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Volume 26, Issue 28, march 4, 2004

sports

Homecoming '04 deemed successful

Donald Smith mug shot Donald Smith Sports Columnist
I'm so happy! Homecoming...(sniff, sniff)...was a...(sniff, sniff)...SUCCESS! Oh, thank goodness! There were fans. There was cheering. It was loud. It was...DURING A ROADRUNNER GAME! This year's Homecoming was truly a success and the only thing that bothered me about it was the possibility of seeing a grown male cheerleader cry. Why would you cry after being named Homecoming Royalty?! Honestly!

Speaking of the cheerleaders: was I mistaken or did I actually hear the announcer say they were going to Nationals? Can anybody tell me why a group of cheerleaders who get outperformed by the pre-teens and high-schoolers Metro invites to campus for halftime shows want to travel to get outperformed by everybody else? On the other hand, if those cheerleaders still believe they can win after nearly being dropped on their heads at almost every performance, then, hey, good luck at Nationals! Make us proud! And try to avoid landing headfirst.
HOMECOMING 2004

What made this year's Homecoming so much fun was learning that we, indeed, have a student body here on campus. The Auraria Events Center nearly reached maximum capacity with numerous student groups and other organizations I didn't even know existed at Metro. It provided plenty of noise for the Metro basketball teams, even though more people showed up for the men's game than the women's, it was still amazing. Homecoming didn't end after the final horn; the after-party at Braun's Bar and Grill was filled with: cold beverages, music provided by DJs from Metro, that kept it jumpin'. All and all, this Homecoming definitely outdid last year's. So, kudos to all those involved in Homecoming for giving it a chance to redeem itself.

SENIOR NIGHT

Senior night is always emotional, but, fortunately, seniors Luke Kendall, C.J. Massingale, Lester Strong, Jamar Bohonnan, Sherinika Cook and Kristin Hein were healthy and had a chance to play their last game in style before preparing for the playoffs, which started last night. After Saturday night, the reality of being a senior truly sinks in: if you win, your dream continues; lose and that red light followed by a loud horn wakes you up like an unexpected alarm clock, ending your dreams completely.

Men's and Women's Basketball

Records mean nothing, rankings are useless and the only thing anyone cares about is if you win or lose. Unlike baseball or soccer, the RMAC Tournament means everything. The women's team, who is currently seeded sixth, will remain in the title hunt until somebody beats them. Their quest began last night in Pueblo as they took on the third seeded CSU-Pueblo. The good news for Metro is this is a team they can actually upset. On Jan. 17, 2003, in their only meeting, the Roadrunners fell 80-73, but the game had been close the whole time. The bad news is they are now playing with only eight players, which means they can only be as aggressive as their foul count will allow. If Metro can stay out of foul trouble, they have a chance, but once fouls number three and four appear, their chances of winning dwindle along with their title hopes.

On the other hand, the men's team will host the NCAA regional playoffs on their own floor; so really, the RMAC playoffs seem like more of a risk then a need. They risk a costly injury every game of the RMAC Tournament, but in a way, they need to make everyone in the region know that they are still the most dominant team around. They might've gone undefeated in the regular season, but once the regional tournament starts, it won't matter.

Baseball (8-4)

Okay coach, I know that I've been hard on your team, but honestly, who can blame me? Every time I write a column, they try to prove how wrong I am, and every time they do, I have to remind them that I don't care what they say unless their numbers reflect it. So...I guess they have made their case, or at least offensively. The team is currently 8-4, batting over .300 as a team and their opponents have an 8.39 earned run average, but this only gets the offense off the hook. What about the defense? The pitching staff currently has an ERA over 6.00 and has 62 earned runs against them. The defense has 10 errors, which normally wouldn't be that bad, but when a player has six of the 10 total, there might be a problem. So okay baseball, you have shown me early that you have the offense to possibly get into the regional tournament later this year, but unless the pitchers can lower their ERA, you will go no further then the RMAC Tournament... again.

Men's and Women's Tennis both (0-1)

Hey, they lost to some quality opponents. The men's team lost to the University of Colorado and the women's team lost to Northern Colorado... in February. It's March now and the team has had a few weeks to practice before going to play in their respective MIAA/RMAC Challenge pre-conference tournaments. The women's team is on a quest for a three-peat, the men are on a quest to win take back the region and the team itself is on a quest to silently hang banners up in the middle of the gym, so...shhh!, or you'll break their concentration.

All in all, this was a great weekend. With all of our teams winning (at least on homecoming night) and all of our teams attempting to do big things, hopefully, hopefully, everyone on this campus will at least take notice of this. Before I sign off, I ask that if you are reading this column, please show up to the baseball games. I'm not quite sure, but I think they're sick and tired of their opponents having more fans at their home games. Wednesday's basketball games will have already been played, so "congratulations" or "we'll get them next time" to both of our basketball teams this week.