JL
SPORTS
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
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Rrst-year athletes adjust to a new school and new teams
BY LILY LOU
Staff Writer
This year, Guilford College welcomed 117
student athletes — almost a third of 2014's first-
year dass.
like other fiirst-year students, athletes face
challenges adjusting to college life.
Keeping up witii academics while managing
extracurricular activities is daunting for any
student. Athletes receive support from teammates.
peers and their coaches to ease this transition.
It seems like everyone is exdted to help these
athletes make this transition.
"One of the things that we seem to be getting
better at is the fact that we're recruiting good
people," said Head Football Coach Chris
Rusiewicz.
"There's just good character and they want to
be here."
Below are four short profiles on a few of
Guilford's first-year athletes.
Chasen Chacon
Palo Alto, California
Carter Hicks
Apex, North Carolina
"I love baseball because itis kind
of an escape for me. Whenever I
go on a field I can forget whatever
else is going on in my life and just
focus on the game."
Hicks has played baseball for 13
years. Besides baseball, he likes to
hang out with his friends and play
video games, espedally FIFA, a
soccer video game series.
In the future, Hicks hopes to
get a degree from Guilford in
business administration and sport
management, and then go to the
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill for law school.
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"I chose Guilford because I liked the small environment and it just
seemed like a good fit for me,"
When he's not busy playing tennis, Chacon likes hanging out with his
friends and finding cool things in Greensboro to do.
Chacon wants to double major in business administration and
Spanish, and hopes to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. After
Guilford, he would like to work overseas and start his own business.
Sommer Fanney
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Bryce Parrott
Oxford, North Carolina
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"I like a lot of things about cross-country and track. I'm a super energetic, active person
and running helps me focus and dear my mind... I also like the community I found though
running, both in high school and in college."
Fanney started cross-countiy and track in her first year of high school. Besides running,
she likes to draw, paint, be around her friends, spend time alone and play ultimate Frisbee.
Though Fanney is unsure of what she wants to do in the future, she is focused on running
and getting to know her team better in the present.
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"I chose Guilford mainly for my
major, sports management. Guilford
is really well-known for that. The
chance to play football at Guilford
drew me in as well."
Parrottt has played football since
he was five, when he played flag
football at his local recreation^
center. In his free time he likes to
play sports, workout and go on
mission trips with his church, Enon
Baptist Church.
After Guilford, he hopes to get
a postgraduate degree in sports
management and find a job in the
sports management industry.
SPORTS EDITORIAL
Ray Rice controversy reflects poor judgment by NFL
BY LANDON FRIED
Staff Writer
When Ray Rice assaulted his then-fianc^ Janay Palmer, the
NFL had an opportunity to punish him appropriately.
The NFL failed.
Commissioner Roger GoodeU has made a mockery of
disciplining players by giving Rice a two game slap on the
wrist. The league only backtracked on its gutless excuse for
punishment once TMZ released video evidence of the violent
assault.
"The NFL has basically showed the public that they cannot
be trusted and that there is a lot of work to be done with their
judicial policies," said junior Marcus Williams, defensive end
on the football team.
The league could have easily made an example out of Rice;
they could have originally suspended him for the full season
and sent a clear message tiiat they will not tolerate this kind of
behavior. Instead, they sent a message that domestic abuse is no
big deal unless there is graphic footage of it for everyone to see.
Instead, they emboldened domestic abusers everywhere by
meekly adjudicating this incident.
Rice turned into a local hero and became the face of his team
after helping the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVn. Last year, his
jersey was ranked 28th in overall sales.
If the NFL followed through with the original two-game
suspension of Rice, the running back could have generated
heaps of money for the league.
Now that video has surfaced of Rice striking Palmer with an
uppercut, the NFL had no other choice than to suspend Rice
indefinitely.
"The Ravens didn't really have a choice, but they did the
right thing when they cut Ray Rice on Monday," said Baltimore
Ravens columnist John Eisenberg.
Had the Ravens organization not taken the step that the NFL
would not — i.e., by cutting ties with Rice — ^e media and
financial backlash would have far surpassed the onslaught the
league now faces.
The NFL finally chose the right path but not for the right
reasons.
"I suppose the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens got it right the
second time," said W^ams. "The issue is that there sho^d not
have been a second time."
The NFL will not make the right choice unless it is in their
financial interests.
The league wants to keep its place as a bUlion-dollar
corporation. Suspending Rice for the season would have directly
affected the NFL's revenue stream, so it is no surprise that the
league was hesitant to give him meaningful punishment
"(Roger GoodeU) has stated that he wants to reach $25 bUlion
in annual revenues for the league by the year 2027," said Monte
Burke of forbes.com.
"It s an incredibly ambitious goal, especiaUy for a league that
many in the media believe is in decline."
The league wiU continue to press forward in its primary goal
to mcrease revenue.
We should be appaUed, but not surprised, that the league
puts finances ahead of properly punishing its players.
"By only suspending FUce for two games at first, the NFL
basicaUy gave him a slap across the wrist and sent the message
that domestic violence isn't that big of a deal," said Julie
V\feterich, chair of the women's, gender & sexuality studies
program and associate professor of sociology and anthropology.
The NFL has turned disciplining players into an absolute
joke.
As consumers of the NFL's product, we need to make sure
that this never happens again.
We must demand the immediate resignation of NFL
Commissioner Roger GoodeU.