Senior Night Part II

Monday, Monday, MONDAY. Oh such a hated day. There is always that goodbye to the lovely weekend and the very needed 12 hours of sleep per night. But this upcoming Monday there is no reason to hate. Why? Two Reasons.

No SCHOOL and Girls Basketball Senior Night.



Hopefully you finish your homework by 6:00pm Monday Night, because that's when the game starts. If not, you have another reason why to continue your procrastination.

The game got postponed from a small leakage from the roof of the gym. But the game shall start once again with the same intensity as always. If you don't know the score, its 18-10. Oxford winning. Come and watch, scream and shout. It will help and it will be fun. GO.

Oh by the way, Lakers tickets are still up for grabs. Come to the game and earn a chance of winning them. !!!

Momentum. Momentum.

Last weekend, 3 of the 4 best football teams were slapped, slashed, slammed, and slaughtered. Carolina Panthers? Goodbye! Tennessee Titans? Farewell! New York Giants? Oh good day to you too!
Seriously, what happened?

P = mv

In other words, momentum.

There are all sorts of possible factors to a game: weather, injuries, morale, and overall skill. With those factors, teams can prepare for that. You got the weather forecast, the medical slip, the reports of the locker room, and statistics of the team's past games. But for momentum? Well, that is one clear factor no one can be truly sure. There isn't anything that can determine who is going to come out playing tougher. Whoever that is, though, is likely to win.

If you look at previous years, a lot of it can line up. Between 2000 to 2008, half of the Super Bowl Champions were a Wild Card team, playing all four necessary football games to win.

Now, if you look what happen to the Panthers, Titans, and Giants, they had a bye-week during the first week of playoffs. There isn't a direct correlation with a bye-week to a slump game. Usually there isn't. During the regular season, teams use their bye-week to rest up and prepare and fix their problems to do better against their next opposing team. But since it is the playoffs, maybe that reasoning should be thrown out.

If you look at the MLB's 2006 World Series, the Detroit Tigers had over a week to rest and relax for the championship match. Normally teams don't wait a week, more likely three to four days, but because they swept their previous opponents 4 wins to 0 loses, the Tigers had plenty of time. However, if you watched that series, the Detroit Tigers were no longer that crushing force. The players lost their timing of their swings, pitchers throws were off, the fundamentals were forgotten, and the team stunk.

When you consider that, maybe it can relate to the falls of the strong football teams this weekend. Maybe that bye-week was truly the culprit of their devastating loss. No one can be for sure.

But when all is said and done, momentum is key in any sports game when everything is up for grabs. So don't waste an opportunity when all looks well. Even the best can be fooled in the end.

Winter Show!

Now its winter break... WHAT IS THERE TO DO!? Well, of course, in spirit of sports, I have made a list of "To Watch" games during winter break. Maybe if you start watching those, possibly you would want to go one of our school's game. =)

SO HERE I GO!

Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday 12/25/08 5:00 pm EST
A rematch of the NBA Finals. Will the Lakers finally match up with the Celtics with Bynum healthy? Or will they collapse as they have against Orlando and Miami? We will see!

Anaheim Ducks at Dallas Stars
Saturday 12/27/08 8:00 pm EST
The Ducks can have revenge for their miserable loss in the playoff last year against the struggling Stars. Will there be fights! Oh shall there be.

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
Sunday 12/28/08 1:00 pm EST
Watch this to see the first possible 0-16 team (Lions) ever in NFL History! It might not be on local stations, but make sure to check on the results... It's a perfect season of failure!

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Sunday 12/28/08 8:15 pm EST
Will the Chargers clinch or will the Broncos clinch? Watch our home team and see who makes it to the playoffs. After both teams played so horribly this year, maybe for once they will play like they are suppose to. !!!

#5 USC vs #6 Penn State (Rose Bowl)
Thursday 01/01/09 5:00 pm EST
Its USC. Enough Said.

Now, although MLB is in its off-season, the Angels should at least show some type of developing deal with a free-agent/trade. The team's pitching is dominant even with the loss of K-Rod, so the organization just needs a patient, consistent hitter like Mark Teixeira. But with the likes of him not being signed, this off-season might be a horrible one for the Angels. Oh joy. For Dodgers fans, just hope you can get Manny back.

Oh, sorry Padres and Clippers fans... Your teams have been subtly thrown out of the spotlight. My advice: Get better!

Uh-oh!

Now, if you were into baseball like I am, you would be disappointed to hear about K-Rod signing with the New York Mets. I am proud to have watched him for the last six years dominating our opponents. That nasty slider and flaming fastball. And then there was Salmon, Anderson, Percival, and him during the 2002 World Series run... wooo some good stuff right there. Jeez, I will truly miss him. But the sports industry is all about business and I respect his decision.

But simply enough, winter sports has already started!!! Soccer and Basketball. If you could care less... WOW. Soccer has a huge fanbase internationally and basketball is super flashy in the States. DID YOU NOT SEE LEBRON DO THE MAILMAN? OMG.

Support your teams. Homecoming is coming soon, so watch a preview by coming to the games!

Babies!! Babies!

Dodgeball for Babies is THIS FRIDAY. By going to the event, you will help donate to March of Dimes, a foundation dedicated to preventing premature birth and infant mortality. You can help bring awareness and enjoy hardcore dodgeball at the same time! To even emphasize more about how this is FOR BABIES, watch some baby clips below!

Baby Bruce Lee


He got moves!


FOR THE BABIES!

Star Power

So the Lakers have the record 6-0. TOO EASY. Congrats to them.

A clear distinction I see with their success is the depth of their team. Each player from Kobe Bryant to Chris Mihm has a distinct contribution to the team. Whether its the slashing of Trevor Ariza or the leadership of Derek Fisher, no one is the dictator. Everyone needs to be contributing and to be pushing themselves to win.

When a team doesn't, well it doesn't work out well. As with the dysfunctional 49ers, new head coach Singletary ranted, "I want winners. I want people that want to win." You don't need 5 Kobe Bryants on a starting lineup or 9 Alex Rodriguez on a batting lineup to win. You need the players that are determined to win or at least players that are going to show what they are made of. Or else, they are quitters.

So, don't fear a team with just one star player. You aren't destined to lose because of him or her. If you look at the Lakers couple years ago where Kobe Bryant was pretty much the dictator of the team, they didn't even make it to the playoffs. You have those few exceptions though like King James and his Cavaliers. He's just a beast.

Anyway, a team with better chemistry and more determined to win can beat teams that have the star player and the helpers. But if you have to go against a team that is fueled with uber talent like the Big Three of the Celtics, well good luck on beating that.

Cheering is fun!

If you didn't come out and support Senior Night for the Girls Volleyball team... SHAME. ON. YOU. You missed out on a great game. The intensity of the crowd and the players on the court were on fire for the entire night. It felt like we had the best team in world.

Now if I had to compare this game to an MLB baseball game and tonight's varsity game, I have to say, this game was at least as good as the Angel's home games I have been to. There are some pretty big differences in what makes baseball and volleyball exciting, but as a fan for most sports (sorry soccer and boxing), I really really liked it.

Baseball have those special moments and coolness. The intensity of the game builds after every inning, after every batter on base. The food at the stadiums are surprisingly of all sorts from BBQ to Italian to Chinese even. You can sit back in your seat, watch the game at ease, and celebrate whenever. Patience is key to enjoy this type of game. With many games waiting for the pitcher to finally throw the dang ball, it takes some time before things start moving along. Sometimes a game might end up going 0-0 by 7th inning stretch while it can be 14-21. It can be really unpredictable, there are so many variables to the game that can cause an out to a home run, You just never know!

Volleyball, at least tonight, was fun. From how I saw it, every move a player made affected the game and when the other five players are included, all different scenarios could happen. Unlike football and basketball, every point counts. A football team is willing to give up a field goal than a touchdown and a basketball team usually quit defending fast break plays. But because a volleyball team needs to hit 25 points, everything is important. You cannot give freebies in this game. Thats probably why the game and the fans were so intense.

Now, I haven't played baseball actively since 3rd grade and volleyball, well, never. So I see the game in a different light than probably someone that plays it today. No matter what, in any sport, cheering is important for any team. The timing and style of cheering is different for every sport, from the light clapping in golf and from the beastly yelling in football. But either fashion, players feed off the energy from the fans. It showed tonight as our team won. Don't be lazy when you go to a game, thats selfish. Have fun. If they see you having fun, they probably will too.

Delay of Game :[

It sucks when we can't watch or play games because of mother nature. Yeah the last two days, no World Series. BIG BOOHOO. It reminds me of freshman year of golf, there were at least three straight weeks of rain on the day of the scheduled matches. NO FUN THERE!

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if everything is indoors. Basketball does it. Hockey does it. Minnesota Twins can open and close their rooftop. A few football stadiums does too. Scientists make sure all the unwanted variables in an experiment isn't there, why can't it be the same for all of sports. Sure there are some elements you would want to keep like the loud/quiet fans, the wonderful referees, and the different scenery of the stadiums. But the weather that can dramatically change the pace and style of game like snow, rain, and humidity, shouldn't be there.

I remember one football game that the rain was pouring so much, that an incomplete throw made a football stuck into the mud without a single bounce. The field was so bad, offenses tried to pass and run in areas where there was better grounding for the sake of players not falling over in mud. Also there was a baseball game that it was so humid, tons of mosquitoes were everywhere completely distracting the players on the field. With his concentration ruined, the pitcher was slaughtered horribly by the offense.

But in reality, I doubt anything will push professional teams to enforce indoor gaming. Baseball and football teams have been dealing with all kinds of weather conditions for decades, there is no reason for them to stop now. It can even be considered to be like a tradition to play in games like that. And traditions in sports are pretty much never broken.

So, usually delay or suspension of games are generally no fun. Planning is wasted and the hype is non-existent. So respect the games indoor, usually they are able to be played through, no matter the condition outside. It doesn't mean it won't be better than an outside game, it's just something you can always count on to watch. SO........ GO TO THE HOME GAMES GUYS. Support!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

and children make up the people in the world.

Anyway, I'm here again with details on flag football. Unfortunately I could only plan it to be one day, November 13 after school from about 3 to 4. I've been trying to get it to be a best two out of three series but it's simply impossible to work around intramural and high school soccer practices to get three days free.

Each grade will (if not already) receive one sign up sheet. More details will be on that sheet. There are even more extensive details like location and rules on the GameDay website here.

So start forming up your teams now! Good luck to all!

Flag Football

Hey this is Stanley. I am the GameDay website administrator and first time poster on the very awesome Patriot Blitz!

Anyway I'm just here to let you guys know that a flag football game (or games? :O) is being planned right now and will be coming soon! Each grade will have one team and seniors will play against juniors and sophomores will play against freshmen. So start making your teams! More details will arrive soon!