Alameda vs. Northgate NCS

On Tuesday, February twenty third, our varsity basketball team had a North Coast Section(NCS) playoff game against the Northgate broncos. This is the second year in a row that we have made it into the NCS playoffs. From our scouting reports, northgate had good shooters, and were very physical. also, we heard that their fans were very loud and obnoxious. I got moved up from the JV team to the varsity team about a week before the game. Even though i knew i was not going to play that much, i was still nervous. The Hornets' 75-60 first-round win over No. 6 seed Northgate was their first NCS Division II playoff victory since 1996. Senior guard Taylor Takahashi scored a game-high 22 points against Northgate. Taylor fractured his ankle a week ago and he still pulled off an amazing performance. Damien Stowers had a terrific game with 11 rebounds and 16 points. He had a monster dunk over anther player which set the tone for the rest of the game. Jared Tatman also had a good game with many blocked shots and showed a lot of hustle on the court. Anthony Waters had a good defensive game keeping Northgate's leading scorer to only 10 points. Shawn Johnson had a fair game with 10 points and 6 assists. He handled Northgate's defense calmly and by doing so, we were able to come out with the win. Playing with a chip on their shoulder after being snubbed a first round NCS home game, the Alameda Hornets blew past the Northgate Broncos 75-60 on Tuesday in Walnut Creek. The win is Alameda's first in division II NCS play since 1996. The Hornets took a big lead in the second quarter and refused to let up, using their superior size and athleticism to upset their Diablo Valley Athletic League opponents.

The Broncos held close for the first eight minutes, but Alameda began to pull away early in the second quarter. Damien Stowers threw down an emphatic jam in traffic to commence a 16-4 run. Taylor Takahashi, who led all scorers with 22 points, had eight in this stretch, including two threes, silencing the rowdy Bronco crowd. Northgate struggled to break the Hornets tight man-to-man defense. The Broncos fired away from the outside, but found little success, converting just 14% (3-22) from three-point range. Alameda held sharpshooting guards Blake Bergesen and Mike Degarmo to just one trey apiece. Northgate also struggled from the free throw line (15-32). Beginning the second half with an eleven point lead, Alameda kept up the pace. Quickly, the Broncos fell into foul trouble. Just three minutes into the second half, Alameda had already drawn seven fouls. They shot free throws from then out, and this effectively put Northgate away. Big man Jared Tatman came off the bench and displayed a soft outside touch, knocking down a three from the top of the key. The Senior center also easily defended the Bronco big men, swatting a career-high six shots. Juan Neri played well from the wing, amassing 12 points.

Ahead by 22 with four minutes to play, Alameda was able to substitute in their Junior Varsity call-ups. The Hornets played almost all underclassman; Jesse Lewis, Sam Kunz, Elvedin Tudzinovic, and I for the final minutes. Alameda moves on to the second round of the tournament on Friday against the third-seeded Ukiah Wildcats, who are coming off a first-round bye. The winner will take on the winner of Redwood/Mt. Eden, in the semi-final. I have to give credit to our Coach, Ed Hawkins for preparing us for the game. He told us that Northgate was going to be rough and very physical. He warned us that we had to be focused the whole game and ignore the loud, noisy crowd cheering against us. All the things he said came true and we completed our task of staying composed and winning the game.

My Crisis of Faith

I have already written about this topic in my final essay blog post but I think I need to expand and get into some details. In sports, I believe a coach and his or her players need to have a certain connection to be successful. In order for a connection to happen, trust needs to be earned between the players and coach. That trust must be earned by the coach as well as by the players. This year, not only has my former coach broken his trust with me, but many of the supervisors at Alameda High who I use to trust lost a lot of respect from me. This all began before winter break during the Alameda High School men’s basketball tournament. In our first game against McClymonds High school, I was getting really frustrated at the coach, Mr. Felder, because he was being very negative and he wasn’t coaching but instead yelling at his players. Then during the game, he gave up on our team by sitting at the end of the bench with his head in his hands, moping. Mr. Felder also pulled out all of the starters, including myself. I was very upset because we were still playing hard and deserved a chance to try and win the game. And the game was still close but he thought that we already lost. Finally, he decided to put back all the starters again but by then we were down 25 points, too far behind to catch up so I told him, “I’m tired” because I was frustrated with his attitude. We ended up losing the game because of him. Afterward, I vented to the head varsity coach and my parents on what my frustration was, that our coach had quit on our team. The head varsity coach went to speak to Mr. Felder to get his feedback. The head varsity coach returned, then explained to my parents and I that Mr. Felder had told him that I had quit on the team! I was completely shocked! The head coach told me and my parents that we would have a meeting and discuss the situation without any penalty later in the week. We agreed and I expected to play in game the next day against Skyline High.

The next day, December 19, Saturday, we were to play Skyline at 2pm. With game time approaching, I notice that Mr. Felder had not entered the locker room to give the customary pre-game speech. Instead, the women’s JV basketball coach, Mr. Burnett, walked into the locker room. How odd I thought? Mr. Burnett then proceeded to blast the players for not playing together the night before, singling out the Captains, particularly me by accusing me of quitting on the team. Minutes to game time, the doors open and the team walks out to their bench. A minute later I come out with Mr. Felder behind him. My teammate Zac, who had turned his ankle, was in street clothes and asked me, “Are you ready?” I replied, “I’m not playing, I’ve been suspended.” Mr. Felder had ordered all of my teammates out of the locker room, and then told me I had been suspended. I thought we had all agreed that no actions were to be taken until all the facts had come out in our upcoming meeting on Wednesday. I guess not! Yet, I sat on the bench, encouraged my teammates, and I really wanted to be there for them. The 3rd quarter rolled around, a time out was called, and my teammates and I huddled together. During the huddle, another teammate made a comment out of frustration. Mr. Felder thought he was giving him attitude and said, “There must be something wrong with this team and you all have attitude problems.” I looked at my injured teammate Zac and we just rolled our eyes. Then all of a sudden, Mr. Felder started to bark at us asking if were having a conversation. I said, “No. We weren’t talking.” He replied, “Well you can go sit down at the end of the bench.” I was so mad that I walked into the locker room and took my frustrations out in there instead of exploding in front of him. As I walked out of the locker room to return to the bench, I see my dad and I told him, “It’s not right, I didn’t say anything. He kicked me out of the huddle!” What ever happened to our agreement to meet to discuss the situation, and just let me play? Minutes later, my family and I walked out of the gym humiliated and furious.

My parents pulled me from the team, we had a series of meetings with the head varsity coach, the athletic director, and the principal, but all we got out of it were lies and slander. They labeled me a “Quitter” and took the side of the Mr. Felder, without even considering the facts. My parents called the Superintendents office and we asked for an investigation of all parties involved and to ask parents, players, and coaches what really happened. On Monday, February 1st, we were informed that Mr. Felder had been fired for conduct unbecoming a coach. He had yelled at all the players during practice the week before and then proceeded to humiliate a player, calling him a “cry baby” and then saying, “You can tell that to your punk-ass dad.” My parents had another meeting with the Superintendent and the principal, they apologized to what had happened to me during the winter break, and after checking out the facts I was cleared of the suspension, that I didn’t quit on the team, the coach did. What really bothered me was that the school administrators believed Mr. Felder without even talking to me about what happened. I wasn’t given a chance to tell my side.

As a player, I am trained to respect and trust my coaches. As a person, I am trained to respect and trust my elders. This really challenged me because I could not do what I was trained to do. Instead, I had to watch my back and I couldn’t trust the people who I am suppose to. I didn’t quit the team, or quit on myself. Even though the “Adults” lied and tried to blame me for their problems, I stuck to what I felt in my heart, to tell the truth and stand up for what I thought was right, even though it might cause me to stop doing what I love, like playing basketball. I lost my faith in some of the teachers at Alameda High, but I have learned that adversity really does test your beliefs and I’ve become a stronger person for it. Yesterday, I was selected along with three other teammates to join the varsity team for the NCS playoffs.

Apolo Ohno

In the 1500 m final, Apolo Ohno placed second after two Korean skaters, Lee Ho-Suk and Sung Si-bak made contact and crashed into the wall during the final turn of the final lap. Ohno was in fourth place leading into the crash, and as a result, moved into second place, earning the silver. Fellow American skater, J. R. Celski finished with the bronze medal. The gold medal went to South Korea's Lee Jung-Su. This win allowed Ohno, with six career medals, to tie Bonnie Blair for most medals won by a U.S. Winter Olympian. Training for Apolo was long,tedious, and tiring. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Ohno lost over 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of weight from when he appeared at the 2002 Winter Games. He went down to a 65.7 kg (145 lb) bodyframe and a 2.5% Body fat percentage enduring a 5 month 3-a-day training program combined with a strict nutritional program. As a result, he can lift double the weight he could before the training. His father chose to name his son Apolo after the Greek words "Ap," which means to "steer away from" and "lo," which means "look out; here he comes."

During the U.S. Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials held September 8–12, 2009, in Marquette, Michigan, Ohno won the overall meet title and defended his national title. He won the finals during the 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m races.However, during the 1000 m time trial, Ohno came in second to J. R. Celski despite skating a personal best of 1:24.500 to Celski's personal best of 1:23.981.Celski, who finished second overall and was leading in points after the first two nights of the trials, was injured during a crash in the semifinals of the 1000 m race when his right skate sliced into his left leg; he did not skate in the 1000 m finals. Ohno had a narrow victory in the 500 m, beating out the silver place finisher Jeff Simon by only .039 of a second. Ohno, Celski, Jordan Malone, Travis Jayner and Simon Cho were the top five finishers at the trials. Afterwards, Ohno said about the nominated team: "This is the strongest team we've ever had. I feel really good about how we will do in the next Olympics".

John Wall #11

The names come tumbling out of his mouth steady and true, as if John Wall wants you to know exactly how much thought he has put into what he's about to say. First come the all-timers: Magic, Isiah, Pistol Pete, Jason Kidd. Then Wall lists today's gold standard: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose. "There are so many great point guards," says Wall, the Kentucky freshman who bestrides college basketball, circa 2010. "I know it's not going to be easy, and it's going to take so much work in the gym and studying the game, but my goal is to be the greatest point guard ever." It's the sort of statement that, voiced by any other 19-year-old on the planet, would draw eye-rolls and maybe even laughter. But halfway into what will almost surely be his only college season, Johnathan Hildred Wall of Raleigh, N.C., is persuading people who know the game that those aspirations shouldn't be dismissed as mere youthful bravado. "I've been around him, and I watch how he works," says Kentucky assistant coach Rod Strickland, who played point guard in the NBA for 17 years. "He wants to be great. When he tells you that, I believe that's seriously on his mind."

Also not laughing is North Carolina coach Roy Williams, whose Tar Heels fell to Wall's Wildcats 68--66 on Dec. 5. "A lot of guys say things, but I believe he has the hunger to do that," says Williams, who calls the 6'4", 197-pound Wall the finest point guard he has seen emerge from high school since Kidd, nearly 20 years ago. "He has great size and speed for a point guard, tremendous lateral quickness and an ability to defend, make big plays at crunch time and make other players better. I think the sky's the limit for him." In the fourth season since the NBA's age-minimum rule forced most players with pro aspirations to spend at least a year in college basketball, Wall is the clearest example of a must-see freshman talent (for both college and NBA fans) since Texas's Kevin Durant, who in 2006--07 became the first freshman to be named national player of the year. Wall is on track to be the second, not least because his 17.2 points and 7.3 assists a game had led No. 3 Kentucky to a 15--0 record at week's end. But unlike Durant, who was famously taken behind Greg Oden in the '07 NBA draft, Wall isn't the subject of any debate.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!!!!!!

For superbowl XLIV i really want thew saints to win because i think they deserve it and it would be nice because its the first time they have ever been in a superbowl. Just the fact that they made it to the super is a great achievement. But i think they can go all the way. The New Orleans Saints finished the season with an NFC best 13-3 record and went on to advance to the first Super Bowl in their 43 years as an NFL team. It had been a long journey for New Orleans. After joining the NFL in 1967, it took them 21 years to record their first winning season and another 13 years after that to win their first playoff game. Five years later, the New Orleans area suffered another setback when the Louisiana Superdome was devastated with the rest of the city by Hurricane Katrina, forcing them to play all of their home games in 2005 elsewhere as they finished with a 3-13 record. But in the offseason, the team's fortunes began to turn. First, they signed pro bowl quarterback Drew Brees, who would go on to throw for more passing yards than any other quarterback over the next four seasons. Drew Brees is also one of my favorite players because not only is he a talented young man but he is a good person. he was a really big contributor to the people of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Everyone is saying that the Colts are unstoppable because of Peyton Manning. Don't get me wrong, because Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks but he is still human. I believe that if the saints keep it close, they have a very good chances of winning the superbowl. The defense has to be strong and relentless. the more pressure they put on Peyton Manning, the better. The Saints offense should take of its self. But the running game has to be there.