Busch Victorious In Daytona 500

NASCAR has been dormant for the past few months due to the off-season, but this past Sunday things changed as the all new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series took to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the famous Daytona 500.

The long race has been notoriously prone to exciting crashes and finishes as 43 of the most talented drivers in the world race to the 500 mile mark. This years season opener was no acceptation as there were four major crashes that left just over half the field standing at the end of the 500 mile event. Kurt Busch, driver for Stewart - Haas Racing, was the the first to the line as he made a last lap pass on Chase Elliot and Kyle Larson as they ran out of fuel. Ryan Blaney, a second year competitor in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finished second. 

With his 2017 Daytona 500 win, Kurt Busch now has 29 career wins and a championship in NASCAR’s premiere series. “The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictably.” said Busch. Daytona hasn’t failed to keep its viewers and competitors on the edge of their seats and Busch obviously agrees. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels slightly north to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend for the next event, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

- David Garbo Jr. 

NBA News: Kings trade DeMarcus Cousins to Pelicans

Article By Nick Spino

With the NBA Trade Deadline approaching, the Sacramento Kings made an bold move by trading three-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans.

In the trade, the Pelicans acquired Cousins, along with small forward Omar Casspi, in exchange for rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield, shooting guards Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway, in addition to a 2017 first-round and second-round draft pick.

This acquisition ignites a potentially explosive front court for the Pelicans with Cousins and center Anthony Davis. Cousins is averaging a double-double this season (27.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG) along with 4.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. Davis is averaging a double-double as well (27.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG) in addition to 2.2 assists and 2.5 blocks. Both players have had no difficulty adjusting to the NBA out of the University of Kentucky and their numbers prove that. Now, they will be playing alongside each other in the same starting lineup.

Cousins is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 season. However, due to the new collective bargaining agreement, he would have been able to extend his contract with the Kings by five years after this season. The Kings would have been able to give Cousins a long-term contract that could have paid him above $200 million. Cousins expressed that he wanted to sign that contract, hence why he stated that he wanted to remain in Sacramento.

The Kings seemingly were not interested in offering Cousins a contract of that duration or for that amount of guaranteed money, so they shipped him to New Orleans. Cousins is ineligible to sign a contract extension with the Pelicans similar to the one that he would've been able to sign in California's capital. This is because the Pelicans did not draft Cousins, therefore he is no longer signed to his rookie contract.

"When you make a deal, you want to get the most. Right now was the best time, and it was the best offer we had," Kings GM Vlade Divac said regarding the blockbuster trade.

The Pelicans are most definitely not a lock to re-sign Cousins when the time comes. After the 2018 season, Cousins will become a free agent and presumably sign elsewhere considering that he will allure a lot of interest from NBA teams.

The Kings (24-33) and Pelicans (23-34) currently hold similar records and are both in the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

High Point University Equestrian Team Takes Virginia Tech

High Points Riding Team loaded the bus over the weekend and drove 2.5 hours to Virginia Tech to show Saturday, February 18th. Virginia Techs horse show would decide who would qualify to get to regionals. Where 13 High Point riders would get in the ring with a total of 16 rides. There were several people on the team who were depending on this show to take them to regionals.

The point system is very simple to understand, it goes by the place you get. 1st place gets 7 points, 2nd gets 6 points, 3rd gets 5 points and so and so forth. In order to qualify a rider needs 28 points for open and flat.

One of High Points talented open flat and jumping riders, Morgan Moog needed just one point to qualify for regionals in jumping at the show. Although Morgan is currently studying abroad in Germany she has been flying back to complete her show season to go to regionals. Regionals will be held on March 17th at Averett University where several High Point riders like Madison Johnson, Jessica Smith, Morgan Moog, Gabi Berger and more will travel to.

Over the weekend High Point came in 6th place out of 11 teams. At the end of this season, High Point came in 4th place out of 12 teams.

We look forward to seeing how High Points Team performs at regionals in the upcoming weeks.



Kim Kaadi

HPU Baseball Wins Over the Islanders

High Point University baseball had their third game of the 2017 season on Sunday the 19th, as they faced New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Islanders, and it did’t lack excitement. 

The Panthers got off to a slow start as they were down four runs by inning four until Carson Jackson, HPU Junior, changed the Panthers momentum with a home run over left field in the fifth inning. The Panthers would go on to win over the Islanders 6-5 on home runs by Austen Zente, Jordan Sergent and two homers from Carson Jackson. 

Jackson was later named HPU athlete of the week. High Point has their first road game of the season today at 6 p.m. against the Wildcats of Davidson College where they look to improve to a 2-2 record.

- David Garbo

Panthers fall at No. 3 Maryland, 19-5

      Thomas McNeeley
      
            The High Point Panthers men's lacrosse team traveled to College Park this past Saturday as they faced off against Maryland. The Panthers were coming off a great win vs. Georgetown and attempted to keep the momentum going as they headed into their game against the Terrapins.

            However, Maryland proved why they are ranked #3 in the nation. High Point was trailing 4-2 with 3:38 to go in the first, but from that point on, Maryland never looked back. The Terrapins netted six straight goals and took a commanding eight-goal lead. Junior Terrell Sands was able to score his first career goal for the Panthers as the first half came to a close to make it a 10-3 game.

            That was as close as High Point would come to upsetting Maryland. The Terrapins absolutely dominated the second half of the game holding High Point to just two more goals in the second half. The story of the game was High Point’s lack of ability on the ground. Maryland won the ground ball battle and was able to completely control the game. They had 46 ground balls compared to High Points 19.

            Head coach Jon Torpey was extremely disappointed in his team’s effort on the ground. "We got beat by a very good team and this week we have a lot of weaknesses to address. Any time you lose the ground ball battle by 26, you can assure that the score will be lopsided. Hats off to Maryland, they dominated us in every facet today."

            The Panthers (1-2) look to bounce back next Saturday as they take on St. Johns (0-2) at Vert Stadium at 1:00 P.M.

Do College Athletes have a voice?

We all know how this thing goes. If you are a college athlete, you are owned by whatever university that you are giving your service to. And once you think you have that one source of freedom (social media,) that is also taken away from you. Well to protect yourself, they say.

Social media is a very common thing, especially among college students. We use it everyday, all day. Whether it be to keep up with friends and family or to just express your feelings on a daily basis, social media is here for the people to express themselves. So what changes when it comes to college athletes? Why don't can't they experience the same freedom of speech that everyone else can? They say it is to protect the athlete, but at the end of the day aren't they really just trying to protect themselves and the state of the university?

The worries of most universities are the news that could leek out before the university is ready, like injuries, locker room problems or inappropriate pictures/language. But what about the good that can come from the use of social media? This platform allows athletes to brand themselves off the court and show their true personality.

Although I do believe there should be limits, the limits should be very low.

More to come.

- Jarray Davis

Free Oakley: More Than a Catchphrase

BY: Kevin McMahon

We as Knicks fans have gone through a lot of tough times. There have been a lot of low points in our fandom but we have always stayed true to the orange and blue. BUT BOY DID MR. DOLAN MAKE IT HARD TO REMAIN A KNICK FAN LAST WEEK. This last week has to be one of the roughest weeks for any Knick fan. Granted, I have only been a Knick fan for 20 years but even older Knick fans are saying this is one of our lowest moments as a franchise. A hero, a man who played for the Knicks for 10 years during a great period for the Knicks had to be dragged out of the stadium. A man who deserves to have his jersey hanging in the rafters of Madison Square Garden was tackled to the ground and arrested and taken to jail. There are two sides to every story. Knicks Owner Dolan claims Charles Oakley came into MSG drunk and out of control. Oakley claims he did nothing wrong. I am not here to debate who is right, I am here to say that I have had enough. Wether he's in the wrong or not there is a way to handle your former players, tackling him to the ground and having him arrested is not the way. Banning Oakley: Bad move. Dolan banned Oakley from Madison Square Garden. So guess what? New York let him have it last week, the most popular jersey to wear to a Knicks game was a Charles Oakley jersey. Knicks fans wore shirts that said "Free Oakley".  Super fan Spike Lee was seen court side wearing an Oakley Jersey. Even at Rangers games in the Garden chants of "free Oakley" echoed throughout the arena. Dolan lifted the ban after all of this occurred and even said he would love to bring Oakley back as his guest. By the way the New York Knicks are still playing basketball during this entire mess. This is vintage Knicks, there is always drama. Last week the Knicks beat one for the best teams in the league in the San Antonio Spurs. But, the main story was still the feud between Oakley and Dolan and I will tell you why. Knicks fans have had enough! This is the moment Knicks fans have been waiting for. Knicks fans are rallying around Oakley not just because they are mad about the way he was treated which they are, they are mad about everything Dolan has done to mistreat The Knicks. Everyone can tell the Phil Jackson experiment is not working, everyone except for Dolan. Dolan has an opportunity to turn around the Knicks, thanks to a 7'3 Latvian Unicorn named Porzingis but if Dolan is not careful we could lose him too. Free Oakley is a battle cry for Knicks fans everywhere. Free Oakley! because he was horribly mistreated. Free Oakley because Knicks fans are tired of the unjust ways of the Dolans. Enough is enough. This is not just about Charles Oakley, its about The New York Knicks and their unbelievably loyal fans. New York deserves better its finally time to listen to the fans, please we are begging you. If you want to rebuild, lets truly rebuild, trade Carmelo, Build around Kristaps, and Free Oakley.

The Current State of HPU Basketball

By Zach Tucker
With two weeks to go until the Big South tournament, it’s make or break time for the High Point University men’s and women’s basketball teams. Following a 55-52 loss last night at Liberty, the men’s basketball team moves to 8-7 in conference play. Currently, the men’s team sits in fourth place in the Big South conference. Although it seems almost impossible for High Point to get a top-three seed in the Big South tournament, the Panthers can guarantee at least one home game if they hang on to the fourth seed. Led by senior forward Miles Bowman Jr. and sophomore guard Andre Fox, the Panthers will try and start a new win streak after losing their last two games. The Panthers remaining schedule includes a trip to Charleston Southern, a team that they beat 72-69 at home in January. High Point also has two home matches against Campbell and Gardner-Webb. High Point beat both teams on the road earlier this season.

The women’s basketball team won 78-69 at home last night against Liberty. With the win the Panthers hold a 9-4 record in conference play. That moves the Panthers to a game behind Campbell and Radford for first place in the conference. High Point has experienced a second half surge after winning their last six games and averaging 80 points during that streak. Senior guard Kaylah Keys will look to continue her historic career as she became the third player in the history of the Big South conference to obtain 300 assists, 200 three-pointers and 150 steals during her career. Emma Bockrath will look to prolong her stellar sophomore campaign as she has averaged over 20 points for the past four games. The Panthers will seek revenge against Campbell at home on Saturday, after suffering a 25 point loss to the Camels earlier this year. The Panthers will then have two road contests against Charleston Southern and Presbyterian, before closing out the season at home against Longwood and Radford.    

Celtics Heating Up as They Head into All-Star Break

            The NBA's most underrated team is on absolute fire as they approach the leagues 66th All-Star weekend. The Boston Celtics are currently playing their best basketball of the year as they have won ten out of the past eleven games.

            The Celtics ended a four game road trip out west with a key win at Dallas, a city they haven't won at in years. It was just a one point game heading into the fourth quarter, but Isaiah Thomas helped lead the team to victory in the final twelve minutes of the game. Boston pulled away and outscored Dallas 28-16 in the final quarter of the contest. 

            Thomas dropped 29 points and dished out 8 assists during the win. Marcus Smart also added 19 points against his hometown team. Seven-foot center Kelly Olynck also had 7 out of his 15 points in the Celtic's big fourth quarter. 

            Mavericks head coach and former Celtics player voiced some support for Boston. "They've got a legitimate shot to get to the Finals with that team out of the East. It's a very good basketball team, so when you're playing a team on that level, you've just gotta be on it form the very beginning.

Boston has a back to back before their All-Star break starts. They play at home on Friday versus Philadelphia, and then play at Chicago on Saturday.

High Point University Equestrian Team Travels To Emory & Henry

High Point University's Equestrian Team loaded up the bus to travel to Emory & Henry College where the team participated in a double header horse show. There were around 22 rides throughout the entire show in divisions starting off at walk-trot, beginner walk-trot-canter, walk trot canter, intermediate, novice and open riders. High Point University riders were not alone they were accompanied by other schools like Emory & Henry, Virgina Tech, Liberty University, Wake Forest University and Elon along with some other smaller schools.

They started off the first day a little slow seeing that this show was the first one of the semester. However, as the day went by High Point University had a strong come back going into the second day they also had really good rides. High Point University's Open Rider, in both the Flat and Fences, Morgan Moog started the day off on Saturday coming in third place and also qualifying for regionals in open over fences. Sunday morning she started the team off again with a second place in her open over fences class.  Madison Johnson also one of High Point University's talented open riders came in first place in open over fences.

All in all the team won seven first place ribbons, six second place ribbons, four forth place ribbons, nine fifth place ribbons, five sixth place ribbons and one seventh place ribbon.

High Point University's Riding Team worked extremely hard over the weekend and came in 4th place out of 12 University's who came to compete.

High Point University's next horse show will be held on February 18th taking place at Virgina Tech and we look forward to seeing how they do then.

Kim Kaadi

Super Bowl LI Recap: Patriots Win 5th Title with Groundbreaking Comeback

In the first overtime in Super Bowl history, the New England Patriots scored 25 unanswered points in an epic, unprecedented comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons rolled out to a commanding 21-3 lead that carried through halftime and into the third quarter.  Atlanta's defense was forcing key turnovers and quarterback Matt Ryan and company were gaining huge chunks of yardage on offense.  Atlanta tacked on another touchdown early in the third quarter to make the score 28-3.  They owned a comfortable and commanding lead with about eight minutes left in the quarter, Ryan having thrown two touchdown passes and cornerback Robert Alford recording a pick-six after coming away with a rare Tom Brady interception.

Then, something clicked for the Patriots, sparking an revolutionary 25-point comeback to tie the game with just a minute left in the fourth quarter, completing the largest Super Bowl comeback in history.  Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman made a marvelous, jaw-dropping catch that continued to propel New England's offense down the field on a potential game-tieing drive. Running back James White ran the ball through the end zone for his second touchdown of the game and wide receiver Danny Amendola secured a pass for the two-point conversion that ultimately tied the game.

New England ended up winning the coin toss at the start of overtime and elected to possess the ball.  The Patriots put together a flawless drive against a extremely fatigued Falcons defense that culminated in a rushing touchdown by White, his third of the game.

Unsurprisingly, Brady was named Super Bowl MVP after his heroic performance.

The Patriots won their fifth Super Bowl in team history (2001, 2003, 2004, 2015, 2017).  Brady and head coach Bill Belichick were at the helm for all five of the team's victories.

Bruins and Coach Julien Go Separate Ways

It was June of 2007.  Rumors were swirling the streets of Boston about the Celtics possibly landing a big name star. The Red Sox were currently on fire as they posted a 47-25 record a top the A.L. East. Bruins excitement was certainly not flowing through the city of Boston. The Bruins were just coming off a losing season and missing the playoffs, something that doesn't farewell with Bruins nation. It was June 22 and the Bruins announced a press conference out of nowhere. 

            Rumors were circulating the city that the Bruins had hired a new coach, the 28th head coach of the franchise, but people were still unsure. However, at the press conference, surrounded by reporters and media, Claude Julien was introduced as the new head coach of the historical Boston Bruins. Not many people were certain that Julien would succeed in a big market city like Boston. But boy did he prove those people wrong.

            Julien went on to accomplish some amazing milestones while coaching the black and gold. Even with a first season full of injuries plaguing the team, Julien was able to lead the Bruins to the playoffs within just one year of coaching. Two years later in 2009 he was awarded the Jack Adams Award, which is presented to the coach of the year.

            In 2011 Coach Julien was able to lead the Bruins to a Stanley Cup Championship, an accomplishment the team had not completed since 1972. He was able to lead the Bruins through multiple scares that playoff season.  Not once, but twice, the Bruins found themselves in a hole as they were down 2-0 to the Montreal Canadians in the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals series. And then again down 2-0 to the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final series. Yet they pulled off an incredible run, winning the next four out of five games to fulfill their ultimate goal of winning the most famous trophy in sports, Lord Stanley.

            Coach Julien then went on to take the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013, ultimately losing to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the series.  However, just two years later the team had one of their best regular seasons of all time as they received the Presidents Trophy for the best regular season in the NHL.

            Claude Julien ultimately proved a lot of people wrong that were skeptical of the hire back in June of 2007. He led the Bruins to the playoffs seven out of his nine years coaching the team. He was able to lead them onto winging the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years. He brought hockey back to the city of Boston. Today, February 6, 2017, ten years after being hired, the Bruins and Claude Julien go their separate ways. Nothing lasts forever, but thank you Coach Julien for the unforgettable memories. 

"It's Not You It's Me", New York To Carmelo

In 2011 The New York Knicks did something that fans had been waiting for them to do for years. They brought in a star. They finally did it, Carmelo Anthony was coming to the Garden to lead the Knicks back to the playoffs for the first time in years. After LeBron's infamous decision did not go in the Knicks favor, many fans wondered if they would ever get A star in orange and blue. Carmelo Anthony coming to the Knicks was more than just a good move, it was considered by Knicks fans: THE move. Immediately Knicks fans looked at Carmelo as their savior. He was the man that was going to single handedly bring home a championship to New York. There is a few things to unpack here: The Knicks had an incredible group of young, hungry, talented guys on their roster the year they brought in Melo. People forget that The Knicks were actually playing great and were poised to make the Playoffs that year before he even got there during the season. The Knicks had to give up a lot of talented guys to get Melo. That list includes: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari (who was playing terrific basketball at that time) and  2016 NBA Champion Timofey Mosgov. But the Knicks were still keeping Amare Stoudemire and plenty of other talented pieces. The addition of Carmelo would help them attract other stars in the future such as 2011 NBA Champion Tyson Chandler, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah. When Melo arrived to New York he was greeted with a hero's welcome, his number 7 jersey could easily be spotted when walking the streets of New York City. People were excited about the New York Knicks again! Currently it is a much different story recently chants of "Trade Carmelo" have filled the garden before games have even started. Boos rained down last night against the Cavs as Melo brought the ball down to which he responded with a head shake and finger wag to the crowd. So Melo is making it clear that he's had enough as well. I want to make one thing clear, Carmelo did have great games and seasons as a Knick. Countless times during his years on the New York Knicks he has single handedly won the game for us. I would be the worst fan in the world if I did not say that Carmelo has brought me a ton of joy while he has been a Knick. He led the Knicks to their first Playoff win since 2001 and their first playoff series win since 2000! However, for every joyful moment there has been a lot of moments of anger, disappointment, and frustration while Carmelo has been a Knick. Some of these moments have been due to him and some have not. However when you want to be considered the face of the franchise, everything starts to get blamed on you whether it was your fault or not. It would be very unfair to not bring up all of the changes Carmelo has had to deal with as a Knick. FIVE coaching changes...FIVE. He has only been a Knick since 2011 and six years later there's been Five different coaches giving him orders. That makes winning extremely difficult. Not to mention that Phil Jackson took over as Knicks President during this time. Jackson has practically been publicly at odds with Melo since the first day he stepped foot in the Knicks front office. While there's been a lot of things happening that Melo cannot control what frustrates fans the most is seeing some the decisions he makes that he can control. As the Knicks are starting to move towards playing more team oriented basketball Carmelo seems to insist that his isolation moves are still the correct answer. There has been a ton of drama with the Knicks over the last six years and in New York every story, no matter how minor seems to get bigger and bigger with each day. The drama seems to have finally reached its climax. The term "rebuild" has been getting thrown around with Knicks lately. But with Carmelo Anthony and his win now mindset it's very difficult to rebuild around that. To make matters worse for Carmelo, Knick fans see hope in the form of a 7'3 Latvian Man named Kristaps Porzingis. With the hopes that the team plans to build the Knicks around Porzingis more and more fans are calling for Carmelo's departure from New York. Trade rumors are flying and it seems like Carmelo's days with the Knicks are numbered. As a Knicks fan I am happy about this, I am ready for a new era of New York Knick basketball. The Melo isolation is not working and I am ready for Knicks, share the ball- team basketball. However, I am not clueless when Carmelo goes to another team (one he will get to pick basically because of his no trade clause) he is going to produce. He is going to make an immediate impact for whatever team he goes to next. Melo is not done at all, he has plenty left in the tank. He has proven he can score and run an offense. He can share the ball, but not to the exact standards of what the Knicks are trying to do. Break ups are never fun and it is cliche to say "its not you its me" during a break up but that is truly the situation in New York. Carmelo is a world class basketball player he has the Stats, Gold Medals, and National Championship to prove it. The Knicks are going in a different direction and they want to build around Porzingis, who in only his second year has shown incredible skill and promise. Both Carmelo and The Knicks deserve better futures, it's time to go our separate ways and move on.

"It's not you it's me"-

Love,

New York.

Mavericks Take Down the Cavaliers with Post Game Controversy

On Monday the Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to Dallas to take on the Dallas Mavericks for what turned out to be a nail biting game. The Cavaliers saw an early lead in the first quarter, but soon struggled to keep up as the Mavericks outscored the Cavaliers by 8 in the second quarter, giving the Mavs a 5 point lead at the half. Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks to a 104-97 victory over the Cavaliers. Lebron James had a below average game on the scoring end with 23 points, but made up for his lack of buckets with 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Kevin Love did not play in Mondays game as he had an MRI for his back. No structural damage is present with Love’s spine, but he will remain on the bench until further notice.

Post game was far from routine for Cleveland and more specifically Lebron James. Charles Barkley didn’t seem pleased with James’ actions in recent weeks as he went to the Cavaliers front office asking for a, “play-maker”. Barkley seems to feel Lebron is complaining, and James disagrees. Since the comments by Barkley and James, both sides of the argument have been made multiple times. James says Barkley is a, “hater” and questioned his credibility. 

- David Garbo Jr.