Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, November 8, 2006]

The University of North Florida men's basketball team will begin its 2006 season against defending national champions.

The Ospreys will travel to Gainesville Nov. 14 to play an exhibition game in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center against the University of Florida. This will be the first ranked opponent for UNF at the Division I level.

"This will show us what we have to do to compete with the best at the D-I level," Head Coach Matt Kilcullen said.

Tickets are not available to UNF students but the game will be televised locally on the Sun Sports channel, 51.

Osprey fans in Jacksonville can also attend watch parties for the game starting at 7 p.m. Fans can meet at Wackadoo's on campus and Sneakers Bar and Grill on Baymeadows for event specials and prize giveaways.

The Ospreys will learn how to play together over the weekend when they visit New York to play against St. John's University Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. A second game against the Navy Midshipman or Loyola College of Maryland will also be played Nov. 12.

The two-game weekend is part of the 2K Sports College Classic, a benefit for Coaches vs. Cancer, produced by the Gazelle Group. The Ospreys are playing in the New York Regional bracket in the Carnesecca Arena.

"We're not eligible for NCAA until 2009-2010," Kilcullen said. "One of the ways you attract people to the programs is to try to get some non-conference events to give you exposure in certain areas and to give you name recognition as a Division I school."

Since the team cannot compete in NCAA tournament play until 2009, recruiting has proven difficult for Kilcullen. He hopes that big events like these will make the basketball program more exciting for interested players, especially transfers from two-year colleges.

Kilcullen wants the team to bond and experience New York and Gainesville while traveling early in the season. Kilcullen hopes these experiences will not only make the Ospreys better players, but also better people when their college experiences are over.

"We wanted to give our guys a taste of the big time," Kilcullen said. "You find out about your team going on the road, individually and as a team. That's where you can learn to get better."

Volleyball finishes third in season conference

Win over Lipscomb; Ospreys finished third in conference play

They would have made the podium if they were in the Olympics.

The University of North Florida volleyball team finished third in the Atlantic Sun Conference Nov. 14, after defeating Lipscomb University 30-19, 30-28, 30-26.

Senior Amy Stroder led the Ospreys, tallying a match high of 15 kills. Teammate Emily Kohler shot 13 kills against Lipscomb, while junior Maegan Weisert finished with 12.

Alex Scruggs, who finished with 11, tallied the high for kills by Lipscomb.

Senior Jenna Thomas led both teams with 45 assists, while junior Tara Taylor recorded a match high of 29 digs for the Ospreys.

North Florida finished close behind the preseason poll, where they were voted to take the Atlantic Sun Conference. Head Coach Bryan Bunn was still positive of the season and has high hopes for the final pair of non-conference matches.

The Ospreys face off against the Jacksonville University Dolphins Nov. 9 for the final River City Rumble volleyball match up this season. North Florida won the first meeting of the Rumble 3-1.

The team will play the final game of the season against Stetson University in Deland Nov. 11.

In the Osprey Spotlight: Soccer Player, Heather Gosselin

Heather Gosselin's height used to influence the kind of uniform the soccer player wore.

Gosselin, a junior goalkeeper for the University of North Florida women's soccer team, started out as a forward but later put on gloves and a different jersey when she took on keeper position at the age of 12. She started playing goalie because she was the tallest girl on the team.

Years later, she is not the goalkeeper because of her stature (standing at 5 feet 5 inches), but has her position because of her outstanding performance on the field.

"Heather is a steady influence on goal keeping," said head coach Mike Munch. "She can always be relied upon to do the best possible job. She's a very technical keeper and she can really keep her calm, which is important during a game."

Gosselin chose to play for North Florida because of its location in her hometown of Jacksonville and the university's consistent soccer team.

So far, the decision has produced many experiences and highlights. Her favorite memory is participating in the Peach Bowl Conference Tournament during her freshman year.

Playing in the first two rounds of the tournament, Gosselin recorded double shut-outs for the Ospreys.

It has also given the goalkeeper a few difficulties with her knee.

"The original injury wasn't from soccer," Gosselin said. "But playing sports has definitely created more problems with it."

Despite the injuries, Gosselin still focuses on her favorite part of soccer: winning.

With the desire to be the best at her game, the Osprey must still find time to stay strong in school. With practice four days a week, and games twice a week not a lot of time is left for studying.

"This semester, balancing the two has been harder than usual," she said. "I guess it's because of all the traveling that the team has been doing this year."

The lifelong athlete plans to continue with sports after she graduates from North Florida. With a major in athletic training/physical therapy and soccer leagues in Jacksonville, it will be easy for her to stay in touch with the game.

With the season over, Gosselin is thankful to have a chance to rest, but is sad that it's ending.

"I'm going to miss my crazy teammates and all the fun and laughs we had."

Women's basketball prepares to swoop again

The University of North Florida women's basketball team is taking flight again into another competitive season.

The Ospreys will open their season Nov. 10 against the University of Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla. This is the same week the UNF men's team will compete against the Florida Gators as well.

"I think it's a very exciting opportunity for us to play an in-state opponent of SEC [South East Conference] caliber. I hope it draws more attention to women's games," said Nancy Miller, women's basketball assistant coach. "And I think it's exciting that both of us get to play the Gators within the same week."

The Lady Ospreys, who are entering their second year as a Division I team, will face the Gators squad that went 21-9 in the 2005-2006 season. The Lady Ospreys' final record was 11-17 overall, and 9-10 in the A-Sun Conference.

Head Coach Mary Tappmeyer said the season opener will be a good teaching tool for her team and is a game the team is looking forward to. Sophomore center Antoinette Reames agreed.

"I'm excited that we get to play Florida," she said. "And I feel we should believe in ourselves and play hard."

Besides Florida, Coach Tappmeyer is also looking forward to competing in the FIU Thanksgiving Classic.

There, the Ospreys will meet either Tulane University or Villanova University in the second round.

UNF's Dec. 29 home-opener against Hofstra University, and a road game against University of Virginia Feb. 1 also highlight a Division-I laden schedule.

Of the 16 players on the roster this season, 10 will be returning from last season and six will be newcomers to Osprey basketball.

Tappmeyer said this is a young team that needs to "make progress everyday and improve every game."

Cecilia Woolfolk, Tamara Hubbard, Jennifer Bowen and Jennifer Guldager will be important in determining the team's success this year, said Tappmeyer.

Hubbard, who averaged eight points per game last season, is expected to play a scoring role at shooting guard.

Sophomores Bowen, who had 48 steals last season, and Guldager, last year's second rebounding leader, will contribute defense to the team.

"We will be very good defensively," Miller said. "We will be able to press and run but because of the new players, the offense will take some time to start running on all cylinders."

Tappmeyer, the only women's basketball coach in UNF history, remarked that she needed to work on the little aspects of the game.

"The biggest thing we need to work on is consistency," she said. "The amount of work it takes, the effort they need to bring each day and becoming familiar with each other is the biggest adjustment to make."

Senior guard Denisia Andrews, a major in sports leadership agreed with her coach.

"Patience is key. We got a lot of growing and maturing to do but we have a whole season to do it as a team," Andrews said. "Hopefully, we have a lot of fan support, that's going to be key. We're a talented bunch, and we're going to try to make it exciting."

Down, set, fight: Intramural football gets rough

Student Opinion

It's apparent to most sports fans around the nation that an unprecedented amount of violence and brutality in both professional and college sports has taken place over the last year.

Athletes who are not only admired for their talent, but labeled as inspirations to young children, are participating in belligerent and angry acts both on and off the field.

For example, the brawl between the University of Miami and Florida International University required police intervention.

Three Indiana Pacer players were involved in an early morning assault outside a strip bar.

Players are taking their aggressive behavior on the field to a new level, like Albert Haynesworth who was suspended for five games for stomping on the un-helmeted head of a Dallas Cowboys player.

Monty Carter, a pastor at Mosaic Community Fellowship in Piedmont, S.C. agreed with ESPN college football analyst and ex-NFL player Bill Curry when he said, "Yes, football is a very physical and sometimes violent sport. Occasionally even the best players lose control and respond with unsportsmanlike conduct. But the real athletes and role models accept the penalties, respect the officials and their coaches and respond with remorse, shame or embarrassment for their temporary lack of restraint. They are contrite and seek to restore their name behind the scenes instead of holding a 'blame everyone else but myself' news conference that is only about self-promotion and divides teams."

I completely agree.

Has this angry epidemic reached our own backyard? The University of North Florida's intramural flag football teams recently hosted a scrimmage against an Edward Waters College team. As the number of onlookers grew throughout the night, the students became increasingly rowdy.

Sadly, the scrimmage had more onlookers than some of the official games hosted here at UNF.

While I watched from another field, what began with innocent trash talk quickly became a bench clearing fight. Frustrated that the UNF team was winning, one of the members of the Edward Waters squad threw a UNF player to the ground and began to kick him. It became quite the brawl.

One of the players from a neighboring game jumped the field fence to hit the button at one of the many emergency stations around campus.

As soon as the blue police light was set off, almost the entire Edward Waters team, along with all of their fans, jumped the chain link fence, ran to their cars, and sped out of the parking lot before the police could respond. About five minutes later the police arrived, and the UNF team explained what happened.

But it doesn't end there. The aggression has even reached many of our co-ed and women's teams. Recently, a co-ed game was called in the middle of the second half after a fight broke out between two of the guys.

I have played in both the all girls and co-ed leagues since I was a sophomore, and the competition has definitely intensified each year.

Even the girls seem to be getting more involved in trash talk, tossing around foul language.

I've always enjoyed intramurals at UNF. They are a place to participate in competitive games and have an awesome time doing it. We may get frustrated or angry once in a while, but we are always laughing and having a good time.

Many students ask if intramural sports are an arena for serious athletes who can get rough at times, or wonder if it is a place for students looking to have some fun.

I think it is both.

But, are the professional and college athletes' actions affecting sports even on a recreational level?

Should we allow professional athletes to behave in this fashion, or should they be fined, suspended or banned from the sport?

From the Cheap Seats

War of a different color on the field

Several weeks ago, there was a brawl of epic proportions at the Orange Bowl.

For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, the University of Miami and Florida International University were dueling in Coral Gables.

After a Miami touchdown and extra point, a fight ensued, involving everyone except the waterboys and mascots.

For five minutes, helmets flew, punches landed and feet stomped all over the field.

Finally, the order was restored and the game went on, forever maring the image of both schools, and effectively delivering one of the final nails in Larry Coker's coffin.

Experts around the country hounded away, crying for stiff punishments and suspensions. Miami President Donna Shala responded with slaps on the wrist, delivering one-game suspensions for a number of players.

That game: winless Duke University.

Yeah, I'll bet that had Larry Coker and his staff trembling in their boots.

Florida International University Coach Don Strock promptly dismissed several players from his Panther Squad, and suspended many others

I give him a average, C+ for discipline.

Overall, a very dark mark on both schools.

Moreover, this gave college football another black eye, one that they didn't need.

This isn't the first time an on-field brawl has happened. Clemson University and the University of South Carolina displayed a similar scene following their game back in 2004.

University of Miami also engaged in a soiree last year in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl with Louisiana State University.

So all hope was lost for college football, forever to remain a sport of thugs and gangsters.

That's what I thought, until this past Friday night Nov. 3, with the match up of Air Force and Army.

It was not the kind of game that kept you on the edge of your seat, but it's what happened afterwards that caught my eye.

After the game went final, there was no exchange of punches or kicks, but simple handshakes, and a walk to the Army sideline, where both teams stood at attention, side by side.

What happened next is nothing short of remarkable.

The United States Military Academy Marching Band began to blow the first note of its Alma Mater, and both teams sang along.

After, both teams marched solemnly towards the Falcon sideline, where the Air Force band played its own Alma Mater.

Once again, both teams raised their voices in unison, joined together in an iron bond, that not even eight more Air Force touchdowns could break.

Amazing, isn't it?

Two teams, locked in combat against each other for 60 minutes, cease their aggression, and join to sing, knowing that in the years to come, that they will be fighting along side with one another.

A far cry from the scene that took place near South Beach.

Print Edition

SPORTS

Volleyball finishes third in season conference

Win over Lipscomb; Ospreys finished third in conference play

In the Osprey Spotlight: Soccer Player, Heather Gosselin

Women's basketball prepares to swoop again

Down, set, fight: Intramural football gets rough

Student Opinion

From the Cheap Seats

War of a different color on the field

Sports in Brief

Hollyoak honored with conference title

Women's soccer players take conference honors

Flight Schedule

Osprey Scoreboard