TEBOWMANIA: published in The Warcry

Tim Tebow is one of the most overrated players in the NFL. Do not get me wrong, he is one of my favorite players in the league. He is a great player, but he is not a one-man team. The rest of the Broncos have played incredibly as well. Tebow is the one that has gotten all of the popularity and has deserved quite a bit of it. He has led the team to a 7-1 record as a starting quarterback that took over after a 1-4 start by the Broncos. They are leading the AFC West division by one game. He has led thrilling drives when the Broncos were written off from having a chance to win.

          Tim Tebow’s college career for the Florida Gators was incredible. As a freshman, he was a backup quarterback when they won the National Championship that year. In his three years as a starter, he was a finalist for the Heisman award every year. He also became the first sophomore to win the award. In his junior year, he led the Gators to another national championship. During that year, Florida had an early season loss to Ole Miss when Tim delivered the speech that has since been known as “The Promise”:

:”“To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida has never done here.” “I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season.” “You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.”

He fulfilled that promise and won the National Championship that year. Tebow was selected with the 25^th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was made a starter for the final 3 games of his rookie year where he went 1-2. This year, new coach John Fox made Kyle Orton (the same guy that Tebow had replaced the year before) his starting quarterback. There was speculation if Tebow was even the 2^nd string quarterback after a terrible preseason. The Broncos started the year 1-4 with Orton as quarterback. During that span, Denver fans would come to the games just to yell, “WE WANT TEBOW.” There was even false speculation that Fox might lose his job for not starting Tebow. Week 6 was the Broncos bye week, and John Fox made the decision to give Tebow the starting gig. He was promptly ripped apart by reporters for giving into the fans.

His first start was at the Miami Dolphins which was fitting for the Florida native.  He looked terrible for the first 55 minutes of the game. Then it was Tebow time. He went 10-19 with 137 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Tebow ran in the two point conversion to tie the game at 15-15 with 17 seconds left in the game. The Broncos won in overtime on a field goal by Matt Prater.

The next week, the Broncos were annihilated by the Lions. There was more speculation if Tebow should be the starter or if Fox should have stayed with Orton. Fox stuck with him and the Broncos have had a 6 game winning streak ever since. Almost all of these have been won very late in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Tebow has had many reporters who ripped him in the past, change their stance on him. I will admit that I was always a Tebow fan, but I never thought he would do anything in the pros. Now ESPN (which had spent the entire season ripping him apart) have something good about Tebow daily. They spent half of their three hour Sunday morning show talking about the Broncos vs. Patriots game. He has had a ridiculous amount of articles written on him and the Broncos comebacks. Through all of this, he has stayed remarkably humble. He has never even thought about boasting or bragging. He has always put the team first. ESPN had him a microphone on him the whole game, and all he talked about was believing. Not one of his comments was negative. He was always telling his teammates to believe. There was a lot of praying and thanking god as well. Rick Reilly ( a famous sports writer) hired a lip reader who studied Tebow a couple of games this year. The worst thing he ever saw was Tebow getting in someone’s face and saying “Let’s go!”

The Broncos have won on some pretty miraculous plays made him by him and his teammates. He is a very openly religious person and some people claim that he has the power of god on his side. I will not speculate either way. There has been a cultural phenomenon resulting from this though. It’s called Tebowing. It has become a verb in many people’s everyday language. An example of it has been shown in the picture at the top. There are pictures of people doing it all over the world. It has hit our school as well. In my personal fitness class, I know that most of the guys in the class Tebow before playing. It is a fun thing to do. We even incorporated into our pregame basketball ritual. Fans at the game did it as well. IN New York, 4 kids were suspended for tebowing in the hallway. They apparently clogged the hallway. Same thing happened at Nicolet High School in Fox Point. Bottom line, it is a fun thing to do, but be careful where you do it.

Tim Tebow has quickly become a cultural icon. Yes, he is just a football player, but he is so much more. He is a guy that shows anything is possible. No matter what happens with the rest of the Broncos season, he will always be remembered for what he has done this year. My bold prediction is that the Broncos will lose to the Packers in the Super Bowl.

The Stolen Kobe 5's

This is my, Steve Street's,  and Eric Hartnett's collaborated Forensic Science final project. We had to create a story using 6 pieces of evidence that we learned about in class and use them to catch somebody that committed a crime. We also created a powerpoint with pictures of the fake evidence to present to the class. Without further ado, here is the story:

The Stolen Nike Kobe 5’s

“It could go!!! And BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!! Kobe Bryant… WOW. Jeff (Van Gundy) that has got to be the most stunning finish to a NBA Finals game, I have ever seen! The Lakers beat their arch rival Boston Celtics on a game winning 3 by Kobe Bryant.” Jeff looks as if he had just soiled himself.

A few days later, “Kobe, we know who took your shoes…”

Rewind to the night of the NBA Finals...

“I can’t believe we are at Kobe Bryant’s house fellas” stated James Leroux to his partner Veronica Vaughn and the other investigators. It was breathtakingly huge, and fancy with awards and shoes in display cases everywhere. A short, stocky man was giving a statement to a uniform as they arrived. Another uniform told them that it was the butler, Chauncey Chalmers. They thanked him and walked towards Chalmers. The uniform wrapped up his interview and left them with Chalmers.

“What happened Chauncey?” asked Veronica trying not to give away any case evidence.

“Well you see ahhh, I was a sleepin’ in my bed and I heard this tremendous crash. I didn’t do anything at first, cuz’ it sounded so scary.”

“Wow, some kind of butler you are” Leroux murmured.

Chalmers seemed physically in control until that comment, when he became flustered. “Hey, that’s not my job, that’s the body guard’s job, and Kobe’s were at the Staples Center! Anyways, back to what happened… I came out with my paintball gun fully loaded with Celtics paintballs, don’t tell Kobe, and I immediately saw that the front door had been brutally assaulted and lay on the floor in a pile of splinters.” The investigators shuffle towards the entry way. The door was utterly destroyed proving his statement. Also, there was a footprint on the remains of the door. In addition, there were footprints seeming to be out of mud leading from the door to the case and back throughout the door.

"The guy wasn't even wearing shoes, just his bare feet. Maybe he just needed some shoes ha ha" Leroux joked. The footprint was a size 13 men's, and was made of dirt as if he came running in from outside. The investigators couldn’t use STAMP because it was a footprint not a shoe print.

There was also a ransom note found right on top of the glass podium where the shoes were supposed to be. It read “ 這是我的 (These are mine!) If you want your shoes back I want $1,000,000 and my own pair!” Obviously the first part is in Chinese, and this had Leroux very confused.

Leroux called over a handwriting specialist. He took one look and definitively said “this man knows and uses English very well, and it is not forged due to the absence of awkward breaks.”

“Well obviously someone feels screwed out of their pair of shoes, but who?” Leroux prodded.

"Hey we found something, come take a look at it!” one of the other investigators yelled. He was holding up a hair follicle with his forceps. It was black and super, super short. Continuing on with the search, they also found a medium length brown hair follicle and a long black hair follicle.

Using a microscope from the van, the cuticle, cortex, and medulla were examined. They determined the hairs were human. After visual inspection and comparison to other hair samples from the house, they figured out the short hair was Kobe's, and the brown hair was the butler's. That leaves the long black hair unidentified, so they bagged it in a small paper bag so the DNA would not be damaged by moisture.

Looking around, it was evident that Kobe loved his shoes, especially his Nike Zoom Kobe fives “Bruce Lee's” which were the ones stolen. Veronica was shocked and awed at the sheer amount of pairs of shoes in that glass room. She was looking intently at a specific shoe when she saw the outline of what seemed to be a droplet of dried sweat on the casing. “I found some sweat. Hand me that DNA swab test kit would you James? Thanks.”

James, now brought to the attention of sweat, started to notice that there were sweat droplets everywhere; on the floor, on the casings. “Whoever this guy was, he was really perspiring. It's everywhere!" The process of swabbing and bagging obtained a total of five different swabs of sweat, which took forever because of the amount of data to fill out on the evidence bags.

Right then, they heard Kobe roll up in his Lambo. “What! My shoes were stolen!? I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Kobe Bryant."
"Yeah we kind of know that” Leroux shot back. “By the way congratulations on your finals victory, and last-second shot I believe I heard.”
“Hey thanks man. But, these shoes man, there bugging me. The Bruce Lee's were by far my favorite out of all the Kobe fives.”

“Trust me we will get your shoes back. I guarantee it.” Vaughn said.

”Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.” Kobe said as he dashed inside, leaving James and Veronica by themselves out on his driveway.

“What now?" asked James. “We need to go to my crib.”

Later that night.

Vaughn and Leroux get together to sort through the evidence and the suspects’ motives. “Let’s look at our possible suspects shall we? We got Lebron James. He’s jealous for Kobe making the finals while he did not, yet again. So he’s got motive, but he says he was in his LA crib/condo at the time watching the game, but no one can prove that he was there or not. As a result we have to rely on other evidence. His hair was not found there, and the size of the bare foot print on the floor is a size to small, so it can not be him” James said.

Now Veronica started talking about Shaq, but James quickly interrupted.

“What about him?” James questioned. “He was playing in the game, duh. He was putting the team on his back do!”

“Oh oops” Veronica sighed. She doesn’t play, watch, nor care about sports, and it showed.

“That leaves the butler Chauncey Chalmers” said James. “ He said he was sleeping , and heard a noise. He’s also a Celtics fan, and is powerful enough to break down the door. Also, his hair was found near the case, which could have been from him running in after the crime. He’s looking like a prime suspect here. The only thing we are missing is the DNA results from the sweat droplets.”

Veronica countered with , “ Vanessa Curry is also a leading candidate. There was long, black hair found very similar to hers, and she had an affair with Kobe. That is your motive.”

“But keep in mind, there is no way she could have broken down the door like the suspect did,” James reminds her.

A day later

Kobe, Veronica, and James were at the Bryant household reviewing case evidence when the phone rang. He answered and the caller said something in Chinese. Everybody had no idea what he was saying, except the interpreter that was brought on the case from the note. The interpreter whispered to everyone as the guy continued talking, “The guy wants $1 million dollars, and Kobe to meet him at the Staples Center entrance at 7:00 tonight with no cops around. He wants it in a suitcase with the tags still on it. He will bring the shoes in the other suitcase. You will swap them in the doorway and walk away. If he sees cops, he is threatening that the shoes will be destroyed.”

Kobe starts freaking out and saying, “You do anything to my shoes, I will kill you. Don’t mess with them!”

The caller hangs up before he can finish his sentence. Kobe voices that he wants to abide by the caller’s rules. He recruits Leroux, just in case anything goes bad, to pose as a grounds crew member at the Staples Center entrance.

At 7:00 PM, Kobe shows up with Detective Leorux. He hurries into the ticket booth to pretend to clean up from game 7. Kobe approaches the entrance with a brand new Hello Kitty suitcase full of marked bills. A hooded figure approached from behind multiple parked cars. He was wheeling out a small American Girl suitcase. They approached. They were then within feet of each other when both stopped and stared. Leroux from the ticket booth couldn’t make out the suspects face.

At that moment, the suspect attempted to kick Kobe with lightning speed. Knowing Kobe in tip top shape, he jerks away just in time but gets grazed by his foot. The suspect then proceeded to grab the suitcase full of money and ran for the hills. Veronica, in a nearby car, calls for a tail to follow the suspect. Kobe runs over with the other suitcase to Veronica. She notices some dirt from the kick left on his sweatshirt. as she scrapes some of the dirt into an evidence bag, Leroux runs over.

“WHAT WAS THAT!!!?” he shouts.

“The capturing of yet more evidence”Veronica smiles.

“Pretty ninja right?” Kobe replies. Leroux agrees to keep Kobe happy and they head to the crime lab to dust the suitcase for fingerprints and swab for DNA.

There was a very clear fingerprint found on the handle of the briefcase. “Let’s dust and then lift it with a clear piece of tape and enter it into AFIS,”Leroux stated.

“This is going to take awhile,” Vaughn retorted. “You know how impatient I am James. Kobe you should probably go home because it will be a long time.”

“I aint leavin’ without my shoes. If they are in there, I need to know,” Kobe pleaded.

A few hours later, Leroux and Vaughn had searched every inch of the suitcase before they opened the zipper. Kobe was bouncing off the walls, waiting for them to open it the whole time.

Leroux finally stated, “Alright let’s open the case.” Kobe instantly snapped to attention. Leroux opened the zipper quickly, but did not lift it up right away. Kobe nearly tackled him trying to open the case.

“Slow down Kobe, we want to make sure that no evidence is missed or falls when we open it up.”

They inspected it with a magnifying glass for a few minutes, and then very slowly opened the suitcase. Kobe’s face instantly lit up as he saw the shoes sitting in the suitcase. He grabbed for them, but Vaughn slapped his arms away.

“Uhuh. If you touch them, any evidence that we could find in the suitcase would be ruined. Your shoes are here, you can go home now. We will have some more crime techies look over this, and you will get them back soon” Veronica explains.

Kobe exits the station looking as if he just won the lottery. They find nothing else in the suitcase. As they are finishing searching the case, Leroux gets a call on his cell phone. He hangs up and says, “The guy tailing the suspect, followed him to a martial arts studio with an apartment upstairs. He appears to be living there. The tail still hasn’t seen his face, but I am setting up shifts as we wait for the evidence to convict him.” Vaughn goes to the DA’s office to get an arrest warrant immediately.

At 7:00 that night, Vaughn sprinted into the station clutching an arrest warrant. “Lets roll” says Leroux. “Be careful, this guy clearly has a lot of martial arts training. Be on your toes.” The 10 car police convoy parks a block from the house.

Vaughn begins to bark orders. “ We need 2 teams at front and back door. Every window needs to be covered and set up a perimeter around the house. He caught us off guard with the kick last time, let’s not let him do it again. Be on your toes for any crazy martial arts stuff.”

They approach the house and come in both doors at the same time. The guy was meditating and didn’t hear a word they said while they arrest him and read him his rights.

When they get him in the interrogation room later, a cop recognizes him as Bruce Lee, the famous martial art guru and movie actor. They charge Lee with one count of breaking and entering, theft, and one of assault on Kobe.

A few days later, the evidence all came back. The dirt collected from Kobe’s shirt also matched the dirt found in the footprints at the crime scene. The sweat droplets, footprint, fingerprint, and hair follicle were all a match to the same person. Once they swabbed Lee for DNA, it was a match. They took a sample of Bruce Lee’s writing, making sure not to tell him why. After careful inspection by a handwriting expert, that was a match as well to the ransom note.

Kobe got his shoes back. The first thing he did was fire his butler for being a Celtics fan. Then he went out with Vanessa. Bruce Lee was found guilty on all counts a year later and was sentenced to 500 hours of community service because after all, he is a famous person.

Mike Krzyzewski

Mike Krzyzewski. Many people have no idea who he is or how to spell or pronounce his last name (try saying that five times fast). Others know who he is, but still struggle to pronounce or spell his name (in the course of writing this, I doubled checked the spelling of his name at least 10 times). On Tuesday November 15, 2011, he became the all-time leader with 903 wins in division 1 men’s basketball. His Duke Blue Devils beat the Michigan State Spartans 74-69 in the first game of the State Farm Champions Classic. It is fitting that it happened in the most famous and recognizable basketball arena in the United States, the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York.

Mike Krzyzewski (is known to many as Coach K for obvious reasons) is entering his 37^th season coaching. He spent five years at his alma matter Army. He compiled a 73-59 record there and led them to one berth in the NIT tournament. Then he accepted the Duke head coaching job and has never looked back. He rebuilt the program for a couple of seasons, before it became a national contender each and every year. The one exception to that was the 1994-95 season. He began the year 9-3, but had back surgery and missed the rest of the season. Top assistant, Pete Gaudet, took over for the rest of the year. Duke’s season spiraled out of control after that. They went 4-15 in his absence. According to tradition, the head coach is credited with the wins and losses even if he is not there. Duke did it differently and gave Pete Gaudet credit for the wins. This caused a great deal of controversy where people thought that Coach K should be credited with the wins. Earlier this year the NCAA president, Mark Emmert, agreed with them and credited Coach K with the wins. This put his total record at 904-298. Yet, when he beat Michigan State, he was credited with his 903^rd win, passing his former coach at Army, Bob Knight. Either way you look at it, he definitely owns the record for the most wins in NCAA men’s basketball history.

Over his coaching career he and his teams have won quite a few awards. His teams have won 12 regular season Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships and 13 ACC tournament championships. His teams have made it to the NCAA tournament 26 times, and this year will make it 27. He has 19 Sweet Sixteens, 12 Elite Eights, and an incredible 11 Final Fours. He has reached the National Championship on eight different occasions and has won four of them (1991, 1992, 2001, and 2010). He has had 12 number one seeds in the NCAA tournament. His teams have had 12 30-win seasons. His teams have been ranked number one in 15 out of his 26 seasons coaching. These are all incredible numbers. Coach K has won 11 different coach of the year awards by multiple organizations.

He does not just coach Duke. He has been an assistant on many USA national teams involved in different world tournaments. In 2005, he was named men’s national basketball coach through the Beijing Olympics. Since then, the US team has a 75-1 record through the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The team has received three gold medals and a bronze at multiple different world tournaments, including gold at the 2008 summer Olympics.

Krzyzewski has received offers from NBA teams, but has turned down all four of them. He could have coached the Celtics, Lakers, Trailblazers, and Nets in that order. Coach K could have received 2 or 3 times more money than what he was getting paid to coach Duke, but still declined. If he would have accepted any of the offers, he would probably never break any of these records. A great example is Rick Pitino, who has over 600 wins, but left for the NBA. Now he is back in college basketball and has no chance of getting to that milestone.  Because Krzyzewski stayed, he is basically a lock to be the only division one men’s basketball coach with over 1000 wins. He still trails Pat Summitt (the coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers) by 170 wins and counting.

I am not trying to give him all of the credit. He has had very talented players to coach as well. 23 of them have been selected in the first round of the NBA Draft including 10 in the top ten of the draft. He has had nine players win player of the year and 9 other players win national player of the year.  He has coached 26 All-Americans. These numbers are ridiculous. He is known as one of the best recruiters in college basketball based off of all of the top high school players that he has signed.  

Even after all of this, he insists that he is focused on developing this year’s team. During the game, ESPN interviewed a few of his former players that were attending the game, and they did not have a bad thing to say about him. There were over 30 former players present with their families all sitting in one section supporting their coach. After winning number 903 (or 907) he went to his wife, three kids, and grandchildren in the stands. The game ball was handed to him, where he says it will be enshrined in the Duke Hall of Fame.  He met with his mentor, Bob Knight, who had previously coached him at Army in Krzyzewski’s playing days. He was the previous record-holder at 902 wins and is a current ESPN announcer who was calling the game. He gave a brief interview before meeting up with his team, who were all wearing hats or shirts that said 903 on them. It was great to be watching as the history books were rewritten. College basketball has made many changes throughout the years, but the one constant has been Coach Krzyzewski never missing an opportunity to be able to teach his players and lead them to success.

Veterans Day Tribute: The Carrier Classic

I know this is a couple of days late, but thank you to all of the veterans out there. Michigan State and North Carolina's men's basketball teams thanked them in a very unique way as well. They played a college basketball game on top of an aircraft carrier docked in San Diego Bay. The name of the ship:  the USS Carl Vinson. This is the same ship that deposited the body of Osama Bin Laden into the sea in May. The crew will ship out at the beginning of the year, but got a treat on Veterans Day. The president and first lady were in attendance. Obama delivered a pregame speech on the court, greeted many people, and watched the enitre game from the first row. The scene was spectacular. It took 10 days to assemble the court, stands, and everything to make the event happen. Cleanup is supposed to take 5 more days.

The game featured the number one team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels, who had their top seven players returning from the year before. To make them an even stronger candidate, they had the 6th best recruiting class in the nation according to rivals.com. Michigan State is no slouch though. They have the 20th best class in the nation, but lost most of their top players from the back to back Final Four seasons. Last year, they were an early exit in the NCAA tournament. Michigan State started hot and dominted the glass, but North Carolina rallied. The Tar Heels went on a big run at the end of the first half and start of the second to pull ahead by 20. Michigan State cut the deficit in the end, with the final score being: North Carolina 67, Michigan State 55.

Afterwards the players from both teams met at midcourt and met Obama. They all agreed to hand out their camouflage jerseys to the veterans in attendance. Even more fitting was the name on the back of all the jerseys, USA. Following that, the Foo Fighters nad Billy Currington performed for the 7000 servicemen and women in attendance. It was a great event and meant alot to the crew members, veterans, players, coaches, and fans everywhere. The players even admitted that it took a long time to get focused. There was one scary moment when Michigan State forward, Brandon Dawson, slipped on the Quicken Loans (the sponsor for the event) sticker in the middle of the floor. He appeared to have a serious knee injury at the time, but played a few minutes in the second half. Hopefully he will be okay.

Michigan State has a very interesting first two games of their schedule. They played the number one team, North Carolina, in the first ever Carrier Classic. Then they will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the number six team, Duke (North Carolina's biggest rival). Duke's coach, Mike Krzyzewski, can pass  Bob Knight for the most wins ever by a division one men's basketball coach. He is currently tiede with Knight at 902. North Carolina has a much easier task in playing UNC Asheville.

This event had much hype and certainly lived up to it, even if it was not that great of a game. Fans and veterans alike hope that it will happen again next year. Roy Williams, North Carolina's coach, said "I've enjoyed every possible thing about it. Hopefully I'll be coaching another 10-15 years, but I think it's going to be hard to top this." What a way to honor the veterans on 11/11/2011.

Why We Love Sports

Last week was crazy in college football. ESPN went crazy talking about the LSU-Alambama game. Amazingly, it live up to the hype. Number 1 LSU played number 2 Alabama. LSU won on an overtime field goal 9-6. To the average fan, this is very boring. Who would want to watch this game? Any big college football fans watching it were thinking about how it was one of the best defensive matchups ever. It got to the point where you thought that nobody was going to score. Then both quarterbacks made stupid turnovers that gave each team the ball in the red zone. What happened? The defenses once again proved how great they were and held them to field goals. LSU won the game from their defense and kicking. LSU did not miss, while  Alabama ended the night 2-6 on field goals. One of them was blocked, so that was not entirely the kicker's fault. Alabama's missed field goals were not even close. They were all over 40 yards in a big pressure situation. I would not be able to do that, but this is what they practice everyday. If they could not handle it, then why does Alabama keep them in? They are the number 2 team in the country. Surely they could recruit more top high school kickers to play for them. Sometimes smart teams make dumb decisions I guess.

This past weekend also gave college football fans the complete opposite of the defensive SEC matchup. That was in the form of  the Big 12 showdown between number 3(now number 2)Oklahoma State and number 17 Kansas State. The teams combined for 97 points with Oklahoma State winning on a 23 yard touchdown pass with 2:16 left. Final: Oklahoma State 52, Kansas State 45. Unbelievable.

These scores are why people love college football and sports in general. You can take your pick if you want to watch a defensive showdown between top teams or a wild west shootout between some of the best college football programs in the nation. This is what makes sports so interesting and popular. If the team that we thought was going to win every week won by what we thought they would, there would be no point in watching. The way sports work, is that every team has a chance no matter what there record is. Any team can get hot on anyday which is what the NCAA basketball tournament is all about. I am pretty sure that there has not been one year that anyone has had a completely perfect bracket. There is always at least one upset. Who would have thought that Butler, a number 8 seed, would lose the national championship the past two years. This is why people love sports. That is why I am a fan.

Kyle Busch Proves he has not Changed

To Nascar fans everywhere, Kyle Busch is known as a hot-headed, talented driver. He is a great driver with over 100 wins in the Craftsman Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and Sprint Cup Series combined. Over the past few years, he has been in consideration for the Sprint Cup Championship. Then he flashes more of his impatience and finds a way to screw it up. Coming into the season, it was the "new and improved" Kyle Busch that the announcers were raving about. He stared out hot and has since fizzled out. He made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but was in 7th in points before he will be parked for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races this weekend. What did he do, you ask? In the truck race on Friday, Ron Hornaday Jr. attempted to pass a slower truck to the inside. He made it three-wide with Busch on the outside. He got loose and took himself and Busch to the wall. It was a minor crash with very little damage to each of their trucks. The caution flag was waved. Busch sped up and rode the bumper of Hornaday into turn 3. Then he spun Hornaday into the wall. Hornaday's truck smushed the wall and spun back across the track, collecting Busch. They both were done for the night. Hornaday had entered the night with a chance to win the Craftsman Truck Sereis championship with one race to go next weekend. This crash effectively ended those chances. Kyle Busch later said that he was frustrated for being crashed the last four weeks and said that he was sorry that it was Ron Hornaday. He is sorry? Really? I am not quite sure how you can apologize for intentionally spinning a guy into the wall under caution, ruining his chance at a championship. If this is the "new and imrpoved Kyle Busch," I wonder what the old Kyle Busch would have done.

BREWERS SEASON IN REVIEW

The Milwaukee Brewers had an incredible season. They shattered many team milestones and won the National League Central Division for the first time in team history. The Brewers set a team record with 96 regular season wins and had the second best record in the National League behind the Philadelphia Phillies. They won the first round of the playoffs against the Arizona Diamondbacks  in thrilling fashion with Nyger (T-Plush) Morgan’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10^th inning. They followed that up with a come from behind game 1 win against the Cardinals in the Divisional Series. The Cardinals ended up winning that series 4 games to 2 at Miller Park ending the Brewers season.

            The Brewers had many great seasons from top players and key roles filled by reserves. Ryan Braun is thought by many to be the regular season National League MVP. He had 33 homers to go along with 33 stolen bases which made him only the second player in club history to have a 30-30 season. He also drove in 111RBI’s and was second in the National League with a .332 batting average. Did I forget to mention that he had a bad calf for nearly half of the season? If he does not win National League MVP, there will be many outraged Brewers fans.

            Prince Fielder had another Prince Fielder season. Say what you want about it being a contract year and all that. Look past it for one second and look at what he has done for the Brewers. In a little over six years for the Brew Crew, he has 998 games played, 996 hits, 230 home runs, 656 RBI’s, and a .282 batting average. If I lost any of you for praising him on a job well done in Milwaukee, I am sorry but you cannot tell me that every year was a contract year. Yes, he will probably go somewhere where he gets paid anywhere from 15-20 million dollars a year, but just appreciate what he has done in his time as a Brewer. He will definitely be missed, but our general manager, Doug Melvin, has said that he will attempt to sign him. If he does go to another team, it will be like Brett Favre all over again for Wisconsin sports fans. Although he was not loved nearly as much as Favre was, there will still be his followers. Just do not go to a division rival please. Fielder will definitely be booed then.

            It was not just those two that carried the team. The Brewers had another All-Star by the name of Rickie Weeks. He was almost the forgotten man in the second half of the season. He was on pace for a career year before a serious high ankle sprain caused him to miss significant time. He was not the same player when he came back from injury and in the playoffs. Fan favorite Casey McGhee had a tough year. One year after leading the Brewers in RBI’s, he was benched down the stretch and was relegated to a pinch-hitting role in the playoffs. That was partly due to Jerry Hairston getting red-hot at the end of the year and continuing it in the playoffs. Corey Hart had a great year as well. Despite missing 32 games with various injuries, he still managed to hit 26 homers and provided an extra spark when inserted into the leadoff spot late in the season. Yuniesky Betancourt’s season was very adventurous. He was either red-hot or ice-cold for long stretches. He would make highlight reel plays and then make some stupid errors right after that. It is unclear whether he is the answer at shortstop although with a great postseason, he may have kept his job for next year. Jonathan Lucroy very quietly had a great season. He consistently became a better defensive catcher as the season went on and had a solid year at the plate hitting out of the 8^th spot in the order.

 If you followed the Brewers at all this season, you know about Nyger Morgan’s antics. Love him or hate him, he became one of the most recognizable faces of the Brewers. He had multiple personas that inspired T-Plush nation shirts and even a Facebook page. He would find a way to get in to other team’s heads. There really was never a time you couldn’t see him smiling and delivering hilarious lines that had many fans following every word he said. He was not just a joker either, he had a great season splitting time in center field. Whenever a right-handed pitcher was pitching, Nyger was in the lineup. He had the game-winning hit that made the Brewers win their first postseason series since 1982.

            The Brewers pitching was a big reason for their success as well. All 5 starting pitchers had 11 wins or better. That is a remarkable stat for a team that was near the bottom in every pitching category a year ago. Doug Melvin made a big splash this past offseason by trading for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum who both had spectacular regular seasons. Randy Wolff was steady and dependable. Chris Narveson was a pleasant surprise when he won the job in spring training and had a respectable season. Yovanni Gallardo gave up an alarming number of home runs, but was by far the best pitcher for the Brewers all season.

            The Brewers had great bullpen success as well. Marco Estrada filled in nicely when needed in the starting rotation and was a very effective long reliever. Kameron Loe was a ground ball specialist. Takashi Saito was hurt during the first half of the year. In the second half, he was spectacular in his role as the 6^th or 7^th inning reliever. Latroy Hawkins split time in that spot as well and had a comeback year after major shoulder surgery last year. Francisco Rodriguez was a big pickup during All-Star weekend. The Brewers got the record-setting closer to pitch the 8^th inning for the rest of the year. He was the perfect guy to give the ball to in close games. Then Brewers manager Ron Roenicke would give the ball to the “Axman.” John Axford set a club record with 46 saves and had 43 saves straight. He blew one in the postseason, but that does not count towards the record.

            There will be many changes to the Brewers next year. The coaching staff will most likely remain the same after this great year. All five starting pitchers are under contract for at least next season. Most of the lineup will stay the same. But, fan favorite, Craig Counsell, will most likely retire after having a disappointing season in a reserve role. He will definitely be missed. It is unsure if Mark Kotsay or Jerry Hairston will be back. Both were reserves for most of the year. Hairston has said that he would like to come back, and after the season he had, the Brewers will definitely listen. Takashi Saito and Latroy Hawkins are free agents. Francisco Rodriguez is gone for sure after voicing his opinion loudly about how he wants to be a closer again. It is also uncertain about McGhee’s future as he is a free agent as well. Betancourt is a question mark as well. I have already talked about Prince Fielder, but he with Albert Pujols, and Jose Reyes will create the biggest buzz in the offseason as free agents.

            The Brewers had a great season in 2011. They will have many changes to the roster before opening day next year comes around. Expect the Brewers to have a big offseason and try to make a run another run at the World Series next year.

Badger Report: missed WarCry

One more article that missed the cut for the WarCry:

The Wisconsin Badgers have had a great start to their season. They are led by senior quarterback, Russel Wilson, and junior running back, Montee Ball. Wisconsin has a 6-1 record on the season and are 2-1 in the Big Ten. They were ranked 6^th in the BCS poll which is college football’s messed up system of ranking college football teams. That will change after losing a heart-breaker to Michigan State 37-31 on Saturday night.

            Russel Wilson was a leading candidate for the Heisman trophy, but with the loss to Michigan State, those chances are very slim. So far on the year, he has 1,780 yards passing, 16 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and a 73.2% completion percentage. He also has 32 carries for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. Wilson has become the dual threat at quarterback that many top teams in the pro and college ranks have. He even caught a touchdown pass on a trick play.

            Montee Ball is looking like a Heisman candidate himself, but his statistics have been overshadowed by Wilson’s. He has 125 carries for 768 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground. Ball also has 9 catches for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving. He has looked like an NFL running back that could leave a year early and take a shot in the draft. Wisconsin fans hope that he stays. In the latest mock draft,  he is an expected 2^nd round pick. He has the tools to be a great player in the NFL.

            The Badgers lost a crucial game against a tough opponent in the #16 ranked Michigan State Spartans.  They had many uncharacteristic Badger mistakes: a safety, 2 interceptions by Russell Wilson, a blocked punt for a touchdown, and a miracle hail-mary play that made them lose the game. They were down 14 points with about eight minutes to go. Jared Abbrederis had a long punt return that sparked a rally. A few plays later, Russell Wilson had a 22 yard touchdown run. The Badgers had a defensive stop, and then gave it right back to the Spartans when Russell Wilson was picked for the second time. The Badgers then stopped the Spartans again on defense. Russell Wilson led an amazing drive with a 42 yard pass to Nick Toon after he scrambled for what seemed like ages. That was capped off by a 2 yard touchdown pass to Montee Ball.

Michigan State was not done scoring though. With 29 seconds left, and the Spartans facing a 3^rd and 8, the Badgers took a timeout in hopes of getting the ball back. Michigan State converted and drove to the 44 yard line with 9 seconds left. They used 5 seconds to have an incomplete pass while trying to get into field goal range. They had time for one more play. It was time for the Hail-Mary. Thid is a term in football that means every receiver runs to the end zone and the quarterback throws the ball as far and high as he can, praying that his receiver will end up with it (hence hail-mary). In response to this, the Badgers put three safeties on the goal line. One of them was Jared Abbrederis, the team’s second leading wide receiver. 

The play begins. Kirk Cousins, the Michigan State quarterback, scrambles around and nearly gets sacked. He launches a 55 yard pass as the clock expires. Jared Abbrederis mistimes his jump and tips the football. It bounces off of one of the Michigan State’s receiver’s helmet, and falls into the hands of wide receiver, Keith Nichol. There is a battle between him and Wisconsin linebacker Mike Taylor who is trying to keep him from scoring. He is tackled, and the referees say that he is just short. Meanwhile Michigan State’s stadium erupts.

The referees go to the replay booth to determine if the football crossed the goal line during the scramble. After a few minutes of watching replay after replay, the announcers are not even sure. Then the news: the call has been reversed and the referee raises his hands indicating a touchdown. Michigan State goes nuts and is celebrating the win, while the look of disbelief on Badgers coach Brett Bielema’s face tells the story for  the Badgers. After watching the replay at least 20 times, I am convinced that it was a touchdown, but it took 20 times for me to be convinced. If the roles would have been reversed, and the Badgers would have caught the pass for a touchdown to win the game, I know I would have believed it was a touchdown immediately without even seeing a replay. Because it was such a shocking, unbelievable play for the “bad guys,” I can guarantee many Badgers fans still do not believe it was a touchdown.

This loss is not the end of the season for the Badgers. Their chance at a National Championship is certainly eliminated though. Wisconsin  still has a chance to win the Big Ten conference and go to the next biggest game, the Rose Bowl. That is what they played in last year. This loss is certainly shocking and hard to swallow, but it is not the end. The Badgers are still an elite college football team that is ranked in the top 25 of the country. They have many talented players that are ready to lead them to a Rose Bowl.

Outdated Brewers Article

Here is another article made for the WarCry that became outdated:

The Milwaukee Brewers have had quite a season. They got off to a slow start with many key players hurt. Then came an incredible summer where they won 31 of 39 games. Now, as it comes down to the playoff stretch, they are cooling off. At the time of this article, the Brewers are 5.5 games ahead of the Cardinals, and the magic number to get in the postseason is 8. They were 11 games ahead just 10 days ago.

        The Brewers have many reasons for their success. They have three all-star starters: 1B Prince Fielder, 2B Rickie Weeks, and LF Ryan Braun (although he was hurt and could not play). Braun and Fielder are in discussions for the NL MVP Award for their outstanding seasons. Weeks is having a great season as well, but is just coming off of a severe ankle sprain. He may not be 100% healthy for the playoffs.

The Brewers pitching has taken a giant leap from last season. Brewers’ general manager, Doug Melvin, gave up top minor league prospects for Zack Greinke (2009 AL CY Young Award winner) and Shaun Marcum. They have combined with Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf, and Chris Narveson to have one of the best pitching staffs in the National League. They are near the top in many pitching categories. Each pitcher has at least 10 wins, which is rare.

The Brewers also got busy at the trade deadline by getting Francisco Rodriguez, who had a record 62 saves in 2008. He has set up for one of the hottest closers in baseball, John Axford. Whenever it is close, they turn to those two. Then they acquired utility player, Jerry Hairston Jr., from the Nationals. He has played many positions well for them.

The Brewers are enjoying a great attendance season as well. They are on pace to break three million fans. The fans have made the Brewers sixth in league attendance, averaging 37,518 people per game. That is quite an accomplishment for a small market team.

As long as the Brewers make the playoffs, the season will be success. Those of you that remember how wild and crazy the last few weeks of the season were in 2008 (the year the Brewers last made the playoffs) know that anything can happen. But, from where it looks right now, the Brewers will make the playoffs. If their pitching staff continues pitching at a high level and the offense reignites, the Brewers could make a run for World Series Champions. It is a great time to be a Wisconsin sports fan.

Packers Night a Huge Success

Here is an article that I made for the WarCry before it became outdated.

The Green Bay Packers started the season off with a bang during the NFL’s annual kickoff game at Lambeau Field. In a night started off with a concert by Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, and Maroon 5, the Packers beat the New Orleans Saints 42-34. This matchup was between the last two Super Bowl champs, and was the second highest in ratings for this seven year old event.

For the people that missed it, the concert was broadcasted on cable channels and NBC in local counties because of President Obama’s speech to Congress. It was re-aired two days later on a Saturday night where it probably replaced COPS reruns.

The game itself was great. Randall Cobb recorded the second-longest play in NFL history in his first professional game with a 108 yard kickoff return in the third quarter. He was not even supposed to run it out of the end zone on the play. That accompanied an earlier touchdown in which he ran the wrong route and outran the Saints defense for a 32-yard touchdown. Now if only he did what the coaches want him to do.

Aaron Rodgers had a typical Aaron Rodgers day: 27 of 35 for 312 yards passing and three touchdowns. He got a 91.1 out of 100 total QBR rating (ESPN’s new stat for ranking quarterbacks). That made him 2^nd on the list to Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Bills who had the game of his life against the Chiefs. Drew Brees actually had a better night than Rodgers (32 of 49 for 419 yards and three touchdowns) but had a lower QBR rating of 71.6 due to more incomplete passes and a few sacks that he took against a Super Bowl winning defense.

There was drama as nearly every Packer game down the stretch was last year. The Saints got the ball with less than two minutes left needing a touchdown and a two point conversion. In a drive that only a top NFL quarterback could make, the Saints got the ball down inside the Green Bay 10. On 4^th and goal, A.J. Hawk was flagged for pass interference which led to the Saints getting one more chance. They tried running it up the middle with their Heisman winning running back. He was stuffed.
Game over. Packers win. You know it is not a true Packers game without at least one nail-biting moment and this game did not disappoint.

Although this is only one game, it is a good indication of good things to come. The Saints and the Packers are both held by many experts as Super Bowl contenders. Beating them, cements the belief of a great season ahead. Led by the return of many players off injured reserve and Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers, the Packers fans have much to look forward to as the season moves along.

The Story Behind the Title

My name is Justin St. Peter. I am an avid sports fan and am passionate about chocolate chip cookies. If I find good chocolate chip cookies, I can not resist. Flashback: One of the first days of fifth grade. I am just sitting down to lunch. The table is full of my friends and some people that as of then, I did not know much about. I was minding my own business, joking around with my friends, and enjoying my lunch. Just finishing the main course, I was overjoyed that it was time to taste the amazing-looking gigantic chocolate chip cookie that the school had lovingly baked for the students that day. I began ripping the crusts of the cookie and placing the middle of it on my tray. I always eat the crusts first because they are not as good as the gooey inside section. Somebody asked what I was doing. I explained to them that the middle was the best part, and that I was saving it for last. A couple people laughed, but it did not phase me at all. Then from what I remember, Devon (at the time,  I barely knew who he was) says something and dumps his blue gatorade all over my tray, instantly turning my incredible cookie into a sloppy, disgusting mess. Devon began laughing hysterically, and a couple of his friends laughed (I do have to admit, I probably would have to if I was not the victim). My brain could not even comprehend why someone would want to ruin this godlike creation. Before he had the chance to sit down, I flipped the tray over and smiled as the chunks of cookie and blue gatorade sprayed all over his shirt. Devon got back up, when a teacher arrived. We explained what happened to him. Devon was sent to the office, where I am pretty sure he was given a new shirt. The teacher also made him agree to buy me a cookie the next day. I received one the following day and that was it. That teaches you, do not mess with me when I am enjoying a chocolate chip cookie. In fact, now that I am done, I think it is about time to eat one.