LaVar Ball A King? What is Wrong With This Picture?

Let me just start with this- What is wrong with LaVar Ball? Who died and made him king?

LiAngelo Ball, brother of Lanzo Ball was arrested and detained in China for shoplifting. LiAngelo and two of his fellow UCLA teammates were released from the Chinese jail and the President of the United States, Trump, said he had something to do with that. These boys could have faced over 10 years in Chinese prison for committing this crime. Trump was already oversees in China meeting with the Chinese president when he got word of the three UCLA basketball players being arrested. Trump spoke to the president of China and had them released from the jail in China and brought back to the United States. Trump later posted a tweet wondering why he was not thanked by LaVar Ball for his role in getting his son out of Chinese prison.

LiAngelo and his two teammates were suspended and are under review for repercussions. Honestly this is privilege at its worst. If LiAngelo wasn’t the son of LaVar Ball and brother of Lanzo Ball, there would most likely be much less leniency for the player’s punishment, and they may even still be in jail overseas in China. At least LiAngelo came out and apologized to UCLA, the Chinese government and thanked the President and United States government for playing a role in letting them be released.

LaVar on the other had, LiAngelo’s father has done nothing but prove his arrogance in this situation. I honestly and ashamed that he is even a recognizable name and in the media with the way he acts. He should get no attention for his rude, unwanted behavior and he should be shamed, not praised for his ridiculous attitude. LaVar Ball should be ashamed of the way he acts and what comes out of his mouth.

LiAngelo is his own person and he should not be punished for his father’s poor words and actions. We should be thankful everyday for the privileges we all have as American’s and LaVar needs a taste of reality. We should not as a society let these horrible people be put on a pedestal and receive greater treatment because they are in the spotlight. I don’t know about you, but I am hoping that maybe somehow LaVar will be knocked off his pedestal and brought back earth where he needs to learn to be respectful and thankful for the blessings he has.

Game Five- Is This the Greatest World Series Ever?

Kat Helgren

With 25 total runs, 28 hits, and optional pitching, game five of the 2017 World Series could be the greatest World Series ever. The Dodgers faced the Astros, with one of the most exciting baseball games of World Series history on this past Sunday night. The Astro’s took the lead in the series 3-2 in game five. With both starting pitchers unable to keep the runs from coming, both pitchers were taken out of the game at the beginning of the sixth inning. With the starting pitchers unable to make a difference, six other pitchers from each team were put in to try and aid the massive hitting night, but not one pitcher was able to prevail for long. This game produced the second most runs in World Series history. As some believe that the game balls had been altered to cause this crazy game, would that really be a bad thing? The massive hitting streak lead this game to be one of the most exciting baseball games I have ever watched. Should we consider altering all the baseballs if they were altered to make more exciting baseball games? Baseball ratings have been going down steadily now, but this could potentially throw the trajectory off. This game was exhilarating, and gave many sports fans a pull back into baseball. If every game was played like this game five of the World Series, we could bring an invigorating interest to baseball. If baseball begins the trend of these exciting games, we could change the projection of baseball game viewers in the future for the better. Game six will resume on Tuesday October 31, hopefully contributing to an even more exciting and eventful evening for the 2017 Major League Baseball World Series.

A Protest Filled NFL Sunday

One of the biggest subjects trending this weekend has been the uproar between the NFL and respect for the National Anthem. If you have not heard, various players have been protesting standing for the playing of the national anthem, either staying in the locker room all together, taking a knee on the field, raising their fist, or locking arms with their fellow players to raise awareness with race and discrimination in the United States. This all started last season with Colin Kaepernick and has spread this season on Sunday to every single team in the NFL participating. President Donald Trump made a statement at a rally in Alabama stating that, NFL players who do not observe the flag should be fired. This was the catalyst for every NFL team to participate in protests on Sunday.

Many Americans take this protest as disrespect for our military and our nation, but is that truly the message our NFL players are trying to send? I believe that NFL players are spreading awareness of racial inequality, the problem is they are not being clear enough to our United States citizens if that is truly their message. With Trumps heavy involvement in all of this, there is skewed confusion as to the reasons this protest is happening and what message the NFL players want to send. Yes, they are expressing their freedom to protest, but I believe they could send their message in a more appropriate manner than making our military and nation feel disrespected. I applaud the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Jets, for standing, arms locked to show that they stand together, respecting the United States and our military, but also recognizing that we need to stand together and change the racial inequalities that are so prevalent in today's world. Being from a family of veterans, I feel that completely ignoring the National Anthem, either stretching, sitting, or staying in the locker room is disrespectful to the men and women that made it possible for us to have freedoms. I feel there are ways that this situation can be brought to light and a message can be sent without disrespecting our Country we call home.

With all this being said, all of these players do have freedoms and can express their protest in any nonviolent way they choose. Another point I would like to bring to light is that NFL players did not observe the National Anthem until 2009 when the government paid the NFL to have the players stand. Although I feel as an American, it is my duty to stand and observe the flag when the Anthem is played; it is not required.

The message these players are trying to send is an important one, and we need to recognize that racial inequality does still exist, and it is up to us to evoke a change. With that said, we need to ask ourselves if there are more ways we can encourage these changes without making another population (like our military) feel disrespected.

Are the Patriots not who we thought they were?

Kat Helgren
September 12, 2017

After watching an exciting opening week of football it is time to see if the perceived top dog will prevail to another super bowl season. With so much hype coming into the season, the Patriots failed to impress in week one losing to the Chiefs by a fifteen point deficit. Striking two big injuries last Thursday, the Patriots are looking pretty injured as the season begins. The offensive line is looking incredibly weak, as Tom Brady looked to be under pressure almost the entire night. So the question begs, with Tom Brady reaching into his forties, will he have the stamina he once did? If the aging quarterback has a tough season are the Patriots going to keep the old timer in the end, or start fresh with their up and coming Jimmy Garoppolo? Even their veteran players, including Rob Gronkowski, that should be performing at the highest level were looking slow on Thursday evening. This game against the Chiefs not only looked bad on the offensive end, but the defensive end could not hold their own versus the Chief's offense. This poor play of the Patriots seems to be the effects of a Super Bowl hangover. The fourth quarter of the Thursday night game against the Chiefs was reminiscent of the Patriots 19-0 fourth quarter domination of last years super bowl. But this time the Patriots were the ones being dominated as they got outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter. Although the Patriots had a rough opening night to start their season, they have a chance to turn it around and prove me wrong. Knowing the Patriots, this could just be a rough start to a season of domination. Like in 2014 when they were killed by the Chiefs early in the season, but went along to win the Super Bowl that year. If the Patriots are going to win it all this year, it will start with the offensive line proving and taking care of the major injuries they have accrued. One thing is for certain, I have confidence that Tom Brady will score more than zero points in the next fourth quarter game.