LC Lions

    In recent years, as Louisa's audience knows, it has been a tough road for the Louisa County High School Varsity football team. In the last two years, the team, coached by Coach Jon Meeks, won only six games out of twenty. After being playoff contenders from 2009-2011, the unexpected drop was devastating. Now, in the 2014 season, Coach Meeks has left and carried his talents to Brookville High School. As replacement head coach, Louisa traveled to South Carolina to bring back former coach, Mark Fischer, who had an extreme amount of success at Louisa in past years. Now, Louisa is looking to bring back their glory days of a winning football team. 

    This year, the Varsity Lions are 6-2 and they are looking much improved from last season. Under the leadership of the senior Trey Cherry on the offensive side and the leadership of seniors Jordan Spotswood, Demetrius Washington, and Marcus Jackson on the defensive side of the ball, Louisa is finding ways to win. As a whole, it seems as Louisa is evolving with a winning attitude and all the guys know their role on the team. They strive to win and that is just what they do. This season, four freshman players have really stepped up to play big roles at the varsity level: Job Whalen, Raquan Jones, Malik Bell, and Quinton Ragland. All these student athletes have either acquired starting positions or they are often subbed into the game. The Lions will put these players up to their next challenge this Friday, October 31, against the Albermarle Knights.
   
    For the first time in a while, the Louisa Lions have the chance to play a game on Halloween. Coincidentally, this is also their senior night/pink out game. So, this a very special game for many reasons. To top off all the exciting news, they even play this football game on their home turf, in the jungle, for all their exuberant fans to see. Everyone in the crowd: players, fans, and the student section, will be decked out in their best pink outfit to give tons of support to not only for these athletes, but also for the patients who have been diagnosed with the deadly breast cancer. Senior tight end/wide receiver Brian Townes, when asked about the game, gave the statement, "We (the lions team) are more than ready for the upcoming match and we are eager to take the field." Hopefully, the mighty Lions will come out of the jungle Friday night with another win under their belt.

Boston Celtics

    For a while, the Celtics have been one of the top basketball teams in the Eastern Conference. History has gone to prove that the Celtics have remained an elite basketball team for a while considering their organization has won more national basketball championships (17) than any other organization. Their last time winning was in the 2007-2008 season. That year, the team was able to rally against the Los Angeles Lakers in six games to win the NBA Finals. Entering the league in 1946, The Celtics came across a few respective legends of their generation. Names like Bill Russell and Larry Bird are normally among the first to pop into the minds of individuals. In their combined careers, the two of these outstanding men won fourteen out of the seventeen championships the Celtics have won all-time. Russell won eleven while Bird won only three, but both men were equally respectable. Although these guys are all-time greats that could never be replaced, there have been a few players of considerable talent that have come along since their prime time has passed.

 

   To more recent Celtic fans, names such as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are three names that typically come to mind when thinking of great players of Boston's team. Together, this dynamic group worked together in the season of 2008 to win the championship against the Lakers. Although the "big three", as they were referred as, were relatively old when they came to the Celtics' team, these three veterans were quickly able to meld together and play together as a team. With Kevin Garnett providing a huge improvement on the defensive end and Paul Pierce continuing to be a dynamic scorer, the Celtics quickly became a championship level basketball team. In time period of 2007-2013, the big three constantly made the Celtics a threat and respectable championship contender in Eastern Conference. In 2010 they were able to make it to the NBA Finals again, only to fall short to the Lakers in game 6. In last their season as Celtics teammates (2012), these three athletes gave it their all to win one more championship for the organization. Despite all their hard effort, they lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat, who were favored by sports analyzers to win the NBA Finals. In the offseason after that season, the Celtics traded all three individuals were traded. The team has not been able to be the same explosive team as before.

    In recent years, since the three players have been traded, the Celtics have been struggling. Under the inconsistent leadership of their starting point guard, Rajon Rondo, the NBA team was not the same offensive, aggressive team as their reputation once was. Rondo, even though he is a very talented star, cannot stay healthy and lead the team in every season like he needs to. In the year of 2013, the Celtics barely made it into the playoffs with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and did not make the playoffs at all in the season of 2014. During the 2013-2014 season, Rondo officially went down with a gruesome ACL tear in his knee, a season ending injury. Without his presence and play, the Celtics were nothing and couldn't compete with other teams. Going forward into 2014-2015 season, the Celtics are looking to bounce back in the competition with a healthy Rondo and new acquired rookie Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State.
  

 

  

Atlanta Braves

    This MLB baseball club, The Atlanta Braves, are a baseball team originated in Boston. In 1876, the Boston Braves migrated to present day Milwaukee before finally moving to Atlanta in 1966. This is where the Braves plan to spend the rest of their career, with a big city full of supporters and professional teams from the NBA and NFL joining them (Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Falcons). The atmosphere of Atlanta, where Turner field is placed, is outstanding. The stadium can hold almost 50,100 people at a time and when the Braves organization hold games there, ninety percent of the seats are most likely filled with exuberant fans ready for some baseball. As a fan of their baseball team, it is on my bucket list to witness a game.

   Growing up, I was raised in a household of Atlanta Braves' fans, so naturally, I followed in those footsteps and became a fan too. Ever since I was old enough to comprehend what was going on and understand what baseball is, I watched the Braves on T.V. My favorite baseball player of all time, that played his career with Atlanta, is Chipper Jones. Chipper Jones was a third baseman whom was drafted in the first round of the 1990 draft by Atlanta. Chipper had the chance to play for the Braves when they won the only World Series that Atlanta has won in the last nineteen years. Although he only won one World Series, he made five appearances in the World Series throughout his career. He was a legendary third baseman and hitter which he could do from either side of the batter's box. He will forever be a legend in Atlanta Braves' history and one day soon, he will be nominated into the baseball Hall of Fame. In recent years, the Braves have been no where as good as they were in the 90s and early 2000s.


Today, the Braves are unable to make progress deep into the playoffs. In the season of 2013, they fell short in the Wild Card series and this year, season of 2014, the Braves have fell completely out of the playoff race. Hopefully, they will be able to unite together, use their talents, and strive to become the dynamic team they were in the 1990s. With skilled young players of Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, and Craig Kimbrel, The Braves could possibly bounce back next year with an outstanding performance.

The Washington Redskins

  The Washington Redskins are a football team in the NFL. Originally they were named The Boston Redskins when founded in 1932. They are located out of Washington D.C., but their home field, specifically, is stationed in Landover, Maryland. This is where their football organization plays all of their "home" football games. Many fans and sports analyzers refer the field as "FedEx Field" because that is the name of the owner gave it. During the history of the team's existence, they have had some great times, decent times, and some very bad times. Even though the Skins may have had some rough years of bad football, they have still won three NFL championships.

   Last year, 2013, the Redskins experienced an awful year of football. The finished the season with a record of 3-13, with three wins and thirteen losses. This season, in the years of 2014-2015, the organization looks to bounce back on a positive note. During the off-season, The Redskins signed a few veteran players to improve both their offense and defense. The owner, Dan Snyder, took the initiative to spend a little money and acquire Desean Jackson and Andre Roberts, both wide receivers, to add speedy firepower to their struggling offense. In addition, they also signed Safety, Ryan Clark, to help improve the defense. With the leadership and skills of Washington's healthy quarterback, Robert Griffin lll, and outstanding running back, Alfred Morris, Redskins fans are hoping for an above average season.

   Already, after the first game of the new 2014 year, The Redskins have not given their fans much hope of a good season. They held their season opener against the Houston Texans whom finished last in the 2013 NFL season. Turnovers and costly penalties were the ultimate reasons the Redskins football team fell short of the win. Although it was only the first game of the new season, it is clear that each player has things to work on to become a winning football team. The Redskins plan to bounce back this Sunday as they play their season opener against the struggling Jaguars. Most of their fans, as well as myself, hope to see a pleasant change in the outcome of this upcoming game.



   

Introduction

     There are lots of different sports to talk about in the world. Countries around the world are strong and weak at different sports. For example, the United States is dominantly better at football and Basketball than other countries, but lack to compete with those countries at soccer. There are numerous amounts of opportunities to become a professional sports player with the amount of diversity in the world.

     In this blog, I am going to to discuss teams, players, and backgrounds of sports that I watch and keep up with. I am a huge sports fanatic and I study sports daily. I enjoy watching, playing, and attending sporting events of any kind. From high school sporting events up to professional sports, I enjoy them all because it is exciting to witness competition and appreciate talent that some individuals possess. I especially enjoy watching football, baseball, and basketball because they are the most interesting to play and study.

    Sports provide a big chunk in American entertainment every year. People attend some sort of sporting event every single day of the year. There is never a moment when a sport is not being played or practiced by American citizens. Most people being from America, are predominantly football, baseball, or basketball fans because those are the main sports that make the most money. My favorite sport, personally, is football.