2013 Pittsburgh Pirates by Nick Duerr, 2016
Major League Baseball is finally back in season and it‘s already in full swing! After a long offseason, all thirty MLB teams are ready to play especially your Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates finished last year with a record of 79-83 and a win percentage of.488.This was the Pirates’ best record since 1997, so there was a lot of optimism going into the 2013 season.Although we lost a few big names over the offseason, such as pitcher Joel Hanrahan and catcher Rod Barajas, all of our stars are back for this season.The Pirates even picked up a few players to really help the team like outfielder Starling Marte and catcher Russell Martin. And this 2013 Prates squad has not disappointed yet.
As of Monday, May 19, your Pirates are eight games above .500 with 26 wins and 18 losses. That’s tied for the fifth best record in the entire league!And they are not about to slow down one bit.In our division, we are tied for second place with the Cincinnati Reds behind the St. Louis Cardinals.With our stellar pitching staff and phenomenal offense, we should definitely finish with a winning record and quite possibly even make a run in the postseason.It’s been 20 years since The Pirates have had a winning season, and it’s about time they do something about it.Let’s go Bucs!
NBA 2013 Finals Predictions by Rachael Cummings
As you all may know, last year LeBron James and Dwayne Wade lead the Miami Heat to the Championship victory in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The series of games was a good run even though the Heat won 4-1 in the series. This year, many sports writers and anchors have many predictions to this year’s Finals.
First off, Kevin Durant of the OKC Thunder, is predicted to win his first ever MVP Award for this 2013 Season. Three-time award winning MVP LeBron James is always in the running for this year’s MVP but predictors aren’t so sure anymore. The top-four teams are a great mix of talent and execution, but only two can make it to the Western Conference finals. Memphis and San Antonio are as good picks as any, but the Clippers seem to be the most likely choice to join the Thunder in the last stage of the conference playoffs. On another note, the Dallas Mavericks are not predicted to make playoffs along with the Utah Jazz. Almost every year the Mavs clinch a spot in one of the 8 seeds of the Western Conference finals, but predictions say not this year… Boston Celtics are in the hunt for the Eastern Conference run but do not have a secured position. Another promising team is the Indiana Pacers who fell to the Miami Heat last year in the Finals. This is only a few teams mentioned and few predictions. There are many promising teams this year looking for their rings and a championship title. It should be a good run!
David Beats Goliath by Daniel Pollack
Last week Robert Morris was playing in the Northeast Conference Tournament. Winning the tournament would’ve sent Robert Morris to the NCAA Tournament for the since 2009. Unfortunately in the semifinals, Robert Morris lost to conference foe Mount St. Mary’s. Although they were heart broken at the time, they didn’t know about the surprise that they were in for. Since Robert Morris won the regular season crown however, they still received a bid to the NIT, the second best postseason tournament.
They announced the pairings for the NIT Sunday night. Robert Morris was pretty ecstatic when they heard that they had been matched up with the defending national champion, the Kentucky Wildcats. Even more exciting news, because Kentucky was hosting the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena, Robert Morris was going to host Kentucky. Players and fans of Robert Morris were thrilled that Kentucky was going to be making a trip to the Sewall Center.
The game was to be played on Tuesday night at 7:30 at the Sewall Center on the RMU campus. Tickets for the game sold out within 3 hours. The game was also to be televised on ESPN.
The arena was filled past capacity about an hour and a half before the game even started. It was also a big storyline because Kentucky coach John Calipari grew up in went to high school in Moon Township, where RMU is located.
The game couldn’t have started any better for Robert Morris. They took a big lead after 5 minutes. Kentucky came storming back however. RMU took a 28-27 lead into halftime. In the second half Robert Morris went on a big run to take a 13 point lead with 5 minutes left. Kentucky came storming back though to tie it up again. With 8 seconds left in the game, Mike McFadden made two free throws to take a 59-57 lead with 5 seconds left. Kentucky’s Kyle Wiltjer missed a 3 pointer at the buzzer and RMU won. The students rushed the court. David slayed Goliath.
March Madness by Daniel Pollack
As everyone knows, every year March is a special time for basketball fans. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament takes place every year from mid-March to early April. The NCAA selection committee selects 68 teams to compete in the annual tournament. The teams are then put into a single elimination bracket and are seeded from 1 to 16 based on their record, conference, and strength of opponents. All games are played at neutral sites with the Final Four taking place in Atlanta, Georgia from April 6th to the 8th.
This year’s tournament will be very wide open with no particular heavy favorite to win it all. This should make for some exciting games with close finishes. The number 1 seeds will likely be Gonzaga, Kansas, Duke, and Indiana. At least 1 local team is pretty much locked in to make the tournament in Pittsburgh. Pitt will probably receive a 5 or 6 seed in the tournament. It should be a very interesting competition this year, so get your brackets ready!
BCS Championship Game Result by Sam Huddleston
Just recently, the college bowl season concluded with the BCS National Championship game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide had won the previous Championship Game last year and had won 2 out of 3 the past three years. The Fighting Irish were coming into their first championship game since 1988 when they played West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. This match-up had the makings of a great game, as Notre Dame had one of the best defenses in the nation going up against an Alabama offense also considered one of the best.
The game, however, was a surprise to many. Alabama came out strong in the first quarter, scoring two quick touchdowns while Notre Dame’s offense faltered. Eddie Lacy, the Tide’s running back, scored the first one on a 20 yard touchdown run, while A.J McCarron threw a 3 yard touchdown pass to Michael Williams. Then in the second quarter, T.J Yeldon, the Tide’s other star running back, ran it in from the 1 yard line to put Alabama ahead 21-0. Hopes for a first national championship almost completely vanished when Alabama scored their fourth touchdown of the game on an 11 yard pass from McCarron to Lacy.
The Fighting Irish finally scored in the second half, but not before Alabama put 7 more up on the scoreboard. The Tide scored when Amari Cooper caught a 34 yard pass for McCarron for the touchdown. The Irish answered that though with a score of their own, scoring on a 2 yard run by Everett Golson, their quarterback, leaving the score at 35-7 entering the fourth quarter. Both teams scored in this quarter, with Amari Cooper catching another pass for 19 yards for the touchdown and Notre Dame scoring on a 6 yard pass from Everett Golson to Theo Riddick. That’s all the Irish could manage however, as the final score was Alabama 42 Notre Dame 14.
2012 MLB Most Valuable Players by Nick Duerr
On Thursday night, November 15, 2012, Major League Baseball selected the two Most Valuable Players of the year. There is one MVP from the National League and one from the American League. For the National League, from the San Francisco Giants, the MVP was Buster Posey. Posey is the Giants’ catcher and first baseman. He finished the season with 178 hits, 24 home runs, 103 RBI’s, and a .336 batting average. Buster Posey defeated Milwaukee Brewers’ left fielder Ryan Braun, with the votes tallying up 422 to 285. Now on to the American League. Detroit Tigers’ 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera was voted MVP over The Angels’ Mike Trout 362 to 281. Cabrera finished his season with 205 hits, 44 home runs, 139 RBI’s, and a .330 batting average. He also received the Triple Crown Award this season. You get the Triple Crown when you lead the league in batting average, home runs, and RBI’s. Cabrera was thought to be the best player in baseball this year by many baseball fans. These two players are certainly worthy of being the MVP.
Excessive Celebration By Mike Ravas, 2014
On September 24, 2012 history in the NFL was changed forever were a so called “simultaneous catch” gave the Seattle Seahawks a win over the Green Bay Packers 14-12. Why am I writing about this game? Well it is because it dropped Green Bay to a 1-2 record and gave Seattle a 2-1 record and will have a huge affect on the playoff race because the replacement refs made the WRONG CALL!! It was the most obvious interception I have ever seen in my life and they called a touchdown on the last play of the game so Green Bay didn’t have a chance to go down and score.
This play is now in football history as the worst call known to man. This prompted 70,000 people to leave voicemails to Roger Goodell and its safe to that most of them were very “hateful.” League sources say that this prompted Roger to get the real refs back into action which they did as the agreed to a deal on Tuesday and were back to work on Thursday for the Browns vs. Ravens game. A funny fact is they got a standing ovation before the game from all the fans.
OLSH Fall Ball by Nick Duerr
We’re halfway through the 2012 Fall Baseball season, and your OLSH “Knights” are 2-4 so far. We have to be called the Knights because we’re not allowed to use our actual team name, The Chargers, in the fall league. The other teams in our section are North Allegheny, West Allegheny, Quaker Valley, Traveling Saints, and Vincentian. Currently we are in 5th place but there is absolutely still time to make the playoffs. This fall season is all about improving and working on things for the spring. And speaking of the upcoming spring season, the Chargers will be heading down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for spring training. It will be hard to follow last season’s performance by the Chargers, but we are going to do our best. Go Chargers!
Football Week 3 Recap by Mike Ravas, 2014
This week the 1-1 OLSH Chargers football team traveled to visit the 1-1 Laurel Spartans. They came out swinging but feel short as the Spartans pulled away to win 24-13. This dropped the Chargers to a 1-2 record and now have a long hill to climb if they want to make the playoffs for the first time. Sto-Rox is the opponent the Chargers will face next week who have a 2-1 record.
On Monday, the boys JV players took the field at Youthtowne and played the JV Spartan players. The boys also fell short to the Spartans with a score of 22-6. Considering it was the first full game for many of the JV players Coach Daniels was quite happy with the outcome but wants to see improvement on both JV and varsity players if they want to give Sto-Rox a run for their money.
Shiver Me Timbers! by Jason Lanoy, 2013
Arrgh! It’s that time again! It’s Bucco Baseball time! The Pirates played cross state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies in their home opening series. The Pirates lost the first game but came back strong and won the second two! The scores were, a loss 0-1 in first game, a 2-1 win in the second game and a 5-4 win in the last game of the home opening series. The Pirates have a very promising lineup but as of late they haven’t shown off their skills. The pirates are currently 3-7 and in 5th place in the N.L. Central. The Pirates are led by star Andrew McCutchen and hope to finish this season above .500 this time… and possibly even make the playoffs and make a run for the big one. Good Luck Pirates.
“Killin’ It” on the Court by Jason Lanoy, 2013
This year’s OLSH basketball team is “killing it” on the court. The Chargers record is currently a very impressive 14 -3. The Chargers are with out one of their starting guards Stefan Arch, but the team is filling in very well for him. Andrew Orie is the basketball team’s leading scorer, and continues to put up big numbers every week including a thirty-point performance against the Rochester Rams. The team can go very deep into their lineup and still match up very well against any of the other starting lineups in their section. The highlight of their season to date was their rivalry game against the Cornell Raiders at the AAC. The boys were down by as many as 12 points in the second half before storming back to take a one-point lead with under twenty seconds to go. As Cornell made a break down the court, Charger guard Chris Gamcik took a game saving charge the awarded the Chargers the ball. After that, shooting guard Isaiah Neely made two free throws to bring the lead to three. With the AAC as loud as it could be, Cornell missed a game tying three pointer and the Chargers pulled out the exciting win! The team still has four games left and will hopefully come away with four more wins. GOOD LUCK BOYS!
Problems at the Pete by Brandon Duerr, 2012
So far this year the Panthers, who play in the Big East Conference in all sports, are having a very down year, so much so that everyone not only in Pittsburgh, but everyone in the entire nation is in shock.
The Panthers won the Big East regular season championship last year finishing with a record of 28-6 and going 15-3 in the Big East. They then made a quick exit in both the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament despite high expectations around the country. This year however, the Panthers are 15th out of sixteen teams in their conference with a 1-7 record and a 12-9 record overall. This includes losses to several unranked teams like Rutgers, DePaul, Wagner, and Long Beach State. The Panthers got their first Big East win on January 15th prevailing 86-74 over the Providence Friars. The Panthers have been on the upswing over the past two weeks though, being highly competitive in all of their league games. But in this rugged Big East Conference, which some say is the best top to bottom in the country, it will be tough to finish with as much promise as the Panthers did last year.
Experts said at the beginning of the season that Pitt had a lot of talent and they proved that with their number 11 ranking. Now however, for Pitt to see a ranking like that again, they need to really step up their game and reel off winning streaks of five or six games. The Panthers have made the NCAA tournament each year under current head coach Jaime Dixon, and they look to continue that trend for a ninth consecutive season. As a Pitt fan, I would love to believe that they will turn this underachieving season around as quickly as it started to go down the drain. With the next two games coming up against highly ranked Georgetown at home and surging West Virginia on the road in Morgantown, there couldn’t be a more perfect opportunity for this talented group of players to finally make some strides in the right direction, and play the defensive-minded smart basketball that this city and the country has been accustomed to seeing from Pitt in this past decade. Hail to Pitt.
Bowling by Jason Lanoy, 2013
Smash, crash, and boom and the pins fall down! That’s right! It’s bowling time at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, well actually at Paradise Island Bowling Lanes in Neville Island. This year the OLSH Bowling Team is looking mighty strong on both the boys and girls side of the lanes. Led by Head Coach, Mr. Bob Brasko and Coach Art on the boy’s side and Mrs. Praskovich on the girls’ side, the bowling team is looking great. This year the team consists of 29 people 14 boys and 15 girls, most of which are juniors. Both teams have many strong bowlers and are led by Captains, Anthony Graziani ’12 (boys) and Megan Sobolosky ’13 (girls). The Team had its first and only preseason match against Canevin on Monday, December 5 at Noble Manor Lanes in Crafton. Both the boys and girls came out with victories and look to take on Northgate Wednesday, December 7 at Pines Plaza Bowling Lanes in Pittsburgh. Good Luck to both the boys and girls this year!
Running for Success by Meghan Witcop, 2015
On Thursday October 27th, the cross country team went to the WPIAL championships. Both teams were hoping for a win, even though it would be a tough race. With the weather in the low 40s, freezing rain and the trail a massive mud pit, no one knew how they would perform. As the races neared the excitement started to build and the jitters began.
Up first were the girls. The team consisted of Mary Hannon, Leyla Turcios, Vicki Grant, Amanda Carmichael, Swati Rajprohat, Erica Belloma, and Natalie Sena. The girls ran hard in horrible conditions and placed 17th out of 35 teams. In cross country, only the top four teams forward to States. As an individual, the top twenty runners not including the qualifying team members are invited to States. Mary Hannon who came in at the time of 22:12 is heading to States.
Finally, it was the boy’s turn to run. The team consisted of Matt Haupt, Nick Kocent, Ryder Ballou, Ian Schrenk, Dominic DeSalle, Greg Suehr, and Alexander Michalenko. The team placed 7th out of 42 teams. Even though the team isn’t going to States, three individual runners qualified for States, Matt Haupt, Nick Kocent, and Ryder Ballou. Ryder Ballou is the first ever freshman to qualify for States.
The State Championship is on November 5 at Hershey, Pa. We wish all the runners Good Luck!