Category: sports

Dead Toenails and My Lovely Roommate!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Today, two of my toenails fell off after my final season of track here at Ojai Valley School.

My roommate and I were talking about this to our coach (thebrownguy) and we were discussing how it is almost a badge of honor to have toenails that fall off. It shows our character and dedication in running, that despite the pain that comes with running, we give it our all.

My roommate’s toenail fell off a few days ago.

Now, let me tell you, this girl can run.

She was a new student this year and came to take advantage of the track team at our school. Her previous school did not have track as a sport. Now, for a girl who had no prior official track team training, she did fantastic.

My roommate broke several personal records, brought home multiple first place medals, broke a meet record, and even took the title of Condor League MVP this season. But this is not the crowning point in her high school track career. She ran at the CIF preliminary meet, placed second in her heat, and qualified for finals.

She is one of the most dedicated people I know. And dedication is not something you can fake. When I look at her run, its inspiring. The way she pushes herself to the hardest during practice and the way she takes such tender care of her feet afterwards is just fantastic. There is nobody I know that is as dedicated as her. And all of that dedication stems from her pure love for the sport. She loves running. And that is what makes her good.

Now, my roommate can be hard on herself sometimes but I hope when she reads this, she realizes how great she actually is.

She will only get better as she gets older. College is going to be fantastic for you. I just can’t wait to see how well you do, even in your first year in college. I know you will go on to do such great things!

And so back to the topic of toenails. Now that we have established them to be badges of honor, you deserve to have all of your toenails fall off.

I love you thehungryrunnergirl!

Let’s Talk Horse-Racing and the Triple Crown

backinphillyLeave a comment

I usually don’t particularly care about horses or horse-racing. However, now that I got a girlfriend whose big thing is horses, I guess I gotta deal with it. However, horse-racing has always been an interest of mine and my father’s. Specifically, we are annual viewers of the Triple Crown races.

This year, once again, there is a shot at the elusive Triple Crown. “I’ll Have Another” is chasing the title at the Belmont Stakes in a few weeks. Widely considered one of the most difficult race tracks in all of horse-racing, Belmont Park is the longest and final leg of the Triple Crown.

It’s been 34 years since the last Triple Crown horse, Affirmed. For those that remember Affirmed, he was a brutal race horse mainly remembered for his constant duels with rival horse “Alydar”. “Affirmed” won the Belmont by a nose, literally.

This race is absolutely relentless. “I’ll Have Another” recently acquired his own rival horse, “Bodemeister”, but this horse has declined the invitation to the Belmont, which lightens the field greatly.

I will be watching this race with great interest and anticipation.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

thehungryrunnergirl1 Comment

Last Saturday, I had my last race of high school. I still can’t believe it’s over.

It wasn’t my best race. I was so overwhelmed with the atmosphere and I lost confidence in myself. I realized that I am still an inexperienced runner.

Afterwards, I was very disappointed in myself for finishing the season like this. I wish I could just rewind time…

But one thing I can say in spite of my performance, is that I made every effort since last summer and I never gave up. I kept my eyes on my goals. I trained and thought about running everyday like I madly fell in love.

So now I want to work to be mentally stronger because long distance running is more than 50% mental.

Running has always been a great teacher in my life and allowed me to grow as a person. I met a lot of people who inspired me. Whether I loose or fail, I get up again, look back at what I could’ve done better and start running again. I gain toughness and guts from tolerating the pain during practices.

This year was very meaningful to me. I am so lucky to have met Mr. Alvarez. I couldn’t have achieved what I did this year without him. He has given me some awesome running experiences.

This is not the end, but just the beginning. I have 4 more years of running in college and right now I don’t see limits.

So I want to say, Mr. Alvarez thank you thank you thank you so much for everything. You are my two third brother hahaha!

I won’t be sad because it’s over, I am happy for what happened and appreciate god and people who supported me.

NHL Playoffs-Lots of Drama in the Final Four

backinphillyLeave a comment

Well, when I say drama, I mean in the Eastern Conference. The Los Angeles Kings have looked like an unstoppable force in these playoffs, knocking off the favored Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues. Now, they are two wins away from a Stanley Cup birth.

The only question is, who will the Kings (probably) compete against in the Finals?

Well, let me say this, I am very biased in the Eastern Conference Finals. My favorite team is the New Jersey Devils and they are fighting against the New York Rangers, who are a sworn rival. Do I think the Devils are going to win the series? Yes, but not just because that’s my team.

The New York Rangers faced the number 8 seed Ottawa Senators in the first round and it took them 7 games to finish them off. Next, the Rangers went into 7 games with the Washington Capitals. The Devils, on the other hand, went 7 games (including an incredible double overtime game 7 against the Florida Panthers in the first round) and 5 games against the Philadelphia Flyers, who were HEAVILY favored.

The Devils have a stellar offensive attack, an average defensive unit and the greatest goalie to ever step on the ice.

The Rangers have a decent offense, a nearly perfect defense and the best goalie of the current day (The Devils’ goalie, Martin Brodeur, is 40 freakin’ years old, yet still a top tier goalie but Henrik Lundqvist is insanely talented and is far younger).

This series could go either way. But, if I had to throw down a prediction I’d say Devils in 7 games. And that would take them to the Stanley Cup Finals.

So, if my predictions are correct, the Los Angeles Kings would face the New Jersey Devils in the Finals. Winner take all. Current conference finals show the Kings leading their series 2-0 and the Devils and Rangers tied at 1-1. This is gonna get very exciting.

You can't see it, but the puck is on the other side of the goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, in the net.

CIF preliminaries!

thehungryrunnergirl2 Comments

Last Saturday was CIF Southern section division 4 preliminaries track meet at Carpinteria high school. It was pretty cold and cloudy, but perfect for running.

I ran the 1600 at 1 O’clock, and the 800 at around 3 O’clock. There were so many schools there which made me nervous. However, in the 1600 I could run my hardest and I was satisfied with what I ran. In the 800, I feel like I should’ve done better, but I think I did my best, so it’s all good.

I’d like to thank (krapyrres) and (r3t5nom) so much for coming and cheering me on. You have no idea how much it helped me and pumped me up.

Thank you so much for (thebrownguy) for taking me there and calming me down.

One more to go!

Photo credit : (r3t5nom)

Reika at CIF Preliminaries!!!

r3t5nom2 Comments

I want to start off by saying this, Reika Kijima who is a student at my school is one of the most amazing athletes I have ever had the chance to meet personally. Aside from being an impressive athlete she is also an amazing person and someone im proud to call my friend.

Saturday May 12th I had the opportunity to tag along to the CIF preliminaries with Reika, our friend Serry, and lets not forget to mention the great track&field coach and history teacher Mr. Alvarez. In my head I never expected to see the level of running that I ended up witnessing throughout the day. I saw a high school runner run the 100 meters in 10.73 seconds… that is insanity.

But truth be told we were there for one person only, we were there to support our runner girl Reika Kijima!!!

Reika left me in awe when I got to watch her drop her personal best time in the 1600M from 5 minutes 20 seconds to 5 minutes 9 seconds. It was amazing to see her do such great work, hard work which played off in the end when she placed second in her heat and earned a spot in CIF finals next coming saturday!!!!!!

Intensity and concentration are always awesome elements to witness in an athlete.

This next image to me captures everything there is between a runner and her coach, a beautiful bond that will last forever.

I’ll be there next Saturday cheering you on runner girl!!

Congrats again on such a great job, YOU’RE AWESOME!!!:)

Worst Person in Sports #20-Juan Castillo

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As many of you readers may recall, I spent an awful lot of time trashing Juan Castillo, defensive coordinator of my beloved Eagles, last season. Now, he’s back with an even more atrocious act than simply calling the wrong formations.

First round pick Fletcher Cox was criticized by Castillo during the team’s rookie minicamp. I’m not talking about a playful criticism or a little teasing to haze the rookies. I’m talking full on cursing him out. The kid is brand new to the squad, and you’re gonna start yelling at him? Probably not the right approach.

Honestly, Cox handled it like a seasoned pro, only responding with “Yes sir, I’m gonna correct it, sir.” and “I know sir, I apologize.”

Class act for a rookie, if I do say so. As an athlete myself, I should explain that when a coach gets hard on you, it’s nothing personal. It’s for an athlete to recognize a mistake and correct it themselves.

My one massive issue with this was that Cox had no idea what he did wrong, and apparently Castillo failed to explain it. That’s just bad coaching. I always appreciate when a coach has something to criticize about my style of play. I always welcome that kind of criticism. But tell the kid what he did wrong, Juan!!!!

It’s the only way he’s gonna be able to get any better. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with being a team’s first round pick.

The NFL Draft-Let’s take a look

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Well, the NFL Draft has come and gone with a lot of solid performances by some already powerful teams. The New England Patriots added some strong defensive depth, adding Chandler Jones and Donta Hightower in the first round. The Baltimore Ravens were able to add even more depth to their linebacking core, drafting Courtney Upshaw. Even the Philadelphia Eagles had a strong draft, picking up Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry and Brandon Boykin, just to name a few.

I am very excited for the new season to begin. I gotta wait until August to see them in action, since that’s when the preseason games start. I can’t wait to watch these teams go at it.

But of course, as is the case with every draft, there is always one just BAD selection.

That, my friends, was the Seattle Seahawks and Bruce Irvin.

Irvin, which I will take as my worst person #19, went into the draft as the number 99 overall player. He was taken in the top 15.

Even if Bruce Irvin turns out being this incredible football player, he would have been available in the second round and maybe even the third. Seattle shouldn’t have reached this far. Probably going to be a huge mistake for them.

Anyway, I’m pumped up, despite the Giants having a solid draft as well.

We are ready this year. I smell a Super Bowl for Philly!

Either that, or I smell the bust factor of Bruce Irvin.

Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ

therightliberalLeave a comment

It is a rare thing for a great sports car to come out that is under $30k that is front engined, RWD, and low to the ground.

But the new Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ (referred to BRZ for the sake of my fingers) is just that and from what I have heard, the best affordable sports car to come out for years.

Not only is it sexy, its quick. Sure, a 4 cylinder boxer engine is not going to have the highest top speed but it revs high and delivers power quickly.

The creation of this car was not a regular one. Toyota and Subaru teamed up which quite frankly is a fantastic choice. Toyota has a great history with small sports cars like the s2000 and Subaru makes magnificent rally cars that are reliable. Both companies have a lot of experience with small engines and small price tags.

Together they seem to have created a car that can appeal to not only gear heads like me, but anyone who likes a good looking, manual car that is quick and affordable.

I haven’t been in one or even seen one in person for that matter. But from the reviews, specs and intuition I feel that this is going to be a great car.

League final

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

Last Wednesday, the Thacher School held the final league meet for track and field. The weather was perfect for racing; cloudy but not too cold, about 68 degrees. Starting from 4 x 100m relay, which Ojai Valley School took the 2nd place! I ran the 800m, 1600m, 3200m and the 4 x 400m relay. There’s only about half an hour to 50 minutes between the events, so I had to recover as soon as possible. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but I had so much fun.

There were runners from Cate, Thacher, Providence Hall and us, Ojai Valley School. It was such an exciting meet! My favorite event was 4 x 400 relay, which was my first and last relay of the season.

Nice job OVS track team!

Thank you for all the people who came to watch and support us!