S PA R T A H I G H S C H O O L “We got a whole bunch of gangstas in here, not thugs,” ‐ Yancy Gates
December 15, 2011 Issue 15
THE FIRST TAKE Separated at Birf
Carl from Up
Joe Paterno
House flew away
Career flew away
Gymnastics First Take Staff The Spartan gymnasts on the Rockford‐Sparta gymnastics team have been preparing for a month and a half for their first meet. They practice three hours every night to perfect their routines. They will be competing against Sturgis and Freeland this Saturday at the Rockford Upper Gym at 11 a.m. There are four events: bars, beam, floor, and vault. Andrea Howes will be competing on the floor and Chloe Myers will be competing on the beam. This is the first time that Andrea and Chloe have ever com‐ peted in gymnastics. “I’m very excited and nervous. Although I’m used to performing in front of crowds, I have never had to by myself,” Andrea said. It is a co‐op team with Rockford, however, while the Spartan girls are competing, they have no way of representing Sparta. They wear orange and black leotards and warm‐ups that have Rockford gymnas‐ tics embroidered on them. So these girls need all the Spartan support possible.
Varsity Basketball First Take Staff Last Friday, the boys’ varsity basketball team traveled to Godwin Heights to com‐ pete in their first game of the season. The boys got off to a slow start in the first quarter and went into half time down by 20 points. But in the third quarter, eve‐ rything clicked for the Spartans. They made a huge run to go up by one and make the score 62‐61. After some mental errors and mistakes, the Godwin team ended up winning 73‐64. Leading scores for the Spartans were: Luke Marble with 23 pts, Zach Leach with 11, Kory Brown with 10, and Jared Bradford with 9. The next game for the Spartans was supposed to be on Tuesday against Cedar springs, but Coach Secor’s dad passed away. Due to this, the game was rescheduled to January 19th. There is still a game on tomor‐ row at Coopersville. Senior Basketball, Final Year Maddy T. The boys’ varsity basketball team played a strong game last Friday at Godwin Heights, but came up just a little short. Seniors Lucas Marble and Zach Leach both had great games, scoring 23 and 11. This game was Zach and Luke’s final last first game of high school basketball. “I wish I could go back. I would work harder from the start, really work out lift and give it my all,” Marble said. The boys are glad this semester is almost over for them be‐ cause of the classes they are taking but they still wish it would move a little slow so they could soak up the mo‐ ments of senior year. “I will miss the team bonding and just being together, and having quality time with one another,” Leach said. The boys’ next game is tomorrow at Coopersville.
Happenin’ Hero – Chad Klinge Woolworth Chad Klinge is a junior here at Sparta High School. He’s not clear about what he wants to do after school, he just wants to do the best he can for now and be prepared. While Chad is maintaining his 3.8 GPA, he is also dedicating all he can towards soccer. “It’s my passion, you know? I just love playing it and being with my friends,” Chad said. Chad has been playing soccer nearly all of his life. He currently plays for the boys’ varsity soccer team here at SHS and he has also played for some select leagues, like the Soccer Club of Rockford (SCOR). While in the soccer offseason, Chad runs track. He partakes in the two‐mile relay, alongside one of his best friends, Luke Bradford, and the one‐mile race. FIRST TAKE
Detroit Lions (8-5) Errickson Fresh off their exciting late game win against the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions will travel to California to take on the Oakland Raid‐ ers at Oakland‐Alameda County Coliseum. The Raiders are 7‐6 but they have been on a bit of a cold streak lately losing their last two in blowout fashion. Offensively Detroit needs to start running the foot‐ ball more consistently. If you look at all of the other playoff hopefuls in the NFC they all have effective running games. Detroit just does not have that right now, and that is something that needs to be addressed in the near future. On the defensive side of the ball the Lions will wel‐ come back All‐Pro Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh. Suh has missed the last 2 games after being suspended for stepping on a Green Bay Packers player during their Thanksgiving Day loss. Make sure you turn in to the game this Sunday at 4:05 to see if the Lions can win their 9th game of the season. Prediction‐ Lions 27 Raiders 17 Oakland Raiders VP The lions will make the trip to the west coast this week to take on the Raider nation in Oakland. After getting pounded by the 13‐0 Green Bay Packers by a score of 46‐16, Oakland will look to rebound against the Lions, who are closing in on their first play‐ off birth since 1999. On the offensive side of the ball, ninth year quarterback Carson Palmer will look to guide this young Raider offense for the seventh straight game. Darrius Heyward‐ Bey will try and fly by Detroit’s beat up secon‐ dary, as he leads Oakland in receiving this year. On the defensive side of the ball, second year DE Lamarr Houston will be the main pass rusher for the Raiders. Make sure you are available for the game (that might have more penalties than points) at 4:05 in Oakland. Prediction : Lions 31, Raiders 13 Michigan State Basketball Hammer The Spartans are now 8‐2 not having lost a single game since their first two games when they played North Carolina and Duke. Re‐ cently the Spartans played Gonzaga and were able to come out with a win. The Spartans’ Draymond Green scored a career high of 34 points to lead the Spartans’ victory. "Draymond Green was the man tonight. I can't speak enough about him," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. The final score of the game was 74 ‐67. This game placed Michigan Sate in the 23 position in the big ten rank‐ ings. MSU’s next game is against bowl‐ ing green. This game is on Saturday at 7. This should be a relatively easy game for the Spartans BG is only 5‐4. The Spartans will have to look forward to Indiana and Wisconsin ranked 22 and 15. These games will be a little more difficult for the Spartans but if they play well they should be able to pull it off.
Tim Tebow – Winning Sheck There is a lot of trash talk going around about Tim Tebow. If you watch any sports channel, he is getting criticized. Even CNN’s Bill O’Reilly had a segment where he and his board of analysts ragged on him. Why does he get so much criticism? It shouldn’t be because of his on‐field performance. Tebow is 7‐1 as a starting quarterback in his second year. Tebow has also thrown for over 1,200 yards, 11 TDs, and just 2 interceptions. “Let’s see the Broncos play a team with their starting QB. He hasn’t beaten a good team yet,” Mr. Roark said. False. Tebow has won against one of the better quarterbacks and one of the tougher defenses in the league: Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets. Tebow’s passing performance was not the best; Tebow threw 9 for 20, with just 104 yards and no TDs. However, with 5 minutes left in the game, Tebow drove the Broncos downfield from their own 5‐yardline and scored a 20 yard rushing TD with 58 seconds remain‐ ing. That was just one of his late‐game surges and come‐ back wins. Of Tebow’s seven wins, three of them have come in overtime. Most recently, Denver beat the Chicago Bears 13‐10 in OT. Tebow threw for 236 yards and a single TD. Not all of the credit goes to Tebow for the win, though. Denver’s kicker, Matt Prater, aced a 59‐yard field goal to send the game into OT. He then aced a 51‐yarder to win. So Denver’s win streak isn’t all be‐ cause of Tim Tebow, but he has a lot to do with it. Tim Tebow is a winner. He’s doing work and succeeding. So everybody just stop ragging on Tim Tebow.
Xavier – Cincinnati Brawl Couch It was a cross‐town rivalry game Saturday afternoon between No. 8 Xavier and Cincinnati where Xavier beat Cincinnati 76‐ 53 with 7.4 seconds left. The refs called the game early cause a brawl had broken out between the Cincinnati bench and the Xavier players on the court. There were plenty of punches thrown in the scrum but the punch that caught everyone’s attention was the punch thrown by the senior forward from Cincinnati, Yancy Gates, who hit Xavier center Kenny Frease in the eye, leaving a bleeding gash under his eye. After being hit he fell to the ground where he almost got trampled by both teams but medical staff was able to pull him out and was able to cover up the bleeding eye. Both schools have suspended 4 players including Gates who has been suspended for six games, the longest of the suspended players. "Before any of them put a uniform back on they will apologize and that's just the first step before putting the uniform back on," said Cincinnati coach Mike Cronin.
140 Days 8 Hours 21 mins 45 Secs till’ NFL Draft 2012
