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Category Archives: Sports
NFL Playoff Post Game and Preview
Out of the 32 teams in the National Football League, only four teams are still playing. Twenty teams saw their seasons end without making it to the playoffs and eight teams were eliminated from playoff contention this past weekend. After next Sunday, that number will drop to two and we will have our Super Bowl matchup.
The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots defeated the Kansas City Chiefs at home 27-20 to advance to their fifth AFC Championship game in a row. The return of Julian Edelman for the Patriots was a huge factor as the absence of Edelman with a broken foot hurt the Patriots’ offense in the latter half of the season. The Patriots defense played well as did the offense, converting on many 3rd downs which allowed them to extend drives into points. The Chiefs seemed overwhelmed defensively trying to slow down Tom Brady and that lead to 27 points which the Chiefs could not match.
Another matchup was the Arizona Cardinals versus the Green Bay Packers in Arizona. The game was absolutely wild with Aaron Rodgers throwing one pass about 50 yards to set up the hopeful Hail Mary pass which was then caught for a touchdown as time expired to send the game to overtime. The first pass for the Cardinals offensive was caught by Larry Fitzgerald and run for 75 yards down to the three-yard line. The run set up Fitzgerald for a touchdown and a trip to the NFC Championship game. Arizona’s defense fooled Rodgers and the Packers offense by disguising coverage and forcing turnovers. Carson Palmer, Arizona’s quarterback, played poorly from everything I saw, missing elementary throws and just making too many mistakes. But Rodgers’ mistakes helped Palmer by giving him chances to score and the Cardinals ultimately pulled out the win to advance.
The next game was easily the most intriguing matchup as it was the Carolina Panthers hosting the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks represented the NFC in the Super Bowl the past two seasons but the Panthers only lost one of 16 regular season games. The Panthers were winning 31-0 and in absolute control of the game, but let their guard down and the Seahawks made a major comeback. All the Seahawks troubles in the first half consisted of poor run defense and bad blocking by Seattle’s offensive line. In the second half, both were fixed and in fact thrived resulting in the Seahawks down 7 and going for an onside kick with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. A great kick by Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a chance to get the ball but an even better catch by Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis sealed the win for the Panthers.
Lastly, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos. Without Antonio Brown, the Steelers star wide receiver, the odds were not in Pittsburgh’s favor. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also was playing through a shoulder injury. Denver’s defense is its strongest unit and it showed as it held a top-three offense in Pittsburgh to a dismal 13 points. Broncos QB Peyton Manning managed the game well as he always does and led their offense to enough points to secure the win.
Now that the conference championship games are set, here are my predictions for the winners and why. From the AFC, the Patriots will win in Denver 28-24. The most prolific offense in football is the New England offense. There’s not a team that can cover the best slot receiver in Julian Edelman and the best tight end in Rob Gronkowski as well as stopping the best quarterback in league as well. Most likely this will be the last Manning versus Brady game, which is definitely one to watch as it’s a historic rivalry coming to an end.
The NFC Championship game is obvious in my mind, with Carolina beating Arizona 35-21. Arizona’s Carson Palmer struggled against the Packers man to man largely. Carolina plays a lot of zone defenses so Palmer should play better than he did against the Packers as decision-making is much easier against a zone. Still, I don’t think Arizona will be able to pull off the win. Carolina’s Cam Newton will be the NFL MVP for the 2015-16 season and is playing at too high of a level for the Panthers’ season to end.
The AFC championship game can be seen Sunday on CBS at 3:30. The NFC championship is at 6:40 on FOX.
Boys Hockey Keeps Rolling
Every winter it seems the team in Hanover with the highest expectations is the boys Hockey team. Regular season games are filled with screaming fans and players who feed off the loyalty and frenzy of their fans. The whole community rallies around the hockey team, and come playoff time rinks are filled with Hanover students and residents to see the boys pull out another win. The 2015-2016 season has not disappointed, as the Indians have gone 10-1.
The only loss through nine games was to Pembroke and the rematch later this season will be very meaningful, according to Junior forward Ryan Mahoney.
“We can’t play selfish, we need to move the puck much better than we did the first time we played them,” he said. “They were an aggressive team and next time we hope to draw more penalties and get our power play involved as it’s one of the stronger parts of our team.”
The Indians have 10 games left in their season and look to push for a high seed come playoff time. If any team makes the playoffs, it’s usually a pretty big accomplishment for the program. But with Hanover Boys Hockey being such a consistently winning program, playoffs are expected for the team. With Hanover playing in Division 3, they wouldn’t have to face the Division 2-Pembroke again. The Indians should make a deep playoff run this year as they are loaded with talent. The team that could give Hanover the most trouble is Norwell. Hanover was eliminated by Norwell last year in the playoffs. Hanover did have the upper hand when they played this season as Hanover beat Norwell 2-1.
It’s very realistic that Hanover will be able to go to the Division 3 championship game at The TD Garden and win a state title. Led by captains Noah Clapp in goal and Landon Hasenfuss at center, the Indians are solid in all aspects of the game and are an unbelievably talented team. For more about the Hockey team and all other Winter Sports teams, check back for the Winter Sports Wrap Up coming soon.
Steph Flynn Hits Hoops Scoring Milestone
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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Photo Gallery: Girls Basketball
The Decline of Peyton Manning
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.
Winter Classic Comes to Gillette, But Bruins Go Home with Loss
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.
Predictions for 2016 Red Sox Season
The baseball season is still months away, but Red Sox fans like me are ready for the 2016 season. The winter meetings, a four-day business meeting of all MLB teams, take place in December and get true fans eager for opening day. Talks range from owners considering expansion teams, general managers talking trades and presidents of baseball operations discussing rule changes. Mostly, the Sox are at the meetings to keep improving their roster, although president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Price signing was the last “big move.”
Now, I’m very curious to see what his definition of a “big move” is. So let’s break down the Sox roster. First base is a very interesting position because there is a a lot of uncertainty. Hanley Ramirez was brutal in left field last season so his time in the outfield is over. Hanley’s value is fairly high based on his ability to hit the baseball. The Red Sox tried to trade Hanley during this past offseason. The question going into to the year will be if they Sox don’t trade him, can he play well enough to stick around for the 2017 season? If so, then he would be able to serve as designated hitter when longtime Red Sox DH David Ortiz retires after this season. The position is Hanley’s if he’s not traded before then. Travis Shaw is the backup but could very well start for this team. He’s a great fielder and has a fairly good bat. As last season showed Shaw is a streaky hitter. He goes on stretches where he has one of the best bats in the American League but also times where he largely struggles at the plate.
At second base is caption Dustin Pedroia. We all know Pedroia for having dirt all over his jersey and working extremely hard. His production has been down in the past few years because of injuries, including a wrist injury that has affected his batting in a negative way. Dustin is still a fan favorite and one of the hardest working players in all of baseball. His injuries and age could become an issue but his work ethic will not. Backup is infielder and outfielder Brock Holt. Brock last season played every single position except for pitcher and catcher. He batted better than most fans expected as he filled in for just about anyone who can’t play on a given day. I basically would list him for every position but we will just say he plays just about everything.
At shortstop, the Red Sox have unbelievably talented Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts struggled in the 2014 season at third base and the plate. In 2015 it was the exact opposite as he moved to shortstop and was easily the best fielder the Sox had all year. He was also the team’s best hitter, with key contact but clutch hits as well. Backup would be Brock Holt.
Playing third base last season was Pablo Sandoval in his first year with the Sox. Once a very good player for the San Francisco Giants, expectations were high for both Hanley and Sandoval and both disappointed. Pablo moves well at the hot corner for a player of such a large size. But last season, he did not even come close to playing well enough to ensure his future with the Red Sox. Pablo and Hanley’s future in Boston are both uncertain but both can be major contributors to the Sox’s success if they’re able to turn around after their unproductive 2015 season.
The outfield is the strong point and the center of the youth movement of the Boston Red Sox. Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo all make up the Sox outfield. My projection to where these three will play is that Castillo will be in left field, Mookie in center and Jackie in right. Last season all three played all three positions in the outfield.
The starting pitching has improved greatly with the addition of just one player. The addition cost $217 million but should be worth every penny. David Price is the ace of the Red Sox pitching staff. Number two in the rotation should be veteran Clay Buchholz. After Clay should be Rick Porcello, who in his first year with the Red Sox last year underperformed greatly. Not to the degree of Pablo and Hanley but expectations are high in Boston and if you don’t perform, many question marks start to surround you. Four and five in the rotation should be Edoardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly. Knuckleballer Henry Owens could rotate in for injuries or the team could go with a six man rotation, although that’s unlikely with Price now on the team. The Red Sox added great closing pitcher Craig Kimbre in the offseason and that’s a huge addition. The rest of the bullpen is very strong with names like Robbie Ross Jr. Tommy Layne, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara who look to have a great season as one of the deeper bullpens in baseball. Come April, Fenway will be as riveting as ever, and come October, the Sox could be World Champs.
No Wrong Price for Price
On December 1st, Dave Dombrowski officially took over the leadership of the Boston Red Sox. Since 2010, the Sox have made the playoffs only once. They have had three different managers and many front office changes. The MLB requires you to have a dominant pitcher to travel far into the playoffs. Without one, you usually don’t succeed. That was the team’s problem in the 2015 season.
Dombrowski may have solved the pitching problem when he signed left handed ace David Price to the highest contract in the history of baseball. Price will be paid $217 million over seven years. I think it’s a great move with Price being a top 5 pitcher in the MLB. It’s a true recipe for success, something the Sox haven’t had a taste of in recent seasons. Price adds a whole new factor into the Sox being competitive as they haven’t had a true number one pitcher since Jon Lester. Price has expressed his liking of Boston prior to becoming a Red Sox. He’s expressed how he loves Fenway and the atmosphere of pitching at Fenway.
Dombroski may consider making another change and replacing manager John Farrell if the Sox start off slow in the 2016 season. If you read my Boston Bruins article you’d know that I am not fond of their head coach Claude Julien. I’m not fond of Farrell either. His drive to beat his battle with lymphoma was incredible and everyone is happy he’s healthy. Before Farrell was diagnosed in August of last year, the team struggled. Once under the coaching of Torey Lovullo, the young Sox players and team as a whole started coming around. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Blake Swihart increased their play once Farrell was gone as well. His record as the Sox coach is 246-240, only 6 games above .500 and that’s not good.
The Red Sox have young talent, superstar players and veteran experience all over the entire roster. Outfielders Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Rusney Castillo are all under the age of 28. Catcher Blake Swihart who is 23 and wears number 23 is the best catcher the Sox have had since the great Jason Varitek was behind the plate. A true all-star came on this past season and it was shortstop Xander Bogaerts. He batted a team high .320 and had 81 runs batted in. The team’s veteran presence consists of David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Dustin Pedroia. In 2016 we will find out if they can put it all together to bring another championship to Boston.
Hanover Field Hockey: A Season to Remember
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 Hawk 