SPORTS
11
To play or not to play? That is tho ouostion.
By Meredith Brown and Michael MacVane
Executive Print Copy Editor & Staff Writer
What would you do if you had an injury, but needed to play
in a game? Would you sit it out or would you push through
the pain and play anyway? For some, the answer might seem
obvious. For others, there might be extenuating circumstances
that make it nearly impossible to decide what's "right."
Kendall Marshall faced the same question in the now-famous
case where he decided to sit out after receiving surgery for a
broken wrist, leading to the University of North Carolina's
devastating loss against the University of Kansas, 80-67.
Marshall had to make a tough decision: play and risk further
injury to his still-healing wrist, or
sit out and let himself heal, and
risk causing his team to lose out
in the NCAA championships.
"Without Marshall's superior
composure and court savvy,
the Tar Heels were a shell of
their normal selves, and his
absence showed most glaringly
the closing minutes of their
n
loss to the Kansas jayhawks Tom Cormean, head coQch of the nieii's locrosse teom
in last weekend's Elite Eight,"
according to Jimmy Grappone of
the Bleadier Report.
The reason behind his decision soon became clear. Just after
Carolina's loss and subsequent removal from the championship,
Marshall announced his declaration for the NBA draft.
To many, it seemed as if this player sold out his current team in
the hopes of being able to use his talent — and healed body — as
a tool in the future to play pro.
But, again, what would you do? If your dream was to play
pro basketball and the only way to do that was to be heathy
and whole, would you really risk further injuring yourself in a
college-level game that is realistically just a stepping stone for
your future career?
Of course, UNC's team isn't just any team, and the NCAA
champioriships aren't just any game, but the question remains.
On the other hand, there will always be injuries. This decision
of choosing a potential future over team loyalty could set a
precedent among other athletes, encouraging college playem to
sit out for injuries they could easily play on.
Jared Siglin, assistant athletic trainer at Guilford, said that
he and the coaches often assess the extent of an injury before
allowing a player back on the field.
"When it's an injury that they can
push through, we actually encourage
that," said Siglin.
The idea ftiat playing through a mild injury can be good for
you and can toughen you up is a valid one, as well as an old
one. "Walking it off" is an idea that came from sports and, to be
honest, playing through sore muscles makes them stronger in the
long run, and makes the athlete able to endure more in a game.
".. .there's two things that have to happen," said the Tar Heels
Head Coach Roy Williams
to USA Today. "One, he has
to feel comfortable that he's
not hurting. And then two,
I have to decide: Can he be
effective in the game with his
situation?"
Obviously, playing through
a concussion or a broken leg
is extremely inadvisable. If
something like that happens,
the best thing to do is sit out
and get some rest so that
the injury doesn't severely
"In my own playing career, if I felt like
I wasn't going to do further damage by
playing and it just hurt, you just play."
worsen.
But, if it's a small injury, like a pulled muscle or a jammed
finger, there generally isn't any harm in playing through that
injury.
"In my own playing career, if I felt like I wasn't going to do
further damage by playing and it just hurt, you just play," said
Tom Carmean, head men's lacrosse coach.
In the case of Marshall, clearly he chose to sit out. Of course,
there has been and will continue to be much speculation about
whether or not he could have played, and whether or not that
would have changed Carolina's fate in the championships. But,
all the speculation won't change the facts: he had a broken,
recently operated-upon wrist and chose to sit out in order to not
injure it any further, followed closely by Carolina's defeat two
games later.
So, again, the question remains. What would you do?
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APRIL 13, 2012
Got food? Why some
sporting events don't
sell concessions
By Kate Gibson
Staff Writer
As the third quarter of a Quaker football home
game begins, your stomach starts growling. No
problem — head on over to the concessions stand.
But for baseball and lacrosse games, and a few other
sports too, you might be out of luck.
"It's hard to do concessions if you're going to
have only 50 people show up to the game," said Tom
Palombo, athletic director and head men's basketball
c^ach. "For them to put a staff out there, cook food,
set up and do all that, you're probably losing money
... unless you can get numbers out there."
Because of the popularity of football, sizeable
crowds are a given. As such, college food provider
Meriwether Godsey serves up burgers as well as
typical candies and sodas to the fans at football
games, and sometimes at well-attended soccer
games.
Bryan Jones, coordinator for sports marketing,
largely attributes the lively ambiance at football games
to the work of Vice President for Administration Jon
Varnell.
"At football, it's not just concessions — they'll
have two or three flat screens with other college
football games in a tented area, and (Varnell will)
have some cornhole boards out there," Jones said.
"For football, (Varnell) makes it an atmosphere."
But for other sports, the workforce for concession
stands comes largely from volunteers. Men's lacrosse
raises money by running the food setup at basketball
games; at softball games, players' parents raise funds
for the team by selling snacks.
And then some teams, like women's lacrosse, are
left out altogether.
"We actually never have concessions served at the
women's lacrosse games," said sophomore lacrosse
player Courtney Morsberger in an email interview.
"I wish they would sell concessions so more people
would come. My parents, for example, come to the
games from out of town and they always have to
stop to get food before the games."
Pulling in bigger crowds is complicated and
involves much more than a team's success. Crowd
sizes depend greatly on the team match-up and the
day of the week — a rivalry game on Saturday brings
in the masses better than a friendly weekday match.
Hme of day plays a role, too, and some sports do not
have an easy way around these scheduling conflicts.
"The big thing is, baseball and softball can't play
at night," said Jones, noting that their stadiums do
not have lights yet. As a result, games are scheduled
for the afternoon when many people are at work or
in class.
Fickle North Carolina weather drives fans away
as well.
"During basketball season, sometimes the weather
is bad," said Palombo. "It's cold, you're playing on
Wednesday night, and there are classes (and) other
obligations for students as well."
"Weather's a big thing in the spring, and we don't
have the huge concourses in the stadium that a lot of
other places do," said Jones. "If it rains, the crowd
for the most part bails, unless they're parents of
students."
Ultimately, the stands must be packed if fans want
munchies available at all of their sporting events,
and it's up to students to make that happen.
"With a small school like ours, what we have to
rely on (are) the students to come out and support
the teams," said Palombo. "We're a Division III
school, so we're not going to be on TV or anything
like that, so the local community will come out some
and parents of players will come out, but we need
the students to be our crowds."