10_______
WEÓNEsdAy, Appi! 24, 2002
TI he CI ac I camas P rìnt
Stop the commentary: I want to be a fan
77uzrsday,Aprû25
@ MT. HOOD
IBA
Saturday, April27
S. PUGET SOUND
Noon
From the
Bleachers
Tuesday, April3O
LOWER
COLUMBIA
3pm
Fïiday,May3
Nick Barron
Staff Writer
The questions never cease. An is
sue of Sports Illustrated doesn’t get
published without its pages offering
up another so-called thought-provok
ing query. The sports sections of news
papers constantly compare present-
day teams and players with those in
the history books.
Were the 1980s Lakers better than
the present day squad of Bryant and
O’Neal? What would Joe DiMaggio
hit today against the stretched talent
of Major League pitchers?
Most sports thinkers always say
that the olds'team, or the older player,
is the superior one. But my answer has
always been, who cares?
I remember when I was a teenager,
when the only tiling that mattered to
my adolescent mind was getting a
Sports Illustrated every week, and see
ing an SI cover that declared the death
of the National Football League.
Oh, the honor! There I was, a bud
ding young man, and suddenly my
favorite publication had uttered a time
of death for one of my favorite pro
leagues. The accompanying article
spoke of how the NFL was nothing
like it used to be, with players just get
ting strongs*, not better. Ticket prices
were exorbitant and television ratings
were fal ling faster than John Madden
out of an airplane.
While Sports Illustrated made some
good points, I realized that my genera
tion would never be safe from over-
analytical sports writers and talking
heads. From that point on, I knew that
the sports I loved and cherished would
be dissected on a continual basis in an
effort to rob me of my passion for the
world of athletics.
I understand that Major League
ballparks are smaller than they used to
be, and perhaps the baseballs are
wound tighter. Yes, it is afactthatNFL
players are stronger in the present,
forcing them to also be slower. Of
course the NBA is riddled with over
hyped high schoolers, stripping the
league of its storied talent.
But I cannot change these things,
and even if I could, I am not sure that I
would want to. Because when I was
seven years old, and the St Louis Car
dinals lost the World Series to the Min
nesota Twins, I didn’t care that expan
sion had forced my team to use pitch
ers who would not have been in the
Majors twenty years ago.
I was merely a fan then, and at times
I want to exist as just a fan. Even
though I do my fair share of analysis
and critiquing, it bothers me when
people compare today’s athletics with
those of tiie past
Perhaps it is therapy for middle-aged
sports writers who are lost in memo
ries of yesteryear, but they are robbing
me of my time to enjoy all that profes
sional sports have to offer. There will
only be one baseball season- when I
am21,just as there was one Super Bowl
winner when I was 19.
That team was the St. Louis Rams,
the first team from that city to capture
tiie Lombardi Trophy, but the victory
forme was bittersweet This was be
cause some morons on ESPN told me
that the formerly hapless Rams only
won tiie Super Bowl because manage
ment used the salary cap to its advan
tage, allowing them to turn the team
around in just one year.
Just when you think your team is
finally going to get some respect, the
sports commentators explain, in excru
ciating over-analysis, how they won,
stripping the joy ofvictory from afan.
It is not fair to have overweight
blabbermouths who remember when
Hank Aaron topped Babe Ruth’s
home run record destroy my experi
ence as a fan. I plead to all sports
writers and all commentators and
play-by-players, please do not take
away my chance at rooting for a
game, just as you did when you were
young.
So let’s stop with the questions
and the analysis. Let-Joe DiMaggio
and iy Cobb rest in history, for they
had their time. And just as you had
your chance to be an ignorant young
fan, allow me the same privilege.
To reach Nick Barron e-mail
barronoru@hotmail.com or drop
by B-104
Softball team slides into second
Baseball
_________ DAISY BAIN________
Saturday, April27
The women put two more wins un
der their belts after a doubleheader Fri
day and strengthened their second
A&E Editor
LANE
lpm
Tuesday, April 30
@ MT. HOOD
lpm
Saturday, May 4
@ LANE
lpm
TLiesday, May 7
@ LINN-BENTON
lpm
place standing in tiie Southern Region
with a 10-3 record for the season.
Clackamas was ready to play all
week, but their games were rained out
Tuesday through Thursday. Mount
Hood Community College, which was
tied for second place until they met up
with the Cougars, lost 7-2 in Gresham
Friday afternoon.
“Everyone came ready after wait
ing so long to play,” said Coach Paul
Fiskum. “We handled them nicely. We
really hit tiie ball well.” The Cougars
scored seven runs off 12 hits.’
Freshman Miranda Gillaspie threw
12 strikeouts, a “high for the year,”
according to Fiskum. Sheallowedtwo
runs on five hits. Clackamas played
close to what seems to be their tradi
tional error-free game, ending up with
only one error. “But it didn’t hurt us,”
saidFiskum.
“It was a great performance against
a really good team,” said Fiskum.
Game two was “one of the more
interesting games I’veever coached,”
saidFiskum. It was an up and down
game from inning to inning. “Wedidn’t
play the usual defense; our bats saved
Track
Saturday, ApriL27
OREGON
INVITATIONAL @
University of
the day for us.”
Going into tiie bottom of the third,
Mt Hood was up by three. Clackamas
cracked six hits to bring three runners
in to tie the game. “JJ wasn’t any one
bighit, it waseverybody,” saidFiskum.
In the top of the fourth, Mt. Hood re-
claimed their lead 5-3.
The Cougars retaliated
and shortened, the gap
to one. Ip. the top of
the fifth inning,
Vanessa Holm relieved
Gillaspie at the mound,
shutting out Mt. Hood
for the rest of the game.
“We had one of the
most dramatic hits in
history in the bottom of
the sixth inning,” said
Fiskum.
Brooke
Comstock, hit a single
to left. Nikki Staley,
sophomore, hit a sacri
fice bunt, advancing
Comstock tosecond.
Then, Carla Lillis,
freshman, hit tiie long
PH0T0 CONTRIBUTED BY JACK 0STLUND
est
home
run
Clackamas has ever Shortstop Erin Murphy reaches for a thrown ball during a recent game.
had on thé softball The Cougars won two very important games this week and now
field.
It hit the possess the second-place spot in the Southern Region.
scoreboard, which is
The last game of the tournament
about 15 feet behind the fence. “It Gillaspie threw her fifth shutout of
was “the worst performance of the
hit the board hard. You could hear it the year, winning 3-0. Sunday, the
clank,” said Fiskum. The Cougars Cougars played the only team they season,” according to Fiskum;2 It
have been unable to defeat so far was a 14-1 loss against Walla Walla
won the game 6-5
Community College, which is in sec
Over the weekend, the Cougars this year, Lower Columbia Commu
ond place in the East “They hit bn
played in a tournament in Salem, but nity College. “We played a very ex
didn’t place, finishing with three cellent game,” said Fiskum. The her (Gillaspie) hard. Everything that
wins and two losses. In game one
Saturday, the Cougars played Green
River Community College, which is
third in their league in the North.
Holm, who is leading in wins right
now for the Cougars, threw seven
strikeouts, winning the game 3-1.
Game two was against South
Puget Sound Community College.
game was tied 2-2 through most of
the game until Lower Columbia
scored two runs in the seventh, giv
ing a tragic 4-2 Joss to the Cougars.
On Sunday afternoon, the Cou
gars went against Centralia Commu
nity College. Holm threw another
shutout. The Coqgars scored 10
could have gone wrong did. We just
runs on eight base hits.
drop by B-104.
ran out of gas. ”
The Cougars played South Puget
Sound Community College Tues
day; statistics were not available at
press time.
To reach Daisy Bain e-mail
Daisypower2@yahoo.com or
Oregon
SoftbaU Player of the week:
. Erin Murphy, sophomore, is a shortstop from LaSalle High School.
She had seven successful hits out of 18 at bats last week. You can look for
• # 20 on the field Thursday, April 25, when the Cougars play Mt. Hood
Community College, the time TBA.
PHOTO BY ISAIAH CREEL I Clackamas Print