Sports Interviews

     After interviewing Sam Khokhlan, I have learned that he is not much of a sporty person himself, but he has supported teams in the past & used to play. My first question was "What is your favorite sports team that you have played on/supported?" He answered with the Cheer Factor small senior 5 group. He supports this team because one of his friends is on it. Then i asked "What is the best sporting moment you have ever been a part of/supported?" He said that the best sporting moment he has supported was when he went to the superbowl, The Rams vs. The titans. He went with his family when he was younger to support the rams. Next i asked "Have you even gotten any sports related injuries?" He said that yes, he fractured his wrist once. He did so while playing football with his friends.

 

      My next question was concerning what sports teams he has been on and supported, and how many. He said that he has been on a total of five teams. He played pop warner football, and soccer. He said that he has supported a countless number of teams. He likes to watch football, and basketball. Lastly, I asked him "how many years have you been playing sports." He said that he has been playing from around the age of seven until his first year of high school. That makes him have been playing sports for a total of seven years. He is more into going to the gym and working out than sports now a days. He said that was something he was more into as a child.

     My next interview was Nick Cocogenetti. When i asked him what his favorite sports team he has ever been on, he replied with football. He has always enjoyed football, even years previous to high school. The best sporting moment that he has ever been a part of was making it to semi finals with his soccer team. This was a good achievement for him, never making it there before. He said that he also enjoys playing and watching as a whole. Nick has luckily never gotten and sports related injuries.

     When asking him how many sports team he has been on and supported, he replied with that he has been on six. Like Khokhlan, he said that he has supported many and cannot give me an exact number. Some of the teams that he has been on is recreational soccer and football, and the NHS soccer team. He has been playing sports for a good deal of his life. He has been playing since he was four, making that twelve years. most people cannot say that they have been playing sports for that long. Some people cannot even say that they've played sports at all.

   

Bracketology

When everybody loses, somebody has to win. Half of the top ten teams have lost. Four of the next ten lost too. That gives the bracket a new look, although the top line remains the same. The very top of the bracket was fine. Wichita State is now 31-0 after beating Missouri State. Syracuse stayed on the top line despite a loss at Virginia, most likely because Kansas lost also. Creighton, Iowa State, Michigan State, Saint Louis and Texas all lost as well and fell down the list to some degree. There was some turnover at the bottom of the list as well. Minnesota dropped back out after losing to Michigan. Dayton is back in after a win over UMass, which is the Flyers' best of the season.

Norton High School Wrestling

       Norton High School's dominant sport is wrestling. We have one of the best teams in the state, with the help of our awesome coaches Coleman, Francis, and May. Norton had an awesome season this year; winning nearly every meet they had. It's nearly impossible to beat us. A total of 8 have made it all the way to Allstates this year, and one wrestler, one alternate have qualified for New Englands.

     Earlier in the season, The team won sectionals in Cohasset. They ended up being a total of 82.5 points ahead of the 15 team field. It was a great effort in which every one of Norton's 14 wrestlers won matches to contribute to the cause. As a result, 11 Lancers qualified for the upcoming D-3 State tournament, a school record. Leading were Seniors JT Taylor, Myles McAlpine and Mike Travers who, along with junior Elliott Johnson, were undefeated champions of their weight classes. Junior Alek Donovan finished second while seniors Ahrayah Saintius and Brandon Pike, as well as junior Adam Marcon and sophomore Deven Schuko all placed third. Sophomore Aidan Kahn and junior Russel Hansen placed fourth. Junior Robbie Douglas and senior Grant Monast placed sixth. sophomore Zach Scarpetti didn't place, but won two matches by pins. With four pins on the day, JT Taylor was voted the tournaments Outstanding Wrestler, the third 145 pound wrestler to be recognized. (Scott Coleman in '10 and John Royle in '12.) As a result of the performance Coach coleman was named the D-3 South Coach of the Year.

 Last Saturday Norton had the MIAA D-3 State wrestling championship, and did they not only win it, they dominated. They were 41 points ahead of their leading opponent. Senior co-captains Mike Travers got First. Travers became only the third Norton Wrestler to win a state championship. JT Taylor got third and Myles McAlpine got fourth. After two days of spirited competition the Lancers emerged, once again the best of 56 teams. Alek Donovan, Adam Marcon, and Elliot Johnson finished 3rd, 5th, and 5th. Aidan Kahn and Deven Schuko both earned 6th place medals. Even though they didn't place, Ahrayah Saintius, Brandon Pike, and Russell Hansen won matches to add to Norton's total points making this championship a great team effort.

         Onto Allstates, where Mike Reached the semi-finals before falling to eventual runner-up Matt Paris of Springfield Central, The All-State champion team. Mike finished with sixth. McAlpine lost his first match to Chris Ortega of Agawam but still fought back, winning four of five matches losing to only Ian Horkan of Pembroke in overtime. Myles Finished seventh. Both will continue training in preparation for the New Englands which will be held next weekend in Providence, RI. Six other wrestlers qualified though one, Elliott Johnson was unable to compete due to an injury suffered at states. Aidan Kahn lost in the first round, hurt his elbow and couldn't continue. Deven Schuko, Adam Marcon and Alek Donovan along with JT Taylor all wrestled well and won matches for the lancers, though none of them placed high enough to earn medals, So their seasons are over.

Yulia Lipnitskaia, 15 year old Russian Figure Skating Phenomenon

Yulia is a fifteen year old girl, 5"2. Don't let her age and height fool you, she knows how to draw in the audience and mesmerize while skating. From her flawless jumps, to her even more flawless turns she is truly amazing. The incredible amount of speed and flexibility she has while turning is just astounding. She began training at age four after her mother convinced the experienced skating coach Elena Levkovets to accept her as a student. Some records and achievements she has accomplished are She is the youngest olympic gold medalist in team figure skating, Youngest skater in ladies' singles to win the European title, First Russian ladies' singles skater to win an Olympic gold medal in team trophy, and she is a record holder in ladies' junior level under the ISU Judging System for the highest combined total and free skate scores. She has an impressive history of winning championships and competitions previous to the olympics. Yulia is big competition for others, and dosen't feel threatened by other competitiors, only being fifteen. She competed in the Team ladies short program, Team ladies free skating, Ladies short program and the ladies free skate in the Sochi 2014 olympics, her first olympics.

Exactly how accepting is the NFL?

I am personally very accepting of gays and believe that they should be able to have the same rights as anybody else. I think that the players of the NFL will think differently. Michael Sam has a lot of courage to come out to the NFL knowing that not everybody will be as accepting as he hopes. A lot of the players will keep their opinions to themselves, but some may show discrimination towards him because of his differences.

Hernandez's life of crime may have not totally been his fault. There were certain factors in his childhood that lead him to the wrong path. His Father Died when he was 49. The fact that Hernandez had to grow up without a father may have affected his choices in the future. His Mother also married a violent coke dealer, which was not a good influence on Hernandez or his siblings. The loss of his father, and then the addition of a new violent drug dealer as a father were not helping Hernandez onto the right path.

Super Bowl XLVIII

Super Bowl XLVIII was quite the game. While it wasn't much of a competition, it was full of great moments from Percy Harvin's return touchdown, to the amazing half time show. Usually a pop star takes on the huge task of singing the national anthem, but this year the opera singer Renee Fleming sang it. Her version of it was different and seriously amazing. One of the best moments of the night had to be Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers taking the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show. Bruno even performed the beginning of "Give it Away," introducing RHCP. I have to say that i was shocked it wasn't at all a close game, it was still pretty entertaining. While my predictions were correct and the Seahawks won, I was expecting the Broncos to do better than they did with Peyton Manning's abilities. He as 33 completed passes through the game, a Super Bowl record. The Seahawks still beat them despite Peyton Manning's performance. Manning's dream goes bad in a snap at the beginning of the game leading to the Seahawks gaining two points. The Seahawks were winning 22-0 after the first half, and right when they got the ball in the beginning of the second half, Percy Harvin ran it back for another touchdown, making the score 29-0 in the first twelve seconds of the second half. I've got to say though, the best part of the night was the commercials. From a full house reunion to a Radio shack commercial starring Hulk Hogan.