Week nine is in the books for the NBA Season, with lots of surprises. So far, the season seems to be taking off fast. With the players being forced to follow Covid protocols, there hasn't been much for them to do. This year's draft was virutal and players were able to watch the draft at home. Many are excited to watch their favorites players play at their home stadium.
2020 has been a year of a lot of sadness. To cope with this sadness, people all around the world relied on sports to keep their spirits up. Even though 2020 has been a year filled with miserable moments, 2020 was a pretty good year for sports. The NBA had to enter a bubble in order to continue the season. The NFL and MLB had to follow protocols to be able to play this year.
Kobe was an NBA all-star who retired several years ago. Kobe is a Hall of Famer and was on the Los Angeles Lakers. He was number 24 and 8. A lot of NBA players playing today looked up to Kobe as a child. Kobe passed away at the beginning of 2020 in a plane trash with his daughter and when the NBA season started, the teams waited 24 seconds to do a turnover to remember Kobe’s number.
NFL fans saw the first-ever Super Wild Card Weekend, where there were six total playoff games and many more firsts. The NFL introduced a new playoff structure where 14 total teams made it into the playoffs and only the top team from each division got a bye week. Fans saw things as crazy as a Nickelodeon-themed game that made it child friendly to introduce the younger audience to American football. Each game was decided by 12 points or less and gave fans entertaining, close games to watch all weekend.
The winter is coming which means basketball season is getting ready to be started, but with COVID-19 there's been some changes. Most schools have pushed their following season to start in the winter. Nutley High School’s basketball teams will begin play in January.
The NHS soccer team had many ups and downs during this year's fall season, one being the struggles with COVID-19. Mckenzie Albert, a junior on NHS varsity, scored 21 goals this soccer season to become the leading goal scorer on the NHS soccer team. The teams captain, Anna Contini, helped the girls through a very tough season. The head coach, Mike DiPiano, made sure all the girls played their best. This season has been difficult not only because of Covid, but also because of the season being shortened.
COVID-19 has been a struggle for many people around the world. It also has been especially difficult for athletes because their seasons (if they even have one) are completely different. Nutley High School has taken many precautions so they can have their sports seasons happen this year. Fall sports - soccer, football/cheer, tennis, cross country, and volleyball - were filled with cancellations and extra rules.
The Nutley High School Varsity football team has had an amazing season during this pandemic. They had a 6-0 record and were ranked number 20 in the state and third in their conference rankings. The Nutley Head Coach, Steve DiGregorio won coach of the year for Nutley’s football conference from the Star Ledger.
As NFL fans approached the end of 2020’s summer, one question lingered among all sports fans. Everyone asked themselves if there would even be an NFL season due to the national pandemic of COVID-19. Although the fans got the outcome they wanted, it left many to wonder if it was truly worth it.
Los Angeles is tied for the second-most title wins in history with 10. Both the LA Dodgers and the LA Lakers won the finals in baseball and basketball. Los Angeles has many talented players in every sport. The Lakers and the Dodgers both had some rough seasons the past years. But thanks to trading, the Lakers got Lebron James and the Dodgers got Mookie Betts. After the trading happened for both sports everyone knew Los Angles sports teams were going to go far.
After many predictions and proposals, the NBA finally has a start date after a very short offseason. After Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took home the Larry O’Brien trophy on October 11, there was quick speculation on when the next season would start. Would the season follow the usual protocol and give the players a good amount of time to rest and vacation from the grueling combination of COVID-19 and highly competitive NBA season, or will they start back sooner than expected to try to get future seasons to end in June once again?
The kick-off to a new year school usually means a kickoff to another football season. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused not only the school year itself to look different, but also for the 2020 football season.
Well, it did not look like we were going to get here, but here we are. Times have certainly changed due to COVID-19. Civilians are forced to keep six feet apart from our loved ones, wear masks to every destination, and watch the NBA playoffs on a Wednesday in September. The NBA, who had to make necessary changes due to COVID-19, came up with the idea to keep the best teams in the league in a “bubble” setting in Orlando. Once players and staff entered, they could not leave unless they were eliminated.
Over the last month, the world has been without professional sports. The MLB and NFL were both postponed before their seasons began, while the NBA had their season postponed in the middle of a playoff race. March 11 was the last professional sports game in the United States and since then fans have not known what to do with themselves. All of these events are due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
The end of wrestling season is here and, with the elimination of wrestlers in districts, the Regions began. Region 3 includes plenty of teams, Nutley had eight student athletes entered into the region. Out of these eight wrestlers, one was junior Nick Polewka. The 13th seed who pulled off the most shocking upsets all throughout the region.
The NBA All-Star weekend is usually a time for players to relax, take some time off from the game, and have some fun. The NBA All-Star weekend took place on Saturday February 15th and Sunday February 16th. It allows the best players in the NBA to showcase their skills in certain events and eventually the 12 best players compete in the All-Star Game. But, this year the NBA community was deeply saddened as NBA icon Kobe Bryant passed away just weeks before the events, on January 26, 2020.
On Monday, February 24, 2020, Sabrina Ionescu made history in both men and women’s college basketball. She became the first NCAA player of all time to reach 1,000 rebounds, 1,000 assists, and 2,000 points. Sabrina, a senior guard, plays for the Oregon Ducks and is projected to be the number one pick in the April WNBA draft.
The NHS girls basketball team achieved a huge success this year— accomplishing a 14-game winning streak that shocked not only the team, but the whole NHS community. On March 10, Coach Mitschow and Abby Scheidel shared their personal thoughts and feelings about this huge achievement in an interview.
by Allyssa Bovasso Pignataro, Dilara Kalebek, Yuna Mehdizadeh, Alyssa Ostrowski, Abigail Scheidel,
On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 ten Nutley High School student athletes participated in the Athletic Department’s signing day. These athletes have committed to play sports at the collegiate level next year at various colleges and universities throughout the country. It was a very exciting day.
Mr. Robert Harbison wears many hats throughout his personal and professional life. He is a husband, father of two teenage boys, high school teacher, and a coach of three NHS sports. Each of his roles require time and dedication, and each comes with challenges along the way. “My family and I try to eat dinner together as much as we can between all of our busy schedules,” said Mr. Harbison.
