issue 17 / volume 40

Love and basketball

» Captains of the basketball teams find more than love of the game on the court

Courtnie Martin
Sports Reporter

 

eC I ‘ve been in love with you

since I was 1, and the shit
won't go away.” For those who
remember the 2000 film Love
and Basketball, many should
recall actor Omar Epps playing
Quincy McCall, the heavily
recruited basketball player
with a promiscuous father
retired from the NBA, and
his neighbour, Sanaa Lathan,
playing Monica Wright, also a
very talented ball player. The
two fall in love, venture into
college together, and are looked
at as a power couple.

Now, with Valentine’s
Day right around the corner,
Douglas College can direct
its attention toward two
phenomenal individuals whom
resemble the core of the movie.
Chloe Kennedy, captain of
the women’s basketball team
and one of the team’s leading
scorers, found herself coaching
little league basketball last
year in a winter camp with the
captain of the men’s basketball
team, and a leading scorer as
well, Andrew Baron.

One thing led to another

and the two have been
inseparable ever since. The
two demonstrate what it is to
be a leader on the floor and
still maintain a satisfying
relationship off the court.

“I love Andrew's sense of
humour. He is so nice to me
and everyone around him. He
is such a hard worker. We both
make each other better,’ said
Kennedy. She continued with a
smile, “And he is definitely very
attractive too.”

Kennedy acknowledged
Baron’s efforts on the floor as a
leader, and how he drives her to
put forth the same effort. Baron
clearly exemplifies his hard
work and dedication to not only
his team but his education,
family, and as jokingly stated by
Kennedy, his “best asset.”

On the other hand, Baron
boasted what an exceptional
player and person his girlfriend
is and how she also contributes
to who he is.

“T love her smile. She is so
easy-going and I love her sense
of humour. I also admire that
she has a great relationship with
her family. Oh, and obviously
her physical appearance—she is
beautiful,” Baron said.

During the season the two

manage their hectic schedules
while still maintaining a

very strong relationship—
supporting each other
throughout. On their downtime
you can find both Baron and
Kennedy goofing off with
Maggie, Chloe’s pet rabbit.
Their sense of humour clearly
matches one another.

In the off-season, they
spend much of their time
working out together in the
weight room and on the court.
Of course, a little one-on-one
basketball never hurt.

“Sometimes, she beats me
one-on-one,” said Baron. He
added, “And I don’t go easy on
her; her three-ball is money.”
The two also play in a co-ed
league with some of their fellow
teammates.

Their peers and fellow
teammates look up to them and
respect them both as players
and individuals.

“They] are easily respected
here at the college. They
demonstrate characteristics
both as leaders and fun human
beings. They don’t walk around
with extra PDA; they just take
care of business and you can
see they are happy,” said Baron’s
teammate, Ethan McKean.

sports // 19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chloe Kennedy and Andrew Baron // Supplied

 

Serving up sexism

» Eugenie Bouchard answers stupid question after winning quarterfinals at the Australian Open

   

PY julia Siedlanowska
| Staff Writer

fter making history as

the first Canadian in 22
years to reach the Australian
Open semifinals, the most
burning question to ask Eugenie
Bouchard must of course be
who she would date, yes?
With publicity already being
generated by her “Genie army,” a
group of adoring (mostly young
male) fans, was it necessary to
attract more attention to her
youth and femininity?

“Youre getting a lot of
fans here,” said courtside
interviewer Samantha Smith,
“A lot of them are male. And
they want to know, if you could
date anyone in the world of
sport, of movies—I'm sorry,
they asked me to say this—who
would you date?” Covering her
face and blushing like an iconic
blossoming teen, Bouchard’s
hesitant but good-natured reply
was, ‘Justin Bieber?” Met with

: hearty laughter and booing from
: spectators, she laughed and

: covered her face. “Okay, let’s get
: back to the tennis,” said Smith.

: Indeed.

The small spectacle

: was met with eye-rolling

: by tennis fans everywhere.

: While some tweeted about the
: ridiculousness of the question,
: others were outraged by the

: answer.

“Tt was bad that Bouchard

: just got asked on-court who,

: of anyone, she would date.

: It was worse when she said

: Justin Bieber,’ tweeted Bruce

: Arthur, sports columnist for the
: National Post.

She responded to a terrible

: question with a predictable

: answer. I really don’t think

: that between winning against

: Ana Ivanovic and preparing

: fora match against (the now

: champion of the 2014 Australian
: Open) Li Na, she had time to

: consider her dating options.

: All possible answers aside, the

: outrage should really be over

: the question being asked in the
: first place. In response to an

: article in the online Courier-Mail
: (Australia) one comment read,

: “It is extremely disappointing

: that your tennis coverage would

: involve asking such a tacky,

: sexist question. Eugenie is an

: elite athlete, not some Aussie

: pop tart. I hope Channel Seven

: is ashamed of themselves.”

With Bouchard seeming

: completely naive to the

: ridiculousness of the question,

: we can easily think there is no

: harm done. And in the long

: run that may be true, but this

: question had no place on the

: court—especially not after the

: biggest win of Bouchard’s career.
: To ask a question like that at that
: moment was downplaying her

: accomplishment and allowing

: women’s sports to once again be

: trivialized.

A Channel Seven

spokesperson defended the

: question saying, “These

: wonderful athletes are not

: robots. We try to give viewers an
: insight into their personalities,

: as well as how they hit their

: forehands and backhands. And

* Sam achieved that. She asked

: Eugenie about the match, her

: coach’s advice, her composure,

: the Genie Army, and her next

: opponent, Li Na. And she also

: relayed a light-hearted question
: froma fan about dating—which_ :
: was answered in the same spirit.” :

The response sounds solid,

: but let the backlash serve as a

: warning to this poorly planned
: piece of sports reporting. The

: question should have been left
: to teen magazines.

While Bouchard’s win is

greater than all the negative

: publicity generated by the

: incident, it nonetheless

: distracted from the true success
: of the moment. Although it’s

: easy to believe the question

: was good-natured and meant

: to reveal Bouchard’s humanity,
: the real effect is highlighting

: the double-standard that exists
: in sports. With mentions of

: the “Genie Army,’ (and the fact
: that it exists at all), there is

: no need to further emphasize

: the differences between men’s

: tennis and women’s tennis.

: Although the sexualization of

: players occurs in male sports as

While Bouchard’s
win is greater than
all the negative
publicity generated
by the incident,

it nonetheless
distracted from the
true success of the
moment.

: well (see: David Beckham and

: Ryan Kesler), it is largely self-

: induced without the prompting
: of the media. While the

: struggle for females to receive

: recognition in the world of

: sports still exists, questions like
: these cannot be taken simply

: as ust plain stupid.” Whoever

: was responsible for prompting

: this question has, consciously

: or not, promoted sexual

: stereotypes and assumptions

: based on gender for the purpose
: of attracting attention. Next

: time, let the talent be the real

: attraction.