Jonathan Says

AROUND CAMPUS

If there is one thing we’ve learned
thus far about this year’s men’s basketball
team, it’s that this team has a lot of work
to do if it wants to compete for another
conference championship. The team shows
promise at times, but there are some basic
elements that need to be worked on. For
starters – the Rams HAVE to find a way
to play both halves. The team has yet to
play a complete game on offense, which
is a big reason for the losses to Miami
and Arkansas. Rebounding on both ends
of the court has also been a big issue
in the early season. Against Miami and
Arkansas especially, the Rams had a lot
of one-shot-and-out possessions, while the
Hurricanes Razorbacks had many second
and third-chance buckets.

Congratulations to both soccer teams
for outstanding seasons. While both teams
fell short of winning conference titles, they
both played well throughout. The men’s
winning streak to end the season was spectacular,
and the effort by women’s goalie
Emily Niman and her supporting defense
to pitch a school record for shutouts was
amazing as well.

MLB

For me, last week’s indictment of Barry
Bonds was a day late and a dollar short. If
we learned anything from Rafael Palmeiro’s
dramatic finger waggling, it’s that athletes
(or really, just people in general) are going
to do whatever it takes to protect themselves
from being portrayed in a negative
light. Let’s be honest here. Bonds lied from
the beginning. When BALCO was busted,
Bonds was busted. When his trainer was
busted, Bonds was busted. For Bonds to
have said he thought he was using flax oil
instead of “the clear” is like an 18-year-old
who drinks a case of PBR, gets caught by
the cops and claims he thought it was
cream soda. So now that Bonds has been
indicted on charges that basically say “you
were lying to us,” everything is going to be
different, right? Wrong. The drug policy
of Major League Baseball has already been
broken, abused and toyed with. Bonds
broke the two most cherished records in
baseball, and until someone else comes
along, his name will always be attached
to them. There will be no justice in this
case if Bonds is charged – only a group of
people sitting around pointing fingers and
saying “I told you so.”

NFL

Sunday’s Cowboys-Redskins game
proved to be another signature loss for
Washington. The visiting team played
stout defense and put together just enough
offense to take a 10-7 lead into halftime,
only to have it wilt away thanks to Tony
Romo and Terrell Owens. Although it was
the Redskins defense that gave up three
second-half touchdowns in a 28-23 loss, it
was once again the offense that caused the
problems. The Redskins scored 13 points
in the second half, including a touchdown
late in the fourth quarter, but the offense
sputtered constantly, forcing the defense
to stay on the field too long and allow
Owens and Romo to have their way. Until
the Redskins can figure out how to put
together an offense (never?), expect to see
this problem, not just until the end of the
year, but until a certain owner decides to
hire a coach (any coach) who understands
how to balance a running game with a
passing game.