By: Angel Sebastian Parra and Ian Domingo Marquez, Sports Reporters

April 27th, 2023

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA- What a beautiful time of the year it is for the NHL playoffs. As you know there can only be one Stanley Cup winner, but the question is who will it be? We have the first rounds already set, Bruins vs Panthers, Kraken vs Avalanche, Jets vs  Golden Knights, Kings vs Oilers, Rangers vs Devils, Hurricanes vs Islanders, Maple Leafs vs Lightning and Wild vs the Stars. Which of these sixteen teams do you think is going to go all the way and wield the Stanley Cup? It can be any one of these teams, but be careful who you bet on because this can be anybody's game.

The number one overall in the NHL(Bruins) are facing off against the Florida Panthers. What’s funny about this is how currently the Bruins are number one, but if you remember back in 2022 the Florida Panthers used to be the number one seed until they got swept in the second round by the Lightning. Onto an exciting match up it’s the defending champions(Avalanche) vs the Seattle Kraken. Interestingly enough this is the Kraken’s debut playoff run. Kind of unfortunate they have to play the champs but who knows anything can happen. Onto Winnipeg and Vegas. The Winnipeg Jets are taking on the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Now today is pretty interesting because on April 17, the Kings are going against the Oilers. Does this look familiar? It’s a repeat of last year, last year the Kings faced off against the Oilers in the first round and they’re facing off once again. But on the same day, the Hurricanes are going versus the Islanders. But that isn’t all because on April 18, the Rangers are going to go versus the Devils. This week or couple of days will initially be a very exciting event. Many outcomes can take place, different teams may win and others may most likely be eliminated from the playoffs. Many things may also take place, will there be a fight, will there be broken bones, will there be teeth getting knocked out, will one of these games be the game of the century, or will this game be one of the only games where no fights will take place? There are so many events that can happen but hopefully they are good games to be played.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are taking on runners up Tampa Bay Lightning. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Matter of fact it does, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 playoffs and won. Happy ending for Tampa Bay meanwhile the Maple Leafs are not so happy. Will the Lightning win again or will the Maple Leafs avenge their 2022 season by beating the Lightning this round? Only time will tell. Last but not least we have the Minnesota Wild vs the Dallas Stars. Not a lot of background behind this game but there has been loads of tension between these two teams in the past. Will the tension get between them throughout the series? 

That wraps up the first round of the 2023 playoffs and its matches. Will the underdogs come through or will the top dogs defend their spot and put them back into place?  Just a little heads up some matches to watch would be Tampa Bay Lightning vs the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Seattle Kraken vs the Colorado Avalanche, and the Los Angeles Kings vs the Edmonton Oilers. Whether or not your team is playing, grab something to eat and switch your channel to any hockey game. Sit back and watch as anything can happen here in the NHL playoffs. 

By: Samantha Ochoa, Sports Reporter

February 21st, 2023 

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - The Super Bowl is very exciting! Especially when your team makes it, so if you were a Chiefs or Eagles fan this year congrats! This is the fifty-seventh Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. The score for that game was 35-10. The Super Bowl LVII was held at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 12, 2023, with a memorable half time performance by Rihanna. 

Let’s talk about the Kansas City Chiefs journey to the Super Bowl! Their first game for the 2022/2023 regular season was against the Arizona Cardinals and the result was a win 44-21. They won most of their games, only losing three. They lost to the Indianapolis Colts 20-17. They also lost to the Buffalo Bills and the score was 24-20. Their final loss was against the Cincinnati Bengals, the score for that game was 27-24. These three games were very close.

Now let’s talk about the Philadelphia Eagles journey to the Super Bowl! Their first game in the 2022/2023 regular season was against the Detroit Lions and the result was a win 38-35. They also won most of their games, only losing three. They lost to the Washington Commanders 32-21. They also lost to the Dallas Cowboys and the score was 40-34. Their final loss was against the New Orleans Saints, the score for that game was 20-10. They lost these games by about 10 points.

Both the Kansas Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles had a very similar record. The Chiefs have previously beat the Eagles on October 3rd, 2021. The score was 42 to 30. The Super Bowl LVII was very nerve racking! The Eagles made the first touchdown making the score 6-0. Jake Elliot scored a field goal making it 7-0. The game overall was going back and forth until the Philadelphia Eagles had a 10 point lead. The Chiefs ended up catching up to them and it was a tie game. In the next paragraph, it will be a brief breakdown of the game mostly including the touchdowns and field goals.

At the end of the first quarter it was 7-7. Making the game very intense!! In the second quarter the Eagles scored another touchdown making the score 7-14. Then the Chiefs have once again another comeback and make it 14-14! The Eagles then break the tie with another touchdown. After trying to get another touchdown, the Eagles score a field goal awarding them 3 extra points. Then the score was 24-14. I’m sure many Chiefs fans were upset by this lead. The Chiefs score another touchdown making the score 24-21. The Eagles scored another field goal, now it is 27-21. Then the Kansas City Chiefs make another touchdown taking the lead with one point and then another one taking an 8 point lead! Then the Eagles scored a touchdown making it 35-35. Finally, with 8 seconds left the Chiefs score a field goal!

By: Sebastian Vega, Sports Reporter

February 16th, 2023

Another year, another champion. This February 14th the Champions League is back and we will witness the most watched Football competition at club level.

Started in 1955 the Champions League has made its mark on football. The competition is for the top teams in Europe and only the best of the best teams qualify. The first team to win this was Real Madriad in the 55/56 season. The ones responsible for finding this are Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran. This was seen as a new version of the European Cup. This is one of the most prestigious club competitions in European Football.

During this competition's long 68 year existence there have been many who have excelled. The team with the most wins is Real Madrid with 14 titles and are the reigning champions. The manager with the most Champions League wins is Carlo Ancelotti with a total of 4 wins and in his player years he won 2 with AC Milan. The all time top scorer of the Champions League is Cristiano Ronaldo with 141 goals. He has also had the most appearances as a player and the team with the most appearances is Real Madrid. The player with the most Champions League wins is Paco Gento with 6 total wins.

This competition and the sport itself is so influential because it brings people from every corner of the earth together to watch a beautiful game of football. The sport has supported everybody and has come together. They have brought about supporting the BLM movement and Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war.  February 14th in the opening two matches they took a moment of silence for the people who were affected by the  earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. They have created a space where there is no room for racism or discrimination.

The start date of this is February 14 with the opening matches of Round of 16 Leg 1-2  are Bayern vs Psg and AC Milan vs Tottenham. This will be followed by Club Brugge vs Benfica and Dortmund vs Chelsea on February 15. The following week on February 21 Liverpool vs Real Madrid and Napoli vs Frankfurt. Then ending the first leg will be Leipzig vs Man City and Inter vs Porto. The second leg will start on March 7 with Dortmund vs Chelsea and Benfica vs Club Brugge. On March 8 will be Bayern vs PSG and Tottenham vs AC Milan. Next will be Porto vs Inter and Man City vs Leipzig on March 14. The next day will be the end of leg 2-2 with Napoli vs Frankfurt and Real Madrid vs Liverpool.

In sports competitions there are always fan favorites who people think will win. In this the betting favorites to win 1.Man City 2.Bayern 3.PSG 4.Liverpool 5.Napoli 6.Real Madrid 7.Chelsea 8.Tottenham 9.Benfica 10.Inter Milan. These are the top 10 people are betting on to win but in any competition any team can surprise you. As we know and have experienced these teams can surprise us at any moment. This can be anyone's competition and only the best will rise. 

By: Luis Vasquez and Sebastian Vega, Sports Reporters

November 10, 2022

QATAR - The World Cup is about to start and everyone is ready for it. There are some players who didn't make it, we’re here to tell you about the upcoming updates and recent news before it starts!

Although the beautiful competition is about to start, there are many big name players who are out for the World Cup this winter. Many players and managers have complained about the season's schedule and how players are at risk of getting injured before the World Cup which became true in this case. Here is the list of big name players who are out for the World Cup.

FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM:

Paul Pogba, N’golo Kante, and Mike Maignan

GERMANY NATIONAL TEAM:

Marco Reus, Timo Werner, Florian Wirtz

MEXICO NATIONAL TEAM:

Jesus Corona

NETHERLANDS NATIONAL TEAM:

Giorginio Wijnaldum

PORTUGAL NATIONAL TEAM:

Diogo Jota, Ricardo Pereira, and Pedro Neto

SPAIN NATIONAL TEAM:

Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal

USA NATIONAL TEAM:

Miles Robinson

URUGUAY NATIONAL TEAM:

Ronald Araujo

ENGLAND NATIONAL TEAM:

Reece James, Ben Chilwell, and Emile Smith Rowe

France and Germany deal with the worst injury problems, they have lost 3 of their potential starters and England have lost two of their full backs who were in great form before they picked up their injury.

Ever since the first World Cup in 1930 all the World Cups after this one were held during summer months. This year due to Qatar's intense heat in the summer that comes to 40 degrees celsius. The 2022 World Cup will be held in the winter from late November to mid-December. This makes it come down an average of 24-21 degrees celsius in these months and will be better for the players and audience who attend. Other than the weather there are other things people think about the World Cup.

Your 2022 World Cup winner odds for sporting bets are out! Brazil have the odds of 400+ which means they are favorites to win the World Cup as they have one of if not the strongest team to win the world cup. Coming up the second favorites to win the World Cup are the French national team with odds of 600+, though they have lost their two main starters in the midfield (Pogba and Kante). The French still have their youngsters that have been performing stellarly which are Aurelien Tchoumeni and Eduardo Camavinga. In third we have Argentina with odds of 650+, these are many fan’s favorites to win the whole thing because this could be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup he’ll ever play in. Although Argentina are suffering with many players being injured weeks before the competition they still have luck on their side. Players like Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala, who are one of the two best forwards for Argentina, are named into the national teams squad meaning they'll be back for the competition.

Qatar being an Islam state, with the World Cup coming up there are certain rules you must follow and some rules that they will be lenient with. First and the most important to even be able to enter Qatar you must have a Hayya card even if you don’t go to any of the games. The Arab state does not allow alcohol , but due to the event they will allow ticket holders to purchase alcohol from stadiums only. These among other rules are being put into place and being changed. In order to assure that the people have a great time and the local laws are respected.

The World Cup brings everyone together no matter if you are or aren’t  a soccer fan everyone gets to celebrate it. It brings cultures from all over the world to watch the beautiful game happen on the big stage. It is the most viewed sporting event in the world because everyone loves the celebrations that come with it. Artists from different countries make songs just for the World Cup to pump up the event even more. Joy, tears, anger, and nervousness always come to this competition with team losses, wins, and with the last minutes coming up excites everyone.

By: Cody Cartier, Sports Reporter

Nov 14, 2022

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Lakers have been losing each game they play. The Lakers are now 3-10 and 3rd to last from being the worst in the League. The Lakers won last evening at the Crypto.com Arena against the Nets but that was only their 3rd win. They have plenty more games to play but can they win them? So far we’re seeing the Lakers break apart and we don’t know if they’ll ever work as a team.

Russell Westbrook was argued as the problem with the Lakers because of his inconsistency but as we’ve seen when he comes off the bench as the 6th man he plays really well. People thought he was the problem but it may be LeBron that’s the problem. Laker fans are looking forward to trading someone like Westbrook but this Lakers fan has a different mindset. Lakers fan on the trading situation, “At the start of the season I thought Westbrook was the problem but, once I saw Westbrook come off the bench he played much better than when he was starting. Right now Russell Westbrook is playing better than Lebron. So I think LeBron should be traded because of his value.”

The lineup is also argued as a liability. Even if the Laker's defense improved from last year it doesn’t mean our offense improved. The Lakers shooting percentage has plummeted to a bad 30.7% from the 3pt. The Lakers somehow have to find some type of shooter to take over the offense because only 2s are not going to settle in this game. The game has changed so much that everyone relies on 3s because it’s more efficient and easier to win games making your lead extend much more than a 2.

Lakers fans could also argue that the coach is the problem because he just started coaching for the Lakers. He also just started coaching fully instead of being an assistant coach. But I doubt that’s the reason why the Lakers are losing so badly. The Lakers have made good plays this season on offense and defense. The coach Darvin Ham also just won a championship with the Bucks last year as an assistant coach so he has to be a good thing for the Lakers.

We don’t know how the Lakers will come back. Laker fans are looking forward to watching the games. The Lakers do undergo a lot of pressure because the Lakers are the biggest team and have the most media. That’s why a lot of players once they leave the Lakers they play like a superstar. Nowadays players can’t take criticism and hate online which makes the player play worse.