NOVEMBER 29, 2005

THE CADRE ¢ 13

SPORTS

Annear Scores Sweet Post; Maintains Goatee

Liam McKenna Sports Editor

Ron Annear, that fun-loving guy who has been acting Athletic Director for the past year, scored a victory in securing his position last week. Annear has been named Athletic Director for UPEI until 2009 in an important win for the former Montreal Canadians draft pick (1984, the same year as Patrick Roy, in case you were wondering).

In what was evidently a huge win, Annear secured the position one year after the resignation of Wayne Hussey. Annear was called in as the backup, but won the hearts of fans all over UPEI with his friendly attitude, positive approach and sweet goatee. Perhaps it was a playoff beard, as Annear tackled the hectic UPEI season and saw it through all the way. Annear left nothing on the field, managing all ten clubs and varsity teams through to the end of the season.

Annear had to take an offensive approach to the position as he battled budget issues early last season. The year, however, was a huge success, and left him with enough cap room to sign the new turf soccer field, which can comfortably accommodate the many spectators for UPEI events. The improvement of UPEI athletic facilities has left the department with a good opportunity to attract athletes to the school and better accommodate the ones who already attend.

The athletic department has a budget of roughly $1 million dollars a year, slightly less than the per issue pay of a Cadre employee. It is unknown what percentage of that budget goes toward the maintenance of the athletic director’s facial hair.

Basketball Panthers at MUN

In their last set of games before the Christmas break, both the men’s and women’s basketball Panthers will head to Newfoundland to go head to head with the

MUN basketball teams.

Both MUN teams are rated within the CIS top ten. The women head to MUN with a perfect 3-0 record and are led by players such as Lindsay Coade, Katherine Walters and Kate Andrews. The women will

look to extend their streak on Saturday.

The men, however, are injury-stricken and face the challenge of only dressing eight players. They currently sit at 1-2.

Live Sports Action on Panther Radio

While nothing beats catching live Panther hockey action in person at the MacLauchlan arena, if you can’t make it in you can now take it in. Visit http:// radio.upei.ca to listen live and to learn more.

The Terrell Owens Saga: Eagles Made the Right Call

Josh Lewis Sports Reporter

Well, Terrell Owens’ marriage to the Philadelphia Eagles officially ended last week when the outspoken star receiver lost his high-profile grievance against the NFL team. Owens, arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver, has been well-known throughout his career as a loudmouth — in other words, football’s Brett Hull.

Relations between T.O. and the Eagles have been tense since his criticism of QB Donovan McNabb after the team’s Super Bowl loss to New England. The two continued their feud throughout the off-season and, while working magic on the field, the situation came to a head earlier this month when Owens bashed the Eagles for not honouring his 100th career touchdown and followed that up with more McNabb comments and a fight with a former teammate in practice. The Eagles had finally had enough of the sideshow and suspended him for four games, with the intention of deactivating him for the rest of the season. After losing his grievance, Owens is through in Philly.

While many say that the Eagles made the right moral decision, it is downright impossible to think that their offense won’t suffer from the loss of one of the league’s leading receivers. Owens was a sparkplug for Philadelphia last season and, in the Super Bowl, made a heroic comeback

from a broken ankle, to very nearly win -

the championship for the Eagles. And despite their sniping off the field, there isno denying the impeccable chemistry McNabb and T.O. enjoyed on it. Without Owens, the Eagles are without a true #1 receiver and must hope for the remaining corps to produce more than the sum of its parts. With McNabb

now out for the season with a sports hernia, there seems to be no hope of making the playoffs in the City of Brotherly Love.

Personally, I believe the T.O. affair was blown way out of proportion by the media. Owens always speaks what is on his mind, and the Eagles should have expected nothing less from him. He obviously chose the wrong outlet to express his feelings toward McNabb, and this, in the end, sealed his fate. But he did nothing different than what Hull would have done; or Jeremy Roenick, or Don Cherry, or Manny Ramirez. The media, however, seized on T.O.’s comments and created a soap opera. The situation escalated, and the Eagles soon had a fiasco on their hands. They had to make a decision, one that would have a huge impact on the team regardless of their choice.

Really, though, they didn’t have achoice. If they had turned a blind eye once again, the media would have continued to play up the situation, and it would have escalated further. The rift between the team’s two star players would have widened, and it would be just a matter of time before the entire team was torn apart. Granted, the Eagles aren’t exactly a happy family as it is, but the team is on its way to resolution and will now build its own identity separate from T.O. His penchant for addressing others through the media was simply not a healthy situation for the Eagles.

Owens is certainly entitled to criticize his teammates, especially if his words are constructive. His decision to use the media to voice his opinions on his QB, however, finally forced the Eagles to pull the trigger on his career in Philly. It’s a shame, because T.O. and McNabb seemed like a match made in heaven.

The Eagles didn’t make the right call. They made the only call.

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