Sports Spectated

Isaac Hinson Sports Editor

It was a pretty quiet week in national sports outside of the NBA’s All-Star weekend festivities. The NFL season has concluded, MLB is right around the corner, and the NHL is in the same boat as the NBA: waiting for the playoffs.

The All-Star weekend has been one of the most inconsistent products in major league sports over the last decade. The weekend has many events, including the skills challenge, the three-point shooting contest, the slam dunk contest, the rising stars game, the celebrity game and of course the All-Star game among others. But it never seems like they can all be good the same year. Notoriously, the skills challenge is always awful, with one team this year not even scoring a single point.

finals rings than Lebron. M.J. has six and Lebron has four.

It is ironic how nobody wants to talk about how James has more career points, rebounds, assists and a higher field goal percentage. It is always about the rings with the Jordan fans, and I wonder why.

Only ‘Bron fans know the truth, it is because they know that is the only thing you can say that M.J. has more of. James could do what M.J. did 100 times better, and again, at age 38.

Lebron is the definition of longevity, he is a couple of years away from playing with his son Bronny James who is a senior this year at Sierra Canyon in California.

James was even a better team player than M.J. James was adored by his teammates and fans, while M.J. was hated by his teammates but loved by his fans. Many say Jordan was a jerk and never hung out with his teammates outside of basketball.

James once gifted all of his teammates Rolex watches for their hard work and attitude. He has been the poster child of who people should want to be like in life. He is professional, smart and the greatest person to ever touch a basketball.

According to Baseball America, “hHis fastball sits 95-97 mph, touching 100 mph at peak with excellent vertical movement. His slider is a mid-80s sweeper that generates a high rate of chase swings out of the zone, playing well off of his fastball.” Miller is one amongst a slew of potentially viable options that include: Prelander Berroa, Bryan Woo and Taylor Dollard.

#2 Filling (and settling) in the gaps

According to Dipoto, in the off-season came the time to shore up gaps in positions (RF and 2B) with All-Star caliber players while also advancing the culture of the team. The goal is to improve with little to no disruption, Dipoto said..

“We thought having players with that type of experience like an A.J Pollock, Tommy La Stella, Teo, and

The Mariners are hovering around the ninth-best odds in baseball to make a run to the World Series, at +1600. After their competitive performance going toe-to-toe with AL West rivals and reigning World Series Champions, Houston Astros, it’s not much of a surprise.

Though Seattle was swept in the ALDS, the losses were all in close contests. The combined run differential was 13-9 in favor of Houston and involved the now infamous 18th-inning battle until the end.

“There’s a difference between where we’ve been the last few years trying to get over that hump that ultimately we did last October,” Dipoto said. “TAnd, the obvious stresses of coming in under the pressure of trying to repeat or now go back for a second time.”

Tears were shed in Seattle with tridents held proudly after the Mariners’ curse-breaking playoff berth and that seemed to be the unattainable limit. However, it may be time to expect them to rise for years to come.

The Mariners will hit the plate against the San Diego Padres on Feb. 24 at 12:10 p.m..

The dunk contest is the most in-debate event of them all. It seems like in recent years top-tier NBA players have not been inclined to participate in the event, with the last time a true star participating being Zach Lavine in 2016. Even legendary participant Aaron Gordon retired from the event. However, this year, it was actually pretty good! All four dunkers besides Jericho Sims had quality dunks in my opinion, and Mac McClung especially impressed.

Now I look forward to a Trail Blazers team returning after the All-Star break with three starters on the injury report, and an increasingly difficult schedule. Buckling up.

ACROSS

2. A scored point

3. First down, yard lines, two goal posts

8. Forehand, backhand, alley, doubles

9. A team who has won the final game

11. Hitting another player or taking the ball outside the court

12. A game played with a white ball and bats

13. Affecting a shot that’s touched the backboard or is in the rim

15. A game played with a white ball over a net

16. Two nets on a wooden court

DOWN

1. Taking too many steps with the ball

4. A goal worth seven points

5. When the players and/or ball moves out of bounds

6. CWU sports players are called this

7. When a player regains the ball after a missed shot

8. To take down a player

10. Who throws or hands off the football

13. Another word for goalkeeper