Sports Shorts

Athlete Of the Week

Ary Amerikaner is a first-year tennis player from Huntington, W. Va., where she played four years of high school tennis. Her team won the State Championship in two different seasons, and Amerikaner won placed as high as second in the state in number one doubles.

In her first match of the spring tennis season, this past Sunday at home against Albion College, Amerikaner won both her singles and doubles matches. She won her number two singles match 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. With her partner, junior co-captain Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz, she won 8-4.

Amerikaner’s efforts contributed to a resounding victory by the women’s tennis team, as the Yeomen bested Albion 8-1.

The next women’s tennis action will take place at home against Malone College on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.

Marquee Event

Oberlin vs. Malone
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Saturday, 1 p.m.
John Heisman Fieldhouse.

In this week’s action against Malone, the women’s team is looking to build upon last week’s strong start, while the men hope to improve after two losses.

In the Locker Room with. . .

Sitting on a couch in King Hall after philosophy class, sophomore bowler Michael Siniscalchi reveals a rather unexpected take on his chosen sport, revealing its relationship with Eastern religions and film comedies.

MS: I’m a bit less funny today, because I’m clogged up.

Oh, that’s fine. We’re all clogged up these days…you’re a philosophy major, eh? What is your philosophy on sports?

MS: In terms of bowling, it’s a bit less of a reason-based philosophy. It fits in a lot more with a Zen kind of thing. Once the ball starts swinging, the best thing to do is to let it flow.

Like in the tradition of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi?

MS: Who’s that?

He wrote a book called Flow.

MS: Well yeah, then I guess so.

Are you a Zen Buddhist?

MS: No, but it’s similar to what Zen Buddhism tries to emphasize, emptying the mind of all thoughts.

Do you play better with a clear mind?

MS: Yes, definitely. The worst mistake during a match is to look at the score sheet, because you can’t keep a clear mind that way. I find that I do better if I don’t know how I’m doing. Also, one of the reasons why I bowl is just

because I want to clear my mind. Thoughts and anxieties interrupt the game. In a way, you construct the game yourself in order to get rid of thoughts.

Lately I’ve been getting deeply into the connections between sports and spirituality. Have you ever had transcendental experiences while bowling?

MS: Yes, actually, very, very recently. At practice on Monday, my arm was a lot weaker than it had been, and I realized how little my game had to do with what I intended. I realized how much I was trying to control the ball. Once I saw this, my shots just fit together and were very smooth.

So are there any other questions you would like me to ask you?

MS: That’s a good question…I would like to say that my approach to bowling is similar to the way that I approach a martial art. I’ve studied Aikido and Tai-chi, and I see and feel bowling as a martial art because there’s just so much nuance. And the only way to get better is by just doing, acting. It’s also about attainment, and then action.
What has been your greatest inspiration?

MS: “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski is my greatest inspiration in bowling, and perhaps in life. If it had to be a real life person, it would have to Tom Reid, the head of the bowling team, who explicates the beauty of it. He’s got a very positive outlook.

Where do you want to go with bowling?

I just want to keep bowling. I’d love to take part in more tournaments, especially with the Oberlin team. Over the weekend at the tournament in Michigan, I developed some great friendships.

As well as a Zen Buddhist outlook?

Certainly so.

And certainly, Michael, this has been an interesting conversation. After all, it is not often that I’ve become involved in philosophical discussions on the game of bowling, a sport which many people might disregard as a mind-numbing, ball-rolling, pin-knocking distraction. Yet, Michael, you’ve surprisingly shown us that there just might be some value in such distraction.