Sports Shorts

Athlete of the Week

Very few first-years have the fortune to get a lot of playing time in college basketball, let alone the skills and heart to perform well when they do get that opportunity. First-year Brandon Crawford, however, is an exception to the rule.
Crawford has had an impressive season, holding the team high in rebounds for 18 of the team’s 24 games, as well as leading the team in points for eight of those games.
Crawford holds the game high of rebounds at 18, blocked shots at three and free-throw percentage with six out of six free throws made in a single game. Most recently, due to Brandon’s tough play and his skillful efforts, the men’s basketball team was able to upset the strong Wabash squad when he put up 11 points and 18 rebounds in 36 minutes.

In the Locker Room With . . .

This week’s In the Locker Room features two Oberlin College baseball players. Junior Rob Smith and sophomore Steve Willever were kind enough to come to my room for the interview after their late practice session.

Where to start — what positions do you both play?

SW: Left field and first base.
RS: Shortstop and centerfield.
SW: He means pitching coach.
RW: Shut up! And I lead off and bat third!

What’s the word on your shoulder? Will you be able to play next season?

RS: Well, actually it’s my elbow. I have a torn ligament in my elbow that would require Tommy John surgery to ever pitch again. And it’d take 16 to 20 full months to ever recover. I also have a partially torn rotator cuff from throwing a lot, wear and tear. No, I won’t be able to play next season.

Oberlin’s baseball team plays in a tough conference with nationally ranked Wooster, among other teams. However, you seem to have good numbers, experienced coaches and some strong players — how do you think you will fare this year?

SW: We’re gonna beat that ass.
RS: We have a great coaching staff, and our coaches’ influence will lead us to more victories than last year. And we’re gonna beat that ass. And eat a lot of Wendy’s. After all the wins, $8 at Wendy’s.

Ok, so someone told me that I should ask this question as it seems to be somewhat controversial — which one of you is taller?

RS: We’re equally tall.
SW: We’re equally short.
RS: Stand up. We’re equal.
SW: We are.
RS: I lost my seat.
SW: Yeah you did, you just got hoed by a cat.

Steve, I remember something about “over-sized latissimuss dorsi syndrome.” What exactly is that and what brought that about?

RS: Oversized lat muscle syndrome. We can’t walk with our arms at our side. Our arms stick out because we’re not skinny bitches.
SW: I think it first came out because someone was making fun of Rob last year, and then realized that I walked the same exact way, so they started making fun of me. So I said that “at least I don’t walk like a skinny bitch, or a duck.” It’s not my fault I have big lats that are out of proportion with the rest of my body.
RS: Yeah, there are other things that are out of proportion too.

I hear that people who have to talk about that are trying to make up for something. So how many uniforms does the baseball team have?

RS: We got our BP (batting practice) jerseys today. We have our white ones, grey ones, black ones, we have our practice jerseys, and then we have the maroon pull-overs. So we have six total.
SW: But only one hat.

That seems kind of like overkill, don’t you think?

SW: Yeah.
RS: Yeah, it’s really tough, we have two different colored socks so we have color coordination problems sometimes. We also have two different colored belts. But we’re men and we dress like men.
SW: Except for the ones who pull their socks up.
RS: There’s nothing wrong with that.
SW: It’s gay.
RS: Shut up.

Can I have one of your black baseball hats? Those are cool.

RS: What size is your head?

I forget. I think 7 7/8”.

RS: Then I can’t help ya.
SW: I think that my black one is 7 1/8” actually.

Damn you.

RS: We have little heads.

(At this point, I left the room saying, “Oh man, I have to piss again! I just keep drinking and pissing.” — Steve typed this)

So what kind of music do baseball players listen to? What’s your favorite CD?

RS: Lil’ DBPR Playa.

So what do you guys think about the way the practice times are divided up for the field house? Practicing from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. has got to be difficult.

SW: It sucks.
RS: Horse shit.

Do you have any intelligent comments?

RS: It’s fucking horse shit.
SW: That’s a lot of horse shit.

Intelligent enough for me. So, we’re here in lovely Ohio. What happens when the season starts and there’s still snow on the ground?

RS: We wait for Florida.
SW: Yeah, we wait for spring break in Florida.

Ok, to wrap things up, anything else you wanna say?

RS: Maybe she’s scared of clowns?
SW: Um. I’d like to give a shout out to, um, uh, DB.
RS: We already put DB.
SW: DBPR. That’ll do.