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A spirit that is not afraid

Girl's Guide: Spring sports offer more than thrill of game

Guys in Speedos, dudes in tight baseball pants and beautiful spring weather: life is good.

Unfortunately, most Auburn students don't see it this way.

For some, the end of football season means the end of Auburn sports.

Attendance at spring sports lacks compared to football, especially attendance by girls.

"Everyone takes the easy classes in the fall so we can enjoy football season and when spring rolls around we are too busy with the hard classes that we just don't have the time," said Tison Singleton, senior in human development and family sciences.

While that's one theory, some think that maybe girls just avoid it all because they don't know as much about the sports and wearing a great dress with the cutest heels to impress won't cut it for these sports.

First thing's first: basketball.

Before heading to one of the games, there are a few things that potential attendees, both men and women, need to know.

Kendra Lee, assistant director of media relations, offers some clarity on the game for newcomers to the sport.

"A point guard brings the ball up the court and runs the plays," Lee said. "A shooting guard is usually the player making the 3-pointers. A small forward is usually taller than the guards, but is still quick and can make outside shots. A power forward can post-up underneath the goal or take mid-range jumpers. The final position is the center who is key in rebounding and blocking shots."

Lee wrapped up her definition of the game of basketball with a quick run down of the basic game set up.

"In college, a basketball game is broken up into two 20-minute halves," Lee said.

She said there are media timeouts every four minutes, which may make the halves seem a little longer to the basketball viewing rookie.

Futhermore, if a game should have to go into overtime, the game is increased by 5 minute periods until a team is ahead by the end of an overtime period.

Lee cited an exhausting game, for both players and spectators, from last year's Big East quarterfinals between Syracuse and Connecticut that ended up having six overtime periods. The game finally ended at 1:30 a.m.

Another spring sport worth learning about is America's pastime baseball.

While the scenery is nice, there is more to the sport than those tight pants.

A quick run down of this sport should have every girl ready to kick back on the bleachers and scarf down a foot-long and a Coke while taking in a couple hours worth of home runs and (sometimes) thrilling action.

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"A baseball game is broken into nine innings," Lee said. "Each team has the opportunity to score as many runs in each inning before getting three outs. The visiting team is always the first to bat in an inning and the home team bats last."

There are nine players on defense at all times.

There are three basemen, three outfielders, the shortstop, the pitcher and the catcher.

Much like basketball, baseball can go into over- time, or as it is called in baseball, extra innings.

"The set up is the same as the first nine innings," Lee said. "The advantage for a home team in extra innings is that they know how many runs they need to score to win the game and they have the crowd behind them."

The game is over once the home team bats and is either behind or has taken

the lead. The visitors do not get

a chance to come back if the home team has pulled ahead.

Basketball and baseball are just two of the sports offered during the spring. Others include tennis, track and field, swimming and diving and more.

Some people may opt for something more low key that doesn't have the possibility of running into the middle of the night.

If that's the case, Courtney Mullican, second-year pharmacy student, recommends checking out a gymnastics meet because they are "entertaining, free and always on Friday nights so they don't interfere with school."

However, maybe some girls' perspective on spring sports is still best wrapped up by Lane Vines, senior in English, "And what about water polo, do they play in the spring? Because they are really hot and totally worth seeing."


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