarterback in the NFL today.
He is the man who, with one clean
shot on an autumn-like day in Wis
consin, many feel has put an end to
the Eagles’ season just 15 minutes
and change after it had began.
Yes, the outlook on the season has
changed and yes, things will be
different, but not necessarily for the
worst. The cries and claims of a
season already in despair before the
ink has dried on Week One are
senseless.
Already, four days, and even one
play, after Cunningham was wheeled
into the locker room and backup Jim
McMahon stepped under center,
people have written the Eagles off
given them an excuse, a per
fectly reasonable excuse, I might add,
to fade into the parity of the NFC.
To make games against the New
Englands and Dallases of the league
closely-contested battles to the wire,
to make games against the Giants and
Redskins complete mismatches.
What the Eagles have actually been
dealt is a chance, a gift, albeit
wrapped in strange paper, to step up
and show the league the kind of team
they are a playoff contender, one
whose balance lies on both sides of
the ball, not just on the shoulders of
No. 12.
And for what it’s worth, I believe
they can, and will, do it.
Philadelphia has lost its number one
offensive threat in the 28-year-old
Cunningham, hist season’s team leader
in rushing with 942 yards and the
NFC’s second-ranked passer, but it’s
not as bad as it seems.
Since the Eagles opened camp in
West Chester on July 15, questions
have plagued the team. Defensive
holdouts precipitated a feeling of
doom, a fear that the defense, under
the direction of Bud Carson, would
not be able to ‘gel’ and learn the new
system quickly enough for the season.
The most heralded of these hold
outs was the slimmed-down Jerome
Brown, who signed a 3-year deal just
days before Sunday’s season-open
er in Green Bay. People said the lack
of practice and conditioning would
hurt the veteran players but so far,
once again, people were wrong.
Anyone who watched the Eagles
defense methodically shut down the
Don Majikowski-led Packer offense,
knows that the same Gang-Green
defense that held opponents to 73.3
yards per game on the ground, tops
in the NFC in 1990, is here this season
possibly better and more stable
than it has ever been with Pro-
Bowlers Brown and Reggie White
poised for great seasons.
Whether Philadelphia can con
tinue that pressure throughout the
season remains to be seen.
Time will tell how backup-turned
star McMahon will handle the Birds’
offense on his own. After replacing
Cunningham, McMahon performed
well, considering the limited action
he has seen in two years. The for
mer Bear completed 17-of-25 for 275
yards and 2 touchdowns. Given a
chance to start every day he might
be able to regain the form he had with
Chicago.
But injuries have been McMa
hon’s downfall and the Eagles can’t
take any chances. With that in mind
the Eagles announced last night the
signing of former New York Jet Pat
Ryan, a QB with more than 10 years
experience, to back up McMahon.
Ryan, who was cut from Cleveland
in the preseason last year, will be in
uniform Sunday.
Doctors said Monday that full
recovery will be possible for Cun
ningham and in all likelihood, he will
be the same scrambling quar
terback as he always was. But for now
don’t jump ship just sit back and
enjoy the Eagles as they push toward
the Super Bowl.
Dave Stevenson is a junior major
ing in journalism and an assistant
sports editor for the Daily Colle
gian.
Fullback Sam Gash sprints away from Georgia Tech’s Ken Swilling in the Kickoff
Classic last Wednesday. Gash had a strong game against the Yellow Jackets
with 80 yards rushing and figures to be a big part of the Lion’s running game
for the duration of the season.
Stickwomen look to improve pass offense
By STEVE CARELLAS
Collegian Sports Writer
Coach Charlene Morett hopes the field hockey
team will become the second Penn State squad
to knock off a defending national champion
by way of the pass.
With just four practices left until Sun
day’s season opener with No. 1 Old Domin
ion at Norfolk, Va., the Lady Lions’ focus has
been primarily on generating a potent passing
attack.
“We’ve been caught up in one-on-ones and
they really need to ... look to pass earlier,”
Morett said, “so that we can get the ball in
scoring position.
“Right now, we’re getting caught in pos
ession instead of passing the ball.”
Moving the ball effectively will be key in
Penn State’s plans to overload inside its attacking
end. Because of the losses of Chelle Frates
and Lynette Kidder, who led the team last season
with 21 and 17 assists respectively, the Lady
Lions are in need of play-making candidates
to step up.
But for now, the team is simply trying to
sharpen and quicken passes in preparation for
its game with the Lady Monarchs, who yielded
just 12 goals in 26 games.
“Sometimes we click, sometimes we have
Connors still charming at U.S. Open
By JIM LITKE
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK You would have
thought he’d stay in bed the whole
day. And like all the other people
who tried to guess what Jimmy
Connors would do when the U.S.
Open began nine days ago, you would
have been wrong.
“I was drained last night, but I’m
OK today,” Connors said yester
day, still flashing the sly, wearied
grin that has been his signature at
this tournament.
“I actually feel better than I
thought I would.”
Some 20 hours after finishing off
Aaron Krickstein in one of the most
dramatic matches in memory,
Connors arrived at the National
Tennis Center for a half-hour practice
session yesterday in a rock-star mode.
He was more than an hour late,
leaving one crowd of several hundred
people hanging around the prac
tice court where he was supposed
to show up, then gathered anoth
er crowd of almost equal size as
he stepped out of the players’ facility
and made his way to a different
court Once there, he hit with former
English star John Lloyd for a while,
then spent almost as much time
shaking hands and signing auto
graphs as he had while tuning up
for his next performance.
And when asked whether he had
formulated a plan for tomorrow
night’s quarterfinal match against
equally surprising Paul Haarhuis,
Connors looked almost surprised
and replied, “I can’t do anything
about it now. Besides, I don’t worry
about that stuff any more.
“I passed that stage a long time
ago. I never took my tennis home
with me. I didn’t worry about it when
I was the best player in the world,”
Sports
a harder time with it,” senior co-captain Eleanor
Stone said. “We hold onto it an extra second
too long sometimes and that’s when the defense
comes up with it.”
Junior Jen Stewart is expected to be a capable
ballhandler at the center midfield position,
where she replaces All-American Kristen Winters.
Stewart, who played right midfield last season,
dished out nine assists last year including
game-winners against Maryland, St. Jo
seph’s, Pennsylvania and Bucknell. .
“Jenny has really improved her level of
fitness,” Morett said. “She has very good stick
work and she’s been a two-year starter. So she
has the experience to hold down that center
midfield position.”
Stewart will be complimented nicely on the
attack by forwards Susann Bisignaro, Stone
and sophomore speedster Kirt Benedict, who
moves into a starting role at left wing.
Last season, Stone’s 23 goals tied her with
Candy Finn for the highest total ever by a Penn
State junior. She also tallied eight assists and
was an All-America selection.
Despite losing Winters and Frates on the
attack, Morett said, Stone won’t assume any
greater brunt of the scoring load this sea
son. Bisignaro, a senior, Stewart and Ben
edict are all expected to increase their goal
production.
he continued, “so why worry about
it now.”
Why, indeed? Last October,
Connors had surgery to recons
truct his left wrist and hardly figured
to be here in the first place, let alone
playing on his 39th birthday with
a chance to slip into the round of
eight at a tournament he had won
five times previously, but not since
1983.
And so when he was asked whether
he had suprised even himself,
Connors shot back, “That’s an unfair
question to ask me. There was a
time when I thought I would never
play tennis again.”
But the more he thought about
it, the more he had to admit that
“maybe I did surprise myself a little
bit with the pace I came back at.”
And a moment later, the youthful,
more willful side of Connors began
to emerge.
“If I didn’t think I could do it,”
he said, “I would have stopped last
year.”
Connors body still requires the
balm that modern medicine can
provide: He spent nearly 15 min
utes being iced and taped before
his brief practice session Tues
day and nearly an hour after his
Monday night match on an intra
venous hookup, replacing depleted
minerals lost in the 4V2-hour match
with Krickstein. But his spirit
apparently has all the nourish
ment it needs.
More than once, Connors said he
tracked down a voice in the howling
New York audience and seen a
familiar face. The words are dif
ferent, but the result is the same.
“The thing is that when they were
rooting against me, I could pro
duce my best tennis. And now that
they’re rooting for me,” he said,
“it’s pushing me to do it again.”
Paterno
By PETER ZELLEN
Collegian Sports Writer
It doesn’t matter what the writ
ers or the fans thought of Penn State’s
performance against Georgia Tech,
Coach Joe Paterno said there is still
a need for improvement as the Lions
go up against Cincinnati on Satur
day.
“I don’t think that on either side
of the ball that we can feel com
fortable that we’ve arrived after the
Georgia Tech game,” he said.
Paterno’s biggest concern was the
offensive line and he spoke crit
ically of them at yesterday’s press
conference. “Our offensive line still
has a long way to go. We didn’t pick
up a couple of things and do some
things as well as I thought we would
do. I don’t think we were as effective
at running the football as I thought
we would be,” Paterno said. “The
offensive line has got to come along
to do anything, whether you run it
or throw it.”
Paterno singled out the good play
of guard Paul Siever and tackle Todd
Rucci but wants more consistency
out of the remaining players. “For
a bunch of guys that didn’t play a
lot of football they did alright, but
they’re certainly not good enough for
us to feel comfortable that we’ve
arrived,” he said.
While allowing quarterback Tony
Sacca to be sacked five times, they
also made enough holes that enabled
Penn State to rush for 150 yards with
a team high of 80 yards from senior
fullback Sam Gash.
Paterno said that he was impressed
with Gash’s play and is pleased that
"We hold onto (the ball) an
extra second too long
sometimes and that's when
the defense comes up with
it."
“I think teams are going to be concen
trating on Eleanor,” Morett said, “but we have
a lot of people who are capable of scoring
not only from the offensive line, but in our
midfield.”
The Lady Lions are looking for junior
midfielder Amy Stairs to pressure the opposing
wing up field, which will enable the team to
make quicker transitions on defense.
Sophomore Christine McGinley, who Morett
said can “come out of nowhere to be a threat,”
provides added pressure from the opposite
side of the midfield.
“Once we get the ball into the scoring area,
we have a strong group of players that can
maintain posession in the offensive end,” Morett
said.
Jimmy Connors celebrates after winning his fourth round match over Aaron
Krickstein Monday afternoon. Conners, who also turned 39 on Monday,
takes on Paul Haarhuis tomorrow.
wary of Cincy
A &tc6ooA^
he is able to play this season without
the bumps and bruises that have
hampered him in three of the last
four seasons.
“This is the best Sam has been. He’s
worked hard on his speed,” Pater
no said. “I want to get the ball to him
as much as we can give a fullback
in the I-formation.”
Another oft-injured player that
Paterno was pleased with was senior
inside linebacker Andre PowelL Powell
had three tackles and one assist against
the Yellow Jackets and looked to be
an important part of the defense.
“He (Powell) and (Keith) Goga
nious give us two kids in a very
difficult position. Not only do they
have to be big, strong linebackers
but we put them on backs so much.
They have to cover backs coming out
of the backfield one-on-one so much
that he has to be really good, almost
good enough to be strong safety,”
Paterno said.
In looking ahead to Cincinnati,
Paterno wasn’t necessarily as worried
about the game as he might have been
against Georgia Tech but he refuses
to take the Bearcats, 1-10 last sea
son, for granted.
“Cincinnati may not be in the same
league as Georgia Tech but they sure
—Eleanor Stone
Women's field hockey co-captain
Wednesday, Sept. 4, 1991
may be in the same league as Memphis
State,” Patemo said referring to
Memphis State’s 24-10 victory over
No. 16 Southern California Monday
night.
Cincinnati is a young, sopho
more-dominated team that is
undergoing a rebuilding process under
third-year coach Tim Murphy.
“Coach Murphy has gone in there
with the idea he’s going to be solid
and build a solid foundation and I
think he has. They played some people
very well last year. I think that without
having seen them this year, and
obviously we did have someone at
their Spring game, we know they have
some speed in the secondary and a
young quarterback who was one of
the better freshmen in the coun
try,” Patemo said.
After seeing the Kickoff Classic,
Murphy has his own impressions of
the Lions.
“The thing that surprised me most
is what we all used to think of Penn
State as an impressive and tre
mendous program and team. They
were a little bit different coming into
the 90’s here against Georgia Tech.
I think the thing that was different
was that they seem to have evolved
philosophically and schematically and
to me they look a lot more like Miami,
Florida, then they did as the old
Eastern independant Penn State,”
Murphy said. “They’re playing a lot
of that 4-3 defense that Miami has
made famous. They’re spreading the
field now formationally and they’re
throwing the ball and doing a lot of
the things that probably you have
to do to win the national
championship.”
With a defensive backfield hampered by
graduation losses, controlling the offensive
side of the ball will be crucial. Last season,
Old Dominion stung opponents for a 4.S goal
per-game average.
However, senior goalkeeper Michele Brennan
is not worried about working with a less
experienced backfield.
“We’re young, but the only thing we’re lacking
is the exerience on defense,” Brennan said,
a cocaptain and 1990 second-team All-American.
“They have a lot of talent.”
Senior Stacy Gilburg, who was Brennan’s
teammate in high school, returns to the left
back position for her third season as a starter.
She will be joined in the backfield by soph
omores Sharon Kuntz and Becca Main, whose
speed will be valuable both on defense and
the attack.
Morett couldn’t have picked a better team
by which to gauge Penn State’s strengths and
weakness than the defending national champions.
Regardless of the outcome, Sunday’s matchup
will be a valuable learning experience for the
Lady Lions as they embark on a long season
as an independent.
“I think it’s good (that we play them now)
because we’ll know where the team stands,”
Stone said. “(But) it’s gonna make me ner
vous playing them right at the first game.”
Women's
soccer on
the move
By FRANKLIN BERKEY
Collegian Sports Writer
According to the United States
Soccer Federation, about 3.5 mil
lion women under the age of 19 play
soccer in the United States. Despite
this fact, women’s soccer at the
collegiate level has faced an uphill
battle at many universities.
Penn State, similar to many large
schools, does not sponsor women’s
soccer as a varsity sport. Howev
er, the Lady Lions, under the direction
of Coach Denny Hall, have made great
strides despite the fact that they are
considered a club team.
“We can basically play with anyone
in the nation,” Hall said. “Our
recruiting class is among the best
in the nation. We are three-fourths
of the way there (to a varsity pro
gram).”
The women’s program belongs to
the National Collegiate Club Soc
cer Association
(NCCSA). Because it is not a
member of the NCAA, the team has
difficulty formulating a “class
schedule,” Hall said.
‘We play a very attractive schedule,
but the teams will only play us for
one year,” Hall explained. “If the team
beats us, it does not help the opponents
in the rankings. But, if we beat them,
it is really going to hurt them. They
will only stay on our schedule for
one or two years. It is really
problematic for us. Scheduling is the
big handicap that I see in being a
club sport.”
Last year, the team recieved over
$5,500 from Puma, its national sponsor.
In addition, the team used a num
ber of fund raisers to raise money.
Please see SOCCER, Page 18.