REID DEAN
The NBA Playoffs start with the top sixteen teams in the nation playing in a best-of-seven elimination tournament. The top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and the top eight teams from the Western Conference play against each other to determine the best team in the nation. In the first game out of seven, the Cleveland Cavaliers barely beat the Indiana Pacers 109-108. The San Antonio Spurs, however, came in and stomped the Memphis Grizzlies 111-83. The Boston Celtics, who are number one seed in the Western Conference, lost to the number eight seed the Chicago Bulls 106-102. It looks like the Golden State Warriors are going to have an easy road to the playoffs beating the Portland Trail Blazers 121-109 in the first game. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Raptors 97-83 in their first game, but the Raptors turned it around in the second game winning 109-100. The Utah Jazz won against the Los Angeles Clippers 97-95, and just like the Raptors, the Clippers turned it around in the second game winning 99-91. Don’t miss out on the top teams fighting for a spot in the finals. Which team will be this year’s NBA Champion?
0 Comments
REID DEAN
It’s down to the final four in this year’s NCAA March Madness with South Carolina against Gonzaga, and Oregon against North Carolina. On April 1st, 2017, these teams will play for a spot in the Championship Game. South Carolina played great against the other teams in their bracket. Duke and Florida came the closest to beating them, and they were still seven points off. Gonzaga ran over its competition with only Northwestern cutting it closes with a final score of 61-58. Oregon had a pretty rough time climbing their way to the final four with only a few points to spare in most of their games. North Carolina had a pretty easy time getting to the final four with one close game against Kentucky, only winning by two points. On April 1st, two of these four teams will be going to the championship game to play for the title NCAA March Madness Champions. REID DEAN
The Patriots made Super Bowl history with their epic comeback against the Falcons. The Falcons take an 18 point lead in the second quarter of the game 21-3. Then in the third quarter, the Patriots still struggling to climb back up are down 19 points the score totaling to 28-9. The Patriots completely turn the game around in the fourth and final quarter. Tom Brady was making great passing yards down the entire field only to have the ball turned over at the ten-yard line. Matt Ryan then fumbles the ball at the ten-yard line, and the Patriots recover it. Tom Brady passes it into the endzone for a touchdown bringing the game up to 28-20. Matt Ryan’s incredible passing game leads Patriots fans to believe the game is over in the end of the fourth quarter, but the Patriots turn the ball over. With a few seconds left Patriots tie the game up 28-28 and they go into overtime. The Patriots start off with the ball and make their way to the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown for their fifth Super Bowl victory. REID DEAN
The Atlanta Falcons play the New England Patriots for Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas on February 5, 2017. The Falcons played the Green Bay Packers for their spot in the Super Bowl. They played an incredible offensive game against the Packers with a final score of 44-21. The Falcons defense is what they should work on for the Patriots. The Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to get their position in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have an all around great defense and offense. They just have to keep the small mistakes to a minimum. Either team could win Super Bowl LI. The Falcons will have to play great against the Patriots defense and make very few mistakes if they want to win their first Super Bowl Championship. The Patriots will have to keep the Falcons offense down to win the Super Bowl. Be sure to see which of the two teams wins Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017. HECTOR HERNANDEZ
Krasnodar Vs Fenerbahce Fenerbahce will advance, they're doing better in the Turkish Super Lig than Krasnodar is doing in the Russian Super League. AZ Vs Lyon Lyon is in 4th place in Ligue 1 while AZ is in 5th place in the Eredivisie. Lyon’s new signing Memphis Depay will play a vital role in helping Les Gones go through. Monchengladbach Vs Fiorentina Fiorentina has a +8 goal difference while Monchengladbach has a -9 goal difference, neither team is having a good season, and both teams are languishing in the middle of the table. But, Fiorentina will push through. Gent Vs Tottenham After being knocked out of the Champions League, Tottenham has been on the up. Currently, they are in 3rd place behind rivals Arsenal. I don’t see Gent giving them too much trouble. REID DEAN
HECTOR HERNANDEZ
Match 1 Barcelona Vs. Paris Saint-Germain The last time these teams faced was in the 14/15 season with Barcelona coming out on top. Barcelona will once again come out victorious as PSG’s main man, Edinson Cavani, isn't as good as their previous man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, even though Cavani does put up good numbers. Anyways, Barcelona will go through. Match 2 Benfica Vs. Borussia Dortmund Difficult to say, Benfica is in stellar form, while Dortmund is in 6th place in the German Bundesliga. Neither team has made any significant transfers in the winter window, so whoever performs best on that day will come out on top. Match 3 Real Madrid Vs. Napoli Real Madrid’s form is still pretty impressive with only 1 loss in 41 matches, in all competitions. After losing Argentine talisman Gonzalo Higuain, Napoli isn't as deadly as last season. Belgium Dries Mertens has scored 16 goals in 16 appearances for Napoli. Either way, Real Madrid will go through. Match 4 Bayern Munich Vs. Arsenal English teams haven't done very well the past couple of seasons in the champions league. Bayern Munich has been a European powerhouse the last couple of season's, reaching the semifinals for the past 3 years, so Bayern Munich will go through. REID DEAN
The Southeastern Conference Championship was quite the show. Alabama played Clemson for the 2017 SEC Championship title. Alabama starts off hard in the first two-quarters leading Clemson 14-0. Then at the end of the second quarter, Clemson gets on the board 14-7 thanks to Deshaun Watson running an 8-yard touchdown. Alabama starts the third quarter off hard with a ten point lead 17-7. Clemson comes out in the third quarter fighting with a completed 24-yard pass to Hunter Renfrow for a touchdown bringing the score to 17-14. Alabama’s not giving up yet. Jalen Hurts found O.J. Howard wide open down the left sideline for a complete 68-yard touchdown pass. Keeping Alabama in the lead 24-14. Clemson starting off the fourth quarter with a 4-yard pass to Mike Williams for a touchdown, cutting down Alabama’s lead to 24-21 with fourteen minutes of playing time left. Nearing the end of the fourth quarter Clemson’s Wayne Gallman rushed one yard for a touchdown bringing Clemson to the lead 28-24. Clemson kicks to Alabama with four minutes left in the game. Alabama retakes the lead with ArDarius Stewart making a 24-yard pass to O.J. Howard for a touchdown for a 31-28 lead. With only 2 minutes left it looks like the game is over then Clemson scores with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow bringing the final score to 35-31. HECTOR HERNANDEZ
So, it is the midseason break (except for the English Premier League,) and many teams are returning to league play in the coming weeks. But, who will take home their country’s titles? Juventus will win Serie A, just as they have been doing for the past 5 years. Not only that, but they have also snatched up their closest competitors best players, Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli, and Miralem Pjanic from Roma. Currently, they sit atop the table with 45 points to Roma 41, with a game in hand for Juventus. Next up, the English Premier League, has a quite exciting ongoing season. There’s a six horse race between Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Manchester United. There’s a 10 point gap between first through sixth, so it’s difficult to say which team will take home the title. There is a similar situation in the Spanish Primera Division, with the top 5 teams in the league being: Real Madrid, Sevilla FC, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Villarreal, all within a 10 point margin. Real Madrid are the fan favorites, they sit atop the table and have gone undefeated in 40 matches in all competitions. In second place is Sevilla FC who, in my opinion, despite their best efforts, will not catch up to Real Madrid and ultimately drop behind Atletico M |
|
The Pawprint | Sports Editorials 🐾 |