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Quakers make commitment to winning
Joe Wallace
Sports Editor
The beginning of the school year
brings many familiar feelings. The
freedom of leaving home, the en
joyment of seeing friends, fulfill
ment in broadening one's educa
tion horizon's, the excitement of
another season of Guilford College
Quakers football.
On September 10th the Quakers
begin their quest for a winning sea
son and the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference (ODAC) champion
ship when they travel to Method
ist College. There they will try to
put behind them the misery of the
past two seasons.
"It's been a pleasant preseason,"
said Mike Ketchum, who is begin
ning his fourth year as the Quak
ers' head coach, "after last year's
experience, this particular group of
players seem much more commit
ted to improving than in years past.
"There is a general agreement
amongst the players and coaches,
it's time to win football games."
Winning is on the minds of
many. After Guilford won the
ODAC championship in its inau-
SIDELINES
Continuedfrom page 7
case now, but there is a still an
as yet unacknowledged problem.
That is the lack of communica
tion with the fan.
Baseball games are played
with better athletes today than in
the past; that is undeniable. But
those involved in the sport of
Baseball today seem indifferent
and ignorant of its nuances its
heartbeats, where its vital signs
are and how to keep it healthy.
Whether the owners claim an
eventual victory in this or the
players should be absolutely ir
relevant. Baseball should not
stop for money (owners want
revenue sharing and the players
to reduce their salaries to pay for
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gural year in the conference, Quak
ers fans, and the team, went
through the next two seasons with
sub-par records, not breaking .500
in either season.
But that is all in the past and this
is a new season. Coach Ketchum
has designed a way in which he
hopes that championship predic
tion can come true.
"We were picked sth in the
ODAC, " which is made up of 6
teams, "I think we'll do better,"
said Ketchum
"A lot is going to depend on how
we do during our first three
games," he added. "If we can go
to Methodist, Chowan, and Hamp
ton-Sydney and come away with
the win, then we will probably win
7 or 8 games this year.
"But if we lose any one of those
games, all the division is pretty
even competitively
To achieve his goal, Coach
Ketchum has made some changes.
First, he selected 4 team captains.
In the past the captains were alter
nated between games, but
Ketchum seems to feel that the
four he's chosen are the essence of
character.
it). That is ridiculous. Of course
the game is a business but busi
nesses are about building and
protecting one's assets, not
warping and strangling the prod
uct until it's dead and unrecog
nizable. These striking people,
these owners and players know
nothing about baseball or they
wouldn't be striking. The Cin
cinnati Reds' owner Marge
Schott put it best when she told
Newsweek earlier this month: "I
don't know baseball. I'm just a
woman who owns a team."
"The owners should put their
books on the table," Orioles
owner Peter Angelos told report
ers the week preceding the
strike. "If baseball has a prob
lem let the owners prove it."
It seems they already have.
&portg
"You can't find anyone who
gives more effort and who are ex
cellent leaders both on and off the
field than Bryan Garland, Mike
Koger, Richard Baldwin and
Renado Hairston," Ketchum said.
Ketchum and the rest of his
coaching staff have also initiated
other things to improve the team.
"Offensively, we've focussed on
throwing the football more and
improving the passing game,"
stated Ketchum, "and so far the
change appears to be better.
"Defensively, we have empha
sized speed. Since we only have a
limited number of 'big* guys,
we've made some position
changes, moving our big guys to
offense and our faster guys to 'D,'"
Ketchum explained, "we are go
ing to apply pressure with speed."
As long as the team remains
optimistic and continues to put
forth the effort it's shown in pre
season practice (along with ample
fan support), the 1994 Quakers
football team should be
pretty good. Perhaps
now the phrase "there's
always next year," will
be proven a positive
statement to the team
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Coach Ketchum, who played for the 1974 Quakers, has
also made a commitment to winning.
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