Nov 11 - 24, 2013www.lcc.edu/lookout

SPORTS6

In the world of American professional sports sits the pan-theon of success. With the likes of the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees, Boston Celt-ics and Montreal Ca-nadiens sitting at the table, could the Detroit Lions be next?

It sounds laughable and downright insane, but after the amaz-ing 31-30 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 27 – featuring a last-second quarter-back sneak by Matt

Stafford – it seems this could be the turning point the Lions need.

Loyal followers have endured a myriad of p a p e r - b a g - w e a r i n g moments. There was the 0-16 season, the

“Millen Era,” the curse of Bobby Layne. Even Larry the Cable Guy joked about preparing Thanksgiving dinner by first putting the tur-key in front of the Li-ons game so it would kill itself.

Every successful team has a moment that signals the change for a franchise. Now the De-troit Lions have found it. From Barry Sanders and Herman Moore, to Bobby Layne and Jason Hanson, this franchise has had legends that

have come and gone without reaching the top in the Motor City.

Outside of the loyal ring of fans, Sundays have been nothing to truly look forward to unless your favorite team outside of Detroit came to town. Until now.

The Lions have what they need to be a seri-ous threat for the fu-ture. The Oct. 27 win over Dallas will be a day to remember, like a second-half Super Bowl onside kick, or

winning the seventh game of the playoffs to go to the World Series.

This current Lions team is built to last. It has a leader it has desperately needed in Stafford. He displayed his moxie in outsmart-ing everyone in the building and across the nation with his quar-terback sneak against the Cowboys.

The Lions also have the best pair of hands – owned by Calvin Johnson – in the game today.

It may not be this year, but soon the De-troit Lions are going to be a team of which this state will be proud. If any city can rise with a team, it is the Lions.

Detroit has seen Stan-ley Cups, NBA Cham-pionships and World Series titles. As the sad state of Detroit contin-ues to wreak havoc on its citizens, any glim-mer of hope the Lions can shed on the city will be welcome.

Forward down the field.

No more shame, no more paper bags; just wins— Laces Out —

Richard SchenckSports Editor

It may not be the most glam-orous of sports; it may not rake in billions in revenue. But wres-tling has something that very few sports can compare: his-tory.

Lansing Community Col-lege wrestling fell off the map over the years, but Head Coach Shane Tisdale and Wrestling Club Adviser Dr. Michael Ball have poured their hearts and souls into bringing this noble sport back to the students at the college.

“We said in ’93, ‘Why don’t we have a wrestling team here?’” Tisdale said. “(We need-ed) a true adviser and someone who wanted to help us and sup-port us. Then we found Mike.”

Reestablishing the club was a two- to three-year process before it finally happened around 2004.

Even though the wrestling club is not a varsity sport at LCC, Tisdale and Ball make sure the students train and go to matches just like a NJCAA team would.

Tisdale has over 30 years of experience wrestling and 15

years coaching. Ball has a doc-torate in nutrition and a mas-ter’s degree in exercise science.

“There are so many young men and women that have very good high school (wrestling) careers that maybe don’t get a scholarship or circumstances aren’t right financially,” Ball said. “We want those kids to come here; we want to get them while they still have that passion.”

Ball and Tisdale are adamant that they give students the best chance possible to have an op-portunity to earn a scholarship or just to extend students’ pas-sion for the sport.

“For some of these kids, it’s a reason for them to come to school when otherwise they might not,” Ball said. “That’s a calling card that, ‘Hey I can wrestle there. By golly I can get my associate’s while I wrestle.’”

Tisdale and Ball both preach strongly to the wrestlers that academics come first.

“We still think these kids can go in different directions,” said Tisdale. “The thing that we fo-cus on here is education first. We want you to get a degree and we want you to do some-thing.”

Tisdale and Ball have resur-rected this club for the students, with the students in mind first and foremost. They have in-vested the time, the knowledge,

and in some cases their wallets to make this happen.

Any wrestlers looking to con-tinue their passion for the sport and striving for bigger and bet-

ter things are welcome to join the club. Contact Shane Tisdale at www.lccwrestlingclub.com for more information on the up-coming season.

Wrestling club builds character

LCC student Carlos Zamora (right) takes down Jeremy Conselcho during an LCC wrestlng prac-tice in Gannon Building room 252 on Nov. 6.

Photo by Suzanna Powers

AthleteSpotlight

LCC Lookout Sports Editor Richard Schenck recently spoke with LCC sophomore cross country runner Alyssa Abendroth. A Bath alumni, Abendroth finished 14th out of 66 runners to help the women’s team capture the NJCAA Region XII Regional Championship on Oct. 26.

Q: What success did you have before coming to LCC?A.In high school I went to the state meet three times in cross country. In high school our team won

the league meet three times in a row, so we had a lot of success as a team. I broke my own PRs (personal records). I was proud of myself for the way I performed.

Q: Where do you plan on going after LCC? A. I’m not sure if I want to continue running, but it is definitely something I am keeping in mind. But I would like to stay

close, maybe MSU, Central (Michigan) or Grand Valley.I am looking at sono-graphy to become an ultrasound technician, or something in exercise science.

Alyssa Abendroth

Q. What made you decide to run cross country at LCC?A. In college, I really wanted to run because I really liked it in high school. I’ve been

running since middle school so it’s all I’ve really known. I thought it would be really cool to say to you ran in college.love with it now.

Photo by Suzanna Powers