Sports Avenue by LASA Ezine

Dear

Sports Avenue

readers,

This is the one place to come for all your sports needs. If you are reading this magazine, you must be a sports fan. In this magazine, from beginning to end, you will be entertained. This wonderful magazine was created by the hard work of a group of four freshmen; Amy, Ashvin, Bilal, and John all helped in constructing the magazine in the spring semester of 2010. Over the period of 18 weeks, we worked hard in researching, writing, designing, and editing our magazine with the help of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. So hard that we may have the best student sports magazine out there. To prove it to you, you should read this magazine and see how great it really is. We hope you enjoy it!

Amy H. Ashvin R. Bilal B. John G.

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Meet the Editors John G.

John is a 15 year old boy, who loves playing sports. He came to LASA for a good education, and also wishes to be the next Jordan Shipley. Other than his awesome athletic skills, he also has awesome math skills (he’s in Precap). Pre-cal is a math class that most normal seniors would be taking, while he is only a freshman. Half of his family has gone to LSU, so he’s a big LSU fan. However, he wants to go to UT at Austin, since it’s so close by. With his football/math skills, he could become the next Einstein in football. Right before catching the football, in his mind, he calculates the wind-resistance and trajectory. You don’t see a freshmen football player in pre-cal every day, but that’s John for you.

Amy H.

Amy H., otherwise known as HongKongDong is the only Asian basketball player at LBJ. She uses her mad math skills to try and project and calculate the right angle and amount of force to shoot the basketball with. When she isn’t trying to be the next Yao Ming, she hits the gym to swim or hits the books so that she can live up to those high Asian parent expectations; no A equals no rice for her. Chances are that Amy will be your friend as long as you don’t make fun of her too much, and be nice because maybe you will see her in the WNBA some day (oh wait, nobody watches that anyways). But for now maybe she will give you a Dorito if she isn’t too hungry.

Bilal B.

Bilal B. is known as Bilalipop to his friends at LASA High School. This 15 year old is a total nerd who is taking BC Calculus next year as a sophomore. If he wants to have two periods of math; that’s his decision, but most people would be driven crazy. When not selling Bilalipops for $0.99 (which comes in two flavors) or studying intensively at the library, he plays cricket well and also tries to play basketball with his friends, with limited success. Although little things make Bilal crazy sometimes, for the most part he is a nice guy. Remember, do as Bilal always says, “Just chill!”

Ashvin R.

Ghandi also known as Ashvin R. is a 14 year old freshman at LASA high school. Ashvin is a straight-A student, and his Indian background motivates him to keep working hard. Ashvin plans on going to the University of Texas, and become the first Roharia to go to an American college. Although most of his time is taken up by homework, he plays soccer with friends and for the Austin United soccer club. Ashvin is hoping to try out and make the soccer team for the Jaguars next year, as well as improving his grades and GPA.

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OPINIONS: ADVANTAGES OF SPORTS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM THE JUNIOR COLLEGE ADVANTAGE STAYING PROFESSIONAL

FEATURES: SWIMMING THROUGH THE YEARS LOVE FOR THE GAME SUCCESS COMES IN PARTS SHOOTING TOWARD SUCCESS

ALTERNA T I V E S T O R Y F O R M S : NUMBER ONE DRAFT PICKS HIGHEST PAID ATHELTES WORLD CUP BY THE NUMBERS TOP SOCCER PLAYERS WORLD CUP PREVIEW WORLD CUP - BEST BETS HIDDEN TALENT ROCK, PAPER, CRICKET 4 4 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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H e r e A s h v i n R o h a r ia p l a y s s o c c e r . H e k i cks t h e b a l l a t h i s fi r s t g a m e o f t h e s e as o n.

Sports Teach Values

S By A s h v i n R .

c h o o l , h o m e , s o c c e r practice, home, h o m e w o r k , s l e e p : t h is is my schedu l e ; i t m ay s o u n d b u s y, but being occ u p i e d by s o m e t h i n g useful is benefic i a l f o r my b rai n . N o t being involved i n a n af t e r- s c h o o l sport gives me m o r e t i m e g e t d i s t racted often. My l i f e w o u l d l o o k m o r e like this: get u p, s c h o o l , h o m e , computer, wasti n g t i m e , h o m e w o r k , sleep late. Socc e r h a s g r e a t l y c h a n ged my schedule i n a b e n e f i c i a l way. Before, a lot of my t i m e was l o s t t o doing pointless t h i n g s o n t h e c o m p u t er instead of usi n g t h at t i m e f o r h o m ework. Now that I h ave p ra c t i c e , I a m forced to work e f fi c i e n t l y. I t i s t h e s e effects from the p r e s s u r e o f t i m e t h a t causes me to w o r k b e t t e r avo i d i n g all distractions. P l ay i n g a s p o r t g i ve s many advantag e s t o a s t u d e n t . T h e student learns t o u s e t h e i r t i m e m o r e efficiently and d o e s n ’ t was t e t h e i r t ime by the dist ra c t i o n s o f t h e c y b e r world, like comp u t e r g am e s , Fa c e b ook, and email. I u n d e r s t a n d t h a t s t ill many people

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who would use their extra time to their ad vantage. However these people will always be faced with distractions in their life and also they are lacking exercise that is essential to their health. I know that some people might be thinking of how just playing sports doesn’ t bring out all these talents. Also, many students may b e thinking that clubs could be as beneficial as playing sports because both are time-consuming, and cause a person to be under time pressure. Well, first of all, a sport teaches a student values; values like responsibility, sportsmanship, confidence, and many others, too. All these values don’ t come from being in Robotics or Science Olympiad, because these clubs focus more on teaching the student academic skills to make one brighter. I feel that being in LASA is enough of an academic challenge for the average person, and the thing a lot of LASA students are missing out on are sports. To most students at LASA, playing sports would be more helpful overall to them than joining any academic clubs since, assuming everyone at LASA is highly educated, the students are already smart and need no more. Therefore, more students should be playing sports because not only does it teach one values but it also keeps a person under time-pressure, thus working more ef ficiently. Most students don’ t realize that being put in different kinds of pressures effects the behavior of students. When a student plays a sport, his/her schedule is altered so that they are forced to work at a more efficient pace. On

the d ay s t h a t I h ave s o c c e r pra c t i c e , I f i n d my s e l f w o r k i n g fast e r, u s i n g e a c h m i n u t e o f the d ay t o my a d va n t a g e . T h i s lead s m e t o g e t t i n g my h o m ewor k d o n e , r e c e i v i n g a h e a l t hy exe r c i s e , a n d s l e e p i n g e a r l y. How e ve r, o n t h o s e d ay s w i t h o u t pra c t i c e , I f i n d my s e l f g o i n g onl i n e wa s t i n g my t i m e , a n d i n the e n d n o t g e t a s m u c h h o m ewor k d o n e . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e Con t e m p o ra r y I s s u e s i n S o c i o logy o f S p o r t by A n d r e w Y i a n n akis, s t u d e n t s w h o p a r t i c i p a t e i n high s c h o o l s p o r t s t e n d t o e a r n high e r g ra d e s , a r e l e s s l i ke l y t o dro p o u t o f s c h o o l , h ave h i g h er e d u c a t i o n a l l y e x p e c t a t i o n s , are m o r e p o p u l ar w i t h t h e i r pee r s , i d e n t i fy m o r e s t r o n g l y with t h e i r s c h o o l s , h ave l o w e r del i n q u e n c y rat e s , a n d p o s s e s s high e r s e l f- e s t e e m . O ve ra l l t h e stu d e n t w h o i s i nvo l ve d i n a spo r t l e a r n s t o u s e t h e i r t i m e mor e e ff i c i e n t l y a n d g e t s m o r e ben e fi t s ove ra ll t h a n a s t u d e n t who i s n o t i nvo l ve d i n a s p o r t . In h i g h s c h o o l , b e i n g ove rwei g h t h as b e c o m e a r i s i n g issu e b e c a u s e f a t s t u d e n t s are e i t h e r t e a s e d o r h ave

e x p e rienced other pressures f r o m their peers and their own l i f e . Playing sports will help in t h i s case as well as give the e xe r cise needed. Physical exe r c i s e is necessary especially i n t h e teenage years and comes w i t h many benefits. Not gett i n g exercise results in obesity, c hronic diseases, and weak b o n e s/muscles. My exercise c o m es from riding a bike on t h e weekends and soccer pract i c e on Mondays and Wednesd ay s , and games on Saturdays. A c c o rding to, ¬“The effects of s p o r t s participation,” article o n G oliath.com if a sufficient a m o unt of exercise is received, n o t only does it prevent the p r e v i ously stated but also it i m p r oves the brain chemistry t o r educe depression. When t h e brain is not overwhelmed by d i stractions, it functions at i t s b est and in conclusion helps yo u complete your homework m o r e efficiently. Thus, joining s p o r t s will help you be healthier, b o t h physically and mentally. Be i n g involved in a sport c o m es with many advantages, i n c l u ding learning many useful val u es. These values include yo u r attitude, confidence, t r u s t , the value of hard work a n d the concept of excellence. A c c o rding to, “The effects of s p o r t s participation,” this is o n e of the reasons that peop l e who play sports are gen e ra l l y better students overall

than non-sport players. Having these values makes an individual stand out and lets them excel beyond the others, which is why colleges respect stu dents who play spo rts. You can also learn countless life morals by playing sports such as be ing nice always comes back to you and how working hard will help you achieve accomplishments. Once, on my first soccer game of the spring season, both teams were pl aying rough and many fouls were called. At half time, our couch explained to us that we should be the “better man” and not continue playing rough as so in the first half. In the second half, the other team continued to foul and we ended up winning the game by penalt ies and free kicks. The lesson learned here was that you shoul d always be the ‘better man’ and not con tinue bad things, even if they are done to you. This could lesson could be used by me in many situations now such as; suppose someone were to push me in the middle of a soccer game. I would choose to not continue this aggression and not follow up on that myself. Just like this incident, there have been many other lessons and values learned by sports. You can see the difference between student athletes and non-athletes players. You don’ t have to be a professional sport player if you choose to play a sport right now. Most students currently playing sports right now not just in LASA but everywhere don’ t tur n out to be any kind of professional sport players. There are many more advantages of playing a sport than just getting a good physical exercise. There are countless traits and values to be gained so you should think about playing a sport somewhere in your high school life. It would be more to your advantage if you do. SA Ashvin Roharia has possession of the soccer ball. He plays with the U14 Cosmos.

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Constructive Criticism or Bad Influence ? By Amy H.

fter three and a half quarters of intense battle, the score was still tied with only a couple of minutes left to play. Everybody wearing purple on the court was frustrated with themselves. Sweat dripped from my face as I ran through all the comments my coach had yelled at us during half time. It was hard for me to concentrate playing basketball while thinking about all of my mistakes from the last thirty minutes of play. I kept reminding myself of all my failures until the end of the game. The negative feedback caused the team to lose their concentration. In the end, our LBJ girl’s freshman team pulled out and won by two. After the game, another coach walked up and proclaimed that we could have done better with more encouragement from our coach. From my sport experience, I have learned that an athlete will play better when hearing things like “Shake it off” or “Keep up the good work” instead of hearing

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comments like “Catch the (expletive) ball” or “You guys are an embarrassment!” Many coaches and parents may think that yelling gets the point across to players and helps improve their performance, but from my experience as a current basketball player and former swimmer, soccer player, and ice skater, I know otherwise. Instead of helping you, negative comments or a negative attitude towards a player will cause him or her to lose their concentration, which is important in every sport and will seriously affect the performance of a player or team. From my experience I know that an ice skater needs to concentrate throughout the whole performance. The loss of concentration may cause a fall resulting in an injury. After a game, I always think about what I should have done and the mistakes I made, but during the game,

Photograph by Tina Chou / Cornell Daily Sun

I try my best to concentrate on my performance. No matter if a teammate, a parent, or a coach is yelling at a player, the yelling will cause them to lose their concentration momentarily or longer. As a player, I’m terrified of getting yelled at because it causes me to do worse. The negative comments will remind me of my mistakes, and my mistakes will run through my brain the rest of the game. Instead of concentrating on the game, I will concentrate on my mistakes. Dr. Patrick Cohn, a sports psychology expert, says, “It [yelling] forces most of the kids to second-guess what they’re doing and therefore not act quick enough.” This, he says, is because they are afraid of making the same mistake. During one of my first basketball games at LBJ, I felt the emotions of a player being yelled at. After a de-

cent yelling (which included my coach’s face only a couple inches from mine), I was afraid to grab any rebounds because I didn’t want to miss them again. The brief “talk” with the coach made me play more carefully and more conservatively, but not as aggressively as before. I didn’t do anything to help the team, as I was afraid to fail them again. After a decade of experience in different kind of sports, I have witnessed teammates angry at each other or athletes angry at their own coaches. The effect is a game that is not fun, keeps the team from bonding, and could cause a loss instead of an easy win. The cause is pretty obvious. One of the games during the season, the freshman girl’s basketball team lost against McCallum, one of our rivals. This was easily the most heartbreaking loss as we lost by two points. The

second game against McCallum, we destroyed them (by almost thirty points). The first loss was due to a couple of players being benched most of the game due to a conflict between players and the coach. Because of two players and a coach getting angry at each other, cost us the game against a team that was terrible. Any team cannot afford tension between players and coaches. The newspaper College Baseball New England says, “The worst thing about getting angry or frustrated after making an out, throwing a bad pitch, or making an error, is the aftereffect it has on the upcoming performance of both the player and his teammates.” The best way to reverse this, the article claims, is to cheer for a teammate. This keeps a player focusing on the present and forgetting the past because the encouragement motivates a player. That is why teams/coaches think home games are an advantage. More fans are able to come to home games, motivating teams by cheering them on. Encouragement and fans motivate a player to play harder and give their best performance out on the court. A bad attitude, negative distractions, and the yelling at a player can be hazardous to a team, and can cause a loss of a game or of a player’s self-esteem. Instead of coaches, players, and parents yelling out to players about their poor performance, they should say something encouraging, making players feel better about themselves. Our coach should have said something like “Keep up the hard work,” or “You’ll get it right next time!” If our coach encouraged us with those words instead of attacking us with powerful words, our team would have played better. Encouragement is a method to make everyone happy while a negative comment can result in the opposite.

Brownwood head coach, Bob Shipley at a game against Graham. Shipley was yelling at his defensive end A. Elizondo.

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The Junior College

Advantage By Bilal B.

NFL rosters are loaded with D1 players, but some have taken a different route to fame.

had Ochocinco, who some claim might be the greatest receiver in the NFL today, is a six time pro bowl selection and an all-pro three times. While his peers went to division 1 and subdivision colleges, Chad Ochocinco took another route and went to Santa Monica College, which is a junior college. Going to a junior college to start his career didn’t give him a disadvantage as he went on to get drafted in the second round in the 2001 NFL draft. Ochocinco is just one of many NFL players that went to a junior college, was able to transfer to a four year college, and then get drafted and played in the NFL .He did not miss out on any opportunity by going to junior college and actually just improved all his skills by getting more time to play. Attending a junior college will get players more experience and time to play football, then the players will be able to transfer to a normal college and be ready to play at the next level. Many people, who follow high school football, think that going to a junior college means that you are not a good football player. They expect good players with talent to automatically go to Division 1 and subdivision college football programs because that is where the players are going to be pushed harder and have more competition that will make them push themselves. Another reason people want players to go to normal colleges

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Jeremy Polk (First from right) signed with Cisco Junior college. Polk was an offensive lineman for the LBJ Jaguars.

is the academic issue, which is having a full college education which junior college doesn’t have. Well, if you’re not one of the best high school football players, but you still have potential and want to continue playing, junior college would be better. In junior college you can get actual time to play and enhance your skills while in normal college, players will most likely be benched for their first few years and may not get time to play at all. Players in normal colleges might also not be able to perform at the expected level, and this causes many dropouts from the programs. Academically, the first two years in college you take the basic subjects and classes such as Calculus and English, which are courses that are transferable to most Division 1 and subdivision colleges. After thinking out all situations and conditions of what could happen especially for players that don’t have enough talent coming out of high school, the junior college option is better in the long run in most cases.

In the off-season, full-time colleges are making their move to sign the best recruits possible for their team, and many of their recruits come from junior college football programs. According to JCGridiron.com, the junior college commitments were near fourhundred this year, the largest amount in history. That’s four-hundred players that decided to go to junior college to improve and get more experience, and now they have the opportunity to go play for a big college football program such as Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and many more. The major colleges want good talent from high school, but they also look for junior college commitments because the junior college football players have had experience playing in a college setting, making the adjustment to Division 1 football easier. They have developed their skills and know their strengths and weaknesses, which will add to their play at the next level. The bottom line is that if you do go

Art from LBJsports.org

time the players will get more experience and let their talent be seen by other scouts. One of the most succeeding and decorated quarterbacks in college football is Colt McCoy. Even McCoy who had many achievements in his college football career was on the bench and got barely any time to play football his first year at the university of Texas. There is much more competition in normal colleges so getting play time in your first or second year can be difficult, while in junior college the competition is not as tough so you get plenty of time to show off your skills and be ensured you won’t be cut from the team. In Junior college there will be more time to enhance your skill by getting experience and getting to play in your first year because there isn’t that much competition. Football players that decide to go to junior colleges should not be discouraged or think they can’t make it to the professional level. Every year there are many division 1 and subdivision college football programs that look for junior college football players to come join their program. There have been, there are, and there will be players from junior college who play football in the NFL and accomplish great achievements there. Junior college will bring more time for players to develop their skills and get more experience along with more time to play on the field rather than normal four-year colleges. Attending a junior college to go play football does not bring any disadvantages, but can bring advantages for some players and will help make your skills better.

Chad Ochocinco of cincinatti Bengals. a former JuCo transfer.

to a junior college and you work hard and play your best, you’re highly likely to get offers from Division 1 colleges or other full time institutions. And with the same effort this can lead them to the NFL, within a couple of years. In the NFL today, there are many players that attended junior college and those players have accomplished many things like making the pro bowl team of their respective division. Chad Ochocinco before going to Oregon State to play football attended Santa Monica college, and has been selected to play at the pro bowl six times and is a three time All-Pro. According to ESPN.Com, Chad Ochocinco led his team, the Cincinnati Bengals, in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Chad Ochocinco went to a junior college to begin, but look where he is now, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL today. The Super Bowl is the last post season game in the NFL where the best team in the AFC and NFC collide and it’s a big honor for a team and its players to make it to the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLIV featured five former junior college football players, including Jeremy Shockey and Remi Ayodele, both from the raining champions, the New Orleans Saints. Both Shockey and Ayodele started at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College where they showed their talent and were able to transfer to normal four year colleges, which led them to play at the professional level. Junior College football players have not only been able to transfer to normal colleges and play there, but have been able to make it to the NFL and accomplish great things there as they did throughout their career. Attending Junior College will bring more playing time for the rookie football players and with more playing

Photo Courtesy of Flicker

Jason Pierre-Paul transfered from Fort Scott Community College to South Florida. He then went on to be drafted in the first round in the 2010 NFL draft.

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Video Game Review

Staying Professional

Want to buy the newest version of NCAA football 10? Maybe you should go with Madden instead.

hile sitting on my couch with a PS3 control ler in hand, I was playing as LSU in a close game against UL Lafayette. Then, I paused to collect my thoughts for a moment. “Why is this a close game I thought to myself?” Or maybe it was more like, “Are you kidding me! I’m an experienced gamer who doesn’t mind a close game (or else I wouldn’t be playing on Heisman), but this is ridiculous. I should be smashing this cupcake team!” I would like to say that I went on to win the game, but it was scarier than it should have been. Some unknown quarterback for a small school should not be threading the needle 80 yards down the field off his back foot into triple coverage with his receiver getting flipped but still catching it, just because I set my strategy to “jump the snap” and “tight zones” to be aggressive. This lack of authenticity is just one of many reasons why NCAA isn’t up to par with Madden. Many college football fans would say that NCAA football 10 is more entertaining than Madden 10, because the college game has a much better atmosphere that involves festivities such as school spirit. However, I am also a major college football fan, but I believe that Madden 10 is a more authentic and enjoyable

VS. Madden has two cover athletes symbolic for double the fun.

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By: John G. game. Forget “school spirit,” this is a video game. Although NCAA has 120 teams to choose from compared to Madden’s 32, attention to detail is lost in the process for NCAA. In Madden, every single stadium has its own feel and seems like its reallife equivalent. For example, pregame in Madden displays the outside of the stadium with fans wearing home team paraphernalia (and some away team gear too). Having been to Reliant stadium to see the Texans play, I can attest for how similar the Reliant stadium image presented in Madden 10 is. Other minor details such as player emotions and non-repetitive commentary bring the package together for Madden. Somehow however, this attention to detail was lost in NCAA, and every other stadium is just another stadium. By this I mean that there is not a unique atmosphere for each team, and there is no outside panoramic view of the stadium. It is also hard to forget that there is not any gradual adjustment from sunlight to dusk and darkness for afternoon games in NCAA. A game that starts at three p.m. might depict a perfectly sunny day, but coming back from halftime there will be a deep red sky for sunset or even a starry black night sky. More importantly, the actual game play in Madden is better. For most people looking for a sports video game, the way the game is played is far more important than minor features within the game. Madden 10’s passing game has progressed light years over its predecessor, Madden 09, but it seems as if NCAA has lost a step from 09 to 10 with the passing game.

In NCAA there is only one type of pass, the bullet pass. Despite the receiver being wide open down the field, the quarterback always feels the need to display his arm strength by throwing the football a hundred miles an hour, which wouldn’t be so bad if this didn’t give the defender a chance to bat the ball down. However, if you don’t like this, you can alternatively tap the button and have the quarterback lob the ball up so high that everyone in the secondary can create a wall around the receiver by the time the ball comes down. Madden 10, on the other hand, effectively employs new skill categories such as “throw on the run” and breaking down the qb’s passing ability into a different rating for short, medium and long throws. This not only provides middle ground allowing for the right amount of touch on passes but it also gives each quarterback a more realistic and personable feeling, while limiting the effectiveness of non-elite quarterbacks. Another slight advantage with Madden is the quality of career modes and online modes such as Franchise and Ultimate Team. NCAA’s main game mode

outside of “play now” is Dynasty and Madden’s is Franchise. For people that really love to manage a team without spending hours doing it, a fantasy draft to acquire your team in Madden is perfect, but in NCAA’s Dynasty mode this option is lacking due to marketing rights involving student athletes. Also, like mentioned before, recruiting in NCAA is a long and tiresome process, whereas in Madden you are free to trade for players or pick up free agents and resign or let go of players. This gives you ultimate freedom, and having complete control over your team is a great feeling for people who like to micromanage things. Another plus is that you don’t need to worry about a large group of your team leaving due to graduation in Madden. Online franchises are much more practical than online dynasties, because there is a much higher chance of getting all 32 teams filled up with a real user as opposed to in dynasty mode were there will be many teams that are computer controlled, defeating the purpose of an online dynasty. Whether you’re looking for authenticity, variety of game

Former LBJ Player Chris Houston in Madden 10.

Real Chris Houston Photo courtesy of lbjsports.org

modes or just great overall game play, Madden 10 is the way to go. NCAA isn’t a bad videogame, but Madden delivers more for your money, as the two are almost always identically priced around $49.99 for new copies of the game on PS3 and Xbox 360 (price will go down over time). Plus, football fanatics can have fun with features like Ultimate Team, which allows you to acquire virtual football cards through auctions with coins that you earn based on how well you play. The average football fan wasn’t forgotten about either as they can have fun with easy-to-use formations like the Wildcat and the Pahokee. Finally, previous problems with Madden that included a poorly developed passing game and a ridiculously effective hit stick have been addressed in this year’s newest version, and the game is no longer riddled by bad game play. Can I mention gameplay enough? To drive home the point, Madden is superior to NCAA in what is the most important part of the game. Just remember, if you don’t know which way to go, go with the pros. SA

Atlanta Falcons cornerback Chris Houston

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By Ashvin R.

Swimming Through the Years

This is the LASA Swim Team. Kevin L. is standing in the middlle wearing his black LASA swim team uniform.

t the age of 8, Kevin L. used to hate swimming. He hated going into the freezing cold water and having his movement impaired. He hated swimming laps and found it as punishment given in the form of exercise. What he didn’t know then was how much this swimming was helping him, both at that time and today. Nowadays, he swims for fun and on the LASA swim team. This is his first year on a high school swim team, although he used to swim for organizations in middle school too. Being a freshman on the swim team puts Kevin at a sudden disadvantage, being younger than the rest. The pressure put on him by his family, especially his mom, pushes Kevin to exceed and face these challenges. “My mom used to say to me that all experts start as beginners. So I mean, I might be younger than the

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rest now, but later I will also become good, and maybe even better than the people older than me,” Kevin says, a freshman in the LASA swim team. You may think that since Kevin is on the LASA swim team he must have loved swimming as a child. But really… “I didn’t like swimming at first but now I like better,” Kevin says. From the beginning of the school year in September all the way until February 20, when the swim season was over, Kevin was on the swim team and never regretted being in it. Being on the swim team is no small task. It takes commitment, and Kevin was taking the challenge and stayed committed to his team. For hours every week, Kevin had to come before school and sometimes afterschool to swim with his team. Since this took a lot from his schedule he was forced to work harder at home and more time-efficiently. “I started swimming when I was

7 to 8. I think I am pretty good by now. From then, I’ve won a couple of ribbons and medals,” Kevin says. After swimming for 7 years straight, Kevin should have every right to be called an experienced swimmer. Kevin has a lot of parental pressures on him, in his life of swimming. Kevin’s mother forced him to swim, even when he didn’t want to. This is when he had made a deep disliking of swimming. “A lot of guidance comes from my mom,” Kevin says, “Even now, at times, when I don’t feel like going, she pushes me and encourages me. Its not that she’s forcing me anymore, that was before, when I didn’t even like to swim.” Kevin’s mom is where most of his guidance comes from. When he was young, his mom used to sign him up on swim teams for any local swim club without even telling Kevin. “My mom just signs me up [on the local summer swim teams] without telling me. I don’t know why. Maybe

for the physical exercise,” Kevin says. He would be swimming more than anything else. The exercise from swimming; one of the reason his mom is wanting him to swim, is a benefactor for him. The reason Kevin chooses to swim is pretty apparent by now; his mom’s influence, for the exercise, and best of all since its fun for him. In the past years, as Kevin likes swimming more and more, he wishes to continue swimming in the future too. He states to swim on the LASA swim team next year too, in his sophomore year, so that he can continue to represent his school in his favorite sport. “Before, I didn’t like swimming but nowadays I enjoy it more,” Kevin says. Kevin enjoys swimming in general, and he finds it fun. So fun, that he swims in his free times, sometimes on weekends and through out the summer. He plans to swim during Kevin L. riding the bus with the rest the summer to imof with LASA swim prove his swimming team. They’re going for the next year. to compete against Each year the comother schools. petition will rise, and

“I started swimming at seven to eight years old. I think i am pretty good by now.”-Kevin L. Photo courtesy of Kevin L.

Photo courtesy of Kevin L.

Kevin will have to try harder to stay in the game. “At one of the swim meets where I won a 1st place ribbon, was the best I’ve ever felt about swimming. It was actually a pretty easy swim meet too, since all of the other people were only summer swimmers. So that gives me an advantage since I swim the whole year. After winning that ribbon I was really happy, and so were my parents. And when we came back I put the ribbon on my wall,” Kevin says. Looking at Kevin, you can see a clear example of how one loves a sport. Kevin’s hobby is swimming, and other people’s may be other stuff. But most importantly is the effect of it, on Kevin. Swimming makes Kevin happy, and that’s why he swims. SA

Spring 2010 | Sports Avenue | 15

LBJ Coaches Personality Profile

“I was excited and intrigued by the facet of the game...”

Love For the Game: A look into Coach Odem’s life so far.

M By: John G. Photos from lbjsports.org

16 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

any people don’t become experts or masters of their jobs until they are 50 or 60 years old. However, still in his 30s, it seems as if Demo Odems (more commonly known as Coach Odems), has experienced a little bit of everything when it comes to football. Since starting football at age 5, Odems has played wide receiver in major college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, played professionally in the Arena Football League, coached as a graduate assistant for Wisconsin, and even returned to coach his former high school, Lyndon Baines Johnson in Austin, Texas. “Football is just one of the greatest games ever… I love teaching it... If I can’t play it, I’d rather be around it,” Odems says. With this enthusiasm, Odems has become the face of LBJ football, and next fall will mark his 4th season as head coach here. Although LBJ lost in the first round of the state playoffs this last year, Odems took the team to the state semifinals in his first year at the school, adding to the list of

impressive and interesting accomplishments that he has achieved in his football career. Love for the game only progressed from an early age, and in 8th grade he became inspired by some of the kids that he saw at LBJ who went on to play college football. He then had his upcoming life mapped out to be like them: become a star player in high school and go play football in the college spotlight. Unlike some other football players, though, Odems was not propelled by fame or fortune but rather a much more meaningful measure. “I always loved the game,” he says. “I was excited and intrigued by the facet of the game, the way the game was played.” His love for the game was paralleled by his skill in the game, because during Odems’ senior season at LBJ he was recruited to play Division I football in college. Having grown up a Texas boy, Texas A&M became his dream school, because it would allow him to stay close to home. The two other schools that he was considering at the time were TCU and Iowa. After attending a summer camp that the Aggies were hosting for potential recruits, Odems felt pretty confident going into his senior season. However, A&M ended up offering their last scholarship to another player, telling Odems that he would have to walk-on if he wanted to play football. After Iowa offered him a full scholarship to play football, this seemed like

a much better deal. Despite the frigid weather in Iowa that a native Texan would be unaccustomed to, Odems’ campus visit turned out to be a very positive one due to the good treatment and reception given to the freshmen on the team. With the great visit and scholarship offer in mind, Odems committed to the University of Iowa for the next 4 years of his life. The Iowa Hawkeyes seemed to be a good choice for Odems, who described playing there as an “unbelievable experience.” Playing in front of 100,000 rowdy fans for big rivalry games such as Penn State and Ohio State he says was very memorable, he described vividly. You are in a sort of “tunnel vision”

for Odems. Having to play defensive back wasn’t much of a challenge either, because having played wide receiver, Odems generally knew what the receivers were thinking and where they planned to go. The AFL was another great experience overall, he says, because it was a pass-happy league and Odems got to catch a lot more passes than ever before. Adding to the fun was the fact that his team, the Grand Rapids Rampage, made the playoffs in all 3 of his seasons in the league. To cap off his playing days, Odems’ team won the Arena Bowl (championship game) in his 3rd season, and he was named Iron Man of the game.

and finding how to exploit the defense defined some of Odems’ great coaching qualities early on, even though he may not have always seen himself as a coach. He once considered being a sports broadcaster, but he says that he, like every other football player, had a dream to make it to the NFL, and despite his hard work it just didn’t work out. Fortunately, though, Odems was prepared because he had his college degree, and he was allowed to continue his love for the game by entering the college and then high school coaching field. Odems claims that you learn a little bit from every job, which helps you in future positions. Coaching has had Left: Coach Odems in a frustrating game vs. Hutto. Right: Coach Odems walks onto field before Corckett game, which LBJ won 21-16.

where you only see what you are doing and the crowd noise is pushed out of your mind. “I think it’s one of the best things in the world to be a college athlete, and I enjoyed it,” he says. As amazing as playing college football was for Odems at the time, he had some academic struggles as a freshman. For this reason he preaches to his student athletes today that they hit the books and get on top of their academics early on, because a bad grade will remain part of your GPA all 4 years. “There is always someone coming in to take your spot. You have to be on top of your game academically as well as athletically,” he says. Although balancing academics with athletics wasn’t part of the equation once Odems got out of college, his will to succeed allowed him to land an opportunity professionally in the former Arena Football League. Arena football posed the threat of a learning curve due to the half-size field of only 50 yards and the iron man principle of the players playing both offense and defense (Iron Man was named for the physical exertion it takes to play a full game). Being a smaller receiver, however, the transition wasn’t very hard

“That league was based off of iron man principles, so to be named the ironman of the championship game… that was something special,” he says. At the same time, something else special was starting for Coach Odems: his coaching career. He was coaching as an assistant in the fall the same year that he finished his Arena career during the spring. Foreshadowing his future of coaching, one of Odems’ high school coaches told him that he would make a good coach someday. His knack for detail, desire to understand why every play was being run,

many benefactors for Odems, and the only really hard part for him is losing. More so than that, he hates it if he feels that he was unable to give the athletes what they need to succeed in terms of game planning and fatherly lessons. “I’m the dad away from home so to speak. I want my guys to be comfortable being around me,” he says. Just as he is glad to talk and help out his players, Odems is also ready to get to business by preparing for a greater tempo and faster play next year. Despite having a new defensive coordinator this next season, there will still be a focus on speed and aggression. In fact, the new motto for next football season is “Fast, Fight, Finish!” “I got a simple goal for this year, and that’s to win,” he says. “I want to win… We gotta get that district championship back.” Even though Odems has an ultimate goal of returning to coach at the collegiate level, LBJ should not have to worry about losing their head coach in the near future. “One of my biggest dreams was to come back to my high school and coach, and I’m doing that now,” he says. Odems has a deep underlying

Story Continued on Page 21

Spring 2010 | Sports Avenue | 17

VA R S I T Y S OCCER

Photo Courtesy of The Liberator

SUCCESS COMES IN PARTS The Jaguars made history as they became district champs for the first time, but they weren’t able to do everything they wanted. By Bi l a l B .

t a n d i n g i n t h e r i g h t c o r n er of the field, Cesar S a n t o s t o o k a fr e e k i c k while his teammates w e r e c o r n e r e d f r o m a l l s i d es in the box. The sup e r n a t u ra l v i s i o n o f O s c a r, the sweeper and de f e n d e r f o r t h e J a g u a r s , a l lowed for the ball to g e t t o a n o p e n J a g . Fo t i s , after getting the ball f r o m O s c ar, e a s i l y t a p p e d t he ball in for the first and o n l y g o a l i n t h e J a g u a r s ’ w i n ove r East Side Memorial, which m ad e t h e Ja g u a r s d i s t r i c t c h a m p i o ns for the first time. Both t h e d e s i r e a n d t a l e n t o f t h e va r s i ty team allowed for history to b e m a d e a n d t h e t e am f i n a l l y g o t t hat big golden trophy they d e s e r ve d . Th e J ag u a r s m a d e s o m e s e r i o u s i m provements this year and th at l e ad t o t h e m b e c o m i n g d i s t r i ct champions for the first ti m e i n s c h o o l h i s t o r y. H o w e ve r, t h e y couldn’ t do it all as they f a i l e d t o b e c o m e A r e a c h a m p i o n s a nd could not fix some mistake s t h e y m a d e t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e a son, but they several games t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e a s o n h ave t a u g h t them some valuable lesson s . Aft e r w o r k i n g h a r d t h r o u g h o u t t h i s s eason, the LBJ/LASA boys’ var s i ty s o c c e r t e a m b e c a m e d i s t r i ct champi Alex Greaves in ons fo r t h e f i r s t t i m e e ve r i n J a g u a r h i s t ory. “Histo r i c . Re a l l y, i t wa s an o t h e r p a g e i n t he LBJ soc- t h e J a g u a r s ’ s o c c e r g a m e a ga i n s t E a s t cer his t o r y, a n d w e ’ve j u s t s t a r t e d a n e w chapter,” Side memorial in says Pa t r i c k D, c a p t a i n o f t h e L BJ b oy s ’ varsity soc- t h e d i s t r i c t c h a m p i cer te am . onship game. The J ag u a r s n e e d e d a w i n a g a i n s t E a s t Side

18 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

Sports Avenue | Spring 2010 | 19

Memor i a l t o q u a l i fy f o r t h e p l ayo f fs , a n d t o become distric t c h a m p i o n s f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n s chool his tory. E a r l y i n t h e f i r s t h a l f i n t h e d i s t r i c t championship g a m e , t h e Ja g u a r s t u r n e d a f r e e k i c k into the first g o al o f t h e g am e . T h e J a g u a r s l e d 1 -0 at halftime, a n d as s o o n a s t h e s e c o n d h a l f b e gan, their defens e d i d t h e j o b a s t h e y d i d n ’ t g i ve a chance for East S i d e M e m o r i a l t o s c o r e . “It was n ’ t t h e a m a z i n g u p p e r 9 0 g o a l , but it was the go al t h a t m a d e u s d i s t r i c t c h a m p s a n d put us in the pl ayo ff s ,” Fo t i s K . s ay s . “ T h e c r o w d was chanting fre s h m a n a n d I wa s s o p r o u d a n d t hat really bumpe d my c o n f i d e n c e u p. I wa s t h e o n l y one who scored , j u s t m e , n o t t h e t o p s c o r e r o r captain of my tea m .” Fot i s e x p l a i n e d t h a t a f t e r s c o r i n g t h e goal he felt gr e at a n d a s t o n i s h e d , e s p e c i a l l y b ecause no on tho u g h t h e w o u l d g o o u t a n d s c o r e t he district winnin g g o a l . The J a g u a r s w e r e i n t h e zo n e an d w e re playing their “A” g a m e , h o w e ve r t h e i r f u n a n d e xcitement over b e c o m i n g d i s t r i c t c h a m p i o n s c a m e to an end quickl y as t h e y l o s t i n t h e A r e a C h a m p i o n ship game to Bud a H ay s . De s p i t e t h e d i s a p p o i n t m ent in the playoff s , t h e J ag u a r s k n o w w h at t o w o r k on and are ready t o g e t a n o t h e r b i g t r o p hy n e x t s e a son. The Ja g u a r s ’ c o n f i d e n c e a n d h o p e s w ere higher than e ve r b e f o r e , b u t t h e y c o n t i n u e d t o work and play as s o l i d a s t h e y d i d t h r o u g h o u t t h e season to accom p l i s h m o r e g r e a t t h i n g s . T h e y w e n t in to the first r o u n d o f t h e p l ayo ff s a n d n o t o n l y were they the favo r i t e i n t h a t g am e b u t t h e y h a d t h e positive attitud e a f t e r w i n n i n g t h e d i s t r i c t c h a m p i onships. “[T h e t e a m ] wa s w e l l - p r e p a r e d , e n e r getic, and extrem e l y f o c u s e d f o r t h e fi r s t p l ayo f f g a me,” Fotis K. say s . “ O u r o ff e n s e was d o i n g a g o o d job as we were a b l e t o p u t u p 3 g o al s i n t h e w h o l e game, and our de f e n s e d i d g r e a t a s w e s h u t o ff M arble Falls compl e t e l y.” The Ja g u a r s ’ w i n ove r M a r b l e Fa l l s a l l o wed them to adva n c e t o t h e s e c o n d r o u n d o f t h e playoffs,

which also was the area championship game. The Jaguars wanted to add to their accomplishments and winning this game would have made history again as it would have been the furthest the Jaguars ever got in their playoff history. “In all honesty we should have beaten Hays; we had twice the opportunities to score that they did, and controlled the ball quite dominantly,” Patrick D. says. “If anything went wrong, it was not taking advantage of the opportunities we created to score. We were well equipped with both the talent and the desire to win, however Hays was just a fine tuned amount better in finishing their shots on goal.” The Jaguars had everything they needed to win but were a little short on winning the area championship game because of some mistakes they made in that game. “Some teams have strikers that can easily get past the defenders easily in the [Jaguars’] half and be able to score,” Fotis K. says. Fotis describes a threat of not getting the ball out of their half first which is allowing for the other team to get some easy scores. Getting into foul trouble was also a big drawback for the Jags. “In the game against Reagan, [the Jaguars] got a red card, so we were down to ten men,” Fotis K. says. “It became a ten against eleven situation, so we had a one man disadvantage and that hurt [the Jaguars] big. Everyone had to work harder to make up for that but we were still unable to win, so that red card ended the game for us pretty much.” Fotis says that the Jaguars in the rest of the season worked on not getting fouls and they were able to handle that problem quite well. He also mentioned that one area where they continued to struggle in was after have a good lead in the game, the Jaguars start to get over-confident and lower their game. “At McCallum, our striker Ben Bonnen had a hat trick and at halftime we were up 3-2,” Fotis K. says. Fotis explained that the Jags thought that there was no way the other team could come back since not only were we up at halftime by two goals, but the striker was on fire after getting the hat trick. “We then started to be more easy-going in the second half, and weren’ t as focused as we were in the first half,” Fotis K. says. “McCallum on the other hand had increased their level of play and came back and took the game.” Another time the Jaguars had the same issue as they d id at McCallum J a g u a r s r esting on the bench i n a n i n t ense soccer game. T h e J a g u ars ended up winning t h i s g a m e against McCallum

20 SportsAvenue Avenue| |Spring Spring2010 2010 1 | |Sports

was again s t L a n i e r. At h a l f t i m e t h e y h a d t h e lead. Lan ier the n i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f t o o k ad va n t age of the Jags n o t p l ay i n g as s h a r p a s t h e y w e r e in the first half, a n d i n t h e s h o o t o u t t h e y w e r e a ble to beat the Ja g u a r s . “Overal l t h e f e e l i ng a n d h o w w e p r o g r e s s ed as the season c o n t i n u e d t e l l s m e w e w i l l ad van c e further next s e a s o n ,” Fo t i s K . s ay s . “ I r e a l l y fe e l next season it ’s g o i n g t o b e o u r s e a s o n , a l l u s .”

LOVE FOR THE GAME CONT. FROM PG. 17

philosophy that helps him wherever he goes. “I totally believe in, do great where you are. I really try not to move on to the next spot and what ’s happening next. I really want to work and do what I can to make this place better,” he says. Making the LBJ football program great is possibly just the start of an already successful life of football for Odems. Whatever road that life takes him on, his suc cessful coach ing career indicates that it will be worthwhile. “It ’s been a journey, but it ’s been a fun journey,” Odems says. SA

“ We are going to make h i st o r y again by winning Are a s a n d a dvancing in the playo ff s f u r t h er than ever before, a s w e l l as become back-to-ba c k d i s t r i ct champs,” Patrick D. s ay s . The Jag u a r s k n o w t h e i r s t r e n g t h s a n d w e a k nesses and ar e g o i n g t o u s e t h a t k n o w l e d g e t o come back next ye a r b e t t e r t h a n e ve r b e f o r e . “We have e ve r y t h i n g w e n e e d r i g h t n o w,” C aptain Patrick D. s ay s . “A s l o n g a s o u r t e a m c o n t i n ues to work hard , a n d p u t fo r t h t h e s a m e e ff o r t s a s they have been d o i n g t h r o u g h o u t t h i s s e a s o n , I b elieve that we w i l l b e p u t t i n g a n o t h e r t r o p hy u p i n the office by t h e e n d o f n e x t ye a r. We h ave t h e talent, we h ave t h e d e s i r e , a n d e ve n t h o u g h we are a very str o n g t e am o n t h e fi e l d , o u r c o ac h , Coach Martinez, h as d o n e a m ag n i f i c e n t j o b i n ke e p ing us on track, a n d i n s h ap e o ff o f t h e fi e l d .” SA

The One. The Only A U S T I N L B J B O Y S VA R S I T Y S O C C E R D I S T R I C T [ 5 0 4 A ] 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 10 T E A M S TA N D I N G S RANK SCHOOL 1

AUSTIN LBJ

RECORD PTS GF

10-1-1

AUSTIN REAGAN

7-1-2

AUSTIN LANIER

4-3-2

EASTSIDE MEMORIAL

4-7-1

A U S T I N T R AV I S

4-5-1

AUSTIN MCCALLUM

2-8-2 8

AUSTIN CROCKETT

1-7-1 5

2009State Qualifiers Sports Avenue | Spring 2010 | 21

22 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

LBJ Coaches Personality Profile

Shooting Toward Success LBJ Coach Renee Brown coaching for twenty-years. Her goal is to head to the State Tournament next year. By Amy H. | Photo by Becky Gdula

towering figure, 6’2” to be exact, can be found by the bench of every LBJ’s girl’s basketball game in a dapper suit with her hair nicely curled. Coach Renee Brown, a long time coach, is standing straight and tall, carefully scrutinizing every move of every player. Every time a basketball player misses an easy layup or free-throw, she knows what should be done before Brown tells her; get down and do push-ups. Brown is the “loud” type of coach, but she knows when and what to say to a player to make her improve. Brown has been coaching for twenty-one years at many different schools before finally coaching at Lyndon Baines Johnson High School. The LBJ girl’s basketball team has improved a lot with the coaching of Brown and her assistant coaches. This year, the Lady Jags made it to the Elite 8 in the state playoffs. They were the first team from Austin to go to the regional-semis since 1989. This has been Brown’s best moment in coaching so far, says Brown. Brown plans to work her players hard during the offseason, so that the Lady Jags will head to the state tournament next year. Before Brown started her coaching career, she started playing basketball because of her height. Brown: Renee Brown, When Brown was in the 6th grade, she was alhead coach of Lady Jags ready 5’8”. She grew six more inches by the time Basketball. Brown has she was a junior in high school. Brown went on to been coaching for a total of twenty-one years. play basketball at Bastrop High School and at Huston-Tillotson College on a four-year scholarship.

Spring 2010 | Sports Avenue | 23

“My life as a basketball player was great,” she says. “I knew that I had to do something to earn a scholarship to go to college because my mother couldn’t afford to pay for me to go.” These days, Brown is an example to all athletes. She would always work harder than any player in high school and college, and would also set challenges for herself that would make her improve as a basketball player. “I [would] always challenge myself to score more points from game to game,” says Brown. “If I scored twenty points in a game, the next game I would want to score thirty points or more. I wanted to be consistent in whatever I set out to do.” By working hard in practices and doing what her high school coach and her college coach, she was able to go to college and become a coach. Since the eighth grade, Brown has wanted to be a coach. She asked her eighth grade teacher, Carolyn Elliott, what needed to be done in order for her to become a teacher. Elliott stated, “Go to college for four years.” This inspired her to work hard through the four years of college required to become a teacher. After four years of college, the hard work payed off. The Sunday after Brown graduated from HustonTillotson, she was hired by her high school principal at Bastrop High School. She started her first day as a coach on the Monday after graduation. Because of her love of the game and her high school coach, Mayer who believed Brown to be a leader on and off the court, Brown became a coach for twenty-one years. Because of Mayer, Brown was able to become a leader as a coach.

Brown: Coaching a game against Crockett HS, the final score LBJ 59 Crockett 33.

player to develop athletes and a team that would “win with class.” Though her career as a basketball player was great, Brown had one challenge that she had to get through. One of Brown’s challenges as an athlete was keeping her grades up. “Without academics I couldn’t have achieved my goals,” Brown says. After college, Brown has spent all twenty-one years of her coaching career worrying about academics of players. “My number one challenge as a coach is to make sure every player is academically successful,” she says. “The game follows after.” She constantly worries about the grades of her players so that they could reach their goals of becoming whatever they want to become after college. After the Lady Jags made it to the regional-semis this year, the head basketball coach has high goals set for next year’s basketball team. Her goal is to make it to the state tournament where the four best teams from Texas play. Brown will work her team hard during off-season so that her players will stay in shape during the spring and summer. During the intense workouts, Brown will constantly tell her players, “When you cheat we get beat.” So every time Brown steps onto the court as a coach, she’ll make sure that her players don’t cheat, which may result in having to do push-ups on the sidelines during a game. SA

“I want my players to look up to me [as] a role model. I want them to have respect for each other and for other people.”

24 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

“I enjoy coaching,” Brown says. “I want my players to look up to me [as] a role model. I want them to have respect for each other and for other people. I want them to set goals for themselves and to accomplish these goals.” For twenty-one years, she has coached players implementing things that she has learned as a basketball

LeBron James

Franchise Player or Bust? #1 NBA Draft Picks

09 08

By: John G.

Blake Griffin

He had great freshman and sophomore seasons at Oklahoma, but broke his kneecap and missed his entire rookie season. Judgment should be reserved until he actually plays, but the future is promising if he stays healthy as he was named Summer League MVP during the summer of 2009 when he played on the Clippers summer team.

Derrick Rose

So far he has turned out to be everything that he was envisioned to be in the NBA and a little more. Rose has averaged about 19 points a game and 6 assists during his first two years in the league, and he is up to around 26 points a game for this years playoffs. It would be hard to argue against him being the best player on the Bulls, and he has already led them to 2 playoff appearances. It will be interesting to see what this young phenom can accomplish in what should be a successful career.

Greg Oden

07 06 05 04

Oden missed the entire 07-08 season due to a knee injury, and was even renamed a rookie for the 08-09 season. He got injured again, causing him to miss a few weeks, but managed to average 11 points and 7 rebounds during the 61 games that he played. This season he got injured again and only started 21 games, but the Trailblazers can’t miss him too much as they made the playoffs without him the last 2 seasons. At this point the future isn’t too promising, but if he fully recovers from both his bad knees, then it is possible that his career could gain some momentum after starting so slowly.

Andrea Bargnani

After being drafted out of Italy, Bargnani has struggled to become a dominant presence in the paint for the Toronto Raptors. Despite unimpressive numbers as a rookie and a sophomore, over the last two years Bargnani’s numbers have steadily increased to 17 points and 6 rebounds a game this season. The numbers suggest that Bargnani is a solid player, but so far the Raptors have had limited success as a whole. Unless he continues to improve at a rapid rate, it appears as if the top overall pick was not warranted with him.

Andrew Bogut

His first year in the league, Bogut came third in Rookie of the Year voting, and over the next 3 years his stats stayed relatively the same, hovering from 12-14 points a game and from 9-10 rebounds. Before getting injured this season after starting 69 consecutive games for the year, this Australian improved greatly while silently averaging a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds a game, plus 2.5 blocks on average. It appears as if Bogut’s career is on the rise and this season was just a breakthrough. Look for him to have some success in the near future.

Dwight Howard

Also known as “king James,” LeBron is already drawing comparisons to the great Michael Jordan. Over the course of his career James is averaging 28 points a game, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and this year he was fourth in the league in scoring with close to 30 points a game, while improving his assists average to 8.5 a game! After having already won Rookie of the Year in 2004, a gold medal in 2008, and MVP of the NBA in 2009, LeBron only needs to claim a championship ring to cement his legacy as one of the greatest players of alltime. Almost unrivaled when talking about the best player in the NBA, only Kobe is mentioned in the same context. Clearly the best draft pick of at least the last decade.

Leader of the Orlando Magic, starter for the gold medal Team USA’s basketball team in the 08 Beijing Olympics, and Superman; whatever you know Dwight Howard as, you should think of him as one of the top 10 picks of the last decade. He has 4 All-Star game appearances, has averaged a double-double all 6 years in the league, and has started virtually every game that the Orlando Magic have played in. Howard has almost single handedly made the Magic relevant and it could easily be argued that he is the best center in the NBA. Given some time, we could someday see Dwight in the NBA Hall of Fame.

Yao Ming Coming from China, Yao became the first international player to be drafted number 1 overall without having played college basketball in the U.S. Although he has had a few injury-plagued seasons, Yao has seen lots of playing time every year, and his career averages are at 19 points a game, 2 blocks and 9 rebounds a game (they have been higher the last few years). Yao Ming is one of the few pieces of the puzzle for the Houston Rockets that has remained constant over the years, allowing them to see decent success in this last decade. Clearly all of the draft hype over Yao was well-deserved and not solely based on his height (7ft. 6 in.), because now Yao is a household name not only in China but also in America. SA

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HIGHEST PAID ATHLETES

By: Bilal B.

World Cu Num

We a l l k n o w atheletes are some of the richest people on our p l a n e t, but which ones are the highest paid?

By Am

The number of Brazil’s goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, the third best goalkeeper in the world ranked by the IFFHS. He also plays for Italian Serie A team Internazionale.

1. T I G E R W O O D S

2. KO B E B R YA N T ( T I E )

Tiger Woods i s a P r o - G o l f e r , and consider e d t o b e o n e o f the all time gr e a t s t o e v e r p l a y golf.

Kobe Bryant is the starting s h o o t i n g g u a r d f o r t h e L o s A ng e l e s L a k e r s ( N BA f r a n c h i s e ) .

Total number of times that South Africa, the host of the World Cup 2010, has appeared at the FIFA World Cup. Qualified at France 1998, Japan/Korea 2002, and South Africa 2010.

6.8

Amount times a million, that Thierry Henry makes per season in euros. He is one of the best forwards, and plays for Barcelona and the French national team.

1947

2. M I C H A E L J O R D A N ( T I E )

4. D AV I D B E C K H A M

Jordan is on e o f t h e gr e a t e s t players to eve r p l a y i n t h e N BA and now is t h e o w n e r o f t h e Charlot t e Bo b c a t s .

Be c k h a m i s a n E n g l i s h s o c c e r p l a y e r p l a y i n g f o r t h e L o s A ngeles Galaxy club.

1. Tiger Woods- $110 million: Woods got about 25 million dollars from prize money from the tournaments he won. The other 85 million dollars is from endorsements from At&t, PepsiCo., GM, and his biggest deal with Nike which earned him 30 million dollars alone. 2. Kobe Bryant- $45 million: Bryant’s salary for the 2009-2010 season was in the range of 22-24 million dollars. He got the other half of his income from endorsers such as Nike, Upper Deck, Activision and VitaminWater. Bryant’s jersey is also the top seller in the U.S. and Europe. 3. Michael Jordan- $45 million: Since this income is from 2009-2010, Jordan at this point was a minor owner for the Bobcats. Jordan gets 40 of his 45 million dollars from endoresements; mostly from Nike as the Jordan Brand is approaching a little bit over 1 billion dollars in sales. 4. David Beckham- $42 million: Beckham stacks up nearly 34 million dollars from his salary from the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer club. He adds about 8-10 million dollars from his endoresemnts from Adidas, Giorgio Armani and Motorola, along with some percent of the profits from his jersey sales.

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Spain, the favorite for the World Cup 2010, has appeared in every World Cup since Germany 1947. Spain has appeared at the FIFA World a total of 12 times.

890

Minutes played by England’s midfielder Frank Lampard. Played all of the 10 qualifying games totaling 890 minutes.

100

Percentage of games won by Spain during the qualification rounds in the 2010 World Cup.

Photo courtesy of Flickr and W i k i m e d i a

up By the mbers

Top Soccer Player

The greatest players in men soccer By: Ashvin R.

my H.

Xavi Hernandez is ranked one of the best midfielders ever to play soccer. He has perfect passing and will provide opportunities for Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forwards to finish.

Lionel Messi Age: 22 Argentina/ Barcelona Appearances- 209 Goals- 120 Assists- 48 World Soccer player of the year 2009 Christiano Ronaldo Age: 25 Portugal/ Real Madrid Appearances- 354 Goals- 150 World Soccer player of the year 2008

First and last day of the World Cup 2010. South Africa 2010 starts on June 11 and ends on July 11.

Miroslav Klose has scored the third most goal in the history of German soccer during international games with a current total of 48 goals. Miro was also the top scorer during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Wayne Rooney Age: 24 England/ Man. United Appearances- 357 Goals- 148

Brazil is the only team to have appeared in every World Cup, a total of 19 World Cups. The Brazilian national team is also the only team to have won 5 World Cup titles.

Age of Fabio Cannavaro, the captain of the Italian national team. The center back has represented Italy in the World Cup for 13 years, and will retire after the 2010 World Cup.

Total number of teams that moved on from the qualifying rounds.

P h o t o c o u r t e s y of Wikimedia

Kaka Age: 28 Brazil/ Real Madrid Appearances- 372 Goals- 133 Assists- 48 World Soccer player of the year 2007

Best Soccer Player LASA Poll We asked LASA students who they thought was the best. This is what they said: Lionel Messi.........................44% Christiano Ronaldo...............31% Kaka......................................19% Wayne Rooney........................6% Message to the reader: I understand that there may have been and still may be players more talented than these four. But these four have made their mark on the soccer we play today, proving to all of us that they are good enough to be called the best.

Spring 2010 | Sports Avenue | 27

28 | Sports Avenue | Spring 2010

Will continue if they play well like in qualifications

Chile

Will have a hard time in Group G, but will move on

Brazil

Has ability to play well with the talented team

Paraguay

This African powerhouse will advance as first in group

Cameroon

Will battle out for second against the Aussies in Group D

Ghana

England Easily cruise through Group C in first place

Will advance out of Group B with a solid roster

Nigeria

Has never failed to advance to the Round of 16

South Africa

Preview 2010 World Cup

Rivalry game, but Brazil is the better team

Brazil

Goalkeeper Villar stops Paraguay from scoring

Paraguay

Midfielders will give chances to strikers

England

chances for fowards

Pienaar will create

S. Africa

Brazil

Has one of the best keepers Julio Cesar

England

Spain

Will advance with an all around team

Spain

Klose will score Germany to Final 4

Germany

Mid Xavi Hernandez will perfectly pass Spain to the Finals

Spain has a balanced team with talented players all over the field. They are the favorites to win the 2010 World Cup

Mids Lampard and Gerrard will help Rooney lead England to Finals

England

W. Rooney will shoot England to Final 4

By Amy H.

Spain

Keeper Casillas will use reflexes to stop them

Italy

Advance to Quarterfinals with Good D

Germany

Will be difficult team for US to beat

Veteran Blanco will lead Mexico to Quaters

Mexico

2010 WORLD CUP BRACKETS

Portugal

Chistiano Ronaldo will lead team out of Group G

Spain

Fortuante to be placed against easy teams in group

Netherlands

Ability to advance with Robben and Kuyt

Italy

Advance out of Group F with not trouble

U.S.

Will cruise through Group C behind England

Germany

Can easily advance out of group unless they break down

Mexico

Will have to battle France out for second in group

Argentina

Has Lionel Messi to advance them to Round of 16

Sports Avenue

Best Bets for World Cup 2010 Reporter Ashvin R. ranks the world cup teams

England

Brazil

Spain

England is a very good team, but hasn’t won a big title recently. Their current top-scorer is Wayne Rooney, no doubt one of the best players in the world. England consists of many soccer stars, including David Beckham, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard, and many others. However this world cup, Beckham will not be able to play due to injury.

Brazil, being one of the favorites, is one of the good teams not in UEFA (Europe). Brazil was the world champions in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. Many expected them to win the 2006 world cup, but with a surprising defeat to France in the semifinals their dreams faded. They did get their confidence back up by winning the Confederations Cup in 2009.

Ranked number one currently, Spain hopes to win the title this year. They’ve never won a world cup before, but have gotten 3rd in the confederations cup in 2009, and European champions in 2008. Spain has outstanding players such as Raul, David Villa, and Fernando Torres making them an unstoppable team.

Italy

France

Portugal

Italy has won the France is one of Portugal, having world cup 4 times; the most outstand- won 4th place in 1934, 1938, 1982, ing teams there the 2006 world and most imporis. They were the cup, has proven tantly 2006. Being world champions in to the world how the defending 1998, the European outstanding they champions this champions in 1984 can be. With their year, they will and 2000, and won top scorer, Chrishave high expecta- the Confederatiano Ronaldo tions by the fans. tions cup in 2001 (now playing in They also have a and 2003. Thierry Real Madrid), this good history with Henry, now playteam could bring their club teams ing on Barcelona, the title home. too, including Inter is the top scorer Also, their current Milan, AC Milan, on the team and FIFA rankign is Roma, and many is planning to lead number 3 giving more. Their FIFA France to the finals them high expecranking is number this year. In the tations. 1, meaning that 2006 World Cup, they are really France reached to good. the finals with Italy but lost because of the 3-5 penalty shootouts.

Green represents the countries qualified for the World Cup. Red represents the countries that didn’t make it.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

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Hidden Talent This is my all time NFL offensive lineup from Non-Division I schools. Apparently overlooked coming out of high school, these are some of the best football players that ever lived.

By: John G.

Although the vast majority of NFL players come from Division I schools, players from other less-known divisions of football have made an impact on just about every team in the league. Often these small school talents aren’t picked until late rounds of the draft when a team can afford to take a risk on someone who hasn’t played against as high level of competition as their peers, but most of the time these skilled players go undrafted. For the teams that took a chance on the following 11 players, the risk turned into great reward. The people on this list probably don’t mind being passed up on by bigger colleges, because all of them have Pro Bowls or an enshrinement in Canton to make up for it. I would gladly put this former Division II All Star team up against any team in the NFL today, even if those teams have their fair share of former Buckeyes, Longhorns, and Trojans.

WR1 TE

1998-2009

Kurt Warner

College: Northern Iowa Kurt Warner is the only quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards and win a Super Bowl in the same season. He is second all-time only to Peyton Manning in average passing yards per game, with 260. In his career he amassed over 30,000 passing yards, 200 touchdowns, and finished with a 93.7 QB rating.

1975-1987

Walter Payton

College: Jackson State Many consider Payton to be the best running back ever, not just the best running back from a small school. He held the all-time NFL rushing record with 16,726 yards, before Emmitt Smith passed him in 2002. He has the most games ever in the NFL with 100 yards from scrimmage, with 108, and is tied with Barry Sanders for the most games of 150 plus all-purpose yards.

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1985-2004

WR1 Jerry Rice

College: Mississippi Valley State Without question, the best receiver that ever lived, and maybe the best football player regardless of position. He holds more NFL records than any other player in the history of the league. He has the record for the most career receptions, receiving yards, all-purpose yards, and touchdowns (just to name a few).

1996-Present

WR2

Terrell Owens

College: Chattanooga Often considered to be a modern day diva, T.O lives up to all of his talk. Owens is currently close to 15,000 receiving yards on his career, and it’s unclear if he will continue to add to that or not. He also has 144 touchdowns, and is the only player to score a touchdown against all 32 teams in the NFL.

1990-2003

Shannon Sharpe

College: Savannah State Sharpe amassed over 10,000 receiving yards in his career and got 62 touchdowns, despite playing from the tight end position. He had 3 seasons where he went over 1,000 yards, and he also played in 8 Pro Bowls. Since joining the commentating business, Sharpe has seen Tony Gonzalez pass him as the all-time most receiving yards for a tight end.

QB RT

2005-Present

Leonard Weaver

College: CarsonNewman Leonard is entering his 6th year in the league, and he is primarily known for his strong lead blocking. However, over the last 3 seasons he is averaging 4.4 yards a carry and he has contributed 3 rushing and 4

1968-1982

Art Shell

College: Maryland Eastern Shore Shell was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989, after having amassed 8 Pro Bowls and 2 All-Pro selections. He lasted a long time for a lineman by appearing in 207 games over 14 seasons with the Los Angeles/ Oakland Raiders.

WR2

1994-2007

1970-1981

Larry Allen

Jim Langer

College: Sonoma State Allen started an amazing 197 games out of 203 during his 15 year career. He displayed incredible strength by achieving a bench press of 700 pounds, and he was one of the mainstays on the offensive line that paved the way for the NFLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all-time leading rusher, Em-

College: South Dakota State Langer played every single offensive down for the Dolphins in the perfect 1972 season, and he only received help on 3 of his 500 blocking assignments. He was elected to 6 Pro Bowls, 4 All-Pro teams, and even 5 straight All-AFC teams.

1967-1981

Gene Upshaw

College: Texas A&I Upshaw made 6 Pro Bowls, 4 1st team All-Pro selections, and one 2 Super Bowls over his succesful career. He is the only player to play in a Super Bowl in 3 separate decades. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

1976-1995

Jackie Slater

College: Jackson State Possibly the most amazing stat of any lineman on this list, Slater blocked for 7 1,000 yard rushers. With 259 games played, he retired with more games played than any other lineman in history. Jackie was named to 7 Pro Bowls and 5 All Pro Teams.

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Rock, Paper, Cricket!

By: Bilal B.

No bat? No ball? No Wo r r i e s , j u s t p l a y hand cricket with your hands.

A m y H . a n d A s h v i n R . p l a y ing a game of Rock, P a p e r , C r i cket.

1 Tw o p l aye r s p l ay the game, one is b a t t i n g a n d t h e o t he r i s f i e l d i ng . B o t h p l aye r s m a ke a f i s t a n d s h a ke i t t h r e e t i m e s , t h e fi r s t t w o t i m e s t h e y ke e p t h e fist closed, but the third they put the number of runs they wa n t ( e a c h fi n g e r e q u al s o n e r u n ) .

22 T h e b a t t e r wants t o p u t t h e n u mber of r u n s h e wa n t s, and t h e f i e l d e r w i ll try t o g u e s s h o w many r u n s t h e b a t t er will wa n t t o m a ke. The r u n s a r e f r o m 0 to 6 , a n d o n e h and i s u s e d t o i n dicate r u n s e xc e p t i n the c a s e o f s i x r uns.

3 3.If the number of fingers the batter has matches with the fielder, than the batter is out. If not, the number of fingers (runs) the batter had are added to the total number of runs. This will keep going, until the fielder can finally get the batter out.

4 4.Now the positions are going to switch. The game can either go on until the new batter is out, the new batter has more runs than first batter, or can be done by a set number of “overs” (over= 6 pitches) like in traditional cricket.

55. F l i p a c o i n t o s e e w h o w i l l “ b at ” f i r s t . I f a c o i n i s n ’ t ava i la b l e , t h e n ju s t l e t a ny p l aye r g o f i r s t , s i n c e i t d o e s n ’ t m a tt e r w h o b a ts fi r s t o r w h o fi e l d s fi r s t .

66.N o w w h o i s going t o b a t fi r s t o r field f i r s t i s e s t ab lished, s t a r t t h e g ame by e a c h p l aye r t ossing a n u m b e r o f runs. Ke e p g o i n g u ntil t h e f i e l d e r m atches t h e n u m b e r of fing e r s w i t h t h e batter w h i c h r e s u l t s in the b a t t e r b e i n g out.

7 Switch positions, 7. and start tossing runs out again. The goal for the second batter is to get more runs than the first, so if that happens, the game ends and the second batter is the winner.

8. 8 If a tie results, than there will be one more batting opportunity for each player, and whoever wins in this overtime will be the winner.

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Photos taken by B i l a l B i l w a n i

ATHELETES OF THE YEAR: SPORTS AVENUEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PICKS

P e yton Manning, 4 tim e M V P , i s a N F L q u a r t e r b a c k for the Ind i a n a p o l i s C o l t s .

L e bron James. back-to- b a c k M V P o f t h e N B A , i s a forward for t h e C av al i e r s .

By: Bilal B.

T i m L i n c e u m i s t h e s t a r t i n g p i t c h e r f o r the San Francisco Giants (MLB).

S y d n e y C r o s b y i s t h e c a p t a i n o f t h e P i t tsburgh Pinguins i n t h e N H L . C r o s b y h a s w o n t h e C H L p l ayer award and a gold medal in 2005.

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Free Safety for the New Orleans Saints, D a r r e n S h a r p e r, t a c k l e s I n d i a n a p o l i s Colts receiver Austin Collie. Collie was held to just 6 catches for 66 yards on the game, one of the reasons that the Saints went on to win their first Super Bowl with a score of 31-17.

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Photo courtesy of NFL/ Yahoo Sports/ Getty Images

Spring 2010 | Sports Avenue | 35

Sports Avenue

Just Read it.