Tiger Woods pulling out of the tournament

Over the Thanksgiving break, a worldwide known athlete was in a car crash. Yes I found an article on Tiger Woods. (no surprise there) unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past few days, you have heard about his car crash on ESPN, the nightly news, gossip sites, and anywhere else where media is present.

The article that I read talked about Tiger pulling out of his own golf tournament because of injuries that he received in his car crash near his home in Florida. The cause of the accident and many other questions about the crash has still not been answered by Tiger. The article stated that the world’s number one golfer posted a statement on his own website saying that injuries (unspecified) prevented him from play in the Chevron World Challenge. The professional golfer continues on saying, "I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry that I can't be there." The article then said that The Golf Channel reported that headaches and soreness will prevent Tiger Woods from traveling to attend the event.

The article then goes on about how the tournament directors said that starting next week, fans that bought early tickets can get refunded starting next week, or fans can be refunded by 20 percent of the ticket price.

The article then finishes up by recapping everything that the media knows about the accident, which is not too much information besides that Tiger takes full responsibility for the crash and that all the rumors that are flying around out in the media are not correct. He has said, “the crash is a private matter, and I intend on keeping it that way.”

Emma Frawley

Kin. 332I Sec 2

Special Olympics

The special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Shriver, it was created to "provide people with mental disabilities opportunities to develop their physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy and friendship through sport." The first special Olympics attracted only 1,000 atheltes, but it has dramtaically expanded over the years, and in 2003 more than 7,000 athltetes competed. In addition to the numbers of participants exapnding attitudes from particular countires have changed about the Special Olpympics. For example, China used to be a country where if a person was born with an intellectual disablity it was considered a punishement from wrong doings in a previous life, and in some cases it was suggested for parents to kill their babies. China has transformed, within the past seven years China has helped over 700,000 athteles with intellectual disablities. The Special Olympics can transform your life. For example, a girl named Zhang Xinhui deveopled a serious illness that left her with a mental disablity. She became withdrawn from her peers, and her parents didn't know what to do. They turned to the Special Olympics for answers, and Zhang discovered a passion for table tennis. She has won two gold medals, and in 2007 she she participated in the Special Olympics East Asia Athlete Leadership Program training course and later became a torch carrier in Japan and Korea. Zhang is one example of how the SPecial Olympics can change families, and give new hope.
Alexis Whalen 332i sec 02
http://www.specialolympics.org/china.aspx

A win is a win

The New Jersey Nets after loosing 18 straight games now hold the new NBA record for worst start ever. On December 4th the New Jersey Nets finally got the chance to feel what winning felt like as they defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91 on their home floor in the Continental Airlines Arena. The Nets are in a rebuilding mode after trading Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, a team who has young talent in Devin Harris, Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee. It will be interesting to see how new head coach Kiki Vandeweghe handles the team in games to come. His first move was to bring Courtney Lee back into the starting line up instead of Trenton Hassel, apparently no one told the person doing introductions who introduced Trenton instead of Lee. The Nets have a long season ahead of them, we are all glad they got a win but don’t expect the team to miraculously change and start winning games. The New Jersey Nets are 1-18, and staring straight into the face of a 63 game schedule. For now a win is a win.
Matthew Hivner Kin 322I tu/th 9:30am

Zola Budd

Have you ever heard of Zola Budd? I hadn’t until I read an article about her in the October 2009 issue of Runner’s World Magazine. Zola grew up in South Africa. Her parents were English immigrants; she was the fifth child and had a great childhood. Her oldest sister Jenny was her inspiration. Jenny loved to run and when Zola was old enough she began running with her. They would run barefoot through the hills and huge fields near their home. As time went by people began to notice Zola’s talent. Sadly her sister Jenny died at the age of 25 leaving Zola feeling alone. At this point Budd put all of her energy into running! The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics were approaching and it was time for Zola Budd to compete in the 3000m race against the best female runners; including Mary Decker from the United States Olympic team and Romanian runner Maricica Puică. Barefoot, Zola lined up with the other runners to begin the race. Mary Decker took the lead, followed by Maricica Puică second and Zola Budd third. Budd picked up her pace about halfway through the race. She attempted to pass Decker; after she made the pass she moved back toward the inside. Unfortunately there was some kind of contact between the two runners and Mary Decker fell. Boos reined through the stands and Zola ended up finishing seventh. This caused much controversy. Many assumed that Budd purposely pushed Decker off the track. After many years this was finally cleared up. I found this story very interesting. I’m including a link for a clip of the race.

16 Days of Glory – Maricica Puica

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QF9vOnkzvk

**the fall happens at 4min 50sec**

Carolann Baldridge 332I Sec. 2

The Hand of Henry

Thierry Henry from the France national team handled the ball in the box allowing his team to get a game winning goal over the Republic of Ireland. The final score was 2-1 and this game determined the acceptance of France into the 2010 World Cup with the Republic of Ireland coming up short. The referee missed the call and needless to say the Republic of Ireland was in a bad mood. After FIFA determined that a replay was not on the table, the Republic of Ireland asked to be the 33rd team in the World Cup. This was also turned down. The real issue of this, involving sports in general, is the media. If the handball was not caught so easily on camera then there would have been no argument. The media plays a key role in high performance sports. We have almost every possible camera angle imaginable in most sports allowing us to have instant replays that can effect sports during and after the fact.

Adam Cahill 332I.s2

Larry Johnson- Was He Worth It?

I recently read an article written by Doug Tucker, a sports writer, who talked a lot about Larry Johnson and how he was such a high maintenance athlete while he was playing for the Kansas City Chiefs football team. From the moment he was drafted by the Chiefs to the moment of being released from the team, he has been benched a few times for violating team rules and suspended for violating the league's player-conduct policy. He also plead guilty on two counts of disturbing the peace and was sentenced to two years probation. One of the counts was because Johnson threw a drink on a woman and then the other count was because he pushed the head of another woman. He also refused to go to training camp due to him demanding more money which he eventually received. Even though Larry Johnson was a great football player (up until his foot injuries that caused him not to play as well as before) I wonder if it was really worth keeping him on the team as long as they did while putting up with his high maintenance attitude? Celeste Summers KIN332I.S2 T/Th 9:30.

The NBA and Its' Age Barrier

For many years high school phenoms were allowed to test their skills in the NBA. Now however, this is not the case. Athletes wishing to make the jump from the high school ranks to the NBA now have to be one year removed from high school. This age barrier is foolish because not only does it detour young athletes from accomplishing their dreams, but it sends a discriminatory message by excluding a particular ethnic group. African Americans are the majority of the athletes in the NBA, and for the most part African American people are usually the only persons to make the high school to pro jump. Brandon Jennings is now the leading candidate for rookie of the year and a possible all-star selection, yet his road to the NBA was altered due to the new age rules. Brandon didn't have the academic background to go to college in America so he played pro basketball overseas for one season. I don't mind the athletes having to be 18 years of age, because that only makes sense. Historically in America the age of 18 is the defining moment of when a minor becomes an "official" adult. I believe the NBA should allow these athletes to enter the NBA draft and leave it up to the teams to choose wisely. Jonathon S. KIN 332I Section: 3017