Sandusky Article

My reaction to the Sandusky article is pure shock and disgust. It baffles me that someone would be able to do such a thing and feel no guilt or anything, and even the fact that they think that they will get away with it. I truthfully do not have an opinion on whether Dottie was aware of this situation or not; because I think if she was aware then why would she want to stay with someone who does these things? Also, what could she have possibly benefited from if she knew this information? I personally just think she is in denial and doesn't want to believe that this is true. I do not think that Sandusky is innocent, but I do believe that the families of the supposed victims did see an opportunity for money and tried to benefit from the situation. I think that he did perform such acts, but the number of victims could easily be exaggerated. I do not think that coaches or athletes are in any means above the law, we are all equal and laws should remain the same for everyone. Though I do believe when players or athletes go against morals it is a bigger deal than if someone who wasn't a star did it because people expect them to be somewhat role models. Also, the public just looks for things to make a big fuss about, so it looks good in the tabloids and news. What I find very unfair is the fact that it is so much easier for big athletes and stars to get away with such things, though I don't know why, it seems to happen a lot.

Question

What 4 teams do you think it will come down to in the March Madness tournament? Why? Who do you think will end up winning the whole thing and is your prediction different or the same as most people?

Sports Interviews

       Emily Quintanilha, a senior at Norton High School has her fair share in sports; she has had a lot of experience and her own opinions regarding different things in the sports industry. Since Emily was about four years old she has participated in 4 different sports; gymnastics, dance, soccer, and tennis. She has had some of her best moments but at the same time some of her worst. Emily participated in gymnastics since she was four years old and stopped when she was 13. The best sporting moment she has ever had was during those 9 years. In Emily's last gymnastics meet ever in 8th grade, she placed first. However, her worst sporting moment she has ever been a part of was during soccer in the 8th grade as well. During an indoor soccer game, a game that I was also playing in, Emily had an anxiety attack in the middle of the game where she could not breathe and had to go to the emergency room. This was very scary for her, and me as well. Luckily, Emily has never had any injuries in a sport. Her favorite sport to watch is different than her favorite sport to play. She enjoys watching hockey the best because it is very fast pace and physical, and her favorite team is the Bruins. (She is hoping to be a nurse for them as well). On the other hand, her favorite sport to play is tennis because she is by herself. Emily also feels very strongly about some things. For instance, she thinks that steroids in any sport should not be allowed and are very unfair, and I could not agree more with this.
       Olivia Christy, also a senior at Norton High school, has participated in many different sports allowing her to express her opinions and share her own experiences. She has played tennis, volleyball, dance, gymnastics and basketball. Olivia's worst sporting moment that she has ever been a part of was during tennis. During her sophomore year in high school she made it to sectionals for tennis but didn't go. She didn't end up going because her coach thought that she should wait until she had more experience. This made Olivia feel like her coach didn't have any hope in her and doubted her. But, in her junior year she made it again and ended up going, and she made it to the second round. This was the best sporting moment she has ever been a part of, it made her feel very confident and accomplished of her goals. Fortunately, she also has never had any injuries from a sport. Just like Emily, her favorite sport to watch is different than what she likes to play. She really enjoys watching football because she finally understands it and finds it very interesting. She also likes to watch the whole tackling aspect. Personally, football is my least favorite sport to watch. Her favorite sport she has ever played is tennis because that is what she grew up playing, and as everyone knows she is very good. Her opinion on steroid abuse is that they're very unfair, gross, and pathetic. Like most people, I agree with this and think that the rules should be a lot more strict.

NHL Trade Rumors

This year is said to be one of the busiest and biggest trade deadlines for the NHL. There are a lot more big names in the discussion this season than they're used to. Another high-profile name was added to the mix on Wednesday night in Vancouver Canucks center, Ryan Kesler. It was said if Kesler becomes available then it could change the entire dynamic of the trade deadline. Of course that did not stop him though, Kesler was the second big name that week that has asked for a trade, along with Martin St. Louis. The big controversy is that he said himself that he never asked for a trade, but who really knows what to believe. Though people are saying he never requested it, it is still underway and is very likely to happen. This situation may seem very complicated, though, considering that Kesler is currently injured and dealing with a hand issue. Apparently he always seems to be injured but just plays through it. He is one of the best centermen in the league. It seems to be that the Canucks would rather have a younger center, someone who could take Kesler's place in the future. This in fact makes the situation very difficult. But, who would want to give up Kesler, someone who leads the Canucks in goals this season with 20 in 60 games and holding 18 assists. He also plays more minutes than any other forward in Vancouver. Gillis, the Canucks manager, is troubled with the task of trying to find someone just as good as Kesler, if he even has to. Who knows if Kesler will move to the Blackhawks or stay with Vancouver.

Norton Girls' Varisty Soccer Recap

       The Norton High School girls’ Varsity soccer team came walking into something totally different and unexpected this past fall season. In this past 2013 soccer season, the girls had no idea what to expect considering they had a new coach, whom most had known nothing about.  Everyone seemed excited, but at the same time nervous because they wanted to beat their record last year of not even making it into the tournament. As very excited as they were to make it to tournament this past season, they were devastated when they didn't go as far as they hoped.

       Most people would say that the seniors definitely had the worst luck when it came to coaches. Mostly every single one of them had a new coach each year they played. Most of the girls started out on junior varsity and made it onto varsity as sophomores, juniors, and seniors. This meant that they had one coach on their JV team and as they worked their way up, every coach had left them. That can be very difficult to cope with because not every coach teaches or thinks the same way, so you may never really know what to expect. This did not seem to stop them in 2011, though. Moving on from that, they had hoped to make it to tournament in 2012, but they sadly ended up with a very unpleasing coach. Starting off the 2013 season seemed to be very difficult for most of the girls trying to get to know the new coach and understand his way of coaching. But, the two new captain’s senior Kaitlin Murrin and junior Kassidy Campbell kept them all together.

       Surprisingly, the team didn't start off as bad as they thought they would. They had tied their first game against their biggest rival, Medfield, 1-1. This already gave them one point towards the tournament, which requires 18 points. As they approached the halfway point, they were switching off with wins and losses and their record was 4-3-2. This meant that they only needed 8 more points to make it to tournament; they were already more than half way there. By the second half of the season, they started off with three wins against Bellingham, Medway and Medfield. Medway and Medfield are Norton's biggest rivals, so those were both huge accomplishments for them. They had not beaten these two teams for a couple of years and this got them on a winning streak. As Norton approached their away game against Millis, they were hoping to win or at least even tie to get the one more point that they needed. Unfortunately they lost, but they still had four more games to get one more point so that left them with a little bit of hope. As their next game against Holliston comes around, it ends up being the happiest moment for them yet this season. They had beaten them 2-1, with goals from Ashley Cibotti and Kaleigh Schleicher. This game by itself qualified the Norton girls’ varsity team for tournament, holding 19 points. The team could not have been any happier with themselves.

       After the team had already made it to tournament, they still tried to work their hardest to get more points so they could maybe have a home game in the tournament. Sadly, they did not win anymore, they tied two and lost one. This didn't seem all that bad because they still got two more points. This ended the team with a total of 21 points and a record of 4-2-3 for the second half of the season and 8-5-5 all together. They were very happy with themselves because they still got 3 more points than they needed and that was huge for them considering they couldn't even get 18 the season prior. As November 2nd, 2013, comes around, one of their most important days this year, the team was excited but had never been so nervous. This was the day of their first tournament game against Dover-Sherborn, another team in their league who they had already lost once and tied once to earlier in the season. As the team meets at Norton High School, gets on the bus, and rides 44 minutes to Dover-Sherborn, their hearts are beating out of their chests. As the game approaches it is a pretty even match tied at half time 0-0. Within the last 15 minutes, DS had scored which got the Norton girls pretty tense. Unfortunately, the game ended 1-0, leaving the Norton girls devastated.

       The Norton girls’ varsity 2013 soccer season seemed to have a lot of ups and downs but they all held it together pretty well. Though they had a brand new coach, it didn't seem to get in the way of anything. Starting off, the team seemed to be unsure and not very confident, but by the middle of the season I think they all started to cope with fact that they can't change anything and they just have to play their hardest. The team had a very successful season ending with a record of 8-5-5 and holding 21 points. Though they lost their first game into the tournament, they could not have been any happier with themselves, their teammates, and the coaches.

Shaun White Goes Down Hill

Shaun White Goes Down Hill

Shaun White, a US professional snowboarder and a two-time Olympic gold medalist has left many people in shock with his performance this Tuesday, February 12, 2014. This year's Winter Olympics are taking place in Sochi Russia where the Olympians are staying in very unsanitary and incomplete conditions. Aside from that, snowboarding was first included in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. White was originally supposed to compete in two snowboarding events this year, the slope-style and the half-pipe where he only ended up competing in the half-pipe. White ended up dropping out of the slope-style event the day before it was supposed to take place because it was said to be very dangerous. The slope-style is an event for free-styling where the half-pipe is a smooth surface with curved edges to perform stunts.  Everyone was expecting White to do amazing just like every other year, right? Then what was it that changed everything?

Ayumu Hirano a 15 year old from Japan was called to be Shaun's biggest threat in the half-pipe this year. Ayumu ended up winning the silver. Before White's final run, he seemed to be a little confident while holding the highest score of the day with 95.75. He ended up not doing well on Run 1 in the finals where he fell twice, once almost breaking his board in half in the finals scoring a 35.00 even. As Shaun White gets ready to perform in his second run in the half-pipe event, he is looking a little tense as he has to beat who is currently in first place, Iouri Podladtchikov. Iouri is a Russian snowboarder who was holding the top score of  94.75. As Shaun White goes up for his final run he didn't fall at all, but had a couple bobbles which could have gotten him off track a little. This caused him to end with a score of 90.25 in the finals and land in 4th place. He was hoping to win two gold medals before he dropped out of the slope-style, but this year he sadly left with zero. According to ESPN, Shaun Claims that "Tonight was just one of those nights."

In the live event on Tuesday, February 12, 2014 Shaun White obviously did not perform as well as everyone had been expecting him to. According to USA Today, Danny Davis, another US rider who placed tenth place in the half pipe event said, "I think it's great the American public and the world now knows that there are other snowboarders besides Shaun White." "Shaun's, don't get me wrong, one of the most talented, one of the best riders there are, but there are guys who are just as good if not better and today Iouri was the best rider." This was evidently true, but according to ESPN many people are still left wondering why this happened. There is really no excuse. As White said "Tonight was just one of those nights." What may also be very shocking to viewers is the fact that according to "Business Insider" Cork Gaines, Shaun White is not very well liked among other snowboarders. "Davis said it may be jealousy for some riders. But more importantly, he pointed out what has long been known about White, that he is just not part of the snowboarding social network." Also, everyone thinks that White doesn't snowboard just out of appreciation of the sport, but to win. "But White's exclusion is less about feeling superior and more about just being insanely competitive." Overall, the lesson learned is you can't always be the best in everything you do and that was clear in this year's Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

 

Will Michael Sam be accepted in the NFL?

Michael Sam has currently announced that he is gay and is the first openly gay player to enter the NFL draft.  I personally think that he will and should be accepted into the NFL because I don't think that whether you are gay or not should play any role in your position on a sports team. Due to this, I don’t think that anyone will view him any differently, in fact they might actually respect him even more for having the courage to be open about it.