Vol. 4, No. 9 May, 2012 SPORTS X-TREME Lafayette Elementary School Washington DC 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Update by Josh Taubman, 5JL

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most exciting, intense hockey play of the year. After a long road only four teams remain.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings

The Undethronables: The LA Kings had a wild end to the regular season and found themselves heading into the playoffs as an eight seed. Facing the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round they cruised, finishing them off in five games. The next round, the Kings squared off with the St. Louis Blues, a two seed, and swept them, making the Kings the first ever eight seed to knock off both a one and two seed in the same playoffs. For the Western Conference finals, they will play the Phoenix Coyotes and LA can continue to roll right to the Dustin Brown Stanley Cup for two reasons. One is the goalie, Jonathan Quick. He isn’t the most exciting name, but he never quits and is always willing to sacrifice, which is a big reason why he’s 8-1 in the post-season. He has been lights out with a .949 percentage and a goal against average of 1.55. A second reason is the work of Dustin Brown. He is the of this team, and rightfully so, because he has been playing with royalty. He leads the team in goals and assists and was the spark to this charge the Kings are having. Prediction: The Kings came to the playoffs hot off the press and if they stay this way, the Cup is taking the throne.

Howling at the Cup: The three seed Phoenix Coyotes were known for being first-round playoff failures. Well, that was then because now the ‘Yotes are four wins away from heading to play for the team’s first-ever Stanley Cup. In Inside the first round, they beat the Chicago MLB First Place Teams....2 Blackhawks in six games, and in the Chilean Horse Jumping....2 Western semis, the Coyotes dropped one of the Cup favorites, the Nashville Big Business of Sports.....3 Mike Smith Predators in five games. Now with the NBA PLayoff Update...... 4 Conference final with the Kings coming Track End Great Season...5 up, the ‘Yotes success so far, the play of their goalie Mike Smith will have to keep it up. Smith is underrated, but playing like an MVP with a goals against NBA Playoff Injuries...... 5 average of 1.77 and a save percentage of .948. Although Quick’s numbers 2012 Olympic Games...... 6 are slightly better, a lot more pressure is put on Smith because of their lack The Best NFL Draft...... 6 of offensive production. Prediction: Although defense wins championships, if the Coyotes can’t get lots of pucks to the back of the net, then it looks like O’s/Nats Beltway Battle...8 the Kings aren’t the easiest prey to catch. Cont’d on p.71 MLB First Place Teams by Aaron Rosenthal, 5JL

Power Rangers-The Rangers have surged throughout the beginning of the season to lead the West. They are 26 and 17 and are demolishing the remainder of their division. With and both swinging hot bats, they have a combined 22 homers and 70 RBIs. The Rangers look to cruise through the rest of the regular season.

O Yeah!-The Orioles lead the , THE LEAD THE AL EAST! They!re amazingly 27 and 16. Their pitching staff is holding steady and their offense, compared to last year, is blowing people away. These Birds are cleared for take off.

Battle Cry-The are off to another fantastic start. They have surprised the baseball world once again. They are 23-18 and in first in the . They have a team OBP of .338, seventh in the league and have a total of 179, 12th in the league. The Bold and the Braves-The and the are in an extremely heated race for first in the East. The Braves are currently 26-17 and in first place, but that could change given the Nats! surprisingly strong start this season.

Soaring Red Birds-The St. Louis Cardinals, defending champions, are leading the . Other teams are finding the Red Birds offense to be excruciating. They are third in runs, second in batting average, second in OBP, and third in slugging. The Cards are soaring.

Dodging Trouble-The are 29-13 and out in front in the . Led by the dynamic duo of and Andre Ethier, their offense is surging and blowing many other teams away. Reigning NL Cy Young winner, , leads their rotation and their staff is nearly untouchable. The Dodgers look to rocket into the playoffs.

World Sports: Chilean Horse Jumping by AJ Branton 5JL

Ever since the 1902 Paris Olympics, equestrian sports--sports that have to do with horses--have been featured in the summer games. Show jumping is one of the most popular events. Equestrian sports are very important in Chile because a lot of the labor is done with horses. Horse jumping is one of rural Chile’s big sports. There in 1949, a horse named Huaso set the high jump world record. Ridden by Chilean Captain Alberto Larraguibel, on February 5, 1949 in Viña del Mar, Chile, Huaso jumped 8ft. 1in (2.47 m). Huaso’s record remains unbroken, making it the longest-running, unbroken sports record in history (63 years as of 2012.) 2 The Big Business of Sports by Jonathan Barnes, 5N There is much more to sports than just playing a sport or watching an event. So, if you have a love for sports, but you are not able to become a professional athlete, have no fear. There is hope. There are many ways that you can still be involved in sports. Professional sports is a big business. Professional leagues and associations make money by sales of concessions, tickets, and team paraphernalia. Corporate advertisers of events and sponsors of stadiums, like the Pepsi Center in Denver, pump money into the World’s Most Profitable Sports professional leagues. In ascending order, the top profitable sports are: There are many jobs within the business of sports. Athletes are Professional League Annual Gross Earnings not the only ones who can make (in millions of US $) money from sports. The Sports Business Journal reports that the National League 207 of the sports leagues are also well paid. David Formula One** 435 Stern, of the NBA, is paid by the league owners. There 496 was talk that Stern was paid $23 million in 2010, but there is no English Premier League (soccer) 513 written public report of the exact amount that he made. The last 984.5 public report showed that he made ** Organization that runs races such as Grand Prix. $3.5 million in 1990. Bud Selig, the Commissioner of MLB made $18.35 million in 2007, which included a base salary of $17.5 million. The Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, made $9.89 million in 2010, and he is not the highest paid executive in the NFL. That would be Steve Bornstein, the head of the NFL Network, who earned $12.65 million. Other sports executives earned a lot too. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made $7.2 million during the 2008-2009 season; MLS Commissioner makes $3 million and PGA Tour Commissioner makes $5 million. Exclusive Interview: I had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Solomon about the business of professional sports Meet MLB Executive and learned that he did not start out knowing that he would work in sports. At first, Mr. Solomon thought Jimmie Lee Solomon that he was going to play sports. When he could not fulfill his dream of being a professional athlete, he Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB Executive Vice decided to go to law school instead. He attended President, Baseball Development, was a standout in Harvard Law School, practiced law in Washington, athletics at Dartmouth College and found his way D.C. and later became a partner at a law firm. into the business of professional sports. He has However, Mr. Solomon decided that he did not like been at MLB since 1991. He has held several being a lawyer and wanted to try to transfer his positions such as running the minor league, education to the sports world. He then joined MLB. overseeing minor and major league operations, Many jobs make professional sports run. In including international operations, as well as partial his work, Mr. Solomon deals with accountants, responsibility for on-field discipline and facilities, lawyers, secretaries, announcers, broadcasters, responsibilities for umpires, and youth and facilities athletes, trainers and technicians. There are many development. Now, Mr. Solomon works to develop jobs that you can do in the sports field. Lawyers opportunities for players from all walks of life to play negotiate contracts; analysts discuss the baseball. This includes building new youth baseball broadcasts; marketers sell team shirts, and civil academies and telling the history of baseball, engineers design the stadiums. Which job would including its involvement in the Civil Rights you like? --Jonathan Barnes, fifth grader movement. 3 NBA Playoffs Round 2 by Adin McGurk, 5JL

Editorʼs Note: Itʼs hard for a monthly paper to be up to date in the NBA playoffs. Hereʼs how things stood with the teams in the second round as we went to press

! The made it into the second round of the playoffs, which was no surprise. They won the first game in their series against the . That final score was 95-86, but even though the Heat snagged a win, they lost a player, Chris Bosh, when he suffered a lower abdominal strain. He looks to be out for the remainder of the playoffs. The Pacers took the next two games, but after trailing the entire first half, the Heat stepped up to win game 4. A trip back to Miami will decide the winner, but who thought that the Heat would go cold against the Pacers? " Then there was the Thunder versus the Lakers. This game was ugly. 4th Quarter Play-by-Play: The Thunder dominated the entire game and by the end of the third Celtics, Sixers Go Head to Head quarter, they led by 30 points. The final score of 119-90 In Round 2, Game 2 of Playoffs proved the Thunder!s domination. ! The Boston Celtics survived The score stayed even for most of the fourth round one of the playoffs and won quarter. Then Rondo took a shot, Sixers! ball, and game one in the second round against they took the lead by two. The Celtics sunk a three to Philadelphia!s 76ers. Kevin Garnet retake the lead, but the Sixers returned the favor by scored 29 points and Rajon Rondo had making a 3-pointer of their own. Then there!s an Alley- a triple double. In the end, they oop to Kevin Garnet and the game is tied. Sixers ball, defeated the Sixers by just one point. Paul Pierce fouls and there is a five-second violation " In game two of the second when they are inbounding it. Rondo throws it in, but round, both teams were shooting like there is a foul called on Kevin Garnet, and the Sixers high school kids and it showed. In the got two shots and make them both to make it a three first three quarters neither team was point lead. Ray Allen makes a deep three to make it a able to show what they were made of, one point game. Sixers ball, Celtics foul, Sixers make but in the fourth, the Sixers really both shots. Celtics lose it; they foul; Sixers make both brought it. In spite of the Sixers making shots, and there are just four seconds on the clock. some tough layups, the game stayed Rondo chucks the deep three at the buzzer. The final even for most of the fourth quarter. score is 82-81, Sixers, and the series is tied at one Eventually, it was decided at the after two games that were won by just one point. buzzer. Kevin Garnet sunk a 3-pointer, but it didn!t matter. The final score was --Adin McGurk, 5JL 82-81, Sixers, to make th series score one to one. (See Adinʼs 4th quarter close-up account of game 2).

4 Oops! Not Another Injury by Gabriel Solomon, 4F

There have been many injuries in the 2012 NBA postseason. Lots have come because players, even the stars, are finally breaking down after playing 66 games in 124 days in a season shortened by the NBA lockout. Now, the long, punishing playoffs are here. Many of these injuries have played big factors on title contenders including the Bulls and Heat. For the Bulls, Derrick Rose tore his ACL in game 1 of their first round matchup with the Sixers who were an eight seed. They would later lose Joakim Noah, which would eventually end the #1 seed Bull’s playoff run. The Heat lost Chris Bosh for the rest of the playoffs in round two, and the remainder of the big three is struggling without him. Many experts thought the Heat would easily beat their opponents, the Pacers, but now it’s anyone’s ball game. Some other teams got plagued with injuries that Chris Bosh led to early exits. The Mavericks lost Shawn Marion, and the Knicks lost Jeremy Lin late in the regular season Derrick Rose and were terrible without him. The upstart Clippers lost Chris Paul ending their breakout season. Hopefully, there won’t be many more injuries in the playoffs this season because otherwise hot teams are going cold. Track Team Ends Great Season by Sam Angevine and Catherine Hammes 4F

The Lafayette Track Team has had a wonderful year. In indoor track this year, the boys are number one in the city. The girls! team finished in third. In outdoor track, the first meet was developmental and went well. The second meet, which was the East-West Championship, was May 1. The boys took home the first place title. The girls earned second. " On May 16, the City Wide Championship meet took place. The girls had some terrific highlights. Alahna Sabbakhan did great in her , taking second in the 100 and the 200 and earning gold in the 400, with the fastest time overall. Liza Willsey came in 4th in the 800, and Ana Fischer got 5th in the 1600. In the relays, our 4X400 team of Alex Waterman, Rosalia Inglima, Eliza Dahlkemper, and Ella Pearlman-Chang placed 5th. On the field, Rachel Wallach placed 2nd in the triple jump, jumping a little over 20 feet, her personal best. Overall, the girls had 64.62 points and were fourth in the meet. " The boys put on a mind-blowing show throughout the whole meet. DaJuan Green took first in the 100 and second in the 200. Jelani Machen won first in the 200 and 400. Jordan Allen and Daniel Freymann finished first and second, respectively, in the 800, separated by only a tenth of a second. Daniel Freymann runs " In the mile, Daniel ran a near record time of 5:39. William O!Brien came in the 1600 meter race. second with a time of 6:02. The boys won the 4X400 relay and the sprint medley. With a total time of 58.17 seconds, the 4X100 team of DaJuan Green, AJ Russ, Josh Taubman, and Jelani Machen challenged, but didn!t quite break, a DC elementary school record set in 2008. In the triple jump, the boys swept the top three. Xavey Bzdek took third; Philip Brach earned second, and Kevin Oakley won the whole thing with a jump of 23 1/2 inches. The boys dominated overall winning the meet with 167 points. 5 Fasten Your Seat Belts: 2012 Summer Olympics Promises Intense Competition by Peter Colevas, 5JL " August 16, 2008. swims the 100-meter butterfly event and beats Serbian- American Milorad Cavic by one-hundredth of a second. That!s the closest possible margin that can decide a swimming race, and it capped Phelps! eight-gold-medal Olympics. An Olympics that began on 8/8/08 made “eight” Michael Phelps! lucky number forever. " This is the intensity that is brought to the Olympic games. After the recent announcement that Phelps made, saying that this will be his last Olympics, it is certain he will be bringing it ALL. But it will not only be Phelps bringing it all; there are over 100 athletes competing for the gold and representing our home country. These athletes are competing in categories such as basketball, swimming, track and field and many more. " The XXIX summer Olympics was held in Beijing in 2008. Katie Ledecky of Bethesda will swim for The 2012 Summer Olympics will be in London. The United States USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics in is known for having many stars in different sports, Michael Phelps London, England. and Katie Hoff for swimming. For gymnastics, there is Nastia Liukin, and for track, Tyson Gay. " Another Olympic swimmer, Katie Ledecky, is from the D.C. area. She lives in Bethesda and attends Stone Ridge Academy. This reporter!s sister swims with her. So fasten your seat belts and prepare for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Which NFL Team Had the Best Draft? by Jelani Machen, 5JB 5. The started off strong by getting a greenroom, or potential top ten, pick. They got extremely lucky by getting from Alabama as the 17th pick. He was 2nd in the NCAA in interceptions. They also picked up a huge offensive lineman, , in the first round. Then, they drafted Devon Still, a defensive lineman, to improve their pass rush. They even got a great tight end that was supposed to be an early 3rd round pick in the 4th round. The Steelers and the Ravens better watch out because the Bengals are back in the division. 4. The Colts had the 4th best draft mostly because they got the 1st overall pick, Andrew Luck, from Stanford. He was probably the best player in the draft. Then, in the 2nd round, they picked Luck’s tight end from Stanford, Coby Fleener. The Colts might have only won 2 games last year but this year they could be a major threat. 3. The Eagles got maybe the best lineman in the draft, Fletcher Cox. He is a sacking machine, leading the NCAA in sacks last year. Then, they got another defensive lineman in the 2nd round, Vinny Curry, who was another sacking machine and was 5th in sacks in the NCAA. They Eagles also got a corner back and another defensive lineman. The Eagles really concentrated on defense. Let’s see if it makes a difference. 2. The Browns had a great draft, picking up , the hands down RGIII best running back in the draft. Then, they selected Brandon Weeden, a quarterback from Oklahoma State. To provide a blocker for Trent, they picked Mitchell Schwartz. The Browns are in a tough division but could these draft picks help them get to the top? 1. The Redskins, yes the REDSKINS, had the best draft. They drafted Robert Griffin III from Baylor as the 2nd overall pick. They needed a quarterback so they got a Michael Vick. He is a fast, tough, strong and determined quarterback. They also picked tight end Adam Gettis, who I believe was the best tight end in the draft, in the 5th round. The NFC East better watch out because the Redskins have some talent. 6 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Underway Cont’d from p. 1

#1 New York Rangers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Devilish Ways: The last team to win the Cup that was a 5 seed or higher was the New Jersey Devils. This year, still alive as a 6 seed, they have a chance to accomplish this feat again. In the first round, they were pushed to the brink but won in game 6 as well as game 7 to advance. In the second round, the Devils silenced the sudden Cup favorites, the Philadelphia Flyers, in 5 games. I think the Devils are the second-best team left in the mix and a big part of their success has come from Ilya Kovalchuk. Leading the team in all 3 scoring categories, Kovalchuk could power the Devils to the cup. But Kovalchuk can’t do everything, which is where the goalie Marty Brodeur comes into play. Brodeur has had an ongoing battle with his age, 40, throughout the entire postseason. Sometimes, he’ll play like the MVP he once was, but other times it will seem age has caught up with him. They will face the Rangers in the Eastern Finals. The Rangers have many big stars, but if the Devils can contain them and find ways to get pucks past the best goalie in hockey, Ilya Kovalchuk Henrik Lundqvist, then look out. Prediction: If Ilya Kovalchuk can provide the offense and Brodeur can stay consistent, then don’t let the Rangers’ starpower fool you; the Devils are the better team.

Ranger Danger: The New York Rangers entered the 2012 playoffs with high expectations playing as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. But they haven’t gotten off easy as both of their series thus far have been decided in 7 games, first against the Ottawa Senators and then against our Caps. As they prepare for their date with the Devils, their big money players will have to step it up. Brad Richards and Marion Gaborik have been good in the playoffs but in the playoffs “good” isn’t acceptable. Then what has taken the Rangers to the Eastern finals; the goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, who is arguably the best goalie in the league. He has a save percentage of .937 and a goals against average of 1.68. In the series against the Caps, every game minus game 1 was a one-goal game, showing that Lundqvist is good under pressure, though the rest of the Henrik Lunqvidst team will have to follow. Prediction: The Rangers have the stars but the Devils have been playing better. The Rangers are about to become strangers to the Cup. Stanley Cup Fun Facts

Over the past five seasons the Cup has traveled more than 400,000 miles.

The Stanley Cup is named after Lord Stanley who was a big hockey fan and bought the cup himself.

Last year’s Cup final between the Bruins (black and yellow) and the Canucks (blue) was the first time since 1991 that at least one of the teams’ uniforms DID NOT have red in it.

7 Beltway Battle Reaches New Heights by Josh Taubman, 5JL

" For years the Orioles-Nationals series has been a classic battle but not a very exciting one. By that series both teams will be in dead last already thinking about next year. But that!s changed; both teams are at new beginnings, and this wasn!t going to be one to be forgotten as the first place O!s took on the second place Nats. " In game one of the series it was a duel between the Nats an the Orioles . The O!s drew first blood as the hot hitting knocked in a run with an RBI single. Jackson settled in after that and went on to pitch eight innings allowing just the one run and had eight Ks. For the visitors, Arrieta matched Jackson, going seven and allowing just one run with nine . In the bottom of the ninth the Orioles used their improved bullpen to quiet a rally and send it to extras. In the top of the 11th, launched a to right giving the O!s a 2-1 lead and at the close of that inning the O!s once again used pitching to close out the game. This nail-biting start to the series built up the hype even more and was drawing more fans to Nats games, something that hadn!t happened in a while. " In Game 2 between and , the O!s got all over Detwiler early. He allowed nine hits and six runs including home runs off the bats of Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. But the Nats much improved bullpen bounced back shutting out the Orioles over the last four innings and allowing just one hit. Unfortunately, Detwiler!s poor performance would ultimately lead to an Orioles win despite Ryan Zimmerman!s bomb in the 9th to pull the Nats within one. Adam Jones fueled the O!s offense that game as he went 3-4 for with a solo shot and 2 RBIs. " In the final game of the series the Nats were finally able to show some firepower of their own. took the hill and struggled early allowing three runs in the first two innings. But after that, it was all Nats, led by 19-year old Stephen Strasburg hit his first phenom Bryce Harper who was 2-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBIs. ever home run on Sunday. But Strasburg stole the show (maybe it was that Strasburger) Something to do with that new with 8 Ks and a home run. The Nats would go on to win the Strasburger? game 9-3. This game was a near sellout with 42,000 plus in attendance. " This series was intriguing, intense, a top highlight on Sports Center and the start of a new beginning for both the teams and the beltway battle. The O!s are now 27-15 and the Nats are 24-17. Maybe the next beltway battle will be the World Series.

Type to enter text Editor-in-Chief: Josh Taubman

Sports X!Treme Contributors: Sam Angevine, AJ Branton, Jonathan a publication of : Barnes, Peter Colevas, Catherine Lafayette Elementary School Hammes, Jelani Machen, Adin McGurk, 5701 Broad Branch Rd. NW Go Aaron Rosenthal, Gabriel Solomon Washington, D.C. 2015 Bears! Phone: 202!282!0116 Advisors: Afsheen Benab, Kathy Echave 8 Principal: Lynn Main