Sports
Shorts
Athlete Of the Week
Sam
Hobi, a senior linebacker from Hurricane, Utah, was named Don Hansen
Football Gazette Co-National Defensive Player of the Week and D3football.com
Linebacker Of the Week for his performance against Denison University
this past weekend.
Hobi led the Oberlin defense in the 33-20 defeat of Denison, a game
in which the Big Red were held to minus 20 yards rushing. Hobi recorded
10 tackles, including six for a loss of 37 yards and a career-high
five sacks for a loss of 30 yards in the game. Seven of Hobis
tackles were unassisted.
Through
nine games of the season, Hobi has 66 unassisted tackles and 46
assisted tackles for a total of 112 tackles. 15 of these tackles
have been for a loss totaling 80 yards. Hobi also has nine sacks
on the season for a loss of 61 yards.
Last season, Hobi led the Yeomen with 127 tackles, 66 of which were
unassisted. Hobi was also named Honorable Mention All North Coast
Athletic Conference as well as NCAC Newcomer of the Year.
The Yeomen will play in their last game of the season tomorrow in
Richmond, Indiana when they take on Earlham College in NCAC action.
Currently the Yeomen are tied with Earlham for fifth in the conference.
A win in this game would move the Yeomen to 3-7 overall and 3-4
in the conference, assuring them of a middle of the pack finish
in the NCAC. Three wins would also equal the total number of wins
that Oberlin had in the 90s.
Marquee
Event
Womens
Basketball,
at Greater Cleveland Classic,
at Case Western Reserve University,
Saturday,
8 p.m.
Sunday,
2 p.m., 4 p.m.
Ok, there is nothing sports-related going on this weeked on campus
so you are going to have to drive to Cleveland to watch Oberlin
Sports. Its not that far of a drive and it gets you out of
the bubble, so go already.
In
the Locker Room with. . .
Assistant
baksetball and baseball coach Evan Gerking truly earned his college
nickname, The Old Man with all the stories he told me
during this interview. Its a shame there isnt enough
room to print them all.
So
where are you from, Evan?
EG:
I am from Laramie, Wyo. originally and graduated from Grinnell College
in Iowa.
How
was Grinnell College?
EG:
Its a fantastic school. Its a carbon copy of this place.
How so?
EG:
Well, the kids are a little weirder there than they are here, but
other than that its the same.
Now
Evan, you played baseball and basketball in college. Tell me some
stories about your college basketball team.
EG:
Well the Grinnell College basketball team scored 118 points a game.
We put up around 105 shots a game, half of them coming from behind
the three point line. We usually hit about about 20 three pointers
a game. I once played with a guy who hit 16 threes in a game twice
and 19 threes in a game and scored 77 points another time.
Wow.
So did you guys play defense?
EG:
Well, we played a full court press the whole game and relied on
the turnover. I personally was in a game where we scored 141 points
and lost. Grinell also has the record for losing a game 160-155.
While
you were at Grinnell did you ever scam the school out of money?
EG:
Yes, one time I did scam the college. A couple of friends and I
created the Major League Baseball Fans Association. The way the
money worked at Grinnell, anyone could have a club as long as anyone
could join the club so we created the Major League Baseball Fans
Association. Basically we convinced the college to give us money
to drive to Wrigley Field and buy tickets to Cubs games.
So
youre a Cubs fan?
EG:
The Dude abides.
Do
you have any great Cubs fan stories?
EG:
Well, theres this guy at all the Cubs games named Ronnie Woo
Woo. This guy dresses up in the full Cubs uniform. I mean hes
got the jersey, the pants, the socks, the belt, even his name on
the back of his jersy. It says, Woo Woo. He stands in
the bleachers and will go for innings long repeating, Sammy
Woo Sosa Woo, Sammy Woo Sosa Woo. That guy, hes got
about three teeth. I thought he was a special guy, but I walked
up to him and hes just a diehard Cubs fan.
Looking
around the coachs office I notice a poster of Britney Spears
on the wall.
Whats
the deal with the Britney poster on the wall?
EG:
Well, here in the coachs office we have the Britney Spears
Stop the Tease poster up. Coach [Dick] Roth, the older
coach, you will know him when you come to the game because he is
the older guy that sits on the bench with us. I guess last year
at one of the practices coach Roth said to the team, Youre
like Britney Spears, youre just teasing us. And the
next day the poster appeared in the locker room.
Youre
the assistant baseball/pitching coach here too, correct? How is
the baseball team going to be?
EG:
The baseball team as well as the basketball team is going to be
better than the year before. We have a solid pitching staff and
with some work they could be one of the best in the conference.
We have a bunch of hard throwers and Rob Smith (sophomore).
Whats
with the Bill Walton poster on the wall?
EG:
At the beginning of the year coach [Mike] Cavey hated Bill Walton.
He thought he was the worst announcer in the world so we put up
the Dont let stuttering put you on the bench,
poster. As we have watched more Walton games I have come to realize
that he is the funniest man alive. This guy rips on everything,
the players, the coaches, about how Larry Bird is coaching, about
everything.
So
the Wyoming Cowboys were on TV the other night?
EG:
If you ever get a chance to watch a Wyomong basketball game it will
be the most exciting game you could ever see.
Uh,
Evan, they scored 52 points the other night and lost.
EG:
Dont worry, there will be games where they dont shoot
15 percent from the field and they will score 70 points. Those are
the games you have to watch. Im calling it now, they are going
to the Sweet 16 this year.
So
what was it like growing up in Wyoming?
EG:
Growing up in Wyoming is an interesting experience. There are more
people who live in Cleveland than in the whole state of Wyoming.
Laramie, where Im from, has the college, so its a little
more cultured, but its a real interesting experience.
Do
you have any good stories from growing up?
EG:
Heres a good story for you. There was this kid in my fifth
grade class named Harold Crazythunder. Harold Crazythunder had come
down from the reservation and he was not a nice guy at all. We had
a lot of Native American kids that went to school in town, but Harold,
he was a different breed of guy. He had every person afraid of him.
He punched my friend repeatedly one day, until my friend had to
go to the hospital. This was in fifth grade. Harold Crazythunder
brought the hammer down on his head about 25 times all because we
didnt call a foul out on the basketball court at recess. So
I had some interesting encounters growing up. To give you an idea
of the Wyoming mentality, theres this guy named Robert W.
Noffsinger III, nicknamed Bud. Buds family owned a 20,000
acre ranch, which he just inherited. Everyone out there talks to
Bud. He just walks around spitting and he has a mullet and hes
a multi-millionaire and hes only 24.
Different
breed Ill say. So youre on an intramural basketball
team.
EG:
Yeah, were the Damn Staff. Were damn good.
Hows
the little round guy?
EG:
The little round guy? Oh, Coach Lahetta. Let me just say that coach
Lahetta is one of the best shooters in the IM basketball league.
We have the four best players in the league, myself, Cavey, Lahetta
and [football coach] Ron Greer. We would be unstoppable if we could
get [football coach] Jay Lukes to play. Hes the enforcer.
Let me just say that the baseball team is by far the worst team
in IM basketball.
I dont
know about that. I think we are going to challenge you when we play.
EG:
Its not even a question, we will win because the Damn Staff
does not include [student assistant coach] Jason Carrington who
could easily lose a game for us because he is so terrible. Haha,
and you can print that.
What
is coach Cavey like?
EG:
Coach Cavey is a much better basketball player than coach Carrington.
Let me tell you a story about Coach Cakes. Jason is
involved in a 3 on 3 basketball league with me over at the middle
school. He got two hotshot graduates on his team to take my team
on in the league, but Im not worried about them because eventually
Carrington is going to have to go in and when he does we will win.
Just like when we play the baseball team in IM basketball. Eventually
Ian Haynes will have to go in and when he does, we will take over
and win.
Are
you a Republican?
EG:
I am a Democrat. Part of the five percent in Wyoming.
Man,
I want to have a Republican in the locker room.
EG:
I am glad there hasnt been a Republican in the locker room.
But if you want to interview one go talk to Jay Lukes.
The
Damn Staff found out earlier this week that being cocky causes losses.
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