COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA
B6 Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Bluehawks From B1
instead of the left and drained it for three. Robinson joined the three point parade for the Bluehawks himself as he made one from deep as well. Nathan Coppersmith posted up in the painted area for Hudson and backed down a defender to create space and make the layup. The Titans made a few shots but Robinson answered with two made free throws and a three-ball on the following possession for the Bluehawks. Wallace had a nice shortrange jumper directly over Taconic Hills’ Damian Doty that banked in off the backboard. Each team missed a shot to end the half and Hudson led, 37-24, at the break. The Bluehawks’ defense came out to compete as the third quarter began. They stayed aggressive on offense as well with Cunningham earning a bucket and the foul, and Kam Taylor grabbing a rebound off his own miss to put it back, up and in for two points. A Titans pass went out of play for another turnover as their offense struggled
Hockey From B1
years, and the heightened stakes of a gold medal promises to ratchet up the tension. “Definitely a lot of hostility out there,” Canada forward Sarah Nurse said after Tuesday’s win, which served as the next step for her team to reclaim the gold medal after the Americans won it in a shootout over their rivals four years ago in PyeongChang. “Obviously not the result wanted to get here today,” American captain Kendall Coyne-Schofield said. “Take the positives away, take the negatives and learn from it.” Among the positives: Team USA finished with 53 shots on goal, generating offense at will and controlling the puck in their rivals zone for long stretches, matching Canada’s speed and physicality from the onset. But the negatives were also glaring. The Americans went 0-for-6 on the power play, including at a decisive moment in the game when Poulin came up with a breakaway and eventual penalty shot goal with just under three minutes remaining in the second period. Team USA couldn’t
mightily in the third quarter. Taconic Hills was called for a goaltend on a Maines layup on the fastbreak, with the defender hitting the ball off the backboard as it came down. Isaiah Maines passed to Keith Robinson for another deep shot from beyond the three point line, and Robinson buried it to end the period and extend the lead to 60-27 through three quarters. Hudson stole the ball on defense to begin the fourth, and Maines took it coast-tocoast for a one-handed dunk on the fastbreak. He also got a nice chasedown block on defense for the Bluehawks. Maines threw a long pass to Cunningham shortly thereafter for a layup and the foul. Cunningham made the extra foul shot to complete the three point play. With just over 5:00 remaining, Hudson led Taconic Hills comfortably 68-38. After being held to just three points the entire third period, the Titans made a few baskets in the closing minutes of the game. Hudson was content to use up the most amount of time they could however, and were more selective with their shot attempts in the final quarter. Christian Burgos knocked
down a three pointer for the Bluehawks, and Jaheim
Mackey had a nice fake in the paint and made the layup
fully solve Canada goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, who finished with 51 saves in one of the best performances of her career. “I got some great advice when I was younger: It’s 50-50 every time you shoot the puck,” American Hilary Knight said. “You just have to keep shooting it. There’s no such thing as a hot hand or a hot streak. It’s just numbers.” The numbers for Canada weren’t as staggering; it finished with 27 shots on goal, but found its offensive rhythm after the Americans blitzed their rival with 12 of the game’s first 14 shots. Canada got on the board on just its third shot of the game. Sarah Fillier, who entered the game with five goals in the tournament, fed a puck into the crease for Brianne Jenner, who chipped the pass above Rooney into the top of the net. “We really want to focus on quality shots versus quantity . . . I think we have a big focus on Grade A scoring chances,” Nurse said. “Yeah, the U.S. got a lot of perimeter shots, but we have a stellar goaltender. So if you’re going to shoot from the outside, you’re not going to score on her.” One of Team USA’s best early chances coming after forward
Abbey Murphy flipped a backhand off the post after a steal midway through the first period - the puck deflected off the back of Desbiens and bounced off the post again before being cleared and Murphy screamed into her gloves after the missed opportunity. “That sucked. It was close. That happens,” Murphy said. “It will come.” Players from both teams had to adjust to a heightened speed and physicality they hadn’t seen in blowout wins in their three preliminary games earlier this week - Canada had outscored Switzerland, Finland and Russia by a combined 29-3, while the U.S. had beaten those teams by a combined 19-2 margin - but both teams had settled in by the second period. The United States took a brief lead earlier in the second, as forward Dani Cameranesi scored off a rebound to tie the score and Alex Carpenter added the go-ahead goal a few minutes later to give the Americans a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute after that, Canada tied the score after Jenner scored her second goal of the game, and Jamie Lee Rattray beat Rooney for the go-ahead goal with 5:35 left in the second. The United States had three
power plays in the second period but came up empty-handed on each, watching as Desbiens came up several acrobatic saves and her teammates in front blocked a number of quality shots. The dagger came as Poulin, a four-time Olympian who helped Canada win gold medals in 2010 and 2014 before 2018’s crushing silver against the Americans, blew past two Team USA defenders in the middle of the ice, including Cayla Barnes, who slashed Poulin at the end of the breakaway to try to disrupt a scoring chance. Rooney had stopped a Poulin shot at the point, but after an official called a penalty shot, Poulin glided in and deposited the puck into the lower left pocket of the net. There were only the sounds of Canada’s players celebrating inside a mostly empty arena at that point, and after the Americans were unable to keep up the frantic pace in the third period, they returned to their locker room and vowed to stew over this loss only until midnight Tuesday. Then they will turn their attention to Saturday’s quarterfinal, which will be the first step in what many expect a path back to a rematch with their rival in the gold medal game next week.
ZOEY CATLIN PHOTO
Dez Wallace scored 12 points to help Hudson defeat Taconic Hills, 73-50, in Monday’s Patroon Conference boys basketball game at Hudson High School.
ZOEY CATLIN PHOTO
Hudson’s Isaiah Maines brings the ball up the floor during Monday’s Patroon Conference boys basketball game against Taconic Hills at Hudson High School.
over his defender. Once the final buzzer went off, the Hudson Bluehawks defeated the visiting Taconic Hills Titans 73-50 as they celebrated their seniors at home and drew nearer to the Patroon Conference Tournament later this week. TACONIC HILLS (50): Rowe 6-0-12. Russo 1-35, Howard 4-2-11, Super
Mets From B1
government official. “The clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table,” read the statement. “Players stand ready to negotiate.” As far as preparing for a season that he well knows could be delayed, the 37-year-old was emphatic about his adherence to a throwing routine that he’s been using since he was 23. He also came to grips with the fact that he can’t squat anymore after several “tweaks” in his body that he noticed after trying to squat heavy amounts of weight. An overwhelming portion of Scherzer’s comments in The Athletic touched on the idea that he knows his body on an obsessive level at this point. The righty had to miss a start in last year’s National League Championship Series after “overcooking” his arm, which ironically came when the
2-2-7, Beck 4-1-9, Doty 1-0-2, Holmes 2-0-4. Totals 20-8-50. 3-pointers: Howard, Super. HUDSON (73): Maines 8-0-18, Cunningham 6-2-15, Taylor 2-1-5, Robinson 4-214, Coppersmith 2-0-4, Burgos 1-0-3, Mackey 1-0-2, Wallace 5-0-12. Totals 29-5-73. 3-pointers: Robinson 4, Maines 2, Wallace 2, Cunningham, Burgos.
Dodgers altered his routine to give him more rest, not less. The uncertainty of the coming season could be hellish for pitchers, creating what would essentially be a third consecutive unconventional year, given that ramping back up to their normal workload in 2021 after just 60 games in 2020 was unprecedented. “Things can get sideways with your arm really fast this year, and if they do, understand you’ve got to pull the parachute and get out of there; 2021 was not the year to try to be a hero,” Scherzer said. “You really have to be cautious with your arm, and not only that, (but) be cautious in 2022 as you continue to build back up.” A maniacal workout fiend -- the man describes himself as having a “no pain, no gain” type of attitude toward his offseason conditioning — Scherzer will surely show up game ready on the first day of spring training. Whether that’s in a matter of weeks or a matter of months is the dilemma.
Welcome back, Super Bowl. L.A. is where you belong Bill Plaschke Los Angles Times
Hey, Super Bowl! Welcome home. Hey, you big kooky lug of a rollicking national celebration disguised as a football game! Great to have you back. You were born in Los Angeles. You grew up here. You never should have left here. You belong here. You spent seven different occasions here, some Coliseum, some Rose Bowl, always Hollywood. It was here you set a record for attendance. It was here you watched New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms become the first person to shout, “I’m Going To Disney World.” And, yeah, of course it was here that a halftime show was performed by Michael Jackson. Welcome, welcome. Come on in. We know it’s different now. We understand. But put away those $10,000 tickets and gold-plated party passes for a sec and make yourself comfortable. We super missed you. You were created at the Coliseum 55 years ago, two years before you were actually named the Super Bowl, long before the Twitter world would have obliterated those two fellas flying around that first game wearing jetpacks. We were the first to want you. We were the first to love you, even if there were about 30,000 empty seats at your debut between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. We gave you the best football weather we
can summon, 59 degrees and clear. You gave us halftime with Al Hirt. We didn’t complain. You came back six years later when the Miami Dolphins were storming around the same Coliseum field celebrating the last unbeaten season in the NFL. You then moved up the road to the Rose Bowl five times in the next 17 years, in games featuring such iconic moments as John Madden stalking the sidelines, John Riggins storming down the field, the first nationally celebrated postgame Gatorade bath and a messy-haired Jimmy Johnson shouting, “How ‘bout them Cowboys!” We asked, how ‘bout Los Angeles as one of the rotating Super Bowl sites? We wondered, how perfect would it be to host this game every couple of years? We earned you. We deserved you. The Rams were the West Coast’s first NFL team. The Rams were the first NFL team to employ a Black player, Kenny Washington signing a contract at the Coliseum’s insistence. The Rams were also the first team to have a Black quarterback start and win an NFL playoff game, thank you James Harris. Los Angeles was the NFL at its smartest and most sophisticated and, after those first seven visits, your biggest game should have just laid down roots here. But then you, foolishly finicky Super Bowl, blew us off. The NFL left town and so did you, disappearing in the winter of 1993 and not returning for 29
RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES
A view of SoFi Stadium as workers prepare for Super Bowl LVI, on Feb. 1 in Inglewood, California.
long years, and how could you? You went to Jacksonville, yes, there’s somewhat of a stadium there. You went to Detroit, where the game-time weather outside enclosed Ford Field was 30 degrees. You went to New York, and wasn’t that an unholy mess. You went to Indianapolis, so boring. You went to Minneapolis, where your intrepid columnist suffered frostbite waiting for an Uber. You went all over the country when your rightful home was here. Then the NFL returned to Los Angeles in 2016, Rams owner Stan Kroenke spent $5 billionto build SoFi Stadium, he opened it in 2020, and, finally, you came to your senses. You came back. At last. Super Bowl LVI will be played at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13, Valentine’s Day eve, and not that you deserve it, but what a love
letter we have scripted. The Rams will be one team, only the second squad to play a Super Bowl on its home field, the manifestation of Kroenke’s investment, a star quarterback named Matthew Stafford surrounded by a glamorous and richly paid group worthy of our brightest of lights -- Sunset Boulevard meets the Red Zone. The Cincinnati Bengals will be the other team, the opposite, pesky underdogs, a kid quarterback named Joe Burrow surrounded by mostly anonymous striped helmets and a quaint little cheer that goes, “Who dey, who dey, who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals ... nobody!” Some believe that cheer was stolen from the New Orleans Saints, others believe it came from a local Cincinnati beer vendor, but no matter, it will be a worthy competitor to the
Rams’ cheer of, “Whose house? Rams house!” In keeping with this city’s Super traditions, the game featuring at least one prominent first. The Los Angeles Rams have never won a Super Bowl. Neither have the Bengals. The winners will likely cry. The losers will likely cry. Just your typical histrionics on a Los Angeles Sunday afternoon that will feel like a movie audition. This, Super Bowl, is why it’s so cool that you’re back. This soulful town fits you. It’s pulsing emotion suits you. Its perhaps the only place in America that’s not too big for you. Of course, it’s been a minute since we’ve seen you, and while you will certainly be familiar with the dramatics, you may not recognize the location. The Coliseum is nice, but now it’s run by the city’s third professional football team, known as USC. The Rose Bowl is historic, but it’s the domain of a UCLA team that nobody watches. SoFi Stadium is a different animal entirely. It’s a beauty, but it’s a beast. It’s a grandiose palace with a breathtaking video board, but it’s wedged in a cluttered corner of Inglewood where the traffic is hell and the parking is worse. You need to arrive four hours early and be prepared to pay a month’s rent for a parking spot, and even then, it could take you most of the night to exit your lot. The postgame chaos is so great, there are stories of folks attending Rams or Chargers night
games who simply abandoned their cars and slept in a local motel and drove home the next morning. Not that you’re here just for the game. In fact, since you left, you’ve become a vehicle for far more than the football field. The parties are the real guts of the Super Bowl, and for that, you’ve obviously come to the right place. From the Convention Center to Crypto.com Arena to Century Park to the Petersen Automotive Museum, the weekend will be filled with drinking and dancing and blatant mask removing. If the crowds at recent Los Angeles sporting events are any indication, an alarming number of fans ignore mask rules, including L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Gov. Gavin Newsom, both of who were photographed maskless at the recent NFC championship game. So be careful. Be safe. And if you must party, perhaps check out the one party that epitomizes the blending of Los Angeles sports and celebrity cultures. It’s called, “Shaq’s Fun House.” It’s on Friday night before the game at the Shrine Auditorium. It could be a traditional Super Bowl ripoff, but because it’s being thrown by lovable former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal, it could be fun. For a ticket that could cost as much as $1,799.99 -- rip-off alert! -- folks can attend a party that includes rap performances and carnival rides and almost-famous sightings. Welcome home.
