The Captain Retires From The Game He Loves
                            By, Nick Morgasen

The end of an era is coming in 2014 for the New York Yankees. On Wednesday, Derek Jeter announced on his Facebook page that he is going to retire. According to espn.com Jeter said, "The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball." The captain of the New York Yankees has had a storied career as he enters is 20^th and final season. Jeter has accomplished everything in his MLB career. According to espn.com, Jeter is “A five-time World Series champion and the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year, the 39-year-old Jeter would be eligible for the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot.” Derek is a classy individual who hasn’t had a single blemish on his record. He has also had some amazing statistics, according to espn.com, “Jeter has 3,316 hits (ninth all time), a .312 batting average and 256 home runs. He ranks first in Yankees history in games played, at-bats, hits and stolen bases.”

So with Derek Jeter retiring he is the last of “The Core Four” to retire. Mariano Rivera had some kind words to say about Derek Jeter, “Just enjoy it. Be ready to enjoy everything, I think he deserves it, I think he has earned it." When Mariano announced his retirement he went on a good-bye tour which he enjoyed, but it was emotional at the same time. Mariano had been with the Yankees from 1995 to 2013. It was fun to see the different gifts he got at each ballpark including the rocking chair made out of broken bats at Target Field from the Minnesota Twins. Now it will be interesting to see if Derek Jeter’s final season will be treated the same way as Mo. Derek doesn’t like the spotlight and he would rather just focus on baseball and winning. I don’t blame him this is typical Derek Jeter putting other people before himself and that makes him a true gentlemen.

            You don’t want to forget some of the cool and amazing moments that Derek Jeter has had throughout his career. The first one I looked at is “The Flip” play he made in the 2001 American League Division Series against the Athletics. With Jeremy Giambi on first, Terrence Long hit a double into the gap and when outfielder Shane Spencer got the ball he overthrew the cutoff man, but Jeter moved from the normal cutoff position got the ball going up the first baseline and got the ball to Posada to get the out at home. This was an unbelievable play and it shows that Derek Jeter would never give up and this proved to be true throughout his career. Another great moment that I remember was also in the 2001 post season in the World Series. The Yankees were behind in the series 2-1 and Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim got two quick outs. The Yankees were on the verge of going back to Yankee Stadium down three games to one. Then Jeter worked a tough at bat as the count was 0-2 and on the ninth pitch of the at bat he hit an opposite homerun which led the crowd to go crazy. This led to Jeter getting the nickname Mr. November. This was an unbelievable moment that Yankee fans will never forget. Another amazing Derek Jeter moment took place on July 1^st, 2004 against the Red Sox. This game was an extra innings marathon and the moment happened in the 12^th inning when Tanyon Sturtze faced Trot Nixon. Sturtze threw a pitch that Nixon popped up over near the left field stands and Derek Jeter didn’t give up, on the play and he managed to catch the ball and ended up flying into the stands. It was an unbelievable play and the Yankees ended up sweeping the four game series from the Boston Red Sox. Derek managed to get a huge hitting milestone and that is the next great moment to share. On July 9^th, 2011 Derek got to 3,000 hits. He needed two hits that day and he managed to single to lead off the game. In his second at bat he got his 3000^th hit with a bang. He homered into the left field seats off David Price. What people don’t remember from that game is he managed a perfect day going 5-5 in his at bats and at the time it was only his fourth four hit game. Finally, my all time favorite Derek Jeter moment was when he passed Lou Gehrig for all-time hits in a Yankee uniform. On September 11, 2009 he passed Gehrig with 2,722 hits and in my opinion at that point he cemented his name for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Derek Jeter has had some great moments throughout his career and now we need to give him the spotlight that he never wanted throughout his whole career. He deserves to have it because he is a classy, respectful and humble individual. For Yankees fans it is an emotional day because he has been the shortstop since 1996. He will be greatly missed by Yankees fans including myself who has been a fan of his forever. Good luck in your future endeavors and hopefully in some capacity you will stay with the Yankees. Farewell to the Captain, it has been fun and we will never forget you!!!!!

   

Is The Dunk Contest Back?

                                                                                         By Deandre Wilson

    On Saturday night February 15, every basketball fan will be watching to see if  the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest will bring that same excitement that has been missing for several years now. Fans have been really disappointed for couple of years now because each player that has participated hasn’t really put on a show that’s been memorable. The dunk contest has always been the most anticipated event in All-Star weekend because it shows us some of the most acrobatic and insane dunks we thought we would never see. Players like Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, Dominique Wilkins, Blake Griffin and Michael Jordan performed dunks we never thought were possible. We have seen the incredible 360 windmill jam by Vince Carter in 2001, we seen a man by the name of Blake Griffin catch a alley-hoop over the hood of Kia in 2011, we seen an off the bounce between the legs reverse jam by Jason Richardson in 2003 and we seen the famous double pump free throw line dunk by Michael Jordan in 1988.

Vince Carter Windmill Jam in 2001 Dunk Contest 

Dunks that we seen in past years blew our minds as we jump out of our seats as soon as we seen these dunks performed. To this day we still mention these dunks wondering if there is more that can be done we never seen. This has been the issue recently in the dunk contest because we want to feel that same emotion we felt years ago when we saw something remarkable. It’s been so bad lately, we look towards Miami Heat pre-game warm ups when we get to see LeBron James do amazing dunks that haven’t even came close to being seen in the past two years of the dunk contest. We as basketball fans beg players like LeBron James, Josh Smith, Russell Westbrook and more to compete in the dunk contest because we see every night in games what they can do giving us hope that maybe they would show us something new. Unfortunately players like this are crucial parts of their teams in competing for a championship and they don’t want to risk injury. Since star players don’t really want to compete in the dunk contest anymore a lot of players that are not well known enter like Jeremy Evans and Javale McGee.   Since the last two years the dunk contest has become that event people don't really want to watch anymore when it use to be one of the most popular events. But good news basketball fans, this year three all-star players has stepped up to the plate. These three players will try to bring back that energy that has been missing in the contest with their different displays of crazy dunks in the first half of the season. Paul George, John Wall and Damian Lillard headline the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest as the favorites because they are the most noticeable players in the NBA. Paul George is a up and coming superstar for the Indiana Pacers, John Wall right now is playing as one of the top point guards in league and Damian Lillard is the key component on the Portland Trailblazers recent success being third in the Western confernce. The dunk contest will also feature last year champion Terrence Ross, Golden State Warrior Harrison Barnes and rookie Ben Mclemore. With these big names highlighting the dunk contest we can only imagine what will happen Saturday night.      

                               

 Who Is Your Winner ?

Oklahoma City Thunder serge pass the Knicks 112-100

By Brian Riley

 Kevin Durant was the biggest star this afternoon as he led all players with 41 points. He led his team to a 112-110 victory over the 10^th placed New York Knicks. Carmelo Anthony had an off game with 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

The first half was very competitive with both teams going back and forth, neither opening a significant lead. Due to Anthony’s inefficiency, the supporting cast steeped up as Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire contributed 16 points each.

As for OKC’s role players Reggie Jackson continued his development with 19 points, and Ibaka added 18 points several of which were assist that came from Durant.

Durant continued his MVP level play with 12-of-22 shooting in addition to his nine assist as the Thunder pulled away in the second half. Durant helped seal the game by scoring 11 straight points in the fourth quarter. The Thunder shot 54.8% from the floor while the Knicks shot 44.2%. The Thunder also had an advantage in rebounding and fast break points.

The Thunder earned their 41^st win of the season and now sit four games ahead of the number two seed Portland Trailblazers. With this victory the Thunder have swept the Knicks in this year’s season series.

Curt Schilling Fights Another Tough Battle

By, Nick Morgasen

Curt Schilling is a pitcher that plays hard and fights until he gets where he wants to go. Schilling has accomplished a lot during his successful 20-year career. In 2001, Curt Schilling was a co-MVP with Randy Johnson when the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series. In 2004, while pitching against the Yankees in the American League Championship, he was pitching with a torn tendon and a bloody sock. He amazed everybody with the way he was pitching. Curt is a brave individual who was willing to do anything to help his team win no matter what the task was. According to espn.com, “last year Schilling told The Boston Globe he had a heart attack in November 2011 and had surgery to place a stent in one of his arteries. He said he experienced chest pains while watching his wife, Shonda, run in the New York City Marathon.” Also according to espn.com, “Shonda Schilling battled cancer after being diagnosed with stage 2 malignant melanoma in 2001.” So the Schilling family has faced adversity before and now they have to face it again. Curt Schilling has been diagnosed with cancer. It is a tough situation, but we all know that Schilling will fight like the all-start pitcher he was. We all get emotional when a loved one gets diagnosed with cancer, but we all hope that they fight to get into remission. Schilling had an interesting quote about fighting through tough situations, “My father left me with a saying that I've carried my entire life and tried to pass on to our kids: 'Tough times don't last. Tough people do.” I agree with this statement because if you keep fighting through adversity it will eventually go away. We should all pray for Curt and his family and that he will get back to good health. It was announced through ESPN that Curt Schilling will be calling some Sunday Night Baseball games. I hope he gets healthy soon because his knowledge of baseball would sound great on ESPN during a MLB game. Get well soon Curt; we are all praying for your speedy recovery.

- Nick Morgasen

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