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Show UNIVERSITY Journal Uni srsities, KJ a N 1 miss purpose, aim I j L (Ml l J ? ! . ' f t Meier seeks to continue progress of athletics We have a vision for what we want the team to be," Meier said. We believe in the vision that Andersen hi ought with him, and I think that the staff, as a whole, has the same ability as Andersen to continue the change we saw last year because it is the exact same staff. While Andersen was focal point, the staff FOOTBALL the worked their butts off By MATT LUST Before I launch into this tirade against the way the NCAA and countless colleges and universities handle their athletic programs, let me first note that this is not in any way directed at the millions of past, present and futuie student athletes. During the past week. I have had the chance to interview several student leaders from the Thunderbird football team and have found them to n and intelligent. be I applaud leaders; like Casey Rehrcr, Nick DiPadova and Steve Smith for their levelheadedness during the turbulent time caused by the surptising departure of Gary Andersen. Often times, the "student part of "student athlete is overlooked by all parties involved in the rapidly growing business that is college sports. Yet this issue docs not end with college sports. It extends to high school and selective youth sports such as AAU and American Legion. Late last week, Jeffery Bloom, kick returner for the Colorado University Buffaloes and Olympic-calibfreestyle skier, declared that to aid in his training, he has accepted endorsement contracts from companies that produce skis and winter sports apparel. rale The NCAA, however, has a that student athletes cannot endorse products while playing collegiate sports. This is highlights a shameful hypocrisy in American sports. Firstly, presidents, deans and athletic directors across the country repeatedly have justified the perpetuation of one sport over another or over a seemingly frivolous academic department like music or art because there are alumni and boosters who will only give money to support an institution with a successful athletics program. And so the logic continues that the more money an institution invests in sports, the more success a program will have, and the more money donors will give. As the vicious cycle perpetuates, there arc winners but far more losers. n Proponents say the money made in dollar television deals helps to support athletics. However, that only solves the issue for the top 40 teams in the nations five biggest conferences. Often, the sport singled out as the culprit is football. And indeed, while football does take the lions share of collegiate sports budgets, it is far from the cause mlustsuujournal.com Two days after the announcement of Gary Andersens resignation as football coach, the the Thunderbirds welcomed one of their own to the vacant position. Wes Meier was Andersens assistant coach and defensive line coach during the 2003 season and was appointed as the new coach for the 2004 season. Meier said he looks forward to next season. inside the staff. So when (the university) took Meier as the main candidate, everyone rallied around him. And everyone burst into cheers when it was announced (they) selected him. said Rehrer SUUs decision to hire Meier helped relieve the player concents about to make the team as good as it was last year. Thunderbird players had supported the hiring of a new coach from the current staff, once Andersen made his decision to leave public. Junior Casey Rehrer said the team was pleased with the universitys decision. It is exactly what we went for as a team, Rehrer said. We wanted to hire someone See MEIER, Page Meier 1 I . T I er long-standi- i . multi-millio- of university (particularly SUU's) monetary woes. No, football is merely a of an insidious symptom disease. And that insidious All disease is moneyitis. small-tim- e administrations believe theres a piece of the college sports pie for them. Unfortunately, this ends in harming the health of small universities and colleges whose school presidents are supposed to be dedicated to enhancing academic strength, not athletic strength. Emphasis on sports as an integral part of an institution rather than a purely supplemental one derails the schools puipose to be just that: a school. Erasmus once said, The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth. I could not agree more as bodies soften and fatten quicker than the mind decays. As science finds way for us to live longer, the measure of a man will not be in how much he can bench but in how he can use his mind. It is the duty of Americas higher education system to educate, not entertain. Moreover, this belief regarding money is not limited to local administrations, but the NCAA, as well. Many people believe there is a once a professional, always a professional rule in college athletics. This is an urban sports legend since Drew Henson of Michigan and Chris Weinke of Florida State both played minor league baseball before enrolling in their respective schools. Does So this begs the following question: it matter that a student athlete receives money, especially if this money has nothing to do with the sport the student is involved in? The NCAA believes itself to be the defender of the students, but could it be that in protecting student athletes in blanket decree, it is in fact harming them? This is an issue the NCAA must now address, and applaud Bloom for taking a stand. The second level of hypocrisy of American sports is that we demand so much of those involved in amateur sports. Fathers attack little league coaches for benching their star" player. Mothers hire people to kill cheerleading coaches who do not admit their daughters. Sons and daughters develop inferiority complexes because they might not be good enough to please their parents on the sports field. Families pin their hopes of succeeding in life on the athletic ability to secure scholarships and possibly professional contracts. donors demand Fans demand performance; success; administrations demand winning seasons. Frank Solicit and Steve Lavin arc casualties of more d than demanding, college programs. True, Solicit and Lavin were paid moie than $1 million a year, but whose fault was it to pay them that much? It was not Sohch's or Lavins; they merely played their part in the shell game that is college sports. It seams that fans, donors and administrators have lost sight of what it means to be a student athlete. That must be the first goal of every American collegiate sports fan. You need to cheer them off the field, as well as on it. 1 over-hype- Matt Lust is the Sports Editor for the Univcrstiy Journal and reminds you that athletes are students, too. He can be reached at mlustsuujournal.com for any questions, comments or snide remarks. KATRINA JOSLIN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SUUs David Palmer takes a shot against Centenary on Jan. 10. Winless weekend Mistakes cost for Thunderbirds SUU road win m!ust The losing to the Crusaders Birds played against Valpo without Warren, who was on crutches because of his knee injury. The Crusaders took Ihe lead at 19:28 in the first half, and didn't relinquish it despite the efforts to pull even twice during the game. suujournal.com mens basketball team The played two games during the weekend and lost both to drop its Mid-Co- n record to Thursday. SUU lost to Western Illinois in overtime after senior center n and Robbie Warren, was forced to leave the game with a knee injury. After losing Warren early in the second half, the Leathernecks built a lead with just under four minutes left in the game. The Thunderbirds run to force put together a 12-overtime. In the overtime period, the Leathernecks took the lead with two s in the first 1:30 and didnt shot relinquish it. The from the perimeter while Western Illinois shot free throws with 76.9 percent accuracy. Senior forward David Palmer led the Thunderbirds in scoring with 22 points, but fouled out in overtime with :50 left to play. was win the Thursday's Leathernecks first conference-wiof the season. Saturday, SUU played at Valparaiso. 2-- player-of-thc-we- 2 n Thunderbirds The 83-7- Mid-Co- Birds droo to 76-6- By MATT LUST allowed Valpo to balloon 1 halftime lead to its 2 10, until pulling even left in the game. Once the 'Birds pulled even, there was a media time-ou- t. pausing SUUs momentum. After the break, Valparaiso retook the lead and scaled Us victory by 8 from the field and 70 shooting percent from the line. By defeating SUU, the Crusaders play improved to 3 in Mid-Coand took possession of second place, behind Oral Roberts. The Thunderbirds are currently in seventh place, with Oakland and Western Illinois behind them respectively. Thursday. SUU returns to the Centrum Arena to close out the first season against half of the Mid-CoUMKC. UMKC stands at 3 against conference opponents and is fifth in 35-3- 58-1- 5-- n 4-- conference standings. X. By JON DEAN 3-- 3 in Mid-Co- n The Crusaders run pushed Valpos 2 with 3 12 minutes left lead to to play in the game. The Crusaders went on to top the Despite Cookes 16 points, the women0 offense was lacking during Saturdays game. turned The the ball over a total of 23 times. However, they shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, but only 37.5 percent in the second half. 67-5- jdeansuujournal.com The SUU womens basketball team 3 lost to the Valparaiso Crusaders Saturday in Indiana to drop to 3 in the conference and sixth place in the conference standings. In the first minute of the game, Casey Cooke scored to k a 0 lead. give the However, Valpo came back under the guidance of Jenna Stangler and Suzie Hammel, who both scored in double allowing Despite the 73 figures in the first half. points, WOMEN'S Stangler recorded 18 points SUU defense was BASKETBALL and Hammel recorded 12 statistically strong. Crusaders the points, helping The defense created 4 lead over the to a 10 steals, including three by Cyrita going into the half. Warner. In the second half, Valpo came out The SUU defense also forced the hard and scored seven points in to turn the ball over another Crusaders wo minutes to increase its lead to In addition to creating times. eight With 16:35 left in the game, 18 turnovers, the Thunderbirds also SUU went on a 12-- 0 run to help grabbed 32 rebounds, with seven of close the Crusaders lead to two those coming from Lacey Yates. points, On Monday, the SUU women the Thunderbirds Following on the defending conference take a used scoring streak, the Crusaders 16-- 3 champions, .Western Illinois, in run to reestablish a solid lead. Macomb, 111. The game starts at 7 The only points Valparaiso allowed from free came to score the p.m. in the universitys Western Hall Arena. throws. 73-6- 3-- three-pointe- back-to-bac- 6-- 43-3- 50-3- 51-4- 9. |