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!

Give me a break of that Kit-Kat bar!

After taking the SAT this last Saturday, I realized how BOMBDIGGITY breaks are. Even if its just five minutes, those few moments I get to relax and then realize all the mistakes I made in the previous section. NOOOOO!

But to the point, breaks are really really helpful. Just a few seconds you can re boost your mental and physical endurance. If Kobe Bryant and his Black Mambas take breaks, it probably is smart that you do too.

Even a bunch of college programs forces breaks and test their athletes' body temperature to make sure it isn't too high. They pay big bucks to keep the students safe because some kids just can't seem to tell when to stop. That's why once in awhile you hear about an athlete dying from a heat stroke in American Football or Soccer.

Now that doesn't mean taking a two hour break after a few rounds of hoop will be beneficial. Just don't push yourself too hard. You know your body better than anyone. Like I said before in previous posts, play hard but play smart. With this weather we're having, jeez anything can happen. ITS WINTER AND ITS SOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOT. Help me :(

No, not cool.

When you come across a story like of Richard Collier, it's terrible to hear. Even if he was hardly known throughout the professional league, too often are stories like those are popping up in the professional league.

There's Javon Walker.
Sean Taylor.
Darrent Williams.
Josh Hancock.
Eddie Griffin.
To name a few, just in 2007 and 2008.

Now, it isn't just players in football or is it always African-American. But to point out, it is foolish to take advantage of so much talent and drain it all away with bad decisions.

If you look or don't look at the articles, here is a good set of rules to follow.

1) Clubbing, especially past 1:00am. (Don't you think a bunch of crazy drunks will be out then?)
2) Booze, Pot, any other illegal drugs. (If you do drugs for stupid reasons, you don't deserve to be my friend)
3) Rich? Don't show off and mock others with that. (You put yourself vulnerable to mugging and attacks)
4) You don't need any of the first three points. (Yup yup)

It probably is very very obvious that you should follow those points. Your parents nag at you all the time and it is common sense. But if grown men who probably have aren't that stupid does it, you never know. So LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS and DON'T DO DRUGS or else you aren't cool =(.

Do you know about the Floirda Marlins? Yes, they taste very good!

If you apparently haven't been watching the MLB, shame on you. The LA Angels and the LA Dodgers slapped their division opponents out and are heading to the playoffs.

There were a few big highlights during the season like the significance of Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia with their respective teams, but there is one team that I would like to point out.

No, the team isn't in the playoff.
No, the team wouldn't be the Mets nor the Yankees.
Its the Flordia Marlins.

WHO!?

Yeah, beats me. The team is full of "Who's he?" players. They don't have any high-profile players. Except one of them is married to one, Misty May. Hardly any goes to their home games. It looks like 5,000 of the 45,000 seats are filled most of the time. And the days of them as MLB Champions seem to be thousands of years ago. Yeah, not too long ago they really they did win one, actually two!

But what is so special about them, even how HORRIBLE their fan base was, how UNTALENTED they seemed, and how LITTLE people knew about them... they almost made it into the playoffs. For majority of the season, they really had a chance and were a legitimate darkhorse in winning their division. Even though they didn't achieve the success most people consider, the championship, I'd say they were pretty successful and darn good. They made nothing into something.

It just comes to show that you don't need those amazing qualities that help you win the gold. Look at the Detroit Tigers. They had amazing amount of talent, a bunch of high-profiled name, a winning-determined management, and a strong fan base. And all of that led to them LAST PLACE of their division. You don't need the stuff to make an impact to your team. Just have a ton of fun, play hard, and be inspired. That's what the Marlins did.

Practice and Away game

Soccer practice started yesterday. Unfortunately, that means even fewer people will be coming out for volleyball conditioning. Only three people were there yesterday and its hard to have a real practice with so few people.

We did have a chance to practice with the girls for about half an hour, though. The guys did some limited blocking and also some hitting. We have to be careful because the net is much shorter than we are used to. Its not helpful to take full swings on a girls net because the girls are likely to see. It is their practice after all and they should be the priority.

I had the day off today from conditioning because the girls have an away game. I would always rather practice, but having a day to rest is nice. My legs have been stuff from all the jumping drills.

I am impatiently awaiting the next couple girl's games. I really do love to watch volleyball.

-Seth

Back to business

The girls volleyball team has been a little rocky in their past couple games. I talked to Victoria Hoang earlier and she says they really need to win. I completely agree, they need to get a win or the losses will pile up and the team will get discouraged.

I am rather empathetic after the boy's volleyball team did horrible last season. We had some of the same problems too. The girls have talent but are not playing together very well. They have little spurts where they play really well and talk a lot but then they have the opposite too. Its a hard problem to deal with. No one ever tries to lose but they may at times start to accept that nothing better may come.

Once they put it together, I know they will be good. I'll keep going to the games to support them and everyone else should try and make an effort too as well. We'll see what happens, I'll get the news about their game vs. Buena Park later.

-Seth

Dear disgruntled reader

I have a much needed day off today from volleyball practice. My legs are pretty much dead and probably everyone else is similarly tired.

Apparently a former graduate from OA is dissatisfied with my work and thinks all my volleyball articles are bad and I'm a terrible person and we need a new writer and all that good stuff. Everyone has a right to their opinion in a perfect world and I should be allowed one as well.

Criticism is good, actually, but only when it can have some sort of application for change. Oxford has no system of how to write sports articles except for the same old general articles the Gamut puts out. Those articles have to be general because they have can not instantly release something. GameDay articles can be put on as soon as they are done and should be more detail oriented. For better or worse, I like to write out all the details in my recaps because I want the reader to know everything. Even more so, it is the best way to write out a recap I have tried. Last year I had to experiment and this style came out on top. I have been doing extremely detailed recaps since last spring and up until this moment, the articles have been fine.

What I do not understand is being badgered at without an alternative. English class never prepared me to write sports, I have had to play things by ear. So by all means, please tell me what I can do better. What in your mind is necessary to include and what is not? Do you want objective or subjective? Would you like for me to describe to you the game in five sentences? Do you want my analysis on the game? Well, what is it? I was only told I sucked.

I follow athletes on every play and on every point. They have made the effort to come out and give it their all, I just try and give them credit for everything they do in the game.

Volleyball is my favorite sport and the only sport I have played throughout high school. So please, if I am doing a disservice to my fellow volleyball players, tell me how I may improve immediately!

Humbly,

-Seth

Keeps going and going and going...

You know what grinds my gears? The new facebook layout.
You know what else grinds my gears? Running!

Cross-country team, no offense, but I simply hate running. I'm fine running when in some kind of activity like running down the court playing basketball or sprinting pass a defensive back in football, but just simply running? Not my thing. See, I find the act of running as a physical, back-breaking exercise but after a few minutes I find it boring and a cause of my constant wheezing. I wheeze pretty easy because I wasn't evacuated during Hurricane Andrew (I was a baby in Florida), so I'm a sick little boy. :( Maybe thats why I'm not a fan of running. But still, I watched the running events in Olympics and it was pretty cool to watch the sprints, if I didn't blink my eyes. I don't want to sound harsh about running, I try to run/job/walk/crawl everyday so I don't get diabetes and high blood pressure like my entire family but, I can't seem to find any other motivation in doing so. Maybe you can change my pessimistic attitude. :)

Start of volleyball practice

Hey everyone.

I have returned to begin regularly posting on the blog. Hopefully I can keep everyone in touch with what is going on for all our sports.

Well, though it may not be boy's volleyball season, the varsity team just started conditioning and practicing today. Being the first real practice since a rather easy going summer volleyball camp, it was extremely tiring. We did jumping drills for about half an hour (my legs are dead now) and then some work against the girl's varsity squad. I was glad to be back on a volleyball court. I missed it a lot after camp was over. We scrimmaged the girls too but it was not really fair. We played on the girls net, over a half foot lower than the guys are used to, so we can get way over the net.

But its alright. The girls still pass WAY better than the guys do.

The girls have their first preseason game tomorrow against Santiago. They should not be an extremely strong team. This game will be a good chance to get used to running the offense and working out some of the kinks the team has. Also, I will be able to take a look at how they play and make some predictions for the regular season when it comes around.

Try and come out if you can. Volleyball games are very fun to watch.

-Seth

Phelps, Swimming, Oxford

Yay for Michael Phelps with his 8 medals and 7 world records. Honestly, of all the Olympic games that are going on, swimming is quite interesting. You do have the basketball, gymnastics, table tennis, and so on, but the swimming this year nails the spot.

Because of Michael Phelps, the medley course, Michael Phelps, the variation of swims, Michael Phelps, and the color of the pool, it sparks the big WOW at my face.

With all this swimming in my head, I thought about our school's swim team. It was pretty cool to see the swim league results on the fancy pdf file. But it was sad to know that with the mass talent last year, it was tough to win. As David Oshiro said in his interview, "We lose the majority of our swim meets because we are just overwhelmed by other team's numbers." But I think the swim team still rocked.

I would love to join but my swimming skills, well, aren't impressive. Dog waddle on a 100m fly? Smooth. But for those who can swim and that doesn't join the swim team or any sport, shame on you. You allow them junior high kids to ridicule our school's sporting capability. Don't you get sick hearing Oxford sucks?

Gooo Watch Baseball

Now, I haven't posted for quite awhile, so sorry for the absence. I have been working all these summer weeks, shading away from summer homework, and playing some DOTA. Fun.

Anyways, GameDay has been working feverishly to promote our school's home games. And why not? You can kill a few hours with a bunch of buddies, cheer a friend for slaughtering the other team, and unite the school together even more. Plus you don't have to hear the yelling and tantrums of your parents to do homework for awhile. That is always a positive.

But since it is summer, there isn't much official sporting events you can go to that regards with school. So why not a professional one? Right now the MLB is an active association playing. That means you got the Angels and the Dodgers playing, two places to experience some baseball greatness. If you didn't notice, I didn't suggest the Padres because PETCO Park is a pitcher's stadium, so you are unlikely to see any action. I don't want you to waste your time.


Even if you don't have a niche for baseball, its something new and likely different. It's hard to explain the difference of watching the game at home and at the stadium, you just have to go there and openly take it in on your own.

If you ever go (-_-) and like the experience of going to a baseball game, maybe it will influence you to experience an Oxford game. I know I will be going to plenty.

Oh, if you ever go to an Angels game, make sure you know the beat to We Will Rock You by Queen. They and a lot of other teams play it tons of times. Also, if you ever go to a Dodgers game, learn the saying "That's just Manny being Manny." Uh... Just do it.