Newspapers / St. Andrews University Student … / Nov. 1, 2004, edition 1 / Page 8
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8 SA SPORTS “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” - Voltaire Believe Matthew Stucke Staff Writer I was born and raised a Boston Red Sox fan. It was almost inevi table, as my mother was born and raised in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. I was brought up to love the Sox, hate the Yankees, and fear the curse. The curse of the Bambino was bestowed upon the Red Sox when they traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Since 1918 the Red Sox, and their ftins, have not experienced the elation of a World Series Championship, that is, until now. October 27th, 2004 will be a day remembered by generations of Red Sox fans to come. On that fateful day the Red Sox won the world Championship, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games. Those at all superstitious believe that the Red Sox were fated to win on the 27th. A lunar eclipse took place during the game. The last loss of the playoffs for the Red Sox was a 19-8 drumming by the Yankees. If the dash is replaced for a 1, 1918 emerges. No team had ever come back from 3 down in a series as the Red Sox did against the Yankees. The Cardinals would therefore have had to break history in a statistically imfathomable way. The Cardinals had also yet to be up, the Red Sox either ahead or tied, all series long. With all of this working for them, if the Red Sox were to break the curse it was to be on the 27th of Oaober. And so the curse broke. The Red Sox’s team was comprised of a rag tag band of burly, hairy men. Jackie Macmullen, a Boston Globe columnist, righdy asks “how is it this band of self-described idiots, with ra^y hair and baggy pants and shabby defense (eight errors through the first two games) find themselves on the cusp of doing something Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Roger Clemens, and Nomar Garciaparra never were able to achieve wearing the Boston uniform?” The answer may not be clear, but the deeper meaning of such an achievement by “aver£^e” men is vivid. If a bunch of “average joes” can do the impossible then what can’t be done? After the Red Sox won the World Series some fans were left wonder ing where to find meaning now that there is no curse to struggle against. To these" fans I say that this viaory does nbt have to be the end of an era, but the beginning of a legacy. The curse is still alive. It may not be feared, but its legacy survives. The mythology synonymous with the curse will be eternally tied to the Red Sox. This mythology, built by generations lacking a Red Sox championship, climaxed into a fateful explosion of triumph. New climaxes may still be reached. Back to back Championships maybe? Kick the curse while it’s down. The world is not a perect place. The are wars, genocides, rapes, false conviaions, betrayals, murders, scandals, and sins going on as I type. But for one day the cosmos aligned and America’s pastime gave us all a reason to believe in the impossible, the underdog, once again. If but for no lon ger than a moment, we could all revert to our childhood belief that truly, anything is possible. By vicariously living through the players, managers, and staff, we could all feel elation. In a world so littered with fear we could once again put faith in hope. As the Boston faithfiil prayed and held their “believe” signs we all slowly but surely started to believe. The Red Sox must have used all of Bostons Irish luck because John Kerry seemed to have little come eleaion day. Where Kerry fell at the hands of George Bush, the Red Sox rose above history itself to redefine themselves in a realm of eternal indefinables. It is almost impossible to encapsulate the momentousness of the triumph. The accomplishments elusive comprehension builds onjts mythology and fiither deifies the half-human/half-gods that are the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Fall Sports Updates Peter Galen Staff Writer Men’s Cross Country Going into the season, few people outside of the St. Andrews men’s cross country team expeaed big things from the team. In the end, only 5 points separated the team from proving everyone wrong and capturing the CVAC conference title. At the conference championships at Anderson, the Knights finished in 2nd place, a mere 5 points behind conference champion Lees-McRae. All the runners for the Knights ran great races, with freshman sensation Chris Miller taking 3rd place in the individual meet with three other Knights in the top 20, including Tim Bourke, who placed 7th. The Knights -then traveled to Wingate University for the NCAA regionals, where they fared better (6th place) than six other CVAC schools. Unfor tunately that was not enough to qualify for nationals, but the Knights can rest easy knowing they achieved more than anyone expected. Men’s Soccer The Knights men’s soccer team concluded its play for the season, finishing with a record of 4-12 (2-8 CVAC). Since the last printing, the team was 1-3, ending its disappointing season on a high note with a thrilling double overtime win against Limestone College. Jerry Mo- moh scored the game-winner in the second period of overtime, while Jesse Nava supplied the other goal for the Knights. Marcus Gumbrecht recorded his first collegiate viaory in net, making 4 stops while substi tuting for the injured Neil Hastie (broken arm). For the season, Momoh led the team with 7 goals while Krisztian Mikoczi chipped in with 4 goals and 5 assists. The Knights did not qualify for the CVAC postsea son tournament, which was won by Mount Olive College Womens’ Soccer The women’s soccer team finished the season on a relatively quiet note, winning one of their last five matches and tying two others, to finish the season with a record of 3-12-2 (2-7-1 CVAC). Crystal Olu-Taylor led the Knights in scoring this season, tallying 9 goals and adding 3 assists, while Krissten Zimmerman added 3 goals. Seven others scored at least one goal for the Knights, who did not qualify for the postseason tournament, won by Mount Olive College Volleyball The Knights volleyball team, at press, was the only fall sport still active, as they advanced to the NCAA championships (volleyball’s version of March Madness: 64 teams from across the nation placed in a bracket to fight for the national championship). They travel to Lock Haven Uni versity, in Lock Haven, PA to face their first round opponent, California- University of Pennsylvania. To get to this point, however, the team had to finish the regular season, which they did, with somewhat of a whimper. They limf)ed into the conference tournament on a skid of sorts, losing two of their last three matches and four of eight, finishing the r^ular season in 3rd place in the CVAC, with a record of 15-10 (14-4) CVAC. In the conference tournament, which was held here at St. Andrews, the setters recorded a first round viaory over Coker College before falling to Barton in a bit terly contested match, with a crowd that was pulling for the Knights with an intensity that this writer has never seen here. Barton beat the Knights 3 games to 2, to advance to the championship match, where they had defending champ Lees-McRae on the ropes, up 2 games to 1. However, Lees-McRae rallied to force a fifiJi game, and won that game to steal the championship and, as it turned out, secure the Knights a tour nament bid. If Banon had won, they would have earned the automatic bid and Lees-McRae would have needed an at-large bid, and the Knights would have been forced out due to their “NCAA rank”. However, Lees- McRae got the automatic bid and the Knights were invited to participate in the national tournament, and traveled to Pennsylvania November 18th-20th. Womens’ Cross Country The women’s cross country team had a solid end to a solid season, finishing 7th at the CVAC championships, and 11th at NCAA regionals. Kelly Chaplin led the team (as she has all season) in both races, coming in with a team-best 12th place finish at CVAC and a 13th place finish at regionals. Veronica Gobeyn was the second place runner for both events, coming in I6th and 39th, respeaively. Lees-McRae completed the sweep of conference championships, coming in with a total of 54 points.
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