Archive for High School Sports
In a troubling symbol of how life goes on despite the most terrible of situations, a photo of a high school baseball game played at Pine Creek High School, nearby the massive and destructive Black Forest fire that continues to rage that has destroyed hundreds of homes in its path and claimed the lives of at least two victims, reveals in awe-inspiring imagery the conditions under which the game was played.
The breathtaking photo, taken by Peter McAvoy and uploaded to his Twitter account on Thursday (larger photo here) captures he menacing backdrop of smoke billowing up into the sky behind the ball field.
Thoughts and sympathies to all those who have been affected by this horrible natural disaster.
[H/T Eye on Baseball]
That’s a shame. I just hope whoever is responsible just comes forward and admits to the egregious gaffe. No need to stretch this out by “Stalin,” you know what I mean?
Bad games can happen, often at the most inopportune of times. It’s the nature of competition. Sometimes, everything can go right for a player, other times? Not so much. Michael Cunningham, the leading scorer for Goddard (Md.) DuVal High, had an uncharacteristically underwhelming performance in its Class 4A boys baksetball regional finals game against Upper Marlboro (Md.), scoring only six points as his team was throttled by a score of 85-54.
DuVal head coach Lafayette Dublin took it in stride, saying, “That’s playoff basketball,” adding,. “You always know that can happen. It’s always in your mind. You just hope that it’s not you.”
But that doesn’t mean that one person who wouldn’t be expected to have such a critical impact on the game doesn’t guiltily feel a measure of responsibility for the team’s horrible game, in particular one Michael Cunningham. And that person is Cunningham’s grandmother, who allegedly issued a mea culpa of sorts in the most logical place possible: In the comments section of a newspaper report.
The “wedding bouquet” pass is quickly becoming the crème de la crème of unbelievable, jaw-dropping highlights from the football world (and if there is any doubt to that undeniable truth, simply do a Google Search for “wedding bouquet pass” — that’ll learn ya).
Last week, another entrant made its way into the pantheon of highlight reel-worthy “Wedding Bouquet” pass plays, only this time, the execution appears to have been, for all intents and purposes, unplanned.
During a game between the Ravenna (Ohio) Ravens and the Field (Ohio) Falcons, Ravens senior quarterback Tate Bennett was having an abysmal game. Having already been picked off twice by the Falcons, Bennett rebounded late in the game, engineering a lengthy drive with the team trailing 14-9. Facing a 4th-and-4 from the Field’s 7-yard-line and less than a minute remaining, Bennett saved his best display of clutch heroics for last.
Apparently a year in the making, a 16-year-old Texas cheerleader back-flipped herself straight into the Guinness Book of World Records by pulling off 35 consecutive handsprings during a halftime display of extreme agility on Friday night.
Miranda Ferguson, a junior at the all-girls Hockaday School in Dallas, rattled off the impressive feat during a halftime of a high school football game.
Two officials from the Guiness Book of World Records were in attendance to verify Ferguson’s record-breaking attempt.
If you’ve heard the story once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: players on a high school football team, on the road and riding high after a big win, decide it would be a great idea to hire some prostitutes from a call service and sneak them into their hotel rooms for some pay-for-play hanky panky.
What’s that? You’ve never heard that story? Well, that’s probably a good thing.
Unfortunately, a high school in Maryland is dealing with the fallout of a road trip to North Carolina gone horribly, horribly wrong that resulted in five football players being removed from the team after becoming involved with some hookers on a chaperoned trip.
During ESPN’s broadcast of a high school football game between Alabama schools Spanish Fort and Daphne, fans of Spanish Fort were spotted waving a banner. Unfortunately for anyone watching, the banner contained a homophobic insult directed at the team colors of the school’s opponent.
Making light of Daphne’s purple uniforms, Spanish Fort fans held up a banner that read: “Purple? Man, that’s GAY.”
Classy. It didn’t end there, either. Folks supporting Spanish Fort also had another sign at the game, making light of the fact that the rival school’s name, Daphne, also happens to be used a girl’s name:
(a rendering of how the Jumbotron will look upon completion)
As the saying goes, “Everything’s bigger in Texas,” and given that high school football is worshiped and revered in a manner more befitting a statewide religious movement there, of course that credo carries over into the sport.
Which makes the news that a Texas high school located near the Louisiana border is nearing completion on a $750,000 Jumbotron for its football stadium hardly surprising. Well, maybe a little bit, but given that this ginormous scoreboard is being installed in a high school football stadium in the great state of Texas, where the stars at night are big and bright, well, it is at least not mind-blowing.
Anyone who followed Brett Favre during his legendary NFL career certainly can attest to the fact that as far as a typical Brett Favre interview is concerned, such interactions between the guy and the media are almost always a long, drawn-out affair. Favre seems to the love the sound of his own voice and has no qualms with going on and on and on, speaking long after he had answered the original inquiry or made an enlightening comment.
As you may know, Favre is now the offensive coordinator of the Hattiesburg (Miss.) Oak Grove High football team and it did not take long for the grizzled Southern boy to conduct an interview of Favre-ian proportions.
Some snippets from Favre’s interview with WDAM-TV that lasted a whopping 4 minutes and 18 seconds.
“We got a long ways to go. We’re way out of shape, including me. I was struggling there at the end. …
“It’s a learning process for me, and I think I’ll be learning all year.”
Video follows.
A silly stunt by a senior at a high school in Florida resulted in swift punishment and the withholding of his diploma after he Tebowed during the school’s commencement ceremony.
During the graduation ceremony at Bishop Verot, a Catholic high school located in Fort Myers, Fla., senior Chuck Shriner struck the pose, made famous by New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow last season when he was with the Broncos, as he crossed the stage and approached the school’s principal. Despite the laughter and applause from those in attendance, Shriner’s diploma was withheld from him and he received the punishment of having to clean the school’s gymnasium, the location of the graduation ceremony.
Shriner had no idea his little joke — which he admitted he did on a dare and for $5 (although insisting he would have done it regardless of the paltry financial compensation) — would cause such a stir. And such a punishment, saying, “”I just thought it was fun” and adding, “I was just doing it to make graduation memorable.”
Later that day, Shriner posted the following message on his Facebook page a message that showed he had no regrets for his impromptu pose: “Moment in my life I’ll never forget, getting my diploma taken away for doing the Tebow on stage in front of (Principal John) Cavell. So worth it.”
According to Shriner, officials at the school told him that the harsh punishment and withholding of Shriner’s diploma was the school’s attempt to dissuade future graduating classes from pulling the same or different stunts:
“They said what I did would give underclassmen inspiration to do something else, that it might lead to something else,” Shriner said about the administration’s reaction. “So they were trying to set an example.”
School officials informed Shriner that they will consider giving his diploma to his mother. Fair enough, right? But here’s where the story takes a bizarre turn: the idea of the punishment came from Shriner’s mother, who happens to be a math teacher at the high school. Harsh.
Shriner’s mother eventually picked up her son’s diploma on his behalf, but Shriner told the Naples News after cleaning the gym on Monday that his mom was still “really mad,” but even with his mother coming down hard on him for his Tebowing, maintained that “it was worth it.” Good for you, kid. And at least his mother can take solace in the fact that he didn’t take a cardboard cutout as his date to prom, right? Imagine the controversy that would have erupted from that stunt. Yikes.
