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NCAA Men’s and Women’s Championships

Tuesday, April 5th, 2022
Kansas forward David McCormack and North Carolina guard R.J. during the 2022 NCAA tournament finals. Credit: © David J. Phillip, AP Photo

Kansas forward David McCormack and North Carolina guard R.J. during the 2022 NCAA tournament finals.
Credit: © David J. Phillip, AP Photo

On Monday, April 4, the University of Kansas Jayhawks overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, 72-69, and win the school’s fourth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Jayhawks outscored the Tar Heels, 47-29, in the second half to cap the largest comeback in NCAA title game history.

North Carolina, the eighth seed in the East Region, hoped to become the first 8-seed to win the tournament since Villanova’s triumph in 1985. Led by the aggressive drives of point guard R. J. Davis and the spirited play of hobbled center Armando Bacot, the Tar Heels stunned the favored Jayhawks in the game’s first half. With several starters in foul trouble, Kansas—the Midwest Region’s top seed—looked out of sync and stumbled into halftime down 40-25.

Kansas emerged from the locker room as the more confident team, however, and quickly reduced the deficit to single digits. Center David McCormack (15 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Christian Braun (12 points, 12 rebounds) led the comeback. Forward Jalen Wilson and guards Ochai Agbaji and Remy Martin also scored in double-figures for the Jayhawks. Kansas Coach Bill Self nabbed a second NCAA victory, his last coming in 2008.

North Carolina outrebounded Kansas, 55 to 35, for the game, but it couldn’t convert enough of its extra shot attempts into baskets. The Jayhawks sank 44 percent of their field goal attempts, compared with 32 percent for the Tar Heels. Bacot (15 points, 15 rebounds), Davis (15 points, 12 rebounds), and forward Brady Manek (13 points, 13 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles for the Heels in the hard-fought game.

Carolina guard Caleb Love, whose heroics in Saturday’s semifinal led the Tar Heels to an 81-77 upset win over their archrival, the Blue Devils of Duke, had a rough game Monday night. Dogged by a tender ankle and a host of long, physical defenders, he missed 19 of his 24 shots, including an errant three-point attempt as time expired. Love had scored 28 points to dispatch Duke and send the Blue Devils’ legendary leader, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, into retirement a game earlier than Duke fans had hoped. Coach “K” finished his illustrious 47-year career with a record 1,202 wins, including 5 NCAA titles.

* * *

The NCAA women’s basketball championship took place a night earlier, on April 3. The top-ranked and top overall seed University of South Carolina Gamecocks led throughout, defeating the University of Connecticut Huskies, 64-49, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Junior forward Aliyah Boston, the consensus national player of the year, amassed 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Gamecocks. Speedy senior guard Destanni Henderson played her greatest game on the biggest stage, tallying a career-high 26 points and frustrating the Huskies with relentless defensive pressure.

The Huskies, led by 14 points from star sophomore guard Paige Bueckers, were overwhelmed by the intensity and physicality of the Gamecocks. South Carolina outrebounded Connecticut, 49-24, and shot 26 free throws to the Huskies’ 4. South Carolina and Coach Dawn Staley brought home their second NCAA title, the first coming in 2017.

In a televised post-game interview, Henderson praised her coach and teammates, and she spoke of believing in herself through numerous on- and off-court challenges. The moment also served to highlight the NCAA’s new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy that allows amateur athletes to profit from their collegiate fame. As the interview drew to a close, the fashion-forward guard squeezed in a plug for her clothing line, aptly named “Hennything is Possible.”

 

 

Tags: gamecocks, huskies, jayhawks, ncaa, NCAA tournament, tar heels, university of connecticut, university of kansas, university of north carolina, university of south carolina
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Women’s History Month: U.S. Women’s Soccer Reaches Settlement

Monday, March 14th, 2022

 

2017 National Women's Soccer League Championship Game Credit: © Andrew Bershaw, Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

2017 National Women’s Soccer League Championship Game
Credit: © Andrew Bershaw, Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.

After a six-year battle, the United States women’s soccer team and U.S. Soccer have reached a settlement. On Feb. 22, 2022, the two sides announced the deal. The settlement requires U.S. Soccer to pay $24 million to the athletes and pledge to equalize pay for women’s and men’s soccer. The battle began when Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Hope Solo filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against U.S. Soccer in 2016. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a United States government agency. It enforces laws that prohibit job discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. The 5 women claimed they earned 40 percent of what the players on the men’s national team were paid, even though the women were ranked higher internationally. They also argued that their bonuses, transportation, and meal money for training camps were inferior to that of the men’s soccer team.

U.S. forward Alex Morgan drives the ball in the FIFA Women's World Cup opening group stage match against Thailand at the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, France, on June 11, 2019. Morgan scored five times in the 13-0 U.S. win. Credit: © Feel Photo/Shutterstock

U.S. forward Alex Morgan drives the ball in the FIFA Women’s World Cup opening group stage match against Thailand at the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, France, on June 11, 2019. Morgan scored five times in the 13-0 U.S. win.
Credit: © Feel Photo/Shutterstock

The soccer players are not the only playmakers who have fought for equal pay for women. In the United States in the 1960’s, the women’s movement discovered discrimination in the workplace, where women received lower pay and fewer promotions than men. Several laws passed during the 1960′s and 1970′s aimed at providing equal rights for women. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires equal pay for men and women doing the same work. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits job discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as on the basis of color, race, national origin, and religion. These changes helped pave the way for the soccer players.

The United States women’s soccer team has scored big over the years. They won the Women’s World Cup titles in 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. They have also brought home gold from the Olympic Games in 1996, 2004, 2008, and 2012. The team has been ranked number one by FIFA  since 2015. FIFA is the sport of soccer’s world governing body. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). Soccer is called football or association football in much of the world.

In 2019, 28 U.S. women’s soccer players added to the pressure by filing a gender discrimination lawsuit. They withdrew their original complaint with the EEOC. The women fought to get equal pay and benefits but were defeated in April 2020. However, the players continued to fight by appealing the ruling. The new president of U.S. Soccer, a woman, hinted that the organization would make a deal with the women’s soccer team.

Throughout the years, the soccer players have inspired other athletes to speak up and ask for equal pay and treatment, including professional ice hockey and basketball players. Many other women athletes will be following their steps after successfully U.S. women’s soccer took down U.S. Soccer. The women’s team can now focus on the game, as they take on teams from around the world just in time for Women’s History Month this March.

 

Tags: alex morgan, becky sauerbrunn, carli lloyd, equal pay, hope solo, megan rapinoe, us soccer, women's soccer
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Women’s History Month: Snowboarding Champion Chloe Kim

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022

 

Chloe Kim, American snowboarder © Cameron Spencer, Getty Images

Chloe Kim, American snowboarder
Credit: © Cameron Spencer, Getty Images

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.

Chloe Kim brought home the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe snowboarding event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games held in Beijing, China. The halfpipe is an acrobatic event performed in a deep trough. Kim also won the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. In Pyeongchang, she became the youngest woman to win a snowboarding gold medal in the Winter Olympics. In Beijing, Kim became the first woman to win multiple Olympic golds in the women’s halfpipe snowboarding event.

Chloe Kim of the United States is a champion snowboarder. Kim won the snowboarding gold medal in the women's halfpipe competition during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Pyeongchang, South Korea. Credit: © Leonard Zhukovsky, Shutterstock

Kim won the snowboarding gold medal in the women’s halfpipe competition during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Credit: © Leonard Zhukovsky, Shutterstock

Kim has also gained international success in slopestyle events. In slopestyle, competitors perform on special courses that feature various obstacles. Kim was too young to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. However, at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, she won gold medals in both the halfpipe and slopestyle. She thus became the first American woman to win a snowboarding gold medal at the Youth Olympic competition.

Kim had previously earned international recognition for her performances in the X Games, an action sports competition held in the summer and winter and modeled on the Olympics. She won a silver medal in the superpipe, a variation of the halfpipe, at the 2014 Winter X Games. In 2015 and 2016, she won three X Games gold medals in the superpipe. In 2016, Kim became the first female to score a perfect 100 in the superpipe at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. She won the gold medal in the superpipe at the X Games again in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Kim was born on April 23, 2000, in Long Beach, California. Her parents had immigrated to the United States from South Korea. Kim began snowboarding at the age of 4 and began competing as a member of Team Mountain High in California at the age of 6. She trained in Switzerland from the ages of 8 to 10 and then returned to the United States. In the fall of 2019, Kim enrolled at Princeton University, in New Jersey. She took a leave of absence from her studies in 2020 to concentrate on snowboarding.

Tags: beijing, chloe kim, gold medalist, halfpipe, record, snowboarding, winter olympics, women's history month
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Black History Month: Honoring Buck O’Neil, Belated, but “Right on Time”

Friday, February 25th, 2022

 

Buck O'Neil former player in the Negro Baseball league is honored at a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game.  Credit: © Bruce Cotler, Globe Photos/ZUMA/Alamy Images

Buck O’Neil former player in the Negro Baseball league is honored at a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game.
Credit: © Bruce Cotler, Globe Photos/ZUMA/Alamy Images

February is Black History Month, an annual observance of the achievements and culture of Black Americans. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature Black pioneers in a variety of areas. 

Baseball legend Buck O’Neil was the thread that connected Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth with Lionel Hampton and Ichiro Suzuki. He remains among the most celebrated and important figures in the history of baseball. O’Neil left a lasting impact on the sport as a skilled player, a knowledgeable manager, a shrewd judge of talent, a passionate promoter, and a gifted storyteller.

Major League Baseball (MLB) failed to appreciate Buck O’Neil in a timely fashion. It denied him the chance to play or manage in the league because he was Black. But the sport’s ultimate recognition is finally coming to him, albeit too late for him to enjoy it. In December of last year, the Early Baseball Committee voted to admit O’Neil into the Hall of Fame. He will be formally inducted in July.

John Jordan O’Neil, Jr., was born Nov. 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Florida, on the Gulf Coast. His father played baseball and introduced him to the game. Around 1920, the family moved to Sarasota, near the spring training facilities of several MLB teams. As a youth, O’Neil watched such players as Babe Ruth prepare for the season. His family would also take him to Negro league games. Negro leagues were professional baseball leagues formed for Black players, who were barred from playing alongside white players because of racial segregation.

As a teenager, O’Neil worked in the fields harvesting celery. He was prohibited from attending the segregated high school in Sarasota. He received high school and college instruction from Edward Waters College (now Edward Waters University), a historically Black college in Jacksonville.

In 1934, O’Neil began playing for small Negro league teams. O’Neil got the nickname “Buck” after being mistaken for a Negro league team owner named Buck O’Neal. O’Neil joined the Kansas City Monarchs in 1938. His sure fielding at first base and high batting average helped the Monarchs to win four consecutive Negro American League pennants from 1939 to 1942.

At the time, Kansas City, Missouri, was one of the hubs of Black culture. O’Neil and many of his teammates were obsessed with jazz. They rubbed elbows with such jazz greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton.

In 1943, O’Neil was drafted into the United States Navy to serve in World War II (1939-1945). He returned to the Monarchs after the war and was named player-manager in 1948. A player-manager manages a baseball team while also playing for the team.

Jackie Robinson had broken MLB’s color barrier the year before, and MLB clubs were signing star players away from Negro leagues teams. The loss of talent caused many Black baseball fans to lose interest in the Negro leagues. To keep the Monarchs in business, O’Neil sought out talented young Black players, signed them, and sold their contracts to MLB teams. He signed a young Ernie Banks on the recommendation of fellow Negro leagues legend Cool Papa Bell.

In 1955, O’Neil was hired as a scout by the MLB Chicago Cubs. He specialized in signing players from the remaining Negro leagues teams and Black players from the South. He scouted future Hall-of-Famers Lou Brock, Lee Smith, and Billy Williams.

In 1962, the Cubs named O’Neil a coach, making him the first Black coach in MLB history. At the time, the Cubs were utilizing a “college of coaches” approach, in which a group of men shared coaching duties throughout the season. O’Neil was given the impression that he might get a chance to manage the team.

During a game that season, a series of ejections of coaches made O’Neil the logical choice to fill in as the third-base coach. He would have become the first Black on-field coach in MLB history. But another coach came in to coach third instead. Years later, O’Neil learned that Cubs coach Charlie Grimm had told the other coaches that O’Neil was never to coach in the field or manage. O’Neil was certain that this exclusion was racially motivated. O’Neil returned to scouting in 1964. In 1988, he became a scout for the Kansas City Royals.

Later in life, O’Neil campaigned to raise public awareness of the Negro leagues. In 1990, he helped establish the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. O’Neil was featured prominently in the documentary miniseries “Baseball” (1994) by the American filmmaker Ken Burns. He regaled audiences with stories of such Black baseball stars as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. The work served to introduce younger generations of baseball fans to the players of the Negro leagues.

O’Neil’s warmth, love of baseball, and gift for storytelling won him friends and admirers wherever he went. Star hitter Ichiro Suzuki met O’Neil early in his MLB career and sought him out whenever he traveled to Kansas City. After O’Neil’s death, Suzuki donated a large sum to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

O’Neil lobbied to get Negro leagues players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. But in 2006, when 17 Negro leagues players and executives were inducted, O’Neil was not selected. The Hall of Fame asked O’Neil to speak during the induction anyway, since none of the 17 honorees were still living. O’Neil agreed and gave a speech praising the new Hall-of-Famers during the induction ceremony.

Despite O’Neil’s magnanimity, those close to him speculated that the snub broke his heart. O’Neil died on Oct. 6, 2006, just two months after the ceremony. It took 15 more years before O’Neil was finally inducted.

In July, O’Neil will take his rightful place next to the other legends of the game, many of whom he met, played against, or mentored. One of his own sayings fits this belated honoring of one of baseball’s greatest treasures: “Waste no tears for me. I didn’t come along too early—I was right on time.”

Tags: baseball, black americans, black history month, buck o'neil, hall of fame, negro leagues
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Beijing 2022: Erin Jackson

Monday, February 21st, 2022
Erin Jackson of USA competing on the 500m during the 2021 ISU World Cup on November 12, 2021 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.  Credit: © Orange Pics BV/Alamy Images

Erin Jackson of USA competing on the 500m during the 2021 ISU World Cup on November 12, 2021 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.
Credit: © Orange Pics BV/Alamy Images

In February 2022, Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to win a medal in speed skating at the Winter Olympics. She won gold in the 50o-meter race in the long-track speed skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Jackson was the first skater representing the United States to win the 500-meter race since 1994. Jackson also joined Shani Davis as the only two Black athletes to medal in Olympic speed skating.
 
Jackson is an American speed skater. Jackson narrowly missed qualifying for Beijing 2022, earning a bronze in two races at the Olympic team trials. She slipped in the 500-meter, the event for which she was ranked number one in the world. Fellow top-ranking speed skater and friend Brittany Bowe qualified for three events. Bowe stepped down in the 500-meter race to give Jackson her spot, sending Jackson to her second Olympic Games.
 
Jackson became the first Black woman to represent the United States in long-track speed skating at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Long-track races are held on an oval 333 1/3 to 400 meters (264 ½ to 437 yards) around. She became the first Black American woman to win a World Cup title for speed skating in 2021. During the 2021-2022 season, Jackson won gold in four World Cup races. She broke the American record, finishing the 500-meter race in 36.80 seconds, at the Salt Lake City World Cup in 2021.
 
Jackson was a top competitor in in-line speed skating and roller derby. In-line skates, sometimes referred to by the trade name Rollerblade, are roller skates with the wheels aligned in a single row. She transitioned to ice speed skating in 2017 to compete in the Olympics. After only four months of training on ice, she made the U.S. National Team.
 
Erin Jackson was born on Sept. 19, 1992, in Ocala, Florida. Jackson began roller skating and figure skating as a child. She began competing on a figure skating team when she was 8 years old. After two years, her coaches moved away, leading her to switch to in-line speed skating in 2002. Jackson joined Inline Team USA in 2008. She competed in the Junior World Championships and Pan American Games in high school. She won gold in the 500-meter race in the 2014 Pan American Games.
 
While attending college, Jackson joined the roller derby team the Ocala Cannibals in 2012. She transferred to a team in Jacksonville, the New Jax City Rollers, in 2013. She competed with the team in the 2015 Women’s Flat Track Derby Association championship. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2015 with a degree in engineering. Jackson has won many in-line skating world championship medals and dozens of national championships.

 

Tags: 2022 winter olympics, beijing, erin jackson, ice skating, roller derby, speed skating, united states
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Beijing 2022: Eileen Gu

Friday, February 18th, 2022
Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu © Svend S. Nielsen, Shutterstock

Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu
© Svend S. Nielsen, Shutterstock

Eileen Gu became the first freestyle skier to win three medals in a single Olympics at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Gu won gold medals in women’s ski big air and women’s halfpipe, as a member of the Chinese team. She also won the silver in women’s ski slopestyle at the 2022 Games. Gu is a popular Chinese-American freestyle skier, nicknamed “Frog Princess” for a green helmet she has worn in competition.

Gu competes in the halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events. The halfpipe is an acrobatic event performed in a deep trough. In slopestyle, competitors perform on special courses that feature various obstacles. Big air involves a long, high jump during which the skier performs acrobatic moves.

Eileen Feng Gu, also called Gu Ailing, was born on Sept. 3, 2003, in San Francisco, California. Her mother, Yan Gu, immigrated to the United States from China. Gu grew up in San Francisco, raised by her mother and grandmother. She began skiing at 3 years old and freestyle skiing at 8 years old. She became a professional at age 16. Gu became the first student to graduate San Francisco University High School in three years in 2020.

Gu began her career representing the United States. She chose to represent China beginning in 2019, becoming a naturalized Chinese citizen. At the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, Gu won gold in big air and halfpipe, along with silver in slopestyle.

Gu became the first woman freestyle skier to land a double cork 1440—a trick that includes four horizontal rotations of 360 degrees and two vertical rotations—in November 2021. She became the first Chinese freestyle skier to earn multiple medals at the World Championships, with gold medals at the 2021 World Championships in Seiser Alm, Italy, and the 2022 World Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Gu became the first Chinese X Games champion at the 2021 games in Aspen, Colorado. She was the only woman to compete in three disciplines and the first rookie to win three medals, earning gold in slopestyle and superpipe, a variation of the halfpipe, and bronze in big air.

Besides skiing, Gu has also had a successful modeling career. She has modeled for high fashion brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany and Co.

Tags: 2022 winter olympics, beijing, china, eileen gu, freestyle ski
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Los Angeles Rams Win Super Bowl LVI

Monday, February 14th, 2022
Los Angeles, United States. 13th Feb, 2022. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) pulls in a one-yard game winning touchdown while covered by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple (20) in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13, 2022. The Rams defeated the Bengals 23-20.  Credit: © John Angelillo, UPI/Alamy Images

Los Angeles, United States. 13th Feb, 2022. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) pulls in a one-yard game winning touchdown while covered by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple (20) in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13, 2022. The Rams defeated the Bengals 23-20.
Credit: © John Angelillo, UPI/Alamy Images

The Los Angeles Rams rallied late and unleashed a stifling second-half defense to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI in SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2022. The victory gave the Rams their second Super Bowl title and their first since the team relocated back to Los Angeles from St. Louis in 2016. For Cincinnati, the team suffered its third Super Bowl loss, returning to the title game after a 33-year drought.  

Rams quarterback Matt Stafford, who joined Los Angeles as part of a blockbuster off-season trade with the Detroit Lions, struck first in the game with a 17-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the first quarter. Beckham Jr. later left the game with a non-contact knee injury and did not return. Cincinnati answered with a 29-yard field goal by their reliable rookie kicker Evan McPherson. The Rams again marched downfield early in the second quarter when Stafford hit Cooper Kupp with an 11-yard touchdown pass. However, a blown extra point attempt left the Rams leading 13-3. The Bengals then mounted a seven-minute drive capped by a trick play where running back Joe Mixon took the handoff and tossed it 6 yards to wide receiver Tee Higgin in the end zone. The Rams held a slim 13-10 lead going into halftime.  

The halftime show was the first all hip-hop show in Super Bowl history. The performers included legendary rap and hip-hop artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent. Dr. Dre helped launch the careers of Snoop Dogg and Eminem. The outstanding performance featured hit songs connecting with multiple generations.

After receiving the second-half kickoff, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow immediately connected on an explosive 75-yard touchdown pass to Higgins to take the lead 17-13. Replays of the touchdown showed that Higgins grabbed the facemask of Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey. However, the referees did not throw a penalty flag on the play. On the following possession by the Rams, Stafford’s pass to rookie wide receiver Ben Skowronek deflected off his fingertips and was intercepted by Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. The Bengals converted that takeaway to a 38-yard McPherson field goal to take a 20-13 lead with momentum swinging their way.  

That momentum quickly stalled as the Rams defense sprang to life, with defensive tackle Aaron Donald and linebacker Von Miller each sacking Bengals quarterback Burrow twice to snuff out drives. The defensive stalemate continued late into the fourth quarter. It was finally broken when Stafford capped a long Los Angeles drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to receiver Cooper Kupp, giving the Rams a 23-20 lead with 1 minute 25 seconds remaining in the football game. The Bengals, who had been an explosive second-half team in the playoffs, had time enough to respond. But Aaron Donald bull-rushed the Bengals offensive line and pressured Burrow into an errant throw on fourth down, to secure victory for the Rams.  

Cincinnati quarterback Burrow finished the game with 22 completions in 33 pass attempts for 263 yards and one touchdown. The Los Angeles defense sacked him a total of seven times. Rams quarterback Stafford completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards, with two passing touchdowns and two interceptions. Rams wide receiver Kupp, who led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns throughout the regular season, finished the Super Bowl with 8 catches for a team-high 92 yards and two touchdowns. He was named the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).  

Tags: cincinatti bengals, football, joe burrow, los angeles rams, matt stafford, super bowl lvi
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Nathan Chen Brings Home Gold for USA

Thursday, February 10th, 2022

 

American figure skating champion Nathan Chen Credit: © Mladen Antonov, Getty Images

American figure skating champion Nathan Chen
Credit: © Mladen Antonov, Getty Images

American figure skater Nathan Chen clinched his highly anticipated and long-awaited first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The men’s figure skating event is decided by combining scores from the short and long programs. At the 2022 Games, Chen set a world record in the men’s short program with a score of 113.97. The previous record was set by Japan’s Olympian Yuzuru Hanyu, with 111.82 in 2020. Chen has been gunning for gold since his last Olympic performance, in which Hanyu took gold at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Chen was a member of the United States team that won a bronze medal in team figure skating at the 2018 Games. Chen finished fifth in the men’s figure skating event at the 2018 Games, while cementing his nickname, the “Quad King.” He made Olympic history by becoming the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in one program. In a quadruple jump, the skater jumps and makes four full revolutions in the air.

Chen won the men’s World Figure Skating Championship sponsored by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The ISU is the governing body of international figure skating. Chen also won the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Grand Prix, organized by the ISU, includes six international figure skating events leading to a Final competition for the top skaters.

Chen won six U.S. Figure Skating Championships (also called the nationals, or U.S. Championships), consecutively from 2017 to 2022. U.S. Skating is the national governing body of figure skating in the United States. The organization sponsors competition at many levels, including novice, junior, and senior competitions that lead to national titles. During the U.S. nationals in 2017, Chen became the first skater to land five quadruple jumps in one program.

Chen was born on May 5, 1999, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents emigrated from China to the United States in 1988. Chen began skating at the age of three. He entered his first figure skating competition in 2003, at the age of four. Chen won the national novice title at the U.S. Championships in 2010, the youngest novice champion in the history of U.S. Figure Skating. For the 2011-2012 season, Chen moved up to the junior level and won the junior men’s title in 2012. He won the bronze medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He won the gold medal in the Final of the 2015 Junior Grand Prix.

 

 

Tags: 2022 winter olympics, america, beijing, china, figure skating, nathan chen, olympics, record, yuzuru hanyu
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Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremonies

Friday, February 4th, 2022
Erin Jackson of USA competing on the 500m during the 2021 ISU World Cup on November 12, 2021 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.  Credit: © Orange Pics BV/Alamy Images

Erin Jackson of USA competing on the 500m during the 2021 ISU World Cup on November 12, 2021 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.
Credit: © Orange Pics BV/Alamy Images

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games commence this Friday, February 24, with the arrival of the legendary Olympic torch in Beijing, China. The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, in October 2021 and began making its way to the Chinese capital. From February 2 to 4, it was carried by more than 1,000 people across the cities of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou and into Beijing. The procession included the first Olympic torch handover from robot to robot—underwater! Audiences were limited in person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so many watched the torch’s progress online.

The Games officially begin after the opening ceremony on Friday evening. The ceremony takes place at the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest,” which was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The themes of the ceremony showcase China’s “willingness to pursue world peace” and celebrate the Beijing Games’ slogan, “together for a shared future.” However, multiple countries’ officials will not be attending the Games in protest of human rights violations.

Beijing National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest"

Beijing National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest”

To keep athletes and Beijing residents safe from illness, international spectators will not be allowed to attend the events, and additional safety measures have been put in place. There will be 3,000 performers at the ceremony. The vast majority will be teenagers, who are at low risk of long-term health effects from the disease. Small groups of spectators will be invited to watch events at the Games as long as they abide by COVID-19 safety protocols.

Beijing is holding a record number of sporting events, with 109. There are seven new events at the Beijing 2022 Olympics in skiing, snowboarding, and monobob—that is bobsledding with a single athlete. Many events focused on mixed-gender teams, giving Beijing the greatest balance of women’s and men’s events in the Olympics yet.

The mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games is a panda named Bing Dwen Dwen, from the Chinese words meaning ice and children. The design features a spacesuit to embody the future and a heart on Bing Dwen Dwen’s left paw to symbolize Chinese hospitality.

Tags: 2022 winter olympics, beijing, bobsled, china, freestyle skiing, monobob, opening ceremonies, snowboarding
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NHL Newbies: The Seattle Kraken

Tuesday, January 18th, 2022
Vancouver Canucks left wing Nils Hoglander (21) passes the puck to center Bo Horvat (53) as Seattle Kraken center Colin Blackwell (43) defends in front of goaltender Philipp Grubauer during the first period of an NHL hockey game, in Seattle Canucks Kraken Hockey, Seattle, United States - 01 Jan 2022.  Credit: © Ted S Warren, AP Images/Shutterstock

Vancouver Canucks left wing Nils Hoglander (21) passes the puck to center Bo Horvat (53) as Seattle Kraken center Colin Blackwell (43) defends in front of goaltender Philipp Grubauer during the first period of an NHL hockey game, in Seattle
Canucks Kraken Hockey, Seattle, United States – 01 Jan 2022.
Credit: © Ted S Warren, AP Images/Shutterstock

The Seattle Kraken‘s debut season has been impacted by COVID-19 and made somewhat of a belly flop. The Kraken are a professional hockey team that plays in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Kraken compete in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Climate Pledge Arena, located near the Space Needle.

The Kraken began regular-season play in October 2021. The highly anticipated team has met health roadblocks that have hampered their play. With canceled practices and Covid outbreaks, defensive and offensive lines have been unable to make an effective practice.

In 2017, the city of Seattle, Washington, selected the entertainment development company Oak View Group (OVG) to renovate the city’s KeyArena. At that same time, a group of OVG executives and other investors launched a campaign to purchase an NHL expansion team. In December 2018, the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the bid, awarding the group the 32nd NHL franchise. In June 2020, the online shopping company Amazon.com, Inc., purchased the naming rights to KeyArena and renamed it Climate Pledge Arena, after the company’s initiative to reduce its environmental impact.

In July 2020, the team was named the Seattle Kraken. In 2021, the Kraken selected players from 30 other NHL teams in an expansion draft. The NHL exempted the Vegas Golden Knights because it was a recent expansion team.

Seattle was home to many professional and amateur hockey teams before the Kraken. The Seattle Metropolitans played from 1914 to 1924 in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. In 1917, they became the first team based in the United States to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The Canadiens and three other NHA teams formed the NHL later that year. The Metropolitans faced the Canadiens again for the Stanley Cup in 1919, but an outbreak of the Spanish flu canceled the series.

Seattle continued to host other professional hockey teams not affiliated with the NHL into the 1970’s. Two separate attempts to secure an NHL franchise for the city failed, one in the 1970’s and another in the late 1980’s and early 1990′s.

Tags: expansion team, hockey, NHL, seattle kraken, sports
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