St. Anne's Newspaper
2020-2021
Sports
St. Anne's Newspaper
Simply the Best
-since 1920-
Becky Hammon, the First Woman to Serve as Head Coach in an NBA Match
By: Yelizaveta
Right before 2021, a major milestone in sports has been achieved. On Wednesday night, Becky Hammon, an American - Russian professional basketball assistant for the San Antonio Spurs was the first woman to have ever been ordained as head coach in an N.B.A. match. She previously served as the head coach of the Spurs’ summer league team and had taken over for Popovich as a substitute in a preseason game in October 2017, but Wednesday marked the first official time she moved into “the hot seat for a regular-season game.” When the event began, it was like any other standard game. As the match progressed, Coach Gregg Popovich was ousted after arguing with the officials during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers in San Antonio. Then, he appealed to Becky Hammon, his assistant coach since 2014, and announced that she should take over the team. Without a doubt, Becky Hammon took on the responsibility and managed the team well. Unfortunately, they lost 121 - 107. Nonetheless, Becky’s historical milestone was the talk of the game. After the match, Hammon told reporters that “It was business as usual. They’re used to hearing my voice in practice. The guys are great. The guys are a non-issue, their attitudes and approach is always great with me. I did not walk into the arena thinking I would be coaching tonight, but that’s the way things go and you roll with it.”
James Harden Has Been Traded to the Nets
By: Kate Spertzel
James Harden has been on the Houston Rockets since 2012. Before that he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder for three years. Now, he is on the Brooklyn Nets with fellow superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. This is a threatening team that will be hard to bet.
Harden decided that the Nets could offer more than the Rockets were and started to plan leaving the Rockets. Harden has now been traded in a four-team trade also including the Cavaliers and the Pacers. Harden decided he wanted to be traded because he was looking for a team that could help him win another championship. He did not think the Rockets could help do this and started looking at other teams.
Harden's first game with the nets made history. Harden made 32 points, 14 assists, 12 rebounds, and four steals. The Nets won 122 to 115 against the Orlando magic. Harden became the seventh player in NBA history to get a triple double in their team debut. He also became the first player ever to get a 30 point triple double in their debut. Harden's 14 assists were the most ever for a Nets player's debut. He also almost got a quadruple double with nine turnovers. Harden was not pleased with that.
The Nets now are a big threat to other teams, having three superstars. Kyrie and Harden’s skill with the ball will be hard to defend. Kevin Durant is an all-around player that will be hard to score against and defend. Now that the Nets have James Harden they will be an unstoppable team.
Sarah Fuller, the First Female to Play Football in a Power 5 Game
By: Annika Watkins + Cassandra Conde
Sarah Fuller, a goalie for the women's soccer team at Vanderbilt, was asked to play because due to the coronavirus, the football team's kicking unit did not practice. In one of college football's Power 5 conferences, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play during a regular-season game by booting a kickoff on Saturday for Vanderbilt to open the second half against Missouri. She debuted on November 28, 2020 playing a game against the University of Missouri. Sarah Fuller was recruited by Vanderbilt’s football team earlier this week after the team had to bench their specialists due to the coronavirus contact tracing and possible exposure. They didn’t want their players to get covid due to exposure. As stated by NBC Sports. “Right now, we’re just looking at all options,” the head football coach Derek Mason said to the “ESPN 102.5 The Game” on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 “For us, talking to Sarah, she’s a champ, and no pun intended. Just coming off an SEC Championship in soccer…She’s a complete competitor. This week, Fuller, a senior and the starting goalie for the women's soccer team of Vanderbilt, was tapped to play football after every member of the kicking squad of the Commodores was forced to stop training when at least one of them came into contact with somebody who came back positive for COVID-19.
With a 3-1 win over Arkansas last Sunday, Fuller helped Vanderbilt clinch its first Southeastern Conference women's soccer championship since 1994. She was planning to go home to Wylie, Texas, for the Thanksgiving holiday, she told reporters after the game, when her soccer coach called her for a kick this weekend. From a low kick that bounced to the 35, Fuller opened the second half, where Missouri pounced on it with no return. Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason said the play was by design. Mason said he was impressed with Fuller´s determination to try something different, particularly when so many players from the team had either gone home for the holidays or had been forced to quarantine.
She stated, “It’s an honor they called on me to be able to do this and help them out.” A few days later she said, "I represent the little girls out there who wanted to do this or have thought about playing football or any sport, really," she continued. "I just want to tell all the girls out there that you can do anything you set your mind to, you really can. If you have that mentality all the way through, you can do big things."
Basketball Interview with Nathan Lee
By: Joshua Lee
I (Joshua) interviewed Nathan Lee about his current basketball experience in Covid. I asked him questions about what it’s like during Covid and some personal questions too.
Q: What’s it like to be doing basketball during Covid-19?
A: For me, it's basically the same since before Covid more or less.
Q: Are you playing by yourself or with teammates?
A: Both.
Q: How are you holding up as a member of your team?
A: I am holding up pretty well.
Q: What is your practice schedule?
A: I train with my teammates 3 times a week and I train at the gym myself 3 times a week. On the last day of the week I take a break.
Q: What is a typical practice run you do?
A: I start with 4 laps or 1 mile. Dribble drills. Shooting drills 1v1s and then scrimmage or 5v5.
Q: Is your dream job to be a basketball player? If so, why?
A: Yes, I just really enjoy basketball.
Q: Have you played any games against other teams during Covid-19?
A: Yes, but we had to do a covid test before we played.
Q: Do you wear masks during games?
A: No.
Q: Do you think that you'll keep on doing basketball during Covid?
A: Definitely.
Q: On another topic, Who is your sports hero?
A: Devin Booker
Q: What is your favorite quote said by a basketball player?
A: My favorite quote is “I play to be the best”.
Q: What do you feel when you are on the court playing?
A: Not much. I just don’t like to think about anything. To just move freely.
Happy Birthday Stephen Curry!
By: Ella Gorospe
Sunday, March 14, was Stephen Curry’s birthday. He just turned 33 years old. Although many NBA players this age are starting to come out of their prime, Curry is still a phenomenal basketball player. This year, he won the 3 point contest for the second time, played in the All-Star Game for the seventh time in his career, and is leading the league with the most three pointers with 176 threes so far this season. On Sunday, the Warriors played against the Utah Jazz and won 131 - 119. Stephen Curry scored 32 points and had nine assists in that game. Even though he had to play on his birthday, he still had a lot of fun with the Warriors and his family.
Since Sunday was Steph’s birthday, the Warriors and his family celebrated with cool gifts and an amazing cake. Curry’s wife, Ayesha Curry, and his kids, Riley, Ryan, and Canon surprised him with some of their own custom Under Armor designed shoes. They also created a scavenger hunt that led to their present. In addition to this, Chase Center celebrated his birthday with an over the top birthday cake. Seen from the photos at the top, it is a huge popcorn cake with little basketballs in it. The Chase Center’s Senior Pastry Chef Bianca Montijo created this amazing and intricate popcorn birthday cake- because apparently Stephen loves to try the different popcorns at each and every arena the Warriors play at. Hopefully Steph Curry had a great birthday and will continue to have a good season!
The All-Star Weekend
By: Austin Hsu
The 2021 NBA All-Star Weekend, occurring only on the 7th (unconventionally likely due to COVID-19), consisted of multiple contests and the All-Star Game. Before the event, the players drafted for the game were voted on by various people in the league and the public. Lebron James and Kevin Durant, who were the most voted, became the team captains. Then, they got to pick from a pool of 22 people (8 starters and 14 bench players to be split evenly). Lebron James ended up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic as starters, while KD ended up with Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, and Jayson Tatum (replacing Durant).
First after the tipoff was the Skills Challenge, which was won by Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers. Afterwards was the Three-Point Contest, which involved five racks (each with four normal shots and one shot, the “money ball,” worth two points with one rack chosen by the player to be all money balls; two additional shots are worth three points each in slightly farther areas). It was won by none other than Stephen Curry, with 28 points in the final round (beating Mike Conley by one). With the All-Star Game commencing not long afterward, it was an interesting game in the first quarter. However, from the second quarter onwards, Team LeBron began to significantly pull ahead under the combined work of the superstars. Unfortunately, this made for a very uninteresting second half, and ultimately, Team LeBron won a blowout of 170-150. During the halftime period, however, the Slam Dunk Contest was held, and it was won by Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers, being chosen by a majority of five judges who administered points to contestants the first round and chose the winner the second.
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Top 10 Sports Today
By: Cassandra Conde
If you are interested in sports, you are in the right place! Sports are a great way of getting exercised. It is also a good way to just kill time. But most importantly, it is fun! Here I am going to tell you about the top 10 most played sports around the world today. Who knows? You might become interested in one of the sports and become a famous athlete one day. Let’s start!
#10: Golf
Golf, today, has 390 million fans. It is mostly popular in Europe, Asia, America, and Canada. Golf is a game where players, called golfers, put a golf ball on a small stand, called a tee. They then club at it and hit as far as they can until it goes inside a hole or until everyone is on the green.
#9: American Football Rugby
American Football Rugby, today, has 410 fans. It was popular in the U.S.A., France, England, New Zealand, and South Africa. American Football Rugby is technically 10% soccer and 90% football.
#8:Baseball
Today, baseball has 500 million fans. It is mostly popular in the U.S., Cuba, Japan, and the Dominican Republic. Baseball is A player from one of the teams throws a ball while another one tries to hit the ball and run into the field.
#7: Table Tennis
Table tennis has 50 million fans. It is mostly popular in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In table tennis you just have to hit the ball to the opponent's side of the table and hit it back if your opponents strikes back.
#6: Volleyball
Volleyball has 900 million fans. It is very popular in Asia, Europe, Americas, and Australia. A volleyball game has 2 teams of 6 players that are separated by a net. The 6 volleyball court positions are: a setter, middle blocker, outside hitter, opposite hitter, libero and a serving specialist. To score a points, one team must send the ball over the net, hitting the opponent's court.
#5: Tennis
Tennis has 1 billion fans. (WOW!) It is most popular in Europe, Americas, and in Asia. Tennis is when two player compete against each other and whoever hits the ball to the other side of the net, using a tennis racket, gets a point.
#4: Field Hockey
Today, field hockey has 2 billion fans. It is very popular in EUrope, Africa, Asia, and Australia. This is a game where you hit a hockey ball using a stick and hit it inside
A net.
#3: Basketball
Basketball has 2.2 billion fans. It is most popular in the US, Canada, China, and the Philippines. Basketball is a game with two teams that compete to see how many balls they can shoot in a hoop in a certain time limit.
#2: Cricket
Cricket has 2.5 fans. It is popular in Australia, Us, and UK. Cricket is a game where one team tries to score then runs, while the other team tries to prevent this.
Finally . . .
#1: Soccer / Association Football
Soccer, or also called association football, has 3.5 billion fans. It is most popular in Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. Soccer is a game where you try to score a ball into a net without using your hands.
Interview With Max Spertzel About Boys Volleyball
By: Claire Wallerstein
I asked Max Spertzel, an 8th grader about his experiences playing volleyball with and without the covid pandemic. I asked him questions about the steps they are taking to stop the spread of the coronavirus and about the differences when playing.
Q: What is it like to play volleyball during COVID?
A: It is different. We have to keep our masks on and can’t have a lot of celebrations but it is still fun.
Q: Do you wear masks while playing?
A: Yes, we do.
Q: Do you social distance? How far?
A: We try to keep it more than 3 feet but sometimes we collide. However, this is only for a second .
Q: Is it easier or harder to play during the pandemic?
A: Harder, it is a lot harder to have to play with a mask because you feel like you cannot breathe.
Q: Are you having games?
A: Yes I think we are having 3 games during this season.
Q: Are you playing inside or outside?
A: All games and practices are outside to ensure our safety.
Q: What are the similarities of playing during the pandemic and playing during normal time? Differences?
A: The main difference is the mask and less celebration. However, it is still volleyball so not a lot is different besides that.
Q: Do you prefer to play normally or with the pandemic going on?
A: Playing normally is a lot more fun and you can play better.
Q: When do you practice? How often do you play?
A: We practice 2 days a week and have one game a week.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of volleyball? Why?
A: I enjoy hitting the volleyball because it is the most fun and it is cool to see when you get a good hit and the other team can’t return it.