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page 6 Sports

Kristine Kaori Reddington was brought into this world on Sept. 16, 1991 in Kochi, Japan. In 2007, she moved to the United States for high school, leaving her family and friends behind. “I didn’t like the fact that I would leave all my friends. I guess I was scared. I didn’t want to come to America. I was scared of getting fat.”

However, getting fat should be the least of Reddington’s worries. She eats, a lot. But somehow manages to keep a slim, attractive figure. She enjoys cooking and loves veg-etables, rice, and Raman (but not American Raman, Japanese Ramen).

She also loves anything creamy; cream cheese, whipped cream, and condensed milk, among others. When asked if she preferred waffles or pancakes, she replied, “I like crepes. In fact, I’m making them right now.”

Reddington, 20, has already found love

in her life. “I love, love, love the number 12,” she proudly exclaimed. “People are like, I probably like 12 more. And I’m like, no you probably don’t. I just don’t believe that.”

Although on a smaller scale, K r ist ine loves Elmo as well. She owns Elmo bags, shoes, clothes, a pencil case and an Elmo hat. So, if you ever want to give Reddington a perfect gift, giver her 12 Elmos.

She came to USU Eastern for the op-portunity to play volleyball at the collegiate level. The main reason she is here today is the low tuition at USU Eastern. She didn’t like having to make the decision, but “I didn’t like making this decision, but it’s cheap.”

Since coming here, she has grown to like Price, for reasons other than just the relatively

inexpensive tuition. She likes the small town atmosphere that the school has, the beautiful

sunrises and sunsets, and the “general nice-ness of the people…well, most of them.”

When she is not busy cooking, studying, whistling, or surfing the web, she spends her time playing volleyball. Her favorite thing about the sport is the opportunities it pro-

vides for fun and making friendships with new people. She proudly wears the number 12 on her jersey - preferably the blue one. “The white jerseys aren’t very good for guys, I feel. Volleyball is already kind of sketchy.”

Her least favorite thing about the sport is when people swear about “stupid things” and when there is “dumb drama” on the team. Reddington has high hopes for the team this season. She commented that if the

team puts their minds to it, they would do well. If her strong work ethic and positive attitude have anything to do with it, they will surely succeed.

If you haven’t met her, you should get on that ASAP. Kylie Cordon describes her as “The most positive person I know, her positivity always lifts up our team.” Reddington is one of the nicest, most genuinely good people on the USU Easter n campus. There is rarely a day you will catch her not smiling or whistling her heart out. She is a great friend to all, and would surely love to meet you. Yes, I’m talking to you. Introduce yourself to Reddington. You won’t regret it.

It’s supposed to be that time of the year, the little gap between baseball end-ing and college football not reaching full steam for a few more weeks and the Super Bowl way out there. It’s supposed to be the time when ESPN and TNT begin their National Basketball Association (NBA) ads with the catch phrase, “NBA: Magic Happens Here.”

Well, there aren’t any ads, there isn’t a functioning NBA at the moment, and there certainly is no magic. As of July 1, the NBA entered its fourth lockout in the history of the league. The league has already cancelled the opening of training camps and pre-season games, and over the weekend, representatives of the players’ union were so upset in a negotiation ses-sion that they reportedly walked out in a huff. Is it just me or can anyone else read the writing on the backboard? There ain’t gonna be an NBA season, or at least one we’re accustomed to.

In case you’ve been in hi-bernation over the summer, the NBA isn’t the only professional sports association that experi-enced a lockout. The National Football League (NFL) did, too. The difference between the NBA and the NFL lockouts is simple: The NFL lockout was

about billionaire owners who were mak-ing money and millionaire players who were making money, and in the end, both decided it was better if they could play a normal season so that everybody could make even more money.

The pro basketball lockout has different economics. The NBA lockout also comes down to dinero, das Geld, l’argent, or the simple English term, money. Players want more money and owners do too. But that’s where the similarity between the two leagues ends. The NBA owners are bleeding money in most cases. The NBA claims it lost $300 million last year. On top of that, 22 of the 30 NBA teams reported losses from last year’s season. So the own-ers are thinking, “It’s time the players feel our pain,” and want to restructure the sal-ary cap and revenue sharing agreement to bring down the losses. The players’ union, for the most part, is saying, “No dice.”

Pity the poor players. According to sportingintelligence.com, NBA players average a healthy $4.79 million in salary, or $59,000 a game. And they want to keep

it that way. It takes a substantial income to sponsor their posses, their jewelry, their girlfriends, their parties, their fleet of BMWs and Mercedes, and all the other accouterments of the lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed.

Seeking the PR advantage (yeah, some of us who don’t average $4.79 million clams a year aren’t exactly sympathetic to the players’ plight), many NBA stars are put-ting on exhibition games for charity. These games are fun and for a good cause and they seem to be entertaining, too, (unless you like to watch good defense). The last game featured on Sportscenter had John Wall’s “Blue Team” edging Eric Gordon’s “Knox Team” in a tight defensive battle, 170-167.

Other players, discouraged about the prospect of a quick resolution to the lockout, are taking their talents elsewhere. Ron Artest (who is legally changing his name to Metta World Peace) is suppos-edly heading to England to play hoops; former Jazz darling Deron Williams is going to make Turkey his new playground; Nicholas Batum might be heading back to his homeland of France; Leandro Barbosa is going back to whence he came, Brazil; and massive center DeJuan Blair is going to take his bulk to Russia. Hey, money could be tight. Best get a part-time gig somewhere. Five million bucks doesn’t go as far as it once did, what with gas price rising and the cost of corn at $7 a bushel.

Some players are getting a look at what

life outside the NBA looks like. Dwayne Wade, in a head-turning PR stunt, took a job at the local KFC, Luke Walton is an assistant basketball coach at the Univer-sity of Memphis, Kevin Love is playing pro volleyball and Blake Griffin took an internship.

Here’s an idea, straight from the Smurf. Let’s say things don’t go too well for Mitt Romney over the next few months. He’s got the financial know-how to pull a little monetary magic out of thin air. Remember, when the Salt Lake Winter Olympics were on a course leading straight over the cliff, Mitt stepped in and saved the day. Mitt for President? Naw. There’s a higher calling. Mitt for NBA Commissioner? Now that has some juice. As the NBA suffers, somebody has to benefit, right? Mitt’s the perfect fit for the NBA. He’s certainly a better prospect than current commissioner, David Stern, who says all the right things but doesn’t seem to get much done, and always man-ages to look goofy on draft night, since he seems to only measure about belly-high when he stands next to any of the newly drafted players.

But for now, the magic is gone. The only basketball on the immediate hori-zon is college hoops, which kicks off in November. My guess is the NBA will put together some kind of a short season, but it might not start until January. Until then, we have only one thing to look forward to:

Dick Vitale, it’s your time to shine.

Utah State University East-ern Lady Eagles finally have

a chance to take on the tough com-petition of the Region

1 8

NJ-CAA

Confer-ence. They

took on Colo-rado Northwest-ern Community College Sept. 24. This past week-end the Lady

Eagles played Snow College on Sept. 30 and Salt Lake Community College on Oct. 1. The team did well coming out with a 2-1 win, but with a forfeit to CNCC, the team stats show 1-2.

Even though the team beat CNCC, the Eagles had to forfeit because of a NJCAA rule infraction. However, that did not reflect the strong and team play the women had. “We came out and played well. We won in three games,” said Coach Chelsey Warbur-ton. The stats are not clear for the CNCC game because of the forfeit, but the team had won in three straight games. “We didn’t have any let downs,” commented Warburton.

The team had spent a long time in practice working on their focus. During the game the team’s practice proved worthy playing CNCC. “We had spent a lot of time practicing passing, and it was strong during the game,” she said.

A few injuries still plague the team. Warburton commented, “Samara Well has been out for three weeks with a foot injury, and she has finally been able to practice

again. There are a few other girls with minor injuries that are painful, but they are play-ing through them.” Though the girls have injuries, they play hard and don’t let down.

Snow College came to town on Sept. 30. USU Eastern had won the first two sets against Snow with 25-18 and 25-21. “We played great,” said Warburton. The team had a minor let down, allowing Snow to win the third set 25-22. Despite that the Eagles came back hard and strong to win the fourth set and gain a victory 25-17. “Everything went well; we played hard and passed well. That’s what our team is capable of playing like always,” she said. During the third set, the team had let down just a little, but they were able to rise up and put the pressure back on Snow for a win.

Playing back to back games can be tough on a team. The USU Eastern lady Eagles had to play Salt Lake Community College Oct. 1. Salt Lake has a strong athletics program. They won the first two sets 25-19 and 25-10. The Lady Eagles were not willing to just give up. They put up a hard fight to win the

third set 29-27. “We were up on them in the third set.

We either tied or led by a couple points,” she said. In the fourth set, the Lady Eagles were just always a step behind. SLCC won 25-16.

Warburton commented, “We struggled with passing and that makes it hard to run an offense. Compared to Friday’s game, we didn’t have the same intensity.” Unfortu-nately, one of the girls got sick Friday night. “We just seemed one step off on everything, like passing and blocking.” Over all the team averages 9.5 kills, 8.3 assists, and 1.3 aces a game along with 2.5 blocks with 12.7 digs per game.

The team prepares and is working hard in practice to take a long trip to College of Southern Idaho and North Idaho on Oct. 6-8. Warburton added, “We are going to be working on key things such as passing in preparation for CSI and NI.” The co-head coaches Chelsey Warburton and Grant Barraclough are prepping their team for the new chal-lenges ahead.

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by Je

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The E

agle

October 6, 2011Page 4

David Osborne Jr.sports editor

d.osborne@eaglemail.ceu

Temper tantrums

KC Smurthwaiteeditor and chief

kc.smurthwaite@eaglemail.ceu.edu

No magic hereSmurf Turf:

Katie Bigelowstaff writer

k.bigelow@eaglemail.ceu.edu

Miranda Parkinson dives for a ball in last weekend’s game against Snow College.

Photo by Sammie Fugate/The Eagle

Volleyball struggles, but show signs of life

Whether they are caused by bad calls from um-pires and referees, or

turnovers and errors that their team makes; baseball managers, basket-ball coaches and football coaches are famous for temper tantrums. John Wooden, the famous UCLA men’s basketball coach said, “If you tell those players who lose their tempers that they will be outplayed, you can’t act like a raving maniac yourself. It is just as well to say that a coach who loses his temper will be out-coached.”

Knowing that coaches and managers have temper tantrums and can’t control their emotions I have listed five ways to let your temper flair and the coaching coun-ter parts to back them up during the game and even after. 5- Point fingers

Coaches and managers are great at passing the blame onto referees, umpires and even their own players for dropping the ball, literally and figuratively. Bo Pelini is notorious for pointing fingers at his players, poking them in the chest, and even hitting them. Taylor Martinez was the quarter-back for Pelini at the University of Nebraska. After a few impressive games in the beginning of his freshman season Martinez fell apart when playing Texas A&M. During the game against A&M Pelini came over and started pok-ing his quarterback in the chest and screaming at him. So to let your temper flair a little point and poke with your finger. 4- Snap Hulk Hogan style

Jim Playfair was the coach for the Abbotsford Heat hockey team. After a penalty was called on J.D. Watt that got him thrown out of the game, Playfair went crazy. Playfair started by breaking a stick and then throwing it out onto the ice. He then stood up on the bench and tore off his suit coat the way Hulk Hogan would in the middle of Hulk-mania, Playfair even tore his tie off and ruined it. To cap off the tirade he grabbed the hockey stick from a player sitting next to him and broke that as well along with throwing it out on the ice. Playfair then said to the press after the game that the referees’ call was wrong and that he didn’t agree with it and that was all. Go Hulk-mania to let more of your temper flair.

3- Curse, insult and defame to cover your inadequacies

Ozzie Guillen, former manager of the Chicago White Sox was famous for cursing, insulting and defaming their competition and it was usually passed off as “Ozzie being Ozzie.” Guillen may be known best for his tirade against his own players and their terrible batting after not hitting a ball off of Bruce Chen from the Kansas City Royals. Guillen’s tirade included, “There’s nothing more painful than losing the f------ game against Bruce Chen once again. F------ pa-thetic. No f------ energy. We just go through the motions. We take the day off today instead of tomorrow.” Guillen always seemed to find a way to insult and definitely curse when he lost, definitely a great way to show off one’s temper.

2- When in doubt hit or throw a chair

Bobby Knight may be considered the most temperamental coach of all time. Knight threw fits constantly for bad calls and players not playing to the best of their ability, at least in his eyes. In February 1985, Knight, famously threw his chair across the free-throw lane from the bench in argument to a call. This is only one item on a long list that Knight did in frustration. Another time Knight allegedly hit Michael Price under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Price defended Knight and said that he didn’t hit him, and nothing happened to Knight, but remember throwing a chair really

“I didn’t want to come to America. I was scared of getting fat”Abigail Ericson & Joy Malone

guest writers

see Next on the Tee page 5

“The most positive person I know, her positivity always uplifts our team”

Kylie Cordon

photo by Samie Fugate/The Eagle

Photo courtesy of Tyson Chappell