Sports
888 &"(-&/&84 03( t 0$50#&3 t EAGLE NEWS 15
Diving team has high hopes this season By Andrew Binninger Staff writer
T
he hiring of first-year head coach Andrew Goe this summer signaled a greater emphasis on diving for the swimming & diving team. Goe watches over five divers: Bracaria Cole, sisters Kamryn and Karmen McNamara, Gabrielle Shaw and Alex Valder. Goe spent two years as the diving coach at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. During his time at Canisius, Goe coached both the men and women divers and assisted in travel planning, skill development and conditioning. Under Goe’s direction in 2009 and 2010, several women divers placed into the MAAC Championship finals on the 1-meter and 3-meter dive board. Goe also coached a Canisius diver who broke the school’s 3-meter, 11 dive record in 2009 and another who went on to place in the top eight in the 1-meter at the Eastern College Athletic Conference meet. This summer, Goe served as a diving official for the Empire State games in addition to directing summer diving clinics. Goe was attracted to the quick rise of head coach Neal Studd’s
program. “They have gone from nonexistent to a powerhouse, Goe said. “We have a great team and I would not mind having a total of 6-8 divers. My divers now have great chemistry and are incredibly strong.� Team’s strong in diving nationally include Washington State University and Indiana University. As far as teams in the state of Florida, the University of Florida is very competitive. For the first time this year, FGCU participated in the AllFlorida Invite. Even though Goe was pleased with the team’s success, he would like FGCU to “eventually join the big three sports programs in Florida: UF, UM, and FSU.� One of the members of the diving team this year is Gabrielle Shaw. Shaw, a team captain, has been swimming since eighth grade, and has been a member of the diving team since her freshman year. At the All-Florida Invitational, Shaw led the diving portion of the meet for the Eagles with a 13th-place finish in the 1-meter dive board. “My goals this year include sweeping the conference and going out with high scores at meets,�
Shaw said. “Diving has kept me on my toes and school and diving have kept me on path. This is a strong diving team regardless of the number of players that we have. Quality plays a role over quantity.� Upon graduating, Shaw would like to take some time off from swimming and hopes to coach a diving team one day. One of the newcomers on the diving team is freshman Bracaria Cole. Cole is from Daytona Beach and has been swimming since her sophomore year of high school. “As a freshman, it will be a challenge maintaining school and diving but I am looking forward to competing and would like to improve each year,� Cole said. “Diving is fun, but certain sacrifices have to be made. Working with the upperclassmen is motivating and working with them makes me want to work harder. It is also fun to hear the upperclassmen’s stories about their freshman year.� She has adjusted comfortably to her new environment. “I came here because it is a good diving program and I am far from home,� Cole said. “We have good chemistry as a unit. Coach Goe is very upbeat and funny. But diving is not a career plan and one day I would like to be a nurse.� Another freshman on the team is Alex Valder.
Originally from Tampa Bay, Valder is in her fourth year of diving. “Playing with girls who have been diving longer than me is a challenge�, Valder said. “My expectations are that I would like to qualify for the NCAAs.� Last year, Valder placed sixth at the state meet in Orlando. She was also a three-time district champion, a four-year regional qualifier and two-year state qualifier. “I like diving because it is disciplinary,� Valder said. “It forces me to focus on school work and I try to have a routine. My favorite stroke is the back one and a half three meter which is a one and a half twist including a one and a half summersault.� This past weekend, the FGCU swimming & diving team continued their solid start to the 201011 season, dominating in-state rival FAU 170-114 at the at the FAU Aquatic Center. Gaby Shaw finished second in the 1-meter with a score of 247.50, while Karmin McNamara earned a second-place finish in the 3-meter competition with a 221.10.
EN stock photo
Lack of support causes Rays to lose home games By Eric Dellaratta Contributing writer
T
he Rays had an embarrassing 12,446 people show up to a game where they had an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth in September. S h o r t ly after the game, third baseman Evan Longoria criticized the Tampa fans for not showing up to the game. L a t e r , Rays’ ace Dellaratta pitcher David Price made a post on Twitter tha seemed to bash the fans for not showing up. Now, national media has hyped up the Rays attendance woes to bring up the interesting question that Price and Longoria want answered: Where are the fans? There are three major factors that greatly play into the Rays’ shortage of support at Tropicana Field. Those three factors are legacy, economy and location. Baseball is driven by income. It’s tough for small-market teams to retain their star players, because the teams that collect more revenue will drive up the price for those players. The Rays bank account isn’t nearly as big as some of the bigname teams out there. So if fans want to see their favorite stars on the field, they should start to fill the seats. The Tampa Bay area doesn’t have a great baseball legacy. This is only the Rays’ 13th year in the MLB. Let’s face it; the “Devil� Rays stunk.
Up until 2008, the Rays didn’t have a winning season. They only have had three winning seasons in franchise history, and all three were in the last three seasons. So the Rays don’t really have the legacy like the Yankees or the Red Sox. The Tampa Bay area is full of retiree’s from up north. That means they probably support the team from their hometown. Those people that migrated from the north aren’t just going to give up loving the teams that they support. Tampa just hasn’t had the time to develop into a historic ball club. In a sense, this is the first generation of winning baseball in Tampa. We all know the economy has been bad for the awhile now. This economic downfall has hurt a lot of professional sports teams. But the Tampa area has been impacted greatly. The area has an unemployment rate of 12.4 percent as of January. That’s the highest it’s been in 25 years. Many people are trying to spend less, instead of spending more. “I think that a large part of the Rays’ attendance problem is the economy,� freshman Tyler DeShaw, a health science major said. “Tampa isn’t a big corporate and media-hyped city like Boston or New York, so I think the word doesn’t get out as fast about the team and their success.� Once the economy stabilizes, the Rays should see a steady increase in attendance regardless of the amount of wins the team has, or where the team is located. The Rays’ ownership clearly wants out of St. Petersburg. A location more convenient
to the entire Tampa Bay area would seem to attract more spectators. More fans from Orlando, and other areas farther to the north would probably make the trip down I-4 to see the Rays. The first problem the Rays would have to deal with regarding a new stadium would be where to put the new stadium. Obviously, Rays’ ownership doesn’t feel that southern Pinellas County is a suitable location for a Major League Baseball team. There isn’t much room to build elsewhere in Pinellas County, so the next in line would probably be in Hillsborough County. “Putting the stadium on a waterfront location would attract more people to the games,� DeShaw said. “But in order to be accessible to all of the Tampa Bay area, the stadium should be in a centralized location near a major highway.� The next dilemma would be the stadiums appearance and amenities. I think a stadium with a retractable roof would draw the biggest crowd. People do like outdoor aspect of going to a sporting event, but inthe thick of the summer with Florida’s heat and rain, a roof has to at leastbe optional. A new stadium, at a new location would drive more fans to thegames. With the Rays going into the postseason as AL East champions, they are continuing to build a reliable fan base, but a change in location and a boost in the economy would give Rays fans no excuses to be absent from the games. Until then, the Rays will push for their first World Series victory in franchise history, no matter how many fans are in the seats.
Gulf Coast Town Center (VMG $FOUFS %S /FYU UP HPMG HBMBYZ 1*5"