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. f February 2000 Sports The Polemic 7 ACC Men looking to finish strong ACC Woinen play desg~_te injuries Marty Mix Sports Editor The ACC Men's Basket- ball team is already half way through the long 27-game sea- son, but more imp01tantly they are headed into a very tight second half of their conference schedule. Going into yesterday's game against Henry Ford Community College, the Lum- berjacks had an _overall record of 10-9, and their league record stood at 5-4. The team's record has been up and down from the beginning of the season. "We need to have five _guys on the floor working to- gether at the same time instead of just one person trying to take it on themselves while the other four guys just stand and watch," Head Coach Frank Mccourt said. "We need to have complete team play if we want to be competitive." Alpena started off the sea- son at 2-0, picking up ·a pair of wins from their first tourna- ment at home. They defeated Sault College and Cambrium College, both of Canada. The team's record was evened shortly after that when they made· the first road trip to Muskegon where they dropped two games to Muskegon and Kalamazoo Valley. Alpena then pick~d up two wins the following weekend back at home when they defeate_d Olivet's J.V. squad andAncilla, a first-year team out of the Western Conference. The Jack's winning streak was once again halted when they returned to Muskegon and lost a pair to Lansing and St. Tris pegs St. Louis Superbowl winners .By Tristram Coffin Staff Writer against Tampa Bay or St. Louis. St. Louis' season is a complete surprise considering Wild Card the loss of their starting quar- Ten. 22 , B uf · 16 terback at the beginning of the Was.27, Det. 13 M . 27 D l 10 season an the unproven Kurt m. , a. Mia: 20, Sea. 17 Warner stepping in, but if you Divisional Games followed this season's games Jae. 62 , Mia. 7 you would have known he is t.B. 14, Wash. l3 this year's league MVP and a St.L. 49 , Min. 37 d ti . w 19 I d 16 e mite super power on the of-"..:en. , n . Championships fensive side. Ten. Vs Jae. Amerioan League My prediction is Tennesse Clair. Going into the semester break, the record for the men was 4-4, with two games re- maining before conference play began. Last year ACC dropped a game in the finals, and were hoping to redeeem the title this year. Things looked good as they won the first game, but they again faced a tough Muskegon team and lost a heartbreaker by three points to be runner-_up's for a se·cond year in a row. "Going into the league, this year's squad, though they are young, could surprise a lot of people because of their tal- ent and depFh," McCourt said. "The conference is where we really see how good we are because the level of competi- tion is so intense, and we play so many games in a short amount .. of time." The Lumberjacks cur- rently are in a tie for third place with a 5-4 record in the East- ern Conference. The men have found it rough going in the league thus far, but are hoping that after six straight game:s on the road that they can turn it up for the second half of league play, and end the season strong at home and on a positive note heading into the payoffs that be_gin in late February. "The team has the poten- tial to be competitive and win ,the' majority of the games re- maining, but in order for them to do so they are going to have to pick up their level of inten- sity," McCourt said. Six of the next seven games are home, so the rest of the season will be interesting. Photo by Amy Wallo! Marty Mix Sport's Editor TqeACC Women's basket- ball team has had many ob- stacles to overcome this sea- son. They have been up and down with injury, fatigue ~nd a number of illnesses. The ladies started out the season with four tournaments, and three of them were on the road. The women dropped all four games in the first two on the road, but even more impor- tantly they lost Marisa Fenner due to back problems. Fenner is scheduled to have surgery later in February. They then traveled down to a three-day tournament held by Oakland. There were eight very strong teams there and the girls played very well. This time though, they were with- out sophomore Pam Rich, also out with back problems. The women beat Oakland and Sinclair, but lost to Lakeland. Their record stood at 2-5. The next tournament was at home, and they lost their first game against Glen Oaks but beat Wayne County in the con- solation game. These ladies had a tough week going into the game because of three straight days of exams, fol- low,ed by three straight days of games in the Oakland tourney. They also suffered the loss of two more players. Angie Boutell was out because ill- ness, and Laura Parks tore heF ACL on her right knee. Boutell ago and is doing well. The women's team record now stood at 3-6 heading into the New Year. ' Starting the New Year meant starting a very tough conference schedule. The Lady Jacks lost three in roy.,, then picked up their first i,,~n against Macomb. They contin- ued on their six game road trip, dropping another pair of games. Wayne County had to forfeit two games to ACC :so their record was 6-11. · The women returned home, but things weren't about to get any easier: as they were about to face sixth-ranked nationally, undefeated Mott tea~. The women refused to go down without a fight. They led the majority the entire game b~t Mott had too much in the ep.d and came out victorious. ni:e women played one of their f~- est games of the season, aµd have a lot of incentive going into the second half of their league season? Head Coach, Mike Kollien said. "Throughout this fa·s?- paced season, these wome; have had to overcome many obstacles, and still try to main- tain focus for the games r~~ maining. Practice intensity ha~ picked up these last few weeks and the girls have positive atti- tudes for the games remain•~ ing," Kollien said. ' T.B. Vs St.L. National League defeats Jacksonville for the Super Bowl XXXIV 2000 h' d · · ; · G · D Atl t G t lf time .. this season rn a . .1eorgrn ome, an a, a. . . Freshman Angie Boutell (#20) takes a jump shot over a Mott def ender. returned a few games later, but Parks is done for the season. She had surgery a few weeks The women know that the rest of the season isn't going to get any easier, but they believ6 many of the goals that they s~t out for in the beginning of the season can still be reached, ~e • said. Th NFL' 1 ff close one (24-21). e s p ayo s are · off to the races. Who \\'.Ould _ In the other game, I have have thought at the beginning. St.LouisdefeatingTampaBay of the year that Tennesse and in !'l blow out (38-17). Jacksonvillewould be meeting Now for Superbowl up to decide the American XXXIV. I have St. Louis still League's champion and the on a role and defeating r·ight to meet in the Su per Tennessee in a close battle (28-· 'Bowl XXXIV in Georgia 21). . Photo by Amy Wallott Sophomore G~ry Greenwood (#32) looks for a cutting Christian Adolffsori (#34) during the first half of the Mott game. Balancing sports and school creates pressure for athletes By Katie Rapoza Staff Writer After visiting with some of Alpena'.s finest athletes, one quickly realizes that these ath- letes deal with a lot of pressure everyday. ' Sarah Ellis, a freshman on ACC's ·women's Basketball team, "said, "There is a lot of self-discipline.".· Elli1-, feels pressure from school, making herself sit down and do her homework. "You don't have much of a so- cial life; the people you get to know about are your team- mates," she said. Angie Bou tell . is also · a freshman on the team. " it's difficult to walk around ki1ow- ing that I represent my college and community," Boutet! said. "Being a roll model is tough." But women are not the only ones who feel the pres- ·sure .. Men also struggle to bal- . ance classwork and team prac- tice time. Nie Greenwood, an ACC sophmore, said the balancing act is harder when an athlete is injured and misses class. "You have to fine! time on your own to make up that work you die! in class," Greenwood said. · Class and school is just a ponion of their pressure. Other ~1thletes aclde.u that living on the ir own and p~iying bills cause pressure as well. i1c1l1~i CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSIT Y We're Centered on Your Success Recipients of Central Michigan University's Centralis Community College Awards receive full tuition for up to 72 seme_ster hours of credit. 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CMU, an AA/EO institution, is strongly and actively committed to increasing diversity within its community (see www.cmich.edu/aaeo.html)'. .. L \. .. _r r