DECEMBER SPORTS
DAYTIME review
The New England Revolution
On November the 7th, the New England Revolution lost to D. C. United due to heartbreaking penalty kicks. The Revolution is a team that is building up strong players to get to their ultimate goal: to hold up the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup Trophy. Over the past 3 seasons, the Revolution has made it at least to the semi-finals in the MLS playoffs.
3 years ago the Rev’s. acquired a superstriker, Taylor Twellman, and head coach, Steve Nicol, to lead them to the MLS Cup final. With the addition of brick wall Adin Brown, they had an almost unbeatable team.
They suffered a devastating loss to Los Angeles in that cup finalin overtime due to top scorer (tied with Twellman) Carlos Ruiz who scored the game-winning goal to lead by a score of 1-0. One year later they finished with the best regular season record of their franchise history.
To add to the strong attacking force, they picked up a former record-setter for most goals in his team’s history, Joe Max Moore. In his first game with the Rev's., he scored the first goal of the game.
Unfortunately, he got a red card ejection on a dirty slide tackle which caused him to miss the rest of the game in which he was playing as well as the next game. Later in the season Moore got sidelined with a season-ending injury.
In that season, the Rev’s. also lost Twellman for a couple of weeks but he still claimed #1 in the scoring title. Looking to win the cup, the Rev's. made the semi-finals, only to be bounced out by another loss. They played the red hot Chicago Fire to a score of 1-0.
This past season, the Rev's. finally looked to have their break-out season. The Rev's. season was going downhill from the start. They were a team stacked with injuries such as Moore again, Twellman, Brown, amazing midfielder Jose Cancela and power house defenders, Joe Franchino and Rusty Pierce.
In order to make the playoffs, a team can’t be last in its conference. The Rev's. just barely beat the Chicago Fire to clinch 2nd to last place and make the playoffs. On an upset they beat the first place team, the Columbus Crew, to make it to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals they went head-to-head with 15-year old Freddy Adu and D. C United. D. C struck first, but the Rev's. answered back with a spectacular Twellman goal. The same pattern continued three times before overtime. Overtime was scoreless so they went to penalty kicks. After 5 kicks both teams were dead even.
The United scored on their 6th kick so the pressure was on rookie of the year Clint Dempsey of the New England Revolution to attempt a nail-biting penalty kick. The pressure got to him and he missed.
Next year the Rev's. look to finally win the MLS Cup.
Poker: an old game with a new twist
Poker has become an increasingly popular activity for middle school and high school students across the nation. Day students have been caught up in the poker frenzy by playing online at internet sites, watching poker programs on television, and playing poker with friends.
It is a game of chance, and unlike numerous other card games, skill. Bluffing, betting, and “reading” your opponent are all contributing factors to great playing. Poker is appealing to both kids and adults for several reasons. While it can be played alone on the internet, it can provide a chance for young people to spend time with friends. “It’s a game that you can play with all of your friends,” says Green Teamer L. G.
Day psychologist Dr. R. C. explains why poker is so enticing to children. “Poker is big because young people get to do things adults do. It’s a way of being an adult.” Other rationales for the appeal of gambling that C. conveys are relaxing, clears head, helps forget about stresses, build-up of anticipation, and thrilling. In addition, students have also found that poker is more fun than watching a movie or some television programs. Nevertheless, because of poker’s popularity, the prominence of poker has expanded to television.
On such programs as “Celebrity Poker”, aired on Bravo, and “World Series of Poker”, shown on the ESPN networks, distinguished TV and movie stars and a charity. Game shows like these are shown across the networks at nearly all times.
Furthermore people can play individually on the many sites that have been created on professional players compete for money which is kept for themselves or donated to the internet such as: www.pokerstars.com; www.popularpoker.com; and www.bunnypoker.com.
Users are able to play others across the nation. The best downloadable sites include: www.partypoker.com; www.pacificpoker.com; and www.empirepoker.com. Green Team student, T. C. enjoys playing www.pokerroom.com and www.holdempoker.com, saying “I can play whenever I want and it’s like real poker, only there is no real money involved.” Despite the blatant difficulty in transferring money over the web, both sites can be played for cash, by using a credit card.
While many students play poker for the fun of it, others are quite serious about the money side of the game. And that raises the issue of gambling, a red flag for many.
Gambling in general is very addictive. T. C. relates a metaphor about giving a dog a treat and gambling. “It provides what we call intermittent reinforcement which is the best way to establish a behavior. For example; once you have taught a dog to give his paw for a treat, you don’t have to give him a treat every time for him to continue giving his paw.”
T. C. goes on to say, “If you vary when you give the treat, every 3rd time or every 5th time, that dog will give you his paw much longer than the dog who receives a treat every time.” He explains, “This is because the dog is feeling ‘this next time has to be it’ so he’ll keep doing it.” Gambling is the same. Because you win only now and then, and since you don’t know when, you’ll keep gambling.
It may be difficult for children to realize that they have a gambling problem, but when they confront their conflict, talking to their parents or friends can help. One idea, that may or may not produce results, is for children to give their spoils to parents so they can’t gamble and lose the cash.
However, this may lead to stealing or other bad habits. Students can refer to a professional counselor or call Gamblers’ Anonymous where gambler addicts support,” T. C. suggests.
Then, there’s the enjoyable, one another. Furthermore youths can “...let friends know that they’re struggling. In moments of weakness [kids should] feel free to turn to a friend leisurely side to poker, which usually results from number challenges (probabilities and counting cards). Jade Team math teacher, B. M. enjoys poker because of the mental competition. Playing with friends since he was 10, B. M. stresses that using chips and no money is a much better way to go. B. M. recognizes, “It’s very bad to get hooked on gambling,” but has had his share of experiences in casinos.
In college he studied how to beat the games and found it very fascinating. “When I was younger I was very interested in beating the games by using math,” says B. M. He does admit, “Nowadays, you can’t win against the casino,” and presently does not gamble, but still does enjoy a game of poker with his buddies.
Math teachers, E. B. and T. S., both suggest Yhatzee as a favorable math game alternative to poker. If one is interested in poker, but is afraid they will lose their money while gambling, they can play this game and satisfy their gambling hunger. Poker is a game that appeals to adults and children alike, but is more often abused by those younger players. Gambling is an addictive habit that leads down a dark road that ruins ones life.
Sports commentary
NHL owners stage lockout
The NHL season started off with a....that’s what we would be saying if the season actually started, but it just so happened that before the season started the owners of all the hockey teams staged a lockout due to money reasons.
The last work stoppage that occurred in the NHL’s history was in 1994 and it lasted for 103 days. Yahoo.com found in a November 29, 2003 edition of Forbes Magazine that last year hockey teams lost an estimated $96 million, which created revue problems, thus thwarting players’ salary demands.
The lack of NHL action has pushed some previous NHL players, 268 out of the 750, almost 1/3 of the entire league according to Yahoo.com, into playing in other leagues located in countries such as: Canada, Russia, Sweden, and other European and Asian hockey mainstays. Also the lack of action has left all of the ice arena employees without a job and without money, because the arenas are not currently in use by the teams.
On Thursday, December the 9th, the National Hockey League attended a meeting with the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and they discussed contract issues for players so they could make more money. Before the meeting, NHL executive vice president Bill Daly said, ”We look forward to meeting with the NHL Player’s Association next week,” on Friday, December the 3rd, as reported on the nhl.com website.
Last month the reigning NHL Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, received their championship rings with little fanfare because hardly anyone focuses on them now.
THE DAYTIME’s winter sports
Girls’ hockey provides a fun, competitive outlet
“There are 6 players on the ice at a time: 1 goalie, 2 defense men, and 3 forwards. But you can pull your goalie so you can have an extra player on the ice, but that still equals out to 6 players,” says coach S. G. the coach of Bantam Newton Youth Hockey, the Peewee ECGH (Eastern Commonwealth Girls’ Hockey). He also coaches ECGH Squirt “A” Redwings team as well.
The ECGH girls’ team played 2 games on Sunday, November the 28th, one game belonging to the Squirts and the other belonging to the Peewees. Both teams played Acton/Boxborough. The ECGH, Squirts dominated their game 9-0 and the ECGH Peewees tied their game 1-1 coming from behind. After the Peewees’ game most all the Peewees headed over to player E. T.’s house for a brunch.
“Only 2 girls were missing from the brunch and the whole team showed up for the game; not bad, not bad,” says S. G. The Peewees and Squirt A’s have practice on Wednesdays.
On the Peewee “A” squad J. E. says she has been playing hockey for at least 4 years and her sister E. E. (both students at Brown Middle School) says that she has been playing for 7 years. E. E. says, “My best friend Norah got me into skating and then after a couple of years she quit and I kept going.”
Both girls play the position of a right wing and before they played the right wing position they played the position of a defender.
“I like hockey because its not a sport that a lot of people play like soccer and softball,” J. E. says.
“I think that the most exciting part of the game is when you’re going on the ice and then you realize that you are going to help your team,” says her older sister E., who is on the Bantam “A” squad.
“The goals that ECGH has for its girls are to learn the basic skills of hockey and to have fun. They have to learn that winning is secondary and that having fun is primary!” says their mom D. E., who is on the ECGH board.
ECGH has been around for 4 years and evolved slowly from other Newton youth hockey teams. Girls that want to play hockey can sign up any time during the hockey season to play on a “B” team by e-mailing ECGH at www.ecgh.org.
Besides coaching in the ECGH, S. G. is the coach of the Newman Club of Hingam’s Top Gun Summer Hockey League, which features professional hockey players from the NHL, AHL, ECHL, HE. He also coaches Blue Hills Regional Technical High School.
S. G. has hockey experience dating back to high school, then for the Canadian juniors, college, and professional hockey (New England Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings organizations).
Day golf
Four tournaments are at the center of the golf season
Every year, there are 4 tournaments around which the golf season revolves. They are the Majors, consisting of The Open Championship, The Masters Tournament, The U. S. Championship, and The PGA Championship. These tournaments have earned a reputation as the hardest tournaments to win. Not only do they have the best players in the world competing, but they are played on the toughest courses in the world. The winner of one of these tournaments receives both the most respect, and one of the biggest cash prizes of the year.
The first Major to be played every year is the Masters Tournament. The tournament is played annually at Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta Georgia every April. The course is a par 72, 7290 yards. The Masters has been played there ever since the first one in 1938. The prize that goes to the winner is the famous green jacket. In 2003, Mike Weir became the first Canadian and the first left-hander to wear the jacket, but in 2004, he was dethroned by another left-hander; Phil Mickelson. This was Mickelson’s first Major title.
The second tournament played is The U. S. Open. The U. S. Open is played at a different course every year in June. The 2004 tournament was the 104th running of the U. S. Open. It was played at Shinnecock Hills, a windy seaside course in Long Island, New York. The course was so tough, that the winning score (belonging to Retief Goosen), was 4 under. He fought off Phil Mickelson with a final round 71 (1 over) to capture his 2nd U. S. Open title. He won the trophy, as well as $1.125 million.
The third tournament of the year is the Open Championship. This tournament is also known as the British Open. The first Open Championship was played in1860. In July, 2004, Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a sudden death playoff. Hamilton took home the Claret Jug and £720,000 (equivalent to $1.36 million).
The last Major of the year to be played is The PGA Championship. Every August, the tournament is played at a different course in the U. S.
The first event was played in 1916, and won by Jim Barnes. The 2004 event was played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. It was won by Vijay Singh, with a score of 8 under. He beat both Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco in an exciting three-way playoff. It was Singh’s fifth win of the year and a big factor in his achievement of his ranking as the number one player in the world.
Day girls’ basketball
Coach M. will focus on defense
“I am looking forward to an enthusiastic try-out!” exclaimed W. M., the coach of the girls’ basketball team. Try-outs were held on Monday, December the 6th after school. The key players returning to the team are: D. B., A. B., K. C., T. M., C. T., and J. W.
When asked what the team needs to improve on from last year, M. replied, “Defense. Defense is the most important part of the game.” The 8th grade team had a 6-4 record, while the 7th graders had a 2-8 record.
The team lost a few key players to the high school including M. K., who is “...one of the best players of all time,” according to M. Z. T. is “...another great player,” who has moved on to Newton North.
“I am looking forward to a winning season and a team of awesome girls,” exclaimed V. P., one of the 8th grade centers. “I know this season will be a positive one.”
Girls’ “B” Soccer
Day’s Girls’ “B” Soccer ends season, 5-1; J. scores thrice
The girls “B” soccer team record is 5 wins and 1 loss. M.N., A.B., and N. C. each scored twice during the season. A. B., C. F., and R.J. scored once. D. J. scored 3 times, the most individual goals for a player on the team. There were 2 injuries this season. In the first one, a Day player and one of her opponent’s players bashed heads. The second injury occurred in a different game, when Day’s player got kicked in the shin.
Here are the responses from the players that were asked about the team’s improvement at the end of the season. “We got more aggressive,” said D. J.
“As a team, we gelled,” H. H. said.
Preview
Boys’ basketball will begin with a potent 8th grade squad
The Day boys’ basketball team has high expectations for the upcoming season. Tryouts started on Thursday, December the 9th, Last year’s 7th grade squad finished 9-1, losing their last game of the season by 3 points to the Oak Hill Panthers. This year they will form one of Day’s most potent 8th grade squads in years.
Instead of having a 7th grade team and an 8th grade team this season, there will be an “A” and “B” team.
Day physical education teacher T. R. will return as the “A” team coach. T. R. also coaches Day football and baseball.
This year’s “A” squad should have an excellent balance of speed and size. Last year the 7th graders could run the fastbreak or pass the ball into the post. This led to many easy victories
Day will play the other 3 Newton middle schools-Oak Hill, Bigelow, and Brown-in addition to playing several other neighboring towns. Day will have to remain focused, with opponents looking to avenge last year’s blow-out defeats.
The combination of Day’s returning players and the incoming 7th graders should form a very successful and productive season of Day basketball.
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