Monday, January 17th marked a very bittersweet night for the Nutley Columbia High School Hockey team, as they honored the graduating seniors from the Class of 2022. This entire season has been filled with a bundle of emotions, and every second of hard work they have put into the last four years is coming together now to showcase them one last time.
Icon, Legend, Football. The phrase “once in a generation” seems to be tossed too often, far more often than it should be in sports, but when it came to John Madden, this couldn’t even begin to sum up what he represented. The bottom line is that Madden found something he loved and made it his life.
Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and Luka Doncic are just a few of the top point guards currently in the National Basketball Association. One person that everyone seems to forget is Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving was the first overall selection in the 2011 draft and was born in Melbourne, Australia, but was raised in New Jersey. Kyrie Irving is only 29-years old and is in his 11th year in the league. Kyrie started off his career playing for the Clevland Cavaliers. Then after six years, he signed with the Boston Celtics.
The remaining eight teams in the NFL duked it out for a chance to play in their respective Conference Championship games. Each game had winning plays come with the final play of the game. While some games gave NFL fans more to talk about than others, each game was a nail-biter and left some fans exasperated but some left with a dream. Every player left it all on the field and gave it everything they had, but only four teams came out content.
Injuries occur during football games and practices due to the combination of quick speeds and full contact. Due to the force needed to either bring an opponent to the ground or resist being brought to the ground, football players, regardless of protective equipment, are susceptible to injuries anywhere on their bodies.
Already in his five years of coaching, Lincoln Riley has a better repertoire than most of his peers in the college football world. Even though Lincoln is leaving the University of Oklahoma that doesn’t mean he didn’t have success with them.
Carli Lloyd is a former professional soccer player for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT), and has bounced around from teams in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). However, Carli’s career initially began during her time playing for Delran High School from 1997-2000. Throughout her time playing for Delran, what stood her apart from the rest of the team was her composure on the ball, and her ability to transition it to other players from any point of the field.
Throughout his career, Antonio Brown had a series of troubles on and off the field which led to suspensions, fines, and overall being trashed all over the web because of his actions. Back in February of 2019, Brown was involved in a domestic dispute, though he wasn't arrested in the incident. A week later, he was found guilty of reckless driving. It would be just the beginning of the receiver's legal troubles. Immediately the Pittsburgh Steelers organization led by owner Art Rooney II took action and released Antonio Brown.
In a tight race for playoff spots, each NFL team is fighting day in and day out. No one has a guaranteed spot clinched as the season reaches its 14th week. While some teams have stood out over others, the five, six, and seven seeds in both the NFC and AFC are there for the taking and with this being one of the most unpredictable seasons in NFL history, no one knows who will fill these spots. For example, a 1-10-1 Lions team still has a chance to make the playoffs and they’re starting to catch fire as the season progresses.
This year, the MLB postseason started on November 5th. Only 10 teams out of 30 make it to the playoffs.The teams that made it this year were the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Chicago White Sox which are all American League teams. On the National League side, the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, and the Milwaukee Brewers made the post season.
College football is exciting and just as important and entertaining as the NFL. People who watch college sports share the same common denominator. College football fans, like the players, are enthusiastic supporters of their team. One of the reasons for this is that the majority of NFL franchises are established in cities. If you grew up in a NFL city, you are most likely a die-hard supporter of that city's team. When watching college sports to follow a team and be an avid supporter you need to be involved with knowing players and coaches.
On October 12, 2021, Nutley lost its winningest high school football coach of all time, Coach Steve DiGregorio. While many saw his impact strictly on the gridiron, DiGregorio was more than just a football coach, as he taught history at NHS and touched the heart of everyone whom he came across.
Dating back all the way to 1930, the first Inaugural Men’s Soccer World Cup took place in Montevideo, Uruguay from July 13th to the 30th, with 13 different nations competing. The countries that took part in the competition were the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Uruguay and Paraguay. Since then, the United States Men’s National Team, otherwise known as the USMNT, has made their run of participating in ten World Cups.
The 93-day wait for basketball fans all over the world has come to an end as the NBA will celebrate its 75th anniversary year commemorating some of the best past and present stars in NBA history. There are eighty-two games of passionate basketball being played among 30 teams all over the league. From October 19th to October 21st, all teams loaded with talented young stars and battle tested veterans returned to the court for nothing but four quarters of entertaining basketball. For the first time in 590 days, arenas were sold out, no chair was left empty.
The long-awaited 2021 NFL season is finally here and it is coming back in a way fans have never seen before. Each team was issued an additional game making for a 17-game season for all teams with 18 weeks of football in total. From September 9th to September 13th, all 32 NFL teams got the opportunity to play in front of full capacity stadiums for the first time in over a year and spectators saw some early “Game of the Year” candidates within the first week of the NFL season.
For the seniors at Nutley High School, their final two years of high school football were plagued with COVID-19 and cut short in many ways. However senior captains Paul Scutti and Joseph Alberti have done everything they can to make the most out of these years. Both individuals were three-year starters and saw varsity football before the pandemic and played through it as well.
After closing an unpredictable 2020 season, the 2021 season is already here as fans are just weeks away from the season’s first games. After the draft comes and goes, the next step in the early stages of the season is the annual rookie minicamps. These camps allow teams to bring in all their rookies and have them work together to become aware and immersed with the team’s scheme and figure out how they will fit best.
Thirty-three-year old former quarterback Tim Tebow has recently been signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many fans were shocked and some even raised an eyebrow. The quarterback, out of Florida, hasn’t played since 2013 and is assigned to play tight end in this upcoming season. The Jaguars have agreed to a one-year contract for $900,000 with no money guaranteed or injury split. This forces Tebow to work to be an active player on the roster. Although signing free agents is nothing new, this case is different.
The 2021 playoffs are much different than the 2020 playoffs. The 2020 playoffs had to be in a special bubble in Orlando, Florida. They had COVID-19 guidelines, rules, and COVID tests everyday. The 2021 playoffs are so much different because COVID numbers are going down, people are getting their vaccine, and the playoffs aren’t in the bubble. The 76ers, Suns, Nets, Nuggets, Bucks, Hawks, Clippers, and the Jazz all advanced to the second round.
It has been an interesting year for high school sports.
