The Falcon Flyer

From the left: Kile Minnis, Ryan Archibald, Tanner Lucas, Ashlann Wood, Austin Pernell, Laura Rayfield, Isaac Fererr, Caleb Saulo

Congratulations to the Falcon athletes committed to play at the collegiate level.

On Feb. 10, the athletes celebrated with family and friends at a private assembly.  Athletic director Bruce Rick and Principal Dr. Joe Potts addressed the athletes before cake was served.

Kile Minnis, football – St. Cloud State University  (Minnisota)

Ryan Archibald, football – Central Washington University

Tanner Lucas, football – Central Washington University

Caleb Saulo, football – Oregon State University

Laura Rayfield, soccer – Oregon State University

Ashlann Wood, soccer – Shoreline Community College

Issac Ferrer, soccer – Hastings College (Nebraska)

Austin Pernell, baseball – Washington State University

In 1999 the World Anti-Doping Agency was established to monitor the fight against drugs in sport.  Despite WADA and several government regulations, obtaining questionable drugs is as easy as going to the pharmacy.

A recent trip to GNC sparked skepticism into the regulation of performance-enhancing drugs.

After purchasing a bottle of L-glutamine, a naturally occurring amino acid, the cashier offered some free gifts: two thermo-stimulants and one diet pill.

Upon close examination of the free supplements, the dangers were abundantly clear.

On all of the bottles a warning label stated that the supplements are not meant for anyone under 18 years old.  This is not a problem except the cashier never checked for ID.  For all the cashier knows, an underage but acromegalic child could have received the free gifts posing a larger risk for the customer.

The dangers do not start there.  Below is the ingredient list for one of the products.

• Geranium extract – 177mg  (Used as a stimulant and recently a hallucinogenic drug in New Zealand.  Recommended daily dose: 150mg.)
• Caffeine anhydrous – 100mg  (Another stimulant, but it is recommended that the geranium extract not be combined with any other stimulants, especially caffeine.)
• Deanol bitartrate – 17mg  (Used to treat Alzheimer’s and ADHD.)
• Yohimbe extract – 40mg  (Used as an over-the-counter drug to cure sexual dysfunction, also tested to cure type-2 diabetes.  Recommended daily dose: 15-30mg.)
• Huperzine extract – 13mg  (Used to treat Alzheimer’s.  Recommended daily dose: 50-200mcg or .05-.2mg.  The supplement contains 65 times the recommended dose.)

And on the bottom of the label of this same bottle it says in bold letters: This product should not be used by those concerned with athletic testing such as required by WADA.

This free gift is most likely illegal in athletic competition, (Editor’s note: research did not clarify its validity) but can be obtained from a simple, legal, trip to the drug store.  WADA and the government need to strengthen their control over questionable supplements to prevent abuse and illegal usage in sport.

Photo by Kim Nutting

Since first grade, freshman Nicholas Smith has wrestled his way to the top. Having placed first, undefeated, for both of his years at Cedar Heights Middle School, he is no newcomer when it comes to being in first. Smith also has eight Washington State championships under his belt, topping it all off with two top-10 placements at Nationals (one in Greco-Roman style, another in freestyle), and his success does not appear to be slowing.

It all began in 2003 when Smith was inspired to pick up the sport by his father.

His father had won the State Championship three times during his high school tenure, along with making finals once more. His father also earned a wrestling scholarship to Boise State University.

The connection does not stop there, however, as Smith also practices with his father in their off time.

“He’s my coach,” said Smith. “[But] when I get home, he’s my dad.”

Smith wrestles in all three major styles: Greco-Roman, folk-style, and freestyle. In Greco-Roman, contact with the legs must be avoided, whereas legs are allowed in both folk-style and freestyle.

Smith said “I like folk-style… It’s the school wrestling, and I’ve done it the longest.”

Smith’s victories have come on the lighter end of the weight class scale. “I won [Greco-Roman] and freestyle last year at 84 [pounds]… and this year, I’ll wrestle 91 [pounds].”

However, this does not mean opponents are less difficult, according to Smith. “For the most part, it doesn’t matter what weight you are,” said Smith. “It’s not going to be easier or harder one way or the other.”

Fellow wrestler Evan Anderson, a junior, described Smith. “He’s small, but he gives it his best,” said Anderson. “He got second at the last tournament, so he’s doing something right.”

Despite his promising record, Smith occasionally faces defeat. However, he does not let it bring him down. “You just pick yourself up,” said Smith. “I want to keep going.”

Contrary to popular belief, wrestling does not involve chair smashes and other furniture-desecrating actions. This common misconception of confusing World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with wrestling for sport bothers Smith.

“WWE is obviously fake. What’s going on isn’t [real]. Wrestling is a competitive sport, like football,” said Smith. “You lose two matches, you’re going home.”
Currently, the wrestling team is 5-0 , and confidence is high. Reassured by his undefeated record, Smith said, “It’ll get harder, [but] I haven’t had too many tough kids yet.”

“I think we’ve got a chance. We’ve been pretty high in our meets, and I think we’re going to beat Kentwood this year,” said Smith. “I think we’re going to beat everybody.”

With a 6-14 record from last season, the girl’s basketball team is eyeing to be playoff caliber. Coach Scott Simmons is hoping to achieve the goals of playing quality defense and limit teams from scoring on them.

“Last year’s team worked very hard on trying to fill the holes from missing spots from that year before. They did very well but it wasn’t quite good enough to get into the playoffs. This year I think that we can make up the ground in talent and blend it with our work ethics and try to qualify for the playoff spot,” said Simmons.
Goals are important for any team. Making it to the playoffs is the primary goal and challenge that the team faces.

“If we work hard enough at meeting out goals then we should definitely qualify for the playoffs, which is better than we did last year,” said Simmons. The team has been in the playoffs every year besides last season.

Simmons believes that this year’s captains, senior Paige Engeland, senior Alyssa Simonson and junior Stephanie Luce, were a good fit for varsity. During their annual captains’ retreat, the captains were organized and seemed excited to lead the team, according to Simmons.

Luce is looking forward to her third year on varsity. “It’s great being a captain because I get to help others on the team and just know that they look up to me,” said Luce.

Each captain has their own goals. One of Luce’s goals is to break the school record for block shots, which is seven right now, according to Luce. “It would be really good for each player to live up to the varsity’s expectations,” said Luce.

Currently the team is 0-2-1, losing to Auburn, Auburn Riverside, and tying with Kentwood. Simmons will be expecting a lot of the team but, with their continuing goals and well fought for effort, the team will have a hopeful outlook to go to the playoffs. “I would like to turn the season around and still make the playoffs, but if not than a .500 record,” said Simmons.

photo by Courtney Larson

While a team only needs five players to start a basketball game, teams typically carry more. Usually you have a mix of talent, skill, and experience. This season, while boy’s basketball has the talent and skill, they have eight seniors and only two freshmen.

Last season, varsity lost six seniors to graduation, but on the other hand they kept current seniors Jaron Heck, Austin Pernell, Ayanle Jama, and Dedrian Miller. They are the most experienced players with at least one year on varsity.

The communication and atmosphere has not been negatively affected by the changes to the lineup. Senior Bryce Demecilio said, “Our seniors right now actually work really well together, so we would all work hard together and push each other at practice. We pick each other up when were down and the two freshman have fit in with us pretty good.”

The freshmen are Dang Tran and Carson Stowell. Head coach, Ron Charrier, said “I think the freshman will have to learn to step up and be leaders since they will be the only ones with varsity level experience next year.”

On his position Stowell said, “It’s cool because I’m one of the only freshman and I’m just there to help out my team any way I can.”

Charrier’s reason for playing them this year? “The two freshmen are the most varsity ready players at this time,” he said.

The junior class lost all seven after last year and the entire team has only one junior. Heck, co-captain, said, “The lack of juniors has hurt us a little bit size wise, but, I mean, if they aren’t going to play then they aren’t going to play.”

Team size is not the only problem. Jama said, “It doesn’t really affect it because we have mostly seniors, but it affects us throughout the season when injuries come along and other stuff. We could have had more experienced guys.”

Last season, the team made the playoffs only to be cut down by Auburn Riverside. This season is rumored to be among one of the strongest. State is looking like more of possibility, less of a goal.

Charrier said, “The goals for the season are to make the playoffs and then once in the playoffs to win some games and make it to state.”

Underclassmen just keep swimming

The boys swim team is going to have to step their game up this year after many of their top swimmers graduated. Though there was a loss of great talent, there are new additions to the team who may give the team an edge.

While there are a few underclassmen joining the team this year, there are also a handful of upperclassmen who decided to come out for this season.

Senior Dylan Jamison said,“It’s my senior year and I wanted to have a good time with friends,” he said.

Junior Daniel Merlino is also a new addition. “I’m good at swimming and did club in eighth grade. I decided to swim for Kentlake because it seems like a lot of fun,” he said.

Last year, the team had 10 swimmers that made it all the way to the State Championship. Five of the top swimmers last year were seniors who are now graduated.
“Last season we had a lot more club swimmers and seniors, and this year might be more focused on having fun,” said senior Conner Powell. “Quenton Knox is also showing a lot of potential as an incoming freshman.”

Knox is new to competitive swimming, but like many other past swimmers, he has swam for King for the last year and a half. Many swimmers have a race that they favor over others. “If I had to choose a favorite it’d probably be either the front or back 100,” said Knox.

“Being a freshman on the team is pretty cool since there are only three of us this year,” said Knox.

Senior captain Kyle Koon commented that there are not as many underclassmen as in previous years.

Koon has contributed to the success of the team since his freshman year. This year he is sure to be a strong leader to this new group of swimmers. While there was much talent that graduated last year, this has opened the door for many incoming swimmers to make their mark.

Money has changed the world of sports for the worse. It is sad that the days of “one-teamers” has nearly vanished. Money and selfishness have forged a new standard of sports abandonment.

Before explaining, look at some famous one-teamers: Cal Ripken Jr., Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Dan Marino, Johnny Bench, and Mario Lemeiux. These men should have a plaque in the Dedication Hall of Fame.

Now, look at some recent examples of trader-players those who voluntarily defected: Brett Favre, Lebron James, Albert Pujols, and Carmelo Anthony. These Benedict Arnolds had no reason to leave their teams except for money.

Many of these traders leave to “win a championship” or they want to “play for a contender.”
Shenanigans.

Pujols signed for a 10-year, $254 million contract, the best he could find. James left his childhood home to lose to the Mavericks. Anthony whined like a sissy until he was traded. And Favre is still a joke.

They may be great athletes, but they will be remembered as betrayers, thieves of trust.

On the other hand, Ichiro Suzuki will be underrated as a truly magnificent player, but remembered as a Seattle legend. His willingness to remain with the Mariners shows class and maturity. He will never win a championship, not by a long shot, yet he is a perennial All-Star and future Hall of Famer.

And while every player does not have the opportunity to be an Ichiro, those who have can, must. The supporting cast can be shuffled around without notice; they play a very vital role in their rearrangement. If they did not move, teams would be identical every year.

However, superstars, could be one-teamers, follow the cash like selfish jerks. Consequently, the one-teamer is almost extinct, slowly drowning in a money river.

On the count of… 2445

Albert Pujols’s new contract equates to $24.5 million every year. If paid in stacked pennies, Pujols would receive a stack 2,445 miles high.

Success is fleeting, everyone knows it. In the past, the gymnastics team has accomplished much, but now they are faced with another tough season. They are now focusing all of their energy on getting to State this year.

“We want to be competitive, so we’re going to try to be as competitive and work as hard as possible to get far,” said senior Brenna Bickel.

Four years ago the girls got second in State and the next three years they were named All-City, according to Bickel. Judging by this, success is not a foreign idea to the team.

Coach Marla Boyd is willing to lead the girls to fulfill their goal, but she recognizes that the team still has some work to do. “We need to improve our difficulty level and our execution if we want to succeed,” said Boyd.

Junior Melissa Alberts, senior Katie Steckler, freshman Lizzy Reichlinger, and Bickel are ready to do what it takes to get to State. All of these girls are “all-arounds” meaning that they compete in all of the events: vault, beam, bars, and floor.

Bickel not only has great expectations for her team, but also for herself.

“I have a 10 point start value on every event except for vault, which is a perfect score. I’m hoping to at least score 9s … this year I just want to be as good as I can be and just the best I can and have fun, it’s my senior year,” she said.

“I want to make it to State this year as a team more importantly than as an individual,” said Alberts.

“We hope to creep from behind little by little, that’s our plan,” said Boyd “We can do it, but it will be a challenge.”

Though gymnastics is a huge part of the athletic community, it lacks support from the student body, an opinion that was shared by all of the girls.

“We’re part of Kentlake like everyone else is and everyone shows up to football games, so we need support too,” said Alberts. They would ask that more people come out and support them.

The NFL lockout created unnecessary absurdities and worries. Now, the NBA lockout is doing the causing the same emotions – in an entirely different way.

The NBA has been locked out for 113 days (as of Oct. 21), and it seems the sports media has already written off the league entirely. The NBA receives as much attention as Rebecca Black.

In preparation of a long-term lockout, NBA Commissioner David Stern cancelled the preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season. That equates to 164 professional games that will never exist.

Meanwhile, the NFL lost only one preseason game.

Several NBA players have signed with teams overseas including Kobe Bryant, Pau and Marc Gasol, and Deron Williams. Many others are considering a move if (when) the lockout persists (including Lebron James to the Seahawks).
On the other hand, during the NFL lockout, well, let’s just say nobody left to join the CFL.

For some reason, the sports world is too consumed with lesser matters to focus on the NBA whereas the NFL was nearly forced to reach a deal because of the pressure of the sports media giant.
Could it be that the media coverage is playing favorites?

Yes.

Instead of bothering to report on the conditions of labor agreements, a larger focus is being placed on Tim Tebow, a certain Tiger Woods hot dog incident, and the departure of Terry Francona and Theo Epstein from Boston.
Apparently, the message is to renounce the NBA much the same way they gave up on the NHL in 2004. After that fiasco, the NHL is still fighting for revival.

Perhaps, though, ignoring the NBA is an elaborate apology to the NHL.

On the count of…

720K

Each game the NBA loses, they lose about $720,000 dollars in ticket sales alone. That’s enough money to pay for William and Kate’s honeymoon. One game.

NASCAR needs its next big breakthrough. When NASCAR CEO Brian France famously said, “Boys, have at it,” he was speaking in the interest of the fans. But that was just the first step.

With the conclusion of the 2011 season and 2012 just around the corner, here is some tricky tactics NASCAR can employ to increase fanship:

Turn right. Run a few races backwards. It would add an interesting twist, create plenty of drama, force new strategy, and probably lead to some tremendous bumper cars. Teams would need to adjust everything from pit strategies to spotter locations and car setups to steering ratios. Any NASCAR fan would be fascinated

Back-to-back races, doubleheader style. Instead of one race every weekend, why not two? To eliminate Sprint Cup Series drivers from dominating Nationwide Series events, keep them occupied with two Sprint Cup races at once. This is only possible if tracks are close to each other, such as Lucas Oil Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, less than 10 miles apart. Race one Saturday morning and the other Sunday night. It would be NASCAR’s equivalent of a doubleheader.

Put a track in the Pacific Northwest. On second thought, with the economic situation in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, this might be impossible.

Shorten the season. The season lasts 40 weeks (Feb. to Nov.), longer than any other sport. With 28 tracks, the season should last, at most, 30 weeks – one race at each track, one All-Star race, and one bye week. Drivers have fewer opportunities to makeup a bad race, thus creating more drama. And a longer offseason would add more anticipation to the start of the season making the Daytona 500 even more special (if that is even possible).

Ditch the Chase for the Championship, but keep the points system the same. This gives every driver a chance to win the title and a reason to run the race. Under the current format, only the top 12 drivers are considered the last 10 races of the season. The others still race, but for what? Empty victories. The champion is the driver with the most points at the end of the season, simple enough, period.

More road courses. With over 20 oval-shaped tracks, races become monotonous. They cannot completely nix the classic track, but road courses are delightful. The Sprint Cup Series only uses three road courses. They could use two more road courses: Road America (showcased in the Nationwide Series) and one TBD, perhaps our neighbors to the North: the Edmonton City Centre Airport (converted to a racetrack) or our neighbors to the West: the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. Yeah, it may be confusing and nearly impossible, but it might be fun to try once. Only once.

Keep the ovals, but add a hill. All current tracks are on flat ground (boring). Imagine a race on a mountainside. Cars heave up the hill at 110mph, crawl through the turn, then scream downhill at over 250mph, hit the 60? bank, fly around the corner, and lug back up the hill. Even describing it sends chills down the spine.

Go back to the glory days in car design. This day in age, there is no noticeable difference between the Toyotas, the Dodges, the Chevys, or the Fords. The Car of Tomorrow is safer and all that unexciting important stuff, but there is no uniqueness. Let manufacturers flaunt their models; let the Chargers look like Chargers (and the Camrys look like Camrys). There must be a way to add the safety equipment without sacrificing the cars’ distinctive curvature. At least, make it look like “stock car” racing.

Along those same lines, the “shark fin” looks stupid. It serves a very important purpose, but it looks stupid. If NASCAR ever finds a way to eliminate flying cars without a “shark fin,” do it. Until then, everybody has to live with the awful “shark fin.” (“Shark fin” sounds annoying to say. “Shark fin…”).

During televised broadcasts, there should be no commercial breaks. ESPN has done a wonderful job displaying the race and the commercials simultaneously. It makes sense for a nonstop broadcast for there are no timeouts in NASCAR. Every network should adopt the idea. Especially during a wreck cleanup or yellow flag laps, keep the cameras rolling. Throw the picture at the corner of the screen and show the commercials. More than anything, after a bad crash, everybody wants to see the result. It brings relief to see the drivers walking out of the medical hut.

Along those same lines, break the main picture up as needed. If there are two good battles, show them both. The commentators shut up and the race tells the whole story. When the battles are over, the commentators can resume.

If Tony Stewart wants to box after a race, give them gloves and a ring. Reminiscent of chessboxing, NASCARboxing would be freakin’ awesome. These guys are not very tall (or tough) (yes, that is a challenge, Stewart) and how great would it be to see two angry small men fight, probably after they crashed? Answer: indescribably awesome.

NASCAR is America’s co-pastime, but it could use a facelift. Next year, NASCAR turns 64. It is either time to think about retirement or hit the pedal to the metal. The green flag is waving.

On the count of…
3
The first Daytona 500 in 1959 took three days. Originally, Johnny Beauchamp was declared the winner, but after reviewing photographs and film for three days, NASCAR officials reversed the decision and determined Lee Petty had won. Fortunately, since that time, video replay review has monumentally improved. Yet, for some reason, officials (NFL) still get it wrong – a lot.