Category: sports

Rooney Come Back!

therightliberal2 Comments

Wayne Rooney has a tendency to get upset sometimes. For those who don’t know, Rooney is an English footballer who plays for Manchester United. He is known for his knack of scoring goals and his fiery attitude.

Wayne Rooney

But at this moment in time, he is scaring me. Rooney has played for the greatest team in the world, Manchester United, for a number of years now. He has been loved by the fans and by his teammates. But it seems as though he has decided that his home is no longer the place for him due to a recent row with his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

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Good ol England

therightliberal4 Comments

Today a great thing happened in the world of football. First a little background for any of you non-soccer fans (tisk tisk). England is the most cocky and absolutely unbearable country when it comes to soccer.

It has won the World Cup only once and that was when it was played at home in 1968. And yet every year the English speak of how great their team will be, and yet, almost every year they suck.

I will not deny it, they have the best club league in the world. But their international team is really not that good. In fact, the US national team finished ahead of them in the last World Cup in south Africa. The thing about the English team is that none of their players, not one, plays outside of England. This is terrible for their team and for their country.

So here is the great news: The self-titled “Greatest team ever” tied the country of Montenegro today.

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Kill The Umpire!

shredicusmaximusLeave a comment

Hello everybody, me again. As you all know from my previous blog, it is currently the MLB playoffs. It is a time of never ending drama and great theatrics and better performances. However, there has been quite the annoying trend of outcomes being marred by subpar umpiring.

Not saying this is a new trend because this has been going on since umpires have been employed. “The call” in the 1985 world series, Chuck Knoblauch‘s phantom tag in 1999. In the 98 fall classic’s game one, Mark Langston pitched a 2-2 fastball right down the pipe to Tino Martinez. Strike three, Padres get out of the bases loaded jam in a tied game, all’s well. One problem, that was ball 3. The next pitch was launched into the upper deck for a grand slam.  Yankees win, Padres lose, as was the outcome of the series.

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exciting moments

weirdjennyLeave a comment

On October 2, I have played my best football game ever. I played offense, defense, and kick return receiver.

While playing cornerback, I made some decent tackles. Tackling is always my weakest skill, but as I practice hard and gain more experience during games, I feel that I have improved my tackling skill. I have overcome my fear of hitting people, so now I just need to make sure that I am able to tackle them down when I first hit them.

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a no hitter and a good anecdote

shredicusmaximusLeave a comment

Hello one and all! It’s October, and that means three things, Halloween, Spudfest, and most of all, Major League Baseball’s fall classic. The postseason is here, and needless to say it is my favorite time of the year. Today, October 6th, the major league playoffs kicked off in grand fashion. Two Game 1 contests took place today and one (featuring my beloved Yankees) is in progress. Now, I have to mention something, even though I as a sportsman and fan hate Philadelphia sports teams, I have to tip my cap to Phillies Game 1 starting pitcher, Roy Halladay.

What did this 13 year veteran do in his first playoff start of his career? Oh nothing, except throw the second post season no hitter in MLB history. He walked one, struck out 8, and surrendered no hits. That’s pretty impressive and being that it’s in the playoffs is no exception. Today also marked the first time I rooted for Philadelphia in anything since Rocky Balboa fought Mason Dixon, but that’s another story. Any Phillie fan will tell you game 1 meant on the first day of “Doctober,” it was a Halladay in Philly.

This no hitter also meant something special for an OVS student. Sophomore John Olivo, a.k.a “the situation,” is a Phillie fan. I watched the game with him, and my friends Cameron Cuthbert, Rory Campbell, Grant Spencer, and Kyle Stephenson. Now, Kyle and John have a history. Yesterday during a dodgeball game, John tackled Kyle, and Kyle saw John coming. He straight up decked him, “lights out.” For all the trash Kyle was talking, it was pretty worth while to watch. It was both funny and unpredictable. We ordered Domino’s Pizza and were coming up with a decision as to how we were going to pay, so I make a bet. “If Halladay throws a no hitter, Kyle has to cover it all.” This meant 3 large pizzas and 3 sides. We’re boys, come on, we’re hungry. Watching Brandon Phillips ground out to Carlos Ruiz meant Kyle was paying, history was made, and the Phillies won game 1.

Plus my lady friend in Boston Stephanie is a huge Phillie fan as well. I called her after the game and she said she loved me. SCORE!

78 Year Old Shirley-It’s never too late.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

You’re always told it’s never too late, yet who believes it. Even now at the age of 16 I numerously find my self saying it’s too late. It’s one of those great excuses we begin to use, as we grow older. An excuse placed in fear of looking foolish or embarrassing ourselves, subsequently a fear of failure.

Countless times the old wise tale has been proven incorrect yet we continue to believe it.  Today that perception changed as I read the inspiring story of an O.A.P.

Before I tell the story I belief I should explain the term O.A.P. An O.A.P or old age pensioner is someone past the age of 65. In Britain this is retiring age. Once you reach this age you reap numerous benefits in order to provide care and support for you in your final years. These include free public transport, discounted prices, and of course the all important pension.

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Lost Liverpool

therightliberalLeave a comment

The soccer headlines have been dominated by the news that Liverpool and their owners George Gillet and Tom Hicks are at war. The American owners are in about £237 of debt which in about 376 million dollars. That means that Liverpool cannot buy players and because of that they are suffering.

They are in the relegation zone (or for you non soccer fans, the bottom three teams that get knocked down to the lower division at the end of the year). This has caused a major rift between the fans, coach, players and the owners. The American boys want to sell the club but they have to act quickly because the Royal Bank of Scotland, which holds the debts, will seize the club if the debts are not paid off by October 15th.

File:Liverpool FC.svg

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Crackdown

therightliberal2 Comments

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk dropped Nigel De Jong for two games due to his latest dirty tackle. This weekend while playing for Manchester City in a game against Newcastle United, De Jong went in way to hard on a tackle and broke Hatem Ben Arfa‘s leg. This is the second hard challenge that he has committed recently and gotten away with.  The first was in the final against Spain where he karate kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest and got away with only a yellow card. Nigel de Jong plants his studs into Xabi Alonso's chest

This time he goes in, breaks a player’s leg and doesn’t even get a foul called. But Van Marwijk made up for the refs mistake.

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Equine Therapy- Reigns of Hope

pikachu04Leave a comment

“Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is one of the most effective forms of experiential therapy,” according to the organization Reigns of Hope.

Reigns of Hope is an organization based in Ojai.  Julie Giove, a well-known therapist in Ojai and Ventura, is one of the leaders of this group. Equine therapy allows for a very powerful emotional relationship and connection to develop between the horse and the person.

The objective is to first establish a comfortable relationship with the horse, then proceed to touch it and lead it through an obstacle course created with objects you choose from a bucket. You then must use the objects to lead the horse through the set course without touching it with your hands. This requires a great deal of communication.

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

therightliberalLeave a comment

This Saturday I refereed 3 soccer games. I recently passed my licence test for my level 8 refereeing licence. I wanted to become a ref for the money but also for the good of the game. As I found out, refereeing is much harder than a player or a fan may think. I was refereeing girls club games, not exactly the highest level of soccer. But after 3 games of chasing the game around the pitch, making dead out sprints as well as standing around, I gained an appreciation for refs. Although I now have more respect for them, chances are I will still harass them and get red cards. But I will at least be able to acknowledge (after I have cooled down) that they were just doing their job. So many refs nowadays are looked at as being pathetic old men. This is partly true because most are old men. But without them we cannot play. We don’t have to like what they do or how they do it, but lets show them some respect for them taking all of our abuse. Any soccer player, football player or basketball player can tell you all the times they have yelled at the top of their lungs at an official. We have all had refs who don’t know which end of their whistle to blow. But without them standing out their (they don’t usually run) we don’t get to play. So let us thank them for their service, and then continue yelling at them.