Despite their 5-7 record and recent loss to the Sloppy Roast Beef Eaters 33-12, the Step Dads intramural flag football team is confident that they are headed in the right direction.

“We definitely feel that we have a chance against every team we play, including the Sloppy Roast Beef Eaters. We enjoy the competition,” said John Danaher, general studies, history sophomore and team captain/quarterback.

The members of the Step Dads, all Loyola undergraduate students, met each other during the fall ’09 semester and “decided on a whim to scrap together an (intramural flag) football team,” Danaher said.

The Step Dads’ main offensive weapon is John Zuercher, finance sophomore, who leads the team with seven touchdown receptions. “Zuercher is my go-to receiver,” Danaher said.

The Step Dads play a physical brand of defense anchored by pass rushing specialist Nick Wheelock, political science sophomore. “We mainly play a zone defense dependent on how crazy Wheelock gets rushing the passer,” Danaher said. Wheelock self proclaims his defense as “tenacious.”

The defense is also led by Walker Hill, marketing sophomore, who is known for his overly aggressive play in which he often tackles people. “Zuercher and I get most of the interceptions, but that’s when Walker Hill is not actually tackling people,” Danaher said.

Although the score reflects that the Sloppy Roast Beef Eaters, a team of current and former Loyola athletes, handily defeated the Step Dads, Danaher believes that the Step Dads could have easily won the game. “They were a good team, but we also did get two touchdowns called back by controversial penalties,” Danaher said.

Being the captain of the Step Dads brings added responsibilities to Danaher. “I get to make sure everyone is conscious and fully functional before all the games. I get to listen to the refs try and explain to me why Wheelock needs to shut up sometimes. Most importantly, I get to pass judgment on Max Bonanno’s infamous pregame pump up texts,” Danaher said.

The Step Dads return to action this weekend at The Fly.

Students with questions regarding intramural flag football or any intramural sport should contact Zachary Bracey, assistant director of wellness, at [email protected] or visit imleagues.com.

Richard can be reached at [email protected]

hahad on the fitness industry have been incredible. Thanks to his inventions in fitness equipment and business prowess, he popularized the original Nautilus weightlifting machines in the 60’s, which opened the doors of gyms everywhere to recreational athletes who were too fragile to touch a free weight.

Now that Pandora’s box has been opened, nothing can ever put all the machines back into Jones’s black-hole of a mind and give us our kettle-bells, thick-handled barbells and rubber Olympic plates to use throughout the weight room as God probably intended.

Machines do have their proper place and specific functions. As I said before, they attract “recreational athletes”, because they are easier to use at reduced risk.

When lifting free weights, you are dealing with a weight constantly pulled by gravity in a three-dimensional plane. You are not only using the specific muscle you want to target, but you are using sympathetic muscles which stabilize the weight you are trying to push.

When you bench press, your pectoral and triceps muscles are used to push the weight and the biceps are used to stabilize the weight. However, should you exhaust yourself using free weights, the wrong exercise can damage muscles, joints and bones if using a sufficient work weight. Using a machine to replicate the bench press takes out the need to stabilize the weight. The machine allows for someone to safely train to the point of exhaustion without risk, but is not nearly as effective or balanced as a good compound lift.

-bbSo keep in mind there is a structure vs. functionality issue behind whether you should be using machines or free-weight, because a 300 pound dead-lift will translate into easily moving someone’s couch, whereas 300 pounds on any machine might not translate into any sort of athleticism or strength challenge. This is because only the isolated muscle is pushing or pulling 300 pounds (in some cases using a pulley system which reduces the force required to move). Compound lifts coordinate large amount of muscle groups to lift the weight in a controlled manner. Machines isolate muscles neglecting muscle groups, which may be sympathetic to each other during normal or athletic activity.

The most attractive part of machines is the ease with which you can monitor workouts using machines. If a personal trainer is familiar with the machines, they can make a generic routine which they can guide large numbers of clients through keeping track of what muscles were worked, how hard they were worked, and what should be worked next. The form should be natural to most gym goers and there is a reduced risk of injury when the machines are used properly.

If you are interested in strength training, don’t be afraid to try free-weights or machines with research into the exercises beforehand. Always know what you are doing and why you are doing it. When in doubt, go back to squats.

Richard Dempsey can be reached at [email protected]