NEW Column!
The Sports Report, by Caela Fox.
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The NBA Lockout
This is the second lockout in NBA history. This lockout has been going on for about four months. So far the NBA will be suspended for two weeks. They have cancelled 100 games already. This lockout is all about the revenue. The players and owners split $4.3 billion dollars. Last season the players got 57% of that revenue, and the owners got 47% of the revenue. For the lockout the players said that they would go from 57% to 53%, and the owners went from 47% to 50%. So this lockout is only separated by 3% of the revenue which is $129 million US dollars, and they can’t figure out how to compromise. If this is not resolved soon the season may not even start till Christmas or the whole season will be cancelled. This is not good for the NBA, because they will lose a lot of fans over this lockout. The last lockout was in 1998-1999 season, the lockout started on July 1, 1998 and ended on January 20, 1999. The lockout lasted for 204 days. The season didn’t start till February 5, 1999. That year each team only played 50 games instead of 82 games. The total of cancelled games that year was 464. In addition to the lockout Michael Jordon retired for the second time. The NBA lost 2.2% of their fans. The attendance went from 17,117 to 16,738 people. In the 1999-2000 seasons the attendance drop almost another 2%, but the television ratings dropped for three seasons. We all just hope that this lockout is resolved soon so that it doesn’t have the same affect on the NBA as it did in the 1998-1999 season.
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Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton
Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton both are Major League Baseball players, and MLB all-stars. They both have found and accepted Jesus Christ, but live very different lives. Let’s start with Albert Pujols. Albert was born on January 16, 1980. He was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by his grandmother. He and his family immigrated to the U.S. for Dominican Republic in 1996, the lived in New York, until Albert witnessed a shooting so they moved to Independence, Missouri. Albert started playing baseball in high school; his avg. in high school was .500. He graduated high school in December 1998. He went to Maple Woods Community College in the spring of 1999. In his only college season he hit a grand slam and had an unassisted triple play in his first game. Albert has won many awards and honors. He has been a all-star nine times, National League MVP three times, Rookie of the year for the National League in 2001, 2004’s NLCS MVP, 2003’s NL Batting Champion, 2009-2010’s NL Home Run Champion, and 2010’s NL RBI Champion. He has won the NL Hank Aaron Award twice, The Silver Slugger Award six times, The Golden Glove Award twice, NL Player of the Month six times, The Roberto Clement Award in 2008, and The World Series in 2006. Albert got married on January 1, 2000 to Deidre. They have four children, Isabella,(she is Deidre’s daughter form a previous relationship), Albert Jr., Sophia, and Ezra. Albert became a US citizen in 2007; he got a perfect 100% on the citizenship test. Albert and his family are devout and active Christians. One of his writings on his family foundation’s website states “In the Pujols family, God is first; everything else is a distant second.” He also writes, “My life’s goal is to bring glory to the Jesus. My life is mot mostly dedicated to the Lord, it is 100% committed to Jesus Christ and his will. God has given me the ability to succeed in the game of baseball. But baseball is not the end; baseball is the means by which my wife Dee Dee and I glorify God. Baseball is simply my platform to elevate Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.” Albert and his family attend a Baptist church. Albert and his wife Dee Dee have a family foundation for people with Down syndrome because their daughter Isabella was born with Down syndrome. In 2009 the “Albert Pujols Wellness Center for Adults with Down Syndrome” it is in Chesterfield, Missouri, it opened on November 18th. He has also visited Dominican Republic. He takes doctors and dentist there to help the people; he also has a golf tournament to raise money to send dentist to the Dominican Republic.
Now for Josh Hamilton. Josh was born May 12, 1981, in Raleigh North Carolina. In 1999 he was drafted to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now known as the Tampa Bay Rays). He never played a game for the Devil Rays, because of injuries and drug addiction. In 2004 he was kicked out of the MLB because he failed the drug test several times. His wife also kicked him out for the same reasons. From 2004 to 2007 Josh was not a part of the MLB. In 2004 he got married to Katie, who had a daughter from a previous relationship, her name is Julia. He started drinking and taking drugs, because he was hanging out with the wrong kind of people. Another reason he started on drugs and alcohol was because his parents were in a bad accident, and his mom got really hurt. The people who helped him out of his addiction were his grandmother, and his father-in-law. When he got out of his addiction he was entered in to the 2006 Rule 5 draft where he was drafted to the Chicago Cubs, who immediately traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for $100,000 dollars. His first MLB game was on April 2, 2007 as a pinch-hitter. His first game start was April 10th. He got his first MLB hit that game. Later that month he became the National League Rookie of the Month (in April). In December that year he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera. Ever since he stated with the Texas Rangers he has become the 2010 American League MVP, American League RBI champion, American League Championship Series MVP, USA today American League MVP, AL Players Choice Award for Outstanding player. He has also won Silver Slugger Award in 2008 and 2010, and American League RBI Champion in 2008. He has also participated in the All-star game from 2008 to 2011. His Career statistics are Batting average: .308, Home runs: 118, Runs batted in: 425, Hits: 698 (through 2011). To stay away from drugs and alcohol he doesn’t carry any more than $20 bucks in his wallet. He also hangs out with his very close friend Jerry Narron when Josh is away from his family, and when the team goes to a bar the celebrate. He also keeps him occupied so he doesn’t do anything stupid. Now that Josh is back with the Lord Jesus Christ he got his family back. He now spends a lot of time with fans and the media sharing his story about how God helped him get out of his addiction. It also shows how God watched over him, because he could have died from all the drugs and drinking. He says that James 4:7 which states “Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he’ll flee from you”. He says that the verse has helped him through everything in life. Now he and his wife have three daughters their name are Sierra, Michaela Grace, and Stella Faith. They are also very devout and active Christians. Now they both are in the World Series.
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Daniel Wheldon
On Sunday morning October 16 in Las Vegas, there was an Indy race. On the 11th lap two cars hit each other’s tires. That is what started a 15 car crash. Dan Wheldon was one of the last cars to crash, but there was no way for him to avoid the crash. His car clipped another car and went up into the air. While in the air his car was spinning and it hit the fence. Many cars burst in to flames, and the crash was so bad that later that day they had to patch the asphalt. A helicopter took him to the hospital from the track. He was pronounced died at 1:54 Sunday afternoon. He was only 33 years old. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The next day they held five salute laps in his honor. He has been married for three years to Susie Behm. They have two little boys: Sebastian who is three years old and Olive who is seven months. Daniel came to America for a better life in 1999 when he was just 18 years old. He got his first big chance when he took the spot of Michael Andretti when he retired. In his career he has 16 wins. He also has won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011. After the 2011 season he was going to take Danica Patrick for the Andretti Autosport for the 2012 season. Daniel had such a big, bright future, and a long life to live, but unfortunately his life was cut short. This just shows us that anything can happen at any time, and that it is out of our hands. I wish his family all the happiness in the world and I will be praying for them, and hope all of you will too.
Caela’s byline: I am the oldest of six children. I am a Christian. I love watching movies, playing on my computer, and I love watching sports. I want to go to Syracuse University, and eventually become a sports journalist. My favorite sports are hockey, football(soccer) ,and golf.