sports reading and writing final essay

            Instant replays have always been a huge part in sports. Being able to watch replays of great plays that just occurred are half of the show. In sport recently it seems as though there have been many controversial plays that should have been reviewed by instant replays. We all know of at least one play in sports history where if the refs or umpires could re-watch it the whole game would have changed. Challenges in football have always been a big part of the game. Recently in sports like soccer technology has been used to help the refs that in some cases become utterly useless. Instant replay in sports are a necessity, they help the game stay fair and allow to make up for the human error of referees and umpires. Instant replays are great things and should be used in any sports that need such things.

            Some sports revolve around the use of technology and instant replays. Football is one of the best examples of how instant replay in sports is a good thing. There are a lot of plays in football where from our view and the refs view that make a play seem different. With the use of instant replay referees are able to review plays from an abundant amount of cameras, and look at the play from all the different angles. Not every play gets overturned either, in fact on thirty eight percent of challenges in football get overturned. Even though the referees get the call right more than half the time instant replay is still needed for the other times. Without instant replays there would be entirely different outcomes of every football game. Instant replays in football have become part of the game and in a positive way, it gives no advantage or disadvantage to either tea, and keeps the game as fair as possible.

Soccer is another sport that has recently introduced instant replay and technology into the game. Soccer uses goal line technology that can decided if the ball crossed the line and is a goal or not. It seems like it does not play that big of a part in the game, and in most time it is never even used, but as we all know soccer is a low scoring game and one goal is usually the difference between a win, tie, or loss. Goal line technology was first introduced in the 2014 Brazil World Cup, where even though it was never needed to decide a goal it has since been used to determine many goals. The goal line technology helps move the game along, and keeps it fair. The instant replay can make up for the bad calls or mistakes of the referee. The camera is only used for goals and nothing else. Even though it only serves one purpose it was a great introduction to the sport, and has been praised by top players and coaches in soccer.

            Instant replay was first introduced into the NBA in the 2003-2004 season. This may seem like it was a while ago, but in reality the technology had been there for a long time. The controversy between having instant replay and not finally ended and instant replay was added into the game. Most people could not even think about NBA games happening without referees having to check replays to make calls. In NBA instant replay is one of the most useful things to have. Even with three referees it is still easy for them to mess up, and instant replay helps make the refs get the call right. The only downside to instant replay is that the fans can also see it. So when a ref calls a foul that might not be the fans can become angered. However it is worth it because the instant replay in NBA allows refs to see if the player was out of bounds, if it was a three pointer or two pointer, and who the ball was last touched by before it goes out of bounds.

            Instant replay has become a huge part of sports. Without instant replays the games can become unfair because of poor calling from referees and umpires. Instant replays span across almost all sports from football to tennis. The use of the technology is mostly praised by from all sports related figures. No longer can things be blamed on the officials, unless they still call it wrong after watching the replay. Instant replay has been a great incorporation of technology into sports. The technology has not taken over the sports, and the sports still stay true to their original games. With slight tweaks to the game with involvement instant replays have become almost a necessity to sports.

Champions League Semifinals

Wednesday May 13 the Champions League semifinals game between Juventus and Real Madrid. Real Madrid was the favored team going into the game. With star players Ronaldo and Iker to help win them the game. The game started off well with both teams battling hard with hopes to make it to the championship. As the game went on however the favorites Real Madrid started to slow down their play and not in a good way. Juventus kept up with fast attack making Real look slow and tired.

Juventus won their finals spot by winning 2-1 in the first game and 1-1 in the second game. This gave Juventus a 3-2 aggregate lead over Real Madrid. Goals in the second game were scored by Ronaldo in the 23 minute on a penalty kick, and Juventus' goal was scored by Morata in the 57 minute with a spectacular goal. The temperature in Madrid was insanely high for May, with temperatures reaching in the mid 90s. Although many players want to blame that for reasons of fatigue, both teams had to play in that weather. Juventus player Paul Pogba only had one thing to say after the game, "Real Madrid played hard, but in the end we played even harder and showed that we deserve to be in the finals.

OKC Miss Playoffs

Oklahoma City Thunder have been a great team the past years. With allstars on their team like MVP Kevin Durant, and scoring leader Russel Westbrook, the team has never looked better. This years season though has been lackluster to say the least. With one of there best players Kevin Durant being injured, the Thunder tried to make their way into the playoffs, but ultimately they failed. OKC played their last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and killed them 138-113. Russel Westbrook scored 34 points in the first half of the game, which broke the OKC scoring record. This was not enough however. With the New Orleans Pelicans beating the San Antonio Spurs, the Thunder were eliminated by virtue of a tiebreaker in New Orleans' favor. This was the first time since 2004 that a scoring champion has not made the playoffs.

Scoring champion Russel Westbrook did have something to say about the season. "S---," Westbrook said when asked what the scoring title means to him. "It doesn't mean nothing. Good job. Hooray. I'm at home. Watching other teams play. Doesn't mean nothing." With many questions arising about whether or not Coach Brooks will be coach next year or not. Brooks believes that he will still be coach next year and expects nothing less. Brooks, who is under contract for the 2015-16 season and has a team option for the 2016-17 season, has a .620 winning percentage and has guided the Thunder to five playoff appearances -- including three of the past four Western Conference finals and the NBA Finals in 2012. "We haven't won a championship, but we've done a lot of things that have put us in that position," Brooks said. "We've had some unfortunate bad fortune going back to three years ago, so you never really know what this team can really be until it can stay healthy throughout the season and, most importantly, this part of the season."

This was undoubtedly a very rough season for OKC. They sustained many injuries to their top players this season. MVP Kevin Durant playing in only 27 games. Russell Westbrook also missed 15 games, and Serge Ibaka didn't play in the final 18. These injuries were enough to take down the hot team that was OKC. OKC look to bounce back next year and preform better with all their players being healthy. Who knows they could just come away with a championship.

Matthew Berry Review

        I agree with Matthew Berry's article completely. When someone is being bullied or harassed it is hard to speak up and tell people about it. Mostly everyone in this world has been bullied or harassed some time in their life, but if you asked them all if they spoke up the common answer would be no. Many people fear that if they speak out about it they will only make things worse, like Berry said in his article, "Tell and authority you're a tattletale. They'll just come at you harder and more cleverly disguised. You get jumpy, looking and assuming things are there when they aren't." In most cases telling someone about it does make it worse, because maybe the bully doesn't really get punished and comes back at you with even worse things than before. When things like this happen things get worse for everyone the bully starts to become more aggressive towards everyone else, and for the victim things like paranoia and depression start to consume their lives. Bullying and harassment needs to be stopped, their is no upside to it and only negative outcomes. Speaking out is tough and is usually worse than actually getting bullied, but if we as a society want it to be gone as a whole then we need to do something when these victims speak out, and not just over look the situation. It needs to end once and for all.

Can Westbrook Carry OKC

         
              Just a week ago it was announced that Oklahoma City Thunder's own Kevin Durant will be out for the remainder of the season. Durant has had multiple injuries on his foot, and now has seriously injured it. Durant underwent bone graft surgery on his right foot on March 3. The 2014 MVP had been doing great this season along with another great OKC player Russel Westbrook. After the news however of Durant's season ending injuries many fans have given up hope that OKC will be able to win the NBA Championship. With the Thunder likely to play the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, it seems slim that OKC will be able to beat them without Durant.

           However there is still hope for OKC, because even without Durant they still have one of the best players in the league Russel Westbrook. Westbrook has been a top performer not only in OKC but also in the NBA. He now leads the league in points averaging 27.6 points a game. Westbrook is fourth in the league in assist averaging 8.6 a game. Finally he is ranked third in the league for steals averaging 2.5 a game. These incredible stats should be enough to keep most fans around, and even scare the Warriors. Westbrook is determined to keep the Championship dream alive for all the Thunder fans out there, and will not back down just because Durant is unable to play.

           I believe that Westbrook does have a chance to carry his team through the playoffs. It will be very tough for him to do so, but I believe that if he can continue playing the way he is and even better that he will be able to take them as far as he possibly can. Westbrook stated , "From here on out myself and the team will be playing just as hard if not harder to make up for Kevin. We can't hang our heads, we just have to go out there and show league what we are made of." Westbrook is confident and his team and himself that they will still be able to preform without Durant. It is a long shot, but I believe that they are still strong contenders for the championship.

Revolution Blow Season Opener VS Seattle

          March 8th marked the start of the new season for New England Revolution, where they took the pitch against the Seattle Sounders. Coming off their hot season last year many people expected a great game. When the starting lineups were given New England fans would realize that their two top players Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen would not be playing because of injuries. During the off season Jermaine Jones underwent surgery and was thought to be back in time for the  start of the season. Lee Nguyen had a minor calf injury just a week before the opener. Without these two it was going to be a hard game for the Revs to win, but fans had faith in them which would shortly be ripped away from them.

          The game started off quickly for Seattle with constant offensive attacks. Center backs for the Revs were doing a great job shutting them down. When suddenly a foul in the box committed by the Revolution would lead to a penalty shot, which would be taken and scored by former Revs player Clint Dempsey. The game slowed a bit until the 40th minute when a quick offensive break for Seattle would lead to a cross and a header goal to make the score 2-0. That would conclude the first half of the game, with the Revs heading into the locker room down by two. The game would start off slow again but just twenty minutes in Clint Dempsey would score his second goal for Seattle making the game 3-0. The game would end with New England fans losing by three, and having a rough season opener without their two top players. New England hopes to show fans what their team really looks like next Sunday against New York City FC.

Highlights from the New England Seattle Game  http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/highlights-seattle-sounders-vs-new-england-revolution-030915?vid=410150467547

Will McDonough Writing Contest

                                                 The Young Legend Mario Götze

It all started June 3, 1992 in Memmingen Germany. The birth of a future soccer legend Mario Götze. Mario would start playing soccer at a young age where he would find his gift and passion for the sport. At three years old Mario started to play for FC Ronsberg. Mario played there for just three years before going to his next club at age six to FC Eintracht Hombruch. Götze played there for another three years before moving to his final club in his youth career Borussia Dortmund. Mario played there from 2001 to 2009. Mario was one of the top players in the league and was the best player on his team by far. At that time he could play almost anywhere on the field and still be one of the best players. This would end Mario's youth soccer career where he was amazing from the start.

Mario’s professional career would start in 2009 when Borussia Dortmund’s professional team would buy Mario. Mario would be a starter for the club as a rookie, and would immediately find great success with the club. The German club had great synergy and would be able to create the mold for Mario’s great future. He would stay with the club for another four years. In 2013 Mario would then be bought by the great German giants Bayern Munich. Bayern was a team made up of mostly German players. Here Mario would be turned into one of the best German players, and one of the top players in the world.

Mario had been training with the German national team for a year and would end up starting for the team in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The German national looked to be a great powerhouse in the World Cup. Mario helped lead the team to a first place in groups going undefeated. Next they moved to the round of sixteen where he played phenomenal in the upcoming games to lead them to the World Cup championship. After a stalemate in regular play of Argentina versus Germany the game was forced into overtime. Argentina was looking confident while Germany was looking lackluster. Mario Götze was calling for the ball in the hundredth and thirteenth minute of overtime, when he got an amazing cross from Schrürrle. The ball was placed perfectly on his chest, and Mario used all his skill and willpower to trap the ball and volleyed it in the back of the net winning the World Cup for his homeland. Mario Götze is a legend and still has more give to his team country this is only the start for the young legend.