#has ac won a poll tournament before??

[o0o0thorn0o0o]

Karma: But why act so smug? You won by only 1.8% :P

Gakushuu: Shut it—a win is a win.

———

Some doodles based on this very hectic poll. I know I’m a little late, but I’m also on a trip up north rn.

A hint of AsaKanza because I haven’t drawn AC in a while, and I’d like to include the gal. That, and I got some encouragement from Luna to include Yukiko.

That, and because I be hella biased towards my favorites, as y’all should know by now :P

[sleepyhead-poll]

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you for everybody for participating in the Sleepyhead Tournament! It's been a lot of fun, we had a lot of interesting matches and propaganda throughout it all! Now that it's finally concluded (+ a few extra days for good measure) it's time to announce the winners!

First, I want to give a shout out to the Mod's Choice winner, Garfield! The Mod's Choice was a single poll, compilations of my favorite characters submitted for the tournament! It isn't the most definitive of tournaments, but it's enough to give a sleepy, lasagna-loving orange kitty an honorary bronze medal! It was a little disappointing to see him lose in Round 1, so I was definitely glad to see him get this at least! Meme and cultural icon himself, you go Garfield!

Next I want to highlight the two Bronze medalists! These are the two that got to a Semi-Finals, before losing. It definitely wasn't an easy fight to get this far. Though they were not able to get into the finals, we can give that silly dog and pink squish ball a round of applause! Their sleepyheadness cannot be understated! Snoopy is a Tumblr icon and everybody loves Kirby, so is it any surprise they got this far! :)

Now, we congratulate the runner-up of the tournament, the Silver medalist, Portgas D. Ace! This was definitely a surprise, as although One Piece is very popular, he was only submitted a few times AND won against Roronoa Zoro, another One Piece character who was the MOST submitted character. I'm not a One Piece person, but have to hand it to the guy! Good job!

NOW IS FOR THE WINNER! THE GUARDIAN OF LOVE AND JUSTICE HERSELF, SAILOR MOON! USAGI TSUKINO! Usagi was my original profile picture for this blog and I recently reread all the manga, so I was definitely very happy to see that she won this tournament! CONGRATULATIONS USAGI, WE LOVE YOU!!! May your next Sailor Moon power up let you take the best nap in the world...

BUT WAIT! THERE IS ONE MORE WINNER TO CONGRATULATE!

We ran a Loser's Bracket as well, the winner of which was Snorlax! A great choice, as Snorlax has always been one of my favorite Pokemon and had a lot of excitement going into the tournament! Not only that, but when this Loser's Bracket winner went against the main tournament winner, Snorlax won!!! One could make the case that THEY were the real winner, even if they lost in the main tournament. Congratulations Snorlax, here is your gold medal :D

Once again, thank you everyone for making this tournament so fun! Love you all <3

[zeta-in-de-walls]

Hey guys. So in MCC you might have noticed that Dream got a little salty. This was a shame for me as it’s so much nicer to watch Dream whilst he’s in a good mood. For better or worse though, he’s super competitive.

Here’s a breakdown of how the event went badly for Dream and his team. It’s pretty long...

The event starts well; Skyblockle is an interesting, if stressful game, and they do pretty well for their first time. Not perfectly though and they recognise they could do better too - Dream’s already pretty hard on himself for any mistakes he makes. But it’s purely directed at himself and how he can improve - I think it’s pretty evident he holds himself to a high standard. 

Bingo is next and he kinda doesn’t know what he’d doing and wastes some time. I feel like he notes it down too much to not knowing the game but it is pretty luck-based anyway. Also this was a really quick game as so many of the items were very easy to obtain in a very short time. Anyway, they didn’t expect to do well really and Dream’s in good spirits, looking forward to the other games. 

Then Battle box comes... and it’s extremely laggy and even glitchy. The weapon choices of Wooden axes and tnt seem honestly pretty bad just in terms of gameplay and the tnt is outright gamebreaking with the lag. Despite this, Dream’s team is doing well, having won their first 4 games and they’re keen to win more. Dream’s even instructing Sylveey to wait on the wool in order to maximise kill points (you can see he’s taking this really seriously as he could sound a little nicer as she’s certainly trying to win too). 

Anyway, the game needs to be restarted - some players killed themselves outside the rounds and that’s not exactly fair. For whatever reason, reviving them is not possible. The chosen solution is to restart the entire round which regretfully seriously inconveniences Dream’s team. He’s incensed at the perceived injustices. He feels that it would be better to push on without restarting. 

The proceeding rounds don’t go nearly as well for them as the first play through. Many teams have now realised how effective rushing strats are for this map - the axe is too slow in pvp to meaningfully stop players from quickly placing down wool and the tnt is dangerous enough to scare people from the centre. It’s a legitimate strategy but feels rather unlike the traditional battle box which is usually the closest minigame to a straightforward pvp battle. While the lag is universal, it rather this strategy which goes against purple’s playstyle which includes maximised kills. Additionally, restarting gave a lot of teams the change to realise the potential of this rather cheap strategy which they may not have with only a single round of battle box as it would have been without the lag. 

It’s not really anyone’s fault that the game messed up but Dream’s ire is now directed towards the organisers and he’s lost his good spirits. 

Buildmart comes next and it’s not exactly one of Dream’s favourite games to say the least. Still, it’s long and a nice distraction from the mess that was battle box and Dream has developed some strategy with his team, even if it didn’t really work amazingly. 

But then comes the audience takeover. Dream was really looking for parkour warrior - which he’s been really keen to play. He’s extremely fond of parkour and wanted to try out the new course - he and his whole team had practiced the old course a lot and were ready to crush the game. But it wasn’t one of the the options in the poll at all. Up to this point Parkour warrior hasn’t been an option at all and it is one the team has every reason to want to play. 

Regardless, they soon settle on Hole in the wall - a gamemode they’ve played before and enjoyed. And yeah, the system messes up. Rocket spleef, which was Technoblade’s choice, narrowly lost the poll but gets selected anyway due to faultiness from the twitter poll. Needless to say, Dream is pretty annoyed. Given how the resetted Battle box earlier, he is of the opinion that they should switch in to Hole in the Wall to accurately reflect the audience vote. What he doesn’t realise is that this isn’t possible and the situation is less similar to battle box which only reset itself, not the game choice. 

This is where Dream gets outright angry, even going as far to say he feels like quitting entirely. He feels like the tournament is working against him, which it kinda is, though it’s not in fact due to human design - just errors outside anyone’s control. That said, compounded with the mess that was Battle box earlier, Dream’s in a terrible mood, especially with his competitive nature, feeling like he’s losing due to circumstances outside his control rather than his own abilities. (When fans are saying rigged, I feel like many of them simply mean that the game’s working against him rather than that someone is actively sabotaging them (an incorrect definition...). It’s a minority that kicked up a large fuss as well, not that this excuses them or anything, or Dream for not realising the effect he’s having on his audience.)

His heart is simply not in Rocket Spleef, which seems to be a pretty tough game for newcomers to pick up anyway, while the other top teams, Orange and Green, both excel at this game mode. (And Krimson too maybe? I think I missed how they were doing in this game.) It’s a shame as he can’t allow himself to enjoy the game mode at all. It is an interesting one that he’s not amazing at but isn’t terrible at either, managing to survive longer than the rest of his team, who are all also doing lacklustre. Their performance has not been helped by everything that’s going on. 

Then there’s ace race. It’s a new game and pretty different from the standard minecraft experience. It’s the first time for everyone so there’s probably a few kinks to be worked out etc. and Dream and his team find it interesting but they don’t exactly love it. It’s very different from the standard minecraft experience. Their strongpoints are definitely vanilla minecraft and they’re not too confident with elytras. I feel like if they weren’t in a dour mood they would have enjoyed it tons more. Two elytra heavy games in a row is unfortunate. Still, this game acts as a breather. The one issue is that parkour warrior is finally on the board and so they’re very keen to play it. 

As the next decision dome comes up, Parkour warrior, Hole in the Wall, TGTTOS, Survival Games and Sands of time are all available. These are all probably Dream’s favourite games aside from Battle box (which obviously didn’t work out this tournament). Dream notes beforehand that the one game he’d really like to play is Parkour Warrior and the one he’d prefer to avoid at this stage is Sands of Time. 

So naturally, Sands of Time is chosen. He’s a bit irritated. Fortunately, Sands of Time is awesome and his team is great at it. Single player survival stuff is what they excel at after all and they all perform. They take risks, make a lot of coins, get far and are among the longest teams to stay in, coming in second overall with both Dream and Sapnap doing really well. This game proves to be what finally cures Dream and his team’s mood. The game is also worth a ton of points for some reason, putting them in with a (still small but possible) chance of making the finals. 

Last game and they really want Parkour warrior of course. Yeah, it’s not chosen. Instead we get hole in the wall. Some may joke that its good that the game finally got chosen but it’s obviously not the favoured choice for this team when Parkour warrior’s an option. Oh well though! They’re disappointed to miss out on it but they do like hole in the wall and they all have fun playing it, doing decently though not nearly well enough to do better than their rivals.

By this time they’ve regained their spirits and eagerly support Green Guardians in dodgebolt. It’s an intense match and they all thoroughly enjoy watching it, especially seeing Pete team clutch out the win after being down. 

At the end, Dream finds that despite everything he’s still somehow managed to obtain 3rd overall on the individual boards, the same as last time, and he’s really happy about it. His team are pretty happy too with Sapnap also managing to get 8th place in his very first event. 

Dream closes off the stream with an apology. You can see as it goes on how the frustration slowly melts away as he begins talking. At first still obviously still annoyed but soon confessing that he seriously overreacted and that he still loves the event and the team behind it and holds them to a very high standard. He offers kind words towards Technoblade and Pete too, noting that the rivalry is for show and he greatly respects both of them and encourages all his watchers to go and subscribe to them, helping Technoblade to hit 2mil. He notes that he’s really competitive and he really wanted it to go well - especially as its the only time he’ll be allowed to play with George and Sapnap and really wanted to win it with them. His sentiments feel real and he expresses interest in playing again while noting that he could see them also not inviting him back after his behaviour during this even and understands that. 

Overall, game choices and unfortunate circumstances worked against Dream and his team and left him in a bad mood but once it ended, he did bounce back. It’s easy to see the contrast from the last event where he was annoyed he didn’t win but blamed his own performance - not the event and not his teammates - reflecting on how he can improve and do better. (He got temporarily a little annoyed at buildmart admittedly but it was purely his fans who blew that out of proportion, he quickly reassured George that it was okay and that it wasn’t his fault.) Dream is always very determined to improve and succeed or fail due to his own skills. 

This turned into a long analysis of the event, wow. Dream’s perspective wasn’t that much fun to watch and it pains me to see how it all devolved. Let’s calm down and try not to blame the event, the other competitors or Dream too hard for any of this, okay? Things went wrong and it’s mostly outside of anyone’s control. I hope he’s in better spirits if he joins next tournament. 

[junker-town]

The 5 most exciting and least exciting conference tournaments in college hoops

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Who the heck is going to win the MAC? We have no idea.

Heavy favorites are typically the norm on Championship Week, but this isn’t an across the board deal. There are a number of leagues this season where the regular-season champ appears vulnerable, and a few where parity reigns so supreme that it’s not hard to see a scenario where a team that finished near the bottom of the league standings could reel off three or four wins in a row.

Here are the five leagues that may prove to have the wackiest of wacky postseasons.

1. Mid-American

I have no idea what the hell is going on in the MAC.

Only five of the 12 teams in the conference have league records above .500. No team has fewer than four losses. Akron looked like world-beaters for a month and then lost to Bowling Green by 18. Bowling Green — which has pieced together back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time since the 1940s — followed that performance up with an 18-point loss to East Division cellar dweller Miami. Two-time reigning champion Buffalo won in bunches and lost in bunches.

A team seeded fifth or worse has won this thing four times in the last 12 years. That’s the same number of times the top seed has cut down the nets over the same span.

This tournament has the potential to go off the rails in a hurry.

2. Conference USA

The jury is still out on C-USA’s new “pod scheduling” system, which is designed to have the league’s best teams play more games later in the season against one another with the hope of giving the conference the best chance possible to send multiple teams to the NCAA tournament. When it’s apparent by early January that your league is going to be a 1-bid league, well, then it just creates a few interesting matchups for the regular season title race and a whole bunch of really bad games.

With one game still to play in the regular season for most of its teams, C-USA has an established tier one of North Texas (14-3), Western Kentucky (12-5) and Louisiana Tech (11-5). Behind that trio there is a sandwich of seven teams that have records between 9-7 and 7-9.

It feels right that this conference tournament will once again feature multiple games being played at the same time right next to one another, and that a handful of those games will only be viewable on Facebook.

Best sport in the world.

3. Big Sky

The Big Sky used to be one of those conferences that only allowed a little over half of its teams to qualify for the conference tournament. Thank goodness it saw the error of its ways, because the league is incredibly competitive this season.

Eastern Washington and Montana are currently tied atop the league standings with matching 14-4 records, but there are three teams immediately behind them — Northern Colorado, Portland State and Northern Arizona — that also have double-digit league wins. The ninth-place team in the conference right now is perennial power Weber State, which has the league’s most dynamic scorer in Jerrick Harding. Hell, the last place team in the conference, 3-15 Idaho, won at league-leading Eastern Washington less than a month ago.

You’ve got a week to figure out what the hell Pluto TV is because that’s where the first two rounds of this tournament are going to be, and they’re going to be sensational.

4. Southern

This one doesn’t make the list because of the parity or depth of the conference. It makes the list because the SoCon has three teams that are all good enough to win at least one game in the NCAA tournament, if they can make it there.

Regular season champ East Tennessee State seems like a safe bet to be in the field of 68 regardless, but they certainly don’t want to leave anything to chance. Furman (25-6, 15-3) and UNC Greensboro (23-8, 13-5) are terrific basketball teams loaded with mid-major star power as well.

Carve some time out for the SoCon semifinals and title game. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

5. Missouri Valley

Arch Madness is always the bell cow of the postseason’s opening week, and 2020 should be no different.

Northern Iowa is an NCAA tournament lock that could be a single-digit seed in the Big Dance, but the Panthers aren’t going to waltz through this thing. Loyola Chicago (remember those guys?) finished just a game behind UNI in the final league standings and beat the Panthers by nine on Feb. 15.

Bradley and Indiana State both finished with 11 conference wins, and Southern Illinois notched 10. In all, seven of the 10 teams in this conference are heading to St. Louis with league records of .500 or better.

We also can’t wrap this up without giving a special shoutout to Evansville, which became the first team in college basketball history to beat the No. 1 ranked team in the AP poll (at Kentucky on Nov. 12) and go winless in conference play in the same season. The Purple Aces, who fired head coach Walter McCarty in the middle of the season due to reports of alleged sexual misconduct, went 0-18 in the Valley and haven’t won a game of any sort since an overtime win over Murray State on Dec. 21.

Bring this thing home, Aces.

Five Less Exciting Conference Tournaments

1. Northeast

Let me preface this entire spiel with the following: None of this is the fault of the Northeast Conference. There was nothing you could do about this. This is not on you.

With that out of the way, it is an absolute goddamn travesty that Merrimack doesn’t get to play in this tournament. The Warriors should be one of the best and most fun stories of March, but instead, we’re not going to hear anything else about them until the CBI or the CIT starts ... which means we’re not going to hear anything else about them for the rest of the year because I’m still not entirely convinced those tournaments are real.

For those unfamiliar, Merrimack went 20-11 this season, became the first team ever to win 20 games in its first season as a member of Division-I, and then won the Northeast Conference regular season title outright with a 14-4 record, making them also the first program in NCAA history to win an outright conference regular season title in its first season of Division I reclassification.

Classic underdog college basketball story for the American public to grab onto in March, right? Nope.

Because the NCAA bans transitioning schools from postseason play for four years (unless the conference in question has a limited number of teams, but even then, the transitioning school is ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament or the NIT), the Warriors will not be participating in this week’s NEC tournament. They also won’t be playing in the event in any of the next THREE years. The reason for the rule, of course, is that ... I don’t know ... stories like these might be too fun and awesome? The NCAA power structure is loaded down with Robert Morris grads? Who knows.

Anyway, none of this has slowed the roll of Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo, who has been hurling himself around like a lunatic for a week straight.

THE CHAMPS ARE HERE!!!!!#GoMack // #NECMBB pic.twitter.com/bjQ1ZjzFpX

— Merrimack Men’s Basketball (@MerrimackMBB) February 28, 2020

✈ FROM THE TOP RUNG ✈#AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo pic.twitter.com/bPQxbhWv0V

— Merrimack Men’s Basketball (@MerrimackMBB) February 28, 2020

Nope, definitely don’t want more of that over the next couple of weeks. No fun to be found there.

And one more thing before we move on: Every year I fill out my NEC bracket, and every year I forget that after the quarterfinals, the league has the lowest remaining seed play at the highest remaining seed instead of having the tournament play out in traditional fashion.

Is this the most fair way to have a tournament like this where the host is always a campus site? No question. Does it leave me feeling like an idiot with multiple scratched out names after the quarterfinals? Every year.

I’ve got a lot of problems with everything happening in the NEC right now. Lotta problems.

2. Sun Belt

Not only has the Sun Belt made the move to the cowardly more equitable step ladder bracket where the top two seeds get a bye all the way to the semifinals, but they’re only allowing 10 of the 12 teams to participate in the tournament. This is a FIVE-DAY tournament. You couldn’t figure out a way to throw poor Troy and Louisiana-Monroe a bone?

If you’re curious about what a five-day tournament where the top two seeds don’t play until day four looks like, here you go:

If you have that many consecutive days with no more than two games being played, you’re probably doing something wrong. More games, more daytime basketball, more opportunities for glory; That’s what march is all about.

What are we doing here, Sun Belt?

3. Ivy League

You know what? I’m starting to think that we’ve been overestimating the value of an Ivy League education for decades now. I’m basing this entirely off the fact that the conference holds a four-team tournament at a pre-determined on-campus location.

None of this works.

If you’re capping the field at four, you may as well go back to the old 14-game tournament days. And if you’re going to have play the games on a campus site, at least have the advantage for the host school be an earned one. Also, at least make sure the host school is actually going to be a participant in the tournament.

You people baffle me. You spend all your money on these fancy conference tournaments, you surround yourself with ‘em, and they’re the wrong fuckin’ conference tournaments.

That’s two Good Will Hunting references in one extremely niche college basketball feature. So, yeah, we’re doing pretty well here.

4. West Coast

For five years, the West Coast Conference went away from the step ladder bracket and made Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s play more than two games to win a conference tournament championship. It was cool. Last year, they went back.

Here’s the thing: Gonzaga won every single one of those tournaments and played either Saint Mary’s or BYU in the title game each time. So it’s not like compressing the tournament hurt the league when it came to the likelihood of it sending its top dog(s) onto the NCAA tournament.

You’re depriving us of the over-saturation we crave, and you’re doing it for no reason.

5. Big Sky

Yeah I’m calling the Big Sky out for being boring just one section after praising it for being exciting. Things change quickly. This is March. Try and keep up.

Here’s the reason: On paper it looks like it’s going to be “crazy competitive,” but this is the only conference tournament in America where the No. 1 seed has cut down the nets in each of the last four seasons. It doesn’t stop there. The No. 1 seed has actually won the Big Sky tournament in eight of the last nine years, and the one year the top seed didn’t win, it was the No. 2 seed that took home the title. Great news for Eastern Washington/Montana. Not so great for the rest of us.

Consider this a warning shot, Big Sky. We’re gonna need to see some fireworks in the very near future.

[ledenews]

Sky the Limit for Union Local Jets

The question of whether the Union Local girls could answer the bell against a similarly talented team in a big game was answered Saturday with an emphatic yes. Beating previously unbeaten Indian Creek by 19 points (64-45) on a neutral floor tends to put things in perspective. Any thoughts of an emotional letdown were quelled Monday with a 79-49 win against John Marshall. It's a team with no seniors and only one starter who will be legally able to drive a car by school year's end. So while many might believe Saturday's first half was the first time this team had been in a close fight, that wasn't quite the case. “The first time we played Ferry, we were down one midway through the third and against Shadyside, it was a three or four point game at halftime,” recalled Union Local head coach Ron Barr. “Our first game against Monroe Central, we had four brand new starters on the floor and they were scared to death. We were down 13 in the first half but cut it to five at halftime and ended up winning by 15.” None of the aforementioned teams are slouches and all will be playing in the OVAC tourney next week in their respective classification.

Union Local Last Unbeaten Team

The team fought through its early maturation process and stands alone, the last unbeaten team in the conference with a 19-0 mark. This team is built to win, and win big, averaging more than 70 points per game. It's a rare combination of size and speed that allows the Jets to play fast on both ends of the floor. The “smallest” player in the starting five is also its oldest in junior point guard Casey Kildow (5-6). On the wings she's joined by her sister, freshman Torre Kildow (5-11) and sophomore Hannah Merritt (5-8). Underneath stands the team's tallest player along with its most physical in 6-1 frosh Reagan Vinskovich and 5-7 sophomore Keira Gregor, respectively. Speed and tempo are their game.

Union Local won the Buckeye 8 title with a 64-45 win against previously unbeaten Indian Creek. The players, coaches and support staff pose with the championship trophy, perhaps the first of a lot of hardware to be won this season. “We go into every game, hoping we never have to run a play. It's kind of our moniker,” Barr said of his team's offensive philosophy. “That's the way I like to coach and it's the way they like to play. “Offensively, we like when other teams press. It puts us into fast break mode and that's to our advantage.” That's not to say Union Local can't play in the half-court offense. Merritt and the Kildow sisters all can pop from the perimeter, and Torre connects at a near 50-percent clip from behind the arc. They can also penetrate and attack the basket, or dump it off to the bigs underneath. Rinskovich averages a double-double per game with around 12 points and 12 boards per. But it's a balanced scoring effort to be sure. Torre Kildow (16.5), Merritt (11.0) and Casey Kildow (10.5) all average in double figures with Gregor (6.8) not far off the pace.

Teamwork, Understanding

The girls understand their roles and have flourished in them. “The lack of selfishness and finding their role has developed over the course of the season,” noted assistant coach Nikki Gregor. “Not everyone is going to be the leading scorer, but the important thing is to know your role and execute and if we can do that, winning is inevitable. “The win belongs to all of them. They each play a part.” Defensively, they are a nightmare as well. Multiple six or near-six footers creates issues when attacked the basket, moreso when long-legged and long-armed defenders can move and adjust quickly, covering ground in a hurry and allowing their teammates to take chances to force turnovers. “The fact we can switch among defenses so easily gives us an edge,” Gregor said. An uptempo offense that can excel in the half-court when necessary coupled with a diverse and conditioned defense is a tough match-up. That begs another question though.

Union Local's starting five of Casey Kildow (2), Keira Gregor (40), Hannah Merritt (30), Reagan Vinskovich (42), Torre Kildow (22) and sixth-man Baylee Rex (21) have their team playing at a torrid pace and sitting with a spotless 19-0 record as the postseason approaches.

How good can this team be?

Union Local has featured some quality athletes this century and captured a few OVAC titles. But you have to go back 20 years to the 2000-01 team coached by Rick Jones to find one as dominant, or even a few years further back to 1997-98 to find another that had a similar hot start to the season. Gregor knows this more than most. Back when she still used her maiden name Kemp, she was a senior on the 97-98 squad, also coached by Jones that started the year 15-0 before back to back losses to Bellaire and Indian Creek spoiled the perfection. They finished 19-3, with the final loss coming against Fort Frye in a sectional. The Cadets later lost to Bellaire in the district semifinals. That was a senior-laden team led by junior Erin Mason, Gregor, Jamie (Carruthers) Vinskovich, Dawn Renzler and Courtney (Feaster) Howard. Fellow juniors Angie Ault and Jess Chillinsky were part of a starting lineup that mixed-and-matched between six girls. A few years later, Gregor's younger sister Heidi Kemp was part of a group of seven seniors, also led by a junior in multi-sport all-Ohio athlete Jenny Campbell, that took things a step further.

Depth

Depth was one of that year's team's aces in the hole. While the starting five usually consisted of Campbell, Jenny Chillinsky, Amy Scarnecchia, Casey Stenger and Amanda Mercer, Kemp and Miranda Thompson both drew starting nods depending on matchups. The 2000-01 Jets were battle tested come the post season, having faced the likes of Bellaire's Kacie Vavrek, Martins Ferry's Lindsay Coyne, St. Clairsville's Piccolini sisters, Bethany and Lindsey and even the Fort Frye duo Krista Ferguson and Cincinnati signee Leslie Knoch, though Knoch missed the regular-season showdown won by the Jets. “Their guard size was comparable to ours,” Barr said of his team and the 00-01 version. “But they were more seasoned. And that year, it seemed like every team had two or three really good players. Every game was a dog fight.” Union Local advanced through the sectional round and came within five points of winning a district title. But once again, the postseason nemesis of Fort Frye, this time at full strength, was victorious, 65-61. The Cadets fell in the regional but were voted No. 3 in the final Division III AP Poll. Union Local was close behind at seven.

The 1997-98 team was the last one to start the season 15-0 prior to this year's teams current 19-0 mark. Front Row: manager Tyler Feaster, Jess Parker, Emily Tacosik, Dawn Renzler, Angie Ault, Erin Mason and Courtney Feaster. Back Row: Coach Jackson, Nikki Kemp, Jess Chillinsky, Casey Stenger, Jamie Carruthers, Erin Patterson, Jenny Chillinsky and Coach Rick Jones. Kemp (Keira Gregor), Carruthers (Reagan Vinskovich) and Patterson (Alliegh Cheatham) all have daughters on this season's team, while Tacosik is the cousin of Casey and Torre Kildow.

How do they match up?

There are a number of similarities when comparing the three teams. Each team boasts lights-out shooters, capable of attacking the basket or pulling up from the perimeter. All three hammered teams with transition offenses and showed equal tenacity and tempo defensively. But when comparing present-day to 97-98, Gregor believes her daughter's team has the advantage in the post. “Jamie and Jess were our two 'bigs' and I played there as well, but Keira and Reagan have a huge advantage over the three of us in the paint,” Gregor admitted. Vinskovich would tower over the 2000-01 team as well, as Stenger and Scarnecchia were the only true posts on the team and neither were near 6-1 in stature. But what they lacked in height they made up for in physicality. Where the 2000-01 Jets may have the advantage is both in depth and conditioning. “We had a rotation of seven girls that started or came off the bench and we didn't really skip a bit no matter who was in,” Kemp recalled. “We not only ran a track-meet style offense, but we pressed A LOT. Having fresh legs running in and out made it doable.”

Turning to now

The OVAC Championship Tourney is approaching and soon after, the OHSAA tournament will begin. Goals have been set and some have been achieved already. Others are further down the road. Eventually, the Jets will run into a veteran team that has the conditioning and talent to keep up with them for four quarters. None have yet, but it's bound to happen. That's when the true test begins. Barr noted that most of these girls have been playing together since they entered third grade. They may be relatively new to varsity basketball, but they are quite familiar with one another. That trust in their teammates shows. “This team has incredible chemistry. They've played a lot of basketball together so you don't even realize how young they really are,” Kemp said. “The sky is the limit for this group and I can't wait to see how high they fly.” Related: The Best of Bishop Donahue Hoops Postseason Again for CCHS Read the full article

[transparenttriumphzombie]

Roberta Betty Cowell (1918 - 2011) motor racer, pilot.

Robert Marshall Cowell was born in Croydon, the middle child of three. His father was Ernest Cowell, the prominent surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps and at Croydon General Infirmary (now closed), and who would be Director of Medical Services for the Allied Forces in North Africa and Italy during the Second World War.

Robert had an aptitude for mechanical things. From the age of twelve he spent his holidays in engineering workshops in Croydon. His public school had a motor club where under-aged members drove motorcycles and cars on the school grounds.

John Cunningham, the future RAF night fighter ace was a member of the same club. Robert also joined the Officers’ Training Corps while at school, and became a non-commissioned officer. In the early 1930s, Robert and a friend spent a summer holiday in Belgium, Austria and Germany, and picked up some German.

He left school at sixteen and entered a series of tennis tournaments, which led to his first homosexual proposal, which he quickly ran from.

He worked in both aircraft and racing car service shops. At seventeen he drove in the London-Land’s-End trial run. Later in 1935 he joined the RAF as a pupil pilot. He gained a commission but found that flying made him feel extremely ill. He was invalided out of the RAF, and declared as permanently unfit for flying duties.

He studied engineering at University College, London, where he met his future wife, Diana, who was also a racing driver. He drove in motor races and speed trials, including the 1939 Grand Prix in Antwerp. Later that year, he almost ran down Neville Chamberlain who was crossing Parliament Square.

With the outbreak of war, Cowell thought that the best job to have was that of a fighter pilot. He pestered the Air Ministry, but they wouldn’t take him back. He was offered a position in the Royal Army Service Corps with a promise of a fast-track commissioning. In January 1941 he was commissioned as a captain.

In May he married his girlfriend, who by then had a degree in engineering. They spent the war apart but did manage to have two daughters, born in 1942 and 1944.

After a few months in Iceland (which had decriminalized homosexuality while under British occupation) Robert managed to get transferred to the RAF. By this time he knew how to fake a military medical exam.

He was trained to fly various fighter planes and bombers. He mainly saw action supporting the Invasion of France in the summer of 1944, until his plane was hit by flak, and he became a prisoner of the Germans.

He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 1, between Lübeck and Rostock. He vehemently refused to play a female role in the camp theatricals, as he felt that ‘would have been a public declaration of homosexuality’. The gay cliques in the camp constantly annoyed him by assuming that he was one of them. On 30 April 1945 the prisoners refused German orders to evacuate in the face of the advancing Soviet Army.  After negotiations, the Germans left leaving the POWs behind.  Two weeks later Captain Cowell and the other British prisoners were flown home.

Back in England, with a business partner, Cowell set up a specialist auto engineering company. They built cars for motor racing, and he competed as a driver. He also renovated houses and sold them at a profit.

His marriage fell apart as Diana was not happy about his wearing her clothes, and suspected him of seeing other women. They separated in 1948.  Cowell never saw his daughters again.  His wife re-married and had three more children.  The two girls were brought up by their grandparents, Sir Ernest and his wife.

Robert continued to be depressed, and saw a couple of Freudian analysts. The outcome was:

“The feminine side of my nature, which all my life I had known of and severely repressed, was very much more fundamental and deep-rooted than I had supposed (p96)”.

He secured a consultation with a Harley Street sexologist who referred him to a woman endocrinologist, who put him on oestrogens. Feeling that he should counterbalance the heavily masculine nature of his business interests, he invested in a small company which designed and manufactured women’s clothes, both theatrical and haute couture, and proceeded to learn that business. He also struck up a friendship with a woman, Lisa, whom he met in a London hotel, who later lived with him and helped him transition.

Cowell came across the 1946 book Self: a study in ethics and endocrinology, by Michael Dillon, which contains a section discussing sex changes as possible

.Cowell wrote to him via the publisher, and after several lengthy letters, they met in London. Dillon admitted that he had been a woman until a few years previously. More meetings followed. Michael convinced himself that fate had put them together, and they should be a couple. Cowell needed an orchiectomy if she were to proceed to being a woman, but no doctor in the UK would do the operation because of the mayhem laws. Michael, who was nearing the completion of his medical degree at Trinity College, Dublin, used his new skills to do so. He also introduced Roberta to Arthur Millbourn, Canon at Bristol Cathedral, and to his surgeon Harold Gillies.   However he finally had to concede that Roberta was not returning his passion.

Roberta had a consultation with Dr George Dusseau on Wimpole Street. Given her orchiectomy, he agreed to write a letter that was “in the nature of a working certificate to enable the plastic surgeons to carry out their operations”. That done, Roberta was able to change her name by deed poll to Roberta Elizabeth Cowell and to get her birth certificate amended. From then on she would be Betty to her friends.

Sir Harold Gillies was now willing to proceed with surgery. He had never done a vaginoplasty before. He practiced the previous evening on the torso of a male cadaver. The operation was successful and medical affidavits were sworn. Cowell then persuaded Gillies to feminize her face.

The Cowells’ divorce decree was made absolute later in 1952. Betty was now deeply in debt after medical bills, the closure of her engineering firm and the failure of her dress-making firm.

In 1953 the news story broke about another pioneering transsexual, Christine Jorgensen. By early 1954, Betty knew that she herself was about to be a front-page story. She negotiated with the Picture Post that she would write an exclusive for them. It was said by the Sunday Pictorial that they paid £20,000 (according to this calculator, equivalent to £440,000 today), an enormous sum that allowed her to clear all her debts.

A ‘disclosure’ in the form of a Press Association statement was issued on 6 March 1954. With the notable exception of The Times, most British papers carried it on the front page with different headlines, but with almost the same text:

“This amazing change of sex is believed to be the first case in Britain where an adult male has so fully taken on the physical and mental characteristics of a woman. It may well be the most complete change of sex in the medical history of the entire world”.

The

Daily Herald’s doctor commented that

“cases of women becoming men are increasing but the change from male to female is rare”.

Cowell wisely left for the continent, pursued as she was by a pack of journalists. The Sunday Pictorial, which would become the Sunday Mirror in 1963 and which had published an homophobic three-part series, “Evil Men” in 1952, and had serialized the Jorgensen story in 1953, gave scant attention to Cowell on the first weekend, but a week later was saying that she was a transvestist and expressed concern for the

“startling legal and medical tangle which arises” and said that: doctors who deal with these change of sex cases.......”.are anxious for their position in the eyes of the law and the community to be clarified. This is a matter for the law makers.”

The Sunday People, the same week, ran the headline 'ROBERTA IS NO REAL WOMAN'. However it accepted Cowell’s claim that the operation was largely to speed up changes taking place naturally. The next day Roberta’s father, Ernest Cowell was quoted saying:

“I am told that it is quite on the cards for her to bear children”.

However by the next weekend, he had retracted:

“this is not a case of hermaphroditism” and he agreed that Roberta was a transvestist.

Betty in 1958 The Picture Post series ran for seven weeks from 13th March. It was then revised and published as Roberta Cowell's Story

with a Preface by Canon Milbourn. The publisher was Heinemann, which had published Dillon’s Self, eight years earlier. The publication had two benefits other than money. By ‘disclosing’ herself, she was able to return to motor racing once the fuss died down. It also allowed her to claim that she was not a transvestist like Christine Jorgensen. Despite the two daughters that she had fathered, and the fact that Robert had passed an RAF medical, she claimed to have XX chromosomes and ovaries, and that the stress of being in Stalag Luft 1 had brought out her underlying female biology, and that Dr Dusseau’s letter had certified her as a woman.

Betty in the 1970s After the media fuss died down, Betty did  continue both motor racing and flying. She won a hill climb in 1957. In 1972 she was interviewed by Michael Bateman for the Sunday Times. He noted that her house was

“cluttered with pilots’ helmets, high-frequency radios, models of planes and racing cars. She’s logged 1,600 hours as a pilot (recently she flew at Mach 2 twice the speed of sound )... She doesn’t approve of the Permissive Society and she doesn’t welcome Women’s Lib. She certainly hopes the trend towards Unisex has stopped. It’s unhealthy, unnatural. ‘My experience shows that men and women are so completely different as to be almost different species.’”

She also disapproved of other transsexuals:

“I was a freak. I had an operation and I’m not a freak any more. I had female chromosome make-up, XX. The people who have followed me have often been those with male chromosomes, XY. So they’ve been normal people who’ve turned themselves into freaks by means of the operation.”

In the 1970s Betty worked with Liz Hodgkinson on a second book which however was never completed.

Betty and Lisa continued to live together on and off until the latter died at the end of the 1980s.  Betty then moved into a flat in Hampton.  She was reclusive and private, but always had an expensive car.  However she used it less as she aged.   Her spine became bent and  swollen legs made walking impossible.

Diana died in 2006.  Betty's last years were spent alone in sheltered accomodation.  She died aged 93.  Only a few friends attended the cremation, and no news of her death was published in any newspaper until an article in

The Independent on Sunday in October 2013.  Her daughters were not informed until contacted by the newspaper prior to publication

Roberta Cowell. Roberta Cowell's Story. British Book Centre, 1954. With a preface by Canon Millbourn. Online and also.

“Former British Fighter Pilot Changes Sex”. Reprinted in Lewiston Evening Journal, Mar 6, 1954. Online

“Wife’s Story of Man Who Changed Sex”. AAP, March 7, 1954, reprinted in The Sydney Morning Herald. Online

“Ex-War Flier Now ‘Completely Female’. Doctor-Father Confirms ‘Son Robert is now Daughter Roberta’ “ The Vancouver Sun, March 15, 1954. Online

“The Real Story of Sex Change: Here’s Medical Proof of Father of Two Who Turned Into a Woman”. PIC: The Magazine for Young Men, 26,1, March 1955. Online

“Roberta Wins Hill Climb”. British Pathé, 1957.  Online  

Harold D. Gillies & D. Ralph Millard. The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery.  Butterworth, 1957: II,384-7.

Auriol Stevens. “The sexual misfits”. The Guardian, 7 Jan 1970, reprinted 7 Jan 2012. Online.

Michael Bateman interviews Roberta Cowell. Atticus, The Sunday Times, 12 March 1972. Online.

Liz Hodgkinson. Bodyshock: The Truth About Changing Sex. Columbus Books 1987: 21-2.

Liz Hodgkinson. Michael née Laura. Columbus Books. 1989: chp 6.

Dave King. The Transvestite and the Transsexual: Public Categories and Private Identities.  Avebury, 1993: 51-55, 86, 103, 110-115, 118, 119, 125, 128, 130, 132, 141, 162, 169.

Richard Ekins & Dave King (eds). Blending genders: social aspects of cross-dressing and sex-changing.  Routledge. 2002: 87-91. 135-7, 141, 146.

Pagan Kennedy. The First Man-Made Man: The Story of Two Sex Changes, One Love Affair, and a Twentieth-Century Medical Revolution. Bloomsbury. 2007: 3-4, 10-14, 55-7, 76-8, 85-99, 103-5, 109-113, 119-120, 136.

Jean-François Bouzanquet. Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers, 1888-1970. Veloce, 2009: 99-103.

Matthew Bell.  "'It's easier to change a body than to change a mind': The extraordinary life and lonely death of Roberta Cowell ".  The Independent on Sunday, 27 October 2013. Online  

[footballghana]

2020 NPP Primaries – A gloomy day for most sports sector friends

Partisan politics is a melting pot for people of varied backgrounds and professional expertise. It is the case that professional bodies and groups bask in and share in the pride and joy when a member or colleague is appointed or elected to political office.

For instance, the members of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) hold in great pride, the appointment of their member Hon. Joe Ghartey as Minister of Railways. Same applies to Journalists, one of whom was elected Ghana FA President – Kurt Okraku.

This phenomenon of politicians being sports stakeholders is not new in the world. Perhaps the biggest example to date is ex-Liberia Captain George Weah who is now President of his country.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owned AC Milan from 1986 to 2017. Another is the owner of African football giants TP Mazembe, Mois Katumbi Chapwe, the businessman and politician, who was the Governor of the Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2007 to 2015.

So the sports fraternity in Ghana looked forward to good news in the ruling New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primaries at the weekend but unfortunately most of the persons were unsuccessful.

Hon OB. Amoah – Deputy Minister, MP and former Deputy Minister of Sport

He was the only bright spot during the polls, as he retained his Akuapem South seat after topping with 266 votes while his closest rival Kwame Ofori-Gyau polled 93 votes, with Eric Annor-Mensah trailing with 74.

His resume now reflects dedicated services in the fifth, sixth and seventh parliaments of Ghana’s fourth republic. The University of Ghana-trained lawyer served as Deputy Minister in charge of the sports sector, between 2005 and 2009. This was during a period when the ministry was an umbrella body for the education, youth and sports sectors.

He worked effectively with his sector ministers Yaw Osafo Marfo and Papa Owusu Ankomah to collaborate with the Ghana FA for the Black Stars’ first qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2006.

He is remembered for his role in overseeing infrastructure establishment and upgrades for the execution of the Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which has been rated as one of the most successful in the tournament’s history. In fact, the Chief Operating Officer, Rex Danquah, had to briefly consult for the next edition in Angola.

Hon OB Amoah’s legal background has come in handy in his work as a member of the Select Committee for Youth Sports and Culture. Over the years a lot of work has been done with the formulation of policy for the sector especially a law.

Hon. Kwadwo Baah – Marketer/ National Sports Authority Chairman

The Board Chairman of the National Sports Authority (NSA), had his intended return to parliament hit with controversy from the start. He had to be cleared by the party’s electoral body for what was termed ‘disrespect’ to the delegates. With that hurdle crossed, he ventured into full campaign mode. On the weekend of the elections however, he took a decision to pull out of the race because over what he termed some irregularities.

Some 140 delegates had their names expunged from the register and as a result, sought to place an injunction on the process. However, that was not effective as the election came off without hitches in the Asante Akyem North Constituency. The incumbent, Andy Appiah Kubi won with 501 votes while Hon. Baah secured one vote.

Hon Kwadwo Baah since leaving parliament in 2016 has been active in the sports sector and through private initiative established one of the biggest marathon events in the country.

He put together the heavily-publicized Asante Akyem Marathon which has now become a major event on the national sporting calendar with the winner earning a ticket to participate in the Dubai Marathon. The event is a major intervention which has had major implications for local tourism in the constituency.

Added to the Marathon, he has created other competitive platforms in other sporting disciplines in the constituency which could boost talent discovery amongst the youth of the area. Hon. Kwadwo Baah who was once a marketer at the Multimedia Group will continue to serve as Board Chair for the Sports Authority.

Vincent Sowah Odotei – Tech Businessman/ Football Administrator

He served as CEO of Accra Hearts of Oak for two years and moved on to politics in 2016, when he managed to defeat then incumbent Nii Amassah Namoale the same year to represent the people of the La Dadekotopon Constituency in Parliament.

Before that he had contested against former Ghana FA President Kwasi Nyatakyi in the football body’s elections and was unsuccessful in unseating him. Prior to outdooring himself in partisan politics, he used his company Valex Lease Equip to sponsor sports competitions, especially volleyball and also established a football team.

The loss in the constituency primaries, came about two months after President Akufo-Addo terminated his appointment as Deputy Minister for Communications.

The former board Member of Accra Hearts of Oak had 376 votes, which were inadequate in the bid to secure another ticket to lead the party in his constituency a second time. Joseph Geral Tetteh Nanyofio’s 543 votes proved the road block.

Kojo Frempong – Consultant/former Broadcaster Sport

He was a delight to watch and listen to during his days as a sports broadcaster on television and radio. He was the host of the Joy Sports Center on Joy FM on weekdays and Sports Station on TV3 on Monday evenings.

During the period, he also established and published the weekly All Sports newspaper, which usually hit the newsstands biweekly. His energy, verve and depth and exciting persona always drew his viewers and listeners close. While doing all these, he also worked on many sports and non-sports marketing communications campaigns for some big brands.

His brand being a multi-faceted one, also helped him host programmes of varied genres like lifestyle (Boys Boys on Viasat 1 TV) and current affairs (Ghana tonight on TV Africa, where he also served as Chief Operating Officer).

Years on, Kojo Frempong explored his diversity in resources and pursued a Master’s Programme in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of government at Havard University. This was after serving as a consultant to the Minister for Business Development, Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal.

This being his first attempt at the primaries Kojo Frempong was relatively impressive with a total of 148 votes which landed him in third place behind Albert Ameyaw (167 votes) and the incumbent Prof Gyan Baffour who pulled 172 votes.

Hon. Alex Agyekum – Chairman Parliamentary Committee for Youth Sports and Culture

He lost as an incumbent and will round up his service as Chairman of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Culture Committee ahead of the December 2020 general elections. He sat at the helm of key policy decisions as the legislative level for the sports sector since starting his work in January 2017.

His leadership was key during the crisis period in Ghana football following revelations made in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s Number 12 documentary. His committee was key in liaising between the FA’S representative at the time coach Oti Akenten and the government until the Dr Kofi Amoah-led Normalization Committee was formed by FIFA to oversee football administration.

In recent times, Hon. Agyekum has been doing a lot of advocacy for the sports sector to be included in the stimulus packages announced by the government to cushion various sectors of the economy from the ripple effects of COVID 19.

The outgoing MP for the Mpohor Constituency also previously urged football clubs to accept pay cuts as an internal measure to keep them afloat while they look forward to support from the government.

Hon Agyekum, a product of the University of Cape Coast, polled 100 votes while John Kobina Amoah Sannie polled 192 votes to pick the Mpohor slot to represent the party in Ghana’s general elections.

It may be early days yet to figure out what the next move will be for each of these sports sector stakeholders on the political front, but one can only wish them well.

Source: Nathaniel Attoh

source: https://footballghana.com/

[soccernetghana]

2020 NPP Primaries – A gloomy day for most sports sector friends

[caption id="attachment_828873" align="alignnone" width="626"] O.B Amoah[/caption] Partisan politics is a melting pot for people of varied backgrounds and professional expertise. It is the case that professional bodies and groups bask in and share in the pride and joy when a member or colleague is appointed or elected to political office. For instance, the members of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) hold in great pride, the appointment of their member Hon. Joe Ghartey as Minister of Railways. Same applies to Journalists, one of whom was elected Ghana FA President – Kurt Okraku. This phenomenon of politicians being sports stakeholders is not new in the world. Perhaps the biggest example to date is ex-Liberia Captain George Weah who is now President of his country. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owned AC Milan from 1986 to 2017. Another is the owner of African football giants TP Mazembe, Mois Katumbi Chapwe, the businessman and politician, who was the Governor of the Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2007 to 2015. So the sports fraternity in Ghana looked forward to good news in the ruling New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primaries at the weekend but unfortunately most of the persons were unsuccessful. Hon OB. Amoah – Deputy Minister, MP and former Deputy Minister of Sport He was the only bright spot during the polls, as he retained his Akuapem South seat after topping with 266 votes while his closest rival Kwame Ofori-Gyau polled 93 votes, with Eric Annor-Mensah trailing with 74. His resume now reflects dedicated services in the fifth, sixth and seventh parliaments of Ghana’s fourth republic. The University of Ghana-trained lawyer served as Deputy Minister in charge of the sports sector, between 2005 and 2009. This was during a period when the ministry was an umbrella body for the education, youth and sports sectors. He worked effectively with his sector ministers Yaw Osafo Marfo and Papa Owusu Ankomah to collaborate with the Ghana FA for the Black Stars’ first qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2006. He is remembered for his role in overseeing infrastructure establishment and upgrades for the execution of the Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which has been rated as one of the most successful in the tournament’s history. In fact, the Chief Operating Officer, Rex Danquah, had to briefly consult for the next edition in Angola. His resume now reflects dedicated services in the fifth, sixth and seventh parliaments of Ghana’s fourth republic. The University of Ghana-trained lawyer served as Deputy Minister in charge of the sports sector, between 2005 and 2009. This was during a period when the ministry was an umbrella body for the education, youth and sports sectors. He worked effectively with his sector ministers Yaw Osafo Marfo and Papa Owusu Ankomah to collaborate with the Ghana FA for the Black Stars’ first qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2006. He is remembered for his role in overseeing infrastructure establishment and upgrades for the execution of the Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which has been rated as one of the most successful in the tournament’s history. In fact, the Chief Operating Officer, Rex Danquah, had to briefly consult for the next edition in Angola. ome 140 delegates had their names expunged from the register and as a result, sought to place an injunction on the process. However, that was not effective as the election came off without hitches in the Asante Akyem North Constituency. The incumbent, Andy Appiah Kubi won with 501 votes while Hon. Baah secured one vote. Hon Kwadwo Baah since leaving parliament in 2016 has been active in the sports sector and through private initiative established one of the biggest marathon events in the country. He put together the heavily-publicized Asante Akyem Marathon which has now become a major event on the national sporting calendar with the winner earning a ticket to participate in the Dubai Marathon. The event is a major intervention which has had major implications for local tourism in the constituency. Added to the Marathon, he has created other competitive platforms in other sporting disciplines in the constituency which could boost talent discovery amongst the youth of the area. Hon. Kwadwo Baah who was once a marketer at the Multimedia Group will continue to serve as Board Chair for the Sports Authority. Vincent Sowah Odotei – Tech Businessman/ Football Administrator He served as CEO of Accra Hearts of Oak for two years and moved on to politics in 2016, when he managed to defeat then incumbent Nii Amassah Namoale the same year to represent the people of the La Dadekotopon Constituency in Parliament. Before that he had contested against former Ghana FA President Kwasi Nyatakyi in the football body’s elections and was unsuccessful in unseating him. Prior to outdooring himself in partisan politics, he used his company Valex Lease Equip to sponsor sports competitions, especially volleyball and also established a football team. The loss in the constituency primaries, came about two months after President Akufo-Addo terminated his appointment as Deputy Minister for Communications. The former board Member of Accra Hearts of Oak had 376 votes, which were inadequate in the bid to secure another ticket to lead the party in his constituency a second time. Joseph Geral Tetteh Nanyofio’s 543 votes proved the road block. Kojo Frempong – Consultant/former Broadcaster Sport He was a delight to watch and listen to during his days as a sports broadcaster on television and radio. He was the host of the Joy Sports Center on Joy FM on weekdays and Sports Station on TV3 on Monday evenings. During the period, he also established and published the weekly All Sports newspaper, which usually hit the newsstands biweekly. His energy, verve and depth and exciting persona always drew his viewers and listeners close. While doing all these, he also worked on many sports and non-sports marketing communications campaigns for some big brands. His brand being a multi-faceted one, also helped him host programmes of varied genres like lifestyle (Boys Boys on Viasat 1 TV) and current affairs (Ghana tonight on TV Africa, where he also served as Chief Operating Officer). Years on, Kojo Frempong explored his diversity in resources and pursued a Master’s Programme in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of government at Havard University. This was after serving as a consultant to the Minister for Business Development, Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal. This being his first attempt at the primaries Kojo Frempong was relatively impressive with a total of 148 votes which landed him in third place behind Albert Ameyaw (167 votes) and the incumbent Prof Gyan Baffour who pulled 172 votes. Hon. Alex Agyekum – Chairman Parliamentary Committee for Youth Sports and Culture He lost as an incumbent and will round up his service as Chairman of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Culture Committee ahead of the December 2020 general elections. He sat at the helm of key policy decisions as the legislative level for the sports sector since starting his work in January 2017. His leadership was key during the crisis period in Ghana football following revelations made in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s Number 12 documentary. His committee was key in liaising between the FA’S representative at the time coach Oti Akenten and the government until the Dr Kofi Amoah-led Normalization Committee was formed by FIFA to oversee football administration. In recent times, Hon. Agyekum has been doing a lot of advocacy for the sports sector to be included in the stimulus packages announced by the government to cushion various sectors of the economy from the ripple effects of COVID 19. The outgoing MP for the Mpohor Constituency also previously urged football clubs to accept pay cuts as an internal measure to keep them afloat while they look forward to support from the government. Hon Agyekum, a product of the University of Cape Coast, polled 100 votes while John Kobina Amoah Sannie polled 192 votes to pick the Mpohor slot to represent the party in Ghana’s general elections. It may be early days yet to figure out what the next move will be for each of these sports sector stakeholders on the political front, but one can only wish them well. By Nathaniel Attoh Myjoyonline.com  source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/

[goarticletec-blog]

Modric wins 1st Ballon d'Or to end Messi and Ronaldo's reign

New Post has been published on https://www.articletec.com/modric-wins-1st-ballon-dor-to-end-messi-and-ronaldos-reign/

Modric wins 1st Ballon d'Or to end Messi and Ronaldo's reign

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or award for the first time on Monday, ending the 10-year dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Modric won the Champions League with Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. He was voted player of the tournament.

Modric, who has won the Champions League four times with Madrid, was fifth in Ballon d’Or polling last year.

Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.

Also, Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural women’s Ballon d’Or

Source link

[mayramoss-blog1]

Vote Did 2017 belong to Ronaldo Messi Kane Neymar or Salah?

As 2017 draws to a close, ESPN FC is asking you to participate in the fifth edition of our annual awards. Vote now, before the polls close!

Cristiano Ronaldo backed up his silverware-laden 2016 by defending his Champions League, Club World Cup and Ballon d'Or titles in 2017, and added a La Liga crown to the mix as well. With his great nemesis soaking up all the glory, there was less hardware for Lionel Messi, but he single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup in dramatic fashion. Harry Kane cemented himself as perhaps the Premier League's best goal scorer, while Mohamed Salah looks set to fight for that title following his summer arrival at Liverpool. Neymar, meanwhile, became the most expensive footballer of all time after joining Paris Saint-Germain in a €222 million deal, and has promptly set fire to Ligue 1.

Real Madrid became the first club in Champions League history to win back-to-back titles in 2017, and they added La Liga, the UEFA Super Cup, thr Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup for good measure. Juventus, Monaco and Chelsea all won their share of domestic silverware, while Manchester City have set an English top-flight record with 16 successive league wins and have built a seemingly unassailable lead atop the table.

Leading Los Blancos to a banner 2017 was Zinedine Zidane, but colleagues Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri led Chelsea and Juventus respectively to domestic doubles. Leonardo Jardim guided Monaco to an improbable Ligue 1 title upset over PSG, while Pep Guardiola has successfully instilled his methods at Man City as they saunter to what looks to be an inevitable Premier League crown in 2018.

Real Madrid's historic Champions League defence was one of the most memorable moments of modern football, let alone 2017, but the contenders in this category are just as compelling. Neymar's world-record move to PSG dominated headlines throughout the summer transfer window. Barcelona's fightback vs. PSG, overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit to win 6-5 on aggregate and move on to the Champions League quarterfinals, was the largest comeback in the competition's history. Mere months after a plane crash claimed the lives of 19 players and dozens more staffers, Chapecoense returned to the pitch in an emotional match against Palmeiras. And with Barcelona and Real Madrid looking set for a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu in April, Lionel Messi scored a stoppage-time winner to snatch the spoils for the Catalan club.

In a World Cup qualifying cycle that could only charitably be described as disappointing, the U.S., Italy, the Netherlands and Chile all missed out on next summer's tournament. After longtime owner Silvio Berlusconi sold a majority share in AC Milan, the club went on a summer spending spree that turned heads across Europe -- yet the Rossoneri sit decidedly in midtable, and well short of a Champions League place. After storming out of the blocks and building a sizeable lead atop the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund have fallen back to earth and now Bayern Munich by double-digit points. After Chelsea strode to the Premier League title by seven points, a title fight looks even less likely this term as Manchester City have assembled an 11-point lead. And just nine months after winning a historic Premier League crown, Leicester City sacked Claudio Ranieri.

Monaco took France by surprise, beating giants PSG to an improbable Ligue 1 title. The French were in for another surprise when Neymar joined PSG in a world-record deal over the summer. RB Leipzig ended their debut season in the Bundesliga by finishing second and qualifying for the Champions League. The U.S. capitulated in World Cup qualifying, looking on as Panama and Honduras joined Mexico and Costa Rica in escaping CONCACAF's Hexagonal. And Leonardo Bonucci left serial title winners Juventus for AC Milan in the summer.

Kylian Mbappe stormed onto the scene in 2017, winning Ligue 1 with Monaco and parlaying his success into a €180 million move to PSG -- all before his 19th birthday. Christian Pulisic emerged as one of the brightest young talents in the Bundesliga and very nearly carried the U.S. on his back to the World Cup at just 19. Gabriel Jesus arrived at Manchester City in January as a 19-year-old and promptly gave Sergio Aguero significant competition for the No. 9 role at the Etihad. Marco Asensio has scored wonder goal after wonder goal after becoming a regular fixture in the Real Madrid squad. And 21-year-old Leroy Sane has established himself as Man City's most dangerous wide man.

After a tough start to life at Manchester City, Raheem Sterling has blossomed under Pep Guardiola, and is presently the Premier League's third leading scorer. With his Manchester United days behind him, it seemed the best of Wayne Rooney had passed, but the 32-year-old has scored double-digit goals in the Premier League for the first time since 2014-15. He had torrid spells at Juventus and West Ham, but Simone Zaza has rediscovered his goalscoring touch at Valencia, scoring 10 times in 14 appearances this season. Clint Dempsey missed Seattle's run to MLS Cup in 2016 with an irregular heartbeat, but the U.S. international returned in 2017 to score 12 goals in the Sounders' quest to repeat. And while Paulinho exited Tottenham a shell of his former self, the Brazilian joined Barcelona from the Chinese Super League in the summer, and has duly emerged as a consistent goal threat from midfield.

Happening on New Year's Day, it just barely makes our 2017 list, but was there a better goal this year than Olivier Giroud's scorpion kick against Palace? Mario Mandzukic showed off his quality on the grandest stage with a sensational volley in the Champions League final vs. Real Madrid. Poor Palace, on this list for the wrong reasons twice, after Andy Carroll scored a stunning bicycle kick at the London Stadium. Wayne Rooney evoked memories of David Beckham, scoring from halfway against West Ham. And Oscarine Masuluke scored a goal that was as beautiful as it was improbable, with the goalkeeper striking an absurd overhead kick in stoppage time to snatch a draw vs. Orlando Pirates.

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Sky the Limit for Union Local Jets

The question of whether the Union Local girls could answer the bell against a similarly talented team in a big game was answered Saturday with an emphatic yes. Beating previously unbeaten Indian Creek by 19 points (64-45) on a neutral floor tends to put things in perspective. Any thoughts of an emotional letdown were quelled Monday with a 79-49 win against John Marshall. It's a team with no seniors and only one starter who will be legally able to drive a car by school year's end. So while many might believe Saturday's first half was the first time this team had been in a close fight, that wasn't quite the case. “The first time we played Ferry, we were down one midway through the third and against Shadyside, it was a three or four point game at halftime,” recalled Union Local head coach Ron Barr. “Our first game against Monroe Central, we had four brand new starters on the floor and they were scared to death. We were down 13 in the first half but cut it to five at halftime and ended up winning by 15.” None of the aforementioned teams are slouches and all will be playing in the OVAC tourney next week in their respective classification.

Union Local Last Unbeaten Team

The team fought through its early maturation process and stands alone, the last unbeaten team in the conference with a 19-0 mark. This team is built to win, and win big, averaging more than 70 points per game. It's a rare combination of size and speed that allows the Jets to play fast on both ends of the floor. The “smallest” player in the starting five is also its oldest in junior point guard Casey Kildow (5-6). On the wings she's joined by her sister, freshman Torre Kildow (5-11) and sophomore Hannah Merritt (5-8). Underneath stands the team's tallest player along with its most physical in 6-1 frosh Reagan Vinskovich and 5-7 sophomore Keira Gregor, respectively. Speed and tempo are their game.

Union Local won the Buckeye 8 title with a 64-45 win against previously unbeaten Indian Creek. The players, coaches and support staff pose with the championship trophy, perhaps the first of a lot of hardware to be won this season. “We go into every game, hoping we never have to run a play. It's kind of our moniker,” Barr said of his team's offensive philosophy. “That's the way I like to coach and it's the way they like to play. “Offensively, we like when other teams press. It puts us into fast break mode and that's to our advantage.” That's not to say Union Local can't play in the half-court offense. Merritt and the Kildow sisters all can pop from the perimeter, and Torre connects at a near 50-percent clip from behind the arc. They can also penetrate and attack the basket, or dump it off to the bigs underneath. Rinskovich averages a double-double per game with around 12 points and 12 boards per. But it's a balanced scoring effort to be sure. Torre Kildow (16.5), Merritt (11.0) and Casey Kildow (10.5) all average in double figures with Gregor (6.8) not far off the pace.

Teamwork, Understanding

The girls understand their roles and have flourished in them. “The lack of selfishness and finding their role has developed over the course of the season,” noted assistant coach Nikki Gregor. “Not everyone is going to be the leading scorer, but the important thing is to know your role and execute and if we can do that, winning is inevitable. “The win belongs to all of them. They each play a part.” Defensively, they are a nightmare as well. Multiple six or near-six footers creates issues when attacked the basket, moreso when long-legged and long-armed defenders can move and adjust quickly, covering ground in a hurry and allowing their teammates to take chances to force turnovers. “The fact we can switch among defenses so easily gives us an edge,” Gregor said. An uptempo offense that can excel in the half-court when necessary coupled with a diverse and conditioned defense is a tough match-up. That begs another question though.

Union Local's starting five of Casey Kildow (2), Keira Gregor (40), Hannah Merritt (30), Reagan Vinskovich (42), Torre Kildow (22) and sixth-man Baylee Rex (21) have their team playing at a torrid pace and sitting with a spotless 19-0 record as the postseason approaches.

How good can this team be?

Union Local has featured some quality athletes this century and captured a few OVAC titles. But you have to go back 20 years to the 2000-01 team coached by Rick Jones to find one as dominant, or even a few years further back to 1997-98 to find another that had a similar hot start to the season. Gregor knows this more than most. Back when she still used her maiden name Kemp, she was a senior on the 97-98 squad, also coached by Jones that started the year 15-0 before back to back losses to Bellaire and Indian Creek spoiled the perfection. They finished 19-3, with the final loss coming against Fort Frye in a sectional. The Cadets later lost to Bellaire in the district semifinals. That was a senior-laden team led by junior Erin Mason, Gregor, Jamie (Carruthers) Vinskovich, Dawn Renzler and Courtney (Feaster) Howard. Fellow juniors Angie Ault and Jess Chillinsky were part of a starting lineup that mixed-and-matched between six girls. A few years later, Gregor's younger sister Heidi Kemp was part of a group of seven seniors, also led by a junior in multi-sport all-Ohio athlete Jenny Campbell, that took things a step further.

Depth

Depth was one of that year's team's aces in the hole. While the starting five usually consisted of Campbell, Jenny Chillinsky, Amy Scarnecchia, Casey Stenger and Amanda Mercer, Kemp and Miranda Thompson both drew starting nods depending on matchups. The 2000-01 Jets were battle tested come the post season, having faced the likes of Bellaire's Kacie Vavrek, Martins Ferry's Lindsay Coyne, St. Clairsville's Piccolini sisters, Bethany and Lindsey and even the Fort Frye duo Krista Ferguson and Cincinnati signee Leslie Knoch, though Knoch missed the regular-season showdown won by the Jets. “Their guard size was comparable to ours,” Barr said of his team and the 00-01 version. “But they were more seasoned. And that year, it seemed like every team had two or three really good players. Every game was a dog fight.” Union Local advanced through the sectional round and came within five points of winning a district title. But once again, the postseason nemesis of Fort Frye, this time at full strength, was victorious, 65-61. The Cadets fell in the regional but were voted No. 3 in the final Division III AP Poll. Union Local was close behind at seven.

The 1997-98 team was the last one to start the season 15-0 prior to this year's teams current 19-0 mark. Front Row: manager Tyler Feaster, Jess Parker, Emily Tacosik, Dawn Renzler, Angie Ault, Erin Mason and Courtney Feaster. Back Row: Coach Jackson, Nikki Kemp, Jess Chillinsky, Casey Stenger, Jamie Carruthers, Erin Patterson, Jenny Chillinsky and Coach Rick Jones. Kemp (Keira Gregor), Carruthers (Reagan Vinskovich) and Patterson (Alliegh Cheatham) all have daughters on this season's team, while Tacosik is the cousin of Casey and Torre Kildow.

How do they match up?

There are a number of similarities when comparing the three teams. Each team boasts lights-out shooters, capable of attacking the basket or pulling up from the perimeter. All three hammered teams with transition offenses and showed equal tenacity and tempo defensively. But when comparing present-day to 97-98, Gregor believes her daughter's team has the advantage in the post. “Jamie and Jess were our two 'bigs' and I played there as well, but Keira and Reagan have a huge advantage over the three of us in the paint,” Gregor admitted. Vinskovich would tower over the 2000-01 team as well, as Stenger and Scarnecchia were the only true posts on the team and neither were near 6-1 in stature. But what they lacked in height they made up for in physicality. Where the 2000-01 Jets may have the advantage is both in depth and conditioning. “We had a rotation of seven girls that started or came off the bench and we didn't really skip a bit no matter who was in,” Kemp recalled. “We not only ran a track-meet style offense, but we pressed A LOT. Having fresh legs running in and out made it doable.”

Turning to now

The OVAC Championship Tourney is approaching and soon after, the OHSAA tournament will begin. Goals have been set and some have been achieved already. Others are further down the road. Eventually, the Jets will run into a veteran team that has the conditioning and talent to keep up with them for four quarters. None have yet, but it's bound to happen. That's when the true test begins. Barr noted that most of these girls have been playing together since they entered third grade. They may be relatively new to varsity basketball, but they are quite familiar with one another. That trust in their teammates shows. “This team has incredible chemistry. They've played a lot of basketball together so you don't even realize how young they really are,” Kemp said. “The sky is the limit for this group and I can't wait to see how high they fly.” Related: The Best of Bishop Donahue Hoops Postseason Again for CCHS Read the full article