BEHIND THE BENCHES

y naming Sammy Sosa as
B= National League MVP

last week, the Baseball
Writers Association of America
(BWAA) finally made a decision
based on achievement instead of
popularity.
If you're wondering what I mean,
name all the NL Rookies of the
Year in this decade who didn’t
play for the LA Dodgers.
Think about it, Mark McGwire
had everything going for him to
win the MVP. He’s an all-

Y

ee

   

American boy, devotes much of
his off-season time to charities,
made his son his bat boy during
his run at Roger Maris’ home run
record and, oh yes, broke the
most sacred mark in baseball
(Maris’ 61 home runs in a
season). Sammy Sosa, on the
other hand, only helped his team
into the playoffs (McGwire's
Cardinals were out of the race for
most of the season) and played a
position that is much more
demanding than McGwire's.
Another thing to think about,
Sosa plays in the outfield, a

position that requires
a lot of movement
and a strong arm to
get the ball back to
the infield. McGwire’s
most difficult
decision at first base
is whether to throw
the ball back to the
pitcher or go around
the horn.

The most shocking
thing about Sosa’s
win, however, wasn’t
that he won, but the
landslide margin that
he had in first place
votes. When all the ballots were
tallied, the Cub had beaten the
Cardinal 30-2, with both of

McGwire’s kudos coming from

by the BWAA, to seal the MVP
trophy for McGwire at season's
end. However, a minor miracle
happened and the Baseball
Writers decided to look at more
than offensive prowess to
determine their MVP. This

. should also come as a shock to
anyone who follows sports at any
level, because offensive statistics
are almost always used to

St. Louis area writers. Anyone
who called themselves a sports
fan (or sentient being) this
summer was captivated by the
home run derby put on by both
players, and this would seem,
based on past awards handed out

HAMISH KNOX

The women’s volleyball team
started last Friday's match with the
Langara Falcons by giving their
opponents hope, then ripping their
wings off.

Douglas started the game by
sprinting to an early 3—O lead,
using both its wicked outside
attacks and strong play in the mid-

 

dle to confuse the Falcons, forcing
several free balls and weak attacks.

This lead was not to be pro-
longed, however, as the Royals kept
Langara in the match by blowing
serves and missing digs. DC coach
Sue Sharp was finally forced to call
a timeout with her team leading
9-7, but couldn't jell the Royals
enough to stop a 15—I3 Falcons
win.

The second game of the match
was almost the polar opposite of
the first. The Royals raced to a
12-0 lead betore Langara finally
erased the zero on their side of the
board. The Falcons seemed to
catch whatever DC had in the first

game, blowing serves and missing

Lilliputians at play

easy digs, which led to Douglas’
big lead. The Royals did get slop-
py, however, and let Langara score
five quick points before finally put-
ting away the game, IS—S.

Early in the third game it looked
like Douglas might be in for
another loss as the Falcons jumped
out to a S—I lead and one of the
DC assistants was hit with a yellow
card for arguing. However, instead
of crushing the Royals’ spirit, the
yellow card energized the team as
they went on a 6-0 run, Douglas
coach Sharp was also hit with a
yellow card during the run when
she argued a line call too long for

 

me
“Allright, dis guy as his edd seuadoed off ‘til | gets my million dollar ball!”

determine MVP winners.

Maybe the upcoming millennium
is effecting the thinking of the
old boys’ club known as the
BWAA, but somehow I doubt it.

Women’s team massacres Langara

the chair ref’s taste.

The officiating appeared to
deteriorate from that point, as the
chair ref missed or overturned sev-
eral obvious fouls, including a bla-
tant carry where the slap of the
ball could be heard in the stands.

The Royals were undeterred by
the lack of good reffing as they
finished the Falcons with a [4—1
run, leading to a 15—6 win.

DC started out the fourth game,
the same way they started the sec-
ond, by blowing their serve into
the net. However, the Royals soon
got serve back and rattled off a
15—I win to take the match 3—I
despite heavy substitutions by the
Falcons’ coach.

Coach Sharp, while happy that
her team defeated Langara, wasn't
overly impressed with the way the
Royals played. “I’m not super stat-
ic about anybody’s play actually; it
was good to win the match, but we
did struggle with a lot of errors.
The girls did a job, but they need
to play more focused volleyball.”

 

 

  

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