Sports The Lorian Feb. 26, 2015 7

Drews Views

Drew Brashawasst. sports editor

#awesomeSocial media is an incredible thing.In the old days, you had to rely hard-hitting journalists asking the perfect questions at the perfect moments in order to get a peek inside the minds of athletes. Even then, youd have to wade through a stream of canned answers and clichs before getting to the good stuff, and it was still a rare thing for a reporter

to truly capture the essence of what makes jocks tick. If you wanted to get under the helmet back then, your resources were limited to second-hand stories and police reports.

But all of thats different now. In the age of social media, athletes (and celebrities of every ilk, really) are able to cut out the middle-man and pour out their insides directly onto their adoring publics. If you want to get to know your favorite athlete, ignore his interviews and go straight to his twitter account. There, youll find a portal into your role models psyche that Jeremy Schaap and Bob Ley could only dream of opening. On twitter, youll find an unfettered, unfiltered view into the minds of Americas superheroes.

Take, for example, this 2009 tweet from Arizona Cardinals defensive end and Florida State University alum, Darnell Dockett:

Mann on of my teammates SHARTED- OMG I know he has a MAN POND cause he def just ran to the bathroom LMFAOO smell like a PORT a POTTY

A serious journalist could probe and prod an athlete for hours on end and still not uncover this kind of mind-blowing, culturally significant insight. But thanks to twitter, a few quick thumb swipes were all it took to deliver this powerful message to Mr. Docketts 213,000 followers. Without twitter, that moment would have been lost forever.

While Dockett used twitter as a platform to showcase his poetic voice to the world, Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones used the micro-blogging site to provide a voice to thousands of NCAA student-athletes across the country, tweeting:

Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we aint come to play SCHOOL classes are POINTLESS.

Jones found himself in a bit of hot water over the tweet, and deleted it quickly. For all of the other student-athletes out there who feel the same way, but dont know the right words to say it, Jones is a hero.

Perhaps the real beauty of social media in the sports world, is that it creates a two-way line of communication between athletes and fans. In the old days, you had to go to the game and hurl D cell batteries at players to properly express disappointment or disdain. Now, you can insult them from the comfort of your own home, 24 hours a day. Do you think Tony Romo throws like a blind girl with an inner ear infection? Tweet him and let him know about it! Feel like belittling Russell Wilson for throwing that pick in the Super Bowl? Tweet him! Depending on his notification settings, your scathing insult might even vibrate in his pocket!

If your barbs are caustic enough, and you strike a nerve, the object of your ire might even tweet back to you, like Colin Kaepernick did last week. The San Francisco quarterback took a break from his intensive regimen of tweeting about his workouts in order to engage in a miniature flame war with a follower who suggested he spend more time studying defenses than blasting his abs. Realizing twitters potential for connecting him with his fans, Kaepernick tweeted:

@battman_returns are you illiterate or just ignorant? Read the tweet again better yet give me your breakdown of every defensive coverage and @battman_returns you got 8 followers bruh your own family dont even want to know what you doin! Get better at life!

In the old days, if you could get a player sitting on the bench to turn around and give you the finger, you were doing pretty well. But now, someone can tap the screen of a smartphone and have a star quarterbacks attention on a Wednesday afternoon.

I, for one, am all for it. Sure, social media is helping to speed my chosen career field down the path to obsolescence, but so what? At least I know that one time, in 2012, DeAnthony Thomas SEEN A DEER.

#awesome.

Duhawks lace up for IIAC ChampionshipsMen and women place 4th at University of Dubuque Spartan Invite

by Matthew Marter | sportswriterThe mens track and field team posted

seasonal records in both the 4x200-me-ter relay and 4x400-meter relay at the Spartan Invitational last weekend. In the 4x200 relay, seniors Kyle Ward and Zac Gassman, junior Stedman Foster, and sophomore Brandon Gradoville finished first with a time of 1:32.65. Later in the meet, Gassman, Foster, and Gradoville were joined by junior Zach Frey in the 4x400 relay. They placed second overall with a time of 3:22.43, putting the relay into the 21st spot in the NCAA Division III rankings.

I felt like I got a really strong pre-season in, and I felt I was ready for the beginning of official practices [in November], said Gradoville. I wasnt running the times I wanted, but as the season went on, my times got faster.

An injury threatened the 4x400 me-ter relay, but they found a replacement, junior Zach Frey.

Were still right on course to be very competitive at the conference meet and hopefully qualify for nationals, said Gradoville.

Running with upperclassmen hasnt

fazed Gradoville. I dont think about it too much, but

it is kind of in the back of my head, said Grandoville, who has held a spot on the relay for the whole indoor season. I dont think being younger is any excuse. I real-ly do think I am capable of running with anyone Im competing with. I feel like there is pressure on all of us, not just me because Im the youngest on the team.

Ultimately, he and the juniors run-ning on the relay have one thing in mind as they toe the line.

We all want to do the best we can for the other members of the team, espe-cially for our only senior, Zac Gassman, said Gradoville.

The rest of the mens team competed well overall, earning a fourth place finish. Frey took first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.08. Se-nior Kyle Ward placed third in the 55-me-ter dash with a time of 6.52, a personal record. In the field events, senior Nathan Maiers won the weight throw with a mark of 15.99 meters. Junior Devan Kennedy took fourth in pole vault,

setting a new indoor personal record. Ju-nior Dan Vatch also took fourth in high jump with height of 1.86 meters, also set-ting an indoor personal record.

The womens team was led once again by the strong performance of sophomore Elizabeth Brandenburg in the 55-meter hurdles and pole vault. She took first in the hurdles, running a personal record of 8.37, a drop of 0.3 from the Sol Butler Classic in January. She tied for first in the pole vault, but due to her attempts on the previous height, she ended up in second place. Junior Bree Powers finished sec-ond in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.81. In the field events, first-year Sar-ah Schoel placed fourth in the long jump with another personal record of 5.10 me-

ters. Senior Morgan Steere took second in shot put with a mark of 12.82 meters.

The performers of the meet were sopho-more Elizabeth Bran-denburg, seniors Shay Coleman and Kyle Ward, and junior Devan Kennedy.

The Duhawks will compete in the Iowa Conference Champi-onships this weekend in Waverly, IA.

First-year TJ Esporas attempts a spike during the Duhawks 0-3 loss to Benedictine last Saturday. Esporas is second on the team in kills with 89 through 12 matches.

photo by MaDDy Cole.

Finally off the schneid Mens volleyball team knocks off Trinity and Calumet for first 2 wins in program history

by Drew brashaw | asst. sports editorGetting a new athletic program off the ground is never easy. The Loras

mens volleyball teams inaugural season has been no exception. The Duhawks dropped a pair of matches to Lakeland and No. 1-ramled Ste-

vens on Sunday, but not before kicking off the weekend with wins over Trinity International and Calumet College of St. Joseph on Friday in Deerfield, Ill.

Loras got off to a rocky 0-8 start through the first month of the season, and it was beginning to look as if that elusive first victory would never ma-terialize. Led by first-year Jimmy Combs 4 aces and 9 kills against Trinity, the Duhawks seized the momentum early. Loras took a 25-12 victory in their first game against Trinity, and carried it through to a 3-1 final in the match, and earned their long-awaited first win.

Senior Michael Kreiser led the Duhawks in kills against Trinity, tallying 15. Later in the day, Loras would add another victory, downing Calumet 3-0.

Kreiser notched 6 service aces against Calumet, and first-year TJ Esporas led the team with 8 kills.

Service was a strength for Loras on Friday, with the Duhawks laying down 21 service aces over the two games. In their ten losses combined, the Duhawks have managed only 30.

While Trinity and Calumet are both winless on the season, the victories should provide Loras with some much needed confidence for the second half of the season.

The Duhawks will travel to Missouri on Friday to take on the Fontbonne Griffins, before heading to Cincinnati on Sunday for a match with the Mount St. Joseph Lions.

track & field

loras 3, trinity international 1(25-12, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15)

Loras (1-8) ............... AC Kl Dg Ast Michael Kreiser .................. 1 15 12 0Dawid Kasprzak ................. 1 7 2 0Shayne Marquez ................0 1 4 21Jimmy Combs ....................4 9 2 1TJ Esporas .........................3 9 6 0Dylan Ross .........................0 8 2 1Danny Krasich ...................0 0 4 19Mitchell Rubino .................0 0 5 1Blair Anderson ...................0 0 0 3Tyler Beauchamp ...............0 0 0 0Kyle Zacok ..........................0 3 3 0Christopher Ortiz ...............0 3 0 0Darin Yrigoyen ...................0 0 4 1Totals ..........................9 55 44 47

loras 3, Calumet st. Joseph 0(25-9, 25-14, 25-19)

Loras (2-8) ............... AC Kl Dg Ast Michael Kreiser ..................6 1 2 0Dawid Kasprzak .................3 4 2 0Shayne Marquez ................0 0 5 12Jimmy Combs ....................0 7 2 1TJ Esporas .........................0 8 2 1Dylan Ross .........................0 3 4 2Danny Krasich ...................2 1 2 10Mitchell Rubino .................0 0 2 0Blair Anderson ...................0 0 0 1Tyler Beauchamp ...............0 1 0 0Kyle Zacok .......................... 1 3 3 0Christopher Ortiz ...............0 3 0 0Darin Yrigoyen ...................0 0 8 0Totals ........................ 12 31 44 27

i dont think being younger is any excuse. i really do think i am

capable of running with anyone im competing with. i feel like there

is pressure on all of us, not just me.

Brandon Gradoville,sophomore runner,,