Sports Shorts
Athlete Of the Week
Sophomore tennis player Jamie Frankel, of West Bloomfield,
Mich. was recently recognized by being named second team All-NCAC
for the athletic talents he displayed in the first singles this
season.
Frankel’s overall record is an impressive 10-5 overall at the
first singles in the 2002 season, his defeats all at the hands of
players named first team All-NCAC. Frankel showed similar promise
last season after winning eight singles games and losing four,
receiving an honorable mention All-NCAC recognition.
The
Oberlin men’s tennis team recently traveled to Delaware, Ohio to
participate in the 17th North Coast Atlantic Conference Men’s Tennis
Championship. The Yeomen fell to Denison, Earlham and Wabash,
returning home with an eighth place finish in the
championships.
Quote of the Week
Is he
excited?
“Yes, oh yes! But of course, I’m always
excited.” –Don Hunsinger Tennis Head Coach
On the
prospects of next year’s men’s and women’s tennis teams. The
teams have no graduating seniors.
Marquee Event
Men’s
Lacrosse Alumni Game Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Dill
Field
This is
it! The last home Oberlin athletic event of the year. This year’s
lacrosse team will take on the greats of years past.
In the Locker Room with. .
.
He’s
been introducing you to athletes all semester, now it’s time to meet
the man himself: Channing Joseph, sports editor.
So
Channing, how have you enjoyed your semester as sports
editor?
CJ:
It’s been, um, quite interesting and rewarding in unexpected
ways.
What’s
your favorite part about being sports editor?
CJ:
Definitely both getting to write Outside Oberlin and to pontificate
about how sports relates to things that might not be so obvious, as
well as meeting athletes every week, because most of them are really
beautiful people.
JKD:
All athletes are beautiful.
In the
past ITL interviewers have tried to ask funny questions, but you
seem to prefer to ask more philosophical questions. Why is
that?
CJ:
Because the answers are funny, anyway. And I just tend to think more
philosophically.
What
does it mean to think philosophically?
CJ: I
would suppose to say that to think philosophically limits my
freedom, as existentialist philosophers such as Sartre would say.
Therefore to think philosophically needs to be redefined as simply
asking philosophical questions.
Right
then. Back to reality. So pretend it was 8:40 a.m. on a Friday
morning and you hadn’t done an ITL interview yet. What would you
do?
CJ:
Since that never happened, I don’t know what I’d do. I don’t want to
commit myself to a way of behaving that might not be representative
of how I’d actually act.
Remember when we used to do Outside Oberlin articles? Wasn’t
that fun?
CJ: It
was fun and it’s quite nice when you have the brain, the cerebral
cortex, left over to be able to do it, but unfortunately the Review
has eaten away at that cortex to the point where I am now nearly
catatonic.
So
you’re a Review burnout?
CJ: I
hate to reduce myself to a statistic, but perhaps the facts speak
for themselves?
We’re
all statistics. What would you say to all those potential
sportswriters out there?
CJ: Do
it! It’ll make the sports editor’s jobs a lot easier.
Are you
saying sports editors are desperate? CJ: We’ll, we’re not that
desperate.
So have
you ever been in an Oberlin locker room?
CJ:
Sure.
How was
it?
CJ:
Simply spectacular. I felt completely…yeah.
Did you
play any sports as a kid?
CJ: I
always liked swimming and gymnastics. I didn’t actually learn to
swim until quite late, though.
Do you
have a particular favorite sport these days?
CJ: I
still lean toward the Olympic type sports — track, swimming, diving.
Although, I have really started to enjoy watching golf since Tiger
Woods started blowing things up.
So are
you a fairweather golf fan?
CJ:
Unfortunately. I have to admit to that. No, I don’t have to admit to
that, because that would limit my freedom.
Do you
associate sports with freedom?
CJ:
Well, sports are as much about freedom as everything else is about
freedom. Life is about freedom. We’re condemned to freedom. I don’t
really believe that though. We’re condemned to thinking we’re
free.
You’ve
been covering the men’s lacrosse team for most of the season. How
have you enjoyed that?
CJ:
They’re nice guys. I really admire them in the face of what they’ve
gone through this season. Their ability to stay positive and to take
what good they can from a losing season.
So have
you gained a greater appreciation of the sport of
lacrosse?
CJ: I
would say a greater appreciation for lacrosse players as human
beings in Oberlin.
What do
you think about human beings in Oberlin?
CJ: The
longer I stay here, the more I admire the ambition and the creative
genius of many of the people who attend this institution. Sometimes
I wonder whether everybody interesting graduated from Oberlin or was
involved at Oberlin in some way.
I think
we’re running out of space, so just a couple more. Are you going to
work for the Review again next year?
CJ:
Well, I’d like to work for the Review next year. I’m planning on it.
We’ll see.
What
would you like to do? Would you be sports editor again?
CJ:
Although I’ve enjoyed my time as sports editor, I would rather not
repeat myself. I get way too bored way too easily. Not that the job
is inherently boring, but sooner or later everything loses its
novelty.
What
will you take away from your time in the sports seat?
CJ:
That’s really a vague question. Let’s say a deep respect for Oberlin
athletes, coaches, sports writers, and sports editors of the past,
present, and future.
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