Category Archives: Sports

King James Comes to L.A.

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It’s a great time of the year to be a sports fan. From mid to late October is the only time of the year when all the major sports cross over at the same time for the sports “equinox”. The NFL season is well under way and the MLB World Series starts in just a few days. While the NFL and MLB are in key points of the season, the biggest sports story right now belongs in the NBA, where the season is not even one week underway and LeBron James is making his debut in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. The 16-year veteran, still in the prime of his career, has spent the last 15 years playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. The sports world went into mayhem in July when James, who many consider the best basketball player ever, signed with arguably the best organization in league history.

After a long off season of anticipation building up, James made his debut for the Lakers Thursday, in a road game against the Portland Trailblazers. Despite the Lakers’ loss, there is plenty of optimism for the rest of the season. The team had many highlights that brought an energy to the team that fans had not seen in years.

Saturday night, James played his home debut in front of Laker fans. The jam-packed Staples Center was full of liveliness as fans awaited James to take the court for the first time as a Laker. “Lakers fans, the wait is over,” said rapper and actor Ice Cube in a pre-game video played on the big screen. After announcing James for official introductions of starting lineups, the in-arena announcer was drowned out by the roar of the fans. The game ended in another loss for the Lakers, bringing them to 0-2 to start the season. But, like the first game, there were plenty of highlights exciting the fans. The game included moments of Hollywood drama with an on-court fight between the two teams. Ultimately, the homecoming for James did not end as the Lakers would have liked.

Adding James, the Lakers are looking to finish the season with a winning record and make the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The Lakers have no clear-cut second-best player to compliment James. Insiders are curious to see if the Lakers will make a move at the trade deadline to acquire another star. Others are hoping one of the young players on the team will break through and become a reliable second option. Even the Lakers acquire a “sidekick” to James, they will still have a difficult season playing in a stacked Western Conference. This is James first time playing in the west. Plenty of people are skeptical of the Lakers making a run in the playoffs. If so, it would be the first time in 8 years James would not be playing in the finals.

After five straight losing season there is life in the Staples Arena again. The Lakers may not be a top team this season. But, this season, fans are more excited than they have been in years. With Lebron James coming to Los Angeles, one thing is certain, it is now a new era of the Showtime Lakers.

Controversial Kaepernick Nike Ad

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Nike released an advertisement last week with Colin Kaepernick. It is a close up photo of Kaepernick’s face with the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” a reference to Kaepernick’s protest against police violence against unarmed black men in America by kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick, who led the San Fransisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, is a free agent who has not played in the NFL in over two years. He recently filed a lawsuit against the NFL alleging collusion to keep him out of the league. With his kneeling for the anthem a hot debate topic of the past two years, Nike likely expected this ad would lead to mixed reactions around the country. Even after making it clear he was not protesting the National Anthem itself, many are critical of Kaepernick. Many who do not support Kaepernick’s protests are now boycotting Nike. Videos surfaced on social media of people burning their own Nike shoes. Along with the scrutiny, there has been many supporters of the Nike ad, and many other professional athletes publicly state they stand with Nike.

President Trump commented on Nike’s move by tweeting “Nike is getting absolutely killed by anger and boycotts”. Nike’s stock fell by just over three percent the Wednesday morning after placing the ad. However, Nike does not appear intimidated, as their stock is up over 50 percent from last year. Nike was well aware of the criticism to come, this not their first time sponsoring controversial athletes such as Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant. A large percentage of those now boycotting Nike happen to be older people, who are not a priority market target for Nike. Many of the company’s consumers openly stand with Kaepernick.

Nike wanted to make a bold statement on where they stands on this social issue, and they did just that. Large corporations typically avoid showing their stance on political and social issues. However, Nike CEO Mark Parker has openly criticized President Trump’s immigration policies. Nike was a major topic in the media in the week after the ad. Company stock fell by about four percent in days following the ad. Despite the fall, the Nike believed this would ultimately help the company long-term. It appears Nike made a good move, as their stock hit an all time high after the initial drop.

Many who do not support Kaepernick and his decision to kneel during the anthem may now realize they have misunderstood Kaepernick’s actions. The Nike Kaepernick advertisement could be a huge step for those who don’t understand the actual purpose of Kaepernick’s protest. While there has been much buzz, some good, and some bad, one thing is clear; Nike stands with their athletes.

New Soccer Season at TAMUT

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Are you looking for things to do while you procrastinate on that homework you have? If you have school spirit and enjoy sports, then the new soccer season is perfect for you.

The Texas A&M University – Texarkana soccer program has brought in new players and lost many key players. Since the program started in 2014 for the women’s team and 2016 for the men’s, both teams have had one goal, to compete in the conference tournament. Our first home game was on September 8th against Southwestern Christian University, and the most recent was at Eagle Field against Huston-Tilliston University this week on October 4th. This Saturday October 6th, come see a double-header against Our Lady of the Lake University on Senior Day at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

With last year’s women’s soccer season coming to an end in a heartbreaking fashion, losing one to zero to rivals St. Thomas in the conference final, the women have a lot of new faces after graduating eleven players. They hope to start where they left off last season and get back into the conference tournament. They have seen the value of the graduating class after losing against Wayland Baptist and Bethel University. The team lost lots of key players, such as Lily Cardozo and Neeley Keller in the midfield. On the defensive line, the team lost Hanna Williams, Hazel Espinoza, and Ashley Bainton. On the offensive side, the team took its biggest blow, losing leading scorer Sam Sharpnack-Isom.

Juliana Summerlin goes in for a tackle against Jarvis Christian College. Photo credits to Amanda Johnson Vaughan

The women’s team has bought in new players from California such as Lesly Macias, Taylor Hale, Jacky Padilla, Sabrina Murillo, and Brittany Small. The rest of the transfers and freshmen are from Texas. These players were recruited by Coaches Don Koontz and Fallon Keller, with some help from the graduating class.  The new incoming players are seen as some of the best recruits as incoming freshman and junior transfers. Although the team has already began competing against other teams and have faced defeat, they plan on progressing throughout their season.

On the men’s side, after last season, the men lost four from their graduating class and lost many players from the Class of 2021. Last season the class of 2021 bought in twenty new players and lost more than half of those players, but for the 2017-2018 season Coach Don Koontz bought in twenty-four new players, including freshman and junior transfers. The new incoming players came from all over Texas such as Frisco, Plano, Rockwall, Austin, Houston and Dallas. With the incoming players, Koontz raised his expectations and says so far that the men have met or surpassed them.

Dalton Hinton dribbles pass a Texas College defender Photo credits to Amanda Johnson Vaughan

As the men head towards the later half of their season, they hope to pick up where they left off last year and go further to hopefully advance and make it to the conference tournament for the first time in men’s soccer history. The men hope to pick up a few early wins at home, before they start traveling more, later in the season.

Pleasant Grove Vs. Gladewater

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The Pleasant Grove Hawks took on Gladewater Bears Friday, September 21st at the Hawks stadium. Both teams started their football season with a winning record of 3-0. After facing the Hawks, Gladewater Bears continued their season remaining undefeated as they brought a well fought end to the Pleasant Grove’s 19-game winning streak.

With 2:44 remaining on the clock, Pleasant Grove Hawks, Kicker D. Williams tied the
game, 37-37 with a 40-yard field goal kick. In the last 27 seconds, Gladewater Bears Z. Tyieske returned a 25-yard fumble for a touchdown and sent Gladewater 44-37 with the win over the 4a Division II State Champions.

Pleasant Grove ended the first half with 158 rushing and 19 passing yards, with three fumbles, two recovered by the bears, four penalties, and no punts. The Hawks were led by Senior James Wiggins, scoring two touchdowns with 191 yards on 23 carries. Teammate sophomore Bruce Garrett added 144 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns.

Gladewater ended the first half with 156 rushing and 25 passing yards, with one fumble recovered by Pleasant Grove, two penalties, and three punts.

The Bears closed out the game with one safety and two defensive touchdowns.

For a recap of this game, click here.

Video courtesy of KLFI-TV.

Alfred Athletes and Carson Crossing Meet

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Bowie County Special Olympics is holding its annual local Track and Field meet on Friday, May 18, 2018 at New Boston High School. This annual event is held each year in memory of Buddy Alfred, who started the event in Bowie County and in memory of Carson, son of Special Ed teacher Connie Thompson.

The Alfred Athletes and Carson Crossing meet gives local special needs children and adults to compete in sporting events they may otherwise not be able to. The athletes are from all over Bowie County and is available for participates ages 8-99. The athletes participate in several different events; softball throw, 50-meter dash, wheel chair obstacle race, 4×100 relay, and many more.

Parade and open ceremonies start at 9:00 a.m. Some of these athletes will participate in Area on April 27-28, and go on to State on May 24-27. Both meets will be held in the Dallas area.

Residents can help these athletes by donating or volunteering. For more information on how to get involved or help, contact Mrs. Dianne Melton, coordinator and head coach, at 903-628-6551.

Infinity Martial Arts Grapples to Raise Funds

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Infinity Martial Arts prepares for its first ever grappling tournament. The tournament will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2018. The tournament will be called Take Down Battleground. The tournament is being held to help raise money for the family one of the students. The student lost a parent and the family is in need of financial assistance. Registration is $35.00 a person. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m. that Saturday at 101 S Runnels St, De Kalb, TX. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to come watch.

There will be an extra special event at the end of Take Down Battleground, called King of the Battleground. At a set entry fee of $25, any of the finalists from Take Down Battleground are able to face off for a chance to win $100. Stephanie Bunch, co-owner of the martial arts school, has been working with MMA teacher John Kim Jones to get this all set up. Allen and Micah Bunch, teachers at Infinity Martial Arts, are very excited to be hosting the tournament and having some of their very own students participating.

A silent protest with a loud message

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Dallas Cowboys team and owner lock arms in moment of silent protest on Monday September 25. Photo from ESPN.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick drew nationwide attention for not standing during the national anthem before games. His silent protest was against the oppression of people of color in light of events of police brutality. This form of protest has gained more attention since Sunday, when more players were shown with arms linked, kneeling on the field, sparking a debate over what the players are protesting and whether they should be able to protest at all.

On Monday September 25, the Dallas Cowboys team and its owner, Jerry Jones, linked arms and knelt on the field before the national anthem was played amidst jeers from the crowded arena. Jason Garret, Dallas Cowboys head coach, said in an interview with NFL Total Access they chose that moment to demonstrate for a reason.

“The biggest thing for us was to show support and to demonstrate, but do it in a way that didn’t involve the American flag and the national anthem, and everybody was behind that,” said Garret.

“The reason that I’m particularly proud of this team and the coaches that coached them, is because we all agreed that our players wanted to make a statement about unity and we wanted to make a statement about equality,” said Jerry Jones.

Jones is not the only owner to kneel with his team. Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Falcons and Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins also kneeled with their teams. Donald Trump has spoken out against the NFL, urging for a rule that forces the players to stand for the anthem and sees kneeling as a sign of disrespect on the United States rather than a silent protest for social equality. He shared his opinion through a series of tweets.

Many Americans agreed with his statements. Taya Kyle, widow of ‘American Sniper’, Chris Kyle, shared her thoughts about the issue in a letter to the NFL on Facebook. In the letter, she claims the NFL’s job was to “bring people together and heal the world” and feels that their recent protests go against that.

“You are asking us to abandon what we loved about togetherness and make choices of division,” Kyle said.

While many Americans believe the protests are disrespectful to the country, others do not. There are many Americans that understand there is a meaning behind the protests, but feel the field is not the right platform.

Zane Watson, freshman, was on the fence about the issue.

“It’s their right as human beings to represent their opinions, but those opinions can reflect badly on the organization,” he said.

Cameron Frieden, University of Iowa student, does not believe the protests are disrespectful to veterans or the flag.

“These players make millions of dollars a year to play one game on Sunday, Monday, or Thursday. It’s a distraction to the sport of football. I think they should do it on their own time and not involve the game.”

“I personally don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to kneel. I also feel like if there are etiquette rules about the national anthem, they should consider that, too,” said Kayla Biegler.

Other Americans support the protests and feel the players are within their constitutional right to protest an injustice on the field.

Olivia Okoye, freshman, supports the players kneeling. “It’s their right to kneel. If they feel that they should do it, it’s their right.”

“I think they are standing as a team no matter what race they are because it affects all races. There are all races in the NFL,” said Arlena Lightsey, freshman.

Cassie Underwood, United States Army service member, believes the players have the right to kneel because they are using their right to a nonviolent protest.

“There are many people who don’t take off a hat or stand during the national anthem, but since the football players are televised, they are scrutinized for every movement they make.”

United States Navy service member, Kevin Marshall, agrees that the players should be allowed to kneel. However, he thinks the reason for it has changed.

“The protest is no longer about social injustice. Now it’s a protest against the President,” he said. “It started with protesting the social injustices that we as people of color face every day. Now, it’s more superficial with some protesting the cause mixed in with some showing unity after disrespect.”

United States Navy veteran, Willie Black, said, “Colin Kaepernick wanted to bring attention to racial inequality and police brutality toward African Americans. After Trump’s tweets this past weekend targeting the NFL, players, coaches, and managers and owners responded peacefully.”

One Play can Change Everything

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Kevin Luthringer

Injuries have always been a big part of any sport. No one knows when and how a player could get hurt so there is no way to plan for it. More often than not an injury can derail a team especially if it happens in the postseason or the playoffs. That is exactly what has happened this year in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.

The Golden State Warriors, who broke the record of most wins in a single season by a team with a 73-9 record, saw their MVP go down not once but twice. In Game 1 of their series with the Houston Rockets, last year’s MVP and the presumptive MVP for this year, Steph Curry tweaked his ankle. He was able to return to action after missing the next two games in Game 4. As if it wasn’t bad enough seeing him go down once, in the first half of Game 4 he seemed to slip on a wet spot where an opponent had fallen just before. When he fell he hyperextended his knee which could sideline him for up to two weeks. This could have been a devastating injury, but the Los Angeles Clippers experienced worse.

In Game 4 of the Clippers’ series with the Portland Trailblazers right after Steph Curry got hurt for the second time, the Clips saw their two best players go down in less than 2 hours. The leader and point guard of the team, Chris Paul fractured his hand which would sideline him indefinitely. If that was not a big enough blow, Blake Griffin, their All-Star power forward re-injured his quad taking him out for the remainder of the playoffs.

So instead of a fully loaded 4th seeded Clipper team going up against a limp Steph Curry-led 1st seeded Warriors team, the Clippers couldn’t make it out of the first round. After the two injuries, the Clippers would go on to lose the rest of the games allowing the Trailblazers to advance to the second round against the Warriors. The Warriors team is now handling the Trailblazers fairly easy in the absence of their MVP, which most likely would not have been the case against the Clips.

Injuries are always an unavoidable part of sports, and lately it seems that they have had huge impacts on the NBA Playoffs. Either way, all we can hope for is for the stars to stay healthy for the rest of the Playoffs and an entertaining run to the Finals!

TAMUT Baseball Program Continues to Make History

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Andy Verke Jr.

The Texas A&M University-Texarkana baseball team is in its inaugural season and have already set the bar high for years to come. In its first year they have gained national recognition from social media with Kenneth Fudge’s walk off grand slam epic bat flip and against Georgia Gwinnett for having fireworks going off in the middle of game two. In addition to the fame from social media, on March 15, 2016, The 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll was released and the TAMUT Eagles Baseball team receiving four votes in the top 25. Now that may not sound like a big deal but for a first year program it shows what they have accomplished.

To put the cherry on top of the season, the TAMUT Baseball Team qualified for the A.I.I. (Association of Independent Institutions) Conference tournament as the #3 seed. Their first game will be on Saturday, May 7th at noon as they take on Edward Waters College (the #6 seed) out of Jacksonville, Florida.

All conference tournament games will be streamed on Grizzly Digital Network. Prices for streaming are $7.95 for a single game or $29.95 for the all tournament pass which includes every game.

There are eight teams in the double elimination tournament and the first, second, and third place teams will receive automatic qualifying bids to the NAIA Baseball Regional Tournament.

Congratulations to the TAMUT Baseball program and continue to make history.

Life of a College Baseball Player

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Andy Verke Jr.

5am alarm goes off, you want to hit snooze but you know you can’t because you still need to grab a snack before morning weights at 6. 5:45 am you’re in the gym stretching with the position guys because Coach Jones always says “if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late!”. It’s about 7:15 am and while people are starting to wake from their nights sleep you are in the empty cafeteria getting breakfast, showering, and getting ready for day of classes.

From 9-1pm you’re busy with classes and only 15 minutes in between each class to grab a small bite to eat. Class is done for the day but you still have to go back to your dorm room, change then head to the field for early hitting at 1:30.

For the next 3-4 hours you are dialed in on baseball and paying attention to the details. During those 3-4 hours you will have a bunt scrimmage, situational hitting scrimmage, batting practice, and conditioning. Star drills… The consequence of not paying attention to detail. So what is a star drill? It is when you start at home plate and run to the center field wall, back to home plate, down the right field line to the foul pole, across the outfield to the left field foul pole, and finally back to home in two minutes and 20 seconds or less.

It’s approximately 5:30pm and you are finally done with practice and have to head back to the dorms to get dinner, shower, and gather your things to go to the library. After your dinner you head to the library to study for test, do your homework, and complete any projects you have. It’s 11pm and the library is closing but you still have to finish some of your homework, so you go to the study room in the dorms and complete your homework for the night.

By the time you get done with your homework it’s 12:30 and you have to be up in four and a half hours to do it all again.

It takes a lot of discipline and sacrifice, but I wouldn’t change a thing.