Sports

It’s mid-April, and the school year is winding down. There are volleyballs bouncing around on the sand courts and baseball and softball games to watch. And what baseball game would be complete without a hamburger or hot dog from the concession stand? It may seem hard to believe, but before the arrival of Phil Guengerich eight years ago, EMU didn’t even have concession stands. “When I got here there were no concessions or anything. I mean there was next to nothing,” says Guengerich. After 30 years teaching fifth grade, Guengerich accepted a part-time, 25-hour- a-week job as Athletic Events Coordinator at EMU. Since then it has grown to a full-time position, and he has been in charge of ticket sales, concessions, game events, and some fundraising. Continue Reading...

Sports teams at EMU tend to segregate from the rest of campus. The exorbitant amount of time required for their sport prevent players from spending time with other parts of campus while also causing them to bond more extensively with the other members of the team. The baseball team is no exception to this trend, heightening their social visibility as a cohesive group. According to first year pitcher Eli Detweiler, the campus perception of this group isn’t a good one. “We’re considered more or less a bad group of kids. Whenever there’s a prank on campus, people assume it’s the baseball team,” he said. When asked if this is justified, he replied, “In a way, yes…. We don’t do anything more or different than any other team, but people aren’t so good at keeping it quiet, so [team members] get caught. I also think that people watch the baseball team more closely because of our reputation.” Continue Reading...