August 19

Unusual Sports

Extreme sports include the sport of cheese rolling.

Which sports do you play: Soccer, Baseball, Volleyball … or perhaps Cheese Rolling? You probably didn’t recognize that last one. Believe it or not, Cheese Rolling is an actual sport, where a round of cheese is sent down a very steep hill and people chase after it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese!

Want to discover which other unusual sports exist around the world? Keep on reading!

Chess Boxing – No pain, no gain

You know Boxing, and you know the game of Chess. What if I told you that those two can be combined into one? This is the sport of Chess Boxing!

It all started with a French comic book about boxers who would play chess after a round of boxing. A Dutchman, Iepe Rubingh, thought it would be a good idea to make this into an actual sport. The only thing he would change is that you would first play chess and then box.

The rules? First you play 4 minutes of chess, and then box for 2 minutes. You win by knocking your opponent out, winning at chess, or when your opponent runs out of time in the chess game. The first world championship was held in the capital of The Netherlands, Amsterdam, in 2003, where it was won by the founder of the sport. The sport of Chess Boxing is popular in Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and Russia. Sounds like a fun sport to me, but I wouldn’t want to get knocked out!

Crocodile Bungee Jumping – A mix of fun and fear

This next sport is just too crazy for words. You’re standing on a bridge with a bungee cord attached to you and you jump. Now imagine that in the water below you there are crocodiles. This next unusual sport is called Crocodile Bungee Jumping and it is especially popular in Australia. It may sound exciting, but it is also extremely dangerous. If your cord snaps, you may just die because of the hungry crocodiles. And there have been many accidents, so this sport is definitely not for the weak!

Extreme Ironing – Having a good climb and get some housework done

Extreme ironing in mid-air!

You may do this activity at home, but this the extreme version of it. This is Extreme Ironing! Extreme Ironing is where you travel to mountains, bodies of water, statues, canyons, or other exciting locations. It started when Phil Shaw came home from work in Leicester, England, he had to iron his shirts but also wanted to go evening rock climbing. Phil decided to combine both activities and make it a new extreme sport: one where your climb to the top of a mountain or dive under water and start ironing clothes. He traveled around the world to make the sport more popular. Today people practice this unusual sport all over the world in places like Mount Rushmore, the bottom of the ocean, the Grand Canyon. Amazingly enough it has not yet become very popular in North America. This sport is not for people with a fear of heights, depths, or enclosed spaces, but definitely for people who like ironing with a twist!

In conclusion, many of the crazy sports that you can think of are probably already being played in some part of the world. Some of the videos I saw showing unusual sports looked fun, but others were dangerous and you shouldn’t try them at home. The most fun sport for me to watch was Cheese Rolling. No matter how crazy the sport, this quote from Billie Jean King, a former professional tennis player, will always apply: ‘Sport teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose – it teaches you about life!’.

Category: Sports, Student Posts | 7 Comments on Unusual Sports
April 18

The History of Taekwondo

By Danica

The reason I chose the history of Taekwondo is because I do it and it’s seems like it will be a fun topic to learn about. Taekwondo is a Korean sport. It teaches you self defense. For example if a stranger tries to kidnap you, you can use self defense to get away.

Each belt symbolizes someone’s advancement in Taekwondo. There are many belts in Taekwondo. Here they are in order -white, yellow, purple, orange, orange senior, green, green senior, blue, blue senior, brown, brown senior, red, red senior, and black.

Taekwondo was invented in 2333 B.C about, 4,300 years ago, but the name has only been around since 1955. It was invented in Old Korea. Back then Korea was divided in three parts Koguryo, Paekje, and Silla.

In the classes of Taekwondo when you are a black belt you can choose to be on the demo team or a training assistant. The demo team demonstrates Taekwondo and training assistant helps teach the lower belts Taekwondo.

Taekwondo is one word with several parts to it. The parts are, “Tae” meaning foot, “Kwon” meaning fist, and “Do” meaning “way of”.  So, literally Taekwondo means the way of the foot and fist, but you do not just kick and punch. You also learn values of behavior.

When invented, Taekwondo was considered a self defense encourager. Today Taekwondo is considered a fun sport. Today we still use it for self defense, but it’s more fun and not so strict.  

Category: Sports, Student Posts | 2 Comments on The History of Taekwondo
June 15

Should Sports Teams Change Their Names and Logos?

Did you know that there are over 500 Native American tribes in the United States of America. About 2,100 sports teams contain Native American names and logos. Since 2005 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) told 18 teams to change their names or logo because it is offensive to native americans and they don’t like being called indians or redskins. From my point of view, sports teams should change their names because they can be offensive to Native Americans because it makes look like savages. Many Native Americans don’t like the team names because it makes it look like they all have the same culture even though there is many different cultures of Native Americans.

Many of the team logos make the Indians look like savages. In fact many Indians were rarely at war or violent. People don’t want to accept the fact that the Redskins name is racist and offends many Native Americans. Nine out of 10 Native Americans think the Redskins name is racist because it makes them look like savages and violent people.  In 2017 California governor Jerry Brown banned any school to have the name or logo of the Redskins.

The team names make Indians look like one culture of people. The cartoon like logos make them all look the same. For example, the Chief’s logo of Chief Wahoo has a painted face and feathers. Not all Indian tribes painted their faces or wore feathers. One thing fans do is that they go to baseball games and they go to the game with feathers even though not a lot of tribes do that. There are 500 plus different Indian tribes in the United States and they are all very different.

The Seminoles are at FSU (Florida State University) because the Native American tribe the seminoles said they can use their name as the school name and logo. The Seminoles the tribe says represents bravery and courage. Also, San Diego State University there has been multiple petitions to get rid of their name and logo and mascot of the Aztecs. Surprisingly in the year 2000 about 95% of people voted to keep the name and mascot of the Aztecs. I think the mascot is fine. It shows the culture of the Aztecs and doesn’t make them look like a cartoon or savage.

Did you know that most protests for the Cleveland Indians happen on opening day?  In 2019, the Cleveland Indians are changing their logo, Chief Wahoo. They’ve had this logo since 1947.  I think it is good that they are changing their logo because they are hosting the All Star Game the year they are getting rid of their logo. That makes me think they are honoring tribes. So, in conclusion those are my reasons I think that they should change the names and logos. But then again, some teams say that they will never ever change their team names because it is an important part of team history. It seems to me that all teams should change their names if it’s offensive.

Photo credit: https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/no-more-wahoo-cleveland-indians-to-discontinue-chief-wahoo-logo-in-2019-L7uHOdUyT0CFjXVK4hnHKw/

Category: Community, Current Events & News, Student Posts | 2 Comments on Should Sports Teams Change Their Names and Logos?
April 11

San Diego Padres Then And Now

Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

San Diego Padre, Trevor Hoffman.

The San Diego Padres started as the Pilots in 1936 at the Polo Grounds. The Padres have had a couple World Series appearances. The Padres have multiple Hall Of Famers, and they have six different retired numbers. Padres have the number one farm system in the MLB.

The San Diego Pilots were started in 1936 and won the PCL (Pacific Coast League) title in 1937 led by San Diegan Ted Williams. The original owner was C. Arnholt Smith, a San Diego businessman. They were drafted into the National league on May 27, 1968, for a fee of 12.5 million dollars. Buzzie Bavasi was hired as the owner after retiring from the Dodgers. The teams were chosen in the expansion because American Football was getting too popular. In addition to the Padres the Montreal Expos, Seattle Pilots, and the Kansas City Royals were added in 1969.

In Padres history, only one player has gotten the MVP (most valuable player) award and he is third baseman Ken Caminiti in 1996. Some Padres greats are Tony Gwynn, known for his career batting average of .336  and 3,000+ hits. Also, Trevor Hoffman leads the N.L. in saves with 601. He will go into the Hall Of Fame in July 2018. Also, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp are the only Padres ever to hit for the cycle. The ultimate honor is having your number retired by a team, some retired numbers are: Steve Garvey No. 6, Tony Gwynn No. 19, Dave Winfield No. 31, Randy Jones No. 35, and Trevor Hoffman No. 51.

Tony Gwynn's jersey number 19.

Tony Gwynn’s jersey number 19.

 

Padres made it to the World Series in 1984 against the Tigers and in 1998 against the Yankees.  Padres lost both of those series. In 1998, fireworks happened. In the fifth inning of the 1998 game, Tony Gwynn hit a home run, followed by a home run by Greg Vaughn.

Throughout Padres history, there have been many managers. Some of the recent managers are Bud Black, Pat Murphy, and Andy Green.  The current general manager is A.J Preller. A.J has created the best farm system that includes Fernando Tatis Jr and Mckenzie Gore.

The Padres have had a bright future for a long time, they have always had good prospects, but it’s never happened. 2018 has a great future and I can’t wait to see Trevor Hoffman get into the Hall Of Fame. See you in Cooperstown.

   

 

Category: Sports, Student Posts | 4 Comments on San Diego Padres Then And Now