Women’s golf stays strong
Team copes without Stanford

By Kelly Morris
skiff staff

Last year, Angela Stanford, TCU’s most decorated female golfer with eight career event wins and 26 top-10 finishes, graduated, but women’s head golf coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin is not worried about the status of her 2000-2001 No. 19 team.

“Instead of looking at the change as good or bad, I just see it as different because I’m working with different personalities,” Ravaioli-Larkin said. “The (player) turnover is the fun part of college golf.

“Unlike the professional level where you have the same players every year, in college golf, you have different players.”

Many players, like sophomore Leslie Hawley, are finding golf to be very different without Stanford leading the team on and off the course.

“I miss her a lot,” Hawley said. “Coming in as a freshman, I couldn’t ask for a better guide and role model. Instead of just focusing on her game, (Stanford) always consistently helped the team by sharing all she knew with us.

“It was really inspiring for me to see how her hard work really paid off.”

Stanford was a three-time second-team All-American and was the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 1996-97. She was also named to the all-WAC team in each of her four full seasons.

Because losing Stanford has been so difficult, Hawley said the younger players on the team need to step up and pick up where Stanford left off.

“Everyone on this team is a leader,” Hawley said. “Because we are maturing and growing together, our team chemistry is awesome. We like to see everyone succeed, and we always help each other out.”

Although Stanford’s presence will be missed, junior Amy Sands believes it will be beneficial to the team’s camaraderie.

“Instead of having one stand-out player, we are coming together as a whole team,” Sands said. “We do, however, hope to follow in the tradition (she) established.”

With the team’s 10th-place finish at the Comcast/Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. this past weekend, the players along with Ravaioli-Larkin are a little disappointed with the start of their fall season.

ith a 54-hole score of 228, sophomore Shannon Barr tied for 20th individually at the invitational.

“We didn’t come close to what we wanted to do,” Ravaioli-Larkin said. “The tournament shows us how much we need to work on, but once we get our confidence back up and get into the rhythm of things, I know we can do tremendous things with this golf team.”

Out of nine players, five are freshman or sophomores. There are three juniors and only one senior.

“We are one of the hardest working golf team’s out there,” Hawley said. “We have so much depth on this team. Every one of the nine girls can play. We’re using our first tournament as a lesson, so we can get to our ultimate goal — winning the NCAA championship.”

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu

By Matt Stiver
skiff staff

Senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson has gained success rushing through opposing defenses. During Saturday’s 52-3 victory over Arkansas State, Tomlinson decided he wanted to show another side of his personality.

With TCU leading Arkansas State 38-3 in the third quarter, Tomlinson took an option pitch and set up for a halfback pass. Sophomore quarterback Casey Printers, on TCU’s previous possession, had completed a 74-yard touchdown pass to fellow sophomore LaTarence Dunbar.

As he scanned the field to throw, Tomlinson got leveled by Arkansas State linebacker Sean Mitchell.
“I think I’m a better quarterback than Casey,” Tomlinson said jokingly after the game. “I wish I had gotten a chance to prove it.”

Luckily for the Frogs, Tomlinson’s quarterbacking skills do not exceed those of Printers.

Following a season in which he started nine games and was named one of the top 10 true freshmen in the nation by Sports Illustrated, Printers is proving those preseason prophecies to be correct.

TCU did not need Tomlinson to throw a touchdown pass in the third quarter because Printers had already thrown two touchdowns.

Since a sub-par performance against Nevada, Printers has rebounded to throw for 305 yards and five touchdowns. Against Arkansas State, Printers completed 11 of 15 passes for 204 yards. With opponents focusing on Tomlinson, Printers has proved a consistent threat to make plays.

Head coach Dennis Franchione said Printers has done what the coaches have asked of him.

“We all probably have a little bit of difficulty remembering he’s still early in his sophomore year,” Franchione said. “We look at him as an experienced player and expect much of him.”

Printers has led the Frogs to eight consecutive victories, but said he is still gaining confidence.

“I think I’m coming along every week,” Printers said. “We also have great wide receivers. We’re just starting to click right now.”

Franchione said Printers has the ability to throw the soft-touch and hard strikes.

Dunbar, who leads the Frogs with five receptions, said he has experienced the latter.

“The biggest thing I’ve had to adjust to is getting used to (Printers’) throws,” Dunbar said. “He’s got a strong arm.”

Tomlinson said he has confidence in Printers. A consistent passing game will only help Tomlinson running the football because defenses will have to defend against both aspects of the offense.

Dunbar said Printers should only get better.

“How many true freshman jump right in and have their way,” Dunbar said. “Not many.”

Matt Stiver
m.r.stiver@student.tcu.edu

When applied to athletics, sportsmanship is similar to a journalist’s ethics. In the journalistic field, we have to follow a certain code of ethics. There are some things we do, and some things we just don’t do. It’s an unwritten rule at times.

In sports, there is an unwritten rule that says when a team is winning 41-17 with four minutes to play in the game, you don’t run to the center of the field after a touchdown as a way of rubbing it in the opponent’s face.

In Sunday’s 41-24 San Francisco 49ers victory against the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium, 49ers’ receiver Terrell Owens twice ran to the center of the field after a touchdown and raised his hands to the sky, basically saying, “this is how good I am, and I’m gonna let you all know about it.”

There is no place for this kind of reaction at any sporting level. Emotion is one thing. Every athlete needs to play with emotion. After all, that’s what drives them, that’s what gives them the desire to win. However, instigating a fight after the game has long been decided does not fall in the same category as emotion.

After Owens made his way to the midfield star for the second time, Cowboys safety George Teague tackled him and started a melee that resulted in his ejection and Owens picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Where was that call three quarters before? If Owens gets a penalty after his first trip to midfield, there’s a chance none of that will happen. If Dallas running back Emmitt Smith gets a penalty for his forceful slamming of the ball at midfield after his touchdown in response to Owens, nothing happens. I must applaud San Francisco head coach Steve Mariucci for subsequently suspending Owens for a game and fining him a week’s salary.

Mariucci has taken the stand that such an on-field demeanor will not be tolerated. The National Football League has also tried to take that approach.

The NFL has been so intent on penalizing for excessive celebration, it’s surprising that actions such as Owens’ didn’t fall under the same category. Only until they instigated a fight were they considered unsportsmanlike. How does that work?

Celebration after a touchdown in itself is not wrong, but celebration for the sake of showing up the opponent has no place in any sport. In Green Bay, every time Antonio Freeman scores a touchdown, he leaps into the stands and celebrates with the fans. It’s great to see that. In Atlanta, every time Jamal Anderson scores a touchdown for the Falcons, the Dirty Bird dance usually follows thereafter.

The difference between the “Lambeau Leap” and Owens’ actions is that Owens went out of his way to involve the other team on its home field. If Owens is playing in San Francisco, it may have been different. If Owens had just celebrated amongst his teammates, it would have been no big deal.

TCU senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson has scored 38 touchdowns in his career as a Horned Frog. I haven’t seen them all, but I’m willing to bet he hasn’t sprinted to midfield and thrust his arms in the air as if the crowd didn’t see him score.

No one will ever make me believe Tomlinson doesn’t play with emotion. No one will make me believe Owens plays with more emotion than Tomlinson. Granted, this isn’t a contest on who plays harder, but a football player can play hard without making such a spectacle of himself.

Owens should know better. He’s got the best wide receiver the NFL has ever seen lining up with him every play. Jerry Rice has his name near almost every receiving record imaginable, but I’ve yet to see him run to midfield to draw more attention to himself. That’s not to say Rice doesn’t celebrate after scoring, but class has always been a part of Rice’s game.

Owens might want to take a few notes.

Sports Editor Danny Horne is a senior broadcast journalism major from Carrollton.
He can be reached at (bravestcu3116@mind-spring.com).

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