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Honor Code draws attention

Posted by :jprokop On : March 11, 2011
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Category: Opinion, Sports

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Hey ’Cats. This week I decided to steer my gaze over the nation at large in search of a juicy story. It didn’t take long for me to pinpoint the perfect issue to wax philosophical on.

In the opening days of March, Brigham Young University basketball was on top of the world. It was riding high with only a pair of losses, was top-10 ranked and was arguably the best college player in the country in guard Jimmer Fredette.

Then, without any warning, BYU’s administrators announced that forward sophomore Brandon Davies, the team’s leading rebounder, had violated the school’s Honor Code and was immediately dismissed from the team. Davies’ violation, which remained unspecified for a time, was later revealed to have been consensual sex with his girlfriend, an 18-year-old student at Arizona State University.

The Honor Code, for those unfamiliar with it, states that students must “be honest; live a chaste and virtuous life; obey the law and all campus policies; use clean language; respect others; abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse; participate regularly in church services; observe the Dress and Grooming Standards; encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code.”
OK. I have nothing against the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as an institution or against Mormons themselves; some of my best friends in high school were practicing Mormons. I also can respect BYU on one level in the sense that the university stuck to its guns and dismissed him from the team for the violation as per school policy.

But that’s where my agreement with the decision begins and ends. I have so many issues with this situation that it makes my head spin.

For starters, who reported Davies to BYU in the first place? He didn’t come forward on his own; the school approached him and essentially forced him to fess up. Was it someone from ASU, his girlfriend’s school, who saw BYU basketball on the rise and took an opportunity to sabotage the team’s NCAA tourney chances? Or was it another student at BYU trying to make himself or herself look good by ratting out an unworthy brother? I’m betting that’s the case; after all, the Honor Code tells students to “encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code,” even if it means turning them in to the administration.

Is that the kind of environment that should be promoted — one of constant suspicion and fear in which students are looking for any transgression to report to the powers that be? What a wonderful way to make stressed-out students even more nervous and subsequently knife many of your own tenants as Mormons by breeding distrust and secrecy among what your church wants to be: a big, happy family.

Furthermore, the Honor Code itself is a joke. You’re a college, BYU, not a training program for your next generation of church-goers. Yes, as a private institution you have the right to set your own rules, but even as a devout Christian I can’t respect a religious university that expects perfect adherence to an utterly unrealistic set of rules.

First of all, your religion believes in the teachings of Christ. That means that you acknowledge that as humans you will sin and you will sin frequently. How can you possibly reconcile this fact with a no-tolerance policy toward what your church considers sins, especially since many of the tenants in the Code aren’t even biblical. I don’t remember Christ espousing that “Thou shalt not consume caffeine.”

Also, I’ve never met anyone in my life (Mormon or non-Mormon) that doesn’t break at least one of those tenants every day. Does such a Mormon even exist? I’m talking swearing, drinking caffeine or even wearing baggy clothes, all of which are in the Code. It’s a wonder you have any students left at all, especially since college students don’t exactly have the same level of restraint that a mature adult does.

This whole situation stinks. Someone just suddenly decides to report one of BYU’s best players, and then the university immediately dismisses him from the team. I have to wonder if an average person at BYU would have been booted from school if he was reported — can you say example case?
As this situation continues to develop, we will see the true character of the university. If Davies is allowed to return to the team next year when he’s “learned his lesson,” thus continuing the media circus fixated on BYU as of late while still showing that the university sticks to its guns, I, for one, am crying foul.

Chris Forrer/For the Review
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Wildcat week in review

Posted by :jprokop On : March 5, 2011
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Category: Opinion, Sports

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Hey ’Cats. With winter sports fading into the sunset a few weeks ago and spring sports only a few days old, stories are getting harder and harder to come by these days. But fear not! As much as I love unearthing good narrative stories from the Northwest Conference to share with y’all, this week I’m going to go in a different direction and give you some nice little stats and tidbits. Without any further exposition, the week in review:

•Ach! Nishizaki and Boehme to Deutschland:

As I’m sure you read in last week’s issue of TLR, quarterback Aaron Boehme and defensive tackle Paul Nishizaki, two of Linfield football’s finest during the last four years, have signed professional contracts with the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns of the German Football League. Admittedly the mascot isn’t the most masculine I’ve ever heard of, but in a state of Beavers and Ducks who can talk, right?

Also, while the GFL is certainly no National Football League, this signing is a big deal in the context of the team’s status. Long-time quarterback Chad Rupp of the Unicorns walked a year ago and left a vacancy at the position that was filled well by replacement Brian Brunner in 2010.

Furthermore, Unicorn coach Siegfried “Ziggy” Gehrke has stated that Nishizaki is going to be a big part of shoring up his defense. This means that Boehme and Nishizaki are both in a good place to compete for some serious playing time in a professional league; how many other Division III athletes can say they’re headed for a professional gig after college? Not many. I’ll be keeping up with their exploits occasionally, as well as other Linfield sports alumni, as I can next season, so stay tuned.

•Goin’ down to Dixie:

On another football note, senior tackle Aaron Heston was invited to the Dixie Gridiron Classic Feb. 3, a game that involved almost entirely Division I athletes. This kind of major exposure to NFL scouts could lead Heston to land a walk-on contract next season. If he does, he could become one of only a tiny handful of Linfield players to advance to the NFL. Cross your fingers and watch for more developments here as they come in.

• Smells like a National Championship:

If you recall, I mentioned last week that the softball team was likely to have a lights-out season and belt more homers than you can shake a Louisville Slugger at. Sure enough, as if the fans had cried out “Here we are now; entertain us,” the ’Cats have blasted nine home runs in their first four games. If they keep knocking them out of the park at this rate, and assuming they play in as many games this season as the last (49), the softball team is going to rack up 108 home runs during a single season.

Even adjusting this for what will certainly be lower scores in the post-season, 90-plus is still a fair approximation. That figure would shatter the Linfield and Division III records for home runs in a single season set by last season’s squad. The team also outscored opponents 49-7 in four-straight wins to open the season.

These are some seriously gaudy numbers, and I’m tremendously excited for the group’s prospects at winning a national title in Salem, Va. this year.

•Doucette on the warpath:

Reigning All-American junior Staci Doucette was named NWC player of the week after Linfield’s four-game winning streak against Whitworth University. On the weekend, she hit three home runs (including a grand slam), racked up nine RBIs and batted an unreal .667. She is single-handedly promising fans that attending a Linfield softball game means you’re going to see offensive production every couple of minutes.

All aboard the Wildcat Softball Freight Train! Next stop, Salem!

Chris Forrer/For the Review
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Spring sports are almost in the air

Posted by :jprokop On : February 26, 2011
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Category: Opinion, Sports

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Hey ’Cats! Spring has sprung and that means it’s back to the old grind of schoolwork, classes and being so busy you only stop to eat, sleep and go on the occasional 11:59 Catty Shack run.

It’s been a long, cold couple of months since I last got to burn up the keyboard for the Review, and I’m currently battling a head cold that has swept through the theater department, so pardon my rust.

Before I get going into the bulk of my column today, I want to give a quick shout out to coach Robin Potera-Haskins and the Linfield women’s basketball team on their first winning season in more than five years. Not to say “I told you so” or anything, but I did write two separate articles focusing on how I thought Haskins was going to turn the team around, and what do you know? A winning season is in the books.

But enough about basketball! It’s spring: the time when wet, miserable weather and dreams of summer and sports are the focus of everyone’s attention. Well, maybe not everyone is dialed into spring sports … but they really should be. The baseball team is on a pretty hot streak lately after winning their first five in a row. One of those wins was against Western Oregon University, by the way, which is a Division II school. For those sports-illiterate out there, that means that WOU has more funding, better facilities and the ability to recruit more top-tier players than Linfield, and we beat them. Pretty neat, huh?

True, the team did proceed to drop their next two games in a row, but these were top-notch teams in, again, higher divisions (NAIA and D-II, respectively), so take it with a sizable grain of salt.

Basically, your Linfield baseball team is living up to its No. 8 ranking and looks like a
national title contender for the second year in a row. Mazel tov!

As for the women, the softball team was rained out before its highly anticipated season opener, so anyone interested in watching that game can catch it at 3 p.m. on March 9.

Something else seems to be nagging me the back of my mind about these gals. Maybe
it’s the five All-Americans still on the roster? The bulk of last year’s team (which set more NCAA and school records than I can count) returning? The No. 1 national ranking by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association?

Never mind; I’m sure it’ll come to me later.
In the meantime, I’d highly recommend catching some softball games while the weather is nice. Last year’s team belted a ri-freaking-diculous 78 home runs in 49 games last year. In other words, if this season’s squad is anywhere near that caliber (which the NFCA says it is), you’re guaranteed at least one home run a game.

Now that’s getting some bang for your buck!

Chris Forrer/For the Review

A sad end of an era for the Catdome

Posted by :jprokop On : December 4, 2010
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Category: Opinion, Sports

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I’m an emotional guy when it comes to the sports programs I love, so last weekend, after watching my beloved Wildcat football team lose in double overtime in frigid Minnesota, I felt emotionally steamrolled. As many of you die-hard ’Cat fans can attest, this one hurt.
After the last fumble on the 4-yard line sealed the deal, I was stunned speechless. All I could do for the next 15 minutes was stare at my computer screen as the Tommies whooped and hollered, as the broadcasters discussed their chances against Bethel University and, finally, as the webcast ended, and the window went black. It wasn’t the fact that the Wildcats lost that deactivated my higher brain functions for a brief period of time but how they arrived at the loss and, on a larger scale, everything that it represented.
From what I, and everyone else who laid their eyes on this game saw, Linfield was the superior team. This is a game that we should have won running away. For the better part of three quarters our defense was playing so well that the Tommies didn’t even smell the end zone — let alone enter it.
We picked off their quarterback three times in a matter of minutes. Aaron Boehme was carving up their defense on big drives and Taylor Avritt, who was shoved into a major role on a moment’s notice after Simon Lamson was sidelined by an injury early on, was playing the best football of his life, finding holes, breaking tackles and opening up big runs when we needed them most.
But when we got into or close to the red zone, everything came to a crashing halt. Every play Linfield ran within the St. Thomas 25-yard line in the second half amounted to a whopping 15 total yards, eight incompletions and two missed field goals.
The only time the ’Cats scored in the entire second half was on a final, desperate drive that culminated in Boehme’s clutch TD pass to Buddy Saxon that sent the game into overtime. The extra periods weren’t any better, with another missed field goal and a fumble that sealed the loss. True, much of this can be chalked up to the Tommies’ defense, but not all of it.
That’s how the Wildcats ended the season: in a manner that was both utterly heartbreaking and uncharacteristic of their usually fiery offense.
I can’t think of another loss in recent memory that hurt my heart, and the hearts of ’Cats everywhere, as much as this one did.
Our boys played with their all against one of the nation’s toughest teams; they battled hard for four quarters and two overtimes; and in the end, the better team was still walking off the field with their helmets in hand and their hearts sinking. That hurts.
Among were some of the most talented senior players to ever suit up in purple and red, and my heart breaks for them above all else.
Boehme, the prolific dual-threat quarterback who will go down as one of Linfield’s best, is leaving enormous shoes to fill next season after two incredible years at the helm of this offense; Eric Hedin, the “Sack
Master,” leaves bearing many of Linfield’s most prestigious defensive records after turning himself into a one-man quarterback wrecking crew this season; Buddy Saxon and Chris Slezak, both of whom came back for a final year of eligibility to help Linfield win a national championship and had their hopes dashed in the Minnesota snow; Simon Lamson, who, after a career-defining season, could only watch when it mattered most; Sam Higgins, perhaps the most underrated player on the entire team, who had a better eye for picking off balls than most gave him credit for; Paul Nishizaki, among the college’s all-time best tackles, who wore a smile on the sidelines no matter what the scoreboard read.
There are many more seniors who deserve their names listed here, but only one that I want to mention. Taylor Avritt: You might have been tempted to hang your head the lowest of all. But if you gave into those feelings, I know that every pair of hands on that football team was there to lift you up and carry you all the way to Oregon because after stepping into a major responsibility at a moment’s notice in the biggest game of your life, you deserve nothing less. I applaud you, and you have absolutely nothing to regret.
I apologize for my verbosity this week, ’Cats, but the end of this football season marks the end of an era as well. For the past two years, I’ve been a spoiled journalist for covering a team such as this, and I cannot possibly express the full depths of my gratitude for that.
Now, to this remarkable class of seniors, I raise my glass and drink to the honor of your farewell. And for those who remain, it’s time to anticipate the future. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what it holds.
Is it September yet?

Chris Forrer/For the Review
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

New coach gives hope to new season

Posted by :jprokop On : November 13, 2010
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Hey ’Cats. Believe it or not, the fall sports season is nearly over. With college and professional football and basketball still in full swing, it’s easy to forget that sometimes we Division-III schools have abbreviated schedules.
Now that soccer and volleyball are over, swimming and cross country are not far behind, and before you know it, basketball will be getting started (next Tuesday on the road against Concordia, actually).
In one of the earlier issues of the Review this year, I wrote an article about the hiring of a new women’s basketball coach amid allegations from a former school and something about a lawsuit (TRL, “New coach hired amid lawsuit” Sept. 10.) None of you remember it in all likelihood.
I don’t blame you; it’s not exactly something that would stick around in memory for more than a few hours. But since the basketball season is but a few days from kicking off, I thought it might be nice to revisit some of the reasons I feel that the women’s basketball team is going to be a team worth watching.
The new coach, Robin Potera-Haskins, is a former Division-I coach. Not only did she coach at that level, but her program at Montana State won two conference championship and NCAA tournament berths. You read that correctly, folks: We’ve got a March Madness-seasoned coach at our bench this year. At her prior schools, she won three conference championships and competed in three national championship games.
But perhaps the best athletic-related ability Potera-Haskins brings to the table is her otherworldly talent for turning around programs that are in the dumps. At each of the six schools she coached at prior to Linfield, the programs experienced a radical switch in their win-loss percentage.
Right now, this is perhaps the perfect remedy for our Wildcats after a series of disappointing seasons. It’s not like our ladies don’t play hard; it’s not like the talent isn’t there. Something was just not clicking, and the wins were just not happening.
Enter Potera-Haskins, who, in one semester at Linfield, has shown herself to be an energetic, positive and uplifting figure that will be a source of inspiration for her ladies.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with her for a lengthy interview earlier in the year, and I found in her words an earnestness that screams “I love Linfield!” What better fit could you possibly ask for?

Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

A look at NWC top dogs

Posted by :jprokop On : November 5, 2010
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Hey ’Cats. With only two regular season games left, I figured now would be the perfect time to write a column dissecting the Northwest Conference football playoff picture. So, without further ado, a short analysis of the top contenders in the NWC, with their current standing, name, record and conference record (in parentheses):

Linfield College, 6-1 (4-0)
Linfield has once again shown why it is the cream of the NWC crop with commanding victories in each of its four conference games.
The ’Cats are averaging an unreal 487.2 yards and 47.8 points per game while only allowing 13.8 points and 290.5. With only games against Whitworth University and Lewis & Clark College left, Linfield figures to waltz into the playoffs wearing the NWC crown for the second-straight year.
Watch out for Lewis & Clark on offense, however: The Pioneers are just behind Linfield in both points and yards per game. Whitworth’s stingy pass defense may present some problems for senior quarterback Aaron Boehme as well.

Pacific Lutheran University, 6-1 (3-1)
The Lutes began hot this season by rattling off five consecutive victories before getting emphatically swatted by Linfield at home two weeks ago. Their success has largely been on the back of senior quarterback Jordan Rassmusen, who is playing the best ball of his life this year at around 230 yards per game and 10 touchdowns.
In the end, PLU’s porous defense led to its undoing; the Lutes are allowing just more than 393 yards a game in total offense.
Despite all this, they remained No. 8 in the NCAA’s latest regional rankings, meaning they may be able to secure an at-large bid in the playoffs should Linfield win out. PLU controls its own destiny now, and their final regular season game against Willamette will ultimately decide whether one team or two will represent the NWC when playoffs come around.

Willamette University, 6-2 (3-1)
Just like PLU, Willamette’s lone conference loss was a 35-7 drubbing at the hands of Linfield. Defense has been the Bearcats’ strong suit this season, as they only allow 18.8 points and 291.2 yards a contest.
Don’t count out their offense, either: 39 points and 453.8 yards per game are nothing to sneeze at.
Also like PLU, the Bearcats have a shot to break into the West Region’s top eight teams and secure an at-large
playoff berth if they can win out in its last two games against the Lutes and the Pioneers.
Should Linfield drop their remaining games and the Bearcats win out, Willamette would even win the NWC.
Their final game of the season against Lewis & Clark looks to be a retelling of the age old adage, “What happens when an unstoppable force (Lewis & Clark’s prolific offense) meets an immovable object (Willamette’s sturdy defense)?”

Lewis & Clark, 4-3 (2-2)
The Pioneers are undoubtedly the biggest surprise in the NWC this season. Predicted to finish last, Lewis & Clark has defied all odds to surge to the middle of the pack in the conference race and are not completely removed from title contention.
If the Pioneers defeat Willamette and Linfield in their final two games, and the Wildcats also lose to Whitworth, Lewis & Clark would wrap up its first conference championship in God only knows how long.
Freshman Pioneer quarterback Keith Welch is averaging 279.5 yards of total offense in a breakout season, but the Lewis & Clark defense has been atrocious, allowing 404 yards and 34.2 points a game.
If Lewis & Clark can mange to crack Willamette or Linfield’s defensive scheme, it just might be able to outgun them and eke out a huge upset
victory.

Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Linfield sports love lives in loyal hearts

Posted by :jprokop On : October 22, 2010
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Hey ’Cats. Now that we’re midway through the fall 2010 season, I thought I’d take a minute to step away from analyzing sports and look to the heart of some Linfield aspects that I only fully realized recently.
Linfield has a lot of love, in terms of its sporting teams. In fact, this might be the most lovely campus I have ever seen or heard of. Yes, even more than the football titan that is the University of Oregon, which lies only a few, short hours away. Linfield loves its teams, and they love it back.
Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you (unless you’re just basing your disagreement on Division-III hate, in which case you don’t matter). After all, Linfield is small; this fact is readily apparent in our new slogan and symbol.
Ignoring the obvious chance for a phallic joke, the small Linfield community is indeed a powerful one. Our football program, holder of the NCAA all-divisions record for consecutive winning seasons, has consistent fan support pour in through large attendance at home games.
Alumni, who have loved their Linfield since their first tentative steps through Melrose Hall, come out for these games in droves.
Heck, we even have a pretty decent tailgating scene on Saturday mornings in the south parking lot out by Ford Hall.
And if anyone tries to tell you that Linfield sports are a one-trick pony (football), think again.
The women’s soccer team is having a season that has surpassed all expectation. They are in the thick of the conference race and are playing some inspired ball right now, and it has not gone unnoticed. Attendance at these games has seen a noticeable increase.
That’s right, folks; the students respond when their sports teams need them to. The uptick in fan support for our ladies has no doubt had an impact.
As someone who is not an athlete, I can’t say I personally relate; but as a theater major, I know that when the house is packed on a show night, I bring my “A+” game every time.
In turn, the athletes pour their souls into this school’s sports teams. I don’t think many of you realize just how loyal Linfield’s athletes are to the Old Oak and all it stands for.
Take senior quarterback Aaron Boehme. I’ve been able to talk with him often in my short time at Linfield while writing about the football team, and one day last spring, I had a curious question in the back of my mind. Boehme is a stellar athlete, sure, but with graduation looming and a year of eligibility left, he had some decisions to make. Luckily, I found him on Facebook one night, and I asked him these questions: “Are you planning on coming back next year?” and “What do you want to do after graduation?” His answers were indicative of the aforementioned truths about Linfield athletics.
“Yes, I’m coming back,” he said. “And when I graduate, I want to teach high school. Maybe coach some day.”
Do you follow me, Linfield? Are you picking up what I’m putting down? Boehme doesn’t have plans to play after college.
Coming back for his senior year wouldn’t boost his draft stock or get him any closer to becoming a teacher. If anything, it could only put him at risk to seriously hurt himself during the course of the season. But his drive to win a national championship for this school is so deep, so all-pervasive and so passionate that he put his career plans on hold to come out for one last go-around and try to bring glory to Linfield and all its students.
That’s what I call loyalty, and that’s what I call love.
How often in Division-I programs do we see amazing athletes spurn their colleges to make the jump to the pros and chase the almighty dollar? Sam Bradford did it; Mark Sanchez did it. But that is something you will never see a Linfield athlete do.
Students, your athletes love you, and they love this school. So give a little love this week — for them and for what it stands for.

Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

You know you’re a Heisman candidate when…

Posted by :jprokop On : October 17, 2010
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Hey ’Cats. Once again I’ll be traveling to Duck-land for another column about Chip Kelly and the boys down in Eugene.
But rather than talking about the team, I want to focus on Oregon’s small wonder: its leading running back, the sparkplug of their offense and one of the nation’s leading Heisman Trophy candidates: LaMichael James.
More specifically, this is why I think this is the year we’ll finally see a player wearing green and yellow hoist the ol’ stiff arm later in the fall.
That’s right haters; not only do I think that James will win the Heisman this year, but I’m also willing to spend an entire column outlining, in statistic-based academic terms, why I think he’s a lock to finish first.
I’ve come up with criteria that I believe are the most critical things each candidate needs to fulfill in order to win. In no particular order, they are:
• The candidate must continue to play up numbers consistent with the first half of the season’s output.
• The candidate must have a “Heisman moment” game
• The candidate must play for a nationally ranked team.
• The candidate’s team must not be in the Western Athletic Conference.
• The candidate’s team must continue to win.
• The candidate must be a significant part of that victory.
The top five Heisman candidates are Kellen Moore of Boise State, Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State, James of Oregon, Cameron Newton of Auburn and Denard Robinson of Michigan. For the sake of space, I’m only going to address the first three candidates, in no particular order, and show you why James is a shoo-in to win this season.
In my opinion, Pryor is the only guy poised to challenge James for the trophy this season. He’s put up great numbers so far — to the tune of 1,349 yards, 15 touchdowns and only three picks, and also got it done with his feet, racking up 354 yards and 3 TDs.
However, he’s got gimpy knees (torn posterior crucial ligament at the end of last season that stuck around for a while … ask Dennis Dixon), and Ohio State has a tough schedule ahead. This weekend the Buckeyes are on the road against No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 15 Iowa later in the season.
Also, don’t ever count out Michigan to spring the upset; its rivalry is one of the great ones, and it’s always a toss-up.
Pryor also has yet to turn in a dominating performance against a tough opponent. (Ohio State always front-loads with patsies early in the season.) He may have one yet, but I don’t see it happening.
And of course there’s Kellen Moore. The guy is having a killer season. His TD to interception ratio is 14-1, his team is ranked No. 3 in the country, and it doesn’t look like BSU is going to lose any time soon.
But none of this can dissuade me from the notion that a quarterback playing in the Western Athletic Conference is incapable of winning the Heisman.
I’m sorry Boise lovers, but your conference sucks. Boise may win by 50 points every single game, and Moore may pile up 250 yards or more a game, but it’s against New Mexico, San Jose State and Louisiana Tech. Any moderately talented quarterback could rack up ridiculous numbers and lead his team to a BCS bowl as long as he had at least a decent supporting cast behind him.
BSU just doesn’t have the weight in major voting because its strength of schedule is one of the poorest in the nation.
That brings us to James. He’s picked up a solid 848 yards (second in the nation) and eight touchdowns this season while leading the nation with 169.6 per game. He shows no signs of slowing down and has stayed completely healthy so far. Plus, Oregon has only Arizona and Oregon State left to get through, and Arizona showed just how porous its defense is in a loss last weekend to the Beavers.
The OSU game is always a trap, especially in Corvallis, Ore. but with James Rodgers out for the rest of his senior season, this one is going to be a cakewalk for a Duck defense smothers teams in the second half.
But above all else, James put on a clinic in the game against Stanford, picking up 257 yards and three scores — both career bests.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Heisman moment, and when you consider that the last three Heisman winners have all been sophomores, it’s almost eerie how serendipitous this season seems to be for James. All the Ducks have to do is keep winning, and LaHeisman will be carrying the stiff arm to Eugene come December.

Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Team’s respect is well deserved

Posted by :jprokop On : October 9, 2010
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Hey ’Cats. I’ve got a confession to make. This may shock some of you for, as you’ve seen, I can be very passionate about this thing they call sports. However, this week I’m here to say to you, and to the world: Sometimes things are just more important than throwing a ball around a little piece of grass or shooting a ball at a little metal circle with some rope hanging from it.
This thought has always existed somewhere in my subconscious, although heaven knows that once September rolls around, it’s difficult to find me on game days.
But something I heard in this week’s football press conference, mentioned almost off-handedly by coach Smith, sparked something within me.
As we were packing up and preparing to leave the media room on the second floor of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Building, Director of Sports Information Kelly Bird asked Smith how the fundraising effort was going. Smith replied that it was going well, and he hoped to present the money raised to the young man’s family at the upcoming football game against the University of Puget Sound.
Naturally, I became curious, and I began to look into what the exchange was about. Soon after, I learned about Corey Obungen. Ever heard of him? Didn’t think so. After all, why would you know the name of one of the defensive backs on UPS’ football team? I certainly hadn’t.
But over the summer, Corey was on vacation in Hawaii for his cousin’s high school graduation. During a trip to the beach with some of his teammates, he dove into the water and landed on his head, snapping his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the waist down. Faster than you could blink, his football career and his life as he knew it were gone.
Yet, despite losing the ability to walk, Obungen says he just feels lucky to be alive. And he promises that he will walk again one day.
Here’s the Linfield connection: Obungen went to the same high school as senior quarterback Cole Bixenman. The Linfield football team organized a fundraising effort to help pay for Obungen’s medical bills and help him realize his dream to get up and move around on his own two feet.
This is the kind of thing I just don’t see enough of in sports today. Teams that play in the same league rarely send so much as a get-well-soon card to opposing players, even if they were injured on the field while playing against them.
Sure, NBA and NFL players have their charities, their philanthropic organizations devoted to feeding the starving, clothing the naked or helping underprivileged children play sports. That’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but where is sportsmanship like this in today’s athletic world?
Linfield has the respect of a sports nation, whether you know it or not. The Wildcats are universally known as a class act in everything that they do, and I can think of no better example than this to highlight why. It’s not because of the national championships in football and softball or because of “The Streak” or because we perennially challenge for league and national fame. It’s because we know what matters most and constantly strive to achieve it.
After all, football is just a ball, some boys and some grass; it’s just a game.
Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Upping game attendance makes a positive difference

Posted by :jprokop On : October 1, 2010
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Category: Sports

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Hey ’Cats. This week I’ve got something of a public service announcement for you. So listen up, and listen good, because what I have to say could very well change the face of Linfield football for the better.
This weekend, our nationally ranked Wildcats come home for their first game at Maxwell Field. It’s the first time in more than 20 years that our boys did not play a home game in the month of September, and it certainly has taken its toll.
Our squad brings a 1-1 record and a No. 16 ranking into this weekend’s game, along with a lot of road weariness and a lot of doubt. On top of that, Saturday’s game is against Willamette, our perennial rivals and top challenge to repeating Northwest Conference championship and making the playoffs again. Willamette, incidentally, is ranked No. 15, so Saturday’s game will be a matchup of Top 25 teams.
I don’t say this to criticize the team, but if you look at the box scores of both games thus far in the season you’ll see some startling numbers.
You see a contest in which we basically handed the game over in the second half to a team we should have defeated by all accounts and a win against a team that we probably should have beat by more than 40 or 50 points but could only put up 30 against.
Our offense did well but laid a lot of eggs in the red zone that should have been points. Defensively, the second game was an improvement, but it was against a team that hasn’t won a game in about 26 months, so you have to take it with a grain of salt.
Willamette, meanwhile, knocked off a team ranked in the Top 5 in the nation in the first week of play this season, then dropped a game on the road before winning last weekend. They bring the complicated and barely used fly offense to the table, which requires an intricate and specific set of preparations to combat on defense, and it’s looked pretty damn good so far this year.
Honestly, this game is starting to look really scary on paper.
This season’s Wildcats are good, make no mistake. They may not be in the same dominating form as last year just yet, but they’re beginning to heat up as a cohesive unit, and I believe that at home this weekend they can knock off Willamette. But, and I’m going to put this in all caps so you get the point, THEY NEED OUR HELP.
Last season, game
attendance was pitiful. The student section sat largely empty even after our boys beat the No. 4 team in the nation in the season opener and never looked back. We put up absurd point totals game after game, blowing out opponents by 40 and 50 points even with our second string guys in for an entire half. We never trailed an opponent until the seventh game of the season for goodness sake.
The team was hot, but the fans were noticeably absent.
I understand that football snobs ignore our team just because it’s Division-III, Seriously? Everybody went to their high school’s football games because that’s just what you do, whether your team was state champ or bottom of the barrel every year. And now that you get to college, you suddenly stop because it’s not a high-profile, Division-I school? Come on, Wildcats, you can do better than this, and you know it.
’Cat fans, this is our eleventh hour. This game is the final, real test for our boys. If they win, the NWC crown is all but assured and a playoff berth almost guaranteed, but unless we show up in force and get raucous real fast, they might as well be playing on the road again.
Our team badly needs us for this game, they need their home crowd to be bigger than it’s ever been and louder than all of you think possible.
This may not be Autzen, but if we had a thousand fans swarming the student section by the fences, you can bet your life it’s going to make a difference.
And frankly, a thousand fans should not be hard to muster for a school that made it to the national semifinals in last year’s NCAA Division-III playoffs.
Maybe, just maybe, when you see that there is something to be excited about, the Catdome will be bursting at the seams every home game.
So I issue this proclamation to every student at Linfield College: I challenge you, I dare you, to show up this Saturday at 1; I dare you to bring your red and purple gear; I dare you to scream your head off on every 3rd and 4th down defensive stand; I dare you to jump around and get crazy after every score; I dare you to make a difference.

Chris Forrer/Freelancer
Chris Forrer can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.