Morgan State: Morgan State's Kimberly Fontaine went 3-for-3 with a game-high 3RBIs and Danielle Lugo added a 3-for-5 performance with two runs scored and 2RBI to lead Morgan State’s softball team to a 12-8 victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field. The victory helped the Lady Bears win the weekend series, by taking two of three from the Lady Hawks and moved them into a tie for fifth-place with UMES. Morgan State however, holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over UMES.

Coppin State: Hampton softball’s Gabriel Ziller went 2-for-4 and scored a run, but Bianca Vallejo scored from third on a Coppin State throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning lifting Hampton to a 3-2 victory over the Eagles this past Sunday at Pirate Field.

University of District of Columbia:  With some exemplary performances on both days of the inaugural East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the University of the District of Columbia finished as the runner-up for the team title behind Georgian Court with a score of 162. "I am so proud of the effort we put in during this weekend, I can't put it into words. I asked a lot of the entire team, " Track and Field Coach Alton McKenzie said. "Even though we came up short, I'm overwhelmed with pride and joy knowing how much the team stepped up to the challenge and how well we performed during our first ECC Outdoor Championships.  

Howard University: In its inaugural season as a Division I Women's Lacrosse conference, the Atlantic Sun announced the first All-Conference Honors, which includes three Howard University student-athletes. Sophomore attacker Jaymie Cox was a unanimous first team choice, while midfielder Courtney Lackey was named second team and midfielder Victoria Lockhart received "Atlantic Sun Freshman Team" honors.

Morgan State University: The Morgan State softball team sent its seniors out in style this past Sunday afternoon for their final home doubleheader by doing something it hadn't done in 10 years— sweep Howard in a doubleheader. The Lady Bears followed their 8-0 victory in five innings in Game 1, by handing the Lady Bison another 8-0 loss, this time in six innings to complete the sweep over Howard. Sunday's win marked the first time since April 27, 2003 that Morgan State has beaten Howard in a doubleheader. It was also the first doubleheader sweep for Morgan State since defeating the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in a doubleheader on April 28, 2012, which was also the last time the Lady Bears had a three-game winning streak.

Coppin State: Shane Davies pitched seven strong innings and Nathan Pitts drove in a run leading Coppin State to a 2-1 victory over Norfolk State Spartans and a split of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday at Marty Miller Field. Davies led the Eagles to the victory in game one of the doubleheader as he allowed seven hits and one run while striking out four batters. Coppin State suffered a disappointing loss in game two as Norfolk State rallied from a 5-1 deficit to record a 9-5 victory. Robert Depp had three RBI in game two, including a two-run single in the decisive four-run fifth inning, to lead the Spartans.

University of the District of Columbia: The top-seeded University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team played No. 3 seed New York Institute of Technology in the East Coast Conference finals where they fell to the Bears by a score of 5-0, being swept in doubles play and losing the first two singles matches of the day. This is the third straight year; the Firebirds came up short, losing in the conference championship. The Firebirds ranked No. 2 in the NCAA East Region finished the season with a record of 10-4 and await their possible berth in the NCAA East Regional Tournament.

Psychiatrist Shares 4 Ways Sports-Obsessed 
Families Can Affect Young Athletes

They’re called student-athletes, but many youth advocates – including psychiatrist Gary Malone, are concerned that the emphasis is on “athlete.”

“Anyone who follows sports knows that college-level and professional recruiters are looking at recruits – children – at increasingly younger ages, and it’s not because they want to ensure these athletic students get a well-rounded education,” says Malone,  a distinguished fellow in the American Psychiatric Association, and coauthor with his sister Susan Mary Malone of “What’s Wrong with My Family?” (www.whatswrongwithmyfamily.com).

“In my home state, Texas, a new high school football stadium is opening that cost $60 million dollars and seats 18,000. That’s all funded at public expense. We constantly read of districts across the country cutting academic and arts programs and teachers’ salaries due to budget shortfalls. How can this make sense?”

As a high-performing student-athlete throughout his own high school and college years, Malone says he appreciates the benefits of extracurricular programs.

“But the NCAA.’s own 2011 survey found that, by a wide margin, men’s basketball and football players are much more concerned about their performance on the field than in the classroom,” he says.

Malone reviews how the imbalance favoring athletic pursuits can damage student-athletes and the family unit:

• Life beyond sports: Only 3 percent of high school athletes will go on to compete in college; less than 1 percent of college athletes turn pro, where the average career is three years with risk of permanent injury, including brain damage, for football players. Even if they’re among the successful elite, wealth management is likely to be a major problem; some studies show that up to 78 percent of NFL players go broke after three years of retirement. Is this the best future for a child?

• Misplaced parental priorities: A parent’s obsession with a child’s success in sports can be extremely damaging to a child, to the extent of bordering on abuse. Parents who look to their children to provide them with the validation, status or other unfulfilled needs don’t have their child’s best interests at heart. Parents who tend to be domineering can be especially dangerous in the face of an athletic success obsession.

• Siblings left behind: When the family values one child’s athletic prowess over the talents and gifts displayed by his or her siblings, the latter children risk growing up without a sense of personal identity, which leads to co-dependency problems in adulthood. 

• Pressured to play: Especially in the South, but throughout the entire United States, football is huge. Basketball dominates inner cities and regions like Indiana; wrestling is big in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast, and hockey might be the focus for children throughout Northeast and upper Midwest. Children, especially boys, may feel obliged or pressured to play a particular sport even if they have no talent or interest in it to the detriment of other talents that might have been developed.

“Athletics can be extremely beneficial to a young person’s life, but I think we have our priorities backwards,” Malone says. “Imagine how much better off our country might be if, instead of football, we were obsessed with our children’s performance in science and math.”

The Orioles have announced they will conduct an open tryout to find ballgirls and ballboys for the 2013 season at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Saturday, March 9, 2013.

The judges include members of the Orioles' front office, MASN broadcaster Jim Hunter and former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles, as well as Reagan Warfield of MIX 106.5 and Greg Carpenter of Lite 101.9.

Outgoing and athletic men and women ages 18 and older who are interested in serving as ballboys and ballgirls for the Orioles during the upcoming 2013 season are invited to try out for a position at Oriole Park beginning at noon on March 9.

Those interested should dress casually, bring their own gloves and use the Home Plate Plaza entrance to Oriole Park on the southwest corner of the ballpark.

Resumes are also recommended. Complimentary parking will be available in Lot A.

In addition to being able to handle a glove and field ground balls, interested candidates should be personable, customer-service oriented and available to work the entire 2013 season.

Congratulations Baltimore Ravens!!
Winners of the Super Bowl XLVII

Har-Bowl set for Sunday, February 3 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Prior to Sunday’s AFC Championship match up between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake placed a friendly wager with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The mayor of the losing team would send the winning mayor an assortment of foods unique to the city.

 “On Sunday the Baltimore Ravens, led by Coach John Harbaugh, quarterback Joe Flacco and All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis will bring their potent offense and crushing defense to Foxborough, and soundly defeat the New England Patriots,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake was prophetic in her assessment of the game’s outcome, as the Baltimore Ravens soundly defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 at Gillette Stadium. Mayor Menino must now send Mayor Rawlings-Blake a variety of foods from Boston’s farmers’ markets.

The Baltimore Ravens’ gutsy 38-35 double overtime win over the Denver Broncos last week at Mile High Stadium showed their resiliency and propelled them into an AFC Championship showdown this Sunday against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. 

The Ravens (12-6) head into the contest with an opportunity for redemption, as the contest marks a rematch against the Patriots (13-4) who won a tight game over Baltimore last year in the AFC Championship. Their heartbreaking 23-20 loss came after a dropped pass by wide receiver Lee Evans that would have won the game, and a missed field goal by kicker Billy Cundiff that would have tied the game. 

“That intangible, I don’t know how you measure that,” said Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh. “It’s hard to quantify it, but I know it when I see it. These guys love one another, and they love football, and that’s a real good combination to have. It’s the shared experiences we’ve had, the success, the adversity. Everything you go through, it can divide a group. Instead, it’s pushed us together.”

The Ravens are once again facing New England with the same high stakes as last year—  the opportunity to advance to the Super Bowl. However, with middle linebacker Ray Lewis’ retirement after this season, the stakes are even higher.

“All of our players have something on the line,” said Coach Harbaugh. “It’s always an ending. There is always something around the horizon for every one of us. It’s not going to be like it was last year or last week. And, for Ray, it’s the most evident part of it. It’s right out there in front for everybody to see.”

He added, “Ray has been the franchise since ’96. He’s been the one stable element that has been here from the beginning. So, it’s pretty evident and pretty obvious, and we are all real proud of that, and we’re all excited to be a part of that.”

AACC Lacrosse Team Ranked Third in Nation

Lacrosse Magazine selected an Anne Arundel Community College student athlete the preseason lacrosse player of the year for the junior college division for the second consecutive year when it named Meghenn Jackson of Arnold as its top women’s player. The magazine also ranked the 2013 AACC women’s lacrosse team third in the nation.

Jackson, a midfielder who played at Broadneck High School, is a returning first-team All-American who had 91 goals and 21 assists to finish second in the nation in points with 112. She also was the leading scorer as a forward on AACC’s Women’s Soccer team this past fall with 49 total points.

The team will continue under the leadership of Coach Jim Griffiths in his 10th season. At 126-25, Griffiths has the best coaching record in NJCAA history for women’s lacrosse since it became a sanctioned sport in 2004, his first year as head coach. During his nine-year tenure he won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007, and took the runner-up trophy in 2004, 2005 and 2011. Griffiths is also the head coach for the AACC women’s soccer and cross-country teams.

Lacrosse Magazine is the flagship publication of US Lacrosse, the sport’s national governing body. Lacrosse Magazine is in the midst of its countdown of preseason team rankings and player honorees. For more, visit: http://www.LaxMagazine.com.