Category Archives: Sports

Brock Purdy makes historic first NFL career start in week 14

January 4, 2023 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Abby Altman

For the past 4 seasons, Brock Purdy had been the face of the Iowa State Cyclones football program. The quarterback had been a consistent leader on and off the field, and his impressive performances caught the attention of many NFL scouts.

As a freshman in 2018, Purdy burst onto the scene by leading the Cyclones to an upset win over the then-No. 6 Oklahoma. He finished the season with 2,250 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.

Over the next 3 seasons, Purdy continued to improve and establish himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. He set a school record for passing yards in a season with 3,982 in 2019 and led the Cyclones to 3 straight bowl appearances.

In his senior season, Purdy threw for 3,188 yards and 19 touchdowns, leading Iowa State to a 7-3 record and a victory over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. He was named a team captain and earned All-Big 12 honorable mention honors for the second time in his collegiate career.

As the very last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Brock Purdy inherited the title of Mr. Irrelevent. However, this season has been nothing but relevant for Purdy. After being drafted 262nd in the draft out of Iowa State, Purdy joined the San Francisco 49ers as a 3rd string quarterback behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garrapolo.

Trey Lance suffered a season-ending injury in week 2, making Jimmy Garrapolo the starter and Purdy the number 1 backup. Then in week 13, Garrapolo suffered a severe ankle injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the regular season.

Purdy stepped up late in the 1st quarter versus the Dolphins in week 13, completing 29/37 with 210 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Purdy led to 49ers to a 33-17 victory over Miami.

After his impressive showing, Purdy was set to have his first career NFL start in week 14, against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Purdy’s family bought tickets to this game weeks prior, hoping to see Tom Brady play, not knowing this would be their son’s first career start. And what a start it was.

Purdy and the 49ers spoiled Tom Brady’s homecoming, beating Tampa Bay 35-7. Purdy threw 16/21, with 185 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 28-yard back-shoulder touchdown pass to RB Christian McCaffrey, and a 32-yard touchdown pass to WR Brandon Aiyuk. Brock Purdy led the 49ers offense to 4 touchdown drives in the 1st half alone.

Purdy made sure to find NFL legend Tom Brady on the field post-game. “You played great,” Brady said as the two shook hands. “Good job. Good going.”

Late into the blowout, Purdy was taken out of the game and replaced by former 4th-string QB Josh Johnson.

Just a day after Purdy’s historic start, news broke regarding his health and current situation. The rookie QB managed to handily defeat Brady and the Bucs, all while playing through an oblique and rib injury. Purdy underwent an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the situation. The QB was listed as day-to-day following testing, suggesting that Purdy avoided serious injury.

Purdy stated in a press conference that he could have finished the game, despite being taken out, and appears optimistic about his week 15 status.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ll see how it goes this week,” Purdy said. “I just felt a little tight at the end, just from taking some hits. But honestly, if I needed to play throughout the rest of the game, I definitely would have. So, I’m going to get some treatment on it and will be ready to roll.”

After a quick turnaround, the 49ers played the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football, taking a 21-13 victory. Purdy was cleared to play through his injury, and went 17/26, with 217 yards and 2 touchdowns. With this victory, the 49ers officially clinched the NFC West and secured their spot in the playoffs.

Now that the NFC West and a spot in the playoffs have been clinched, less pressure currently sits on the 49ers shoulders for the last few games of the season. For Purdy, however, the starting spot is not automatically his going into the playoffs.

While it is unlikely for veteran QB Jimmy Garrapolo to return in time for the 49ers playoff run, Purdy will need to continue winning in order to secure the starting position in the chance that Garrapolo does return.

Purdy beat the Commanders 37-20 in week 16, completing 15/22, with 234 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

While it seemed as if there wasn’t much change likely in the 49ers playoff scenario, Brock Purdy led San Francisco to yet another victory, this time in overtime against the Raiders in week 17. Combined with a Minnesota Vikings loss to Gren Bay, the 49ers have moved up into the 2nd seed in the NFC. A victory in week 18 will secure the number 2 seed.

Purdy has played 4 games in the National Football League and is just the 4th rookie quarterback in history to win his first 4 NFL starts.

San Francisco will finish off the season in week 18 against the Cardinals.

Basketball, Dance Line, Gymnastics, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Scoreboard/Schedule, Swimming & Diving

Sports schedule for: Jan 2-7

January 3, 2023 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: JANUARY 2 – JANUARY 7
MONDAY	JANUARY 2
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
2:00pm		JV Girls Hockey vs Bloomington Jefferson	Phalen Ice Arena
TUESDAY	JANUARY 3
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION

WEDNESDAY	JANUARY 4
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
3:45pm	2:20pm / 5:15pm	Nordic Ski Race	Battle Creek Regional Park
4:15pm / 4:15pm 6:00pm	3:15pm / 8:45pm	Boys Basketball vs. Mound Westonka	Mound Westonka High School
*5:00pm*		*Wrestling vs. Como Park*	*HOME*
*5:00pm / 7:00pm*		*Boys Hockey vs. Bloomington Kennedy*	*Charles M. Schulz –* *Highland Arena*
*6:00pm*		*Gymnastics Conference Meet*	*HOME*
THURSDAY	JANUARY 5
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
5:00pm		JV Girls Hockey vs. Armstrong	New Hope Arena
FRIDAY	JANUARY 6
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*4:15pm / 6:00pm*		*Girls Basketball vs. Columbia Heights*	*HOME*
5:00pm / 7:00pm		Girls Hockey vs. Hastings	WSP Ice Arena
7:00pm	5:30pm / 8:15pm	Boys Swimming and Diving vs. Como Park	Humboldt High School
SATURDAY	JANUARY 7
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
TBD		Dance Invitational	Two Rivers High School
9:30am	6:15am / 4:15pm	Wrestling Invitational	Brooklyn Center High School
10:45am	9:00am / 1:45pm	Boys Swimming and Diving Invitational	Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
11:00am		Gymnastics Invitational	Park High School

Soccer

Croatia makes a good run but falls short in the semifinals

December 16, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

After narrowly escaping the Groups stages with the 0-0 tie with Belgium, Croatia would feature in the Round of 16 against Japan on December 5th. In the first half, Japan would be adventurous and have a more free flow approach. Just before halftime, Daizen Maeda scored a goal that was deflected and bounced through the Croatian defense for the 1-0 lead.

Just after halftime, and in the 55th minute, Croatia’s Dejan Lovren crossed an on point ball which found its way to forward Ivan Perišić who excitingly got the breakthrough with a thrasher header, which was beautifully perfected and put into the bottom right corner of the goal. Both teams would go back and forth between possessions. Croatia would reclaim and take the midfield and be more physically dominant.

After the Croatia goal, Japan would rise to the occasion and wouldn’t go down too easily. Wataru Endo would test goalkeeper Dominik Livaković with a shot fired from way outside the box which for sure stung the hands of Livaković.

As the game drew to a close of the 90 minutes regulation, it would be sent to an additional 30 minutes of extra time. With no score in the additional 30 minutes it would be the first penalty shootout of the 2022 Qatar World Cup to decide the winner.

Following 2018’s World Cup, Croatia was pretty dominant when it came to a penalty shootout. The first two penalties for Japan were saved and Croatia came through and converted theirs. A clutch performance by Croatia’s keeper Livaković would send them on to the next round of the quarterfinals.

On December 9, Croatia would turn their attention to the epic finale of facing Brazil. With the odds stacked against them, and many counting the Croats out, it would have to be a spectacular performance to hold Brazil at bay.

Croatia came out ready to play with a refined passing game and the upper hand in the possession. Croatia wasn’t intimidated by the pace of Brazil and stood firm. The first half was pretty back and fourth but the second half would contain more drama.

When the ball came in and there were claims of a handball on right back Josip Juranović, VAR (video assistant referee) got involved but quickly shut the down the possibility of a penalty.

In the rest of the second half, Livaković would be busy as he would have to eliminate the ball getting to the back of the net. Croatia held their breath as the moments ticking down to the 90 minutes of regulation occurred.

It would be an additional 30 minutes of extra time. Both sides would exchange opportunities and go on the attack. Just before the end of the first period of extra time, Brazil’s Neymar dribbled his way and eloquently slotted the ball into Livaković’s net. 1-0 to Brazil.

Croatia would need to channel their inner belief to get the equalizer and take it to penalties. Croatia came out strong for the second period of extra time and would make Brazil play into Croatia’s hands and style of play.

With the inability of giving up hope and surrendering, Bruno Petković would have a powerful shot which took a deflection off a Brazilian defender, and went past goalkeeper Alisson in the 117 minute. 1-1!

It would send it to penalties once again and Croatia would need to stand tall.

Rodrygo would be denied on the first penalty kick by Livaković. Nikola Vlašić, Casemiro, Lovro Majer, Pedro, and Croatia captain Luka Modrić would all convert theirs with Croatia having the 3-2 lead.

Marquinhos of Brazil would need to step up in order to keep the Brazil dream alive. A poor run up would lead to Marquinhos hitting the front side of the post and the ball going out. Such a big missed opportunity which would cost them the game as Croatia’s Mislav Oršić got the deciseful winner!

Brazil would be kicking themselves and left asking themselves questions. Why didn’t Neymar step up to take the penalty? Following the game, Brazil’s manager Tite would resign and leave the team.

On December 13, Croatia played Argentina for the semi final clash. Modrić vs Messi. Two incredible players with much history. Croatia would again be the underdogs. After a successful run of the World Cup so far, Croatia would come out flat footed and discombobulated in many ways against Argentina. Croatia had much of the possession in the first half but Modrić was limited in his abilities by the play of Argentina.

An early penalty in the 34th minute would start the unraveling for them. The referee was quite poor with many calls but this, in my opinion, was not a penalty. Julián Alvarez of Argentina was going for the ball and actually initiated the contact by running into Livaković. The ref gave Livaković a yellow which was totally a joke, in many ways, because if you give a penalty you can’t do a card as well. Anyways, Messi of course would smash the ball into the upper part of the goal and give Argentina the lead.

A few minutes later, in the 39th minute Alvarez would dribble himself down the field and weave his way through the Croatian defense and score to make it 2-0 going into halftime.

The second half was a bit more composed for Croatia but Argentina was still quite dominant. In the 69th minute Messi would dribble Croatian sensation center back Joško Gvardiol down the field and dump the ball off to Alvarez with another great feed to ultimately make it 3-0. It was a costly defeat and unfortunate for such a great Croatian team through the World Cup.

Another great player, the captain, the heart and soul, the savior, of the team, Luka Modrić would have his last go at the World Cup but would fall short.

Congrats to Argentina and more importantly Messi! Argentina faces France for the World Cup final on Sunday the 18th, at 9 am on FOX, while Croatia will make a run for the bronze medal as they take on Morocco on Saturday the 17th, at 9 am on FOX as well. Should be an exciting weekend and hopefully a good roundup of the 2022 Qatar World Cup!

Be on the lookout for the recap of the final, and 3rd place game, of the World Cup as well!

Basketball, Dance Line, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Scoreboard/Schedule, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling

Sports schedule for: Dec 12-17

December 13, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 17
MONDAY	DECEMBER 12
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION

TUESDAY	DECEMBER 13
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*4:00pm / 4:00pm* *6:00pm*		*Boys Basketball vs. Two Rivers*	*HOME*
*5:00pm / 7:00pm*		*Girls Hockey vs. Hill-Murray*	*WSP Ice Arena*
5:00pm / 7:00pm	JV: 3:30pm V: 4:45pm / 8:45pm	Boys Hockey vs. Simley	Veterans Memorial Community Center
5:30pm / 7:00pm	4:30pm / 8:00pm	Girls Basketball vs. Twin Cities Academy	Twin Cities Academy
WEDNESDAY	DECEMBER 14
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
3:45pm	3:10pm / 5:15pm	Nordic Ski Race	Bloomington Hyland
*5:00pm*		*Wrestling vs. St. Agnes / Tartan*	*HOME*
THURSDAY	DECEMBER 15
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION

FRIDAY	DECEMBER 16
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*4:00pm / 4:00pm* *6:00pm*		*Boys Basketball vs. MPLS Roosevelt*	*HOME*
5:00pm / 7:00pm		Girls Hockey vs. Simley	Veterans Memorial Community Center
5:30pm / 7:00pm	4:15pm / 8:00pm	Girls Basketball vs. Two Rivers	Two Rivers High School
7:00pm	3:30pm / 8:45pm	Boys Hockey vs. Mora	Mora Civic Arena
7:00pm	5:40pm / 8:20pm	Boys Swimming and Diving vs. Harding	Humboldt High School
SATURDAY	DECEMBER 17
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
TBD		Dance Team Invitational	Becker High School
9:00am	6:30am / 4:00pm	JV Wrestling Invitational	Trinity School at River Ridge

Editorials/Student Voice, Soccer

The problems permeating Qatar’s World Cup

December 7, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line 2 Comments

By: Jocelyn Knorr

**For sake of consistency and international standardization, the word “football” here refers to the sport that the United States calls “soccer.”**

The FIFA World Cup is a quadrennial football competition, in which countries fight tooth and nail to even qualify. It’s an incredible honor to win, and even more of an honor to host—not to mention it’s incredibly profitable. So, it came as a shocking surprise when Qatar, a Middle Eastern country smaller than the state of Connecticut, was awarded the 2022 competition.

Before 1971, Qatar was a nation largely built off of pearl diving and trade. Then, oil and natural gas was found in the little peninsula, rocketing it to international wealth, a coup in 1972 cementing the monarchy. It’s 2008 bid for hosting was described by the country as an attempt to humanize it—get away from oil, sharia law, and its relationship with neighboring Iran. Because of this, Qatar has been accused of sportswashing.

The bid was off to a rocky start—in 2009, a delegate from FIFA, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, visited the country to inspect its infrastructure. His report was a resounding no—Qatar was too small, and was a sweltering 120ºF during the traditional World Cup window of June-July (an issue that has been “solved” by pushing it to the middle of the traditional football season, a massive upset to the schedule that has caused injury, disruption, and lost wages for those whose salaries depend upon the game). Not only did it lack a football stadium, but hotels, highways, and an airport too. Qatar countered with plans for stadiums and hotels, and a proposition to push the tournament back six months. The council was convinced, and in 2010 Qatar was confirmed as host for the 2022 World Cup. Al-Jazeera, a Qatari media company owned by the king, had started broadcasting news of the victory six hours earlier.

All was not well within FIFA, however; before the year was out, every single official who voted on the Qatar decision would be investigated for, or convicted of, corruption. 2 members had already been banned from voting because of an attempt to sell their votes; the US Justice department accused 3 South American officials of accepting 7-figure bribes from the Qatari government. Sepp Blattman, president of FIFA at the time, has been banned from ever holding an administration position within football for the rest of his life.

Nevertheless, the decision held, and Qatar embarked on a massive nation-building project, the likes of which the country had never before seen. To achieve all this, Qatar began recruiting foreign workers; workers from places like Uruguay and Pakistan poured in by the thousands. Qatar has a population of over 2 million, but only 15% of those people are citizens. Instead, the country depends upon foreign labor to keep the economy moving.

Conditions are awful; workers sleep in cramped conditions, passports are held by employers, and they are forbidden to leave or change jobs without the consent of their employers. Many of these migrant workers are in construction, working for over 18 hours a day to build Qatar’s stadiums and hotels; they are making barely 13 USD an hour.

More than 6,500 of these workers have died in the sweltering heat, among them a man named Mosharraf Hossen. He moved from Bangladesh to Qatar in 2014, getting a job working on a stadium to support his family. He died in 2018, collapsing when temperatures reached upwards of 115º; the Qatari government has denied this, and has put ‘cardiac arrest’ on his death certificate. The family has now been left without a way to earn money.

Qatari officials have stated that, more often than not, compensation is received in labor disputes, and the country will not take “destructive criticism” from outside observers. “The World Cup is a stage that will end in [December], but our laws are ongoing and being developed and we don’t implement them [only] for the World Cup.” said Qatar’s Assistant Undersecretary of Labor, Mohamed al-Obaidly.

There are other human rights issues to take into account, as well; namely the treatment of women and gay men. Female citizens of Qatar need to get permission from a male guardian for just about everything, even after a divorce. Pregnant attendees have been advised to be prepared to show a marriage certificate if medical care is necessary, and there have been repeated cases of sexual assaults on women going not only unpunished, but the women being penalized for “fornication outside of marriage.”

As for homosexuality, it’s punishable by jail time—and even the death penalty for Muslims. The Qatari officials have made attempts at sweeping these laws under the rug; despite this, Khalid Salmen, a Qatari football player turned FIFA ambassador, has been quoted as saying that “homosexuality is damage in the mind.” He has been defended fiercely, with Qatar stating that these laws are part of the country’s “conservative values.”

In light of these policies, female fans are being advised by human rights groups to proceed with extreme caution, and LGBTQ fans have been advised to cancel their tickets altogether.

The Qatari government has also been rumored to be using fake fans as a surveillance tactic; allegedly, these are paid plants meant to create atmosphere and hype up the crowd artificially. If this is true, they also serve the secondary function of sniffing out and reporting anti-Qatar sentiment on social media. Qatar has responded to these rumors with a statement from the Qatar World Cup 2022 Supreme Committee; “Fans from all over the world — many of whom have made Qatar their home — have contributed to the local atmosphere recently, organizing fan walks and parades throughout the country, and welcoming the various national teams at their hotels. Numerous journalists and commentators on social media have questioned whether these are ‘real’ fans. We thoroughly reject these assertions, which are both disappointing and unsurprising.”

Taken altogether, these issues with the World Cup have left many fans upset and disquieted. Miles Robinson, a freshman at Highland, and Mary Steffy, a teacher here, have been kind enough to speak to me about their feelings on the matter.

Miles Robinson is a freshman here—the MVP and captain of the Highland freshman football team, this sport is a large part of his life. He’s supporting the Dutch team this year, with USA and France as a close second (allez les Bleus!) Outside of World Cup season, he follows almost every league imaginable—including USA’s MLS, the English Premier League, and Germany’s Bundesliga.

“It shouldn’t be there. Honestly, FIFA was 100% bribed for it to be there. If you look at the infrastructure that was there before 2010, it was minimal at best; they had one major stadium, and had to build nine more. Close to 7,000 workers died building those stadiums. They had so few people in the country, they had to get thousands of migrant workers to build (them). They spent over 200 billion US dollars on infrastructure— they had to build cities, build railroads. They spent way, way too much money and time preparing.

“Not to mention the fact that this World Cup had to be moved to November as opposed to the summer. If a World Cup has to be moved, should it be held in that country? The FIFA World Cup is a staple of the summers. Most professional leagues’ seasons go from August to May—holding this in the summer means that most of the teams’ best players are either going to be tired or injured. France are one of the favorites to win this year, and they have five starting players out with major injuries, because this is the middle of their season. This gives less talented teams an advantage.”

The news coming out of Qatar of human rights and climate problems has even driven some people to a boycott—people like Madame Mary Steffy, another person kind enough to speak to me about their views. She’s a French and AVID teacher here at Highland Park Senior High; not a football fan, as a rule, the one exception being the World Cup. This year, she would be supporting the French national team, famously nicknamed “les Bleus”—she’s Luxembourgish, but the country is too small to support a national team, or indeed a league at all. She found out about the human rights abuses largely via Francophone news sources.

“Monsieur Curry and I follow a lot of online sites, and there was a lot shared—most of Paris and a lot of larger cities in France, for example, are not, on public television, showing any of the games. So we started reading all about it; I had heard some things, even, in the last couple of years about the construction going on in Qatar, and how so many young men had been dying and getting their bodies sent home with [death certificates] saying they had died of natural causes when that was not, in fact, true. The conditions were appalling—it was hot, there was no food or water, [employers] would take their passports, there were injuries; there were just a lot of human rights issues that I became aware of.

“I also became aware, in the past few months, of all the climate issues. When you host a large event like this—even the Olympics—it’s terrible for the planet in general, but Qatar had promised that this was going to be the ‘greenest’ World Cup ever. They really greenwashed it, and that has not happened.”

This is largely a France-based movement, but for Mme Steffy, it’s not a large group effort; it’s just about showing Qatar that they don’t want a World Cup that has been built by the blood of the workers.

“I don’t want to give any of my time, money, energy or attention to a country that has such appalling abuses of people coming in—actually about 90% of their society—and their stance on the LGBTQ community, whom any association with is punishable by death, even for visitors there. I personally, refuse to give them my time, money, or attention; which is what they get when I watch.”

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Football

Biggest surprises and disappointments so far in the 2022 NFL season

December 6, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Abby Altman

Whether it’s Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady struggling for the first time in their lengthy careers, or the New York teams stepping up in ways nobody expected, the 2022 season has been shocking in many ways.

Here are some of the biggest surprises, and the biggest disappointments, so far in the 2022 NFL season.

Surprises:

Geno Smith

After trading away Russell Wilson, the Seahawks new QB has been one of the most shocking performances of the season. So far this season, Smith has a 72.7% completion rate, throwing for 22 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. His overall quarterback rating (QBR) is 64.1. Many fans expected the Seahawks to be one of the worst in the league this season, but Smith has led Seatle to a 7-5 season, looking to try and take a wildcard spot into the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles

After starting the season 8-0, the Eagles are by far one of the best teams in the league. Philadelphia dropped 1 game to the Washington Commanders in week 9, but havent lost since, and lead the NFL with a 11-1 record. The Eagles finished the 2021 season 9-8, taking the last wildcard spot in the NFC.

Jalen Hurts has been a huge surprise for Philadelphia fans this season. Hurts finished 2021 with a QBR of 54.6. This season, he currently has a QBR of 68.2. Hurts has thrown for more touchdowns this season already than any other, and he still has 6 games left to play.

New York Jets

In 2021, the Jets finished dead last in the AFC East, with a 4-13 record. Only 4 other teams had an equal or lower record that season. In 2022, the Jets are now 7-5. They are currently sitting in 3rd place in the AFC East, but are competing behind the Dolphins and the Bills. If the playoffs were to start today, the Jets would hold the 7th seed.

The sudden change in the Jets success comes from an incredible 2022 draft class. With their 1st pick, the Jets drafted Cornerback Ahmed “Sauce” Gardner. Gardner currently leads the league in passes defended with 15 so far this season. Another excellent draft pick was used to select RB Breece Hall from Iowa State. Hall unfortunately tore his ACL in week 7 against the Broncos, but was a key piece to the Jets 5-2 record before he went out for the season. He finished week 7 with 463 rushing yards and 218 receiving yards.

The Jets currently find themselves in a quarterback controversy, as previous 1st round draft pick Zach Wilson is heavily underperforming, and was benched for Mike White in week 12. White threw for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Bears, and 369 yards, with 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions against the Vikings week 13. As of now, it seems unlikely that Zach Wilson will start in the upcoming weeks.

New York Giants

The Giants and the Jets are having almost identical seasons so far. Similarly to the Jets, the Giants finished last in the NFC East in 2021, with a record of 4-13. In the offseason, the Giants fired head coach Joe Judge and hired former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their new head coach. Daboll has been a huge change for the Giants, as the Giants are now 7-4-1, and 3rd in the NFC East, behind the very successful Eagles and Cowboys.

The surprising performance from Daniel Jones, combined with RB Saquan Barkely’s excellent season is a large piece of the Giants mild success. Barkley is currently 4th in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,055 yards.

Minnesota Vikings

With a brand new front office and coaching staff, the Vikings 2022 season was completely up in the air. Many thought the Vikings would go for a complete rebuild and be non-contenders for the foreseeable future. However, the Vikings did a competitive rebuild. They changed some things around and built a new scheme, all while remaining contenders.

The Vikings finished the 2021 season with an 8-9 record, 2nd in the NFC North. The Vikings missed the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row. In the offseason, the Vikings fired head coach Mike Zimmer as well as general manager Rick Spielman. The new general manager hire, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, hired the Rams former offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as the new head coach. O’Connell joined the Vikings after winning a Super Bowl with Los Angeles last season.

The new front office rebuilt Minnesota around an older team, led by several NFL veterans, including Adam Theilen, Patrick Peterson, and Harrison Smith.

The Vikings are now 10-2 going into week 14, with a massive lead on the NFC North. Minnesota currently holds the #2 seed in the NFC, behind the Eagles.

Justin Fields

Since drafting Mitchell Trubisky in 2017, the Chicago Bears have been in a QB drought. In Trubisky’s time in Chicago, the Bears went 33-31, making the playoffs just once, in 2018.

In 2021, the Bears drafted QB Justin Fields out of Ohio State. Fields has had a slow start, leading the Bears to 6-11 in his first season. While his record is not improving in the slightest, 2022 Justin Fields is a statistical beast, and it proving himself as a solid NFL QB.

Fields played 12 games in 2021, and finished with 1,870 passing yards. Through 12 games in 2022, Fields has almost identical passing stats, with 1,896 passing yards. The rushing game, however, is what puts Fields in the surprise category. In 2021, Fields had 420 rushing yards, which was 5th in the NFL for a QB. In 2022, Fields has 905 rushing yards. He has broken multiple records, including his 67 yard touchdown, which is the longest rushing touchdown in franchise history. The previous record was 61 yards, set by Fields 1 week prior.

Fields is currently 1st in QB rushing yards, and 7th in the NFL in total rushing yards.

Dissapointments:

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are easily the biggest disappointment this season, and high on the list for all time. In 2021, the Rams had one of the best offenses in the league, and that led them to a Super Bowl title. Less than a year ago, Matthew Stafford and the Rams hoisted the Lombardi trophy, and now they are 3-9 and last in the NFC West.

Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp are both on the IR, and the Rams are in absolutely no position to win. In most cases, teams in this position would likely tank for a higher draft pick, but the Rams traded away most of their draft picks in order to build their Super Bowl winning team, and do not have a 1st round pick.

This is the first losing season for head coach Sean McVay since he was hired in 2017.

Aaron Rodgers and The Packers

The Packers rarely find themselves on the disappointing list, and when they do it’s typically because Aaron Rodgers didn’t play. This season, that’s simply not the case. Green Bay is currently 5-8 and 3rd in the NFC North.

Without Davante Adams, it was expected that Rodgers would have trouble finding receivers to connect with, but many fans still expected to see the Packers atop the division. Quite the opposite has happened, however. rookie WR Christian Watson is stepping up in his 1st season, with 8 touchdowns over the last 4 games.

The Packers however, can’t seem to get things done, and the playoffs seem to be out of reach, even for Aaron Rodgers. Packers fans at Highland Park decline to comment on the team’s situation.

Russell Wilson

The Seahwaks trading Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos was a huge move, and Denver gave up a lot in order to obtain Wilson. Before playing a single snap for Denver, Wilson was paid a pretty penny. Much to the entire Broncos organization’s disappointment, he has not lived up to the hype. At all. The Broncos finished 2021 with a 7-10 record, and as of now, their 3-9 record does not seem to be an improvement.

A quarterback, even one as accomplished as Wilson is expected to struggle in a brand new offense. But, nobody expected Wilson to struggle as much as he has.

Wilson has made 9 Pro Bowls in his career and made 2 Super Bowl appearances, winning one of them. And yet, regardless of his career achievements, Wilson is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league right now. Wilson is ranked 17th in passing yards, and 28th in touchdowns and QBR.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This past offseason, Tom Brady kept fans on their toes by retiring and then promptly un-retiring, staying in Tampa for at least 1 more season. This has not turned out to be the relief that many Buccaneers fans originally felt. Brady has a QBR of 53.8, which is 18th in the league. He is 4th in passing yards, and 2nd in fewest interceptions thrown, but he has been unsuccessful in leading the Bucs to a winning season.

The Buccaneers currently lead the NFC South and hold a playoff spot, with a 5-6 record. No team has ever made the playoffs with a losing record, and most NFL fans would be thoroughly disappointed if Tampa Bay makes the playoffs performing like they have been.

On top of the struggles on the field, Tom Brady’s personal life has overshadowed anything football related. Also, likely impacting his play, Brady has taken more time off than anyone to attend weddings, go on trips, and deal with many family issues. If the Buccaneers want to be contenders again, something big needs to change, and a QB focused on football might be necessary.

Soccer

Will the runners up at the 2018 World Cup make it out of the group stage?

December 5, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By Aeden Evenson-McDermott

As the World Cup group stages got underway across Qatar, Croatia would be back on their path for the quest of World Cup glory following 2018’s heartbreak.

In their opening fixture on November 23, Croatia would be featured against their first opponent Morocco. They would combine for many chances as would Morocco, but none could find the back of the net. No exciting drama of many goals, but a good defensive battle put on.

Croatia’s Nikola Vlašić and Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui would each share glorious opportunities in the first half especially. Croatian captain Luka Modrić at times was able to move freely but also at other times was limited in his ability to switch the field and dominate the midfield.

The second half would be much like the first half in many ways with both sides going back and forth up and down the field.

Croatia and Morocco would be held to a scoreless draw of 0-0 at the end of the 90 minutes earning each side a point going into the second match day.

On November 27, Croatia took on Canada in a thriller game. Canada’s Alphonso Davies scored an immaculate thumper of a header into Croatia’s net with just 68 seconds on the clock. It would be the fastest goal of this year’s World Cup. Canada’s brief joy spell would only last a short while until Croatia’s Andrej Kramarić would score a nice equalizer in the 36th minute! 1-1!

Both teams played quite competitively in the first half but signs showed Croatia was in the driver’s seat and was becoming more dominant in the control of the game. Just before half, Croatia’s Marko Livaja scored a beautiful goal too and Croatia would take the lead just before the halftime break!

In addition, it’s also important to note that going into this game, it was all or nothing for Canada, as if they lost they would be out of the World Cup. Canada’s coach John Herdman made some not so nice remarks about how they would beat Croatia but as you will see later in the article, his words reversed on him and Canada bared the words he said.

Into the second half, both teams came out strong and poised to go at it for the second 45 minutes of the match. Canada had some opportunities along the wings and were close to equalizing, but when Kramarić bagged his second goal in the 70th minute, it extinguished all hopes of a Canada survival.

In the closing stages of the game, a miscue by Canada allowed for Croatia’s Mislav Oršić to dish off the ball to Lovro Majer which essentially put the nail in the coffin when Majer slammed the ball under the crossbar through Milan Borjan’s arms.

An exciting game as Croatia would gather an additional 3 points which would bring them to 4 points in total going into match day 3!

On December 1, Croatia would match up against Belgium for the final group stage game. It would be the true test and final installment to see who would advance, or who would be leaving and be on their flight home, the following day.

The stage was set and both teams were focused on the match. Croatia had an early opportunity for a penalty but was reviewed by the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) and therefore was deemed offside because of the Croatia player’s hand being over the line.

In my honest opinion, I thought it was a takedown of the Croatia player for the penalty originally but now with FIFA’s advancement on VAR technology the player’s hand was offside but still a debatable topic.

Croatia would have some glorious opportunities of their own with captain Luka Modrić racking up some shots on goal.

Belgium in the second half though would have many incredible opportunities to put Croatia out and Belgium through, but none could see the net. Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku was the main man on many of the chances.

Croatia would survive the pummeling of shots late and would be relieved when the final whistle was blown at the end of the 90 minutes!

Belgium and Canada would come up short and be eliminated from the World Cup as Croatia, and first place Morocco, would advance.

A lot to take in for Belgium’s supposed “Golden Generation” as they failed to compete and win a major trophy again. The coach, Roberto Martinez, would also resign and step down following the game.

Croatia plays Japan for the Round of 16 Match on December 5, while Morocco plays Spain the following day December 6.

The World Cup excitement is only just beginning and there will be plenty more content left to come!

Basketball, Gymnastics, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Scoreboard/Schedule, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling

Sports schedule for: Dec 5-10

December 5, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: DECEMBER 5 – DECEMBER 10
MONDAY	DECEMBER 5
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION

TUESDAY	DECEMBER 6
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*5:00pm / 7:00pm*		*Girls Hockey vs. Moose Lake*	*WSP Ice Arena*
5:00pm / 7:00pm	3:00pm / 8:15pm	Boys Hockey vs. River Falls	Wildcat Arena
5:30pm / 6:30pm	5:15pm / 7:30pm	Girls Basketball vs. Cristo Rey Jesuit	Cristo Rey Jesuit High School
*5:30pm / 5:30pm* *7:00pm*		*Boys Basketball vs. St. Thomas*	*HOME*
WEDNESDAY	DECEMBER 7
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*6:00pm*		*Gymnastics vs. Johnson*	*HOME*
THURSDAY	DECEMBER 8
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
3:45pm	2:10pm / 5:15pm	Nordic Ski Race	Elm Creek Park
*4:15pm / 6:00pm*		*Girls Basketball vs. Nova Classical*	*HOME*
5:00pm	3:30pm / 6:30pm	Wrestling vs. Washington	Washington Technology Magnet
5:30pm / 7:30pm		Girls Hockey vs. Hastings	Hastings Civic Arena
FRIDAY	DECEMBER 9
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
*4:00pm / 4:00pm* *6:00pm*		*Boys Basketball vs. Hill-Murray*	*HOME*
5:00pm / 6:00pm		Girls Hockey vs. Tartan	Tartan Ice Arena
5:00pm	3:15pm / 6:30pm	Boys Swimming Conference Preview	Humboldt High School
SATURDAY	DECEMBER 10
TIME	BUS TIMES	EVENT	LOCATION
9:00am	6:30am / 4:00pm	Wrestling Invitational	Maple Grove High School
*10:30am / 12:00pm*		*Girls Basketball vs. Mound Westonka*	*HOME*
11:00am	9:00am / 1:00pm	Boys Swimming vs. Northfield	Northfield Middle School
12:15pm / 2:15pm	JV: 10:30am / 12:00pm V: 12:30pm / 4:15pm	Boys Hockey vs. Irondale	National Sports Center

Hockey

2022-2023 Minnesota Wild: The good, the bad and the ugly

December 1, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Dylan Moore

Note: this article was written before the Wild’s 12/1 game vs. the Edmonton Oilers

The good: Kirill Kaprizov. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the Wild as of late. Coming off of a 47 goal, 108 point season (both franchise records), Kirill Kaprizov has started this season off hot. His 13 goals and 27 points in 21 games is an even better start than he got off to last season. He is currently on a 9 game point streak, and looks phenomenal in every game.

Matt Boldy. Last season he played just over ½ of the regular season games (47), and registered a respectable 39 points. Now a staple on the top 6, and 1st power play unit, he already has 9 goals and 16 points in 21 games. While getting consistent power play time with Kaprizov helps, Wild fans are hoping the young winger can keep scoring at this pace.

Calen Addison. Coming over in the Jason Zucker trade in 2019, Calen Addison was able to get a few games here and there in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 season, usually being the first guy to be called up in the event of an injured defenseman. This season, manager Bill Guerin decided to give Addison a full-time roster spot, and Addison has proved that it’s been deserved. Being the point man on the power play and getting 5-on-5 minutes with Kaprizov’s line, the 22-year-old defenseman has racked up the points. In 21 games he already has 10 assists and 11 points, and already looks to be one of the better passers on the team. His skills as a great 2-way defenseman will hopefully be exploited by the Wild for years to come.

The bad: Marco Rossi. The other new full-time player is Marco Rossi. Our highest overall draft pick of the last decade (9th overall in 2020), the Austrian center has had a rough path to the NHL. I like to think he would have gotten more than 2 NHL games before this year if it wasn’t for the heart problems he had in late 2020 and early 2021. He got COVID in November, and shortly after captained the Austrians at the world juniors. During his physical at training camp, they found out he had a disease which resulted in an inflamed heart. After he battled through that, he spent the 2021-2022 season lighting up the AHL. In his first full season, he has only gotten 1 point in 18 games. While he is still only 21, many Wild fans are expecting big things from Rossi, and this certainly is not the best start to his career.

Our record. As things stand, the Wild are 10-9-2, and 1 point off of a wild card spot in the Western Conference. Although we had a terrible start to the season (more on that later), we were 4-4-2 in our first 10, and 5-4-1 in our last 10. Given our record setting finish last season, more was expected from the team. Although we lost key pieces, we are still expected to be a playoff team, and a good one at that. Wild fans aren’t in a panicked state just yet, but it is in the team’s best interest to go on a hot streak sooner rather than later.

The ugly: The start to the season. Following a summer of tough choices, the Wild went with the aging Marc-Andre Fleury, and traded for backup Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson was the defined backup, not expected to play too many games, unless the 38-year-old Fleury needed a rest. Like most things, this did not initially go to plan. Through the first 3 games of the season, Marc-Andre Fleury gave up 20 (!!!) goals. Twenty. While the defense was utterly terrible, you can not blame them for this complete collapse right out of the gate. Of the 21 games we have played, Fleury has only started 13 (or roughly 60%) of games, less than expected. Although his record has certainly improved (now 7-5-1), Gustavsson (3-4-1) betters him in all statistical categories (probably because he didn’t let up 20 goals in 3 games). Regardless, the early-season struggles can be attributed to a less-than sound goaltending structure.

Injuries. If our injury struggles had to be summarized, I would use Jordan Greenway as an example. The lanky power forward has already missed 3 different patches of games (16 of our 21 games) with injury. Other players that have missed more than 3 games include Ryan Hartman (11), Marcus Foligno (6), John Merrill (4), Brandon Duhaime (6), and Marc-Andre Fleury. So far this season, key contributors have missed a combined total of 48 games, which does not help with our consistency issues. With the forward lines getting mixed up countless times due to these injuries, one can only hope the issues slow down as this long season carries on.

All in all, through the good, bad and ugly, I am still hopeful. And like a good Minnesota sports fan, I am eagerly awaiting my inevitable disappointment once April comes around. Good luck Wild!

Nordic Skiing, Sports

What is Biathlon? A beginner’s guide

November 30, 2022 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Toby Martin-Kohls

Biathlon is a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Athletes compete on a circuit where they stop to shoot at a set of tiny targets on a shooting range. In addition, they ski with rifles carried on their backs, which adds another level of difficulty while skiing.

Each race has a set distance, and the number of laps is determined by what race is going on. Every race has at least one trip into the range where athletes shoot at the targets in the prone position, which is lying down on their stomachs, and one where they stand and shoot.

The tiny targets are 50m away from the shooting mat. That equates to 164ft and is about nine-tenths of The Leaning Tower of Pisa, half the height of the Statue of Liberty, or half the length of a soccer pitch.

The target size varies depending on the position the athlete is shooting from, prone or standing. Since standing is considered harder, the targets are 115mm wide, equaling 4.5in. That’s four and a half quarters wide for comparison.

The size of the targets while shooting in the prone position is only 45mm wide, which equals 1.77in. That’s around the size of 2 quarters. The target would be just smaller.

Besides the target size and the range length, biathletes have other factors making it hard to hit the targets. Heart rate and muscle fatigue play a significant role in shooting accuracy. Imagine running as hard as you can while holding weights for, let’s say, 10 minutes straight and having to very precisely aim a rifle at a tiny target 50m away. Your arms are probably shaking, and you have to get your breathing under control.

Every time athletes come into the shooting range; they shoot at a set of 5 of those targets. If they miss, they usually have to ski a penalty loop for every target they miss. The loop is an extra 150m (490 ft) added to the original race distance. These usually take around 20 seconds for the athletes to complete.

The only times biathletes might not ski the penalty loop is the individual race, where if you miss, you get an added minute onto your time. And the relays, where biathletes get three spare rounds they must manually load into their rifle. If they use the extra rounds and still miss, then penalty loop(s) are required.

Good shooting times for women are around 30 seconds on the range, while good shooting times for men are around 20 seconds in total. You will see the biathletes take the most time until their first shot, getting their breathing under control and their rifle steady. Then men usually take around 2sec between shots and women around 3sec.

Most biathletes shoot the targets from right to left, as it’s the easiest way to do so. However, some shoot left to right, and some start from the middle and go right or left after. There is no rule about which order you shoot the targets in.

Types of races

There are a few different disciplines in biathlon. The first is the sprint and the pursuit races. The Sprint race is 7.5km for women and 10km for men. Each shoot twice, one in the prone and then one standing. The sprint format is a time trial. The starting times for the pursuit are based on the sprint race results. The pursuit is 10 km for women and 12.5km for men. Both shoot four times total, two in the prone and two standing. They alternate, with the first time into the range in the prone position, the next in the standing position, and so on.

Then there is the mass start, which is self-explanatory. It is 12.5km for women and 15km for men. They shoot four times in total.

There is the individual race, the longest race for each gender. As I explained above, this race values shooting a bit more than the others. It is better to be accurate and take more time on the range than try and shoot fast, as you get a 1 min penalty for every target you miss. The race is 15km for women and 20km for men.

Lastly, there are the relays. The men’s relay is 4×7.5km, and the women’s relay is 4x6km. There is also the mixed relay, two men and two women, and the single mixed relay with one man and one woman. Teams are by country.

The person who wins the overall for each gender wins the trophy known as the Crystal Globe.

In addition, there are nine World Cups throughout the season, not including the World Championships in February.

The season starts this Tuesday, November 29, in Kontiolahti, Finland. After that, the World Cups will stop in Austria, France, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Sweden and end with Norway in mid-March.

How you can watch

You can watch all replays this season at: youtube.com/@BiathlonCentral1.

My opinion

I enjoy watching this sport because the shooting adds another aspect to the race, keeping it interesting. I’ve tried watching Nordic Skiing, and the distances are very long, and it only comes down to who is the fastest over a distance. Maybe there are some passes during the race, but the fastest person wins.

Biathlon keeps things varied during races; you can gain and lose positions because of the track or the range. The wax you use, your ski speed, your shooting accuracy, there are so many factors that make or break the racing. That is what makes it an exciting and fan-friendly sport.