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St. Cloud State University
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Sports
B-ball gets it’s turn now
Published:
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Forrest Witt
Jessica Abrahams
The cold weather taking effect on Minnesota right now gets me in the mood for one thing.
Hockey you may ask? After all, SCSU is known for its solid Division I hockey program that has gained prestige year-after-year. No, I’m pining for something a little different. I actually can’t wait for the SCSU basketball season to begin.
Yes that’s right, I’ve been waiting for a long time to hear that sweet sound of basketballs echoing throughout Halenbeck Hall again. The best time of the year has come and it has nothing to do with guys will mullets beating the crap out of each other. It’s the season where real athletes take to the hardwood and cavort up and down the court showing off their leaping and shooting abilities. It’s time for hoops baby and I hope everybody’s paying attention.
For too long now SCSU sports fans have been concentrating on the hockey program, while the men and women’s basketball programs have been shoved underneath their radars. Because hockey is a Division I sport, and basketball is still Division II, more fans have been sucked into the National Hockey Center on Friday and Saturday nights. That has left Halenbeck with only the lower level filled with fans on these nights, and the upper level resembling a landscape similar to that of a barren wasteland.
It’s time to make a change Husky sports fans. Now is the time to forget about hockey and think basketball. The hockey team is mediocre as SCSU has been in years. Who will even remember Joe Motzko and Ryan Malone once they become NHL nomads anyway? It’s time to come back to a real sport.
Both SCSU basketball teams offer up more entertainment than the men’s hockey team could only dream of putting out on the ice.
Instead of stops in play every other three seconds, and trying to comprehend what in the hell the NHC’s muffled P.A. announcer is saying, come to Halenbeck where the action is non-stop and always at a wonderfully hectic pace.
The men’s team will again be competitive this season with the likes of Alex Carlson, Forrest Witt and Jason Kron back in action. After a disappointing end to last year’s run, after so much was expected from them, the Husky men will be out for blood to avenge that collapse that occurred down the stretch of last season. Jonny Reese and Rado Rancik (The Slovakian Sloth) are gone, but that can only open up more things for SCSU’s all-star backcourt of Carlson, Witt and backup Nate Miller.
The only question mark for this year’s squad is their frontcourt. Kron, center Cullen Powers and forward Steve Trull will be solid in major roles, but who’s going to back them up? Players who have ridden the pine like Brent Frikken and newcomers such as freshmen Matt Siegle and Scott Peters will have to step up. However, head coach Kevin Schlagel has the best backcourt in the NCC to rely on no matter what happens.
The women’s team appears to be in rebuilding mode after the loss of the NCC’s best player and “Little Big Woman” Tina Schreiner. The loss of point guard Nicole Persby doesn’t help either. Therefore, guards Jessica Abrahams and Andrea Shogren will be forced to lead this very inexperienced group for head coach Lori Ulferts. One thing is always a constant though with Ulferts’ teams: they’ll always scrap and fight until the final buzzer sounds.
So I urge you Husky supporters, spend your money where it’ll be more worth it. Spend your time urging on two exciting teams that are the most underappreciated things on this campus. Besides, at least you won’t have to fight off sleep like you would when you’re attending a three hour-long hockey game.
I’ve been covering the SCSU basketball beat for three years now and it’d be nice to see this change occur. Both basketball teams possess a lot of talent that hasn’t been seen by the public and student body yet. The time is now for all of these talented hoopsters to get their time in the limelight, while the guys with missing teeth should hop into the back seat.
