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SPORTS ETC. •• Tuesday, Tuesday, Nov. Jan. 6, 8, 2012 2013 • VANGUARD
VANGUARD ••Tuesday, TUESDAY,Jan. JANUARY 8, 201310,• 2012 SPORTS • ETC.
SPORTS
EDITOR: MARCO ESPAñA SPORTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-4538
Women’s basketball team swept at Stott Center Montana schools claim two in a row in Portland
above and beyond: Sophmore guard Allison Greene breaks through two Montana State Defenders.
Rosemary Hanson Vanguard Staff
A fan’s wish list
old ball game: Ty Cobb, MVP of 1911, the last year of baseball’s run as a major sport for most fans. professional hockey, even if it is run by idiots and played in sweltering heat.
The end of baseball
Holding out hope for the new year Vanguard Staff
This will probably come as an enormous shock, but I must confess that I am not a great athlete. Outside of a weekly basketball game with friends (a graceless, foulheavy, exclusively half-court affair) and the occasional joyless run, I don’t exactly “play” a lot of “sports.” No, that ship has sailed, and so this hacky New Year’s resolution column comes to you instead from the perspective of a concerned spectator and insatiable consumer. Here’s hoping that the greater (wide) world of sports resolves to whip itself into shape in some key areas in 2013.
The return (and full recovery) of the NHL When it came to the lockedout National Hockey League, I didn’t really have a horse in the race; the 2011–12 season marked my 20th consecutive year as a sports fan without
“For the fourth time in 20 years, and despite generating a record $3.3 billion in revenue last season, the NHL failed to live up to its end of the bargain.” watching a single game played in the NHL. But the lockout of a major North American sports league is an indefensible affront to fandom. As fans, we endure con-
tract disputes, new stadium shakedowns from billionaire owners and exorbitant ticket prices that remind us against our will that it’s all just a business. Year after year, we dutifully suspend our disbelief at this charade and dive right back into the fray, and all we ask in return is that everyone involved play the games and cash their checks.
“Andy Rooney did a celebratory 60 Minutes spot about the last living baseball fan in 1994.” For the fourth time in 20 years, and despite generating a record $3.3 billion in revenue last season, the NHL failed to live up to its end of the bargain. That’s right: under the “leadership” of Commissioner Gary Bettman, the NHL has experienced a lockout four times in the past two decades, including the loss of the entire 2004–05 season. The most recent dispute only just came to end on Sunday, with an abbreviated regular season set to begin next week. After all that, we could hardly be faulted for turning our backs on such a bogus league. But you try telling that to all those doeeyed Canadians, who love hockey so much that they’re even willing to accept the loss of storied franchises to the likes of Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and freaking Tennessee. They deserve
courtesy of Mike Morbeck
courtesy of sportzy.tumblr.com
courtesy of VancityAllie
Once and future king: Sidney Crosby is eager to transition back to his day job after another late start by the WHL.
Drew Lazzara
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Have you guys ever met a baseball fan? Me neither. I believe that Andy Rooney did a celebratory 60 Minutes spot about the last living baseball fan in 1994. His name was Gus “Whiskers” Plunkett, a delightful octogenarian who played shortstop for the Oklahoma Brown Sox in the Dust Bowl Leagues and was named MVP in 1916 despite losing a foot to diabetes in the 10th game of the season. Baseball is so boring to watch and play that it has now been replaced by kickball in the pantheon of ironically played hipster sports. It’s a game more perfectly (and more concisely) expressed in a box score, can be played at its highest levels by overweight, frequently drunk tobacco users, has no salary cap (which crushes the dreams of small markets) and makes the city of Boston and its fans even more insufferable.
Major League Baseball’s regular season spans 162 games, which is a long enough timeline to ensure that most teams finish .500, meaning there is no way to discern who is actually good. Two out of the 10 postseason participants make their way there by way of a one-game playoff (making the previous 162 even more pointless!), followed by a fivegame series and two sevengame series before a champion
“I will admit that there is something to be said for a day at the ballpark.”
Wistful Thinking: Coming soon? Relive a decade of audibles in the comfort of your own home. is decided. Way to determine the “best” team, baseball. I will admit that there is something to be said for a day at the ballpark—sun in the sky, cold beer in hand, a delicious hot dog cooking on the grill. But that’s called a barbecue, and you don’t have to pay for a ticket or watch an interminable (there’s no game clock!), awful baseball game. Let’s put the “past” in “America’s pastime” and end this garbage. My dad will just have to find something else on the radio to fall asleep to.
Complete NFL seasons on DVD/Blu-ray If I had to pick just one of the things on this list to become a
reality, it would be this one. Imagine reliving entire seasons of your favorite NFL teams, game by game, with all the delirious highs and crushing lows they brought with them. Each season would be gloriously restored and packed with bonus features: hometown radio calls synched up with gameplay (without the government-mandated seven-second delay of a “live” broadcast), SportsCenter highlights, headlines and prognostications from the year. I’d jump at the chance to experience my hometown Colts all throughout the Peyton Manning/Andrew Luck years, over and over again. And I would never get tired of them. Happy New Year.
Writers Needed
Get paid $8.80 an hour/4–12 hours per week to write. See your work in print every week. No newspaper experience required. Must be enthusiastic about reporting, willing to cover any event and responsive to constructive criticism.
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Following two straight road wins, Portland State came back to the Stott Center to face a pair of formidable conference opponents last week, going up against the Montana State University Bobcats on Thursday and the University of Montana Lady Griz on Saturday. The Vikings, who were without standout guard Kate Lanz after she suffered a season-ending ACL injury the previous week, were unable to hold off the visiting teams despite solid efforts by senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin and the rest of the Viking squad. With the losses, PSU dropped to 7-6 overall and
just 1-3 in conference play. The team appears to be feeling the impact of losing Lanz, who had established herself as a crucial presence on the defensive end and on the boards for the Vikings. PSU was outrebounded in both of games against the Montana visitors, and both opponents had more steals than the home team. “[The] biggest challenge we faced was the opposing teams’
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post players’ size and their physicality,” VanBrocklin said after the game. “And because of that, we had a hard time guarding them.” While the team struggled defensively, VanBrocklin took control of the offense. Down by just five at halftime on Thursday, she scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to keep the game close
and helped the Vikings to get within one point with less than a minute to go. The Bobcats then settled in at the line and hit a series of clutch free throws to come away with an 81-74 victory. The senior went on to tie her career high with 26 points against Montana two days later. PSU was able to keep the score within nine in the first half, but the Lady Griz stretched their lead to as many 19 points in the second, eventually winning 70-55.
Despite the setback, the Vikings remain optimistic that VanBrocklin’s leadership and the continuing strong play of junior forward Angela Misa will allow the Vikings to compete with the rest of the Big Sky this season. “It’s important for me to continue to perform right now,” VanBrocklin said. “Our team is struggling to find enough confidence to put up shots. Right now, it’s important for me to push and facilitate the offense, and if it comes
down to it—if no one can get a shot—then I can take that opportunity and shoot.” The Vikings will travel to take on California State University, Sacramento this Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a matchup with Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff scheduled for Saturday at 5:35 p.m. Live stats will be available on goviks.com.