Accelerate by LASA Ezine

Letter From the Editors Dear Readers,

As the writers from Accelerate, we want to reach out to all of you sports lovers to teach you guys about LASA sports, including activities such as football, swimming, soccer and Ultimate (frisbee). We would also like to teach you about other aspects of the sports world around us such as national and international sports like football and soccer. You can also test your knowledge about them if you want! We hope that you enjoy reading our magazine.

- The Accelerate Team ACCELERATE

page 1

Letter from the Editors

page 2

Table of Contents

page 3 page 4

Bio Page GOAL!..or Not?

page 6

The Case for Instant Replay

page 8

Bush Running for Splendor

page 10

Swimming with Gautam

page 13

Flying with the Frisbee

page 16

The Wide Receiver

page 18

Frisbee Fate

page 20

Faceoff: Ronaldo or Messi?

page 22

The College Football Quiz

page 23

Art Credit

page 24

Awesome Pictures

page 25

The College Football Quiz Answers

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Adam K This kid is a beast... in soccer, video games, and getting chicks. He makes all A’s except for a few B’s, and he is just awesome. You will probably never meet anyone as awesome as this kid, and you know it. He likes to eat spaghetti, and hamburgers 24/7 and he also likes doughnuts! He loves to go to H-E-B, target, and of course, GAMESTOP. He loves COD, and stuff like that.

Henry B Henry, also known as Squinty, is a really awesome Asian kid who loves to make people happy. He has on a wide smile everyday when he walks into class, and he is ready to LEARN. We all love Henry. Henry is also one of those sporty athletic kids who knows how to get the chicks. He’s a JOCK. Besides doing well in football, he kicks big boi butt in school.

Breese B Breese, is known by many as Champ. He is one heck of a short kid but that is what everyone loves about him. Besides the fact that he is really short, he is also very caring, lovable, and still very tiny. He is a swimmer, half Mexican and a BAMF (and small). However, we love him because everyone my think he’s small but he’s good at everything he tries.

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Many soccer officials of FIFA have been conversing on the topic of some sort of goal line system to be put in soccer, but should it be goal line technology or goal line referees? By: Adam K

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ngland versus Germany, World Cup 2010. Frank Lampard takes a shot from the outside of the box. It hits the underside of the bar and comes down, as German keeper Manuel Neuer dives desperately to keep the ball from crossing the line, but he doesn’t succeed. The ball goes over the white painted grass but the referee Jorge Larrionda waves his arms in a crossing motion as if to say “no goal”. There’s an uproar of anger from the England fans, and a sigh of relief from the Germans. The ball had clearly crossed the line and went at least a meter in. Would this have gone England’s way with a type of goal line system? Maybe, but fifa should start preventing these kinds of calls from happening ever again on the international stage or the on the club level. The real question is: Should we have goal line technology or goal line referees? The Latter seems like the more practical answer right now. Goal line refs can help prevent controversial calls when it comes to goals, offsides, and handballs, while keeping the same traditional feel to the sport. The International Federation of Football Associations or FIFA is proposing a plan that will consist of there being one referee standing next to each goal. If the ref can’t tell if the ball has crossed the line or not, the refs will be there to tell him if it did. This would be very effective due to the fact that it will help prevent anger from both the players and the crowd. In other words, it will make the game much more fair. This also solves the issue of controversial calls but it also keeps the same “traditional feel” or as other people call it the “human feel.” Jonathan Ford of the Football Association of Wales talks about the “human Feel”: “The human aspect of football is essential to this sport,” Ford says. “The big moments in this sport – whatever they are – get supporters talking and go down in history. That’s what makes this sport so vibrant.” The calls made by the referees are what makes the game so exciting, so if we had technology inputted to the game the ref would want to make sure every call was right (whether its about a goal, tackle, or handball). Some people might say that adding more refs to the game will increase the chance of human error, or that it wont make a single improvment to the game, but we have had human error the whole time that we have played soccer, so it doesn’t make that much of a difference than the way we have been playing the game. Also, it has been proven in the Europa league that referees on the goal line decrease the chance of faulty calls made by the referees. The real issue is making the game more fair for the teams, and referees in soccer need all the help they can get.

Goal line technology has a lot of set backs that come with it. It will make the game much longer, it is too expensive for all the poor clubs to afford, and it will take away the traditional feel from the game. A regular soccer game is already pretty long at 90 minutes and if we introduce goal line technology then the referees will want to go and make sure they got every call that they made right. It will turn into a stop start situation as FIFA Secretary General Je-

German keeper Manuel Neuer is clealrly beaten by Lampards shot, but this goal isn’t counted.

A goal line referee in the Europa League match, Everton vs. AEK Athens

rome Valcke and Jonathan Ford have both said. “If we introduced technology for goal-line situations, then why not use it for other situations?” said Valcke. “Use it for offsides and contentious moments and you end up with video evidence. That’s not what was decided. We want to keep the game as it is.” Ford echoed those thoughts: “We don’t want the game to be interrupted countless times.” This will make the game at least an hour longer, while also tiring out

the players and making the game really boring. Soccer is meant to be fast-paced and filled with excitement, that’s what’s so unique about the sport and that’s why so many people love it. Lastly, the biggest obstacle in FIFA’s way to checking off goal line technology is that they believe that technology takes away the originality of Soccer. It will make the game more like American Football, or baseball as in terms of adding goal line video technology or having the refs conduct every moment of the match, and FIFA don’t want that. Goal line technology is too expensive and modern for the game. According to FIFA only 10% of all teams can afford it. That is nothing considering that there are so many different clubs. If you give one team the advantage of this technology, than every team in that league will also need it so that things can stay fair.That is financially impossible. The equipment definitely costs thousands, or even more, and clubs in countries like Africa and Asia are too poor to afford any of this. Sepp Blatter of FIFA stated that soccer is a game that is “Universal,” meaning that the game should be played the same way everywhere.Also it just seems like its changing the sport so fast. One minute were wondering and speculating about a call that a ref made, and than the next minute were seeing the refs go and look through camera. Goal line referees can do the same exact things that technology does except on a more global scale, while keeping the same fun feel that soccer has always given us. Goal line referees are the right choice. So overall, goal line referees seems like the best choice for FIFA at the moment. Goal line technology is accurate but costs too much, takes away the human feel, and increases the game time by a lot. On the other hand we have goal line referees. They help the referee out and increase the chance for much more accurate calls. Do we want anything happening again on the world stage as we saw in the 2010 world cup, do we even want any more silly mistakes in club matches? No, so adding goal line referees will fix all of this, while preventing video technology from taking over the sport.They might introduce some sort of goal line implement in the 2014 world cup, but were just going to have to wait and watch.

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By Breese B

With increasing numbers of bad calls made in Major League Baseball its time to rethink the issue of instant replay.

he NHL, NBA, and NFL use it. Even tennis uses it. It’s prevented mistaken calls and has often saved the game. Major League Baseball needs to catch up with 21st century. It needs to throw instant replay into the picture. The MLB has a history of bad calls that has plagued it for years. It can fix this problem by implementing instant replay technology for umpires to use so that they can review the plays just like the fans watching the game at home on the television. Because of human error there is a history of bad calls in the MLB. In the 1985 World Series the Cardinals and the Royals were playing in Game 6. The Cardinals led the series games 3 to 2 and if they won this game than they would win the World Series. In the bottom of the 9th inning Jorge Orta hit a ground ball to the first baseman who threw it to the pitcher who was covering first base while the first baseman fielded the ball. Orta was clearly

The Washington Nationals argue with the umpires after a controversial call is made.

And during this summer pitcher Armando Galarraga would have become the 21st pitcher to throw a perfect game. However umpire Jim Joyce called Jason Donald safe on first base even though it was clear that he was out. Armando Galarraga will probably never pitch a perfect game again and so he will not make history. If there was instant replay implemented in

A fan watching a baseball game on television can see the instant replays broadcasted by the television stations. Shouldn’t the umpires get the same benefit of technology as the fans watching the game? Fans know when an absurd call is made by the umpire thanks to instant replay and if an umpire makes a bad call he will probably not be able to live that down. He will always be known as the umpire who blew that call. The umpires should get some help from technology so that they won’t have to deal with that problem. If everyone is already seeing instant replay it would make sense for the umpires to use the technology that is already implemented in the game. People also say that if the MLB implements instant replay then the games that are already long will be even longer. But the sacrifices we would have to make for instant replay would be very small and the benefits would be very good. For example, in April the Boston Red

“I have seen some calls this year that just — that curl your hair.” - Former Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning out. But Don Deringer called him safe. Because of this awful call the Cardinals lost the game and eventually the World Series. If Deringer could have used instant replay then Orta would have been called out and the Cardinals would have won the game. 0

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baseball then those awful calls would not have been made and history would have been much different. Baseball has the worst missed call rate with a 20% rate of failure on close calls. Instant replay would remedy that problem and bring the rate of succes way up from a measly 80%.

Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays took over four hours to play nine innings. Experts estimate that with instant replay the awful umpiring in the game could have been sorted out in about 45 minutes.All other major sports in the US use instant replay. The NHL uses instant replay to see if the puck went into the goal. The NBA uses it

From Left to Right,Top to Bottom: Red Sox coach Terry Francona gets ejected for arguing with the umpire, Bobby Cox argues with the umpire on a bad call, Manny Ramirez yells at the umpire after he gets called out on a bad call.

to see if buzzer beater shots really beat the buzzer. Calls made by tennis referees can be challenged by the tennis player and they will use instant replay to see if the ball was out or anything like that. And on any controversial call in the NFL the referees use instant replay to tell if they made the right call. But the MLB is missing from the picture. And because of this they have the worst close call failure rate at 20%. With instant re-

play the success rate on close calls would shoot up from 80% to about 99%. However the MLB refuses to catch up with the other sports leagues and 21st century technology. But MLB comissioner Bud Selig likes the human element of umpiring in baseball and so he refuses to accept the use of technology as an aid to umpires that need help on their calls.The MLB should implement instant replay technology for a number of reasons. The close call success

rate is a dismal 80% because of human error, the fans already use instant replay when they watch the games at home, and all other major sports in the US use instant replay. With all of these reasons for instant replay it is a nobrainer that Bud Selig needs to implement instant replay into Major League Baseball.

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Bush was a great running back in college while he played at USC so he deserves to call himself the Heisman Trophy Winner of 2005 By: Henry B

umber 5, takes the hand off and runs towards the goal line. The player in the bright red jersey in front of him knocks a would-be tackler to the ground as he runs down the sideline to the endzone. He spins around another defender and dives into the endzone for a touchdown. Reggie Bush has used his legs to score another touchdown, a trait that will one day make him a legendary football player. Reggie Bush lost his Heisman Trophy because of his apparent ineligibility to play football. It is against NCAA rules for a college player to accept a gift from anyone because players are also studying in college and accepting a gift could sway them into leaving college early. He is suspected to have accepted gifts from two marketers. Bush accepted the money from the marketers to help his family. Reggie Bush fairly won the Heisman Trophy despite accepting money and it taken away. After all, no amount of money affects the outcome of the vote for the Heisman Trophy.

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Many other NCAA football players have received money as NCAA athletes and broken NCAA rules, but few have received repercussions like Bush has. For example, Charles Barkley, a NCAA basketball player accepted money from marketers just like Reggie Bush did. However, Barkley didn’t receive any of the repercussions that Bush has for the same violations. Reggie Bush may have violated NCAA rules, but he was still a great running back. He led his team and the Pac10 multiple times in rushing yards and was picked as the second player in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft. Reggie Bush was the best college football player of the year, which is what the Heisman Trophy recognizes, so he deserves the right to call himself the Heisman winner of 2005. Reggie Bush won many collegiate football awards including the Walter Camp Award and the Doak Walter Award, given to the nation’s best running back, the AP Player of the Year, SN Player of the Year and All American in 2004 and 2005. Bush started 14 out of the 39 games that he played at USC. He finished tenth in NCAA Divisions I-A history with 6,541 all purpose

“The NCAA...brings in well over a halfbillion dollars in revenue from college athletics” - Anthony Jerrod, author of Carnal Striving Spiritual

Clockwise from top left: Reggie Bush holding Heisman Trophy, Bush flips for a touchdown, Reggie Bush dives for a touchdown in a game against the Atlanta Falcons, Bush jumps over a pile up, Bush “flys” past a defender for a diving touchdown, Bush jumps over a would-be tackler.

yards, 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns on 433 carries, 1,301 yards and 13 touchdowns on 95 catches, returned 67 kickoffs for 1,522 yards and a touchdown and 44 punts for 559 yards and 3 touchdowns as well as completed 1 of 3 passes for a 52 yard touchdown. Based on all of these stats and accomplishments Reggie Bush definitely was the best football player on the USC football team. Bush definitely proved he was worthy to win the Heisman, despite only starting 14 games. Although Bush did accept money from marketing agents, the NCAA doesn’t do anything to prevent infractions such as the one Bush committed so Bush is not the only one to blame for his “ineligibility”. Reggie Bush accepted $100,000 from marketing agents that he supposedly used to help his family. “He was wrong for accepting money and other benefits from sports marketers during his tenure at USC. But, in fairness, it is relatively hypocritical

to see the NCAA being an aggressive watchdog and enforcer, while concomitantly bringing in well over a half-billion dollars in revenue from college athletics,” says Anthony Jerrod, who is a speaker, public policy expert and author of Carnal Striving Spiritual. The fact that the NCAA doesn’t want college athletes to accept gifts because it could persuade them into playing sports professionally and thus leave college early. Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy based on his playing, not buying it from someone. Although Reggie Bush did accept money from marketing agents, it didn’t affect his playing on the football field and the only reason that he was ruled ineligible to play football in 2005 was because “the NCAA rejects the paying of players because doing so would shatter its most precious myth that a primary player at the highest levels of revenuegenerating sport is the student-athlete, even though the very best of those players leave college for the pros as soon as they’re allowed,” says Anthony Jerrod. Reggie Bush shouldn’t lose his Heisman Trophy. Although he did accept money from marketing agents, Reggie Bush was also a great athlete and football star and the acceptance of the money did not directly affect his ability to play football, so Bush shouldn’t lose his football award for something that happened off the field.

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Swimming with Gautam By Adam K.

Gautam, a 16 year old swimmer , is on the LBJ swim team. He is a responsible athlete, and he trys his very best every time he jumps in the pool. In other words, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of those athletes that just stands out from everyone else.

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It’s a typical day for Gautam V. and the rest of the LBJ swim team to wake up at 5:00 AM, eat breakfast, and go to the swimming pool for practice. Gautam and around 30 other people on his team admit it can be a pain for them to wake up this early, but the scrubby-haired, 6 ft. tall Indian still enjoys it. “You have to get used to aerobic activity every morning, and it can make you sore for a while but it’s a really good body work out.” Unsurprisingly the thing that Gautam enjoys the most about practice are hot showers. “It [Swimming] can be relaxing, it’s a challenge. The feeling depends on the day, when your swimming, you have to keep swimming.”

athlete. Gautam is really fast in the water, and has made some impressive times. While he isn’t the best person on the team, he is still a pretty good swimmer. His work ethic is great, and he perseveres to do his best for the swim team, rather than some of his fellow companions. He started swimming when he was a freshman, and now that he is a junior he has has grown into a much better swimmer as time progressed. “I was a young and ambitious little kid.” The main reason that he joined the swim team was because of his friends. Since then he has grown and matured into a responsible athlete, which has carried swimming into other parts of his life, as he lifeguards over the summer. He is also on a separate swim team during the summer season, as he wants to stay fit for the coming year.

“There are a lot of people who are faster than me, but you can’t really lose in swimming, your always trying to beat yourself, and make the best time.” The events that Gau- Gautam V. tam, and everybody All the members on the swim team are trying to do the same thing: make the best times at the swim meets, using all the different kinds of strokes that they have learned at practice.

else on the team enjoys the most are the swim meets.The team goes and competes against other schools, and try to make the best times that they can.

“Practice, depending on the day, can be hard or not so hard. A lot of the time it really depends on the water temperature, and also on the difficulty of the sets that coach gives us.” The coach tends to give them really hard sets for practice so they can be prepared for the meets and because of this Gautam has grown into a really good swimmer.

“Our coach signs us up at meets, and when your at a meet you’re kind of nervous but when it’s is your turn to swim it goes by really fast and hard,” said Gautam, and than later adding,”The meets are fun because it’s always great to spend time with the team away from school. It’s awesome to be able to support other swimmers when they swim and have others there to support you.”

“It’s all about the training,” said the

Gautam, as you can probably already

tell, really enjoys the meets and the fun that comes out of them but he also takes them seriously. To Gautam though, crowding at the meets can be a real issue, but thats what he thinks makes the meets really fun. “At the meets, the teams all set up in different groups, and so it can get pretty crowded when there are a lot of competing teams. Each school team kind of clumps up and get changed, and warm up together. There are always a lot of people walking around the pools, and it gets it even more crowded, but the competition is so fierce which makes the meets so enjoyable.” One of his favorite meets was one at the UT Joe Jamail Pool. Since this wasn’t a TISCA meet, it means that the team didn’t win any trophies, but still had an enjoyable time. Unsurprisingly the thing that Gautam enjoyed the most were the mango and strawberry smoothies on the top floor. “The pool was one of the best. I really enjoyed this meet because

Gautom getting ready to dive into the pool at a meet ACCELERATE

there are a lot of teams with a lot of competition.” He later added, “Everybody went fast and hard.” He does mainly one kind of stroke which is the 100 fly. He swims 100 meters when he’s doing the butterfly stroke. This is his favorite but he also does other things like freestyle. “In most of the competitions, I will swim in the 100 meter butterfly event, and the 50 meter freestyle.” It’s really fun, “We all have a blast, fast and hard,” said Gautam. In general, all the swimmers and especially Gautam really enjoy the meets. It gives them a break from school, and it is also a place where they can go to have fun with their friends.

Above: Gautam does the butterfly stroke at a meet. Below: Gautam looks at athe clock before the meet starts

“Before the meet we have a warm-up for the team in the pool, and than the meet starts,” said the swimmer. The team is lead by Coach Lee, and he is a great coach as Gautam would describe him. “Coach Lee gives us good work outs, sometimes they’re really hard, sometimes not, but we generally trust him to make us do well in meets... He generally prepares us well.” The coach has lead the team well, almost to the top of their district. During practice, each person swims around 3,500 to 4000 yards which is much more than they do in the meets, where swimmers compete in only two events with around 50-100 yards each. The way that Gautam thinks of the sport in ways that other people probably don’t: “There are a lot of people who are faster than me, but you can’t really lose in swimming.” He than later added,“Your always trying to beat yourself, and make the best time.” The season ends in February, which is still a long ways away and Gautam is looking forward to getting back in those heated pools to just keep swimming.

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Gautam enjoying time with his friends after a meet

An Interview with Brett G By Henry B

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tanding on the field, sweat dripping down his face, Brett G, a 5’ 8” freshman at LASA High School and an avid Ultimate player, puts his hand up in the air and breaks into a sprint as the bright, white disc, now covered in dust and grass stains, floats down field. Brett loves Ultimate once called Ultimate Frisbee, but now shortened to Ultimate for easier use by Ultimate players around the nation. He began playing the “awesome” game of Ultimate when he was in fifth grade with the Boys and Girls club at Zilker Elementary School and when his brother began to play Ultimate at Kealing Middle School. Brett has been playing Ultimate ever since and has very deep connections with the sport.

tor to Youth Ultimate all around the state of Texas and a person who plays a huge role in bringing kids into the Ultimate scene by teaching them how to play as well as running a state tournament in the spring. Not only has Brett played Ultimate for school teams, but he has also played all over Austin. “Usually there are different leagues and places,” he says, “from the East Metro Fields up in Manor, to the East YMCA right down the street from here to Zilker Park.” Brett also plays Ultimate year round; there are leagues in the summer, the winter and the LBJ-LASA high school

team, which plays in the spring. With all of the places that he has gone, including tournaments all over Austin, a tournament in College Station, as well as throwing a frisbee around in his free time and getting to attend the National Ultimate Training Camp in Amherst, Massachusetts in the summer of 2011, Brett has gotten to play Ultimate for much of his life. However, it has definitely been a challenge for Brett. “[Managing time for Ultimate is hard] Especially when I’m trying to do well in school along with playing Ultimate and try to make it to all of the tournaments and games. It’s not as big of a challenge to manage time with marching band and school but with Ultimate whenever you go to a game or tournament it’s all day and so you don’t have any chance to do homework,” Brett explains. “Usually the day or two days before an ultimate tournament, its wake up at 7, do homework all day, don’t move, don’t eat, and drink lots of water.” Brett spends entire days on weekends of Ultimate games or tournaments where he sweats, jumps to catch a wafting frisbee toss and dashes from one side of the playing field to the other, all while balancing a busy LASA High School student social life.

“[I feel] like a bird, all this stress of everything for school [goes away],” Brett says. “It’s just me and everybody on my team, everybody who we’re competing against, just working together having fun.” Brett started playing Ultimate when Robin, a friend and Ultimate team mate of Brett’s, and Ms. Denison helped Brett to set up 5-on5 Ultimate tournaments Brett couldn’t have with other gotten so far in his elementary Ultimate career and middle without the help of school Ultihis brother, as well as mate players.. Ms. Crouch and her Ms. Denison is Opposite Page: Brett leaps in the air to defend a frisbee throw. Top Left: Brett jumps over a McCallum HS fiancé, Michael “Tank” Player to make a catch. Top Right:Brett leaps over defenders and a teammate to make a catch. Above: The a main contribuNatenburg. Ms. Crouch LASA-LBJ Ultimate Team. 0

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is the Ultimate coach at Kealing Middle School located in East Austin, and a long time Ultimate player since playing for the University of Texas women’s team in college. “I played with him [Tank] on one team last winter for winter league and he pushed me to do the best I could and he gave me great advice about how to be a better player skill- and technique-wise. He has also helped me progress and get better by helping me to coach from the sidelines, which helped me to understand where to be and why I should be there. He helped me get better on the technique and mental aspect of Ultimate. That mainly consisted of knowing where to be, how to mark [an opponent with the frisbee] and little helpful pointers on my throws and cuts [to get open down field].”

“[I feel] like a bird, all this stress of everything for school [goes away]” -Brett G, LASA Ultimate player

Not only has Brett received great advice and help from those players that he plays with, but he also has some of his own to offer. “If you can get your friends to go and play with you on a team or in a league, do because if you get all your friends to be on the same team or you compete against [each other], that just makes it ten times more fun,” Brett says. Additionally, Brett advises any Ultimate player to show respect to other people and players by following the Spirit of the Game, a set of Ultimate rules that each player follows.

Above: Brett dives and “lays out” to catch a frisbee in order to score a point for the LASA-LBJ Ultimate Team. Below: Brett, “Number 7” stands on the field waiting to play Ultimate.

was hilarious seeing a bunch of guys like running around like [that yelling,] ‘throw me the Frisbee, throw me the Frisbee’,” he says.

“Don’t be shy, talk to people,” he says. “If Ultimate can be all fun and games, but you’re on a team with lots of new people it still has taught Brett valuable lessons who are really good, talk to them; ask that he will be able to use in the future. them what they have done to get so good.” “I think it’s made me a better person Brett has lots of advice that makes Ulbecause I really try and follow Spirit of timate seem like a serious game, but to the Game.” Spirit of the Game is the set Brett that has not been the case. of rules that all Ultimate players follow when they play Ultimate. “I went and played when my brother was a senior, with the LASA team,” he says. “Respecting everybody, treating every“At the state tournament they played body how you would want to be treated, where they had this point called T-Rex and shaking hands with them, giving them Pterodactyl points.” On the T-Rex points, a high five, giving them compliments the players could only play with their arms if they made a great play [are all parts close to their body and on the Pterodactyl of Spirit of the Game],” Brett states. “I points the players could only play with think by following that when I’m playtheir arms outstretched. “I thought that ing I can bring that into my normal life.” ACCELERATE

By Breese B. As the LBJ football season drew to a close with a disappointing end, the players strive only to get better and be the very best that they can be. Sebastian C. is just one of those players, but he gives a very good insight on what it is like to play football at a high school such as LBJ.

weat drips down his face as he runs past the defender and leaps up to grab the football out of the air. Grass flies as his cleats cut through the ground to shoot past the defender and race towards the goal line for the score.

“Walking around in a boot limited my mobility, and it was also hard to watch the other guys play while I was on the sideline and knowing that

Sebastian C. loves playing football. As a young kid he started out playing football at O’Henry Middle School for an 8th grade Westlake organization. He later progressed to playing high school football as a wide receiver for the LBJ Jaguars. As a little kid Sebastian was a fan of football. But he got tired of sitting on the couch just watching the game on the television in front of him. “After watching football for so many years I finally decided to try it out,” Sebastian says. Because of the chance to play on the football team, Sebastian has gotten to play all around the state. Even though

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But being injured taught Sebastian to work harder in practice to be the best he can be. “After breaking my ankle I lost the little fear I had playing the sport,” he says “I felt like this kinda stuff happens in football and if you don’t play at 100% then you are more prone to injury.”

Sebastian runs for the endzone after catching the ball.

Sebastian did play on a middle school team, high school football has been a much better experience for him. “High school football is faster paced and everyone on the field is skilled,” Sebastian explains “Plus school rivalries is what makes high school football so great.” Even though Sebastian has been playing football for years, there are still challenges that come with playing football. During his freshman year, Sebastian broke his ankle early on in the season in a tackling drill.

I couldn’t help the team out.”

Sebastian catches the football in the open field.

Playing football poses other challenges as well. As with other sports managing football and school is hard for the players since it takes up so much time. Every day after practice Sebastian gets home at 7:00 and then works on homework all night. On game days he gets home at 11:00, and sometimes later. While it is tough to balance football and school, Sebastian has managed to get good grades and excel in school. Sebastian, now a sophomore, is just one of the young players on the team. Many of his football companions are also sophomores and juniors. “We finished 5-6 with a

young team. That’s pretty good in my eyes and we can only get better,” Sebastian says of the Jaguars “Our team next year will do good things as we attempt to become a recognized program.” While the young Jaguar team did have some growing pains, it started the season out 0-4, they quickly proved themselves to be one of the top teams in the district, finishing 5-6. The first game of the season set a gloomy tone as Hutto destroyed the Jaguars 47-7. “It was the first game of the season and I was nervous.” The next three games were also out of district play and LBJ managed only 1 close game. “Our district isn’t exactly the toughest out there but scheduling tough out of district games prepares us for future big tests late on the season.”

“Our team next year will do good things as we attempt to become a recognized program.” After the tough out of district games LBJ went on to win 5 out of 6 district games, the only loss coming from McCallum.

Sebastian Canizares catches the football.

A LBJ defender tackles a Crockett player.

“Mac is always a big game,” he explains “Being on regional TV and radio got us motivated but we treat it like every other game, we give it our all and leave it on the field. It is always hard to lose to Mac but we will beat them next year.” Even though it was a tough loss, the Jaguars got back on their feet to demolish Reagan 51-14. Sebastian C. continues to grow as an athlete as he progresses through the years as a wide receiver. He has lost the little fear he has as a player and goes all out at 100% to become a better player. While he matures as an athlete, he also matures as a student, learning to balance out school and football and get good grades. Sebastian makes a defender miss a tackle and runs downfield.

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FRISBEE FATE: 2010 KEALING ULTIMATE SEASON By: Henry B

I yell for the frisbee, “Throw it to me.” No one hears me and that’s when I realize that the disc has already been thrown to another player on our team. I see multiple orange Murchison jerseys fly past me and watch as my teammate Alex Schultz makes a diving catch in the endzone for the game winning point. I jump in the air and shout while my teammates and I run towards Alex to hug and congratulate him.

The disc was thrown high in the air and I watch it as it floats down field. I see the frisbee drift towards my teammate, Wes Johns. All of a sudden, I see an opposing player running towards the disc and before I could blink, Wes and the opposing player collided and were laying on the ground and people from both teams were rushing to help them.

81 NOVEMBER FALL 2010 2010

I raced down the field, towards the frisbee, for the point to put our team ahead. The white disc floated out in front of me. I clapped my hands around the frisbee and skidded to a halt. I had just scored my first point. However, it was only practice and our first game of the season, against St. Francis, wasn’t until the upcoming weekend.

Standing on the goal line with my six other teammates, waiting for the opposing team to throw the disc to our team to start the next point, I knew in the back of my mind that we were down by a point, needing two to win and that I would have to play my hardest in order to take us to the win. When the disc was thrown, I dashed down field to get open for a pass, but soon I realized that Murchison had the disc again and had thrown the last point of the game.

I hear shouts and see an orange blur run past me. I immediately break into a sprint, knowing in the back of my mind that I was not defending a player on the opposing team and that I had only a couple of brief seconds in order to catch up to him. I saw the disc float past me and run harder to catch up to it. I reach out and knock down the frisbee right before it reached my opponent.

ACCELERATE FALL 2010

FACEOFF:

RONALDO? or

MESSI? There is always a debate on who is the best soccer player in the world, but it is also so hard to choose one. Ronaldo and Messi are the players of this era that are going head to head for this title. Both are equally amazing in terms of how they play the game, and you can see this in each of their stats. But there is only one winner. Who is it? By Adam K.

FALL 2010

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

his fantastic player who is aged 25, plays for Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team on the right wing. He has amazing control which is one of his main attributes. Over the course of his carrer he has has won many honors including: - The bravo award in 2004, - The FIFpro special young player of the year award twice in 2004 and 2005, - The portuguese player of the year 2006, - He has been on the UEFA team of the year 4 times, - He has been on the FIFA world XI 3 times, - The PFA fans, player’s, and young players player of the year award all twice - The FWA player of the year award once - World soccer player of the year award once, - The Ballon d’ or award once - ... And they don’t stop. As you can probably already tell, Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in the world, and since he plays on the wing, he has the room to maneuver around and show off his skills. He has fast pace, amazing agility, strength, awarness, passing, crossing, shooting, and trickery. So in other words, he is what every team wants. The portuguese international has scored 40 goals in 41 matches for his current club Real Madrid which is completly amazing for a footballer. This is because it means that he averages out to about 1 goal per game, which is something that only the greatest players can accomplish. You can put him in midfeild, or striker and he will still astonish you with his stepovers and cut backs. He does have his downsides though, he isn’t always on form, and can sometimes be sloppy or shy on the ball.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

essi is younger than Ronaldo by two years (Messi is 23), but he is also a winger who plays on the right side . He playes for Barcelona and the Argentinian national team, and just like Ronaldo he rarely ever loses control of the ball. He has about the same amount of honors as Ronaldo, which is astonishing as Ronaldo has been in the game longer then Messi. He has won: - The Ballon d’ or ahead of Ronaldo in 2009, - The FIFA world player of the year in 2009, - He’s been on the FIFA world team twice - He has won the Onze d’ or - Copa America young player of the tournament - UEFA team of the year multiple times - Argentinas top player 4 times - FIFpro’s World XI, special young players, world young player awards multiple times - Top Goal scrorer in multiple competitions - ... And they don’t stop. Like Ronaldo this player manages to astonish people in ways people never thought they could be astonished. He has amazing control on the ball, great trickery, spead, agility, agressivnes, and while only standing at 5ft 7in, he can still manage to jump high enough to get over the tall defenders and get a goal with a header. His work ethic is great, and unlike Ronaldo, he has some consistency with his play, but like Ronaldo, he is sometimes off form and can lose some of his finishing skills. In the recent World Cup 2010, he took a total of 40 shots and didn’t make a single Goal.

Verdict: I will have to go with Messi on this one. His pace on the ball is faster than anyone i have ever seen is he is

almost always on form rather than his Portuguese counterpart. He scores more goals than Ronaldo. Although this was a really tough desicion, i will have to say that Messi is the better player but not by much. ACCELERATE

By: Breese B

1. Which two colleges have the most Heismans? A. Michigan and Ohio State B. USC and Michigan C. Notre Dame and Ohio State D. Notre Dame and USC

6. When was the first college football game? A. 1928 B. 1776 C. 1865 D. 1869

2. Which team has won the most championships? A. Princeton B.Yale C. USC D. Michigan

7. What is the longest winning streak in history? A. Washington- 39 games B. Boise State- 24 games C. USC- 34 games D. Oklahoma- 47 games

3. Who is the only player to win the Heisman twice? A. Tim Tebow B. Archie Griffin C. Reggie Bush D. Earl Campbell

8. What is the longest losing streak in history? A. Prairie View College- 80 games B. Macalester College- 50 games C. Northwestern University- 34 games D. Columbia University- 44 games

4. Who was the first sophomore to win the Heisman? A. Barry Sanders B. Sam Bradford C. Mark Ingram D. Tim Tebow

9. Who was the first BCS Champion? A. USC B. Michigan C. Ohio State D. Tennessee

5. What is the oldest bowl game? A. The Sugar Bowl B. The Cotton Bowl C. The Chick-fil-A Bowl D. The Rose Bowl

10. What was the worst defeat ever? A. SMU, lost 146-3 B. Cumberland University, lost 222-0 C. Kirksville Osteopaths, lost 150-0 D. Oklahoma State University, lost 75-0

Go to the last page to find out your score!

FALL 2010

THANK YOU Art for supplying us with photos and art: -Flickr -Shutterfly -Pat Tomsho -Becky Gdula -Brett G. -Goal.com -Fifa.com -Nats320 blog -Daylife.com -Gettyimages -Futbolita.com -Blackshoediaries.com

-Boston.com -Vcstar.com -Businessinsider.com -Defendneworleans.com -Blatanthomerism.com -Monacome.com -Onpublicspeaking.com -Lehighvalleylive.com -Dailytitan.com -Heismanpundit.com -Rockyviewsports.com

Editorial

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Thank You

With special thanks to these sources

-Gautom V. -Sebastian C. -Brett. G And especially... -Ms.Young!

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FALL 2010

College Football Trivia 1. Which two colleges have the most Heismans? Answer: C. Notre Dame and Ohio State 2. Which team has won the most championships? Answer: A. Princeton 3. Who is the only player to win the Heisman twice? Answer: B. Archie Griffin 4. Who was the first sophomore to win the Heisman? Answer: D. Tim Tebow 5. What is the oldest bowl game? Answer: D.The Rose Bowl 6. When was the first college football game? Answer: D. 1869 7. What is the longest winning streak in history? Answer: D. Oklahoma- 47 games 8. What is the longest losing streak in history? Answer: A. Prairie View College- 80 games 9. Who was the first BCS Champion? Answer: D. Tennessee 10. What was the worst defeat ever? Answer: B. Cumberland University, lost 222-0

Score Sheet 0-2: You really need to start watching football more often... 3-4: Getting better... but still pretty bad, you need to go to your local college's football games. 5-6: Pretty good, you've been watching football for a while. 7-9: Wow! You are an experienced football fan. You really have the hang of this trivia. 10: You cheated. ACCELERATE