SPORTS
SB LIII guide for dummies
In case you did not know, the Super Bowl is this Sunday.
While some football die-hards have been following week-to-week since pre-season, many more people will tune for what might be their only football viewing experience of the year at a get-together or party. In the right atmosphere they might actually pay attention to the game for a quarter or two and will need one team to root for to make it more fun.
Well this is for you as I will try to make the case for either team in the Super Bowl and try to give you a clip notes version of key things to know. This is Super Bowl LIII for Dummies.
New England Patriots
If you have even slightly been paying attention to who has played in the Super Bowl through the years, you might have heard of this team before. They are the team that lost last year’s Super Bowl, but since 2001 they have appeared in eight Super Bowls and have won five of them, which is an unprecedented run in league history.
The two constants this whole time have been the grumpy genius head coach Bill Belichick and golden boy quarterback Tom Brady. Belichick is the coach every coach at every level wants to be the like now, besides the greatest of all time Vince Lombardi.
His commitment to his team and making the team culture all about being selfless comes at the expense of charisma and fashion sense, Belichich usually wears a dirty looking hoodie, but you cannot argue with the results.
On the flip side, Brady is the quarterback this generation looks up to the most based on the results. Brady frequently comes through for his team in the biggest of games and the Super Bowl and has done it for so long now, it’s a wonder he is still as good as he is.
Age 41, while not old, is ancient in football years. While it seems like he has it all with his boyish good looks and a former super model for a wife wife, Brady did work for all of his success on the field. Until his breakthrough in his second year, he was destined to be a back-up quarterback for most of his career as no one believed in him. In that regard, he is the definition of hard work pays off that you can get.
The elephant in the room for the Patriots and why they evoke such strong reactions one way or the other is of course the controversies. The first was “spygate” where they were caught by the league video taping an opposing teams’ signals back in 2007.
The other controversy was more recent and was called “deflategate.” It was discovered after a game in 2015 the Patriots balls were slightly more deflated than was legally allowed, allowing for better grip.
While the team paid the price from the league both times, a fine and lost draft pick in the first case and a four game suspension to Brady in the second case, many fans have used both of these cases to discredit their entire run and label the organization cheaters.
Along with fatigue of constantly seeing them succeed for so long, a lot of fans root against the Patriots on these principles alone.
You may risk annoying people rooting for New England, but if that is what you are after then there is no better team to jump on the bandwagon for one game.
To read about why you should cheer for the Los Angeles Rams as well, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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