Page 12
The Clarion
March 2, 2005
Sports
Baseball, pure and simple
By Joel Graham
Staff Writer I Photographer
It was hard to watch some of my favorite professional
baseball players sitting in front of a Congressional Committee,
getting questions hurled at them about alleged steroid use. This
question still bothers me; anabolic steroids have been a part of
professional football for years, why is baseball taking all the
heat? The Olympic Committee rarely finds that all natural
competitors were the only ones who competed in all sorts of
events. The world’s biggest bodybuilder, Ronnie Coleman has
won Mr, Universe multiple times and he’s crammed anabolic
‘roids in every vein in his body...and he’s a Texas police officer!?
I hurt for baseball.
Despite all the media hype about baseball’s black eye(s),
there is still plenty of purity in the game. There are players
everywhere that simply play baseball because they love the
sport and have been given natural, unaltered talent.
Buying into the media frenzy about how McGwire’s record
was a fake doesn’t take away from the essence of the sport.
Baseball, in all its glory, will always be, “America’s Game”. They
will never convince me that any professional sport sustains even
a scratch from a few players who break the rules. Show me a
sport that has 100% integrity, with no record of anyone ever
cheating. Jeez, even the Lawn Bowling League at the old folks
home has had a ball or two investigated for suspicious velocit)'.
My brother’s Grandmother used to cheat in every Poker match sh^
ever won in Vegas in the 50’s! Even the Cub Scouts back in the
day had a Pinewood Derby Car every now and then, that blew the)
doors off the competition...! begged my old man not to put all
those fishing weights in the nose of that car.
Anyway, the point is, kids all over the world are now wonder
ing if they will ever be able to compete in the big leagues if they
can’t afford a cycle of Deca-Durobolin mixed with Testosterone,
It’s a wicked shame we can’t all play with the dream of going pro
just ‘cause we feel like one day, with a lot of practice, and hard
work, we can be one of the game’s ‘untouchables’.
1 would just like to say, I admire the hell out of baseball’s
purists like those on our Brevard College team. You guys give
credit to the game through hard work, determination, and heart,
and that, is the essence of all great athletes. It’s players like you
who play with guts and claw your way towards each victory like
rabid dogs. THAT IS BASEBALL, PURE &
SIMPLE!! and...having said that, on the off chance that anyone
is doing ‘roids, 1 would like to be cut in on a book deal... Canseco
didn’t write that slop on his own, he needed a publicist. 50 / 50
from the book’s proceeds and you can keep the “60 Minutes”
money...how ‘bout it?
Ramsey Named NAIA All-American Scholar-Athlete
Angelita Colon-Francia
Assistant Director of Public Relations
Brevard College men’s basketball
player Jared Ramsey was recently named
to the 2004-2005 National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-
American Scholar-Athlete Team.
According to the NAIA, honorees
must be a junior or above in academic
standing and have a cumulative grade
point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and
must play in at least 70-percent of their
team’s games. Ramsey, a 6’3" junior guard
from Rutherford College, N.C., is one of
146 basketball players nation-wide to be
awarded this honor.
He started in 20 games for the
Tornadoes this season, averaged five
points-per-game and was one of the top
3-point shooters in the Appalachian
Athletic Conference (ACA) at 41 percent.
“This is a tremendous honor for
Jared and
Brevard College
men’s basket
ball team,” said
the team’s head
coach Mike .
Jones. “This
makes the
fourth Aca
demic All-
American
Brevard has had in my six years coaching
here, and Jared is as worthy as any. He
has tremendous work ethic in the
classroom as well as on the basketball
court. We could not be more proud of
him.”
Ramsey was earlier named to the
AAC All-Academic Team and earned a
place on Brevard College’s fall Dean’s
List. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, a
student must be enrolled full-time and
must have earned a 3.50 grade point
average or higher for the semester.