Category: sports

How about those…BILLS?!?!?!

backinphillyLeave a comment

As I’m sitting in my hotel room in Los Angeles this past weekend with my NFL-addicted family. Football games are on and emotions fly. It was a sad sight to watch the flightless Eagles perish against the equally as ineffective Giants. But, as I have known, anything can happen on any given day in the NFL. That includes the AFC East powerhouse New England Patriots falling to the usually pathetic Buffalo Bills. The New York misfit franchise came back from a score of 21-10 to defeat the Patriots by a score of 34-31. This brings the Bills’ record to 3-0. Wait, WHAT?! THE BILLS?!?! I’m not going to complain. I am tired, as I’m sure many others are, of the Patriots winning everything year after year after year. I’m glad a team finally put them in their place. However, I never thought for one second that this team would be the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick graduated from the football “powerhouse” known as Harvard University, has led the Bills through the first part of the season with perfection. However, Harvard grads rarely opt to enter the NFL. In fact, to my knowledge, only one other player in NFL history has graduated from Harvard and played for at least 7 seasons (Matt Birk). Maybe teams should add Harvard as a college of interest when they recruit players pre-draft. Certainly seems to have worked out well for the Bills. Will it last? I don’t know. Like I said, anything can happen.

Marathon

thehungryrunnergirl2 Comments

September 12th BC 450, a Greek messenger was sent from the battlefield of Marathon (name of the city) to Athens to report that Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September that year. According to the Greek messenger, he ran the entire 42.195km(26.1miles) without stopping.

He exclaimed, “We have won” before he collapsed and died.

In 19th century, the marathon became one of the Olympic events. The marathon is one of my favorite events in Olympics. The most memorable marathon I saw on TV was in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I was in first grade. An amazing runner from Japan Naoko Takahashi won the first gold medal in marathon. She said,” It was the most enjoyable 42.195km I’ve ever ran.” She smiled and waved at the crowd. Why is she not tired? Didn’t she just run 26 miles? It was very inspirational. I wanted to start running.

Today, many marathon races are held all over the world. I see many people run and train for races.

The marathon is one of those rare events related to history. Marathon is associated with the Ancient Greeks in the name “marathon” and the distance that is run still remains the same.

Good Evening OVS Bloggers!

sennymcfly5 Comments

Gosh it’s good to be back in the blog world and the non-alcoholic Thanksgiving after party that is Mr. Alvarez’s Journalism class. Do tell! How is it going so far? I’m sure you are all enjoying it. If I remember correctly Journalism was always like a big birthday party with desks and a big white board. Unfortunately, there was no cake.

What! No cake?

But, who needs cake when you have a teacher like Mr. A? Yeah okay, so he doesn’t have sprinkles and fire cracker candles on his head and he doesn’t walk into the classroom covered in vanilla frosting…he doesn’t right? Anyway, if he were to be covered in frosting it would be chocolate flavored, not vanilla, because everybody knows that a brown guy can’t hide beneath his frosty vanilla coating.

What's Up Vanilla Face?

Okay, okay. I’m done ragging on the teacher. (Evan Cooper, you’re next!) But take what I’m about to say to heart; I don’t know any of the new teachers at OVS, but what I do know is that Mr. A, regardless of how great they are, will always be number one in my eyes. He is absolutely one of the greatest teachers and one of the greatest people (persons?) I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. I’m not even really sure if that was proper grammar. But, thankfully he wasn’t my English teacher so you’re off the hook for any mistakes I make Mr. Alvarez. You all should know that I’m proud to have been his student and so should you. Hope you guys have an amazing year. Enjoy it and take advantage of what they teach you. And absolutely absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTELY do not take it for granted because it’s going to be the best high school experience of your lives. Be well. Have fun. Don’t be late to class.

– Maddie

A Sport I Would Love To Play

r3t5nomLeave a comment

After spending a couple of hours watching YouTube videos of NCAA mens volleyball I realized that I am missing out on a sport I would truly love to play at a competitive level. Women’s NCAA volleyball is awesome to watch. The girls playing are really strong and able to hit at fast speeds and keep a game exciting and competitive. Mens NCAA volleyball on the other hand is unbelievable. Everything they do during the game is led by skill and composed of power and precision.

Mens volleyball nets stand at 7 feet 11 and a half inches tall, being 7 inches taller than women’s volleyball nets, that being because the best professional male volleyball players can jump and be waist-high on their net which would basically be up to their knees on a women’s net.

waist high on a mens volleyball net

This sport is beyond intense. I learned that a volleyball can be spiked at speeds up to 70 MPH. Attempting to bump that ball back into the air after having it spiked down at those speeds is incredibly hard.

Leonel Marshall, a Cuban volleyball player who is ranked number 7 in the Vertical jump World Records who during a volleyball match versus Brazil had a vertical jump for a spike of 50 inches.

WOW.

I would love it if OVS would allow us to have a men’s volleyball team.

OVS Football

venturatrekerLeave a comment

Today, Saturday the 24th, was the first OVS football game.  Twenty plus guys and one girl went out and fought valiantly against East Valley.

It was quite a game, and more than a few times I found myself yelling and jumping up and down as OVS players ran the ball up and down the field.

It was quite a good turnout as well, with many OVS Upper students coming down as well as many Lower School students and faculty.  I came to the game with my dad and we brought our lunches, and had a nice afternoon watching testosterone brimming boys pummel each other.

In the end, though, the mighty Spuds were defeated.  There defeat was in no part a lack of heart or effort on the OVS team.  The sweat was visibly dripping down their faces and soaking their clothes yet they never relented.  The “OVS Champions” came out the second half and really stepped it up.  A real scramble at every play OVS made East valley work for every inch or ground gained.

As OVS is a very young  team, this was the first game for many player.  Even with the clear ‘green’ of the team, they did not lack heart what-so-ever.  Many of East Valley’s touchdowns were scored merely off of errors on OVS’ part that, with the continued diligence of coaching staff, will soon be corrected, and OVS football will be a force to be reckoned with.

Calm the “!@$ DOWN!

bedghostLeave a comment

I was just thinking to myself that tomorrow is the first game football game of the season. I’m not on the team, but this point got me thinking. How did I used to feel before a game? (I use to play soccer). And then I remembered That unforgettable feeling.

That feeling that burns your stomach, that feeling that keeps you awake, that feeling that never lets you sleep before a game… Pre-game nervousness. This is the feeling of the devil. The one that can ruin countless practices before a big game or performance. The key for me to overcome this burden, Is to stop right before the show starts and say to myself. “Calm the F%$! Down”. It works 80% of the time. The other 20% you just have to wing it and hope for the best.

If all else fails click here.

The Crying Game…No really

backinphillyLeave a comment

After a heated game between the St. Louis Rams and the New York Giants, Rams players are complaining that the Giants faked not one but two injuries in order to receive a timeout from the officials instead of wasting one of their own. In the NFL, if a player appears to be having difficulty leaving the field of play after an injury and is unable to walk to the sideline on his own, the officials call a timeout which stops the clock so the medical staff can attend to the fallen player, or in this case, players. Now, I am not a Giants fan in any way, shape or form. In fact, I hate them. But, the players need to understand that the NFL is nothing more than a glorified business with pads and hitting. However, even as a strong supporter of hating the Giants, I don’t believe any injuries were fake. Maybe it just a cramp but it’s still an injury.

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Doesn’t look fake to me. What’s your thought?

Dreams Really Do Come True.

backinphilly3 Comments

I’m sure a lot of people have seen the numerous articles regarding the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Dream Team accusation, like this interview. As a strong Philadelphia Eagles fan, I stand behind Vince Young‘s thoughts that the Eagles are in fact a dream team. For starters, the Eagles acquired All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to strengthen a weak pass defense.

This pickup was my favorite due in part to my extreme admiration of Asomugha. I remember when NFL Network was covering each team pursuing Asomugha. When the network announced that in fact the Eagles signed him, I started running around my house screaming “WE GOT HIM WE GOT HIM!!!” I ran outside, yelled to my family members, scared my dog because of all the noise, and then pinched myself because I thought it was all a dream. About an hour later, after I calmed down, I realized that the Eagles were taking aim on a prize far greater than anything they had ever accomplished.

Isn’t it beautiful? A roster boasting as much talent as the Eagles is sure to finally capture an NFL championship, right?

Yes, because talent always wins. Hopefully, the Eagles will be able to accomplish what the Miami Heat could not.
Little early huh?

Not 1, not 2, not 3, but maybe none. All Philly needs is one.

We won!

rangerthecat1 Comment

There is nothing better than having the best team mates, a supportive coach, and a team spirit that will stay strong no matter what the outcome of the game.
That being said, there is one thing that can make it feel a whole lot better: Winning.

Saturday, September 17th was the first girls varsity volleyball game.

Walking down to the field, ready to set up the courts and play, I had many mixed feelings about the game in my near future. I thought, since we only had a little over a week of practice, that we would suck. I mean really, I knew Midland wasn’t the best volleyball team, but I thought we were going to lose so badly.

But, as six individuals stand on the court, there is some strong bond that makes us all one. Sounds cheesy, but really, I feel like that’s what happened.

Before I knew it, my prediction from a few hours ago had been completely flipped around. We kicked their butt!

And it felt so good!!!!!!!!!

My doubts for the rest of the season have disappeared. I have so much more confidence in myself and the rest of my team than I had before. I really think this is going to be an amazing season, and hopefully we have a lot more of these victories in our future.

New life

thehungryrunnergirl1 Comment

Moving from New England, this is my first week in California. Man, this place is just so awesome. Palm trees, beaches, mountains, sunny weather… I’m just really lucky to be here.

Compared to California, New England was just not for me. Sixteen-hour flights from home, feeling very far away from my family. In winter, there would be so much snow, and blizzards. I couldn’t go outside and run, and that was the worst part of being there. All I could do was to shut myself up in the room studying. The highest temperature will be 32°F and the lake right by my old school freezes and turns into a skating rink. It was very pretty…

but I prefer palmtrees and beaches.

I’m so lucky to come to Cali, and OVS. I appriciate my parents and teachers, especially (thebrownguy) for bringing me here.

I’m very stoked for this year, and can’t wait to get to know more people.