Putnam Pitches a Gem but One Hit is Enough For the Beavers

The NCAA men's baseball super regionals and College World Series is my favorite time of the year. Watching college baseball is one of the purest forms of a sport where everyone plays everyday (I just found out Barry Bonds doesn't play on Sundays) and the players leave everything they have on the field and sacrifice their bodies for a shot at the promise land, Omaha.

The game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Michigan Wolverines was a pitcher's duel for the ages.

Zach Putnam was threw 8 and 2/3 no-hit baseball but it just goes to show you it's ultimately not how many hits you get but how many runs you put across the plate.

For the first 8 innings Zach Putnam was untouchable. He had it all working. A fastball with wicked movement, a splitter where the bottom drops out, and change up in case you fouled off the first two.

In the ninth, Putnam allowed a walk to Scott Santchi and pinch runner Braden Wells came into the game to run. Wells advanced to second on a Lonnie Lechelt sacrifice bunt. Putnam then struck out Chris Hopkins. With two outs, Joey Wong stepped up to the plate with two out in the eighth and Putnam trying to get out of the jam unscaved. Wong cooly delivered and plated Wells from second base on a base hit into left field. Oregon State's only hit of the game. The no hit bid was over. Putnam was pulled after 8 and 2/3 no hit ball.

Oregon State pitcher Jorge Reyes was no slouch either, he allowed three scattered hits and no runs in seven innings of work then gave way to Joe Patterson who worked 1 and 1/3 innings and then turned the ball over to OSU closer Eddie Kunz for the final 2 outs in the ninth.

In the Michigan half of the ninth they were unable to tie up the score and went quietly as Kunz took care of the Wolverines as OSU took the first game of the best of three super regional.

A New Look at a Growing Sport

Final News Story:

The “Iceman” Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, no, these aren’t new villians in the Marvel Comic books. These men fight for the UFC and beat people up for a living.The fights aren’t staged and rehearsed and it’s no holds barred. Recently, the UFC gained a national spotlight by taking the cover of Sports Illustrated.

There has been an explosion in the past two years of mixed martial arts fighting. Mixed martial arts are a combination of kickboxing and grappling. With the emergence of other fight leagues like the IFL (International Fight League) and Pride Fighting League in addition to the ubiquitous UFC, mixed martial arts have become a sport for the masses. The differences in the leagues are that in the UFC the fighters can use grappling or wrestling type moves as opposed to pride fighting which is more of a boxing match where kicking is allowed. The UFC also uses small gloves that provide little cushion upon impact so basically it is a bare-knuckle, street brawl. The Pride Fighting uses 10 oz gloves (as opposed to the 12 or 16 oz gloves used in sparring) and Pride Fighters are usually proficient in Muay Tuai or Kempo Karate.

Muay Tuai kickboxing is part of mixed martial arts and is sometimes called “dirty” boxing because you can kick as well as punch. The Philadelphia MMA is led by Brad Daddis who has been fighting Muay Tuai since the age of 15 and fights with the Militech Fight Camp. Daddis trains his fighters to be tough and relentless in their fighting style.

Recently I attended what is known in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) as a “smoker”. A smoker is more or less an exhibition fight. Fighters will use smokers to tune up for tournaments or other competitions.

The smokers consist of three two minute rounds. During the fight headgear, 16 oz. gloves and shinpads are used as well as a stomach pad to prevent unnecessary injury.

Nathan Nadeau, a student of the LeBow School of Business, trains at the Philadelphia MMA academy and recently had his first fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGRfr5kJ3e4.

Nadeau is entering his ninth month of training and is a level blue belt at the academy. Through his hard work and dedication he has progressed through the ranks fairly rapidly.

At the smoker, Nadeau faced an opponent from the Cherry Hill, NJ academy of MMA and was victorious in a decision after three rounds.

In the onset of the fight both fighters came from their respective corners and circled around sizing each other up.

The first round was a flurry of jabs and knees with a few kicks. Being that this was an amateur fight the punches and kicks lacked a certain crispness but the excitement of a fight was still there. Both fighters landed a few shots respectively but no one ran away with the fight.

In the second round, the Cherry Hill fighter began to tire near the end of the round and Nadeau took advantage and landed a few well placed knees. The fighters locked up a few times and needed to be broken up by the referee. The fight was starting pick up as the fighters became more comfortable in the ring. Near the end of the second round Nadeau began landing more knees and was controlling the tempo of the fight.

The third round and final round began with the ring of the bell and from the onset Nadeau showed more tenacity and heart than the other fighter. In the final round both fighters appeared exhausted but Tosti appeared to be more so than Nadeau. This was the round that proved Nadeau to be the winner over Tosti. Both fighters showed dedication and heart towards a growing sport but in the end there has to be a winner and loser in a fight and Nadeau was declared the winner by decision in the three round bout.

MMA is a sport that I was unfamiliar with but have since grown to like. The competition, tenacity and athleticism make in unlike any sport out there today and as it gains popularity it will continue to gain the admiration of its fans.

The Indian Walk; A New Ritual

Athletes are naturally superstitious.

Players will do crazy things to ride their hot streak and to get out of their slump which conjures up images of Nuke LaLoosh but we won't go there.

In my senior year of high school my baseball team made it to the semi-final game of the Western Mass tournament. My pitching coach came up to me prior to the game and asked me if I wanted to do the "Indian Walk". Naturally I was curious about it and asked what it was. He told me the story of when he pitching in the minors and he was out for a night on the town and had a little too much fun and lost his shoes.

He walked back to the hotel it started to snow which was unusual for april. He ended up walking all the way back in the snow and he was pitching that day. After his walk, he pitched one of the best games of his life. A 3-hit shut out. He attributed his success to his walk earlier that day and his teammates dubbed it the "Indian Walk".

I'm not sure how much of this story I believe but before the game that day we raked the dirt in front of our dugout so it was nice and smooth and a younger member of the team took his shoes off and walked across the dirt which was supposed to bring us luck. We made our own "Indian Walk"

In the end, we ended up losing that game so I don't know how much luck it actually brought us but I was part of a new found tradition that is done every year before a playoff game. So in a way we became part of something bigger than the game that will last for a long while.

Rugby: That Other Very Violent Sport People Watch Religiously

By: Joel Brennan

To the unknowledgeable viewer, the sport of rugby looks like an extremely violent car crash. The game is contested by two 15-player teams squaring off on a field, called a pitch, which measures a maximum 70 meters by 100 meters, in two 40-minute halves. Scoring in each match can be like baseball, either feast or famine, where teams can score at will or fight to score once.

A try, the equivalent of a touchdown in football, is equaled to five points, with the conversion kick worth two. To score a try, a player must successfully cross the in-goal line and place the ball on the ground. If the ball does not touch the ground, a try cannot be score. Unlike an extra point attempt, the conversion kick does not occur in the center of the pitch, but rather 15 meters from the in-goal line and the point on the pitch where the try was scored. For example, if a try was scored in the corner of the in-goal, the player will attempt the conversion kick 15 meters back and next to the sideline.

The third way of scoring is off of a penalty kick. This can be an uncontested drop kick or a kick off of a tee, but it either case, a successful kick results in three points.

The last way of scoring is a drop kick which is worth three points, similarly to a field goal. To successfully score a drop kick, a player must be running with the ball, drop it in front of them, and then kick it through the narrow up-rights. The up-rights are 5.6 meters wide, with the crossbar three meters high, and are positioned at the front of the in-goal.

With members of my family who have played the sport, I felt that this project gave me the opportunity to witness physicality of the game firsthand and learn about the sport that they each chose to play.

Joe and Bill Hughes are members of the Valley Forge Rugby Club (VFRC), which combines students from Spring-Ford, Phoenixville, and Owen J. Roberts High Schools. Joe is a senior at Spring-Ford, and is also a senior leader on the team. He plays a position known as outside center, which is the football equivalent of a wide receiver. The outside center is usually the fastest player on the team, has good hands, and can make plays in the open field. He waits along the outer perimeter, of the action, looking for a pass and a chance to break a long run. Bill, the shorter of the brothers, but larger in stature, is among the pack of players that fight for the ball in the center of the pitch. He plays flanker, primarily, which is like a mid-fielder in soccer. They attack when necessary, but are responsible for preventing the other team crossing the half-way line (midfield).

In a recent match between the VFRC and Bishop Shanahan, the two sides opened the match with some sloppy play, but the boys from Valley Forge would gather their composure to pull out a closely fought 10-5 win.

With more than 10 minutes gone, Valley Forge strung together a dozen passes and marched down the pitch. Flanker Eric Perry dove from five meters out to score the try and the first points. The subsequent conversion kick sailed wide left and the score remained 5-0. VFRC Head Coach Michael Badger said, “I was impressed by the team’s cohesiveness and ability to score on that drive.”

Later in the first half, Valley Forge was trying to start another long drive when a bad pass led to a Shanahan try. Chris Pettine scooped up the ball and ran in from 13 meters out. Another failed conversion kick, this one off of the upright, led to the tied score, 5-5.

With the teams trading possession, the remaining ten minutes passed with little ball movements by both squads. At the end of the first half, the teams parted the field with the score still tied. An exhausted Joe Hughes said at the end of the half, “We should be winning right now, but they’ve played some great defense.”

The second half started off the same way the first ended, as a defensive struggle. Long runs by Hughes, Brennan Conway, and Quintus Smith led to possible scoring chances, but the Bishop Shanahan defense tighten up and stopped the long drives. However, the drives did lead to poor field position for Shanahan.

After one such drive, Shanahan was putting together a nice drive when Pettine was the recipient of a hard hit by Bill Hughes. The hit caused a loose ball that was quickly recovered by Michael Kelly of Valley Forge. “I think that was the hardest I’ve ever hit anyone,” said Hughes. On the ensuing possession, the other Hughes brother broke a long run down the left sideline for the second try, with 2:17 remaining in the match. The location of the conversion kick made it nearly impossible for a right-footed kicker to make, thus it was no surprise when the kick was missed.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Shanahan attempted one last drive, but came up short as Conway intercepted a pass. The change of possession ended regulation time and the boys from Valley Forge prevailed with the final score 10-5.

The Man of the Match award went to Brennan Conway for his defensive leadership. “This was a tough match and I’m just happy we pull it out,” Conway said after the match. Badger said he was happy with his team’s second half performance. “The front line guys helped make things happen. Bill came through with the game changing play. Overall it was a solid performance,” said Badger.

The win elevates Valley Forge to 5-2 and into a three way tie with Bishop Shanahan and Unionville. All three are a game back of Downingtown, who sit at 6-1.

Missed Opportunity Story

Gina Carrano

Paper No. 3

Missed opportunity story

On Sunday, October 1, 2006, before a packed house in the Bronx, the New York Yankees trailed the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5-7 in the ninth inning. It was the final game of the regular season. The Blue Jays had long since been eliminated from postseason contention and the Yankees had already clinched home field advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs. But what might have seemed like a meaningless game was transformed into an event to remember for Yankee fans when Bernie Williams, the team’s longtime center fielder and designated hitter, came to the plate with two out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth.

As soon as Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium, announced, “Now pinch hitting: Bernie Williams,” the Stadium practically shook. Loud cheers reverberated throughout the stands as the fans chanted, “Ber-nie! Ber-nie!” As Williams smoked a double down the right field line, the applause and ovations from the stands grew almost deafening. These were the same cries of encouragement and support that Williams had been hearing for 16 seasons, and the fans realized they were witnessing a special moment—it would probably be the last time they’d see Williams, who had spent his entire career with the Yankees, playing in a game.

Just over nine months later, the fans’ October suspicions appear to have been correct. The Yankees are about a third of the way into their 2007 season, and for the first time in what seems like forever to some, they’re playing without fan favorite Williams.

Williams, who burst onto the Yankee scene as a soft-spoken but graceful and talented outfielder in 1991, was as much a fixture at Yankee Stadium as staples like hot dogs, beer and Monument Park. Throughout his tenure in the Bronx, he helped lead the team to four World Series championships and also garnered numerous individual honors such as the 1996 American League Championship Series MVP, the 1998 AL batting title (.339), and four Gold Gloves at the center field position (1997-2000.)

When he was a rookie in 1991, Williams fought hard to even become an everyday player with the Yankees, as he had to battle veteran players like All-Star Roberto Kelly for playing time in the outfield. But the Yankees liked his athletic prowess, quiet confidence and ability as a switch hitter, so eventually he became a permanent fixture with the team. Back then, however, little did anyone know that Williams would become arguably the most popular Yankee of a generation.

As the years went by, the other faces in the Yankee outfield changed. But Bernie was the constant, the ones the fans loved and came to see. At the beginning of every game, as he trotted out to take his place in the field, the “Bleacher Creatures”—a long-standing nickname for Yankee fans who sat in the bleachers behind center field—would serenade him by chanting his name, showing their love and appreciation for all he did to help the team.

But like the cliché says, all good things must come to an end, and Williams’ time in baseball was no exception. Eventually, his fielding skills, which were once considered among the best of any outfielder’s in the league, started to decline, and Williams begun to ponder retirement in 2005, the last season of a seven-year deal he’d signed with the Yankees in 1998. But although his glove wasn’t what it had once been, Williams knew his bat had not gone silent yet. In the 2005-06 offseason, he and the Yankees found the perfect solution to best maximize his skills: the designated hitter position. Williams signed a one-year deal with the plan that he’d act exclusively as the DH. In order to do so, he took a pay cut of over 11 million dollars, and even willingly relinquished his old CF position to Johnny Damon, a former member of the rival Boston Red Sox, but it didn’t matter to Bernie; he just wanted to play baseball, and was only interested in doing so with the Yankees, the only team he had ever known.

In 2006, Williams got more playing time than was expected. He played many games in the designated hitter spot as planned, but due to serious injuries sustained by everyday right and left fielders Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, he even got into 91 games as an outfielder. Williams’ final 2006 numbers indicated that his bat indeed still had a lot of life in it; in 420 at-bats, he hit .281 with 12 home runs and 61 RBI. He was particularly effective against left-handed pitching, batting .323 and slugging .549 from the right side of the plate.

But by the end of the 2006 season, whispers throughout the New York media indicated that despite Williams’ successful year with the bat, there would be no spot for the popular veteran on the team next year. The Yankees planned to use the defensively proficient youngster Melky Cabrera as the utility outfielder to back up regulars Matsui, Damon and Bobby Abreu, and manager Joe Torre said that it was crucial to Cabrera’s continued development to get him as many at-bats as possible in 2007. Between the crowded outfield and the injury-proneness of Jason Giambi, which required the Yankees to make him the everyday DH and use a righty/lefty platoon at first base, this left Williams without a roster spot.

Many fans couldn’t imagine the Yankees without their beloved Bernie. But in February 2007, the news broke that they very well might have to do so. Rather than finding a spot on the roster for the 38-year-old free agent Williams, the Yankees offered him a minor-league contract, wherein he’d have to come to spring training and compete with other players for a regular season roster spot.

Williams didn’t give the Yankees a response to their offer right away, but by the time spring exhibition games started on March 1, and there was still no sign of the popular player in Florida, his absence spoke louder than any words could. So began the end of a long and successful chapter in Yankee lore.

Williams was missed sorely at Spring Training by his teammates, many of whom sympathized with his position, and all of whom were saddened to see his tenure in Yankee pinstripes come to an end.

“As a 16-year veteran, it’s tough to come to spring trying to earn a job,” said catcher Jorge Posada. “To be here and be fighting for a job, it’s really tough to swallow when it comes to Bernie Williams.”

First baseman Andy Phillips eloquently expressed what Williams had meant to both him and the team, saying, “I have the utmost respect for Bernie…You hate to see anything come to an end at any time for a guy like that, because he’s been such a special guy for this place. I want the best for him because he’s been great to me.”

Relief pitcher Mariano Rivera conveyed his feelings on the situation very succinctly. “As a player, as a teammate, I want him to be here,” he said.

Williams, a musician who is often described as sensitive and pensive, sounded magnanimous when he talked about his situation to reporters from the New York Daily News. “I have to do what’s best for me and my family,” he said. “It’s just part of the game. [The Yankees] have a responsibility to make a decision for the benefit of the club. That’s what makes this game interesting.”

There were initially murmurings throughout baseball about Williams working out at home and staying in shape should the Yankees need him later in the season because of injury to one of their regular outfielders, but with the All-Star break only a little over a month away, all thoughts of a triumphant Williams return appear to be dead now.

Much has been made in the media about the state of Williams’ relationship and negotiations with the Yankees, but very little has been written about how it feels for Williams, who has been wearing the classic pinstripes longer than anyone else on the team, to enter this state of flux, transition and uncertainty in his life.