Senior co-captain Stephanie Flynn became only the third girls basketball player in Hanover High history to score 1,000 points. Steph hit the milestone Jan. 5 in a 74-43 win over Silver Lake. The game was the team’s first home contest of the season, and the Indians were excited that Steph might hit the mark on her home court.

Hanover fans packed the gym for the game, cheering as Steph scored 18 points throughout the game. Her 19th point of the night became the 1,000th of her career. It came on a free throw with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter, and the game was briefly stopped as fans ran onto the court. Steph was then honored in a ceremony with her family.

“To be a part of her amazing accomplishment is just great, ” said Coach Brian Fisher, who has coached Steph on varsity since she was a freshman. “She is a super student and a great athlete and such an integral part of the program. She is a true leader and a role model for all to look up to and has worked very hard to get where she is.”

The team has had a lot to celebrate so far this season is going strong, having gone undefeated in its first seven games. Hopes are high that the team will continue its winning ways and do well in tournament play. Regardless of how the season turns out, though, Steph’s milestone will live in HHS history.

Steph will continue to play basketball in college. In November, she signed her National Letter of Intent to attend Columbia University.

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To understand how  quickly value drops in the NFL, you only have to look at the career of Peyton Manning. Once the most awarded player ever, Manning is now a backup quarterback with little value as an NFL player. At 39 years old, with a long list of major injuries, not many teams want to build their roster around him. That’s quite a fall from back in 1998, when he was the most decorated and sought-after quarterback to enter an NFL Draft in years.

In that draft, Manning was taken first overall by the Indianapolis Colts and began his NFL career at the age of 22.

Manning was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection while playing for the Indianapolis Colts and the face of the Colts franchise. He has the most Pro Bowl appearances and MVP awards (5) of any NFL player. In 2006, Peyton and the Colts won Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears 29-17 and he was named Super Bowl MVP. In 2011, Manning had neck surgery to repair displacements within his neck. Without Manning for the 2011 season, the Colts finished 2-14 and had the number one overall draft pick.

The last time Indianapolis had the number one overall pick, they took Manning. While they had it once again for the 2012 draft, they wouldn’t have Manning. Manning and the Colts mutually agreed to part ways as the Colts had publicly said they would be drafting quarterback Andrew Luck. The Colts planned to start Luck right away, leaving Manning — who still felt he still had something to give to a team –on the bench. So arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game became a free-agent, something that rarely ever happens as teams sign their star players before they even hit the free-agent market.

The top three teams interested in Manning were the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos. Manning signed with the Broncos. In Denver, Manning asserted himself as the greatest regular-season quarterback ever. (You may notice how I said regular-season, and not greatest quarterback ever. That title belongs to Tom Brady.) From 2012 to 2015, Manning has thrown for 140 touchdown passes in Denver, led them to a Super Bowl but came up very short in that game against the Seattle Seahawks, losing 43-8.

The last game Manning played this year was on November 15th and he then was benched. He threw for only 35 yards with four interceptions before being benched in the second quarter. Brock Osweiler replaced Manning, and virtually took Manning’s job. Manning has missed the past six games with a lingering foot and rib injury and replacement Osweiler had emerged as the starter. Manning was active for the final regular season game this past weekend versus the San Diego Chargers, the first time since being benched six weeks ago.

Manning also has been accused of using HGH, a human growth hormone, during the recovery from his neck surgeries in 2011. HGH is an illegal substance in the NFL but because the alleged offense was several years ago, and Manning took a long list of medications for his surgeries, it’s unlikely the league will try to suspend Manning for illegal substance use. It adds a new factor to the legacy for the great Peyton Manning.

Like I said, value can drop very quickly in the NFL. Although Manning made it back onto the field for the Chargers game, I believe the end of his career is near. No doubt when he was put it to the game on Sunday against the Chargers, he created a spark that led Denver to victory. The Broncos are the number one seed in the AFC and have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. But Manning has a losing record of 11-13 in the playoffs and is known to play very poorly in the postseason. Denver is going to start Manning against whoever comes out victorious from wildcard weekend, likely putting their season in his hands for the final time. If Brock Osweiler is truly Denver’s quarterback for the future, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t allow him to play and grow and get experience in the postseason. It’s not like Osweiler is so bad that they’re just throwing away the number one seed if they start him. Osweiler gives them a legitimate chance to succeed in the postseason. Broncos coach Gary Kubiak needs to review the NFL history books and learn that teams led by Manning usually don’t go too far into the playoffs. That’s certainly not going to change this year.

The NHL had an amazing event to kick off the new year of 2016: one of the most historic rivalries in all of sports, the Boston Bruins versus the Montréal Canadiens, except with one little change. The rivalry was taken outdoors as Gillette Stadium’s turf — home to the New England Patriots — was converted to an ice rink for the 2016 Winter Classic. It was the eighth year that the NHL has held an outdoor game on January 1st.

The hype to the game was a very strong. Two rivals who dislike each other playing outdoors is intriguing not just to hockey fans but to sports fans in general. The game itself, though, was a bit of a disappointment. Obviously everyone watching wanted to see a great game but on this given day, one team was just significantly better than the other. The Montréal Canadiens outshot the Bruins 14 to 3 in the first period, giving them a two goal lead going into the second period. The Canadiens  then expanded on that lead by scoring a third goal. David Desharnais, Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher accounted for the three Habs goals.

The Bruins showed some life after a goal by Boston forward Matt Beleskey, making the score 3-1. The worst lead in hockey is known to be a two goal lead because the leader feels comfortable but it can disappear very quickly. But poor Boston defense led to another Paul Byron goal in the third period. Canadiens left winger Max Pacioretty put the nail on the coffin by scoring another goal with only 3 minutes left to play, making it 5-1.

Despite the high number of goals, it was the defense rather than the goal tending that was to blame for this loss. The Bruins also had few shots on net. Still, several Bruins players like Ryan Spooner expressed how great it was to play in the Winter Classic regardless of the outcome.

The Bruins sit in fourth place in the Atlantic division, three points away from the Canadiens and six points away from the division-leading Florida Panthers. Hopefully the next time Boston faces off against Montreal, there’s a better fight from the Bruins because the Canadiens not only dominated the Winter Classic, but dominated the Bruins.

I can honestly say that being a part of the field hockey team this year meant a new challenge and more excitement each week of the season. The regular season was full of success stories: our team was undefeated in every game we played and secured the Patriot League Championship for the second year in a row. More than that just the wins, though, every goal we set for ourselves as a team was accomplished. We tied and even beat some of the tougher teams in our league such as Hingham, Scituate, and Duxbury, and fine-tuned our stick skills as a team. I have played this sport for four years now and never before have I seen the Hanover Field Hockey program so in sync on the field or so motivated at practice. The regular season came to a close with a record of 18-0-4 and a few memorable events. Varsity head coach Judy Schneider celebrated her 500th win as a high school coach in an October game against Pembroke, and Hanover was victorious in the senior day game. Fourteen seniors will be graduating from the team this June and the underclassmen made sure everyone knew they would be missed.

The close of the regular season on October 30th was really just the beginning. As league champions, we were preparing for the tournament games to come. To the amazement of many, we beat both Holliston and Cohassett and became the Division 2 South Champions for the first time in over 20 years. Our final test came against Watertown, the division 2 North Champions. Not only does their program start in elementary school, but Watertown High School is double the size of Hanover. There was also the fact that they have been undefeated for 158 games straight. . .

Our team did not go down without a fight, however, and everyone played their hardest on a freezing November night in Canton. Coach Schneider knew what we were up against us and told us that she was just expecting everyone to do the best they could against one of the toughest teams in the state.

“Watertown can do everything,” Coach said. “They were like a college team. You normally have to concentrate on one or two people, but Watertown makes you concentrate on five or six players.”

That may have been our last game, but it will definitely not be the end of the friendships and memories forged on the turf.  I am so thankful I was able to be a part of this team and play in one of Hanover field hockey’s most successful seasons!

The New England Patriots faced some real adversity for the first time all season in defeating the New York Giants Sunday afternoon. The Giants played the 9-0 Patriots very well, as it seems they always do. Eli Manning and Coach Tom Coughlin are the only quarterback and head coach duo to stump the Pats more than once, handing the Patriots both of their Super Bowl losses in 2007 and 2012.

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Patriots  were already banged up and missing some key factors. They only added to that list in their big win. Deion Lewis, Nate Solder and now Julian Edelman all are injured and won’t be playing for quite some time. Lewis and Solder are on the injured reserve, making them ineligible to return this season. Edelman suffered a broken foot in the second quarter of Sunday’s showdown and has a chance to return this season as he will underwent surgery on that broken foot Monday.

Even without these key offensive players, the Patriots’ offense was still very elite in Sunday’s game. Danny Amendola sparked the Pats with his unbelievable punt return for a near-touchdown before he was accidentally tackled by his teammate Duron Harmon. With just under two minutes left in the game, New York was ahead 25-24. Tom Brady and the Patriots needed to storm down the field and get into field goal range for kicker Stephen Gostkowski. The Patriots’ first three passes were incomplete and then they were faced with a 4th and ten on their own 20 yard line. Amendola got open and got the Patriots a game-saving first down. They then stormed down the field and set up Gostkowski for a 54-yard field goal. Before the kick I thought to myself, when was the last time Gostkowski had to kick a game winner or even a big time kick to impact a game? On November 30, 2014, the Patriots were in Green Bay taking on the Packers. Down 10 points in the 4th quarter, Gostkowski missed a 44-yard field goal that then gave the Packers the ball back with great field position. The Patriots ended up losing that game 26-21.

So as Gostkowski lines up for this field goal against the Giants Sunday, outside and weather being cold, there were many similarities to the last time he missed in Green Bay. I was unsure if he would hit such a pressure kick. The snap was great, the hold was good and the kick was up and in. Gostkowski sealed the victory for the Patriots and ended the conversation about whether he can make big time kicks.

The Denver Broncos are 7-2 and seem to be the Patriots’ only real competition in the AFC. With Peyton Manning having an injured foot, and showing it in his play, this should be the last year of his career. Manning isn’t making basic NFL throws that need to be made. The Patriots should have no trouble beating the Broncos, even if the game is in Denver.  If all goes to plan, the Patriots should be the number one seed in the playoffs and it’s certainly not easy to beat the Patriots in Foxboro.

As the month of November is upon us, it signifies that winter’s beginning is here . . . and so is the start of the 2015-2016 NHL season. Just a few weeks into the season, the Boston Bruins sit at 7-6-1. If the playoffs were to start today, which is a very hypothetical situation, the Bruins would be the 7th seed for the Eastern Conference.

Many familiar faces still are the heart and soul of the Bruins roster but there are also many new names that officials are high on and you should get to know. Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask are all veteran players who should be a big part of the Bruins success this season. Torey Krug, David Pastrnak and Jimmy Hayes are young and talented and, the Bruins hope, NHL ready. The Bruins made some great decisions in the off-season like trading Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings as the 28- year-old forward was set to make $13 million this season and become a free agent at season’s end. The Bruins also got rid of their brutally awful General Manager Peter Chiarelli.

As a new GM comes into office in any sport, he gets to also pick his head coach. The Bruins named Don Sweeney their new GM on May 20, but Sweeney was already part of the Bruins front office. He was an assistant to Cam Neely, who serves as president of Hockey Operations,  and also an assistant General Manager alongside Peter Chiarelli since 2008. Since Don was already in the organization, it’s not surprising that he kept head coach Claude Julien around. But it was not a smart decision either.

Wherever Julien has been the head coach, he runs the same system. He loves to dump the puck into the corner and play physical, hard-nosed, tough hockey. This kind of play is becoming less and less common within the NHL. Fewer fights occur and more skilled players are dominating play.

The biggest mistake Julien and Chiarelli ever made was trading winger Tyler Seguin from Boston in June 2013. The reason behind trading Seguin was that Julien didn’t like the fact that Seguin wouldn’t get back on defense fast enough after an offensive possession. But just two years later, only one of the four players received in the trade is still on the Bruins roster. Meanwhile, Seguin currently has the third most goals in the NHL as well as the most assists and points in the whole league. At the age of 23, he has the potential to be the best player in the NHL this year.

Which brings me back to the point of why is Claude Julien still the head coach of this hockey team? The Bruins’ young winger David Pastrnak has a similar skill set of Seguin. Last year, Julien expressed displeasure at the way Pastrnak plays defense at times. Pasternak’s playing minutes were much lower than someone with that much potential would normally receive. It  scares me to think that Julien will express the same displeasure to Sweeney and the Bruins will trade away another future superstar. The Bruins have the ability to make the playoffs this year and be a scary playoff team, just not with Claude Julien as their head coach.