When I first decided to become a journalist, my first story was going to be about NFL quarterback Todd Bouman.

At the time, his older brother Shane was recruiting me to play softball here at SDSU. Todd had just starting seeing some serious playing time with the Vikings and every reporter in the world wanted to talk to him so he didn’t exactly have time for a high school talk radio program. Since then, I have been trying to figure out a way to get the story I missed out on almost four years ago.

I thought about doing a story on Todd and his football career. A hometown boy from Minnesota who went to St. Cloud State, played a summer in Europe and then went on to the NFL. I could talk about his stats, the teams he has played for and all the things that go along with being in the NFL, but that wasn’t the story I wanted to tell. It never seemed right to me.

When I think of professional athletes, I see players with too much money, too much talent and too much attitude, players that live in the spotlight and live wildly. But when I think of Todd Bouman, that’s not what I see.

Last weekend Todd and his wonderful wife Courtney, an all-American volleyball player from St. Cloud, took the time and invited 13 very hungry softball girls, a couple coaches and a bus driver into their brand new home in the Minneapolis suburbs. This is when I got a completely different look at this professional football player.

The house was amazing, the food was filling, but the atmosphere was the best. Todd and Courtney were great. They fed us, entertained us but most of all they showed me there was more to their lives than football. Two things to be exact: Aidan and Aivary, ages 3 and 4.

Todd has a lot of things that many people dream of having, but one thing Todd does have is something some people never get, humility. Here is a guy who plays in the NFL, makes millions of dollars a year, but doesn’t mind running upstairs and grabbing a bottle of water for a guest. He is a guy that knows his roots and hasn’t forgotten where he came from, and that is saying a lot. He and his wife took us into their home like they had known us all their lives, when in reality most of us had never met. Courtney even took the time to give us her mint brownie recipe, which we have dubbed “mint Bouman’s”.

When it comes down to it, the Bouman clan knows what is most important in life. It’s who you are, not what you are. You could have all the things you have ever wanted, but what fun is it if you don’t enjoy sharing it with friends and family. When I look at Todd Bouman, family is what I see.

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All my life I have lived and breathed sports. Always rushing from here to there, school to practice and practice to school. I have been born and raised in a baseball home. I have seen, heard and known about baseball my whole life. Maybe that’s why this time of year is so special. Why the longer days seem that much longer and that much better. Why the skies seem that much bluer and the air that much warmer. This is my favorite time of year-baseball is back for another 162 games.

Love it or hate it, baseball is and always will be America’s pastime. Players can sign multi-million dollar contracts or leave a team they have been a part of for over 14 seasons, but when you get down to it, at its purest, baseball is still just a bunch of little boys running around under the lights on a hot, humid night playing the game that they love. You can’t be a part of something that grueling if there isn’t love. They love the game because it’s easy and they love the game because it’s hard.

Baseball has simple rules and a simple plan-that’s what makes it easy.

Baseball is a game of inches and that’s what makes it hard. An inch higher or lower on a swing of the bat is the difference between a pop-up and a home run. An inch inside or outside on a pitch is a difference between a ball and a strike. That’s what makes it so great.

Tom Hanks put it best in “A League of Their Own” when he said, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard, is what makes it great.

Baseball is about superstitions and traditions. Don’t step on the foul line, always use the same bat during a hitting streak and let the pitcher pick up his ball. I have even heard of a player brushing his teeth in between good innings, but that was just because he had to spit out the black licorice he chewed on while pitching. There was the curse of the Babe, and still is the curse of the goat, ceremonial first pitches and singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch.

All these things are why fans love it. Baseball fans live for opening day. I remember after the World Series ended last October I received an e-mail from a die-hard baseball fan (my brother) counting down the days until pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. It doesn’t matter who your team is (Cubbies), but just that you love them and support them whether they win or lose. Baseball fans are the best because they can love during the best and worst of times.

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While sitting at dinner Friday night, I began to discuss with my softball teammates just exactly what I wanted to write for my column this week. Not too much has gone on in the sports world, so I had the idea to write about great sports movies.

Okay, so not all of them are great, but some of them are pretty darn funny. We came up with over 50 different movies with many different sports represented. I have to admit I haven’t seen a lot of them, but I have seen some.

Our list of movies went on and on. There really are tons of sports movies covering almost all sports. We couldn’t, however, think of a movie for wrestling. If any of you know one, I would like to know about it.

When you think about sports movies, certain ones come to mind right away like Rocky movies I – V. Boys love these movies. They worship these movies, and as a girl it’s almost like a sin to most boys if you haven’t seen them all. I’ve seen the first one, I think, or maybe part of it. The second one is about Apollo or something. The third one is the Russian one and the fourth one is about Mr. T, right? Or is it the other way around? Does it really matter? None of us even knew what the fifth one was about. Two great things did come from “Rocky”. What would this world be like without Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and where would Foofy-Foofy be without Brigitte Nielsen? Reality television has never been better.

As long as we are talking in terms of a series of movies, we have to mention other greats like “Major League” one, two and three. “Just a bit outside.”

Then there is the timeless “Mighty Ducks” trilogy, which will go down in history with other trilogy greats like “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings”. “Flying V!” Emilio Estevez has never been better.

Some sports movies can move you to tears. If you didn’t cry during “Brian’s Song,” you have no heart. If you didn’t cry during “Rudy,” you have no faith, and if you didn’t cry during “Air Bud,” well, you just have no taste. “Jerry McGuire” made romantics cry, but guess what? I have never seen it and I am the biggest romantic of them all. I have never been shown the money.

Sports movies don’t have to make you cry, they can also make you laugh. Movies like “The Waterboy,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Caddyshack,” “Little Giants,” “Dodgeball” and “The Replacements” give us all a little giggle. “Cool Runnings” made us laugh and cheer for Jamaicans in a bobsled. After that movie, who couldn’t stop chanting, “Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, come on now it’s bobsled time!” I also laughed at “Any Given Sucks”, I mean “Any Given Sunday” because that movie was terrible and quite possibly the worst ever. If you saw it and actually liked it, I’m sorry. If you have never seen it, don’t.

Some movies give us great soundtracks to go along with the triumph and strife sports movies provide. “SpaceJam” would never have been the same if you didn’t believe you could fly. Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny delivered Oscar worthy performances. “Remember the Titans” has a great oldies soundtrack. Not only is it arguably the best sports movie ever made, so is the soundtrack.

I am saving my favorite sports movie for last. I know almost every line from it and have seen it more than any other movie. “You’re killing me Smalls.” “The Sultan of Swat, the King of Crash, the Colossus of Clout, (the Colossus of Clout), the Great Bambino.” “You mean to tell me you went and swiped your old man’s ball with Babe Ruth’s signature on it and actually played with it? (And actually played with it?) You’re dead as a doornail Smalls. (You’re dead as a doornail Smalls.).” Ok so you get my point. I know and love this movie. If you don’t know what it is by now I guess you’ll never know. I’ll leave you with one last thing. “There are heroes and there are legends. Heroes get remembered kid, but legends never die.”

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Jose Canseco is ruining baseball.

Last week in an effort to promote his new book, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big”, Canseco went on “60 Minutes” and openly admitted to using steroids. He went on to not only tell how he injected them into his own body, but also how he injected other teammates as well. In the early 80′s while playing with the Oakland A’s, Canseco walked around the weight room openly bragging about his use of a “helper” and how he didn’t need to work out as hard as other players because he had “help in a different way”.

Canseco is showing a blatant disrespect for the game of baseball and for people that were along with him during his years in the major leagues. By coming out and telling about what he did while in the majors, he is pointing unnecessary fingers and stirring up unneeded controversy. Canseco is doing what is best for him and not what is best for the game that gave him a lifestyle, a career and a name. Instead, he is throwing all of that back in the faces of people who love baseball and love the game with his disgusting cockiness, finger pointing and being “too good” to care what happens to others involved. He is not coming clean now to get it off his chest or confess and repent for his sins. He is coming clean strictly for profit. This controversy will sell his book, which is all he wants. Canseco doesn’t care if it ruins his credibility or Mark McGwire’s or Barry Bond’s and all the amazing things they have accomplished. Now there may be a lingering shadow of doubt over all of their records. Did they use steroids and could they have accomplished everything on their own if they hadn’t?

These guys are huge and baseball has been turning a blind eye to the possible use of steroid for years. Tony La Russa, Canseco’s manager while he was with the A’s, admitted to hearing Canseco brag about the use of his “helper” but did nothing because there was no real steroid policy in the major leagues. Controversy has been quietly stirring in the league for years about the use of steroids, but why would anyone bring this into the light and ruin all the good things that were happening in baseball because of it? Players were bigger, stronger and hitting home runs out of the stadiums. The game was more interesting and clubs were making a larger profit. That’s what really mattered, not the health of their players but the money in the bank.

The first year any type of steroid policy was put in place by the major leagues was 2002. This policy consisted of only survey testing the first year and no suspensions until a second positive test. Baseball felt this was enough, but with all the media attention now swarming, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has decided to implement a new policy. Selig hopes to have it in place by spring training. This policy will suspend first-time offenders for 10 days and randomly test players year round. Selig says it’s “a good, tough policy.”

As for Canseco, I hope when Hall of Fame voting comes around people will remember all the great things he did as a baseball player and not remember him for all the bridges he has burned since retiring from the game.

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Here at South Dakota State we have many different opportunities to get involved in our community. There are clubs, organizations, church groups and various things of that nature. There’s one organization on campus that I think is definitely worth your time, intramural sports.

Intramurals offer a wide range of activities for everyone to get involved with. They have water polo, racket-ball tournaments, and even a belly flop contest.

I have worked in the intramural department for two years now and have seen only one problem, a serious lack of involvement. Enrollment at SDSU is at an all-time high, but participation in intramurals could be a lot better. We always have a great turnout for your basic activities like football and basketball, but it could be better. Basketball filled all its time slots this year, which is great. We even had to create a waiting list. If more people would have signed up we could have made another time slot instead of making people wait.

You don’t have to be the best athlete to get involved in intramurals either. They are all about having fun, not who wins or loses or how great you are. They allow students to get out of their room one or two nights a week and forget about homework. Everyone needs some physical activity in their lives and playing sports is a great way to get it. It helps relieve a lot of stress. If you don’t have a team to join or know anyone forming a team, stop in the intramural office and fill out the free-agent list. Sometimes teams need extra players and the list allows an individual to get picked up by one.

Intramurals are a great way to get to know people too. If you don’t have a team for something, form one. A great way to do that is to ask around on your floor and make a floor team. Try to come up with a fun name. They create a great opportunitiy to get to know more people on your floor if you haven’t already.

You don’t even have to play intramurals if you want to get involved. Come and watch a game some night when there aren’t home varsity events. Stop at the HPER and check out the action. It makes for a nice study break. If you know people on a team, come watch them play and cheer them on. We occasionally get fans here and there, but the more people that come and watch, the greater the atmosphere will be for those playing and watching.

Another thing I am sad to see is the lack of involvement from the ladies. We hardly get any women to play. During our JACKS (horse) free throw and three point competition, no women showed up. As an athlete myself, I was disappointed about the turnout. There were so many years in the past when women couldn’t play sports and now we have an opportunity to play whenever we want, but women don’t always take advantage of that opportunity. If you played sports in high school, you don’t have to give it up. Intramurals are the perfect place to relive your glory days. There are also a lot of co-ed activities to get involved with so if you aren’t the best athlete but want to be involved, get a couple of boys to help pick up the slack.

It doesn’t cost much to get involved in intramurals. It costs $15 on Hobo Dough to join. If you come to the manager’s meetings and show up at all the games you get your money back, so really it’s free. Sometimes we even get cool things from our sponsors that we hand back to you. Who doesn’t want free razors and deodorant?

Maybe the intramural department hasn’t done a good enough job of advertising to get you to join. But we are changing that. Listen for our commercials on 90.7 KSDJ, or check out the calendar in the “Juice” for upcoming intramural events. Look around campus for blue and yellow flyers stating upcoming events. You could always stop in the office in the HPER, room 123. Roxy is the nicest lady and would love to see you. Either way, get involved. It’s great for you and great for the Intramural Department. Intramurals are what you make them and I think SDSU students can make them great.

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Dee Brown of the University of Illinois is quite possibly the best college men’s basketball player in the nation, hands down. He has an uncanny ability to read defenders and run a transition as well as being a major threat on offense. His speed is almost un-defendable and as a pure point guard he takes command of his offense. He is unselfish and gives up the rock, but everyone keeps going on and on about how great Dee Brown is. I’m not going to deny it, the boy can play.

He is one of the many reasons that the University of Illinois is so incredibly hot right now. Ranked number one in the nation, with a 22-0 record, they are 8-0 in the Big Ten. The question has been raised if anyone can really beat Illinois. An almost guaranteed Final Four pick, Illinois has a legitimate shot of running the table. No other team has been undefeated and won the Final Four since Bobby Knights’ 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

Sorry to say it, but I am not here to talk about Dee Brown. He’s good, fun to watch and gets it done, but I want to talk about someone else. Someone I think has been seriously overlooked as a prime time player.

Luther Head is a quiet threat and that’s what gets me excited. Every game he steps onto the floor and quietly gets his job done, and he does it well. That’s what makes him fun to watch. He is a consistent scorer and consistent on defense. You could say that everyone on the Illinois team is good and contributes; actually you have to say that. There is no way a team could be that good and not have five amazing players on the floor. I just love the way Head plays.

Iowa seriously underestimated the talent of Head. He was Illinois leading scorer with 25 points. What about Wisconsin? Eighteen points and helped break a home win streak of 38 games. Minnesota? Okay, so he only had 10 points, but I’m from Iowa so ask me how much I care about the University of Minnesota. (Yeah, that’s right. Sorry, that might make some of you mad. If it did, just go play duck-duck gray duck and get over it. We can talk about that later.) In Illinois’ most recent win at Michigan State, Head was the leading scorer again with 22 points. Head is great from three-point land and at one point during the Michigan State game, he had 11 points back-to-back-to-back, compliments of a couple steals he had in-between. He is a great scorer and averages a little over 16 points a game.

So what else about Head makes him so much fun to watch? He is an all around great athlete and creates opportunities for his teammates to score. He can penetrate the lane and give up the ball to teammates under the basket, or he can kick it out to three-point land. Most importantly, this senior has composure and an un-matched maturity on the floor. He leads by example and that does more than any words ever could.

Head is one of the reasons Illinois is having such an amazing season. Basketball at its best is being played by those boys right now, and with March Madness right down the road I can’t wait to see what this team can accomplish. Not many teams could stand in the way of an undefeated season, maybe Wisconsin, but that game will be played at Illinois and it is hard to beat a team like this at home. Some have said that Iowa would have a chance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but with the recent dismissal of Iowa star Pierre Pierce Iowa’s season has officially been shot to hell. What about North Carolina? That will remain to be seen since the two teams won’t meet until the Final Four or the National Championship game. I would like to see Illinois run the table. It’s a rare feat and something that is definitely worth watching.

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Dear Sammy Sosa,

Say it ain’t so. How could you leave us after so many years of loyalty that we gave you? You were the heart and soul of the Cubbies. We followed you and cheered for you season after season. First Moises Alou leaves us and now you.

Doesn’t the number 13 mean anything to you? That’s how many years you were with us. That’s longer than some marriages. So what if you don’t like Dusty Baker? Suck it up! The fans love you, the ballpark loves you and now you have just gone and deserted us when we need you the most.

The Chicago Cubs were going to be good this year too. I know we say that every year, but this year was definitely going to be our year. Mark Prior is finally healthy and with a pitching staff with him, Kerry Wood and Greg Maddox we were set.

Let’s not even start talking about Nomar Garciapara. That was the problem wasn’t it? You were jealous of his fame right? You can learn to share the spotlight. Baltimore has bigger bats in their line-up than you have ever been around. You hit 546 homeruns as a Cubbie; doesn’t that mean something?

We watched you through the good times. There was the season you hit 66 homers and had 158 RBI. The homerun race with Mark Maguire just wouldn’t have been the same if you hadn’t been there. Then there was the season you belted a homer out of Wrigley Field to tie the game 8-8 in game one of the playoff series with the Marlins. Sure you guys lost that game in the extra innings, BUT IT WAS THE PLAYOFFS (finally). You should have seen my dorm room that night, 10 girls all crammed into a tiny room loyally watching. We were yelling so loud that people came from down the hall to see what we were yelling about. And now you are going to leave.

We watched you through the bad times too. We were there during your first few seasons when you were about half the size you are now, before you hit tons of homeruns. We watched as you swung your bat, made contact, broke the bat and the whole world knew it was corked. But it wasn’t your bat, right? We still supported you and loved you even though you were wrong. Good luck finding that in Baltimore.

Sure, Sammy, we are going to miss you. We are going to miss your spirit and your hustle. I remember the first time I saw a Cubs game at Wrigley and the first time I saw you in real life. You were so strong and all muscle. I was taken aback by how huge you really are. You had presence on the field that was fun to watch. When you would sprint from that dugout to right field in between every inning, it was truly inspiring.

And now you’re gone. Mostly, we will miss what you gave Cubs fans like me, something to hold on to. Hope. Hope for a better season, to just “wait until next year.” You may become a Baltimore Oriole now, but to us, you will always be a Cub. Thanks for the memories.

Over the past three years I have watched Jackrabbit basketball games. I was even there when the woman’s team won the National Championship. Each year has brought excitement and nail-biting games.

This year has been different though. With so many road games and so few home games, it has been hard to get to games and back the Jacks.

For the women’s team, it has been a year filled with games that no one should miss. For the men though, there have been many games that we could have done without. Going into the weekend the women of South Dakota State have a 13-5 record overall and a tremendously strong record against Division I teams, 7-5. The men have had a difficult season with a record of 4-13. Their most recent loss being to the NAIA school Morningside.

How does this happen? How is it that these two teams are having completely different experiences in their first seasons in Division I? The women are rolling and kicking some butt, rear, whatever you want to call it, along the way. The men on the other hand are struggling. I’m not talking struggling like you-don’t-want-to-get-out-of-bed struggling. This type of struggling is like you don’t know what to do, you’ve hardly won any games, your dad just died, you just killed Bambi and every time you drive down the road you want to jerk the wheel into a bridge embankment. Yeah, that kind of struggling. (Yes, it’s from Tommy Boy.)

What in the world do these boys have to do to win some games? Not only that, but with the way they have been playing, how are they going to get people in the stands? No one wants to watch bad basketball. The men have been sloppy, inconsistent and, at times, out of control on the court. The women have been controlling, aggressive, determined and most of all they have found a way to win. Even when games were bad, they stuck it out and got a “W” on the board.

What do I see as the difference maker? The women have more contributors on the floor. Game in and game out different girls step up and lead. They don’t just look to one person to get it done, they use everyone. Everyone on the women’s team has made a difference at least once.

The men are always looking to the same guy. No one else on the team has even come close to stepping up and taking a share of the lead. The talent is there, especially from a very talented freshman class. But when it comes to delivering and playing ball, no one has impressed me. Their passing has been sloppy, their defense gets broken down and at times, they have struggled to even break a press. They lack leadership from the team and they certainly are lacking the ability to find a way to win.

This is all going to change though, take my word for it. This past week these boys have been getting worked, and not by opponents this time either. I got a sneak peak at practice this week and Coach Scott Nagy is not going to let this team go down quietly, because he was anything but quiet. They could just roll over and die. That would be the easy thing to do, but Nagy is definitely not going to let that happen. I felt bad for them; I really did because I have never seen a practice like that in my life. They are getting a huge wakeup call. Keep it up coach, grind them into the ground and get their butts in gear. Light a fire under something and these boys will start to win. All it takes is a spark and maybe a few extra line drills and something will turn around.

If you get a chance though boys, watch the women before your next game. Maybe they could teach you a thing or two about winning.

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Every year at about this time we take a look back at the year that was. Ups, downs, ins and outs of a year that will be remembered for many things. As the new sports columnist, I decided that I would take a look back at 2004 for all the wonderful, and maybe forgettable things, the sports world had to offer.

Let’s start with the good, shall we? The women of the United States Olympic team proved to be more successful than the men this year. The softball team lived up to expectations and didn’t allow a run scored until the championship game against Australia. They also outscored their opponents 51-1. The men’s basketball team, however, proved like Shaq and Kobe that too much talent on the floor and not enough willingness to share can only lead to a bad ending. The women’s basketball team won the gold medal again. Misty May of the U.S. beach volleyball team proved that you can be 5’6″, block like a man and win a gold medal with a teammate almost twice your size all with a broken ankle and a wedgie. Michael Phelps did win an ungodly amount of medals in swimming, but who else was there? Paul Hamm won the gold, but not without controversy and most will say, “Who’s Paul Hamm?” If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you. Enough about the Olympics, I’ve already provided more coverage than NBC did all summer.

One thing still on everyone’s mind, how did the Boston Red Sox do it? Their amazing comeback against the New York Yankees will go down as the greatest sports comeback ever. Not just because they were down three games to one, but because they did it against the Yankees. Leaving the Yankees to wonder, who can we buy next season to guarantee we win another series? David Ortiz? Not yet. Randy Johnson? We’ll take him. Unfortunately for me, and as I am sure many of you, this series came smack-dab in the middle of midterms. So as much as I wanted to study, I am afraid my test scores had to suffer. Game seven was just too much, sorry Mr. Paulson. The most important , though, was that the Red Sox won the World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals, Boston’s World Series opponent, got embarrassed four games to none. So the curse was lifted, Curt Schilling had surgery and Chicago Cubs fans can breathe a sigh of relief because maybe next year their curse will be lifted too. Cubs’ fans rejoice and say good-bye to the goat.

Here is a quick look back at some other things you might have missed, or maybe forgot or wanted to forget.

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl behind the sure-footedness of SDSU alum Adam Vinatieri. I guess Tom Brady did all right too winning MVP or something like that.

Kobe Bryant finally got his wish and the sexual assault charge against him was dropped. Shaq moved all the way across the country to the Miami Heat. Just like that, they both were gone.

Louisiana State University was the national champ on the football field according to the Bowl Champion Series. The University of Southern California was still frustrated because the elusive outright national title still evaded them. How quickly things can change within a year. Who can forget the year of the University of Connecticut Huskies? Both the men’s and the women’s basketball teams were national champions.

How about those Detroit Pistons? National Champions to an 18-14 record. Something is seriously wrong here. It must have been great while it lasted. You can’t let something like Ron Artest ruin your season. He’s too busy trying to sell his CD.

One name: Lance Armstrong. Do you have your yellow bracelet?

Last but not least we can’t forget the all-important decision that rocked our little world in 2004. SDSU’s move to Division I. Time can only tell how things will pan out for us at this new level of competition, but I guess we have another year before we will find out.