OCR Text |
Show StatesmanSports Page 10 The Blue and the Sports Debate Players union asks Congress White for help with disability dispute Sam Bryner is a senior majoring in business management. Comments can be sent to him sam. bryner©aggiemail.usu. edu David Baker is a senior majoring in print journateim. Comments can be sent to him da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu 1. Will the Saints recover? The Saints had a fairy-tale season last year, and the fall is a hard one as they come back to reality. We are now seeing who the Saints really are. Quarterback Drew Brees is just a year removed from major surgery, and his supporting cast has been absent. Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister have run for a combined 152 yards. Wide receiver Marquis Colsten has a respectable 14 grabs. But can anyone name their second-leading receiver? Anyone? It is David Patten with four catches and zero touchdowns. Of course, they're the Saints. Wait, that's really not applicable here. Maybe if they were the Yankees that statement would mean something, but they are the Saints. Although they lack the winning pedigreetofall back on, they will make a comeback. Win the wild card even. You heard it ( here first. Why not? They are in the weak NFC. They have playmakers - Brees, Bush. Colston. They'll eventually replace Jason David at corner. They'll be OK. The Saints haven't even played at home yet. and everyone knows the Superdome has some magic in it. 2. OJ. Simpson, what were you thinking? O.J.'s just trying to rub the whole. I-got-away-withmurder thing in everyone's face. I guess he thinks he's above the law. If 1 would have been a part of one of the most publicized murder cases of the last 25 years—and if I wasn't in jail—1 would • probably lay low. Maybe just move to Mexico and live like a king with Mark Fuhrman. I.sure as heck wouldn't go around breaking into hotel rooms and waving guns at people. That tends to draw attention to you in a negative way, and thanks to Vince Vaughn, we know that's against the rules. I don't care whether he did it or not. And I am not talking about his involvement in the Brown-Goldman murders. OJ. is back in the news again with his latest run in with the law. Whether or not he was set up is a story of it's own, but the fact that O.J. was involved with breaking and entering as well as burglary tells us about his outstanding character. He should be banished to a secluded island and then he can do whatever he wants. 3. Bonds' 756 ball Sell it to the highest bidder and let them do whatever blows their dress up with a ball that looks a lot like an asterisk. Why would I care what anyone did with the ball? I have a few suggestions, though. Let's let Michael Vick use it as a chew toy for one of his puppies. Or maybe we can let the ball star opposite the Rock in a new movie where the Peoples Champion is a big league slugger living the good life, until one day when a former home-run ball of his comes back into his life and mixes things up. The owner of the ball, Marc Ecko, bought the ball at an auction for $750,000. He is now turning around and leaving it up to the public to decide the fate of the historic home run ball. I went to vote756.com and voted to brand the ball with an asterisk. Not because I believe that he is a cheater, but he has said that he will personally take the ball to Cooperstown and see if they will take it. That would be a sight to see. M. 4. Is Morten Anderson too old? Kickers are like fine wine, they get better with age. Whatever. I like my football players like I like my wine - fresh and in a box. Well, maybe the. box thing doesn't really apply, but stop hassling^ me, you get what I'm trying to say. But when you fondly remember football's leather-helmet days, it's probably time to give it up. Morten Anderson is so old, his rookie card was printed on papyrus. Oh burn ... that's weak, I'm sorry. Really though, he's old enough that there's a good possibility he could break his hip during an extra point attempt. . ! ! «. Let me explain to you what a field goal kicker actually does. He sits on the bench and then a few times a game gets called upon to kick an extra point or field goal. He jogs onto the field, sets his feet, takes a few steps back and then runs about five yards and kicks the ball. He then jogs offthe field; and if he missed the kick he ; sits alone, and if he makes the kick then he sits alone as well. No age, even Anderson's 47, is too i old to kick. 5. Rant I'm saddened that someone is still beating the portly, annoying, dead horse of football announcing that is John Madden. I know his name is on possibly one of the greatest video games ever made—taking into account that Anthrax's "Caught in a MoshN and that "1 am the Warrior" song are on the newest Guitar Hero. But that doesn't matter. The last time he said anything interesting or informative on a football broadcast, Carrot Top was still funny. Pee Wee Herman was allowed within 50 feet of children and Steve Guttenberg was still relevant. Wednesday, Sept. 1% 2007 It has been reported that Boise State President Robert Kustra wants to look into leaving the Western Athletic Conference for the Mountain West Conference. He claims less travel, better competition and regional rivalries as reasons to make the switch. I say go ahead and leave, but don't let the door hit you on the way out. Go join the Mountain West and you can join the league full of one-season wonder teams. With the exception of football, how much does Boise State really add to the WAC? Besides, we still have Hawaii to bolster our football status. WASHINGTON (AP) — Under fire from injured retirees who say they were denied sufficient benefits, the head of the National Football League Players Association asked Congress on Tuesday for greater authority to approve disability claims. Gene Upshaw, director of the players association, said the union currently is limited in what it can do for the scores of former players who a=re battered and broken from years of playing the violent sport. At the same time, Upshaw and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said league pensions are improving. "We have made great progress, and we are not finished," Upshaw told a Senate committee. "Congress can help." It is the first time the union has asked Congress for help with the problem, which was the subject of a House hearing earlier this year. Retired football players have been openly critical of the NFL and the players' union over the amount of money that older retirees get from a $1.1 billion fund set aside for disability and pensions. Goodell defended the system, saying the NFL is boosting benefits when many companies around the country are reducing them. But he acknowledged that there have to be ways to improve. "We recognize this is not a short-term problem," he said in his testimony. Several former players testified —sometimes tearfully— about the injuries they now live with. Witnesses included Garrett Webster, son of the late Mike Webster, the Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers' center who suffered from mental illness that was widely attributed to head injuries. "I would give my life to never see another family end up like mine," Webster said. Mike Ditka, a Hall of Fame coach and player for the Chicago Bears, argued that the older players who built the league should be treated better. "Don'l make proud men beg," he said. "Just let them live out their lives with a little bit of respect." Icon: Athletic department iron man Di continued from page 9 Where does having his name on what he himself said is easily now one of the top 10 sports medicine facilities in the country rank? "Nothing has come close to this recognition simply because I've got a lot of personal commitment and time to this institution," he said. "To have that rewarded by the institution itself really is an extreme compliment. I'm humbled, but very, very pleased. It's recognition of a body of work I obviously am proud of. It would be the highlight of my career without a doubt." Dr. John Worley, who was the football team physician from 1959 to 1999, considers Mildenberger one of his closest associates, as the two worked hand-in-hand with the team from the time Mildenberger began at USU. Even so, it wasn't until this past Monday that Worley found out about the honor for Mildenberger. "That doesn't surprise me," Worley said. "Dale's not the kind of guy to go around making a big deal of himself. (But) good, that's what they should have done. Dale is one of the best trainers in the country. He has done everything that could be done to improve the quality of sports medicine at USU. The best way I can say it is this: If I ever had a son with a serious injury on the football field, I'd have Dale Mildenberger care for him on the field." SWITCHING FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW To give an idea of what Mildenberger, a native of Greeley, Colo., has had to work with for the majority of his time at USU, just consider this statistic: The new area for sports medicine encompasses 11,000 square feet; the old sports medicine facility was just over 900 square feet. Mildenberger also said the old facility was the worst physical facility for sports medicine in collegiate football at any division. "With what he had to work with over the years, many others might have moved on," Spetman said. "That's what has made him an icon here. He has done it by using community resources and university resources." With 16 sports and 300 student-athletes every year, Mildenberger said normal conversations in the old building didn't exist. "Before practices there was a constant roar of noise," he said. "In (the new facility), while you still get the feeling of conversations, you don't get the feeling of the roar." So, now it's quieter and there's no need to yell. That kind of an atmosphere with lots of space is much more conducive to one-on-one interaction with athletes than previously. Worley said Mildenberger's desire to care for athletes in this respect has always been his best characteristic as a trainer. BEFORE USU: HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS AND WEST POINT His career at USU began in 1975, but sports medicine was his passion long before that. Speak Up "I never counted on liking (this job)... What I discovered is that while Utah State isn't everything, it's not bad . . . It's been fulfilling and worthwhile" Dale Mildenberger, Athletic Trainer As a member of the football team during his sophomore year of high school, Mildenberger went with his team to watch the Colorado State football squad play. While there, the coach took them into the locker room and training room. "It was quite obvious I wasn't going to go beyond (high school level football)," Mildenberger said. "1 saw what trainers were doing and thought, 'Ah, maybe that's what I want to do.'" So he did it. He enrolled at Colorado State in 1969 — a year in which he had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters (a world-renowned traveling basketball show) as their head trainer, and a year in which he was drafted into the military. At the United States Military Academy in West Point, he was the assistant athletic trainer. When his service concluded in 1972, he went back to the Globetrotters and later became a 1973 graduate of CSU. Two years later, he received his master's from • the University of Arizona. As head trainer for the Globetrotters, he was able to visit 39 countries around the world. "That was quite an experience for somebody from Greeley, Colo., to see the world and all of a sudden be in Hong Kong, Paris, Rio DiGenaro, Sydney," he said. USU: FULFILLING AND WORTHWHILE" With a head athletic trainer absence left by Jim Riley and the football season about to begin in 1975, Mildenberger was called by USU tofillthe hole. He accepted, though a bit reluctantly. "The one thing I never counted on in taking this job was that I never counted on liking it," Mildenberger said. "I was not from the area, I was not of the predominant faith. I really had no history here." It was, nevertheless, a professional opportunity that would have been unwise to turn down. Now, with his wife Kathy and four grown children, Mildenberger is still here. Why? "Utah State wasn't my lifetime dream — it just happened," he said. "What I discovered is that while Utah State isn't everything, it's not bad. The community, the university, the experience, the lifestyle is something my family has made as their home. It's been fulfilling and worthwhile." -samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu GO AGGIES!!! Beat the San Jose Spartans! SCORE BIG ON THE SPARTANS TOUCH DOWN HERE AND SCOREiBp SAVINGS PRIOR TO THE COLD,SN|P * r GEICO. Ai5-minutecall could save you 15% on car insurance. DON'T LET STOP YOU SHORT.<3E:THE GOAL..«& DRIVE TO 2000-North Tackle ^i A TUNE UP A COOLING SYSTEM SEK3HSB&? Most cz Call for priced Engine performance/repair • Computer Diagnostics • Brakes CV Axles • Emissions • Transmissions • A/C * Clutches Alternators • Used Car Evaluations • Cooling Systems T2000NORT 1513 N. Hillfield Rd., Suite 3 (8O1) 752-O485 |