SPORTS

The Physical Prowess of Cheerleading

By Liana Jensen

Cheerleading is a sport. Cheerleading is a sport because it requires the use of anaerobic exercise. In cheerleading, people need to be physically active, and the person needs to be outgoing to put on a good show.

When doing cheer, you will use your anaerobic system; many sports use this system also, such as hockey, soccer, canoeing/kayaking, and biking/cycling. In cheerleading, you have to train to make improvements, just like any other sport.

Cheerleading requires talent, such as being smiley when performing or having an outgoing personality. When people have these personalities, they entice the viewers more—drawing more of a crowd and making cheerleading a sport; cheerleading is also competition, compared to soccer games.

Someone could argue that cheerleaders jump around and look pretty. However, cheerleaders take months to practice and build muscle to do those things. Taking in a new sport is not easy, but cheerleading is the hardest.

Athleticism is at the Core of Cheerleading

By Rocco Taylor

Cheerleading is a sport that was invented on November 2, 1898, by Johnny Campbell. Cheer is fun to watch because of the amount of excitement when they fly. Cheerleading is a sport for these three reasons: teamwork, competition, and the skill it requires.

One reason that cheerleading is a sport is that it requires teamwork. Sports need collaboration, and cheer is one of them. Without teamwork and team chemistry, you can not cheer. Say the base and the flyer hate each other, and the base does not want to catch the flyer, there would be a problem.

Another reason that cheerleading is a sport is that it is competitive, just like other sports. In cheer, you compete against other teams to see who is the best. Just like in football and basketball, there are points. There is also physical contact in cheer because the bases have to hold the flyers up.

Others say cheer is not a sport because it does not require much skill. People say it is easy, but if you watch it, it is pretty hard.

Cheerleading clearly is a sport because in sports there are teams like in basketball and football. In cheer, there is pressure on everyone because, just like in all sports, if you mess up, it will affect your team's morale, and you could lose.

Overall, I think cheer is a sport because you need teamwork. There are teams, there is physical contact, and it is competitive.

Cheerleading Requires Tremendous Skill

By Miah Jackson

Cheerleading should be considered a sport. It is all about fun. You go to any athletic game and honor your home team for winning a game, or even if they lose. You have to be there to let them know that they GOT IT. Cheerleading is a sport because it takes energy and uses volume in the voice box. It also takes practice.

You have to wear a specific kind of uniform during cheerleading, such as a skirt with a matching top for games. When it is time to practice, you wear appropriate attire. You would need to wear a particular outfit for both because while at practice, you need to be able to stretch in with your wearing. Of course, you should not wear jeans since they will rip.

The next thing to be a cheerleader is having plenty of skills. The skill needed as a beginner is to have a loud voice, warm up correctly in fear of being soared, and so much more. If you are advanced in cheer, there are many important things to be aware of. In cheer, there is something called a stunt where you either be a base, front spot, back spot, and the most exciting part is being a flyer. While being in a stunt, you have a life on the line, and if you drop the flier, you are responsible.

Others might think that having all the different skills you need to be a pro might be hard to collect. Although it is not that difficult, there is no pressure, so you should be able to get it down. The first few steps in being able to do that are to practice and warm up your body so you will not crack any bone in your body.

Although some might argue that cheer is not a sport because the tricks are easy, they are wrong. Cheer requires great skill and athleticism.

Overall, the main reasons cheer should be a sport depends on what kind of uniform you wear and your position. Promoting it to change cheer into a sport and get all different age groups into it could be done by promoting it so that everyone will know that cheer has every segment like other sports. It is a bit different from other real sports that do not make cheer any different.

Don't Underestimate Cheerleading

By Jion Jung

Cheerleading is as much of a sport as any other sport. It was first invented in 1898 when Johnny Campbell jumped in front of the crowd and started conducting a cheer. The definition of sport is “a human activity involving physical exertion and skill as the primary focus of the activity” cheerleading matches the description perfectly. Cheerleading is a sport because it is physically demanding, it requires various skills, and it demands that participants follow strict choreography.

Cheerleading should be considered a sport because cheer is one of the most demanding activities, and cheerleaders train just as much as any other athlete, maybe even more. Cheerleading is challenging and requires lots of training. Cheerleaders spend many hours working on routines and at the gym exercising.

Another reason why cheerleading should be considered a sport is that dance is a sport, and cheerleading is similar to dance. Dance and cheer are identical because the cheerleaders and dancers perform routines in both of them. If dance is an official sport, why should cheer not be considered a sport?

Others argue and say that in cheer, you do not compete against others, so as a result, cheer is not a sport. They may say that dance is an official sport because dancers compete against each other. Cheerleaders do compete, in a way. At a game, cheerleaders cheer for their team the best they can to help their team win. The opposing team also has cheerleaders. Both cheerleader teams can “compete” with each other competing about who has the best routine and stunts so that cheerleading can be technically a sport.

The last reason cheer should be considered a sport is that cheerleaders have to make sure that they perform every movement perfectly. If they do not, somebody may get injured. Cheerleaders need skill and precise coordination, or else everything else could go wrong. Cheerleading also has more injuries than any other sport except only football.

Overall, cheerleading should be considered a sport. Cheerleaders do everything that athletes do and even more. In the future, cheerleading should be acknowledged more as a sport and less as a hobby.

March Is Mad Part I

By Benjamin Hacker and Cristian Lerena

March Madness is a college basketball sporting event that happens from March through the beginning of April. People will usually make a bracket of their vision of the tournament and sometimes even bet money on teams so they could win or lose money. The first round of this NCAA tournament happened on Thursday, March 17, throughout Friday, March 18. Everybody was excited for their team to play in the first round.

The first major game of the tournament was the 5 Uconn Huskies vs. 12 New Mexico State. This game was an upset where New Mexico State defeated Uconn 70 - 63. This upsetting victory was the first example of how unpredictable March Madness is. The game that people could say was the most influential and unpredicted was the 15 Saint Peter's Peacocks vs. the 2 Kentucky Wildcats. The Saint Peter's Peacocks defeated the Kentucky Wildcats in a TV series-worthy overtime game, and the final ball was back with just a few seconds; and shot an amazing shot at the buzzer-beater and almost made it, but the overtime score was 85 - 79. Again in the first round, there was another amazing overtime win which was the 9 Creighton Blue Jays and the 8 San Diego State Aztecs. The next major game that was an eye-catching game was the 10 Miami Hurricanes vs. 7 USC Trojans; the Hurricanes were up by about 15 at halftime but then came back and scored two clutch 3-pointers to be down by 2 points. The Trojans got off the rim, and the ball went out! After this blockbuster finished, there was another game that had lots of attention, which was the 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. the 6 Alabama Crimson tide. This game was close in terms of the score until the final minutes, when the underdog team Notre Dame Fighting Irish, went on a run and beat the Alabama Crimson Tide. After this game, the 13 Chattanooga Mocs faced off against the 4 Illinois Fighting Illini. The Mocs held their ground against the Fighting Illini until the final seconds of the match. The Illinois Fighting Illini got their first lead by 1 in the final seconds and went back and forth, but the Mocs could not convert in the end and lost to one of the favorites to win the title. The last blockbuster game in the tournament's first round was the 11 Iowa ST Cyclones vs. the 6 LSU Tigers. The Cyclones pulled off an unexpected upset against the Tigers, who are a fan favorite; the final score was 59 - 54.

The first game that everyone was watching was Unc VS, Baylor. Unc was beating Baylor by 20- 25 points. But when it came to overtime, Unc won by 7 points. The next game people were excited for was 11 Michigan vs. 3 Tennessee. Tennessee was expected to win, but Michigan surprisingly won; this game was a major upset, and Tennessee lost by 68 to 76 to Michigan. The game that people were surprised about was 11 Iowa State vs. 3 Wisconsin. Iowa won 54- 49 against Wisconsin. Iowa hit a crazy three at the end of the game, and they made the three.

After the amazing and unpredictable first two rounds, then came the sweet 16 in this series of games; the first one was exceptionally unexpected. 4 Arkansas vs. 1 Gonzaga faced off in a match on one of the biggest stages. The Razorbacks surprisingly beat the bulldogs in a heavyweight game to send the Razorbacks into the elite 8. The next game that people were definitely interested in was two Duke vs. three Texas Tech. The blue devils were favored by one point. This game was very heated with heavy players. The Duke Blue Devils won by five points in a classic college basketball march madness sweet sixteen games. Finally, one of the later games was one Arizona vs. five Houston squared off on the big stage. Houston played with great defense and won against Arizona. Probably one of the biggest games was the fifteen Saint Peter's Peacocks vs. the three Purdue Boilermakers. The Peacocks had made the furthest run that a 15 seed has ever gone, but they were heating up some conversations. The Peacocks won! The score was 67 - 64, and the Boilermakers almost forced overtime but did not make it into the next round, and the Peacocks continued to make history. The most heated game of the sweet sixteen was four UCLA vs. eight UNC. Caleb Love was by far the MVP of the match. Caleb Love hit two three-pointers to give UNC the lead by three with seconds remaining. The UNC Tarheels beat the UCLA Bruins 73 - 66, and Caleb Love scored 30 points! The Elite 8 was almost as action-packed as the Sweet 16 because there were no heavy-weight games that happened except for the two Villanova vs. five Houston. This game was a low-scoring game, and the final score was 50 - 44, and Villanova fans won!

The games have been interesting and exciting, with many ups and downs for your team! There have been many upsets and destroys in the March Madness season so far.

Sources: https://www.oursportscentral.com

https://filsingergames.com

The Protectiveness of Football

By Benjamin Hacker

Is football too aggressive and dangerous? The protocols of sports such as football protect players if one is hurt. There are strict rules that the players and referees have to follow. These rules provide a blanket of protection over players. Football is not too aggressive and dangerous because there is protective gear that players wear, medical teams, and officials who know when a play is unfair or illegal in football.

The NFL requires players to wear protective gear, which ultimately helps lead to overall protection in the NFL. Players wear helmets of their size to protect their heads and faces from potential concussions. Players also wear padding to protect their main body and their legs. Paddings are a big part of their protective equipment. NFL players have the option to wear collars to reduce neck injury.

In addition, the NFL teams each have their medical staff for their players, and the home team of the football team is responsible for creating the game officials if needed. The medical staff is equipped with the tools to ensure player and official safety. These medical staff also have access to tents and places to treat the injured player or official, which supports the point that football is not too aggressive and dangerous.

One may think that football is an aggressive and dangerous sport to play, but there is enough protection due to the physical activity in football. Also, one may think that the equipment is not enough to protect football players, yet some statistics show that the NFL helmets reduce concussion rates by 20%.

Football is not too aggressive because there are officials who understand how to take care of an injured player. People who think football is too aggressive are wrong because there are multiple reasons why football is not dangerous, such as medical staff, protective wear, and officials.

Overall, football is neither too aggressive nor too dangerous for multiple reasons. Football is not too bold or hazardous because there are medical staff and officials, and each player must wear protective gear.

March is Mad Part II

By Benjamin Hacker and Jake Shampansky

Throughout March Madness, there have been many exciting games. Some games were major upsets, and some were as easy to read as a book. These games included the amazing 15 Saint Peters and the 10 Miami Hurricanes' run to the Elite 8.

The final four started on April 2nd when one Kansas Jayhawks played against the two Villanova Wild Cats. This game was predicted to be a Kansas easy win due to one of Villanova's better players being injured. The Jayhawks started strong, but soon Villanova caught up. With minutes left of the first game of the final four, Kansas was in the lead with a confident lead. The shot clock was winding down, four, three, two, the shot goes up, one. It is cash at the buzzer! This was the dagger that the Jayhawks needed to finish off the Villanova Wildcats. This was the first of two final four games in the NCAA tournament, and the score was 65 - 81 in favor of the Jayhawks. The next game was the two Duke Bluedevils vs. the eight North Carolina Tarheels. The Bluedevils were favored to win the game, but everybody knew that the hot Tarheels had arguably the best starting five on the court. The game started, and RJ. Davis of the North Carolina Tarheels was keeping them in the game with fourteen points in the first half, evaporating any two-possession Duke lead. At halftime, the score was in favor of Duke, and UNC (North Carolina) was just on the low side of the scoreboard of the halftime score of 37 - 34. In the second half, the savior of UNC, Caleb Love, went off just like he did against UCLA. Caleb Love hit multiple clutch points and had game-winning free throws at the end of the game. The score was UNC eighty-one and Duke seventy-seven.

After a month of March Madness, it was all coming to a historical end in a tournament. The final was the one Kansas Jayhawks out of the Midwest division against the eight North Carolina Tarheels out of the East division. This was the fifth time that an eight seed made it to the NCAA tournament championship and the eight seeds record was 1-4, but the Tarheels were considered as a one seed because of previously beating one Baylor, four UCLA, and two Duke. This game was heated as it was the championship. The Jayhawks were dominating in the first five minutes of the championship game, but as UNC always did, they came back in no time and went on a 16-0 run against the Jayhawks. Eventually, this run led to a massive 40-25 at halftime in favor of the Tarheels. The Jayhawks looked determined at the start of the second half and made up the 15-point deficit in only about seven minutes. From here on, it was a classic NCAA tournament final ball game. These teams went back and forth in an exciting game, and there were 4.2 seconds left with the Jayhawks leading by three and UNC had the ball. They gave it to their top shooter Caleb Love for a deep three to send it to; over time, the clock wound down, the shot was up, and an airball and the Kansas Jayhawks are champions! The Jayhawks had been so determined in the final half of the tournament that they beat the hottest team in the tournament!

Over the course of eighteen days, there have been many wild experiences, possibly an unexpected ending, the Kansas Jayhawks winning March Madness. The North Carolina Tarheels made an extraordinary run to the finals as an eighth seed and finished as the runner-up. Also, a special mention to the most unexpected run of the fifteen Saint Peters Peacocks run to the Elite eight. Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks for winning the NCAA tournament.

NFL 2022 Off-Season

By Jacob Pinchuk and Jake Shampansky

The 2022 off-season was a rollercoaster. There have been ups and downs for NFL organizations, and fans laughed and cried, but I think this will be one of the greatest NFL seasons ever, and I bet you can agree with us. Going into the first week of the NFL off-season, this happened. First, Aaron Rodgers agreed to a four-year, $200 million extension with the Green Bay Packers. The deal, which includes a whopping $153 million in guaranteed money and makes Rodgers the highest-paid player in NFL history, ends a Title town melodrama that stretched back to the last off-season. While Rodgers is staying put, another Super Bowl-winning superstar is moving, as the Seattle Seahawks agreed to a blockbuster trade sending Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. After these two groundbreaking moves, NFL fans were ready for one of the most action-packed off-seasons in history.

This trade between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks was one of the craziest trades during this off-season, but another crazy one was the trade between the Chiefs and the Dolphins for 4-time Pro Bowler Tyreek Hill taking his talents to South Beach. Another significant off-season move was sending five-time pro bowler Davante Adams [star packers WR] to the Las Vegas Raiders on a 4-year $140,000,000 million deal with a $19,000,000 signing bonus. The whole NFL world was shocked after the first few weeks of the off-season, but the few days after these weeks, the off-season died down, no big names were getting traded nor signed, but that was about to change. At 6:00 am, 8, pro bowler Von Miller was sent to the Buffalo Bills from the Los Angles Rams in a blockbuster movie.

When fans thought the off-season could not get better, It did. The league agreed to let each team get possession during overtime (OT) on a joint proposal by the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs. This NFL off-season is one of the most critical and action-packed off-season. All 32 NFL franchises were affected by this off-season in a good or bad way, but we can all agree that we love a good football game as NFL fans.

Source: https://www.nfl.com/

2022 Is not for you Lakers!

By Benjamin Hacker and Jake Shampansky

Considered to be one of the best teams, the Lakers are falling apart this season. The Lakers' best season ever was the 1986-1987 season. They had a sixty to seventeen record; the Lakers were one of the best teams. People were expecting them to win the championship, but they could not make the finals because of a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Rockets in the western conference finals. The score of this game was 102-112. That was the Lakers' best season so far.

The Lakers' worst season for the Lakers was 2015-2016. Yes, the 2015-16 season is the crown for the worst regular-season record in the Lakers' history. However, it is easy to forget, as this was Kobe Bryant's final year as a pro. The 2010s, in general, were a dark and dismal time for LA. Between 2014 and 2017, the Lakers had four of their five worst regular seasons in club history.

The Lakers have severely underperformed during the 2021-2022 NBA regular season, and fans have noticed. The situation has gone from bad to worse, and Los Angeles has lots of work to make the playoffs.

Youth Football Should not be Banned

By Jake Shampansky

Football is the number one sport in America, but many parents do not want their kids to play tackle football because they think their kids will get hurt. Many people do not know that the kids wear lots of pads and a helmet. Youth football should not be banned because it has strict rules, adequate protective gear, and trained referees.

Tackle football has strict rules. One of them is Pass Interference (PI). According to the NFL rulebook, “pass interference includes holding, pulling, tripping, putting hands in the face, or cutting in front of an eligible receiver.” In gridiron football, “holding is the illegal use of the hand or arm to restrain another player who does not have the ball. Holding is prohibited in most football leagues because it does not allow fair play of the game and increases the risk of injury. Lastly, false start. In American football and Canadian football, “A false start is a movement by an offensive player (other than the center) after he has taken a set position.”

Next, tackle football has the protective gear. According to Youth Football Online, ”All of us are concerned about safety. When you hear stories about football players being linked to depression – folks are concerned about head trauma. We all should be. Football is vastly different today. I played in the 1970s-80s, and we did not have trainers. We did not understand about hydration and about concussions. The helmets and the equipment were different. Our practices and the contact and the collisions were different. Football today is in many ways the same game that we all loved- but is being taught and enjoyed differently and much safer than ever before, and folks do not realize that.” Kids wear lots of different pads to protect every part of their body in case of an injury; however, according to Protect The Brain, “10% of all contact sport athletes sustain concussions yearly. Brain injuries cause more deaths than any other sports injury. Brain injuries account for 65% to 95% of all fatalities in football. Football injuries associated with the brain occur at the rate of one in every 5.5 games.”

While this might be true, youth football has trained referees. According to the NFL, “FOA participants are trained by the best in the game — NFL scouts, former and current NFL officials and players, and other members of the Officiating Development Program. FOA classes and on-field exercises cover four main areas of officiating: rules, mechanics, health and fitness, and character development.” The rules that NFL uses are the same as youth sports.

Overall, football has strict rules, protective gear, and trained referees. This is why Youth football should not be banned.

Sources: https://youthfootballonline.com

http://www.protectthebrain.org

Photo Credit: Jake Shampansky

The Ref was Blind!

By Jake Shampansky

Do you remember when the officials missed a horrible helmet-to-helmet Pass Interference (PI)? During the 2018 NFC Championship, former Cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman pushed former Saints Wide Receiver (WR) Tommylee Lewis, with his helmet out of bounds. The helmet-to-helmet collision got every fan standing up and wondering what the officials were thinking.

Saints head coach Sean Payton was enraged at the officials for a call. The controversial play appeared to violate three rules from the NFL Rulebook.

"Rule 8.5.2(a) states that "contact by a player who is not playing the ball restricts the opponent's opportunity to make the catch" is prohibited.

Rule 8.5.2(e) prohibits players from "cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball."

Rule 12.2.9(b) states that "forcibly hitting the defenseless player's head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, even if the initial contact is lower than the player's neck, and regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him" is prohibited.

"Disappointing way to lose a game...frustrating, you know. Just getting off the phone with the league office. They blew the call. We had many opportunities though, but that call puts it first and ten, we only need three plays, it is a game-changing call. That is where it is at," says Sean Payton, the Saints coach. The win advanced the Rams to Super Bowl 53, in which they were defeated by the New England Patriots, 13–3.

As a Rams fan, I watched the game and was devastated after only scoring three points.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_NFC_Championship_Game

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