The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 32, Ed. 1 Monday, February 7, 2011 Page: 6 of 6
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Page 6
February 7, 2011
Standings
FOOTBALL
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Team
Div.
Ovrl.
Tarleton St. 6-1
15-4
UIW
4-3
15-4
MSU
4-3
16-5
ASU
4-3
8-11
ENMU
4-3
9-10
WTAMU
4-4
17-4
TAMU-K
2-6
7-13
ACU
1-6
9-10
WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Team
Div.
Ovrl.
Tarleton St.7-0
17-2
WTAMU
6-2
13-8
ACU
4-3
7-12
Angelo St. 4-3
11-8
UIW
’3-7
6-12
MSU
2-5
6-13
ENMU
2-5
4-15
TAMU-K
1-7
3-17
Briefs
■ Chris Thomsen
and his football staff
have announced their
2011-12 recruiting
class, one that in-
cludes 25 high school
players and two trans-
fers. These players all
have signed binding
national letters of in-
tent to play for ACU.
■ Tickets for the Lone
Star Conference Bas-
ketball Championship
now are available for
purchase. The tourna-
ment will take place
March 2-6 in Bartles-
ville, Okla. Tickets
cost $35 and can be
purchased through
the ACU athletics
office or on www.lon-
estarconference. org.
Super Bowl unites America
Rounding the Bases
Brandon Tripp
It is the biggest sporting event of
the year. More than $55 million
are spent on this one day, ev-
alone. That doesn’t
include the billions
advertisers trying
11 to come up with
WBv the cleverest com-
TriPP mercial of the year.
The Super Bowl truly is the one
sporting event that can attract all
walks of life. From the commer-
cials we all love to the halftime
show for which music lovers wait
each year, this is an event people
can rally around annually
Last year, more than 106 million
Americans watched the most rec-
ognizable sporting day of the year,
almost one-third of the population.
The average NFL playoff game
draws about 45 million viewers, that
number more than doubles for the
Super Bowl. People who wouldn’t
be caught dead watching a football
game at any other point during the
year tune in this one Sunday night
to take part in the American expe-
rience, and it shows in the money
and time spent on advertising by all
kinds of advertisers.
Every year, companies like E-
trade, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, GoDaddy.
com and even Angry Birds get in on
the action to have the most memo-
rable commercial of the year. In fact,
each new year is not just a competi-
tion among other businesses’ com-
mercials from that year, but also a
competition to see how well your
30 seconds measures up against
the other greats in history. Ads like
the Budweiser frogs, the Pepsi com-
mercial with the geese, Mean Joe
Green, the Jordan and Bird McDon-
ald’s battle and Cat Herders, just to
name a few. Commercials are the
reason the Super Bowl has man-
aged to have such a reach with such
a wide variety of audiences.
Another reason to love the Super
Bowl is the food. Everyone loves Su-
per Bowl food - and lots of it. A 2006
study estimated that Americans
consume 15,000 tons of chips, 4,000
tons of popcorn and more than 12
million pounds of avocados on Su-
per Bowl Sunday. That means, for
every person watching the game,
viewers eat six feet of chips.
What’s more, everyone loves a
good musical interlude to hard-
hitting football. Until the 1990s,
the Super Bowl halftime show
primarily consisted of college
bands. But in 1993, that changed
for good when Michael Jackson
entertained the millions who
tuned in to watch that year. For
some people, the music is the
reason to watch the game.
The Super Bowl also gives us a
pretty good game most years. From
the Titans coming up one yard short
to the Patriots taking down the
greatest show on turf before reel-
ing off two of the next three, it’s re-
ally about the football. We all want
to see the New York Giants take
down the undefeated Patriots.
From food, to commercials -
and oh, by the way, the football
game - the Super Bowl is the great-
est sporting event in the world.
contact Tripp at
' bjt07a@acu.edu
Player
Profile
■ Aaron Oliver, senior
outfielder from Los
Angeles, is looking
to build
upon his
stellar
junior
season
Sunday
as the
Oliver ‘Cats
open up their season.
A first-team All-
American and South
Central Region Player
of the Year, Oliver hit
.405, had 14 home
runs, 65 RBI’s, 102
hits, 27 stolen bases
and 79 runs scored,
all of which were team
highs last season.
Upcoming
■ The men’s and
women’s basketball
teams will play An-
gelo State University .
on Monday. Gameplay
starts at 5:30 p.m. with
the women’s game.
■ The softball team will
play Angelo State and
St. Mary's on Monday,
starting at noon.
■ The baseball team
will play a double
header against Incar-
nate Word on Monday,
starting at 1 p.m.
Ex-Factor
■ Former offensive
tackle Trevis Turner will
play in the NFLPA All-
Star game on Saturday
in San Antonio. This will
be Turner’s scond all-
star game this year.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Jones preps team for spring campaign
\r^>‘I
I ill ■ ■
HBH
FILE PHOTO //Heather J.iephart
Senior Lauren White returns a volley at practice last season. The women’s team is preparing
for its first match of the spring season against Tarleton State on Friday.
Brenna Jefferies
Sports Reporter
ACU’s women’s tennis
team is aiming for an-
other trip to the National
Tournament after being
crowned Lone Star Con-
ference Champions last
season.
To prepare the team for
conference and nationals,
the women’s spring sched-
ule will be competitive and
grueling, with matches
against four Division I op-
ponents in a mere five days.
Both the ACU men’s and
women’s tennis teams will
travel to Las Vegas during
spring break for the Las
Vegas Invitational, where
teams from all divisions
will be competing.
Cassie Carver, junior from
Oklahoma City, expects her
team to advance at least to
the sim-finals of nationals
this year, she said.
“I think this is the best
team we have had since I
have been at ACU,” Carver
said. “Individually, I would
like to go undefetfted and
do my best at my position
in doubles.”
Hannah Kelley, sopho-
more tennis player from
Richardson, echoed Carv-
er’s hopes for the season.
“We will be playing some
tough teams this year, but
we have a great chance at
nationals,” she said.
The home schedule of
the Lady Wildcats consists
of Louisiana-Lafayette,
Tarleton State and New
Mexico Military Institute,
along with a few others.
see SEASON page 4
ATHLETICS
Athletics stall for ice out
FOOTBALL
Wildcats reload
on signing day
Austin Gwin
Sports Editor
It has been a mixed bag of
emotions for ACU athletes
during this “winter won-
derweek” on campus.
Like all students, ath-
letes have been out of
school, but they also
haven’t been able to
compete on their respec-
tive fields and courts.
Both basketball teams
had away games against
Angelo State University
pushed back from Tues-
day to Thursday and then
to Saturday. Additionally,
the home game that was
supposed to be played
on Saturday against the
same Angelo State teams
has been pushed back to
Monday. This results in
an odd scenario in which
the Wildcats will play the
Rams twice in 48 hours.
The first match-up of the
two schools on Saturday
ended uncharacteristically
of how the season has gone
so far. The men’s squad fi-
nally won its first conference
game of the season, breaking
a six-game losing streak. The
74-71 overtime win over the
Rams was the first in more
than a month for the Wild-
cats. Guard Zach Williams
led the ‘Cats with 19 points
in the game, including five
crucial points in the extra
period. Forward Ben Warton
added 11 while Guards Pres-
ton Davis and Marcus Wash-
ington each had 10.
It was a different story
for the women’s team. A
67-63 loss to rival Angelo
State breaks a three-game
winning streak, and drops
ACU in a tie with Angelo for
third in the Lone Star Con-
ference. Monday’s rematch
in Moody Coliseum will be
the biggest game of the sea-
son for both teams as the
winner will have the upper
hand to move on to the LSC
postseason tournament.
see SNOW page 4
Brandon Tripp
Sports Director
Another year, another sol-
id recruiting class signed
by ACU Head Coach Chris
Thomsen. The Wildcats
signed 24 high school se-
niors to letters of intent
on Wednesday and two
transfer players.
Of the 26 signees, six
are listed as wide receiv-
erSj the most of any single
position signed by the
Wildcats so far this year.
Those six wide receivers
will become part of a re-
ceiving core that will have
to fill some big shoes next
season, replacing five se-
niors including: Edmund
Gates, Chris Fowler, Ken-
drick Johjnson and Ray-
mond Radway.
The receivers signed by
ACU average 6’1” and 190
pounds, four inches taller
than the average of 5’9” and
slightly heavier than the 188
pound average of the receiv-
ing corps last season.
ACU also nabbed three
offensive linemen in this
see RECRUIT page 4 -
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 32, Ed. 1 Monday, February 7, 2011, newspaper, February 7, 2011; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth896652/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.