Sports

NBA players fun facts!!!

You all may know about the popular NBA players such as Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Victor Wembanyama. If not then let me tell you all about them.   

Starting with Lebron James the 6’ 9 power forward who averaged 

28.9 points last season. His athleticism for his age is mind blowing and his vertical is also very impressive. He is also known for his wild in-game celebrations and the famous “powder toss”. Some fun facts about Lebron James is that he has 2 kids that are AAU (Amateur's Athletic Union) champions and have skills just like his father. He's Left-Handed and he became the highest paid in his team at only 31 years old. 

Next up we have the 7 '1 center Shaquille O’Neal who played for 6 different teams. He played for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. With an excellent work ethic and a lot of dedication, Shaquille O’Neal made a big impact on the basketball court. Shaq was a hard worker and saw every obstacle as an opportunity. He won awards because of his work ethic. Now people see him as one of the greatest of all time players out there. Here are some other facts about “Shaq '' . Shaquille O'Neal was born on March 6th 1972 in Newark New Jersey and grew up with his mom, stepdad and his three siblings. He got bullied for being tall and was also a bully, but was able to focus his energy into basketball. Shaq also made it big in his music career as a rapper. His dad struggled with drug addiction and left him at a very young age. Shaq” went to Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas and later enrolled at Louisiana State University. He dropped out of college in his Junior year to pursue his NBA career. Now he is a 51 year old sports analyst for the NBA.

 Up next we have Victor Wembanyama who is the center for the San Antonio Spurs. He is the tallest active NBA player still playing today listed at 7 feet and 5 inches. He was the number 1 draft pick of the NBA and got chosen by the San Antonio Spurs. Victor was born in France to Felix and Elodie Wembanyama. Since he was born in France and lives in the U.S he spoke French until he was in the 6th grade when he taught himself how to speak English.

Those are some interesting facts about my favorite NBA players.

Full Throttle Racing 2024

What are we doing to prepare for the 2024 racing season?

By: Dominic Bruns, youngest FTR Driver.

In 2024, all the members of Full Throttle Racing are working together to pull off something massive! We will have 4 race cars, and begin racing 2 different series full time! Want to know what we are up to? Keep Reading. (If you do not know what I am talking about, google “Patrick Bruns Racing” and you will see many racecar pictures. That is what we do here.)

Mara and Badger (in association with Matt Durbin Motorsports)

We have been able to squeak by with 3 Quarter Midgets and a Silver Crown in years past, but that was about it for the budget. But as of last year, a window opened up for my dad, Patrick Bruns, (who founded our racing team, by the way) to drive a Mara Midget in the season opener for Matt Durbin Motorsports. On the first night out, He won by a landslide. From there it was sealed. As I was racing ALQMA Quarter Midgets, Dad was racing Mara. At the end of the season, we had got in 2 Badger Midget races, and 5 Mara Races. Two second-place finishes, and in the other three we won! So after that, as I was begging to outgrow my Quarter Midgets (Again!) and Matt wanted to go to more races, we made a deal for me to race a Mara and Badger Midget for Matt Durbin Motorsports, and be the youngest driver to do it too, as I am currently fourteen. As time went on, we decided to build a USAC National Midget, also paid for by Matt. I will drive the 12M, and my dad will drive the 12D, in addition to the National car. Thank you to Matt Durbin Motorsports for making this possible, as we would not have been able to pull this off without them. We are currently working hard to make sure all race cars will be ready when we go out on the track. 

USAC Silver Crown (Sponsored by Imperial Pools)

Fans of the Champ Car series may remember what happened in turn four at the Duquoin Magic Mile. Long story short, we have a car to rebuild. As soon as we can get the Midgets done and out of the shop and back home, we plan to bring in the Silver Crown and rebuild it from the ground up. As we will be going to all of the Midget races, we may not be able to get in all of the silver crown races, as it is essentially Indycar on a dirt track. (and yes, they also race on pavement, but we only go to the dirt races as that is closer to home.) We have the chassis fixed, and the car is ready for us to get it. Once we have the Silver Crown built, that is when we will begin work on the National Midget. Thanks to Imperial Pools for sponsoring us, as otherwise we would have never been able to pull it off! We are very excited to roll the car out of the trailer on a great day for racing, and when the announcer says the famous words: “Drivers, START, YOUR, ENGINES!” our race car will roar to life, and when the green flag drops, we will be the first to cross the finish line every time!

So in the end, we will have four race cars: A Dirt Silver Crown, 2 Badger and Mara Midgets, and one National Midget. This will be my first year in a Midget car, and I am going to be up against racers far older than me, but I can already keep up with my dad in a Go-Kart, so I know that I can do it.

Dawgapalooza.

Written by: Reagan Duchnowski

What is Dawgapalooza you might ask? Dawgapalooza is an event hosted at the MSHS (Mahomet-Seymour High School) that has inflatables, food, merchandise, and games to win free prizes along with bulldog stickers and face painting. Another question you might have is “Why is Dawgapalooza a thing or such a big deal?” and to that I answer, football. Dawgapalooza is on the Friday of MSHS’s first home high school varsity football game. The football game starts at 7:30, but people arrive as early as 4:30 for the inflatables and other parts of this big Bulldog bash previously listed. The fan count at Bulldog home games is already astronomical, but at these specific games the numbers have to be through the roof!

When you arrive you are instantly bombarded with the smell of fresh barbecue and pulled pork sandwiches. The sound of children giggling  and shouting in joy is a common sound there. Music is playing in the background as you bounce and slide on the inflatables. It is amazing. Announcers are talking and the echoing of their speech is incredible how far it travels. 

The inflatables include slides, one big one, one small one, an inflatable tube with two harnesses connected to bungee cords that are roped into the tube, where two people see how far on the velcro part of the tube they can get their velcro beanbag.The goal is to try to get your beanbag the farthest on the velcro. There are also some stereotypical bounce houses where you just jump around. There are also basketball inflatables where you just try to get the basketballs in the hoop. They also have a sumo wrestler station where you get put in these big costumes and they blow the costume up and you wrestle (Nicely) with your friends. You can also go to the grassy patch near the inflatables and play football, soccer, volleyball,etc. 

After you have tons of fun on the inflatables,winning prizes,eating food,and just overall messing around with your friends. The football game starts and on with the night! Luckily the night ended this year with another win for the Bulldogs!

Images of the 2023 MSJH Softball Team

By: Charlotte Johnston