KHS girls’ varsity basketball team played Rock Bridge High School in the semifinal round of the Class 5 Show-Me Showdown and went into double overtime March 17. Kirkwood won with a score of 56-60 after two additional four minute overtimes. Makayla Wallace, junior, said that her coaches were a big part of why they won the game. “All of the coaching staff, especially Monica Tritz, prepared us very well for these teams [in the tournament]… it’s just up to us to get the job done,” Wallace said. “[My team] has really fought. There were so many times when we could’ve given up or stopped, a lot of injuries throughout the season. A lot of bumps, blood, sweat and tears that all paid off in the end.” Ashley Anderson, junior, said that she was worried about the outcome of the game but had confidence in her team. “I was nervous, but I knew we could handle it,” Anderson said. “We have had so many hours of tough practices that I knew we were prepared.”

Slideshow • 30 Photos

photo by Hannah Cohen

Lauryn Miller, senior, Jayla Everett, junior, and Makayla Wallace, junior, question a call from one of the referees and turn to their coaches.

After defeating Rock Bridge High School in a double overtime game, KHS girls’ varsity basketball played at state Saturday March 18. KHS beat Lee’s Summit High School 43-36 in a well-deserved win, Makayla Wallace, junior and point guard, said. “It was amazing,” Wallace said. “It was like a dream come true. It’s the first championship in [KHS] girls’ basketball history.” Although Ashley Anderson, junior and forward, was on the bench, she said that the experience was just as great. “We have impressive talent on our team,” Anderson said. “We focused on our goal of ‘One more’ and pulled away with a win.”KHS took second in state last year to Kickapoo High School in a 53-63 game after beating Francis Howell North High School 66-55 in the final four game. Emily Kreidler, junior and forward, said that this year, the team really deserved the win after last year. “When I received the medal I was in disbelief because we had actually won,” Kreidler said. “It felt great to have that medal on my neck because a year ago we had lost.”

Slideshow • 31 Photos

photo by Hannah Cohen

Makayla Wallace, junior, runs past a Lee's Summit player while Natalie Bruns, freshman, sets up a screen to help KHS on offense. “We had great ball movement, on defense we [were talking] and communication is the key," Wallace said. "We had a lot of energy from offense and defense from [multiple] players who played the whole game.”

Voters in St. Louis passed Proposition 1, which will increase the city sales tax half a cent on every dollar and $12 million a year toward an 8-mile expansion of MetroLink, on April 4.

Proposition 2 would have  allowed funding toward building a 22,000 seat soccer stadium for the St. Louis professional men’s team, SC STL, to play in. However, with 53 percent voting no (30,603) and 47 voting yes (27,363) , Proposition 2 failed to pass. In order For the stadium to be funded, both Propositions 1 and 2 needed to pass.

According to The St. Louis Post Dispatch, MLS commissioner Don Garber said if the stadium passed, St. Louis was very likely to be one of the cities to receive an Major League Soccer team, as the MLS is adding four new teams. However, after the failure of Proposition 2, Terry Matlack, SC STL vice chairman, feels it is “unlikely” St. Louis will ever have an MLS team.

The movement to get St. Louis an MLS team is now facing a huge challenge, as soccer fans in St. Louis are trying to raise the $60 million that would have come from Proposition 2, all by themselves. They have set up a GoFundMe page, with only $379 raised within 18 hours of starting. There seems to be little chance left for St. Louis to receive an MLS team and stadium any time soon.

A group of friends form a circle, eight of them sitting down while one other trots around the perimeter. As he walks, he pats each person on the head, saying ‘duck, duck, duck,’ and eventually shouts ‘goose!’ as the person tapped chases him around. No, this is not the scene of a kindergarten classroom. The Minnesota Vikings have just scored a touchdown.

Although seemingly silly, these end zone celebrations have provided relief from the troubles of the NFL. During the early weeks of the season, things looked pretty bleak for the league. President Trump publicly declared his disdain for the league and many of its players in response to widespread protests of the national anthem. Also angered by protests, many fans turned against their teams and favorite players. Through all of the chaos, end zone celebrations have provided a much needed escape.

Before this season, any celebration that was remotely excessive was flagged for a 15-yard penalty with thousands of dollars in fines on the side. This included going to the ground on a celebration, using a prop such as the football, any choreographed dance with teammates and less specific violations. For example, during a preseason game in 2014, New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham was fined $30,000 for dunking the football over the goalpost twice. That’s equivalent to a new SUV right out of Graham’s pocket for celebrating during a game that doesn’t even count.

It took way too long for the No Fun League to revoke the excessive celebration rules since their introduction in 2006. Although wide receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson certainly pushed the boundaries of celebrating in the early 2000s, I don’t think we needed a 10-year hiatus. But it seems like NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has gotten lucky with his timing. There was no better time to make football fun again than in 2017.

Celebrations are helping to bring back the appeal of the NFL that is fading away. With an alarming risk for serious injury including concussions, ACL injuries and other dangers, the NFL will likely continue to lose fans to the NBA and other professional sports leagues unless it solidifies its appeal. Although other steps must be taken, rescinding the excessive celebration penalty is one in the right direction.

So far, reducing restrictions on celebrations has proved beneficial for the league. Celebration highlights are extremely popular with fans on social media, and players appear more passionate about football now that they can express their excitement freely. With all the newfound positivity, it’s hard to think of why the excessive celebration penalty was even introduced in the first place.

Considering all the conflict surrounding the early weeks of the season, I am beyond satisfied with how this season has turned out. While the league seemed to be falling apart, celebrations have managed to bring everyone together. And that’s a reason to celebrate.

Global:

Minnesota Vikings beat New Orleans Saints 26-24 with the last-second touchdown

With 25 seconds left, Saints kicker Wil Lutz kicked a 43-yard field goal to give the Saints a 24-23 lead. Two plays later, Vikings quarterback Case Keenum connected to Stefon Diggs for a miraculous 61-yard touchdown as time ran out. Keenum, an undrafted quarterback considered a role player most of his career, became an overnight star with the improbable last-second touchdown. The Vikings will face Philadelphia Eagles, led by quarterback Nick Foles for the division championship game. The two quarterbacks, once teammates in 2016, will now face off for the conference championship game.

North and South Koreans will march together at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics

North and South Korea are two rival countries separated by a demilitarized zone since 1953. But they put politics aside and the athletes representing the Korean peninsula march together on the opening ceremony of the upcoming Winter Olympics. The two countries will also compete together in an unified women’s ice hockey team. After the civil war that devastated the country, the two countries were in bitter stalemate for decades, characterized by nuclear threats and constant tensions. But recently, the talks of reunification have been spurred between the leaders, and this event might be the first step towards bridging that gap.

Local:

Kirkwood varsity boys’ basketball beat Lindbergh 47-26

Even with the absence of star guard Damien Loyd, junior, due to an injury, the Pioneers breeze past the Lindbergh Flyers on with a standout performance from forward Jonah McDowell, junior on Jan. 17. McDowell scored 18 points and four shots made beyond the arc. KHS boys basketball is off to a fast start with an overall record is 11-3. KHS will host the Pattonville Pirates on Friday, Jan. 19.

Kirkwood girls varsity swim team placed fourth in the first annual Kirkwood Invitational

The first ever Kirkwood Invitational was hosted at Walker Natatorium on Jan. 13. The KHS girls’ team, scoring 241 points, placed fourth, behind state favorite teams Marquette, Lafayette and Park Hill South. Maddie Pearl, senior, placed second in 100 backstroke and Claire Lin, senior, placed second in 100 breaststroke and swam a 1:09:60, her personal best.

“There was a lot of competition in this meet,” Lin said. “There were 13 teams, a lot of quick swimmers, like the defending state championship team was there as well. I just wanted to go into the meet thinking about racing and doing the best I can. My expectations weren’t really thinking I was going for the personal best time, so I was very proud of [achieving the personal best].”

St. Louis Blues beat Ottawa Senators 4-1

Vladimir Tarasenko celebrated his 20th goal of the season in the game on Thursday, Jan. 18 against the Senators. Alex Pietrangelo, Brayden Schenn and Alexander Steen also contributed with a goal from each. The Blues are now 28-17-3 for the season, 3rd place in the Western Central division.

As Maya Pritchard, senior and one of the girls’ cross country captains, runs the hills and grassy path of Kirkwood Park, she passes the crowds of people cheering. She manages to pass the girls in front of her, making her last race her best race. She finishes the race feeling accomplished, wiping the sweat off her face and saying good job to her other teammates running through the finish. As the girls’ cross country team completes their season, they prepare for their last race, Finn Dawg. Hoping to make their last race a great one.

The Finn Dawg race started as the Charlie Finch race in 1977, then became the Kirkwood-Finch race, and finally the Kirkwood Invite. The Finn Dawg meet takes place at their home course, Kirkwood Park, which is growing each year. KHS girls’ cross country invites six to eight cross country teams around the St. Louis area to participate, along with TinySuperheroes and the elementary schools around Kirkwood. The race is named after Ken Finnerty, coach of the girls’ cross country team and a long time KHS guidance counselor, who is passionate about his job and the sport of cross country.

“What is special about the name [of the race] is what is special about Ken Finnerty,” Gina Woodard, girls’ cross country coach, said. “He embodies everything that I think a lot of [what] people aspire to be. He is kind-hearted, he is as smart as they come and he is knowledgeable.”

Making the race special along with the name is TinySuperheroes. TinySuperheroes is a cape company with a mission to empower extraordinary kids as they overcome illness or disability. They paired up with girls’ cross country last fall and were able to run their own race through the finish line at the Finn Dawg race last year. Robyn Rosenberger, TinySuperheroes founder, ran girls’ cross country in 2000 and 2001 for Coach Finnerty at KHS.

“The meet last year was amazing,” Rosenberger said. “We didn’t have a really big turnout but it ended up being really special, and it was an experience that [the families] still talk to me about. ”

Woodard and Rosenberger said they met again this summer to plan something bigger for the TinySuperheroes coming to the meet this year on Oct. 11. The hope is still to have the Bubble Bus and food trucks. The five Kirkwood elementary schools plus KECC will be invited.

Pritchard, has ran in all of the Finn Dawg meets in the past. According to Pritchard, all the girls are excited to run the Finn Dawg meet because it is their last meet of the season. They all know they have worked to get to this point and Woodard said, seeing the TinySuperheroes was very special for everyone, especially for the athletes from the other schools.

“[Having the TinySuperheroes come to the meet last year] was such an eye-opening experience,” Pritchard said. “It was so beautiful to watch their faces when they [crossed] the finish line because that is something they probably don’t get to do very often.”

According to Rosenberger, the most important part about TinySuperheroes is feeling confident about yourself and feeling good. That is what every girl on cross country feels after finishing their race, they feel accomplished, said Pritchard.

“It was a day to not think about yourself, even if you are very nervous or don’t know if you will have a personal record,” Woodard said. “Being able to invite the extraordinary kids from TinySuperheroes to the meet is who we should be thinking about. This is what makes the race so unique and special.”

Call me bandwagon, call me arrogant, call me a hater, but I can say one thing: I love dynasties. I love watching a dominant force blow past unworthy underdogs, and this Super Bowl is going to be no exception. Super Bowl LII kicks off on February 2nd at 5:30 p.m. from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. I hope the Eagles have a fun time playing with the big dawgs. They deserve it. Good run, congrats, enjoy your NFC trophy, just please don’t burn down your entire city when you lose.

Woof, woof.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/sQRIrwCbdO

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 22, 2018

My score prediction for Super Bowl LII: 27-24 New England, and here are three reasons why:

It’s not over until Brady sings

Super Bowl LI: down 28-3, 2018 AFC Championship: trailing 20-10. Right when you think you have it in the bag, Tommy Boy saddles up and rides into the sunset with your girl and your championship ring around his finger. The comeback king of the NFL has become a master of controlling every aspect of his life to maximize performance and combat old age. His process, known as the TB12 method, is described in his book, and is available to the public through branded supplements and training tools. Brady’s comeback experience feeds all the way back into his time at the University of Michigan. It was not until late in Brady’s college career when he received decent game time, for “he had been trapped in depth-chart hell for three years and nearly transferred before attrition finally provided him a chance,” as Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg described. Nobody could picture the scrawny 199th draft pick with five Super Bowl rings and a shot at another.

Despite doubts due to concussion, Rob Gronkowski will likely make lineup

After missing the entirety of last year’s playoffs and watching his team march on to a Super Bowl victory, it is doubtful that Gronk will be on the sidelines this year, even with a concussion. Unless he is physically unable to move, as he was last year with a back injury, the Patriots will put him on the field. I can’t begin to imagine all the strings that will be pulled to bypass “NFL concussion protocol.” If Roger Goodell’s evil minions prevail in keeping Gronk off the field, fear not. The Patriots are 24-6 without Gronk on the field, and according to SI.com, “Jay Kornegay, the VP of sports operations at the Westgate Casino in Las Vegas, told The Morning Huddle that the current spread (New England favored to win by five) largely assumes that Gronkowski will be fully available a week from Sunday. And if he’s not, it would probably only move the line half of a point in the Eagles’ direction.”

Experience

This is Belichick and Brady’s eighth Super Bowl appearance. Simply making the Super Bowl for them has no significance. The duo’s tools are built for championship building and winning; the proof is in the pudding. Nick Foles is simply less experienced and crafted for the postseason. He nonetheless had a dominant performance in the NFC Championship game, throwing for 352 yards and 3 TD, but it is hard to imagine that he will outgun Brady.

The girls’ varsity basketball team won 59-38 against Pattonville high school Friday, Jan. 19. Both the varsity Pommies and the Male Pommies stole the floor during half time with their dance routines. “I believe the experience is amazing, but I had some extra experience, because I’m in Mrs. Bekebrede’s seventh hour dance class,” TJ Phipps, senior, said. “I’d say [for interested underclassmen] don’t be ashamed. Just go and do it, because it’s a lot of fun. It’s a great experience, and it’s something you can tell your friends and family and kids later on.”

Slideshow • 24 Photos

Kara Rieger

Lindsey Mayer, senior, cheers on the girls' varsity basketball team before the game.

Pyeongchang Olympics Closing Ceremony

The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea came to a close on Sunday, Feb. 25. The Olympics featured many new faces, like Chloe Kim, a 17-year-old snowboarder who won a gold medal in halfpipe and the Nigerian women’s bobsled team, which was the first bobsled team to represent an African nation. We saw many familiar faces too, like Shaun White, who took home the gold medal after eight years without winning a medal.

Arizona men’s basketball head coach Sean Miller discussed $100,000 payment to secure recruits

FBI intercepted wiretaps which show University of Arizona head coach Sean Miller talking about paying DeAndre Ayton, one of top players for the Wildcats basketball team, $100k in order for Ayton to commit to play for the Miller’s team. This is part of an ongoing FBI investigation covering corruption during recruitment process in top NCAA basketball teams. Big name colleges such as Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky, and universities such as Oklahoma State, Auburn, USC and Arizona were found to have illegally recruited. Miller will temporary step down from coaching amid the scandal.

Here is some local sports news:

Mizzou’s star player, Michael Porter Jr., fully cleared from his injury

It is a good day to be a Tiger. The freshman forward was sidelined for the rest of the season after playing for two minutes for the first game of this season in November due to his back injury that required surgery. The 6-foot-10 forward was cleared for full contact on Feb. 22. Porter, who is a five star recruit coming out of Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, was a Gatorade Player of the Year and he is projected to be a lottery pick of the upcoming draft. His commitment to Mizzou, along with hiring of the coach Cuonzo Martin, changed the program. The Tigers went 2-16 in the conference play last season, and with addition of new players and coaches, they became a strong contender in the SEC tournament.

Kirkwood basketball falls to Webster Groves 73-55

On the last game of the regular season, KHS boys basketball travelled to the next door neighbor to challenge Webster Groves basketball team Feb. 20. The Statesmen feature two top 100 nation prospects, senior guard Courtney Ramey and senior forward Carte’are Gordon. Even with 17 points from Jaylen Phipps, freshman, the Pioneers lost to Webster Groves, with Ramey’s 35 point performance. On the side note, KHS girls varsity basketball beat Webster 59-23 on the same day.

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, held in South Korea Feb. 9-25 have concluded. At the closing of every Olympics, history is made with old records smashed and boundaries broken. Take this quiz to test how much you know about the Olympics and its history.

The newest addition to the league and the strip, the Vegas Golden Knights have set the media in a frenzy since the team was announced. However, it was last June when things really began to heat up. The league underwent an expansion draft, aimed at giving expansion teams a fighting chance in their inaugural season, rather than 10 years down the line. It seems they’ve been given quite the spark for a monster of a season. Vegas selected one player from each of the “unprotected” lists of all 30 other teams (teams were allowed to protect either seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender, or eight skaters, forwards or defenseman, and one goalie). Players across the league both feared the worst of their impending trade to the Sin City and revelled at the opportunity to prove themselves.

The Vegas Golden Knights picked up headline players, including former Penguins in forwards James Neal, David Perron and goaltender Marc Andre Fleury. Looking deeper into the roster, most NHL-philes shouldn’t have expected much, as the team lacked significant depth. It was expected that the Knights would fade out of the headlines soon after the season started. But they didn’t. After a hot start to the season, people thought it was a fluke. It wasn’t.

Their draft selections weren’t flukes either: former Blue Perron had the best season in his 11 year career, William Karlsson, a middle roster forward with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season scored the third most goals in the NHL this year, and Malcolm Subban (brother to P.K of the Nashville Predators) played a major role during the absence of Marc Andre Fleury throughout the year. On the surface, the team did not seem like they’d reach the playoffs, let alone sweep (former) Western Conference powerhouse L.A. in the first round. They don’t have anyone who would be getting a massive contract if they were anywhere else in the league because, reminder, they weren’t deemed valuable enough to be in the top 10 of their former team. It hurts to watch Perron have a stellar season when I’m choosing who to root for because the Blues can’t take care of some of the worst teams in the league coming down the home stretch. I digress. The fact of the matter is, the Knights players could have taken the situation one of two ways: to be angered by their team hanging them out to dry, or to be grateful for the opportunity to prove oneself and maybe getting more ice time and responsibility than they would with their former team. Reflecting on a clinched Pacific Division, the Knights have played with a chip on their shoulder, exceeding the expectations of the NHL community all season.

Looking ahead, if the Knights’ front office continues to build on the solid foundation that they have, the Western Conference may have yet another powerhouse. With the poor showing this season for the Blues, I can’t imagine a solid playoff run in the near future. The Blues are squeezed in the Central Division by Nashville and Winnipeg, who are both only getting better, and now by Vegas in the Pacific. Although some may think the Predators are the new Blackhawks dynasty of a few years back, they are missing postseason prowess. As Predator Filip Forsberg said, “we’ve seen especially here (in Washington) that the [President’s] Trophy doesn’t mean that much.”

The Knights face the winner of Winnipeg and Nashville in the Western Conference Final. Winnipeg leads 3-2, but either team presents a formidable challenge; however, at the same time it’s hard to say who presents a challenge, saying the Knights have blown out the Pacific, winning for a combined 8-2 in the first two rounds. I know league commissioner Gary Bettman is somewhere smiling about the media exposure the Knights got all season long and how well the expansion has gone overall. It will hopefully serve as a positive example of what further expansion to proposed cities such as Seattle can add to the league. Since I can’t be rocking the Blue all April and May, I might be sporting the Vegas Gold. Go Knights.

Americans do not care about soccer. The United States not being one of 32 teams to make the World Cup is not a valid excuse for ignorance, as the entire rest of the world still watched from the first whistle on June 14 to the last on July 15. Missing the tournament just means our team sucks. The U.S. national team’s absence was sealed after a 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago last October after their poor qualifying performance against other North American teams. Mexico, Costa Rica and even Panama made it to this year’s World Cup. Mexico was the team from North America that made it the farthest, to the first knockout stage. But the United States would likely have lost in the group stage anyway. American soccer fans should be content with watching incredible players like Messi and Ronaldo and strong teams like France and England. Americans should be able to appreciate underdogs like Croatia and upsets like Russia’s win over Spain and actively enjoy the most popular sporting event in the world.

Let’s overview each round of the World Cup that led up to France’s victory. The group stage consists of eight randomly selected groups of four teams each, and these four teams with varying skill levels play each other once. Whichever two teams have the most points (three points for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss) after these three games move on to the knockout stage. This small group round-robin system usually causes the better teams to move on, and while there were some upsets in this early stage, the only major surprise this year was that underdogs Mexico and South Korea both took down mighty Germany in their group, causing them to miss the first knockout stage.

The round of 16, or the first elimination round, saw the early exit of Ronaldo and Messi, as their teams Portugal and Argentina, respectively, both lost in the first two games of the round. The rest of the round saw Russia’s, Croatia’s and England’s wild wins on penalty kicks. In addition, Brazil had a decisive victory over Mexico, Belgium managed to just beat Japan and Sweden upset favored Switzerland.

The quarterfinals were where the great teams began to emerge. France and England had solid 2-0 wins over Uruguay and Sweden, respectively. Belgium scored early and held off mighty Brazil in a 2-1 win thanks to an own goal in Belgium’s favor in the 13th minute. Croatia and Russia had a riveting match, with Russia managing to score once against Croatia’s possession-style team early. Croatia quickly answered and the game stalemated until both teams scored once in extra time. Then, Croatia managed to score four penalties over Russia’s three to advance.

The semifinals saw France hold off well-controlled Belgium in a 1-0 win decided by Samuel Umtiti’s goal in the 51st minute. The other game saw Croatia’s third come-from-behind win after England scored in the 5th minute. Croatia tied it at 1 in the middle of the game and scored once more in extra time to take a 2-1 victory.

The final was down to France and Croatia. The start of the game began with Croatia possessing the ball well, and yet, a controversial call off a flop allowed for France to take a free kick deep in Croatia’s half to score an own-goal header off of one of Croatia’s prime midfielders, Mario Mandžukić, in just the eighth minute. Only 10 minutes later, Ivan Perišić tied the game up at one for Croatia. In another 10 minutes, a call was reviewed with video replay and rightfully overturned that allowed French forward Antoine Griezmann to score a penalty kick, making the score 2-1 France in 28 brief minutes of play. The Croatians continued to possess the ball well into the second half. Croatia had the potential to come from behind once more. Then, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé scored in the 59th and 65th minute to seal the French victory. Mario Mandžukić scored for Croatia just after, but the goal was too little, too late, and France took the Cup in a 4-2 victory.

This was the “best World Cup in any of our lifetimes” as described by a commentator in the final. I just hope many Americans can fully appreciate this worldwide spectacle of the beautiful game every four years, no matter their team’s role.

She sprints across the finish line and although she is tired, makes it to the end of the first cross-country race of the 2018 season. Olivia Matthews, sophomore, finishes strong, and gladly accepts praise from a couple teammates who had already completed the race. Out of breath, she goes to meet the team manager and junior, Anna Smith. Smith brings Matthews a water and congratulates her on her accomplishment.

Matthews joined the cross-country team as a freshman during the 2017 season and will continue to run through her sophomore year. She met Smith in elementary school, but they said they grew closer during Matthews’ first year on the team because of daily practices.

“If it wasn’t for cross-country [Anna and I] wouldn’t have even started talking,” Matthews said. “Cross-country holds [our friendship] together.”

According to Matthews, she has found herself making friends she never would have expected to make. Her cross-country friendships have pushed her to run more often and enjoy the sport more.

“Cross-country makes me try my best because I feel like I need to uphold the standards of my team,” Matthews said. “It’s a great group of girls, and I don’t want to let them down.”

Matthews team inspires her to be the best she can. She feels as though the team pushes her to succeed not only in races, but in her daily life.

“A benefit of [cross-country] is the friendships from the team,” Smith said. “My freshman year I started in the lowest group, then I moved up. I met so many people because I was moving through [the different groups].”

Smith balances schoolwork and managing the cross-country team throughout the school year. She keeps times for runners, drives around with the coaches to make sure girls don’t get lost on the routes and makes sure girls are doing what they are supposed to be doing during practices.

“I was on the [cross-country] team freshman year, then sophomore year I was swimming a ton and I couldn’t fit it in my schedule to run and swim,” Smith said. “Now I’m still a part of the [cross-country] team by managing this year.”

Katie Rudolph, junior, has no trouble balancing friendships and cross-country. She has gotten a lot closer with her teammates through the sport, and plans on continuing to run through high school. Rudolph also finds running with friends to be helpful in encouraging her to try her best, and finds that the unity of the team pushes her to be a faster, more motivated runner.  Her friendships on the team positively affect her running.

“In the end, you want to make each other better runners,” Rudolph said.  “You want to beat your times and run faster.”

After the Golden State Warriors won the 2018 NBA Finals, DeMarcus Cousins, the four-time All-Star who is one of the best centers in the league, announced this summer that he will join the Warriors. Signing a one-year, five-million-dollar contract, Cousins will be taking a $11 million pay cut to join the superteam. It seems like the Golden State Warriors attracts superstars like a bird’s nest in a front yard attracts snakes.

*This piece is entirely satirical

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We’ve seen it in the most star-studded athletes in recent American sports history. LeBron James, Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Durant, Albert Pujols, the list goes on. Talented players bring joy to fans to the point they feel entitled to it. A player pursuing opportunities elsewhere might as well flip the bird to the entire fan base. The reality is that sports are a business, and professional athletes only have a small window of time to make as much money as possible. The hometown team might not be able to provide the contract necessary to keep the player in town, and that’s nothing against the fans.

LeBron James spent the bulk of his career in Cleveland (presuming he is on the tail end of his career). The connection between Cleveland fans and James couldn’t be any more romantic: one of the greatest basketball players of all time rising out of Akron high school basketball to play for your team. He takes the team to the playoffs for the first time in eight years, then proceeds to do it another four times. A championship has never felt closer. But then LeBron stops texting Cleveland fans back. Cleveland fans begin to worry. Is LeBron sleeping with that new girl down the street, Miami Heat? Now he’s off winning championships, and Cleveland fans are staring at the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream, loathing about how LeBron is unworthy of how good he had it. Cleveland fans don’t consider all that LeBron did for their franchise. They are only hungry for more.

Statistics courtesy of For The Win

Professional sports careers may only last a few years, depending on injuries. According to USA Today, the average career in the NFL lasts 3.5 years, the NBA: 4.8, the NHL: 5.5. Professional athletes nonetheless make exponentially more than the average person, but they also have exponentially less time to rake it in. LeBron isn’t playing men’s league basketball at the local YMCA after working his desk job; if he had no other worries outside of getting the ball in the hoop, maybe his ties to Ohio would mean something more. At the same time, however, LeBron stuck around for much longer than he had to. The Cleveland area meant so much more to him than a paycheck. Like any master of public relations, his charitable acts have smothered positivity. In true Scott’s Tots fashion, LeBron arranged for free tuition to the University of Akron for students who complete a program he began, which will now continue through his recently opened “I Believe” School. I digress. With enough politics being brought into sports over the past year, I don’t need to see more whiny fans burning jerseys. Go back to your mother’s basement and finish your Ben & Jerry’s.

The Pioneer football team is off to a great start, fueled by performances from four seniors: Cooper Wise, Arvell Ferguson Jr., Maurice Massey and Martez Jones. Starting the season undefeated, KHS is number four in STLToday’s Top High School Football Teams Ranking. Numbers don’t lie, these senior players has potential to lead the team to the State Championship.

Maurice Massey #1

Wide Receiver

Height: 6 foot 4 inches

Weight: 185 pounds

Season stats through first three games*:

335 receiving yards

2 receiving touchdowns0

16 average yard per catch

44.5 total return yards per attempt

3 touchdowns

With a frame of 6 foot 4 inches, Massey is an aerial threat who can burn opposing defense with his speed. A transfer from Francis Howell North and first time wearing red and white this August, he is familiar with finding himself in the end zone with 29 career touchdowns. The Mizzou commit has accumulated 3,196 total yards** over his first three seasons, equivalent of running more than seven laps on a track.

*All the stats are from STLToday.com

**Including passing, rushing, receiving, and returning yards.

Cooper Wise #16

Quarterback

Height: 6 foot 2 inches

Weight: 180 pounds

Season stats through first three games:

50 passes completed out of 68 attempts

692 passing yards

192 rushing yards

8 total touchdowns

139 passer rating

Wise is a dual-threat quarterback capable of penetrating the defense with his passes that thread the needle. Processing a high football IQ, excellent footwork and extraordinary athleticism, Wise is a menace inside and out of the pocket. Wise also showcased his athletic prowess on track, as he holds KHS record for high jump. In his first season as starting quarterback, he proved his quarterback abilities with six touchdowns and zero interception in three games. Wise has offers from Air Force Academy, Butler University and University of Dayton.

Arvell Ferguson Jr. #15

Defensive End

Height: 6 foot 5 inches

Weight: 215

Season stats through three games:

15 tackles

5 tackles per game

6 tackles for loss

3 sacks

With the frame of a wide receiver and the strength of an offensive lineman, Ferguson has the agility to beat the opposing linemen and strength to power through them. According to ESPN.com, Ferguson has the fastest 20-yard shuttle out of all the defensive ends in the national recruiting with 4.00 seconds. Three-star athlete and number 29 on 247Sports list of top football recruits of senior class, Ferguson looks forward to furthering his career in University of Missouri.

Martez Jones #4

Running Back

Height: 5 foot 10

Weight: 205 pounds

Season stats through two games:

244 rushing yards

4 touchdowns

7.6 yards per carry

Don’t let his built physique fool you, Jones’s high-octane rushes can and will burn linebackers to dust. With 7.6 yards per carry this season, Jones is a reliable ball carrier who can promise a solid gain for the Pioneers. His best attributes are finding an opening between the linemen and powering through the D-line. It’s going to be a big year for Jones, who already contributed 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns in three games.

As the clock ticks down to single digits, the opposing team is ahead by two. Coach looks back at the bench, and searches for his kicker. After moving a few burly lineman out of the way, a scrawny soccer player with pads and helmet too big appears. Coach gives him the nod. The entirety of the game now rests on his shoulders. The game will be decided on a kick. Not a throw, run or catch. A kick. Kicking requires the least athleticism of any position in the sport of football. And that’s exactly why I love it.

Bizarre stats and situations make the mundane more exciting. Kicking is undoubtedly one of the more unpredictable situations in football. Think back to the ‘Kick Six’ of the 2013 Iron Bowl, a famous kicking (and coaching) fluke. Or to the 2018 season, where kicking failures resulted in two NFL ties only two weeks into the season. According to Pro Football Reference, there have never been more than two ties in an NFL season since overtime was instituted in 1974.

It’s always exciting to see the forgotten about get some spotlight. We’ve seen short kickers, husky kickers, kickers with glasses, kickers without shoes and even a kicker with only 1 ½ feet. We’ve even seen players who aren’t kickers kick. Amidst the rippling muscles and towering stature of the rest of football, kickers are the laughing stock. Laugh away, for Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski will enjoy his $4.3 million contract regardless of what you think.

Former NFL punter Pat McAfee embraces la vie de la kicker, combatting the media’s neglection of kickers and comments made against the viability of kickers as players.

“Yes kickers are people too, but they’re not football players.” – @CoachBillick pic.twitter.com/gRupDi13k0

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) October 11, 2015

In response, McAfee told “The Bob & Tom Show:“

“A football player is a combination of things. It’s a guy who throws the ball, runs the ball, catches the ball, tackles and blocks. And out of those five things, I know from personal experience one guy who’s done damn near all of them on a football field, myself included,” McAfee said. “I’m getting paid by the National Football League to play football. I think that’s enough to be a football player.”

His highly entertaining showmanship on the field translated to a viral twitter account and now to a budding career in media, and a stab at being a stand-up comedian. McAfee worked with media company Barstool Sports, developing their “heartland” branch before moving on his own.

History was made on September 16th, 2018 in the sport of distance running. Eliud Kipchoge, a world class Olympic marathoner, finished the 26.2 mile race at a world record time of two hours, one minute and 39 seconds. An amazing feat, his is one of the many examples of the human body being pushed to its limits while running a marathon. But it leads to one important question: will we ever reach a point where a human can break a 2-hour marathon? I believe it will eventually happen.

This was nowhere near the first attempt for a person to break the two hour barrier. One of the most notable attempts was an event called ‘Breaking2’ created by Nike. On May 6, 2017, Nike set out three of the most elite runners in the world to try and break two hours. Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese were all trained and prepared months before the event by the best of the best. This was the biggest attempt to break two hours and the final time was achieved by Eliud Kipchoge at a time of two hours and 25 seconds. An amazing time that still wasn’t close enough. After this, you might think there’s never a chance that this goal will be achieved, but this is just the start.

The Berlin Marathon, one of the most competitive marathons in the world, was created in 1974 and ever since, the most elite runners in marathoning have come to compete. Ever since the beginning, times have gotten better and better. Technology improves, and in turn, human performance improves. In terms of marathoning, the main innovations are shoes, and Nike is leading the pack in shoe development to break two hours. The Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elites are one of the biggest advancements in marathoning shoes and a major milestone in the running industry. This could be one of the pushes they need to crack the 2 hour mark.

After the Breaking2 attempt, Kipchoge said, “The world is now only 25 seconds away.” An amazing way to think about the attempt, while Kipchoge is the favorite to break the barrier, the world is getting better, faster and stronger. Athletes and the goals they accomplish are just getting stronger. As tech and general knowledge about the sport of marathoning improves, new goals will be created.