By Victor Drabicky staff reporter The TCU women's soccer team's 1-0 loss to cross-town rival Southern Methodist on Wednesday was summed up with one word by head coach David Rubinson. "Disappointing." "We went out and played well," Rubinson said. "When you lose even though you played well, it's disappointing." SMU's lone goal came in the 63rd minute of the game when senior forward Laura Snyder capitalized on a defensive mix-up by TCU. The Horned Frog defense misplayed a ball that gave Snyder a chance to put it in the back of the net.
Junior defender Christy Filice said the game was close from the start. "The game could have gone either way," Filice said. "Unfortunately, we gave up a goal we shouldn't have." Rubinson said the goal can partially be attributed to inexperience. "We are a young team," Rubinson said. "We did a good job all game long except for the one minute in the game that we gave up the goal." Other than the Horned Frogs' mistake, TCU struggled to take advantage of scoring opportunities. "We just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net," senior forward/midfielder Allison Calleri said. "We struggled to finish our chances." Rubinson said despite the loss, the team played well. "We didn't finish our chances, but we did fill the gaps we have had recently," Rubinson said. "We focused on defensive organization and SMU's speed during practice this week. I think we did a good job of staying organized and keeping up with them." Rubinson said the pre-game preparation helped the Frogs to play well. "We stuck to our game plan and did most things right," Rubinson said. Filice said the team succeeded in staying composed and shutting down SMU's key players. Calleri agreed with Filice. "We stayed organized defensively and kept their star players from having many chances," Calleri said. Junior SMU defender Ashley Potthoff said she was impressed with the Horned Frogs' play. "They were a totally different team than we saw last year," Potthoff said. "They did a good job of staying compact defensively and managed to control the girls on our team that have a lot of speed." Last year, TCU lost to SMU 3-1 after going up by a goal in the first half. Snyder, who scored this year's winning goal for the Mustangs, scored two of SMU's three goals in the win last year. Unlike last year, the Frogs were confident that they could have won the game even though they did not have a one goal lead. Filice said the team's desire to win and pre-game preparation benefited the Frogs. "We all wanted to win this game pretty bad," Filice said. "We were prepared as well as we could be. We just got unlucky." Calleri said the way the team reacts to the loss will play a major role in their next game. "We need to just suck it up and play well," Calleri said. "As a team, we just need to stay together and get ready for our next game." The Horned Frogs will play Hawai'i at 1 p.m. Sunday at the TCU Soccer Complex.
Victor Drabicky
When Fox Sports bought the rights to broadcast NFL games starting in 1994 and they advertised the "same game, Fox attitude," I wondered what "Fox attitude" meant. I soon learned that it had something to do with a lot of useless graphics accompanied by laser sounds and loud metallic clanks. Now, after six years of "in-your-face" Fox attitude, I find myself wishing they'd get out of my face and just show me the game. I write this on the heels of watching Fox, once again, completely botch their playoff baseball coverage. I can't tell you how glad I am that I get to watch the World Series on NBC this year, since they are the only station left that hasn't been infected by the Fox-attitude plague. What is the plague, you ask? Well, it starts at the beginning of the broadcast. Before each game, Fox shows us smoky pictures of players making really mean, intimidating faces while a guy reads an intro like he was reading the trailer for the next "Scream" movie. When the reading is over, Fox goes to the game (after showing some sort of explosion, complete with sound effects) playing the same tired theme music they've played for every single game in every single sport they've aired since 1994. What is this all about? Do they think the mean faces the players are making are going to intimidate you from turning the channel? We've already decided to watch the game. Just cut through the crap and show it. Not that I'm all that anxious to get to their announcers. Fox had a chance to broadcast the World Series last year. Who did they hire to do play-by-play? One of the many Hall-of-Fame announcers still active, such as Vin Scully or Ernie Harwell? No. They call on walking-argument-against-nepotism Joe Buck (son of Hall-of-Fame announcer Jack Buck), whose idea of bringing excitement to the game is yelling at good plays as if he were offended by them. Now that's in-your-face Fox attitude. Their other announcers aren't much better. Although John Madden and Tim McCarver don't really exhibit much "attitude," they make up for it by being annoying in ways all their own. Once the game starts, however, it's hard to even hear the announcers over all the clanks, whooshes and zaps that usher in all the graphics. Every time the Fox box appears on the screen, there is some mechanical sound that accompanies it. Every time they go to replay, there is an explosive sound or jet engine "whoosh." Sometimes, a graphic is even carried in by some robotic dolphin or something. Fox doesn't just have "attitude" in its game broadcasts. It carries that same yelling and bad humor to its SportsCenter wannabes, and personifies it in their talk show host Jim Rome, who is a disgrace to, well, the planet. We need Jim Everett to beat the crud out of him one more time. All of this really irritates me, because I've always contended that sports hold just as much intellectual value as the arts to those who understand them best. This fact is illustrated by intelligent commentators like Bob Costas and Bob Ley who are able to demonstrate the beauty and strategy inherent in sports. These types of announcers are able to convey the excitement to the game without its dignity and grace being lost. This caters to both intelligent fans and those who just like to see people run into each other. But "Fox attitude" caters solely to the lowest common denominator. If you treat your viewers like drooling knuckle-draggers, soon that's all you're going to have left. Lately, Fox has been advertising a big bass fishing tournament broadcast. I can see it now: A big robotic fish swims across the screen carrying a leader board with Jim Bob Johnson at the top. The leader board explodes and you see a guy in a boat on a lake, a laser marker tracking where his bobber is. Same fish, Fox attitude.
Stephen Suffron is a senior broadcast journalism major from League City, Texas. He can be reached at (sdsuffron@delta.is.tcu.edu).
By Matt Stiver staff reporter Baby steps. No one has come out of the womb and run a marathon. There are stages that must be traversed before attaining the highest level. In its last two tournaments, the men's tennis team has climbed closer to the top. At the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Tournament, the Frogs placed four singles players in the Main Draw, while one of their own was winning the University of Texas-Arlington Invitational. The second leg of the ITA Grand Slam awaited the men who ventured to the University of Texas at Austin for the ITA All-American Tournament, held Oct. 10 to 17. Head tennis coach Michael Center said his team has shown steady improvement. "I think we're showing signs that we can compete with the upper echelon teams, the top 10 teams," Center said. "It's a long season, but at this point, I think we're competing at a pretty high level. We're not where we want to be, but I think we've proven we're ready to go toe-to-toe with the best teams (in the nation)."
He said the team performed well. "(All-American) is like an NCAA tournament," Center said. "For the fall season, it's the most demanding tournament. (We) played with so much energy and heart. For me, it was a pleasure to watch our guys play." TCU juniors Petr Koula, Scott Eddins, Martin Jirak and Sebastian Iannariello entered the pre-qualifying round Oct. 11 along with 256 other tennis players from across the nation. Both Koula and Eddins would advance past the pre-qualifying and qualifying rounds, into the Main Draw. Junior Trace Fielding, who was placed directly in the qualifying round, advanced to the Main Draw. Junior Esteban Carril, seeded No. 2, did not have to qualify. Koula got things started with a 6-0, 6-0 demolishing of Tad Kincaid of Idaho. Koula did not drop a set in his second and third matches. It was in his fourth match, with a qualifying spot hanging in the balance, that Koula ran into difficulty. After taking the first set against Danny Westerman of Wisconsin, 6-3, he dropped the second and fell to 1-5 in the third. Koula rallied in a tiebreaker to take the match, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, and advanced to the qualifying round. Center said he has been impressed with Koula's performance in the fall. "He plays with so much heart and enthusiasm," Center said. "Anytime someone goes out there, and you know they're going to put it all on the line, good things will happen. I think that's what (Koula) is all about when he steps out on the court." In the Main Draw on Oct. 14, Fielding advanced to the second round on what Center said was a highlight of the tournament. He defeated Nathan Overholser of Florida, 6-4, retired. "The best tennis I saw was (that match)," Center said. "I thought that was the best performance from beginning to end." Eddins and Koula both were defeated in the first round, but Eddins rebounded to reach the consolation quarterfinals. Carril lost in the first round and was forced to withdrawal with an injured back. As these matches were being contested, the members of the team also competed at the UTA Invitational last weekend. Iannariello, who did not advance past pre-qualifying at All-American, recovered to win the Flight I singles championship. After advancing past the first three rounds, Iannariello was taken to a tiebreaker in the third set. With the match tied at a set a piece, Iannariello claimed victory in the third for a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) win.
Matt Stiver |
"We just kept pressuring their defense
and a chance finally showed up for us," said Snyder.
Center said the best players in the nation came out for
the All-American Tournament. Non-ranked participants would have to clear
a pre-qualifying and a qualifying round for the right to compete for the
singles championship. | The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |