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12 I Thursday, June 15, 2006 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
World sport can’t hold interest
D
espite being the be-all-
| end-all of sports every
where else in the
world, soccer — or “football”
to non-Americans — is the
bastard child of American
athletics. Though our nation
al team getting railed in the
World Cup by the Czech
Republic doesn’t help boost
morale or interest in the
sport, the reason for
Americans’ disregard for soc
cer has more to do with core
American values than with a
poor showing in a competi
tion relegated to ESPN2.
The fact is that Americans
have inverse values from
much of the rest of the world
when it comes to violence.
In general, Americans love
aggression, fierce competi
tion and vulgar displays of
power.
PT Umphress
pumphress@randb.com
A
We champion the free mar
ket and capitalism for the
way it weeds out those who
will not work hard to beat
the competition in order to
support themselves. We have
the largest, most advanced
military on the planet.
Our country is the birth
place and proud supporter of
heavy metal, Jerry Springer
and gridiron football.
While I do concede that
soccer should be called foot
ball and football renamed to
gridiron, the reason has noth
ing to do with a respect for
soccer and what the rest of
the world calls it.
It has everything to do
with gridiron being an
aggressive and truly
American name for a sport.
Gridiron — it just sounds
like the kind of hairy-knuck-
led, spine-snapping sport
where you’re expected to kill
or be killed, like some kind of
modern-day gladiatorial
throw down.
Except for passing and
kicking, football is full-con-
tact aggression. Hitting other
players is illegal in soccer,
and when players get hit —
or pretend they were — they
double over and cry
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like little girls.
This “strategy” for getting
fouls called on the other
team is just the kind of pas
sive-aggressive melodramat-
ics that Americans have no
respect or patience for.
We’re used to seeing our
athletes getting beamed,
shoved, trampled and
T-boned at full speed, watch
ing it in slow-motion replay
and laughing about it as the
player dusts himself off like
nothing ever happened.
We like our athletes tough,
like human tanks with armor
for skin. We want super
heroes, not crybabies or
actors.
All this is not to say that
soccer isn’t a respectable or
challenging sport. Obviously
the rest of the world sees
something remarkable and
important in it that we don’t.
I’m merely pointing out
that beauty and interest are
in the eyes of the beholder,
and in the eyes of Americans,
soccer just doesn’t deliver
the level of aggression we’ve
grown acclimated to in this
country, putting it into a cat
egory of sports often
described in terms of female
genitalia.
Soccer is a game of
finesse, fluid strategy, team
work and, most of all,
endurance. I challenge ail
Americans to support their
national team throughout
the World Cup and to open
their minds to a new way of
looking at sports.
Aggression is great, but it
ain’t everything.
—PT Umphress is the
variety editor for
The Red & Black
Golfer to compete
in the Curtis Cup
By KATIE GRIFFITH
For The Red & Black
For Taylor Leon, summer
doesn’t necessarily mean a
break from hard work.
Leon, a rising sophomore
golfer on the Georgia
women’s team, has already
returned to the course after
a brief break from competi
tion following the conclu
sion of the NCAA season.
When Leon shows up to a
tournament, she is there to
win, something she has
already proven with her first
championship of the sum
mer.
This past week, Leon
staged a dramatic come
back at the Women’s
Southern Amateur Golf
Championship in Pinehurst,
N.C., when she defeated
SEC rival Stacy Lewis.
Lewis, a golfer from the
University of Arkansas, led
Leon by three strokes head
ing into the final five holes.
Despite the deficit, Leon
came back, sinking three
birdies and an eagle in her
final four holes on her way to
winning by one stroke over
Lewis.
“I have a very competi
tive nature, and I just don’t
accept losing well,” said
Leon. “The thought of not
winning gives me a lot of
drive, and I knew I didn’t
want to lose.”
Given Leon’s success her
first year as a Bulldog, she’s
sure to keep impressing.
After tying for 16th place
nationally at the conclusion
of her freshman season in
2006, Leon received Second
Team All-America honors,
and was named SEC
Freshman of the Year. With
a 73.24 stroke average on
the season, Leon tied for the
second lowest average in
Georgia history.
Even though her fresh
man year is over, Leon is
dedicated to improving her
golf game while home in
Dallas, Texas.
The hard work and dedi
cation has paid off and kept
her on the top of her game.
Leon was recently named
to represent the United
States and compete in the
Curtis Cup international
tournament on July 29th
and 30th. The Curtis Cup is
a biennial tournament that
features a U.S. Team com
prised of the country’s eight
best amateur women com
peting against similar teams
from the United Kingdom
and Ireland.
Leon competed in an
international tournament
once before, in high school,
and said she looks forward
to experiencing it again at
the Curtis Cup.
“When you play interna
tionally, the matches are
friendly, but to me the com
petition is even more
intense. International com
petition makes me even
more competitive because
you’re representing your
country, and you always
want to represent it well.”
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