NFL News: Patriots expected to retain QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Article By Nick Spino

After weeks of questions and rumors about what the New England Patriots would do with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the team has decided that they will retain him.

With veteran quarterback Tom Brady turning 40 by the time preseason football begins, "Jimmy G" will remain with the Patriots for the 2017 season and possibly beyond.

The Patriots like Garoppolo, as he has meet the team's standards in practice and when he has had opportunities in games. Garoppolo was productive for New England while starting the first two games of the 2016 season in place of Brady, who was sidelined with a four-game suspension in loom of 'Deflategate'. Garoppolo led the Patriots to wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, but ended up suffering a right shoulder injury against Miami that knocked him out of the lineup.

A second-round selection out of Eastern Illinois in 2014, Garoppolo will be entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Patriots. He is due to make a salary of $820,077.

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