Sports

Skateboarding: Is it a Crime or an Olympic Sport?

By Stephen Kern skern@lc.edu

Skateboarders across the globe have mixed feelings about the debut of skateboarding as an Olympic sport. Some were worried about what the Olympics would do to the culture of skateboarding, and some were hopeful that it would bring new opportunities to skateboarders and change the public’s views of skateboarders. Skateboarding, to many, is a way of expressing their individuality. Since there is really no authority with skateboarding, no coaches telling you what to do or scheduled practices. Freedom to skate alone or with friends, at your house, in a parking lot, in a park. Skateboarding allows people to escape the real world for a little while. All you need is a board and some concrete.

A huge part of how professional skateboarders make a living is by video parts that display street skating. Street Skating is the act of exploring urban land and finding obstacles like handrails and ledges to skate on. This is also illegal a lot of the time and skaters must deal with angry citizens, security guards, and police. I think that street skating is the most raw, true, and authentic display of skating. So there have been a lot of strange feelings surrounding this debut of Olympic skating. There are even shirts being sold online that say “Skateboarding is a crime, not an Olympic sport” for the true rebellious skaters to wear. People are torn between skateboarding being a crime and a competitive sport. Tony Hawk stated in an interview with CNN that we didn’t need validation from the Olympics, they needed us.

When it comes down to it, skateboarding is both. Even though The Olympic Games added skateboarding to their roster, skaters will never stop jumping fences, sneaking past security guards, and waxing handrails. Many thought that the Olympics would cleanse skateboarding, but I’m happy to think that we left a mark on them.

2021 L&C Fall Sports Preview: An Optimistic Start to Another Unusual Season

By Keenan A. Mount kmount@lc.edu

The fall sports season at Lewis and Clark has already begun in near full swing, with the only teams not in their scrimmage or regular seasons being the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Photo via L&C Flickr

The men’s and women’s regular soccer season has begun and with mixed results. Among the games that were played both teams are doing well, with wins over Lake County for the women’s team and Oakton for the men’s team. However, a number of other soccer teams have had to cancel games, with the women’s team reportedly seeing five cancelations already.

Two huge questions going into this season were “how will mask mandates and other COVID-19 measures change?” and “how will these changes affect the season?”. In large part things will remain the same excluding the major change of being able to start and have a full season with fan attendance. This is cause for much excitement among not only the fans but also Coach Stotler, the Athletic Director. Stotler stated that he is “very grateful for fans being able to participate”.

Fans, when attending sporting events, will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing with anyone outside of their attending party. Athletes, when indoors, will also be required to wear a mask during games and practice. Outdoor athletes are not required to wear a mask but will practice social distancing when benched. The coaches aren’t required to wear masks outdoors but are all voluntarily wearing masks and are rarely seen without them in an effort to encourage mask wearing among attendees.

The much anticipated first home games will begin early September with women’s and men’s soccer on the first and third respectively. Home volleyball games begin with the same dates. Home men’s and women’s golf matches will be coming later in September.

Photo via L&C Flickr