Category Archives: Sports

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Posted on by
1

Laney Davis

Most people in December are dreaming of a beautiful Christmas tree, presents filling up the house, and the smell of pies and cakes coming out of the oven. This may seem familiar to you. As for cowboys and cowgirls in December, they dream of something a little different. Cowboys and cowgirls dream of Vegas lights, gold buckles, and the smell of arena dirt.

Starting December 3 through December 12, there will be 10 rodeo performances in Las Vegas, Nevada. This grand rodeo is called the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association holds over 600 rodeos throughout the year, and only the top 15 competitors in each event at the end of the rodeo season can qualify for the WNFR. The PRCA has been producing rodeos since the 1920’s making it the oldest rodeo association. The PRCA is also the largest rodeo association.

At the WNFR there will be 8 events: Bareback Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Bull Riding, Tie-down Roping, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping, Barrel Racing, and the crowning of Miss Rodeo America. The cowboys and cowgirls competing come into the competition ranked first to fifteenth by their money earnings from this year. As they compete each night they have the opportunity to earn more money placing them higher in the rankings.

The cowboy and cowgirls can earn many titles at the WNFR. Each night they have to opportunity to win the round with either the fastest time or the highest score. They can also win the “average” and a gold buckle at the end of the 10 day rodeo stretch by having the best cumulative scores or times. They can also win the biggest title of all, World Champion, by earning the most money throughout the whole rodeo season including the money that they won at the WNFR.

There are many ways to be a part of the impressive rodeo. Much like professional football or baseball there are fantasy leagues you can compete in. You can also go to Las Vegas and enjoy the rodeo live and meet the professional cowboys and cowgirls. Lastly, you can watch from the comfort of your couch in awe of these professional athletes.

For more information on the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo visit:

http://nfrexperience.com

or

http://prorodeo.com

Talladega Superspeedway

Posted on by
Reply

Leslie Arietta

Ladies and gentlemen start your engines! The crowd is loud and the race is about to begin. Grab a seat and watch the show because we have 200 laps to go!

November 13th on our way home from Georgia our women’s Eagles soccer team bus took a detour in Lincoln, Alabama. “What could possibly be in the small city of Lincoln, AL?” was my exact thought. The bus pulled up to the Talladega Superspeedway. The view from the bus was jaw dropping. The speedway was huge and made me feel like I was an ant next to a human.

At the Talladega Superspeedway they charge an eight dollar tour on the track, a twelve dollar museum/hall of fame tour or sixteen dollars for both. I was fortunate enough to do the tour on the track.

We got on the tour van and we began going through the north tunnel of the race track. The same tunnel the motor homes and race cars come through. As we were going around the track the tour guide was presenting fun facts about the Talladega Superspeedway. The maximum speed is 200 mph on the race track. As we go around the track we pass four of the turns that are 4 stories tall. The average speed to stay on the turn is 90 mph if not then gravity will kick in. In the middle of the race tracks is a grass field and that is where the overnight campers can stay for the race. As we cross the finish line to the left was Gatorade Victory Lane, which is the area where the winner of the race stands.

Spending eight dollars for the tour around the Talladega Superspeedway was a once in a lifetime experience for me. Being a girl from California I have been blessed to explore many states since I have been in Texas. If you are ever in Alabama I would suggest making a pit stop at the Talladega Superspeedway.

ec09d152-27dd-4301-951e-0a08098fb2b0

Talladega Superspeedway-Lincoln, Alabama

The Razorbacks stun the Tigers with a 31-14 Upset!

Posted on by
Reply

Percy Davis

Razorback Alex Collins rushing through LSU defenders. Photo credited to Gerald Herbert.

Razorback Alex Collins rushing through LSU defenders. Photo credited to Gerald Herbert.

November 14, 2015 the Arkansas Razorbacks shocked the world with an upset victory against the # 9 LSU Tigers. The Razorbacks came out rolling early, scoring on a 52-yard pass from Brandon Allen to Dominique Reed. The first quarter ended with the score at 7-0, Arkansas leading.

In the second quarter the Razorbacks kept the momentum going, scoring on an 80-yard rushing touchdown by Alex Collins. LSU couldn’t get anything going and kept turning the ball over on downs. Shortly after that Alex Collins scored another touchdown on a 5-yard carry. This put the Razorbacks ahead of the Tigers 21-0.

The Tigers scored before the first half of football ended but it wasn’t quite enough to win the game. The Razorbacks won the game 31-14 giving the LSU Tigers their second loss back to back. Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette struggled once again, only rushing for 91 yards on 17 carries and scoring one touchdown. The Razorbacks running back Alex Collins finished the game with 141 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.

The Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris was sacked five times, finishing the game with 271 yards on 21 completions out of 35 and one touchdown. The Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen had 141 passing yards and added two touchdowns to help his team get the victory over the Tigers.

Needless to say it was not a pretty day for the LSU Tigers in their home stadium, now referred to as Death Valley.

TAMUT Eagles Soccer Advance to Semi-Finals

Posted on by
Reply

Andy Verke Jr.

The Texas A&M University-Texarkana women’s soccer team took the field against #4 seed Fisher College (Boston, MA) yesterday in its first ever post-season match. The Eagles were in complete control from start to finish, scoring a total of 7 goals in the match.

Fallon Keller (JR/Bakersfield, CA) opened up the scoring fest in the 10th minute (1-0). Keller’s goal was the 1st post-season goal in TAMUT soccer history. At the 24:55 minute mark, Arika Elliot (SO/Washington, MO) also took part in the scoring fest by drilling a long distance shot into the back of the net (2-0). A little less than a minute later Fisher College finds the back of the net making the score 2-1. Since the goal by Fisher College, the Eagles did not look back. The Eagles Emilee Bybee (FR/Keller, TX) would put in a goal of her own off an assist from Fallon Keller and Samantha Sharpnack-Isom (3-0). Bybee’s goal would be the last of the first half.

At the half, TAMUT led Fisher College 3-1.

The second half wasn’t any different from the first half. At the 55:57 minute mark, Leslie Arietta (SR/Fresno, CA) provided a great ball for Jena Arreola (SR/San Jacinto, CA) who found the back of the net (4-1). Michelle Lee (FR/Frisco, TX) also found the back of the net in the 61st minute (5-1). Sharpnack-Isom put one past the goalkeeper after receiving a great cross by Alyssa Ybarra (FR/San Antonio, TX) in the 69th minute (6-1). Erin Almengor (FR/Bakersfield, CA) finished the scoring fest in the 83rd minute. Almengor’s goal was her first ever goal as an Eagle.

Arika Elliot was pleased with how the team stating, “It was a great start to our first post-season appearance in the school history and I think we made a statement. It was a total team effort with 7 different goal scorers”.

TAMUT Eagles will face the top rank Ashford today at 3 p.m. central time. The winner of today’s game advances to the A.I.I. Soccer Championship game. You can watch the live stream of the game at the Georgia Gwinnett Athletics page for single game or a tournament pass at a cost or you can follow the game for a live play-by-play feed.

Crimson Tide Hands LSU Tigers 1st Season Loss

Posted on by
Reply

Percy Davis

Alabama's Derrick Henry runs through LSU defender.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry runs through LSU defender. Photo credited to Dave Ozment.

November 7, 2015 was the day many LSU and Alabama fans were awaiting. This rivalry has been going on since 1865 with LSU getting the first victory over Alabama. Although LSU won the first game, Alabama has won 50 of the 80 games played since, with LSU winning 25 and the other 5 draws.

Saturday with the Alabama Crimson Tide hosting, they beat the LSU Tigers 30 – 16, giving the Tigers their first lost of the season. Coming into the game LSU had the upper hand with the top leading rusher Leonard Fournette. He has rushed for 1,383 yards with 16 touchdowns through only 8 games.

Fournette was smothered by Alabama’s defense led by coach Nick Saban, rushing for only 31 yards on 19 attempts. Before this game his lowest yard total was 154 yards against Western Kentucky.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry on the other hand rushed for 210 yards with three touchdowns on 38 carries. Alabama’s quarterback Jake Coker played well passing for 184 yards and completing 18 of his 24 passes thrown.

The first quarter of football was a defensive game with neither team scoring. In the second quarter the Crimson Tide got on the board first with a 22-yard field goal by Adam Griffith. The Tigers then turned the ball over on downs and the Crimson Tide went down and scored a 2-yd rushing touchdown by Derrick Henry.

With the score 10-0 at this point the Tigers knew they needed to put some points on the board before the game got out of reach. The Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris went down and threw a 40-yd touchdown to wide receiver Travin Dural making the score 10-7.

Alabama got the ball back and turned it over on downs and the Tigers marched down the field and settled for a 39-yard field goal by Trent Dominque. The score was now tied at 10-10 and the LSU Tigers started to regain their confidence from being down 10-0. Alabama, not wanting to lose the momentum, marched down the field with time running out and kicked a 55-yard field with only 14 seconds left on the clock. Going into halftime the score was 13-10 Alabama’s way and most people would have thought we had a good game on our hands.

In the third quarter the Crimson Tide was rolling! With the Tigers getting the ball at halftime, Brandon Harris came out and threw an interception on the first play of the half. This was Harris’s first interception on the season and it was definitely a game changer. Alabama scored 14 points in the third quarter to LSU’s 0 points making the score 27-10 entering the fourth quarter.

The Tigers scored one touchdown in the fourth quarter and Crimson Tide added a field goal to their score. Ending the game at 30-16 with Alabama Crimson Tide coming out on top giving the LSU Tigers their first loss of the season.

Eagles Soccer Advances to A.I.I. Tournament

Posted on by
Reply

Andy Verke Jr. 

On Monday, November 2, the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Eagles soccer team received the news that they will be making an appearance in their first ever post season tournament. The team set off for Lawrenceville, GA this week to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Women’s Soccer Conference tournament. The TAMUT Eagles team drew the number five spot in the tournament.

The Eagles made school history by advancing to the A.I.I. Women’s Soccer Conference Tournament in only its second year of existence. Last season, the Eagles were not postseason eligible as it was their first season with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Eagles finished the 2015 season with a record of 9-5-1.

TAMUT Eagles will play their first game on November 11 against Fisher College at 3:50pm EST. All games will be live streamed through the Georgia Gwinnett athletics page.

All games will be played at the Grizzly Sports Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

TAMUT Eagles Soccer head off the Lawrenceville, GA.

TAMUT Eagles soccer heads to Lawrenceville, GA

 

High School District Champs

Posted on by
Reply

Alyssa Bertrand

Becoming district champs is a good feeling to have for the local high school, Liberty-Eylau. Friday night, November 6, 2015, LE took on the Princeton football team and won the title district champs as well as having the honor of carrying the traveling trophy for the city.

This last Friday night, LE hosted Princeton at Harris field. For the first half, the crowd was afraid the leopards were going to lose the title, but maybe they realized what was at stake and the team put themselves into overdrive, and pull through and able to take the win. On one of the last plays, a leopard runs the ball all the way to the end zone and flips to make the last touchdown good.

LE is one of the local high schools that have had a rough time over the years to gain the respect of rest of the town. Lately, the community has come together to support one of the local high schools.

After a big win for a school district, everyone says that is takes a good five years to build the team back up to where they are a good solid group. I believe that this is their year. The players work as a team and the coaches are guiding them to victory.

The LE leopards will be traveling to Pine Tree to battle Van for the next stop in playoffs. All local schools are actually made it to the first round of the playoffs this year.

If you can, make your way to Pine Tree to support a local school fighting to make it to the next round.

NBA Opening Night 2015-16

Posted on by
Reply

Anthony Hamilton

When I was younger, basketball was life for me, and despite playing in high school and college, the NBA season was, and still is my favorite time of year as far as sports are concerned; that’s when I get to watch my lifelong favorites; The Chicago Bulls as they begin their quest for the championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I have also been a big fan of sports bars since my active duty Navy days, when we had the Super 8 Sports Bars on many of our bases. Opening Night was always a major draw for them. This time, my opening night would be spent at Buffalo Wild Wings, with an old friend from Rayville, Louisiana, who happened to be in town doing some contract work at the Texas Walmart Super center.

I was surprised that there weren’t more people at Buffalo Wild Wings on opening night, but for me, the lure of watching the game on the huge televisions while working on a plate of wings and fries was, as the old saying goes, an offer I couldn’t refuse.

The major story lines pregame were that LeBron James had missed a major portion of the preseason to rest a back injury, and hometown hero Derrick Rose, was also injured, having suffered a fractured eye socket in the Bulls’ first practice, courtesy of an accidental elbow from a teammate, however, both vowed to be ready, and both played. There was also a very distinguished visitor at courtside, as President Obama returned to Chicago to watch the game.

The game was a normal opening night game. The teams are usually not sharp, and in the Bulls case, a new head-coach and coaching staff, and a new philosophy of playing the game is a recipe for sloppy play. For those of us who follow the Bulls, it was very evident that they are still learning the new offense. They weren’t very good offensively  at all.

The game did end up being very competitive, and in the end, the trademark defense saved the day as Pau Gasol blocked a layup attempt by James to preserve a 97-95 win over the defending Eastern Conference Champions. It’s only one game, but there is a sense of excitement about the forthcoming season. Here’s to hoping that the tradition of good, entertaining basketball continues this season.

Eat.Sleep.Soccer

Posted on by
Reply

Leslie Arietta

“It’s about pride; in ourselves, in our school. It’s about our love and passion for the game. And when it’s all over; when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can call ourselves…. Student Athletes.” – Quotesgram.

Being a student athlete is a life challenge. You have to be willing to stay self-disciplined and spend majority of your summer preparing for preseason not just for yourself, but for your team. You might just regret it if you are not in shape before preseason. My sport is soccer, which is during the fall so you have to be prepared to arrive two weeks early before the fall semester begins for preseason or “hell week” as athletes like to call it. During preseason my life is eat, sleep, and soccer. Sometimes I forget what a social life is during the time because my life is revolved around soccer for those two weeks until school is in session.

There is more to a student athlete than just winning the championship game or going professional. We are students before we are athletes. We choose to go to college because we want a degree. We want to be prepared for the future and learn how to excel on the field and in the classroom. We could never be athletes if we did not succeed in the classroom. We are no different than any student — we are all here for the same reason, but we have a passion for the sport we play and cannot let go of it yet. Sometimes being an athlete is our motivation for being a student. Without the grades we could not even step foot on the field or the court. Some people believe we get it easy in the classroom and get excused for missed assignments or tests, but in reality we have to work for our grades just like everyone else attending the university.

Five tips that have made me a successful student athlete many should follow: 1.) Introduce yourself to the professor at the beginning of the semester. 2.) Always sit in the first two rows of the classroom so you do not get distracted. 3.) Notify your teachers ahead of time when you will be away so you can complete any assignments you will be missing. 4.) Attend your study hours. 5.) Remember that being a student always comes before being an athlete.

Student athletes spend the majority of their time on the bus traveling. Sometimes the bus is our classroom, bedroom, and sometimes film room.  The bus is an athlete’s mobile home because we travel with our school work and bring our pillows and blanket for the long ride. If athletes are not studying on the bus we are usually sleeping or getting prepared for our game. We spend late nights on the bus and sometimes multiple days to get to our destination.

There are benefits of being a student athlete, but we are never handed anything without working for it. We earn our success on the field and in the classroom but there is always room for improvement. Being a student athlete has been a challenge, but at the end of the day we do it for the life lessons, the experience, and for our fans. We focus in the classrooms to get our degrees and we focus on the field to get our championship. This is what it takes to be a student-athlete and at the end of the day, it is all worth it.

Ambling to Grambling

Posted on by
Reply

Anthony Hamilton

It was a rainy and gloomy day, yet the weather would not stand in the way of the Homecoming road trip to Grambling State University.

Those familiar with Black College Football know that the SWAC is one of the power conferences, and Grambling is one of the meccas. The Grambling State Tigers are (this year) the top team in the conference. Before the big game however, there was the 3 hour drive to GSU to attend the homecoming festivities.

I arrived in Grambling, Louisiana at about 10:30am. When I got there, the homecoming parade was already in full swing. There were floats, area high school marching bands as well as the world renown GSU Marching Tiger band, as music filled the streets of Grambling. There was also a bit of a car show mixed in, with music booming out of car systems as well. Despite the gloomy weather, a large number of people were on hand enjoying the festivities.

I’ve attended homecoming and normal games at Eddie Robinson stadium, and one of the great aspects of attending the Tigers’ games is tailgating beforehand. This day would be no different. While I didn’t partake in any grilling, I enjoyed the atmosphere provided by the music, and I was able to connect with family and friends from Northeast Louisiana that I hadn’t seen in years.

As game-time was approaching, I could imagine head-coach Broderick Fobbs worrying about his team having a letdown after last weekend’s game, a very exciting, emotional, comeback one-point victory over Alcorn State in overtime, courtesy of a blocked extra-point. That game was dubbed a preview of the SWAC championship game in December, and it lived up to all the pregame hype.

On this day, however, Coach Fobbs had nothing to worry about, as his team was razor-sharp from the opening kickoff. Grambling took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, and then, courtesy of a 21-point second quarter, the game was out of reach by halftime as Grambling led 35-7. After taking a 42-7 lead into the fourth quarter, Coach Fobbs put his young players in to finish the game, which would be won by Grambling 49-14 on the strength of quarterback Johnathan Williams, son of former NFL quarterback Doug Williams. Williams passed for 225-yards and 2 TDs. Running back Jestin Kelly also had a big day, rushing for 159-yards on 18 carries.

For fans of GSU football, it was a great day from homecoming festivities all the way through the game, and we couldn’t have scripted a better ending.