Caleb Timmermans
Senior Girls' Basketball Wins Second Consecutive Toronto Championship
Molly Gardner
Superstitions
Eric Lee
Football Follies
Caleb Timmermans
It happened again. The Jarvis Bulldogs football team started back where it left off last year, losing seven straight games in the new season. Why did this happen all over again?
Football players, ashamed of their so-called performance, were forced to hang their heads while walking through the hallways the day after a game, knowing the jokes that would be made about their hard work. They wanted so badly to reply with a "we won" when asked how they had done in their game the day before. Should they really feel this way?
The Jarvis football team was made up of roughly 26 students, an admittedly shameful size compared to other teams who have nearly double this number. The small size forced many teammates to play on more than one line, which makes players tired and increases their risk of injury, and this is one of the reasons the team loses its games.
The players tried their hearts out, with some of them playing offensive and defensive line, and special teams in the same game. The other teams' players were less tired, because they had more than enough players to play each position as well as players to fill the spots of injured players, a luxury Jarvis lacked. This allowed the other teams' receivers to run right past Jarvis's exhausted cornerbacks who also played wide receiver on the offensive team.
"I play both offence and defense and by the second half I am exhausted, but I got to do it because the coach needs me to," said Ammar who played both centre, offense and nose tackle on defense, which is only one example of this misfortune.
Why is it that so few students at Jarvis actually come out to be on the team? "I am scared that I won't be that good and that I'll get hurt," replied one student, who prefers to remain anonymous. This fear is what many of the younger students share, which is understandable, but hopefully will be overcome by next year's season, if their fears vanish.
"Most of the athletes who come to Jarvis are ballers (basketball players), and don't want to get injured (in football) before the basketball season starts. If we had some of the ballers on the football team we would win a lot more games," replied Mr. Kreiner when asked about the football team's situation.
Jarvis doesn't have any students who are football minded and want to play football during their high school careers. This is due to the fact that two years ago Jarvis didn't even have a team, and wasn't even sure whether or not a team would be built in the near future. This made all football-oriented students not even consider Jarvis when pondering what high school to attend.
Nayhan Afzal said, "Why would I want to join such an awful team?" Logic which sends the team into a spiral of being awful because they don't have enough players, and not having enough players because the team is awful. This is the attitude that keeps the team from excelling.
Jarvis's team is also one of the few that doesn't have a field. Instead we have a small dinky patch of grass on which the team is expected to practice. Running practice on this field led many rookies to believe that the field would be that tiny size. Game day came, and the team played way too close together, and was therefore constantly being beaten to the outside.
"It's really not fair to our players that they are unable to feel how a game situation would really be in a practice. Instead our players have to rely on games for most of their experience, and are therefore beaten," said Peter Brown, the head coach of the football team.
Coach Brown is the only coach that comes out everyday, and is in charge of every single line. "It's hard to be in charge of offense, defense and special teams all by myself. It would be great if I had other coaches to help me out. It can be quite stressful."
One coach is hardly enough to shape a winning team, especially when the other teams have at least two coaches, and in some cases four. The more coaches a team has the better each line can become. The small coaching staff is yet another contributor to Jarvis's hard times.
"I wouldn't want to work with any other group of guys," said Coach Brown when asked how he feels about the players he works with. "I mean, they show so much heart, and have a real 'never give up' attitude. The other team could have run ninety yards down the field and be inches from the end-zone, and our players will still be running him down; they never give up."
Considering the number of players, the extremely small coaching staff, and the dinky sized field Jarvis's football team has been plagued with, the team should be celebrated. They dedicated many hours a week, and even though they lost, they came out and tried their very best game after game. They then faced schoolmates' taunting and endless comments on how "awful" the team is, but still kept the spirit of true champions. "Never give up," as Justin Moriarity put it, who is the team's quarterback.
The players should not be to blame whatsoever. Instead, the real blame should be pointed towards all those people who should have been on the team, or should have at least supported it.
So don't blame the players, because they are the only ones really trying.
Senior Girls' Basketball Wins Second Consecutive Toronto Championship
Molly Gardner
Jarvis's Senior Girls' Basketball Team has had an amazing season. They were undefeated in all their league games, they won the City Championships against Northern Secondary, they won the GTA qualifier for OFSAA against Albert Campbell, and then proceeded to place fourth overall in Ontario .
This is the third year in a row the Jarvis Senior Girls have made it to OFSAA, which is an achievement for any team. Their coach Bob Clarke says that "there are only a couple of teams in the province that have done that."
But this is the first time in 20 years that Jarvis has won a medal at OFSAA, finishing fourth no less.
Ms. Ibe, of the Jarvis Female Athletic Department is the team's staff sponsor, and was present at all Jarvis's OFSAA games. She said the team was thrilled to have placed the way they did: "The girls were happy to be fourth in Ontario; to have gone that far. They worked so hard; they did so well. I'm really proud of them. They should be proud of themselves."
The Jarvis team headed off to Whitby on Wednesday November 27th where the OFSAA Girls AAAA Championship was held. 18 teams from around Ontario attended. Thursday they played their first game against Westdale from Hamilton, a team the Jarvis girls remembered to be dangerously good, having played them previously in a tournament. But as Hannah Pokala, one of the team's three captains describes, the Jarvis girls surprised themselves: "We really worked hard. We came out charging. We were up by 13 at half and then they came out charging at us third quarter. They were up by two in the fourth quarter with 1 minute 37 seconds left, and in the last 36 seconds, Joanne Him shot a three, so the score became 51-50. With 0.7 seconds left, they threw and missed, and we won."
Friday the team moved on to win against Etobicoke, becoming more and more confident with themselves, then winning an impressive game over Glebe from Ottawa; the sixth-ranked team in Ontario. The girls won 57-55 when Kiyomi McCloskey sunk a clutch basket with 37 seconds remaining in the game.
Jarvis's semi-final game was played Saturday against St. Christopher from Sarnia. According to Ms. Ibe, the girls played well, but the balls just weren't going in. They then played the bronze medal game against Waterloo C.I., but unfortunatly were defeated.
The initially unranked Jarvis team became quite the team of distinction in Whitby. As Pokala describes: "We were the talk of OFSAA at the banquet. Every one was so impressed by us."
The Jarvis girls are exceptional players and have proved it.
Mr. Moravec of the Male Athletic Department at Jarvis says the team is made up of great players, who are athletic and have good morale. He also attributes recognition to one of the team's three captains, Angie Knoebelreiter, who he describes as a great leader: "She's a passer as opposed to a scorer. She can score but she passes, so everyone gets involved."
Coach Bob Clarke is an elementary school teacher who voluntarily coaches the Jarvis team. He says that the girls are recognized widely as an excellent team. "The coach at Western [University] was watching us play and he said he'd never seen a tougher group of girls," Clarke states.
"The girls have this original chemistry. They support each other and cheer each other on. When things were down they would raise each others spirits," comments Ibe.
A round of applause to all players: Cara Eastcott, Denise Griffiths, Joanne Him, Kiyomi McCloskey, Alyssa McIntyre-Cutterbuck, Mariko Nguyen, Allix Thompson, Alice Tseng, Captains: Angie Knoebelreiter, Hannah Pokala, Feleshia Watson, and coach Bob Clarke and staff Sponsor Ms. Ibe.
Congratulations team!
Superstitions
Eric Lee
Do you believe that if a black cat crosses your path it will bring you bad luck? Or, that a rabbit's foot could bring you good luck? Some would say these are just examples of crazy superstitions that are merely myth or a figment of the imagination. However, there are some people who are strong believers of such mysterious phenomenon.
Some athletes are extremely superstitious. A lot of athletes have certain special routines that they go through. These routines can relieve stress, help keep focus on a task, and possibly bring good luck. Sometimes a player that has a strong game may duplicate every little step from that game for the following games; hoping history will repeat itself. Depending on the success streak they are in, the superstition or ritual could last just as long as the streak does. An example is a hockey player scoring a goal in 10 consecutive games, all thanks to his lucky pair of underwear.
Just by walking through the halls of Jarvis Collegiate on a crowded lunch period, asking random students if they play or have played on any sports teams, roughly 4 out of 5 said, "yes". The next question I asked was, "As an athlete, do you have a superstition or ritual?" Nick Murray-Smith, a member of the Senior Boys' Volleyball Team responded, "I think having superstitions makes you focus too much on it, instead of relying on your skill. It can be distracting and can make you nervous."
Some students did not have a superstition when playing a sport because they simply believe that only they can control the outcome of the game or performance. However, some athletes believe it is not just their skill that is winning games, hitting home runs, scoring goals; but it is also from the works of their superstitions.
There were students who did have a superstition or ritual, and I received some odd responses that were not all rabbits-feet and four-leaf clovers. "I always go to the bathroom and don't wash my hands after. I started it last year and it seemed to work. I think it's lucky," admits a male 10th grader from the Junior Boys' Basketball.
Hopefully, this ritual is done only before games, and not before breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Baseball players are notorious for their odd beliefs in superstitions. For instance, if a player is in a slump at the plate, the remedy is to sleep with your bat and your hitting problems will be cured.
Turk Wendall, a professional major league pitcher is known for his quirky superstitions. Before Wendall is about to take the mound to pitch in a game, he stuffs his mouth full of black licorice. Between innings, he brushes his teeth vigorously in the dugout, and then reloads his mouth with black licorice. Is this a superstition, or just good dental hygiene? Because he is only a relief pitcher, and not a starter, he will luckily only have to do this for about 1-4 innings.
Wade Boggs, a former major leaguer, always ate fried chicken before every game. In Boggs career, he played a total of 2439 games, and therefore consumed a total of 2439 chicken meals. His pre-game ritual seemed to work because he earned over 3000 hits in his career and will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Some superstitions just become routine with practice over a long period of time. It simply becomes automatic to the athlete or team to help them prepare for a game. The Jarvis Senior Girls Basketball team has a ritual they never forget to do. In their pre-game warm-up, before they group together on the bench and start the game, the last person to shoot the last foul shot has to score. The team has been doing this ritual for 5 years.
A common superstition is to have a lucky charm or number when one plays a sport. Michael Jordan wears his old college shorts under his game shorts. Football players for good luck, wear double-digit numbers.
A Grade 10 student and member of the Girls Senior Basketball team puts a lucky penny in her shoe for every game because she feels it will bring the team good fortune. "I bring my cousin to every game, I think he watches over me and protects me on the field," said Big J who plays Senior Boys Football. In this case it was not a lucky item, but a lucky person, somewhat like a personal mascot. "I wear a lucky bandana in games, that have a K3 on it. If it worked once, it will work again," said Karthiga T. a member of the Girls Senior Soccer team.
No one knows if there is some magical power working beyond our control. Could it be that athlete's paranormal, voodoo like beliefs and rituals do not actually help them, but rather just give them confidence in their abilities? Do superstitions demonstrate ignorance and low self-esteem, or is there a reality to the magic? Whatever the truth is, some athletes do take superstitions very, very seriously.
In my opinion, dangerously relying on a superstition could affect an athlete's performance. A little superstition could become a big obsession. As crazy as some superstitions may be - why shouldn't athletes believe in their superstition if they feel it brings luck, provides a little edge, or improves their game? No harm, no foul.
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