sports // 18

Dim weekend, brighter future

» Royals soccer suffers a tough weekend

Michael Sopow
Contributor

he men’s and women’s

soccer teams played to some
unfortunate results this past
weekend. Both squads suffered
hard-fought losses against
Kwantlen on Saturday before
gearing up for games against
Quest. This defeat finally brought
the seemingly invincible women’s
squad’s winning streak to a halt
in the PACWEST standings, as it
was their first loss this year.

The women’s game on
Sunday against Quest began
fairly evenly as the teams came
out ready to play. As the first
half continued, there were some
chances here and there, but
nothing that really anyone could
capitalize on, leaving the game at
a goalless stalemate at half. In the
second 45, Quest broke through
for two goals and the Royals
were unable to counter. Though
they lost 2-0 (in a mediocrely
officiated upset), it is evident that

: the spirit that they started off the
: season with hasn’t diminished
: just yet.

Coach Chris Laxton noted

: that “We played our system for

: long periods of time,” before

: continuing, “we made mistakes

: trying to play the system and got
: penalized for it. It’s unfortunate,
: but we'll bounce back from it.”

Though the men’s team

: also lost on Saturday, they

: demonstrated outstanding team
: resolve in their Sunday game

: as they proceeded to recover

: froma 1-o deficit against Quest

: University. A phenomenal set

: piece taken in the second half

: of the game by Spencer Deboice
: allowed Douglas College to

: regain their composure and apply :
: rigorous offensive pressure to

: Quest’s defence, almost allowing
: them to capitalize once moreand :
: take home the victory.

These efforts were somewhat

: halted by a red card given to
: Douglas College’s Mark Baldisimo :
: in the final 15 minutes of the

: game. Many other questionable

: yellow cards were given out (as if
: they were charitable donations).
: When I say, “somewhat,” I mean

: that with the utmost respect as a
: fan of soccer. Douglas College’s

: efforts—even though they were

: playing with a man down—were
: top tier and exemplary as they

: still managed to control the

: pace of the game to the closing

: whistle.

“I think we're still trying to

: get into the groove of things. It’s
: just a matter of the guys doing

: the right things and buying into
: the system that we're trying to

: implement. The good thing is

: we're not even halfway through
: the season and we're still in the
: top half of the group. It’s about

taking the positives and moving

: forward with that,” commented
: assistant coach Nour Fathy.

Douglas College lost some

: games this weekend—so what?
: Both teams have demonstrated
: that they have the drive that

it takes to be at the top of the

: league and from what I can see,

: they hold a bright future.

theotherpress.ca

By Eric Wilkins

 

 

The (foot)ball’s in our court

» The buck stops here on domestic violence and abuse

Natalie Serafini
BR, Editor-in-Chief

! © editor

F @theotherpress.ca

(: September 12, Vikings

running-back Adrian
Peterson was charged with
child abuse. The victim in his
alleged abuse was Peterson’s
four-year-old son, who he had
allegedly struck repeatedly
with a branch froma tree.

Initially, Peterson was
removed from the game
against the New England
Patriots on September 14; the
Vikings announced on the
15th though that they would
allow Peterson to play in the

  

public reacted vehemently to
the Vikings’ announcement,

Mark Dayton expressing that

“Yes, Mr. Peterson is
entitled to due process and
should be ‘innocent until
proven guilty. However, he isa
public figure; and his actions,
as described, are a public
embarrassment to the Vikings
organization and the State of
Minnesota. Whipping a child

as has been alleged, should
not be tolerated in our state,”
explained Governor Dayton.

Since the public’s reaction,

: Peterson’s name made its way
: to the Exempt/Commissioner’s :
: Permission list. Asa result,
: he is not allowed to partic-
: ipate in any team activities
: while his charges progress.

This is one example of

} many in recent weeks where

: the court of public approval

: has called for suspension

: ofa player in response to

: charges of domestic violence

: and abuse. Running back

: for the Baltimore Ravens,

: Ray Rice, was initially put

: on two-game suspension

: when a clip surfaced of him

: pulling an unconscious Janay

: Palmer, his then-fiancée,

next game with the Saints. The out of an elevator; the public
: wasn’t happy with the rather

: underwhelming reaction on

with even Minnesota Governor : the part of the Ravens and

: NFL, but the organizations

Peterson should be suspended. later had an actual, hon- :
: est-to-goodness reaction when :

: the entire video surfaced of

: Rice beating Palmer. When

: the video, wherein Rice

knocks Palmer unconscious,

: was released, the Ravens

: axed Rice from the team and

the NFL suspended him.

Of course, it would have

Oe : been nice ifthe NFL and

to the extent of visible wounds, : . ;
: respective teams had, y’know,

: reacted this way as soon as

: evidence came out of Rice and

: Peterson’s abuse. I suppose

: we have to take their belated
: reaction for progress of a sort.

Sometimes it isn’t

: appropriate for the court of

: public approval to weigh in. In
: instances where vigilantism

: goes viral and average Joes

: decide to take “justice” into

: their own hands, the court of

: public approval is unaccept-

: able. I’m by no means saying

: the justice system anywhere is
: perfect—in some cases, it isn’t
: even good—but we have legal
: systems to maintain order

: and justice, for all parties.

When faced with com-

: pelling evidence of abuse

: though—bruises and wounds,

: ora video depicting the abuse

: itself—it’s entirely appropriate
: to call for suspension, at the

: very least; in fact, I’d say sucha
: reactionis necessary. A capital- :
: ist-esque approach of “voting
: with dollars’ at least suits these :

issues of morality: we don’t

: approve of Rice or Peterson’s

: actions, so calling for their

: suspension at minimum

: enforces that disapproval.

: Allowing Rice and Peterson to
: play despite their reprehen-

: sible actions and consequent

: charges would have been an

: implicit acceptance of their

: actions. It would say, “They've
: been charged witha horrible

: crime, but they’re really good
: at football.” “They may have

: beaten their loved ones, but
: it’s not our place to judge.”

That “but” is what too

: often passes the buck. It’s too

: easy to say “yeah, but,” to dis-

: tance ourselves from someone
: else’s suffering and from our

: responsibility. The public is

: responsible in an indirect way: :
: when we “side” with a perpetra- :
: tor of violence—by continuing :
: to pay them millions of dollars, :
: for example—we accept their

: actions as inconsequential.

: We say that their actions don’t
: require reaction, and unfor-

: tunately, that apathy does

: sometimes translate into the

: justice system. Historically,

: the police response to cases of
: domestic violence was to say

: that it was “just a domestic,”

: and to leave the issue to be

sorted out at home. I don’t

: think that is caused entirely

by a faulty justice system

: though; it’s the result ofa
: generally apathetic society in
: the face of domestic abuse.

when we “side”

with a perpetrator
of violence—by
continuing to pay
them millions

of dollars, for
example—we accept
their actions as
inconsequential.

: through the legal systems

: and, if found guilty, receive

: proportionate and appropriate
: sentences. Their suspensions

: mean bupkis if the actual legal
: system doesn’t also weigh in

> onthe evidence of abuse.

Nonetheless, for the time

: being, I’m heartened by the

: fact that sportscaster James

: Brown turned to camera and
: gave aspeech on domestic

: violence in response to

: Rice’s video: “Our language

: is important. For instance,

: Organizations like the NFL :
: are in powerful positions. The
: NFL, and the teams that play

: in the league, are influential

: in that they don’t have to

: support players who do awful
: things. By extension, it tells the :
: viewers that domestic abuse

: isintolerable. Of course I still
: want to see both Peterson and
: Rice actually make their way

> when a guy says, ‘You throw

: the balllikea girl, or ‘You're

: alittle sissy, it reflects an

: attitude that devalues women,

: and attitudes will eventually

: manifest in some fashion.”

: This sends a message of social

: and collective responsibility,

: direct from the influencers in

: one of the most-watched sports
: around, to the viewers at home.