MIAA Essay

How an act of sportsmanship made a difference in my life? When I was six years old I really wanted to play football for the Pop Warner Program but I was too young. My dad was a coach, my mom volunteered and my brother played so I was always at the fields with my family. I begged and begged to play and finally after a week into the practices the youngest teams coach came over to me and said he wanted to talk to me. I sat down with him and he asked me to practice with them all season long, I may not have been eligible to play in games but that did not matter to me. I worked very hard and the kids were up to three years older then me and they all supported me and I really began to look up to them today. The coach as well as the players made me fit in like I was a normal player, and to this day as a sophomore in high school, I still look up to them and remember all of the goof times I had when I was just six years old. I was pretty big for my grade and I always struggled to make weight so I always had to play up with the older kids and playing with them at such a young age allowed me to feel very comfortable with them and I did not feel as bad about not being able to play with my grade.

                Now, this year when I started my sophomore year of high school I decided to get in to coaching. I started coaching seventh grade boys Metro West basketball because I felt like I needed to give back to the community. I loved it, and enjoyed every minute of it and since I learned the lesson to include everyone at a young age I try to incorporate it into my coaching styles. If the boys have younger siblings at the practice I try and include them into some type of fun drills at some point during the practice. It makes my day to see the smile on their faces to play with their older brothers and it makes them feel special. Learning this lesson of sportsmanship by my coach at the age of six it affected my life in a huge way and it really made a difference in my life.

Home-Schooled Athletes

The much discussed debates in many States nationwide is if home-schooled students should be allowed to compete in public school sports. Many individual states are submitting bills to their Congress in order to try and pass the law. It is a growing argument, and it seems to be a half and half split across the country. The people that are against it feel as it is not right because they have unfair advantages over the public school kids like sleeping in, not necessarily having to get, and flexible hours. The group in favor of it believe in it because they feel it gives the children a sense of camaraderie with a team, exposes them to diversity and teaches them teamwork. The leader for the group that support the ability of home-schooled athletes to play for public schools is Tim Tebow, he himself was homeschooled all the way until he graduated. In my opinion, yes they should be able to as long as they meet these requirements which are maintaining good grades, paying the fee and must participate at the school that they would be enrolled at if they were not home schooled.

            Being on a sports team and having a sense of camaraderie with other students is one of the most important things a high school student can do. Not only does it let you meet new people, it gives you a support group that can help you with anything. Being a home-schooled student must affect your social skills a lot so allowing them to play for public schools is the right thing to do for them so they can meet others. For many home-schooled students it is as if they live in a bubble and have very few friends and a team is a way to rapidly increase your social ability and they are a great confidence booster. Being part of a team also gives you the sense of accomplishment, which really makes you feel good about yourself. And really, in all reality, what high school student could not use a confidence booster?

            Diversifying yourself is also a big part of high school for most students. If you are home schooled you do not get to meet new people and you are stuck only knowing family and longtime family friends. Allowing home schooled students to play with public schools is needed and it would really benefit both parties. It will expose the public school kids to a new way of living, which will help them later in life in the real world. Also, it will benefit the home-schooled kids because it allows them to meet new people and how to work with others. The skill of teamwork is one of the most important skills you u can learn in high school because when you grow up you will need experience with it. At most jobs, you will be required to work with others to complete a task and playing on a sports team is a good way to introduce yourself to this skill while you are young and that is why home-schooled students should be allowed to participate in public school sports.

            In my opinion, as well as many others such as Tim Tebow, children that are home-schooled need to be allowed to play sports for their public school. Sports are one of the greatest ways to prepare young boys and girls for the real world and any kid in highs school that maintains eligibility through their grades should be allowed to play them no matter where they go to school. Home-schooling students also need a reason to be pushed out of their comfort zone in order to meet new people and sports are the perfect option because they allow you to meet new people that have similar interests as you will you are doing something you love, playing a sport. Sports introduce you to diversity, and more importantly team work and they are both two things you need to be introduced too around high school or else you will never try to work or meet other people. As long as the student remains eligible, pays the fee, and plays for the public school in which they live in, then there should be no restrictions on if they can play or not because it is the only way for them to play sports. The students must be allowed to play for the public school because if you say no the only person you are hurting is the student and that is not what high school sports are about.

NBA Playoffs

All 4 of the series have a team leading 3-2 after concluding 5 games. The Cavaliers, Hawks, Warriors and Clippers are all one game ahead of the Bulls, Wizards, Grizzlies and Rockets respectively. The second round of the 2015 playoffs have been very entertaining so far with buzzer-beaters from Paul Pierce, Lebron James, and Derrick Rose all occurring in the same weekend. 

Game 6 will be played tonight in the Cavaliers vs Bulls series and the Bulls need to win this one or else they will be eliminated. The Bulls have been struggling without big man Pau Gasol who can do everything from passing to rebounding to shooting. He is listed as a game time decision for game 6 but the Bulls really need him in order to keep sixth man Taj Gibson play his normal role of being a spark plug of the bench along with Nikola Mirotic and Aaron Brooks. 

 

The other game being played tonight is the Clippers vs Rockets. The Rockets are in a must win situation and they have been struggling up front as of late. Center Dwight Howard has been getting into early foul trouble so they made a change and inserted Josh Smith into the starting line up in order to get more rebounding. The Rockets really need James Harden to step up and carry the team if they want to win. 

In the same series, the x-factor for the Clippers is point guard Chris Paul who has been struggling through a hamstring injury. He sat out the first two games of the series and the play by back up point guard Austin Rivers was outstanding. In this close-out game they really need Paul's leadership to get them though adversity more than his actual play but that would be nice too. 

Celtic's Offseason 2015

The Celtic's are coming off a much improved 2014-2015 season with many new additions through out the season. They finished with the 7 seed in the eastern conference and are hoping they can improve on it next year. With the new addition of star Isaiah Thomas they only need one more star player to put them over the edge and they have many supporting players. This summer there are a couple key players that are going to be tough decisions for Ainge and the teams management who to sign back, who to let go, and who to try and trade for this offseason.

Jae Crowder has improved immensely since being traded with the Rondo situation and he stepped in to help fill a void on the wing, when Evan Turner had to slide over to the point guard spot. Jae shot a career best .420% from the field and he stayed healthy all year and played 82 games between Boston and Dallas. The main concern is if the knee problem he received in the final game, will go away or if it will not be easily resolved.

The other key player is if Brando Bass will stay or not. He said that he would like to stay with the Celtics. He is now 30 years old and his athleticism is going to start to go down and that is a major part of his game because he is very explosive to the hoop. He also shot a career high from the field but Danny Ainge will have a tough decision on what to do with him.
The only other decision management has is if they want to make a move for Kevin Love or any other free agents and if they are going after people they have to decide who they are willing to trade and what draft picks they will decide to use in order to keep this team on the winning track and keep making it to the NBA Playoffs.

NBA Rookie of the Year

The race for the Kia Rookie of the Year is quickly coming to an end. The leading candidates are Andrew Wiggins, Elfrid Payton, and Nikola Mirotic. This years rookie class was widely affected by injuries and many of the early contenders for this award are now out due to injury. Rookie's Jabari Parker and Julius Randle both got hurt in the beginning of the season, Randle made a comeback at the end of the year but it was not enough to make a statement. Joel Embiid was drafted third overall by Philadelphia but he was injured before the draft and had to sit out all year with a foot injury.

Andrew Wiggins, the first overall draft pick was the favorite for this award before the season even started. He plays mostly at shooting guard and he has started in all 81 games so far this season. He is also a strong leader as a rookie for the struggling Timberwolves. This season he averaged 16.8 points per game which is first among rookies and he also averaged 2 assists, 1 steal and 5 rebounds to fill out his stat sheet.

The next candidate is Nikola Mirotic who was drafted in 2011 but made his debut this year after finishing playing over seas. He is the only candidate that is on a playoff team and he really stepped up in the month of March when he was needed due to injuries to many key players of the Chicago Bulls. He plays about 20 minutes per game and averages 10 points and 5 rebounds. His versatility helps improve his case because he can play both forward spots as well as the center position.

The final candidate is Elfrid Payton of the Orlando Magic. He has been their starting point guard for the majority of the season and has averaged 9 points, 2 steals and 7 assists per game. He plays about 30 minutes per game which is 5th among rookies this year. Lastly, he is the only rookie this year to achieve a triple double and he did it twice. 

I believe that Andrew Wiggins will win the award because he not only averaged the most points but he played the most minutes and has made in impact on the tam since the beginning of he season because he has started all 81 game so far. lastly most of the analysts believe that he will win so i believe he is definitely the favorite for the award. 

Boston Celtic's Playoff Push

The Boston Celtics have had their ups and downs this season but for sure, right now they are playing their best basketball of the season. They traded away Rajon Rondo, the leading assist man and also traded away Jeff Green the teams leading scorer yet the team continues to strive. Now their leading rebounder Jared Sullinger is back and should really help solidify the team down low in the paint on both sides of the floor. The Celtics are the 8 seed right now and are hoping to continue to hold this spot and make it into the playoffs.

In order for the Celtics to make it into the playoffs they will need contributions from every single player on the roster. The starting back court of Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley will be relied on for their aggressive defense and the front court trio of Brandon Bass, Evan Turner and Tyler Zeller will need to score and rebound the ball. The bench will be responsible for the main scoring punch consisting of players such as Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger, Jonas Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk and Luigi Datome. Key minutes could possibly be played by role players Phil Pressey and Gerald Wallace.

The Celtic's record right now is 35-42 and they have five games left and hope to keep the 8 seed in the east. The Celtic's are battling the Pacers, Nets, Miami and Charlotte for the final two spots. The remaining games for the C's are against Detroit, Toronto, Milwaukee and two against the Cavaliers. Last week the Celtics beat the Raptors and lost a tough one to the bucks so both of these games along with Detroit are very possible for wins.the Celtics have hung around with even the top teams in the league so they have a chance to win any of them. if the Celtics can win three of theses games there is a very good chance that they get the 8 or even the 7 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Their last game is on April 15 and the final standings will be posted the next day, so for now cheer them on and hope for the best.

Matthew Berry Article

Matthew Berry makes many good points throughout the article. When he tells the story about when he was bullied as a kid, it makes the article very easy to relate to because so many people are bullied at school now a days. Also, I agree with him when he said that Richie Incognito might not realize what he was doing because most bullies do not. Berry in a way stated that if Jonathan Martin stepped up and said something that the situation would probably not have ended like this but sometimes it is not that easy to let people know what's going on with out being a tattle tale. I think Berry's article is very well written and it really helps you understand the situation in the Dolphins locker room last year.