The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001 Page: 16 of 24
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Page 16
THE RICE THRESHER
Sports
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Friday, March 2, 2001
Jose Luis
Cubria
THRESHER SPORTS/commentary -
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Mexico-U.S. a big one,
but did anyone care?
So what'd you think about the big game Wednesday?
You know, the game that pitted two bitter rivals in
the most important game either team has played in
three years. What, you didn't watch it? You mean to
say you didn't know, let alone
care about it?
Who am I kidding? Of course
you didn't care. After all, it was
only a soccer game.
Except it wasn't. It was Mexico
versus the United States, two
countries that share a 2,000-mile
border and at least that much
animosity on the soccer field. It
was the opening game of the final
stage of World Cup qualifying, a
nine-month, 30-game round robin
tournament that will decide which three teams from
North and Central America go to the 2002 World Cup.
But I may as well be speaking Greek, because to
the vast majority of people in this country, none of this
means a damn thing. Instead, the big sports news of
the day, or at least the lead story on every so-called
major sports Web site, was the quarterback contro-
versy brewing in Buffalo. Yep, a personnel dilemma
during the NFL's off-season registered more impor-
tance than the most important match the U.S. men's
national team has played since the '98 World Cup.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, soccer stole
the headlines. In Mexico, the entire country ground to
a halt for two hours, and every TV station and daily
newspaper led with the game. It was the same in
Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Trinidad and
Tobago, all of whom playeii tVorld Cup qualifiers!
Ditto in England, where the national team faced Spain
— in a practice match. And the whole of Europe will
do the same later this month when the continent
resumes its own World Cup qualifiers.
But in the United States, nobody gave a damn. And
that makes me sad. I've lived here for nearly 17 years
so I'm used to it, but it still makes me sad. It used to be
worse. But the '94 World Cup and the launch of Major
League Soccer shortly thereafter both brought
promise. For the first time, it seemed like this country
was finally excited about soccer. But like slap bracelets
and Beanie Babies, soccer was nothing more than a
passing fad. If only boy bands would follow suit.
I do give the U.S. Soccer Federation credit. They've
struggled some with MLS, and a lot of it has been their
own fault (who ever thought of the stupid penalty
shootout anyway?), but they've stayed with it. They've
still got a TV contract, player development is getting
better and the men's national team has broken into the
top 20 in the latest world rankings.
But there's still a long way to go. Think of it this
way: The USSF decided to hold Wednesday's match
in Columbus, Ohio — in front of 25,00<) people —
instead of at the Rose Bowl, in front of 90,000. Why?
Because it would be easier to assure a friendly (read:
not pro-Mexican) crowd in Columbus. Smart move,
but what does that say about the state of the sport?
But we've been through that. All I want to know is
why people here don't get it. They say its too low-
scoring, but any self-respecting baseball fan will tell
you he prefers a 2-1 pitcher's duel over a 12-10
slugfest. They say it's too long, but an average soccer
game takes no more than an hour and a half, while
NFL and MLB games regularly last more than three
hours. The rest of the excuses are even lamer.
The real answer, I think, is that in this country, the
game is simply too young. While generations of kids
all over the world have grown up adoring soccer, it's
been no more than 20 years since children in the U.S.
have really been exposed to the game at an early age.
And in those 20 years, there has been major progress,
to the point where soccer is the most widely played
youth sport in the nation. That's pretty big.
I still don't think soccer in the U.S. will ever reach
the same "religion" status it has everywhere else in
the world, even with some patience. But I'll settle for
getting World Cup qualifiers on the nightly news.
Trust me, 3 billion people can't be wrong.
Jose Luis Cubria is managing editor and a Sid
Richardson College senior.
Swimming weathers storm at WAC
Owls lose Scholl, Mularz, but still manage to finish third for second straight year
by John C. Chao
THRESHER STAFF
Losing a key teammate to injury at a
conference championship can be devas-
tating. Disaster struck twice for the swim
team at last week's Western Athletic
Conference Championships, but the
Owls still managed to snag third place.
After having their top guns healthy
for the majority of the season, two of the
team's top swimmers had their medal
hopes cut short. First, sophomore Mandy
Mularz, the team's top sprinter, hyper-
extended her elbow when she awkwardly
touched the wall during the final of the
50-yard freestyle Friday.
The next day, junior Katie Scholl, one
of the favorites in the 1,650-yard freestyle,
was battling head-to-head for the confer-
ence title with the University of Nevada's
Ping Luo but was forced to stop for medical
reasons three-quarters of the way through.
"We had a few problems we had to
overcome," Mularz said. "Other people
had to step up and take my spot in the
relays. In some races it wasn't a problem,
but in others it was harder."
Despite the setbacks, the team still
managed to finish in th:rd place for the
second straight year. By the end of the
meet, the team only had nine swimmers,
and without a diving team, the Owls feel
third place is something to be proud of.
If the final scores had been based solely
on swimming events, the team would have
finished in second place behind 12th-
ranked Southern Methodist University.
"We swam pretty well," Mularz said.
"A lot of people thought they could have
done better, but nobody had a terrible
meet."
The Owls' biggest move came in the
400-yard individual medley, where jun-
ior Beth Williams, senior Jada Sanders
and freshman Toni Ciffolilli came in sec-
ond through fourth, respectively.
Sophomore Rachel Armstrong played
a part in establishing three new Rice
records at the meet. She teamed with
Mularz, junior Katie Hermann and se-
nior Kim Maher to place third in the 200-
yard freestyle relay in a Wee record 1
minute, 31.55 seconds, which provision-
ally qualifies the team for the NCAA
Championships.
Armstrong also broke her own school
record to finish third in the 200-yard
freestyle in 1:48.71. And, at the end of the
second day, Armstrong, Maher, Scholl
and freshman Jackie Corcoran set the
school record in the 800 freestyle relay,
finishing second with a time of 7:25.00.
The Owls said one of the biggest chal-
lenges all weekend was trying to stay
relaxed in the meet they had worked
toward all season.
"We can't deny this was a big meet,"
Ciffilolli said. "We tried not to get ner-
vo.us. We wanted to be serious yet to
have a good time and not put too much
pressure on ourselves."
The meet concludes the season for
most of the Owls, b.ut the members of the
200 freestyle relay team found out yes-
terday if they qualified for the NCAA
Championships, to be held in New York
in three weeks. Information about their
qualification was not available at press
time. The NCAA takes all athletes meet-
ing the automatic qualifying standards
in each event and then fills in events until
they reach a cap of 270 swimmers.
"Right now our freestyle relay is ranked
12th in the nation," Mularz said. "Coach
told us that we're in a good position."
The rest of the Owls get a well-de-
served break after a season that started
more than four months^go. The Owls
will lose seniors Sanders and Maher, but
several of the freshmen and sophomores
have shown almost limitless potential.
"I think we've had a good season, and
it's good for everybody to have a break,"
Ciffilolli said. "We've worked hard men-
tally and physically, and it's paid off for us."
With the season drawing to a close,
it's time to look forward to next season,
though the team will miss Sanders and
Maher.
"We're going to miss the seniors,"
Ciffilolli said. "They're great swimmers
and leaders. They make practice fun.
We've worked hard mentally and physi-
cally and it's paid off for us."
Owls hope to find remedy on Hawaii trip
by Jose Luis Cubria
THRESHKR EDITORIAL STAFF
The baseball team left for its annual
spring break trip to Hawaii today. Judg-
ing from the way the Owls played their
last time out, the trip couldn't come at a
better time.
rrocri
IN FOCUS: BASEBALL
Record: 13-3
WAC record: 3-0 (1st)
Last week: Swept a three game
series against the University of
Hawaii at Hilo before losing 4-3 to
Southwest Texas State University.
What made the difference: Rice's
pitching staff baffled the Vulcans,
allowing just five runs in three
games. Against Southwest Texas
State, the Owls managed only one
hit in the last five innings.
Up next: The Owls head to the
islands this week for two three-
game series against the University
of Hawaii at Hilo (3-14.2-7 WAC) and
the University of Hawaii (7-8, 2-4).
Rice, fresh off a 4-3 loss to Southwest
Texas State University Tuesday, left
Houston for the first time all season to
embark on a nine-day, six-game trip.
It's not quite a full-fledged vacation,
since Rice will be playing six important
Western Athletic Conference contests
on the trip. But you won't hear any objec-
tions from the Owls.
"Everybody looks forward to it," se-
nior first baseman Jesse Roman said.
"We don't really get a spring break, but
when you get a chance to go to Hawaii,
who's going to complain?"
Rice (13-3, 3-0 WAC) dropped out of
the top spot in the national rankings this
week. The Owls are now ranked second
by both the Collegiate Baseball and Base-
ball Weekly/ESPN coaches polls and sixth
in the Baseball America poll.
On Tuesday, Rice made a case for
dropping farther in the rankings. The
Owls wasted a solid midweek start by
iliill*
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BRIAN STOLER/THRESHER
Freshman second baseman Jose Enrique Cruz steals second base in Friday's 7-0 win over
the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The Owls begin a three-game series at Hilo tomorrow.
senior all-American Jon Skaggs. who al-
lowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings, by
giving up three runs in the eighth en
route to the 4-3 loss.
The Owls made three errors, had
three baserunners thrown out or caught
stealing and managed just one hit after
the fourth inning.
"We're supposed to beat a team like
that, and we're especially supposed to
beat a team like that with an all-American
on the mound," senior catcher Phillip
Ghutzman said. "It's just a continuation
of not playing good baseball on both
sides of the ball It seems like we're
doing everything wrong."
The Owls admit that they have yet to
play to their potential, but Ghutzman thinks
the drop in the rankings may help them
pull things together.
"It may turn out to be a positive thing
See HASKBAIJ, Page 18
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001, newspaper, March 2, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443134/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.