Viking Magazine Volume XVII Issue 3

Volume XVII, Issue 3 · February, 2024

The Price of Glory New research on the long-term impacts of head trauma on athletes’ health throws into question the future of contact sports.

Volume XVII, Issue 3 February 2024

STAFF

would like to thank our sponsors...

Editors-in-Chief Tyler Frick, Grace Gormley, Josie Vogel

The Gaither Family The Collins Family The Vogel Family Cora Ross

Creative Director Eliza Gaither

The Martin Family Berkley Belknap The Yen Family Joanie Haney

Managing Editors Beau Revenaugh Aspen Stitt

Photo Editor Jason Hu

The Reller Family Jonathan Levav The Harrison Family Myrna Gabbay The Steele Family Miranda Junowicz

Online Editor-in-Chief Tyler Martin

Business Manager Katie Yen Copy Editor Claire Cho

Social Media Managers Trey Collins Avery Reller

Staff Writers Emil Bothe, Carter Burnett, Tyler Cheung, Scarlett Frick, Amanda Goody, Kamili Fossati-Moiane, Roan Haney, Tyler Harrison, Luke Joachim, Nathan Lee, Ben Levav, Alena Lotterer, Max Merkel, Dylan Robinson, Evin Steele, Sarah Thieman, Lucas Tung, Jonathan Yuan Junior Jorell Clark leaps over defenders as he goes for a basket during their game against Los Altos on Jan 25, which they won 3931. Photo by Jason Hu.

Adviser Brian Wilson

on the cover:

The cover features an artistic rendering of a football helmet with a human brain within. Read more about the dangers of contact sports in our feature, The Price of Glory, on page 26. Art by Josie Vogel, design

by Grace Gormley.

Viking Magazine Palo Alto High School 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 650-329-3837 Email contact: vikingeds@gmail.com Follow us @vikingsportsmag or go to vikingsportsmag.com for current game updates/scores.

Viking, a sports magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Advanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. Viking is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity.

Advertising in Viking The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with Viking, please contact Viking by email at vikingeds@gmail.com Printing Services 2,500 copies of The Viking are printed, five times a year by Folger Graphics in Hayward, Calif.

Logo Font Courtesy of Måns Grebäck

Letter from the EDITORS Hey Vikes! Welcome to Viking’s first issue of 2024. We can’t wait to continue giving you fun and interesting sports coverage in this new year.

This issue, we dive into some pretty serious topics, one being the new research that sheds a new light on the dangers of contact sports for athletes, whether young or old. A new type of brain damage, recently discovered, is afflicting football players, wrestlers, and athletes who have had many concussions. Read more about this condition, called CTE, on page 26.

It’s the season of love, and so we wanted to highlight some teammate love with a cute design that you can find on page 20.

Cheating has been happening in sports since sports themselves have existed. On

page 17, we dive into some of the most recent scandals and unpack them.

Are you a fan of PE? We would guess that there are some Paly students would say no, but in our article on page 14, we dive into the many benefits that PE has for students.

In our article on page 22, injured athletes may find some helpful tips for recovery.

Many Paly athletes have gone through or are going through the proccess of signing to a particlar college for their sport. But what is this proccess like? Turn to page 34 to learn more!

Of course, ski and snowboard season is in full swing up in Sierra Nevada. There has been an enduring rivalry between skiiers and snowboarders. We cover this interesting topic on page 38.

Tyler Frick

Our Viking Tries this issue was a fun one, and may have set the record for Viking particpation. We attempted the NFL Combine (or a shortened version at least). Come read how we did and how we compare to the NFL greats on page 42!

Finally, the Final Word column this issue, written by EIC Grace Gormley critiques the commercialization of sports, through the lens of the loss of Oakland’s three major league teams, the Warriors, the A’s and the Raiders. Read on page 44.

That’s all for Viking’s third issue this school year! We cannot wait for you to read and let us know your thoughts! We hope you have a happy season of love and an even better spring! Hang in there and enjoy your second semester!

Grace Gormley

Josie Vogel

STAFF OPINION

Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry Are Doing Sports Right

The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu made history seven months ago when she hit an astounding 37 out of 40 possible points during the WNBA All Star Game. Ionescu shot 23/25 from the field and 2/2 on extra balls, resulting in an overall score of 25/27 and a total of 37 points. She also made the most consecutive shots in a row ever (20). This record is the best performance in a three point contest by men or women, ever.

The entire basketball world was in awe of her performance. The previous WNBA record holder, Allie Quigley, tweeted, “UNBELIEVABLE!!! This record won’t ever be broken.”

Another high-profile basketball player took note: the previous overall record holder, the Warrior’s own Stephen Curry. Curry set the previous record in 2021, and tweeted, “RIDICULOUS!” Ionescu imitated his ‘Lights-Out’ pose while taking photos with her trophy, and challenged him to a 3-point contest during NBA All Star Weekend, which occured this past weekend.

Curry agreed, and from the beginning of this week, fans have been able to vote on their anticipated winner. Even several of Curry’s teammates have weighed in (with Curry’s “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson favoring Ionescu).

In the contest, Ionescu beat or tied all the men except Curry, who edged out the win 29-26. However, here at the Viking, we firmly believe that truly nobody lost in this competition.

There are several aspects of this contest that truly capture the essence of sports.

First, this contest isn’t for the direct financial benefit of either player; instead, each has chosen a charity that the NBA will donate to for each three made. Ionescu picked the SI20 foundation, an organization committed to helping kids gain access to sports, and Curry chose his own charity, which focuses on helping raise literacy rates and provide access to good nutrition for young kids. Overall, the contest raised $25,000.

Another very valuable thing about this competition is that Ionescu is using it as

an opportunity to advance not only her career, but also the view of the WNBA in general, even opting to shoot from the NBA’s three point line, which is slightly farther than the WNBA one.

“Knowing that I had the opportunity to kind of pick what line I wanted to shoot from, it was a no-brainer,” Ionescu told reporters. “[I want to] continue to prove that we’re capable and willing. Wanted to continue to equal the playing field and doing so on the biggest stage.”

Steph’s eagerness to participate in the contest also speaks to his character, since, as arguably the most decorated modern NBA player, his engagement in the issue truly means a lot for women’s sports.

Above all, this land breaking contest captures the essence in sports, as a competition not designed to tear down your opponent, but instead to prove to yourself and the world the extent of your skills and passion.

- Viking

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 3

In This Issue...

6 12 14 17 20 22 26 34 38 42 44

Zooms Intro Package Shaping Bodies and Minds Beneath the Surface Teammate Love in the Air The Art of Recovery The Price of Glory Signed and Sealed Peak Rivalry Draft Day Fever The Oakland Exodus

Freshman Nava Schwarzbach winds up a shot against Los Gatos on Feb 13 in a game which they lost 2-0. Photo by Jason Hu, art by Josie Vogel

Photo by Jason Hu

Paly boys basketball are second place in their league for the third year running.

Pictured: Senior Alaap Nair goes for a layup against Los Altos on Jan 5, whom they beat 61-49.

Layup

Leaping for the

Chasing

Greatness Paly girls soccer finished this year fifth in SCVAL, moving up one position since last year. Pictured: Junior Polina Van Hulsen chases after the ball in their home scrimmage against Gunn on Jan 26.

Photo by Jason Hu

Digging In

Paly boys basketball beat Sequoia 67-28 in their first home game of the season on Nov. 28. Pictured: Junior Jorell Clark goes in for a layup.

Photo by Jason Hu

Rival

Battle Paly boys soccer finished sixth in SCVAL, scoring 26 goals across the season. Pictured: Senior Anzel Zhen fights for ball control against a rival Gunn player. Paly beat Gunn Feb 13 1-0.

by SARAH THIEMAN and KATIE YEN

What makes an athlete go the extra mile? While it is a mixture of hard work and love of the game, records also spur help athletes in a competitve sphere as well as provide a measure of personal development. Each sport is constantly adapting along with the world around us, so records give us the ability to see how far we have come. Below, Viking pulled some astounding records from around the world to compare to Paly's own records.

PALY ATHLETIC WORLD SPORT RECORDS

RECORDS

1. EJ FLOREAL (TRACK) Fastest 100-Meter Dash 10.52 seconds (2012)

1. USAIN BOLT (TRACK) Fastest 100-Meter Dash 9.58 seconds (2009)

2. JOC PEDERSON (BASEBALL) Highest Batting Average .466 (2011)

2. NAP LAJOIE (MLB) Highest Batting Average .426 (1901)

3. ETHAN HARRINGTON (SWIM) Fastest Shortcourse 50 yd Freestyle 19.57 (2023)

3. CAELEB DRESSEL (SWIM) Fastest Shortcourse 50 yd Freestyle 17.63 (2018)

4. KINGA CZAJKOWSKA (TRACK) Fastest Mile (Women’s) 5:00.73 (2023)

4. FAITH KIPYEGON (TRACK) Fastest Mile (Women’s) 4:07.64 (2023)

12 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

V I K I N G' S K I T C H E N

Champ EAT LIKE A

by SARAH THIEMAN AND KATIE YEN

Viking's Kitchen presents some of our favorite easy recipes so you can eat like a champion! Enjoy these healthy, delicious, and low-effort meals you can throw together and fuel yourself to be your best!

Grace's Power Packed Smoothie 1 banana 1 cup berries of choice 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt 1 cup milk, & add ice 2 tbsp nut butter

­

Dylan's Quinoa & Avocado Salad 1/2 cup quinoa 3 tbsp olive oil juice 1 lemon 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar 1/2 cup canned tuna

1 avocado 1 cup cherry tomatoes 1/4 cup feta 2 cups baby spinach 2 tbsp mixed seeds

Katie's Overnight Oats 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/2 cup milk of choice 1 tbsp maple syrup 1/4 tsp vanilla extract Berries to taste!

Shaping

Bodies & Minds

by ELIZA GAITHER, AMANDA GOODY, and KAMILI FOSSATI-MOIANE

PE, the most physically demanding class at Paly, is actually one of the most beneficial courses for motor and mental skills. Through PE, students are compelled to participate in our strong athletic programs, and improve their own physical and mental health.

W

e all have been in PE since before we could even read, from doing a water balloon toss in elementary school to sprinting a mile to hold onto your A in high school.

Physical Education class provides valuable motor skills and strong physical fitness. Paly emphasizes the value of physical activity, whether students are encouraged to participate in sports or take a PE course as an alternative to those sports. PE has undeniable benefits, but also has its share of both fans and haters here at Paly.

Our school is well known for our athletic excellence, which can be attributed to both our sports programs and our PE instructors. The teachers give students experience in several sports, including

softball, soccer, basketball, badminton, pickleball, swimming, and more during their time in PE. Paly PE is well known to all students, with different units focusing on different sports, as well as including conditioning and tests like the Fitness Test, which measures skills like one’s mile time and push-up ability.

But Paly athletes don’t necessarily need to spend two years in the classic PE class. When a Paly student reaches sophomore year, they have more flexibility of options for PE credit.

There are four possible choices which include; athletic conditioning or weight training, yoga, dance, and the standard PE curriculum.

Sophomore Ella Segev is one of the many students that opted for an alterna-

“Yoga is a great way for me to be physically active and get the requirements done, and it doesn’t involve running.”

- Ella Segev (‘26)

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tive PE course.

“Running wasn’t really my thing and I wanted to avoid that,” Segev said. “Yoga is a great way for me to be physically active and get the requirements done, and it doesn’t involve running.”

The course is designed to introduce students to basic postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation methods of yoga. Students will experience the benefits of stretching, moving, and breathing freely. The ultimate goal in mind is for students to get more out of day-to-day life while still aiming to promote physical and mental health.

The main flaw to note about alternative PE courses is that free periods, or “preps,” are not offered to the students enrolled in these classes. Free periods are granted to student-athletes who play Paly sports when their sport is in season.

This is an incentive to give athletes an extra period to focus on school while their time after is filled with athletic practice. Segev notes that it can be challenging if a student athlete opts to choose an alternative PE option, since there is no prep available.

“If I could have a prep for my PE class

period, then I would have more time to get homework done, and I could prepare for tests,” Segev said.

Sophomore Matteo Saffer takes athletic conditioning as an alternative to PE during zero period before school. Athletic conditioning is designed for athletes who want to maintain their body conditioning even when not in season.

It is highly encouraged for two-or-moresport athletes to enroll in athletic conditioning.

Saffer receives a prep from taking zero period but notes that the early start sometimes cuts into his sleep, which is also crucial for athletes.

“I get to focus on weightlifting instead of doing multiple sports, which is one difference,” Saffer said. “There is also a lot of flexibility in what you do, so I can do a different lifting routine than other people.”

Paly offers a large selection of sports for students to participate in, all of which grant athletes a prep while in season. However, there are some sports that are not offered through Paly. In order to get a prep for a sport not offered through Paly, students have to apply for an “independent study.”

The process to apply for an independent study is available to students who have completed their freshman year of physical education at Paly. These athletes would still need to take a full year of PE before receiving their prep because independent study only applies to sophomores.

After that year is fulfilled, there are many criteria an athlete still must meet to earn a prep period. The student must have 3+ years of prior experience in the activity, and they must do year-round training, five to six days per week, totaling to 15 hours weekly. Independent study PE applications are available upon request from the PE instruction advisor during the first two weeks of the school year. It can, however, be challenging to get a prep through this program.

Junior Tyler Kramer has been rock climbing for many years. Rock climbing is not a sport that is offered through Paly.

Kramer is one of the many student athletes at Paly that went through the process of applying for an independent study.

“It was not difficult [to

“Even if PE isn’t your thing, it’s still fun to just be outdoors with your friends and to take a break from academic school.”

- Anonymous Source

apply for an independent study] because I have a coach and I do more than enough hours,” Kramer said. “I’ve been doing it my whole life so it wasn’t really a big thing for me, but for other people I know it was. I had to do quarterly updates with my coach and have them sign off on them. But apart from that, I was free from PE.” At Paly, the PE curriculum consists of many things; weightlifting, running and agility, swimming, and involvement in various sports. However, one thing that many argue should be added is nutrition. Nutrition is arguably one of the most important things that teens can be taught, as it can influence their lifestyle throughout their whole life. According to AboutKidsHealth, “teens need extra nutrients to support bone growth, hormonal changes and organ and tissue development, including the brain.”

Sophomore Romy Kirby is starting her second year on the varsity swim team and believes that nutrition is vital for teens.

“I think this generation specifically eats a lot of bad food and it’s really affecting our bodies but you won’t see it until later in life,” Kirby said, “and if you don’t learn about it at school, a lot of parents won’t

talk about it and you won’t learn about it.”

One of the core pieces of the physical education curriculum at Paly is running and agility. Students are tested on their running abilities tri-annually by participating in fitness tests worth 15% of your semester grade.

Fitness tests consist of eight different tests; for many students, the worst are the 400 meter run, 800 meter run, and the mile.

The standard for students to earn full credit on the mile run is 8:10 for girls and 7:10 for boys. This standardized time might be doable for some students, but for others, these standards can be very challenging. Paly PE teacher Jason Fung believes that the standards provide a good comparison point for health for students.

“I think that it [the PE standards] just sets a parameter of what kids should be at, not saying that it is the end-all-be-all,” Fung said. “I think that it’s an obtainable goal of some sort that gives kids an idea of where their fitness level is.”

Other students argue that the standards for fitness tests is an unfair measure of what athleticism looks like, including junior Jorell Clark. Clark plays varsity basketball and ran track and field for Paly.

“I think that it might be a bit challenging for non athletic people, especially since it’s not something that they’re born with,” Clark said. “It might be hard for them to do their best, and the athletic people do have an advantage.”

Likewise, despite many arguing for the benefits of Paly PE, many students believe PE is unnecessary.

Sophomore Reyes Aronson believes that PE is not important and takes away from her time to do other things.

“We shouldn’t have to take PE, and we could have time for other classes,”

Aronson said. “I think that taking it freshman year is fine, but after freshman year it’s kind of irrelevant.”

Junior Sam Ewen has finished his required two years of physical education at Paly and also believes that PE is necessary.

“I think it’s very u n i m p o r t a n t ,” Ewen said. “I think if every single kid at Paly has a prep, then our school would thrive.

Aronson observes that Paly classes become more challenging during sophomore year and many students would benefit Sophomore Paly students high five after scoring a point from having a free period to catch up in pickle ball. Photo by Amanda Goody with their studies. students because it allows them to be “I don’t think it’s important after freshman year,” Ar- physically active and take a break from onson said. “I feel like sophomore year the rigorous classes offered at Paly.

“I think [PE is] something that all the becomes more challenging, and I don’t kids need, I would even say for four years think we should have to take PE.” An anonymous senior provides an al- of high school,” Fung said.

Fung believes that putting in the work ternative will get you results. perspective.

“It depends on how you go about your “I think if you have al- PE class,” Fung said. “If you take PE seriways been ously and do all of the Vikings up to the active since standards, you’ll get some sort of benefit you were lit- out of it.”

The anonymous senior also sees many tle, PE may not seem benefits.

“Even if PE isn’t your thing, it’s still fun important to you,” she to just be outdoors with your friends and said.

“But to take a break from academic school,” for some she said.

Despite the diverse student opinions people, they haven’t gotten the opportunity to play on PE, it is undeniable sports or build healthy habits. If PE can that PE gives stube a fun way to try new activities out with dents many opfriends, it might be a really good way to portunities to help support an active and healthy life- build healthy habits that will style.”

The controversy about whether PE last a lifetime. should be a required class at Paly for freshmen and sophomores is a topic many students are passionate about.

Some may argue that PE is beneficial for

“[The food we’re eating is] really affecting our bodies but you won’t see it until later in life.”

- Romy Kirby (‘26)

16 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

BENEATH THE

SURFACE

Despite the many rules in college and professional sports, teams and athletes will do whatever it takes to get an edge over their oponent, even if it means breaking the rules.

by BEAU REVENAUGH and TYLER HARRISON

I

t’s the bottom of the ninth in the 2017 American League Conference Series (ALCS) game six. Yankees 4, Astros 4. Bang! Yankees Pitcher Ardnolis Chapman stands on the mound confused as his 84 mile per hour slider was timed perfectly by Jose Altuve to hit a walk-off home run to win game six of the series. and become champions For context, Chapman averages a 99.6 mile per hour fastball. Chapman’s snailpaced pitch was meant to throw off the batter completely, so Altuve’s seemingly miraculous hit sparked suspicion for many fans, and the league opened an investigation into the Astros organization for cheating. Later that season, the team was punished for using cameras to steal signs (or pre-learn the opponent’s play or pitch signals).

Cheating in sports dates back to ancient Greece in the Olympics. Methods of cheating included bribing officials and competitors, as well athletes faking their city-state affiliations. While many athletes consumed dried figs, mushrooms and the stimulant strychnine, these types of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) were not considered cheating at the time.

A number of cheating scandals have come to light in recent years across different professional and college sports.

Demystifying these scandals can be challenging for fans, losing trust and longtime support for some.

Quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. Despite this duo and overall organization’s success, Belichick and Brady’s success has been tainted by two major cheating scandals.

Right before halftime of the September 9, 2007 regular season matchup between Patriots and the Jets, New England video

assistant Matt Estrella was caught video D’Qwell Jackson. Little did the NFL world taping the Jets sideline, specifically their know, this interception would uncover defensive coach, who was relaying signs yet another cheating scandal for the Pato the detriots. fense. FilmJackson handed the “EVERY NFL TEAM DOES Patriots ball to a Colts ing other teams’ sideequipment manager to SIGN STEALING. THE lines is legal keep as a souvenir. Even PATRIOTS WERE THE from NFL though Jackson did not designated notice anything wrong ONLY ONES THAT GOT areas in the with the ball, the Colts CAUGHT” stadium, but equipment team noticed Estrella was a slight deflation in the -Patriots Fan Ben Bishop caught filmball and reported it to ing in an “unthe NFL. Footballs are authorized required to be above a area”, most likely the New England side- certain pressure, measured in PSI, yet the line. Further investigation revealed that Patriots ball was not above the required the Patriots were doing the same thing threshold. An investigation revealed that for most of the season. As a result, Be- Brady had ordered the deflation of the lichick was fined the maximum amount balls. As a result, Brady was suspended possible, $500,000. for four games the next season. Addi“Every NFL team does tionally, Belichick and the organization it”, said former PALY were fined $2.85 million and lost four student and New Endraft picks. gland fan Henry RevDeclan Packer, Paly’s senior quarenaugh. “[The Patriots] terback, shares that this strategy was were the only ones that a double-edged sword. got caught.”

“Throwing a deflated football isn’t In 2015, the Indianapoeasier,” Packer said. “But a deflatlis Colts, quarterbacked ed football is easier to catch.” by one of Paly’s very Additionally, the recent own football coachUniversity of Michigan es, Andrew Luck, cheating scandal has was facing the involved Michigan Patriots in the head coach and class NFC champiof 1982 Paly alum onship. In the Jim Harbaugh. An game, New NCAA investigaEngland tion revealed a quarterback Tom Former Michigan B r a d y Head Coach Jim Harbaugh threw an interception to

Michigan staffer went to 30 different Big Ten games, and “illegally filmed” other teams’ sidelines, specifically their play callers. Harbaugh accepted a six game suspension, yet if he stayed in the NCAA, he would have most likely faced a fullyear ban, which may be why he recently accepted a coaching job in the NFL. Michigan won the NCAA championship this year, but this scandal cast a shadow on the legitimacy of their title.

Campanile sports columnist and senior Neel Sharma shared that this situation is more common than some may believe.

“Sign stealing is done by so many [NCAA College Football Teams in the] FBS [league] at this point,” Sharma said.

“It has become a part of NCAA football, and it’s something that’s usually not talked about, but the fact that they got caught meant the NCAA wasn’t going to let it slide”.

Baseball is a sport where cheating is so rampant, some forms of cheating have become an essential part of the game, even to the point where the MLB knows it happens, and lets it

Former Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady

happen. The most common way teams ous lackadaisical enforcement of foreign cheat in baseball is through the use of substances. In Glasnow’s and other MLB sticky substances. At first, pitchers dis- pitchers’ case, pitchers throw the basecovered “scuffing”, or scratching and ball upwards of 90 to 100 miles per hour, cutting baseballs with a thumbtack, as causing immense strain on their elbow. well as throwing spit-balls would help in- While foreign substances that enhance crease the spin rate of a pitch. grip make it harder for batters to hit, it Senior baseprotects ball player Jake pitchers by ”HITTING A BASEBALL IS ONE limiting the Papp shared that many pitchstrain on OF THE HARDEST TASKS IN ers know comtheir elbows. mon methods To add on, SPORTS. IF PITCHERS ARE of this same sign stealing tactic.

USING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES, is another, “The most less comcommon for- THE HITTER IS PUT AT AN EVEN mon, yet eign substance more wellLARGER DISADVANTAGE” used by pitchknown, form ers is a combiof cheating -Jake Papp (‘24) nation of rosin in the MLB. and sunscreen Back to the creating a sticky substance,” he said.

2017 American League Championship One of the biggest offenders of using Series with the suspicious Yankees vs Assticky substances in recent years is Yan- tros game, an MLB investigation revealed kees pitcher Garret Cole. In 2017, Cole that the Astros had a camera behind the was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. outfield, which relayed signs to the clubThat season was his worst ever, play- house. On an off-ball pitch, ie. a pitch ing-wise, with an earned runs average that is not a fastball (the pitch that the (ERA) of 4.26, yet 3 seasons later, he Yankees player Chapman hoped would would sign a $324 million dollar contract throw off the Astros), the Astros would with the Yankees. How did he do it? bang a trash can, informing the batter “Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest of the pitch. As a result, they were fined tasks in sports,” Papp said. “If pitchers are 5$ million and lost their first round draft using foreign substances, the hitter is put picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB draft. at an even larger disadvantage.”

“Sign stealing is the furthest extent of From 2017 to 2019, Cole increased cheating in baseball,” said Sharma. his fastball spin rate from 2164 rpm to “It’s going to tell you the next 2530 rpm. For context, increasing your pitch, which is really overspin rate naturally past a certain point is powered because the whole practically impossible, and a higher spin thing about pitching is that rate means it is harder for the batter to hit you don’t know what’s coming the ball. Sparked by this and many oth- next, so it’s really unfair. The Aser instances, the MLB issued a league- tros didn’t deserve that World wide crackdown of foreign substances Series.” in the middle of the 2021 season for two Even though sign stealing can easily reasons; first, to prevent cheating as a be prevented through changing signs whole, and second to try to increase hits throughout the game, MLB teams have to make the game more exciting. created clever, elaborate methods to Yet, the crackdown actually brought steal signs. Along with the Astros trashmore downsides than upsides to the can strategy, in 2017 the MLB found that MLB. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glas- a Boston Red Sox’s coach was using an now partially tore his UCL (a ligament in Apple Watch in the dugout. Phones the elbow) in a regular season game, and are outlawed in dugouts to prevent blamed the crackdown on foreign sub- sign stealing, yet the Red Sox utistances for his injury lized new technology to gain an “I have to change everything I’ve been advantage. doing the entire season,” Glasnow said “I have seen my teammates try in the days following his diagnosis. “Ev- to pick up on the coaches signs erything out of the window, I had to start or how a pitcher might be doing something completely new.” tipping his next pitch, but in Glasnow’s openness about using for- high school it is not too comeign substances reflects the MLB’s previ- mon for players to be steal-

ing signs,” Papp said. “There have been situations where we have suspected the other team of stealing our signs, but we have been able to combat that by changing the way we signal to our players throughout the game.”

The most repeated offender of cheating is the Russian government in world competitions, specifically in the Olympics. According to British journalist Andrew Jennings, Russian KGB agents posed as anti-doping officials for the Russian Olympic 1980 team in order to fake results. In 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released a report claiming that Russian officials and over 1000 athletes, many of which were involved in the 2016 Summer Olympics, were involved in a doping scandal. In 2019, as a result of this investigation and Russian attempts to manipulate the data in the investigation, the Russian Federation was banned by WADA from major sporting events, including the Olympics. That is why athletes from Russia do not compete under their flag.

Senior Paly wrestler and powerlifter Caiden Soltesz shares what techniques the Russian teams would use.

“When the Soviet Union was around, Soviet athletes would use mostly just testosterone and a lot of weird experimental drugs,” he said. “There was a group of powerlifters that were on a training regimen called the ‘Bulgarian Method’. They would max-out usually twice, and sometimes even more in one day because they were taking so many PED’s.”

Throughout history, Astros Secondcheating has baseman Jose Altuve always been a part of sports.

Data from baseballsavant.mlb.com

With people’s careers, reputations and millions of dollars on the line, teams and athletes will do anything they can, if they can hide it effectively, to gain an unfair advantage. But, cheating is detrimental to the integrity of professional, college and sports in general as it ruins the reputation of the respective league or sport.

Additionally, cheating through the use of PEDs can be extremely detrimental to the long-term health of athletes, Yet, while cheating ruins the fairness of sports, forms of cheating, such as foreign sticky substances in baseball, can actually protect players. Nevertheless, the common agreement in sports is to prioritize fairness over a slim player safety advantage.

In all, gaining an unfair advantage in

sports will never go away, but leagues and sports communities can take action to make the game fairer and safer. Recently, awareness towards the negative effects of PEDs has become prevalent, something that not only prevents cheating at the highest level, but protects the athletes themselves. Increased league wide investigations, especially in the MLB, have dramatically cracked down on widespread cheating through corking bats to increase the “bounciness” of them and PEDs. While the NCAA and professional sports leagues are making cheating harder, the public will never know the amount of cheating that has never been caught.

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 19

Teammate

Love Is in the Air In honor of the season of love, we asked some spring athletes to share their favorite memories and qualities of their beloved teammates.

1

design by AVERY RELLER and TREY COLLINS

Favorite sports memory?

2

Why are you grateful for your teammate?

3

Favorite shared tradition?

Zeke: “When I danced on the mound in front of

1 2 3

him in circles after I struck him out.”

Zach: ”When he intentionally hit me while he was pitching... I was sore afterward but we still laugh about it.”

Zeke: ”Whenever I am having a rough day Zach always finds a way to lift my spirits.”

Zach: ”Zeke just makes going to baseball practice THAT much more enjoyable.”

Zeke: ”We alwaus try new candies in between innings in the dugout.”

Zach: “Our carpools together are always a good time!”

20 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

Zachary Thom Zeke Morrison

2

1

Sam J: “Our first season together during

freshman year because we got super close.”

Sam H: “We played Los Gatos in freshman

Sam Janik Sam Helft

year and Janik and I both scored three goals each and I scored the overtime winning goal.”

Sam J: “The humor and fun that Helft

2 3

adds always makes practice and being with the team a good time.”

Sam H: “I love playing with him and he

pushes me to work harder. He’s a great guy to have on the team and I’m grateful to share the field with him.”

Sam J: “We always switch socks before games for good luck.”

Sam H: “I love our team bonding events and team dinners.”

2 Ellie: ”When we sung Sunday Candy

1

Ellie Roth Tate Hardy

together after the last game of the season last year.”

Tate: ”The energy we brought to karaoke on the drives to our games last season was unbeatable to be honest.”

Ellie: “I always know that she always has my back during every practice and game.”

2

Tate: ”She not only brings my spirits

up, but she has the ability to bring up the whole team’s spirt as well.”

Ellie: ”We always bring spirit and passion

3

to everything that we do together.”

Tate: “We always get coffee together after our morning practices.”

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 21

by EMIL BOTHE, ETHAN WANG, and JONATHAN YUAN

THE

ART OF

Paly has 28 physically demanding sports throughout the school year. How can Paly student athletes properly recover from injuries and perform their best?

RECOVERY I

t takes more than just pushing your body to its limits to compete at the highest level. While exercise is vital for improved strength and endurance, what you do to help rejuvenate your body is just as crucial. For example, to ensure he can perform at his highest level, Lebron James averages 12 hours of sleep a day. Without proper recovery, athletes are progressively more at risk of injury, soreness, exhaustion, and decreased mental health. Top performers use many techniques for recovery to help them heal from training and ensure their bodies are ready for the next session.

There are three main reasons for recovery: acute injuries, chronic injuries, and preventative maintenance. Acute injuries happen sudden-

ly, such as a sprained ankle, while chronic injuries occur due to overuse that takes place over a longer period of time.

Preventative maintenance can help prevent both these injuries, as well as give athletes control over their performance health. “[Preventative maintenance is] what you should do routinely to make sure [you have] no soreness and you’re in tip-top shape to perform in your sport,” athletic trainer Justine Iongi said.

The most common and inexpensive form of athletic recovery is stretching. It is the act of moving limbs to specific positions to lengthen a certain muscle group, thus, increasing flexibility and preventing later injuries. Sophomore varsity swimmer Romy Kirby recovers daily after her swim practices.

“Recovery techniques like stretching always give me immediate relief that helps reduce soreness,” Kirby said.

H o w e v e r , stretching also has risks. Athletes often overstretch injuries such as sprains in joints

or muscles. In addition, stretching can also cause cramps, leaving muscle groups even more sore.

“Sometimes I overstretch and I’m uncomfortable for a few days,” Kirby said.

Overall, stretching is a handy technique for recovery, but athletes should be aware of the risks and not overstretch.

Another less common recovery method is ice baths. An ice bath is where someone sits in the water at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit for five to ten minutes. Elite athletes, after an intense training ses-

sion, will likely use this technique to reduce muscle soreness, relieve pain, and quicken recovery. However, ice baths also display the risk of hypothermia, reduced muscle gain, and a potential for frostbite. It is also important to note that the effects of ice baths may vary from person to person. Those who are sensitive to the cold will have more negative reactions to ice baths than those who aren’t. Varsity swimmer Nicolas Ogawa, a current junior, has been taking ice baths in recovery.

“As someone who takes ice baths, I have gotten a better resistance against the cold and have felt like my body can recover after a soak,” Ogawa said.

Massaging, using a massage gun, and rolling out are other very common forms of soreness relief and recovery. Athletes often experience tightness in their muscles after workouts, and massaging is a great way of alleviating this pain. However, massaging also shows the risk of injury,

the chance of aggravating existing injuries, and is said to be painful.

Alaap Nair, a Paly senior, is well informed in recovery as he utilizes them regularly.

“Pain is a very subjective term in my opinion, because you know you feel a good stretch when you feel a little pain,” Nair said. “Without pain, your body won’t adapt or recover, so I definitely seek to put my body in positions so my body is forced to adapt. That can be attributed to pain, but I never overextend myself.”

Ensuring their body is getting sufficient nutrition and hydration is another important concern that athletes must keep in mind. Staying hydrated will help the body flush out unwanted fluids while getting sufficient nutrients will ensure the body has the energy to return to a fit state again.

“I definitely eat healthier than most people and it helps fuel me so I have a lot of energy to perform,” Kirby said.

However, finding the balance between both is important; overhydration is a problem and can lead to loss of electrolytes, high blood pressure, and kidney issues while taking in too much food can lead to feelings of bloatedness and joint problems. Athletes must make sure to find the balance between their food and water intake that allows them to achieve peak performance.

Senior and Stanford baseball commit Charlie Bates discussed another, more expensive, recovery technique: electrostimulation. This is a more uncommon recovery technique, as it is newer and therefore less known.

Bates uses

the Marc Pro, a portable electrostimulation device. The machine is a little box with buttons to control the varying shock levels, and then connected to the box are two wires. Each wire connects to two patches, which the user attaches to any part of their body to feel the effects. “[The Marc Pro] shocks little electrical pulses to your muscles,” Bates said. “I’ll usually do that for 15 [to] 30 minutes after practices or games.”

The benefits of electrostimulation include an increase in blood flow, reduced pain, and stimulation for injured muscles.

“The biggest thing is that I’m never sore. A lot of the times when I throw, especially with baseball, after [I] throw [I’m] always so sore. And when [I] hit the Marc Pro, that soreness goes away,” said Bates.

Another method of rest, and likely the most important, is sleep. Not only does sleep boost cognitive function and mood, but it also can benefit your body physically by

I especially recommend cupping and ice baths because it feels really good afterwards. I can tell that I am a lot less sore and my muscles feel rejuvenated for my next workout.

- Romy Kirby (26’)

repairing muscles and tissues while also improving physical performance and energy levels.

Paly’s training room offers electrostimulation, thermotec, ice baths, cupping, deep tissue massage, and more.

This wide range of recovery methods is important, especially because recovery is not one size fits all.

For example, if you’re a distance runner, a lot of your recovery is making sure that you’re stretched out well and warmed up because you’re doing these six to ten-mile runs.

However, icing bumps and bruises would not be as important, as that is usually more prominent for athletes who play physical sports.

All in all, recovery after workouts is vital for athletes to be able to perform at their greatest level. However, it is important to understand that recovery has different effects on different people, so creating a personalized recovery routine is vital. By utilizing a mindful and individualized approach, athletes can optimize their workouts to foster better performance and a healthier lifestyle.

‘Sko Vikes!

24 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

With various sports and injuries, recovery methods may vary, but Ms. E can definitely help. Not only do these habits help with the sports season, making me a more capable player, but they also help with overall body health and longevity.

- Alaap Nair (24’)

Scientific Benefits Muscle Growth and Recovery

In terms of muscle growth, recovery is just as important as the workout. Muscles build by repairing microtears with amino acids that make them both bigger and stronger. Without the necessary time for rejuvenation, your muscles aren’t given enough time to fully repair, hindering muscle growth.

Improved Blood Circulation The body needs blood circulation in order to flush out lactic acid, a waste product that causes tightness in muscles. Active recovery, such as gentle exercise, will let the blood flow without having the same intensity as a normal workout.

Improved Energy Levels Important recovery techniques like proper sleep are heavily associated with increased energy levels. Glycogen, which is released from the body and is fuel for your cells, enables you to have more energy and keeps you active during the day.

Improved Joint and Tissue Health Recovery from workouts can support the healing of torn joints or tissues by increasing blood flow through your joints. This helps improve range of motion, stability, and mobility.

Improved Mental Health When the body exercises, endorphins get released into the brain in order to relieve pain and improve mood. They also get released while you do active recovery from a workout. Endorphins have been scientifically proven to improve mental health and sleep quality. Recovery also reduces stress hormones in the brain.

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 25

by ROAN HANEY, JASON HU, NATHAN LEE, and TYLER MARTIN

THE

PRICE PRICE OF

GLORY Two million young athletes participate in contact sports every year. As research discovers more and more problems caused by repeated head injuries, how does it affect sports at both a youth and professional level, and how can technology adapt to address these concerns?

D

and more. Upon examination of his brain, and other former NFL players with similar symptoms, he discovered what would eventually be known as CTE. Athletes in high-contact sports, especially football and hockey, are prone to getting major head injuries.

Hernandez was believed to have suffered repeated head trauma from the time he started high school football all up until his tragic suicide in prison. After an autopsy of his brain, doctors found a severe case of CTE in Hernandez; the damage suffered was comparable to many former NFL players in their 60s.

Aaron Hernandez is just one of the many ex-athletes who have been affected by CTE and brain injuries. Unfortunately, the majority of victims go undiagnosed and unrecognized, making CTE all the more d a n g e ro u s for athletes in extreme c o n t a c t sports. Hernandez was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with CTE. According to the data released by the NFL, there was an 18% increase in concussions in 2022. Psychology and Neuropsychology specialist Dr. Johnny Wen at the Torrance Memorial in California conducted neuropsychology checks on retired football players in conjunction with the NFL. “Each team in the professional league (or even the collegiate level) have professionals right there with their team who are there to evaluate them,”

“If you sustain another concussive injury to your brain. ...What happens is it can become fatal and you can deteriorate.”

- Paly trainer Justine Iongi

Wen said. “It’s not just football; in race car driving, they have doctors there; soccer, they have doctors there.”

As a result of the increased number of head injuries and recent research on CTE, sports teams at all levels are beginning to implement CTE prevention tactics.

“I do think that there are a lot of changes that have taken place, people are taking a lot of precautions now,” Wen said.

“If you do suffer some type of injury or suspect these types of injuries, they will have you undergo evaluations, and there are clinics now set up, they’re called Immediate Post-Concussion Assessments and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT).”

CTE can lead to devastating symptoms.

The National Library of Medicine states that CTE results in a steady decline of memory and cognition, as well as depression, poor impulse control, aggressiveness, Parkinsonism, and eventually dementia.

“Over time, [people with CTE] may have decreased attention,” Wen said.

“They may have a more difficult time regulating their emotions and managing their mood.”

One unsettling fact is that one symptom of CTE aided in its discovery and research: CTE can increase suicidal ideations, and many of the brains with CTE that are studied are donated by young suicide victims.

CTE is known to get worse over time, and it cannot be definitively diagnosed until after death in a brain autopsy. The most common causes of CTE are repeated head injuries. If your brain doesn’t have enough time to rest from a serious head injury, receiving a second head injury can have a devastating effect. The Paly sports trainer, Justine Iongi, also known as Ms. E, explains the dangerous effects of secondary concussion injuries.

“There’s a thing called secondary impact syndrome,” Iongi said. “If you sustain another concussive injury to your brain, what happens is it hasn’t fully healed from the first one, so that can put your brain into metabolic stress. It can

20

espite coming from a challenged home, Aaron Hernandez was a promising young man growing up in the small urban town of Bristol, Connecticut. After playing football at the University of Florida, he won the John Mackey Award, given to the best tight end in college football, and he made the conference honor roll during his sophomore year. As a result of his stellar college play, he was drafted in the 4th round of the 2010 NFL draft, with high hopes for his future.

Then, out of the blue, during the offseason after his third year in the league, he was convicted of first-degree murder of another semi-professional football player. Following his suicide in prison, doctors examined Hernandez’s brain and diagnosed him with stage three (of four) CTE. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma; symptoms include confusion, memory loss, aggressive behavior, and suicidal tendencies. It causes sharp attitude changes, and it is a progressive and deadly disease that can only be diagnosed post-mortem.

In 2002, Doctor Bennet Omalu discovered CTE by examining the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers Center and Hall-of-Famer Mike Webster, who passed away after suffering a heart attack. Before his death, Webster showed troubling symptoms such as memory loss, aggressive behavior, dementia,

“Over time, they may have decreased attention. They may have a more difficult time regulating their emotions and managing their mood.”

- Neuropsychologist Johnny Wen

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 27

2018 study by Boston University of 164 brains donated by women and men showed that only one showed signs of CTE - around 0.6 percent. The one brain that did show signs of CTE was an ex-college American football player.

“I don’t want to minimize the head injury and say they don’t have problems,” Wen said. “But what I’m saying is that not every player has CTE. And a lot of times, we have to look at other factors.”

Factors can include, but are not limited to, a family history of alcoholism, dementia, or mental health. All of these factors could make you more vulnerable to CTE. CTE is impossible to recognize since it cannot be diagnosed concretely until after death. Still, those showing signs of CTE are beginning to gain increased attention as people start recognizing the dangers of contact sports and the longterm impacts they can have on one’s health. CTE is not a brain disorder limited to only American football; it extends to a

plethora of high-contact sports, such as ice hockey, wrestling, and many more.

According to Amy Woodyatt and George Ramsay of CNN, many wrestlers at the Olympic level have had struggles with second head injuries, one example being dominant wrestler Helen Maroulis. She is a powerful force in wrestling, winning numerous world and regional championships and an Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016. However, following a series of concussions that impacted her career, she reportedly began struggling more with her mental health, to the point where she was admitted into a psychiatric ward treatment facility due to suicidal thoughts, causing her to miss the Tokyo Olympics. Fortunately, she is making her recovery and has her eyes set on Paris. and y o u She is also vocal with fans about her jourcan deteriorate really really fast.” ney with her mental health struggles and In a recent study, the Spaulding Rehaencourages those who need it to seek bilitation Organization examined 631 help to recover, sharing her voice in a brains donated by former football playdocumentary, “Helen | Believe.” ers. Only 29% of the brains showed no Another unseen and overlooked sport signs of CTE, while 26% of the brains had that presents risk is ice hockey, a sport CTE stage 1 or 2, and 46% had CTE stage demanding and relying on heavy physi3 or 4. cal contact. A preliminary study by BosTo put those numbers into context, a ton University showed that each year of ice hockey play may increase the odds of developing CTE by a Paly football player Jeremiah Fung (‘25) tackles the opposing player in a game against staggering 23%. FurKing’s Academy. Photo by Jason Hu. thermore, they found that each additional year of play was associated with a 15% increased chance of a person progressing to the next stage of CTE. In another study done by Boston University, they looked at 152 brains of contact sport athletes who died under the age of 30, and the results were startling.

They discovered that 41.4% showed symptoms of CTE. Concussions, second-head injuries, and the risk of CTE are not limited to professional or college-level sports; the risk at the high school level is very real and not solely limited to American football.

Two-year varsity 28 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

baseball player Dexter Cleveringa has you can’t really focus on what you are “I wouldn’t say that [concussions] ever experience with concussions in his more doing,” Eberle said. “You miss out on affected my confidence in sports or my than five years playing catcher for his a lot of tests, and it is harder to under- enjoyment playing them,” Cleveringa club and stand things said. school and learn new Furthermore, there are plenty of side teams. concepts.” effects of suffering repeated head inju“ConAfter un- ries. cussions dergoing the “After my second concussion, I experih a v e n e c e s s a r y enced a lot more migraines and I ended been fairprecautions, up having to go on medication for my ly and the effects of mental health as well,” Eberle said. unfora concussion However, if concussions are disregardtunately can be mit- ed or ignored, they can have much more constant igated and severe long-term effects, like CTE and its throughlessened, al- symptoms. out my lowing most “People who suffer consistent head int i m e to completely juries can be suicidal or get depression, playing return to ath- and really impact your personality,” Eberbaseball,” letics after suf- le said. “I am grateful that my concusCleveringa said. ficient time off to prevent second head sions have not affected me in ways that I As a precaution to prevent further in- injuries. know they could have.” juries, Cleveringa was forced to take time off of the sport and miss a part of the season. Thankfully, helmet technology and concussion procedures help to mitigate, if not stop, the effects of hits to the head.

“Although I’ve had a bunch of concussions over the past 4-5 years with baseball, none have CTE No CTE been super serious or detrimental to any of my academics or extracurriculars,” Cleveringa said.

“Most were related to a baseball hitting my helmet in some way, whether that be a hit by a pitch or a foul tip that hit my catcher’s mask.”

School administration attempts to accommodate students with concussions by striking a balance between an athlete’s playtime and recovery. However, time spent off the field limits the athletes and makes the student-athlete balance all the more difficult.

“I had to figure out how to manage school work along with that,“ Cleveringa said. “The administration was very helpful during that time and was able to accommodate me with things I was having trouble with.”

Paly senior and track athlete Victoria Eberle was forced to give up contact sports after suffering two concussions. These concussions, especially her second one which she endured in eighth grade, affected her performance in school Data according to Boston University, 2023 and everyday life.

“When it comes to concussions,

“When it comes to concussions, you can’t really focus on what you are doing. You miss out on a lot of tests, and it is harder to understand things and learn new concepts.”

-Victoria Eberle (‘24)

Study of the Brains of 376 Former NFL Players

8.3%

91.7 %

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 29

50

concerning concussions in high school sports, there is still much to be done to protect athletes in their sports.

“The current types of helmets really only protect surface-level injuries; when the helmet gets hit with a strong force, the padding helps with some of the absorption, but it doesn’t stop your brain from rattling around,” Cleveringa said.

“Two-piece catcher’s masks are definitely something that helps with this because they can fly off and absorb the force elsewhere without transferring it to your head.”

Despite safer alternatives like the twopiece mask, many high school leagues don’t allow them as they don’t provide enough ear protection.

“However, league regulations prevent the usage of these [two-piece] helmets, which is a shame,” Cleveringa said. “It’s pretty hard to come up with new helmet technologies, but it also kind of sucks that they can’t use the existing alternatives.”

Attempts are being made in the law to protect athletes from CTE. Recently, in an effort to mitigate head injury risks for young athletes, Kevin McCarty proposed Assembly Bill 734, proposing a ban on tackle football for ages twelve and under.

Governor Gavin Newsom later vetoed the bill due to intense pressure from parents who believe tackle football is crucial for their child’s social and physical development. Football culture is deeply ingrained in American culture, as the idea of flag football being a safer alternative for young kids i s often shot down.

However, Newsom agreed to work with

legislators to reinforce youth football safety while respecting the parent’s rights.

“I am deeply concerned about the health and safety of our young athletes, but an outright ban is not the answer,” Newsom said in a statement.

Wen believes that the parents will need to take the initiative in regard to safety.

“We need to have safety precautions in place if we are going to allow this, but I think it’s all going to really come down to the parents who are willing to allow their child to play these types of contact sports,” Wen s a i d .

“Now, remem ber, just because you have a child who has contact [in their sport], contact doesn’t m e a n they’re going to have problems.”

Proponents of the bill argue that flag football will teach children the fundamentals of football while keeping children out of harm’s way, citing the NFL’s decision to change the Pro Bowl to flag football. In the last few years, the NFL switched the Pro Bowl (an exhibition game featuring the league’s biggest stars) into a non-contact flag football game to alleviate any risks of injuries for the players that might needlessly impact their seasons and careers.

A study done in 2019 compared youths from the ages of six to 14 playing tackle football and flag football.

Tackle football athletes had 14.67 times more head injuries compared to flag football athletes. This study may be stating the obvious, but by playing flag football, they’re creating the same environment to learn the groundwork of football without the

added risk of injury. In addition, athletes playing tackle football were 23 times more vulnerable to high-impact tackles per football exposure.

T h i s s t u d y demonstrates that youth athletes playing tackle football are more likely to experience a greater number of head impacts and are at a markedly increased risk for substantial hits compared with flag football athletes.

NFL and contact sports are ingrained in American culture and are not going away anytime soon. The NFL has issued limited aid in preventing CTE or treating retired players, although they do have a hotline for NFL players, coaches, or families to call in a crisis.

Upon Hernandez’s arrest in June of 2013, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello put out a statement about the situation on the NFL’s official website.

“The involvement of an NFL player in a case of this nature is deeply troubling,” Aiello said in part of his statement online.

The NFL has taken general injury prevention measures, such as the recent requirement to have natural grass fields and new helmet technology to reduce the effect of blows to the head. Although the NFL acknowledges a “potential association” between playing football and CTE, advancements in the study of CTE and its prevention have been limited, likely due to the lack of diagnostic accuracy in current science.

Unfortunately, physicality and heavy

“Concussions are injuries that many people consider to be just another part of the football experience, but they’re not to be ignored.”

- Jennifer Del Ross

contact are the essence of football. In 2021 alone, 187 concussions were recorded throughout the season.

However, over the years, helmets have become more advanced, reducing the number of concussions and making the players safer. Yet, until 1943, the NFL did not require helmets in their games.

Throughout the 1900s, these helmets weren’t meant to be protective if at all.

Football helmets have gone from just leather helmets to the modern barred ones we see today.

Studies have shown that wearing helmets can reduce the risk of head injuries by up to 50% and severe head injuries by 69%. But this is generalizing every position; running backs, on average, get hit 30 times a game with forces up to 10+ G. Just three G’s is the force that astronauts

experience when leaving Earth. One example of this is Christian McCaffery, a running back for the 49ers, he runs on average 20 miles per hour. When tackled, all of that speed and momentum abruptly stops, exaggerating the blow.

Football, being a contact sport, can’t change, so receiving all of the protection you can get can greatly reduce the damage done by these rigorous hits. The NFL has instituted many rules and regulations to help prevent head injuries. But are all of these rule changes and regulations creating a difference? The answer, as of now, is no.

According to the NFL, in just this recent preseason, 58 concussions have been reported.

And often, we see a downward trend of concussions, with the 2019 and 2020 seasons having 224 and then 172 concussions, respectively. However, just in 2022, the

“People who suffer consistent head injuries can be suicidal or get depression, and really impact your personality.”

Victoria Eberle (‘24)

number of concussions jumped straight back up with 213 concussions.

So, what has the NFL learned? In 2016, the NFL officially acknowledged a connection between playing NFL football and CTE. Since then, they have been constantly investing in research to produce safer helmets for the players. Although the NFL and football associations have been pushing to make the game safer, the number of concussions doesn’t have a trend in one way or the other.

“Concussions are injuries that many people consider to be just another part of the football experience, but they’re not to be ignored,” Jennifer Del Ross, MPT and Concussion Specialist at Chester County Hospital, said.

While perhaps Governor Newsom is correct, and a ban on contact sports is too far, the startling new research on CTE reveals that contact sports and concussions should be taken far more seriously than previously considered. If you get a head injury, take a break until you’re fully healed. It could mean more for Paly wrestler Caiden Soltesz (‘24) flips an opponent during their meet again Gunn on Jan 31. your brain than Photo courtesy of Celeste Bates. you know. @vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 31

T

orturous raining

by LUCAS TUNG and TYLER CHEUNG

In sports, just as in the rest of life, there are consequences for bad behaviors. In sports, these dreaded “punishment trainings,” may be disliked by many players, but in reality, they help build team strong and respectful team environments.

R

unning is the most common form of punishment training in other sports. But what if your sport is running?

Paly track sprinter Daniel Rainey shares that track runners currently don’t have any punishment training that they are commonly subjected to.

“We don’t do any of that because our workouts are already hard enough,” Rainey said.

However, he believes

that punishment training should be incorporated into track.

“I think punishment training would create a better incentive for us to work harder,” he said.

Rainey recognizes the irony that many other sports use running as a punishment.

“I find it funny how people struggle with running and cardio in their sports when it’s pretty easy [for us],” Rainey said.

L Charlotte Barclay ‘26

acrosse athletes requires lots of strength, speed and stamina to be proficient on the field.

Lacrosse athletes need to be exemplary in teamwork and coordination for their team to succeed, so coaches demand excellence. Sophomore Charlotte Barclay shares when punishment is implemented into lacrosse.

“If you disrespect the coach or the team, you will

32 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

Junior track athlete Rebecca Doran adds on more on why there is no clear punishment training implemented into track.

“Track is a very diverse sport, the rules are very clearly set out on the first day of practice and I have never seen or experienced any ma- jor rule breaking,” Doran said.

be punished; punishment training is usually applied when we aren’t listening or we don’t do something she (coach) tells us to do.”

Barclay said.

“I think that some people respond better to punishment training than others, some of my teammates respond well to it and some don’t.”

In Lacrosse, punishments like running and burpees are common. These drills

Daniel Rainey ‘26

help improve both lower body strength and stamina which are necessities in Lacrosse.

Freshman Kaylee Manriquez thinks that these drills are good for several reasons.

“These punishments are both good for our discipline and our performance on the field,” she said.

E

very Paly football athlete dreads four familiar words: get on the line.

Throughout the spring and summer seasons, football players are in the weightroom and training on the field. Sophomore football player Kacey Washington acknowledges the challenge presented by the constant conditioning throughout the offseason.

“It’s brutal, definitely lots of running, pushups and core work,” Washington said.

Moksh Jain ‘27

W

ater polo features lots of conditioning in order to ensure that athletes can play all four quarters of the fast-paced game with ease. They have to be able to swim head-up-freestyle and adjusted backstroke for good visibility in the water.

One swim that is dreaded by many water polo players (and some swimmers, for that matter) is butterfly, which water polo players typically do not practice.

Sophmore water polo player Dylan Liao shared that butterfly is one of the types of punishment training that they are often subjected to.

“We don’t train butterfly, so if we’re acting up, we usually will do [butter]fly sprints until we’re ready to focus again,” he said.

Sometimes, however, wa-

“However, I believe building up stamina is a very important part of the game.”

During the season, players who fail to meet certain team expectations are assigned extra conditioning. These expectations can include arriving on time and wearing proper clothes.

Junior varsity coach Jason Fung describes why this extra conditioning is needed.

“We call a lot of it consequences, but a lot of it is accountability for your actions,”

ter polo athletes don’t even need to do exercises to get chastised.

“Sometimes Coach will just have us get out of the pool and he’ll talk to us, which honestly is enough to get us to focus up,” he said.

Despite the pain of being scolded, this promotes a better training environment.

“Honestly, it does hurt if you know the punishment is directed at you, but to be fair, sometimes I think it’s really warranted and it does help to make the practice environment more intense, so we achieve more,” they said.

Freshman water polo player Moksh Jain adds that there are other methods of punishment for poor performances in games.

“You just have to work harder in games and for specific people, (if they showed poor effort) they would just get less playing time,” Jain said. “Instead of punishing us, the coaches would try to gather the team and focus the team.”

Fung said.

“If you’re late or not suited up properly, you run sprints or roll. There are things that need to happen to a team to get organization right.”

All things considered, conditioning in football is both used to get in shape while providing a consequence for disrespecting the work Kacey Washington ‘26 that the team puts in.

Lilo Sayag ‘27

S

occer is a sport of constant motion. The clock never stops and there are no timeouts. This means that players will need to constantly move for 90 minutes with only one break in the middle - halftime.

The conditioning used to keep players in shape includes sprints, footwork and ladders.

However, these conditioning methods are often used for punishment. Freshman soccer player Lilo Sayag knows well how these punishments go down in practice.

“In our warmups if we were really lazy and weren’t giving it our all, he [coach]

makes us do it again until we get it right.

Sometimes he will make you do pushups until he feels like you’ve learned your lesson,” Sayag said.

“I think it motivates us, to win, to work harder, and to play better.”

Sophomore and fellow teammate Stefan Eriksson explores how poor performance in practice can also result in punishment.

“If we lose a practice match, the other team can decide what we do,” he said. “[We might have to do] push ups or running or maybe burpees,” Eriksson said.

Despite being aware of the benefits, do the soccer players like this training? According to Eriksson, “definitely not.”

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 33

Signed Sealed

&

by LUKE JOACHIM, ALENA LOTTERER, MAX MERKEL and ASPEN STITT

Many Paly athletes with commitments to top tier universities signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) on November 8, officializing and celebrating their commitments. However, Paly doesn’t host a signing day event to go with that major moment until May.

Communication

T

he NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) permits contact and communication between high school athletes and college coaches beginning June 15 between the athlete’s sophomore and junior years. This applies to all sports except football, basketball, and baseball. For those sports coaches can begin evaluating and scouting the young athletes as early as middle school.

Though making a verbal commitment is still illegal until the regular starting day of June 15, young athletes can be contacted by coaches from a younger age. This helps these athletes know what schools they’re a prospect for, helps them learn more about the school, and builds connections with those schools.

Paly senior Kiana Feldis committed to Carlton College for soccer. Feldis briefly shares the timeline of her recruiting process “I started my recruitment process spring of my sophomore year and committed in August of my senior year,” Feldis said.

Communication with college coaches during the recruiting process is a two-way street. College coaches will be reaching out to their prospects, and high school athletes

can reach out to coaches.

A Paly senior, who wishes to remain anonymous, shares their experience communicating with college coaches varying in terms of initiation.

“I reached out to about thirty schools and heard back from and kept talking with most of them, and then I had schools reaching out to me too through email and Instagram DMs,” they said. “However with my sport usually athletes are only reached out to when they have a personal connection with or know the coach, or if they have a connection to your coaches or club.”

As these young athletes build more relationships with prospective schools and build more interest in these schools’ progress, they may be offered an official or unofficial recruiting trip to the school.

34 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

Carlton College soccer commit Kiana Feldis looks for a pass. Photo courtesy of Kiana Feldis.

Visits

T

he NCAA permits prospective student-athletes to take up to five official recruiting trips. Outside of official trips, prospective studentathletes may take as many unofficial visits as they would like. An official visit is constituted by the school paying for everything to bring you out to the school for a maximum of forty-eight hours.

On these visits, schools will typically roll out the red carpet and really try to wow the recruits. Commonly reflected on social media, several sports teams bring recruits out to an exciting sporting event with special perks and give recruits a taste of media day and what it’s like to be a part of the team and school as a whole.

It provides a pivotal experience and insight to schools and their collegiate teams that compel students to their college decisions.

For senior tennis player Erin Li, her visit helped her decide between many different schools. Li has been playing tennis since she was little and knew the sport would take her to the collegiate level. After considering

many schools such as Amherst, Bowdoin, and Tufts, Li committed to Swarthmore in October 2023.

“I chose Swarthmore because of its strong academics, nice facilities, and ideal location. I also bonded well with the tennis team during my visit,” Li said.

“They were all incredibly welcoming and shared their experiences on the team that inspired me and strengthened my decision to choose Swarthmore.”

Another Paly senior, who wishes to remain anonymous, initially had a very certain vision for what kind of school they wanted to go to.

“Originally, I was dead set on going to an Ivy League or just some top, super prestigious, well-known university,” they said. “I wanted a school that had great academics and great athletics, which narrowed down my options as a lot of the super academic schools don’t have crazy athletic programs, and a lot of the crazy sports schools aren’t known for having the best academics.”

Taking official visits helped them adjust their vision for their future and find the school that was right for them.

“After taking a visit, I realized this school that wasn’t like a crazy Ivy League was the school for me,” they said. “It was a place where I didn’t want to leave. I loved the team, the atmosphere, and the strong and well-supported athletics while still having good academics.”

Paly senior and golfer Chase Kacher’s visit helped him immediately know where he wanted to spend his next four years.

“I got back from my trip [to Denver] and was like, ‘Shoot, this is the school I’m going to,’” Kacher said. “I got on the phone with the coach soon after I got home from the school, I received the offer, and it took me about ten minutes before I called him back saying I was going to go to Denver.”

Decision Making

A

fter seeing all the schools they’re interested in and deciding what college experience they want – considering the balance of athletics, academics, and the social aspect of the college experience – athletes come to a decision on where they want to go. For some studentathletes, the decision is clearer in comparison to others.

For Paly varsity boys soccer and Silicon Valley Soccer Academy player Anzel Zhen (a fellow Swarthmore commit), choosing a school was difficult, because he wanted to make sure he found a good fit for him.

“The hardest part of the recruitment process was definitely finding the best school for me,” he said. “I wanted to go to one that fit the criteria that I was looking for.”

Kacher also recognizes that for some people, finding their perfect school can be more difficult than for others.

“It can be a very overwhelming process for some people,” he said. “[Finding] what we’re specifically looking for in schools can be a challenge.

In [California], there’s usually a trend of people trying to go only for schools with good academics.”

For other students, the decision making process takes longer. Paly’s star football player Ikinasio Tupuo began racking up offers early on, but he did not announce his decision until December of 2023.

Golfer Chase Kacher shares his committment in a social media post. Photo courtesy of Chase Kacher.

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 35

Signing Day

T

he recruiting process for high school student-athletes hoping to further their athletic career at the collegiate level is often overwhelming. But once all the stress is over and one is officially committed, they are finally recognized with signing day, an event high schools across the nation host in honor of committed athletes signing their National Letter of Intent (NLI). With booths decorated in coordination with the colleges athletes have committed to, friends and family gather in a celebration of these committed athletes’ achievements – years of dedication, hard work, perseverance, growth, and success — in their respective sports at signing day.

Furthermore, no commitment is official until a NLI is signed, making signing day an even bigger deal.

Scrolling through social media on November 8, a plethora of posts come out showcasing the signing day festivities, yet some schools hold off on this celebration until later in the school year. Paly has many student athletes who signed on November 8, but they did not sign with the festivities of a signing day.

With signing day posts flooding social media on the initial signing day of November 8, Paly students are left wondering why we don’t have an event, but Paly holds off on hosting signing day until the spring (usually in the month of May).

The day high schools hold signing day varies amongst different schools. While a majority of schools host signing day on November 8, other schools will hold signing day in February or later in the Spring.

Confusion of when schools should be hosting signing day stems from how there are multiple calendared national signing days.

National signing day for all high school student-athletes (except football and basketball players) is November 8, as most athletes have verbally committed before that point in their senior year. However, even after November 8, high school seniors are still able to commit, whether it be an arrangement

as a walk-on, decommitment and recommitment, or a later college decision, and seniors’ commitment announcements continue to come out with letters of intent being signed shortly after. Although athletes in most sports sign on the first National Signing Day on November 8, football and basketball are different. Early signing day for Division 1 and Division 2 football is December 20, and regular signing day is on February 7.

Paly senior and football player, Iki Tupou, is one of Paly’s top athletes and commits in the class of 2024, announcing his commitment to Brigham Young University (BYU), in December of 2023. With multiple full-ride scholarships and a total of eleven Division 1 offers, Tupou had more time before having to make a decision and sign with a school.

Basketball also has a unique signing day schedule with early signing day being November 8 and regular signing day being April 17.

High schools will delay hosting signing day until later in the school year to ensure all students pursuing athletics in college are honored, for some students commit after November 8 or wait to announce their commitments until they’ve actually received their college acceptance letter.

At Paly, hosting a signing day toward the end of the school year allows the busy spring sports season to settle down before the athletic department has to direct their attention to the event.

Though it’s frustrating for Paly student-athletes to not be recognized at the major time they actually sign and officialize their commitments, Paly students agree that it’s better to hold signing day in the spring in promotion of inclusion for all athletes.

One of Paly’s top golfers and Santa Clara University golf commit Alexa Pineda (‘24) committed in June of 2023 and signed on November 8, but still believes it’s better for schools to hold signing day in the spring.

“I think it’s good to have it in the spring because it’s inclusive to all of the sports and all of the divisions,” Pineda said. “Though the majority of people commit for girls golf before November 8, there’s still kids sometimes committing later and getting offers later

36 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

in the process, and it’s still important to acknowledge them.”

Without Paly holding a signing day event in November, some of Paly’s committed athletes, such as Pineda, held a small event at home with family and friends.

Many club teams will also hold an event in November to celebrate their committed seniors.

The next wave of high school signing day events is typically around the February 7 national signing day. Any schools that don’t host a signing day on the November 8 or Febraury 7 national signing day, like Paly, typically hold signing towards the end of the school year.

Li, tennis player, has been playing the sport since she was five years old. Taking her tennis career to the next level, Li committed to Swarthmore mid-October of 2023, but did not sign a letter of intent on November 8 due to rules within Division 3 commitments.

“I believe that it is important for them [walk-on players] to have a signing day as well because they have worked hard to become committed, and they deserve the same amount of recognition,” Li said.

Fellow Swarthmore commit Anzel Zhen committed in August 2023 after much consideration of his other two offers. Zhen wanted to wait to be able to see all of his options and make the right decision for him. Like many student-athletes who have many offers, they want to have a time period to wait and decide on where they want to go, missing the earlier signing day in November.

No matter what their personal signing day is, student-athletes get a day to celebrate their hard work and achievements.

While Paly’s later signing day might not correspond with the national date, it gives athletes who sign later in the year a chance to celebrate their achievements.

As per usual, Paly’s signing day will occur this spring; come out and support your fellow Vikings and teammates as they take a huge step toward the next chapter of their future.

Jorell Clark (‘25) goes for a layup during the boys basketball game against Los Altos on Jan 25, which they won 39-31. Photo by Jason Hu. @vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 37

PE K

RIV

LRY

It is widely known that snowboarders and skiers have long been at odds on the slopes. Each has different styles, techniques, and origins, and for skiers or snowboarders at Paly, the rivalry between them is all too familiar.

by CLAIRE CHO, SCARLETT FRICK, and EVIN STEELE 38 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

J

unior and dedicated skier Milo Sabina knows how stereotypes can affect people’s opinions on the debate.

“As a skier, I will always say that skiing is better than snowboarding, and I’m sure most snowboarders would argue the opposite,” Sabina said.

But which one is harder? Looks cooler?

Is more impressive? More dangerous?

The supremacy of skiing or snowboarding has been a big topic of discussion over the past few decades.

Both have a prominent place in North American winter culture and are an attraction that pulls many tourists to visit colder, snowier places in the winter.

As snowboarding has increased in popularity in more recent years, so has the strong opinion of many skiers who believe that snowboarders have no place on the slopes.

Skiing certainly is the older sport, dating back all the way to the ice age. Skis were initially designed for faster transportation and hunting; the first ones found back in 8000 BC in Northern China were 2-meter-long pieces of wood and were covered in horsehair.

By the 1800’s, skiing had become a popular sport and a recreational activity, and soon after in 1868, a big advancement of the Cambered Ski took place in Telemark, Norway. These were the first skis that contained a side cut that allowed the users to carve instead of slide sideways– much like modern-day skiing.

Snowboarding was invented much later, in 1917, created by a 13-year-old named Vern Wicklund. In his backyard in Minnesota, he stood on a sled

“What I love about skiing is that I get to be outside with my friends and family.”

- Lydia Mitz (‘25)

modified to his liking. He invented the more modern version of the sport two decades later.

The sport started to become popular in 1965 when “Michigan’s Sherman Poppen created the Snurfer by cross-bracing two skis and adding a string at the front of steering,” (Smithsonian Magazine). In 1976, Snowboarding gained even more popularity after a rivalry between two prominent figures, Jack Burton Carpenter and Tom Sims. Carpenter, who was a racing enthusiast from Long Island, ultimately came up with the conjoined word, “snowboarding”.

Although the two sports wildly differ, they share some things in common. Paly junior and skier Lydia Mitz shares her least favorite aspect about resorts.

“The worst thing about going to the snow is the lines,” Mitz (25’) said. “The

lines are always super long and it can be super crowded because everyone loves to hit the slopes.”

Alongside this common struggle on the slope, it is acknowledged that both sports can be very difficult.

Sophomore Maeva Herbert-Paz is an avid snowboarder who believes snowboarding and skiing share this common trait.

“They are both physically intensive sports that require a lot of skill and training, but I think the two are very different and someone who says one is harder than the other does not fully understand that they are both challenging,” Herbert-Paz (‘26) said.

As of 2023, an estimated 55 million people hit the slopes to ski, and there’s a reason why it’s so popular. In general, people ski with their friends and family, which makes it more than just a sport but also time to spend with loved ones.

“What I love about skiing is that I get to be outside with my friends and family,” Lydia Mitz (‘25) said. “It’s a very social sport and I really like that. It also just feels exhilarating going down the slope.”

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 39

“Skiing and snowboarding are both physically intensive sports that require a lot of skill and But while fun, the sport can be quite challenging, and many people like to compare its difficulty with that of snowboarding.

“I think skiing is harder than snowboarding because you have to control two skis instead of just one board, and it’s really easy to have bad form,” Mitz said. “Every slope you go on at least one person is pizza-ing down the hill.”

“Even though skiing is probably easier to pick up, it’s harder to get good at,” junior Milo Sabina said. “And while it’s harder to start on a board, I feel like it becomes a lot easier to get good once you get the hang of it.”

Nonetheless, most people would agree that skiing is more popular than snowboarding.

“I think skiing is more popular because it’s older”, Sabina said.

Since skiing was popularized much earlier than snowboarding was– about 160 years prior– it makes sense that it is also more popular now.

“I think a lot of people start skiing because their parents ski and it’s natural to learn from your family,” Mitz said. “The risk of injury is also much lower in skiing than snowboarding, at least in my experience. I have hit my head on the snow several times while skiing but nothing serious. I think it’s a pretty safe sport.”

Herbert-Paz agrees, having suffered from multiple moderate injuries in her time as a snowboarder.

“I would say snowboarding is often more dangerous. In my experience, it’s easy to catch an edge and fall. To mention some injuries, I’ve broken a knee,

an elbow, and a finger, I’ve sprained my wrist, and received a lot of bruises.”

Tyler Kramer (‘25) talks about the positives and negatives he faces during snowboarding.

“The best thing about snowboarding that is different from skiing is that hypothetically if I were to fall, the snowboard wouldn’t pop off like skis do,” Kramer said.

Snowboarders strap both feet to the board using bindings. The bindings keep feet securely and tightly strapped onto the board.

“The worst thing about being a snowboarder is the discrimination I face on the mountain. People heckled me on the chair lift and yelled at me when I hit them.” Oftentimes, snowboarders feel as though they are treated differently than skiers on the slope.

There can be many different reasons one might choose one over the other, whether it’s family tradition, the need for a new sport, the tricks that come along with it, or maybe just for fun.

“One of the reasons I stuck with snowboarding is because I think there’s more versatility in it, and I think trick-wise there’s more opportunities and you can be more creative with it,” Herbert-Paz said. “In skiing, I feel like there’s not much diversity within the way you do it, it’s all very cookie cutter but there’s a lot of different ways to snowboard.”

However, many snowboarders are aware that by choosing to snowboard there could be stereotypes coming their way from skiers.

“On the mountain, there are some prejudices against snowboarders that I feel

40 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

training,don’t butreally I think have the any real

meaning,” Herbert-Paz said.

example, I’ve had skiers two are“For very different.” crash into me before but

nobody says all skiers are reckless. There are some nice skiers who lend me a pole and help me out in tough situations though.

I’ve been lucky to have a

- Maeva

Herbert-Paz (‘26)

lot of good friends who ski that are very nice.”

Today, there are three resorts in America that don’t allow snowboarders on the mountain. Some resorts claim it’s purely a business decision, explaining that banning snowboarders is what attracts many skiers to their slopes as it creates a niche experience for the tourists. These resorts include Alta Ski Resort (Utah), Deer Valley (Utah), and Mad River Glen, (Vermont).

Many skiers enjoy visiting these specific mountains due to the absence of snowboarders.

Regardless, for students like Herbert-Paz, the debate of which snow sport is superior continues.

“All that matters is being in the snow and enjoying your time on the slopes with family or friends.”

SKIERS VS

SNOWBOARDERS PIZZA STYLE

HEEL SIDE TURN

BIG + SLOW TURNS

BEGINNER

TOE SIDE TURN

“Learning to heel side turn really helped develop the skills I needed to become a better snowboarder.”

-Maeva Herbert-Paz (‘26).

-

PARALLEL SKIING HOCKEY STOPS

S-TURNS

INTERMEDIATE

MOGULS

MOGULS “I don’t ski park myself but I think it’s really cool how park culture and style is different from the rest of skiing and boarding.”

-Milo Sabina (‘25).

-

OFF-TRAIL SKIING TERRAIN PARKS

ADVANCED

CARVING TERRAIN PARKS

@vikingsportsmag | FEBRUARY 2024 | 41

DRAFT DAY

FEVER

NFL COMBINE

Fourteen Viking members demonstrate their abilities in a makeshift NFL combine, competing to see where they fall in NFL standards.

By DYLAN ROBINSON, BEN LEVAV and CARTER BURNETT

I

f you ever want to land a spot on an NFL team, you’ll probably need to participate in the famed NFL Combine. The National Football League (NFL) Scouting Combine, which began in 1982, serves as a crucial platform for uncovering essential athletic details about draft-eligible prospects emerging from collegiate football. Receiving an invitation from the NFL to participate in the combine is a distinguished honor, as it offers athletes the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of an audience of NFL fans and scouts.

Before the combine was established,

teams in the NFL recruited players solely on the basis of their collegiate career and performance; this left the league coaches with limited knowledge of players’ medical or physical health heading into draft day. With the establishment of the combine, scouts are able to examine the fundamentals of each player’s athletic game, inherently giving less-known prospects the opportunity to show what they are capable of as well.

The pre-draft event also provides fans the exciting opportunity to witness the future talent of the NFL in a fun, engaging way, which can serve to bolster the

players’ confidence during the event and enhance the league’s fanbase.

Here at Palo Alto High School, 15 members of Viking Magazine participated in a mock combine as a part of the Viking Tries series. Each member was assigned one of four positions to determine their respective drills and further mimic the real combine: wide-receiver, quarterback, defensive back, and running back.

The 15 participants were Tyler Harrison, Tyler Martin, Scarlett Frick, and Emil Bothe at quarterback. Luke Joachim, Trey Collins, Josie Vogel, and Alena played wide receiver. For defensive back, Beau Revenaugh, Tyler Frick, Tyler Cheung, and Lucas Tung played; and finally, Sarah Thieman, Nathan Lee, and Avery Reller played running back.

The real NFL combine consists of an array of physical drills and activities, including a bench press, a 40-yard dash, the vertical jump, the broad jump, the 3-cone drill, and several other position-specific drills. Viking attempted to mirror as much of the combine as possible, hosting four different events for the participating members: the 40-yard dash, the broad jump, the vertical

Tyler Martin shows Beau Revenaugh, Alena Lotterer and Nathan Lee what routes to run by illustrating them on the football.

Photo by Jason Hu

jump, and two sets of position-specific drills. Similar to the NFL combine, each Viking participant was assigned a different drill in accordance with their position that aimed to reflect the technical abilities required to excel in their position at the next level.

Each participant’s short-distance speed and acceleration was put to the test during the first drill of the Viking Combine: the 40-yard dash.

The highlights from this drill were running back Nathan Lee (‘26) and wide receiver Trey Collins (‘24) who were the only two to break 5 seconds. Lee ran the fastest time (4.7 seconds), and Collins was a close second (4.9 seconds). In the NFL the average time ran for the 40-yard dash is 4.48, and the fastest was run in 2017 by John Ross at 4.22.

Following this came the broad jump.

The NFL record is from Byron Jones in 2015, who jumped 12 feet, three inches.

The Viking record was held by Collins, at eight feet, four inches.

Finally came the vertical jump. Gerald Sensabaugh holds the record of 46 inches, set during 2005. Viking’s record is held by Alena Lotterer (‘24) at 21 inches. Perhaps Lotterer, a D1 recruited diver, had a leg up as a result of her sport.

Quarterback Emil Bothe (‘25) noted that during the competition, there was high levels of pressure.

“It was pretty stressful… everybody is watching you [in] high pressure situations,” Bothe said.

Scarlett Frick (‘26) noted that the lack of diversity in the drills made it hard to demonstrate all of her skills.

“I wish we had been given more opportunities to do our specific drills because I feel like I didn’t reach my full potential,” Frick said.

Although some participants may not have performed how they hoped, years of the NFL combine show that bad combines don’t always lead to poor NFL careers. A recent example of this is star rookie wide receiver, Puka Nacua. Nacua was considered a “terrible athlete” after putting up the 34th slowest 40-yard dash out of receivers and a substandard

“I would not base your entire draft stock off [the combine] because at the end of the day it is not the same as playing in the game,”

- Emil Bothe (‘25)

showing of his route running abilities. Despite the comments, Nacua has now broken the alltime rookie receptions and receiving yards record, which has stood for 63 years.

Just because some of our athletes didn’t get to demonstrate the full extent of their skills,

doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be excellent rePhoto by Jason Hu cruits.

As Emil Bothe (25’) notes, the combine doesn’t always reflect the athlete’s potential or in-game abilties.

“I think that sometimes the com- bine impacts too much... I would not base your entire draft stock off [the combine] because at the end of the day it is not the same as playing in the game,” Bothe said.

Overall, the Viking combine, just like the NFL combine, provided a fun environment for the athletes to show off their skills, albeit with much less pressure, and nobody’s career on the line.

Oakland

The Exodus

Oakland has seen two of their professional sports teams move to more affluent areas, with the A’s planning to leave in the near future. Why have these teams abandoned their passionate fans, and are these changes necessary?

by GRACE GORMLEY design by TYLER HARRISON and JOSIE VOGEL

L

ongtime Oakland sports fan David Harris is facing the loss of his bigname teams, something he has experienced before.

He was born in the Bronx in New York City, playing baseball and running track, and attending the renowned sports high school Power Memorial, which boasted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as an alum.

“Growing up, I was a sports nut,” Harris said.

Just a few decades before his birth, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play on a major league baseball team, making the Brooklyn Dodgers a major point of pride and community in his city.

“The Dodgers became the heart of the city,” he said. “Especially [for] the Black community in New York, that was just everything.”

But just before he was born, the city experienced something that altered the culture there irrevocably. Both the Dodgers and the Giants baseball teams moved from New York across the nation to California.

“When the Dodgers and Giants left, that left a hole in the city that exists today,” Harris said.

Now, Harris is once again experiencing the loss of several local sports dynasties.

As Oakland’s three biggest sports franchises, the Oakland A’s baseball team, the Raiders football team and the Warriors basketball team, relocate to other major cities, the Bay Area’s sports landscape has been permanently altered.

The Bay Area has a long history of

sports excellence, from the Oakland A’s three-peat of World Series wins in the early 70s, to the Forty Niners dynasty in the 80’s and 90’s, and the Golden State Warriors dominance in the 2010’s. But no longer will Oakland be able to lay claim as the home of these powerful teams. “ [ W h e n these teams leave,] it’s like the soul of a city gets torn apart,” Harris said.

Oakland sports fan, feels that all sports should make a better effort to make sports games more accessible for those who can’t afford higher prices.

“I can understand the high prices a little bit if they’re going to pay their athletes what they deserve,” he said. “[But] I don’t think there’s ever been discussion about if there’s a way for these leagues that are making so much money off it to allocate some funding for people that can’t afford those ridiculously high prices. The Warriors I mean, look how much they charge for their seats. … I think for people that can’t afford the tickets, I think it’s worth it [to evaluate] ways to provide reduced cost prices for people that can’t afford to pay the cost of those seats.”

Harris notes that the Warriors’ situation was slightly different due to being the only regional basketball team in the bay.

“The Warriors see themselves as a regional asset,” he said. “That’s because there’s only one basketball team in the region. You had two baseball teams in the region and two football teams. So the Warriors can move from Oakland to San Francisco and get away unscathed [because] they’re still ours.”

Similarly, Idelson feels that the Warriors departure, though sad, was not nearly as upsetting as the other two franchises.

“[When these teams leave] it’s like the soul of a city gets torn apart” - David Harris

The Warriors The exodus of Oakland’s sports teams began in 2019, with the departure of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were the most decorated team of the 2010’s, as they won three NBA titles and set the NBA regular season win record, going an astonishing 73-9 in 2016. As their fame grew, so did their ticket prices, until they finally brought in enough revenue to privately finance a brand new stadium, leaving Oracle Arena for the $1.4 billion dollar Chase Center located across the bay in San Francisco.

As the Warriors became more and more popular, they were able to spend money on a new arena, as well as raise their ticket prices. Moving to San Francisco, where the average income is around half a million dollars more (according to the US Census Bureau), they can target a wealthier fan base.

Charles Idelson, another longtime

44 | VIKING MAGAZINE | vikingsportsmag.com

“I think the Warriors situation is a little different in a couple of ways,” Idelson said. “I think they paid [privately]. I don’t think they took a bunch of public money to build that stadium in San Francisco, the Chase Center. At least they stayed in the Bay Area; I’ve been able to go to a couple of Warriors games in San Francisco. I wish they stayed in Oakland, but I don’t feel as if we were ripped off as badly by the Warriors as we were by the owners of the Raiders.”

The Raiders The following year, the Raiders headed east for the Nevada desert, approved by the NFL for a transfer to Las Vegas. The 2010’s had been a decade of mediocrity for the Raiders. They had been hunting for a better stadium for decades, trying to renovate or leave their Oakland stadium, the Oakland Coliseum (which had been consistently rated as one of the worst stadiums in the NFL and was shared with the Oakland A’s).

When the city of Oakland declined to devote enough public funds, the Raiders turned to Las Vegas, a location that team owner Mark Davis had had his eyes on for decades, even buying the website domain “lasvegasraiders.com” in 1998.

The state of Nevada dedicated 750 million dollars to building the new stadium (paid for by an increase in hotel room taxes).

Oakland, in an effort to keep the Raiders in the city, announced that they would commit 200 million dollars to improving the infrastructure surrounding the Coliseum. Despite this, the Raiders continued their move to Las Vegas, paying a 350 million dollar fee to the NFL for relocating.

When they moved to Las Vegas, under the leadership of their new president, Sandra Douglass Morgan (the first Black woman to serve as an NFL team president) they led the NFL in revenue in 2022, raking in around 90 million dollars. The Raiders average ticket cost in Oakland was

$85 dollars, compared to $153 dollars last year in Las Vegas. The price difference can’t be attributed to the Raiders’ success, as their record in 2019 was 7-9, compared to 8-9 in 2023.

It will still be many years until their investments are repaid, but there has been an undeniable increase in revenue for the Raiders as a team.

Despite this increase in revenue for the team, there haven’t materialized many benefits for the taxpayers who funded the stadium. The key argument is that when a tourist spends extra money on their hotel room (due to the hotel room tax increase), that is money that will not go to a local restaurant, a tip for a bartender, or paying a local performer. This has led locals to question Nevada’s decision to devote so much public money to such a private enterprise.

As Michael Schaus wrote in the Nevada Independent, “One doesn’t have to be a savvy Wall Street banker to see that spending hundreds of millions of dollars so other entities can turn a profit isn’t exactly a winning investment strategy.”

This move, beyond just being an economically iffy decision made by Nevada politicians, is also particularly hated by members of the Oakland community; during their final game, the Raiders blew a substantial lead and lost, leading disgusted fans to boo and shower the field with trash. Idelson shares a similar frustration with the deal, noting the substantial amount of money that Las Vegas committed to the project.

“It was really nice when we had three major professional teams in the city, but I’m really not a fan of billionaire owners extorting the public and public budget to increase their own profitability,” Idelson said. “And so while I think it’s kind of sad to

see teams leaving Oakland, I don’t support the efforts of Mark Davis (the Raiders owner) and his father before him to extort the city of Oakland and Alameda County to build them a new stadium.

They suckered Las Vegas into building a stadium for them.”

This is a pattern that upsets many Oaklanders, including Anne Janks, a longtime resident.

“There’s a lot of things that we could build in Oakland that we need, and none of those are a new sports stadium, [especially] for people who can build their own stadium,” Janks said. “The way that the stadiums are built now is more resource extraction, where it’s fewer seats and more box seats. I mean, like, screw that, build it yourself.”

Similarly, Harris feels that this shows a sad transition of sports teams

from being the central points of their communities to instead focusing on turning a profit at the expense of fans. “[They moved because of] the lure of more money,” he said, “I don’t even get worked up anymore about these teams being community assets. Their owners are going to do what they want to do.

I mean, John [Fisher] who owns the A’s hasn’t talked to the public or any journalists in like 20 years. ... He doesn’t know a damn thing about baseball. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have traded away a team that would have been a World Series champion [team].”

The Athletics Now, the team owned by Fischer, Oakland’s storied major league baseball team, the Oakland Athletics, or Oakland A’s, are planning to abandon the East Bay city. The A’s will follow the Raiders to the bright lights of Las Vegas, and into a new 1.5 billion dollar stadium, one which will not be finished for another four years, and which the public has paid 350 million dollars for. This public price tag has already prompted a lawsuit from a Nevada teachers union.

Alexander Marks, a spokesperson for the suit, told Nevada media that “public money should not go to a billionaire for a stadium while Nevada ranks 48th in the nation with the largest class sizes and highest educator vacancy rates in the country.”

Harris is hopeful that this may result in a successful suit. “[A’s owner John Fisher is] gonna get his because the teachers in Nevada are gonna win that lawsuit and he’s gonna be left hanging out to dry,” he said.

“In the end, he’ll probably still get to move to Vegas with the A’s. But he’s going to lose a bundle.”

The Las Vegas mayor, Carolyn Goodman, even suggested that the A’s stay in Oakland, saying, “Certainly you have the fan base there [in Oakland.] We already have the Raiders and each city needs to have that spirit of sports.”

Nevertheless, the A’s moved, to the chagrin of their fan base, including Idelson.

“I’ve been an A’s fan since the early

70s,” he said. “I was sad, very sad to see them leave and my older son is a fanatic A’s fan. And he was devastated by them leaving and the last time we went, he wore a ‘Sell the A’s’ shirt.”

The A’s stadium in Las Vegas won’t be finished for another four years and their lease on the Coliseum will expire by the end of the 2024 season. It doesn’t look like they are planning to renew the lease, and instead will likely be rotating between various stadiums for the next three years.

Janks notes that this situation seems to reveal the poor nature of the move.

“I think that what we’re seeing happen right now in Las Vegas [with the A’s]… is evidence that the whole thing was kind of a scam,” she said.

The Commoditization of Sports The general feeling from many Oakland residents is that the loss of their teams is primarily because Oakland wasn’t willing to commit as much public money for the private gains of these multi-billion dollar teams as other cities were.

“I would say it’s a microcosm of a much larger social problem that exists in this country, which is the hijacking of public policy by giant corporations and politicians,” Idelson said.

Idelson notes that other cities are going through similar issues.

“If you look nationally, there’s an increasing lack of support for the public trough being robbed by billionaire [sports team] owners,” Idelson said. “I have family in San Diego and they ex-

“I would say it’s a microcosm of a much larger social problem that exists in this country, which is the hijacking of public policy.”

- Charles idelson press no sympathy for the San Diego Chargers wanting to extort the city, and then moving to LA.” Oakland is a city that suffers from funding issues on many fronts, and Oakland residents like Idelson firmly believe that public funding should be used to serve the public, instead of these large sports

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teams. “[In cities like Oakland where] we have massive, massive public funding problems, you know, whether it’s education, whether it’s massive homelessness, whether it’s lack of affordable housing, there are far more important public needs for allocation of funding resources,” he said. “The idea that any of those [cities] would give money to billionaires to build a public arena is just reprehensible. It’s just disgraceful.”

Harris points out that this is just another example of systematic disinvestment in Oakland as a city.

“This city has been historically disinvested in,” Harris said. “So how do you pick up a city that has real significance, real talent, a real identity unto itself? I mean, the Black Panthers started here, there’s so much that people look for, but it’s been systematically disinvested in. …

When you keep pulling out the resources, the money, how do cities like this ever come back? But they will and they can.”

Beyond just losing their big-time teams, Janks notes that the city of Oakland also lost many incredible athletes.

“The Y [Oakland YMCA] has a mural of [Stephen Curry] reading to kids and he was very intentional about doing things with the Oakland Community and for the Oakland Community,” Janks said. “I think he was very aware of really focusing on areas that are underserved.”

Oakland is the birthplace of many skilled athletes, and Janks feels that the pride that one can hold being from Oakland and playing for Oakland may now be lost.

“We’ve had sports figures like Marshawn Lynch who were really from Oakland, and never forgot that they were from Oakland, and that was very meaningful,” she said. “And it’s kind of sad that that setup is a little bit gone. You can’t be from Oakland and play for the Oakland team [anymore]. And yeah, that’s a little bit too bad.”

This is a loss not only for the fans, but to some extent, for the players.

“Oakland wasn’t a bad place to live as a [player] on a major sports team,” Janks said. “For your family, it was a good place. I’d rather, if I were a major sports figure, live in Oakland than live in Las Vegas. If you want to stop thinking of it all as a business for a minute and think of them as human beings, a lot of [the athletes] were very happy to be in Oakland, on a good team that was in a decent city.”

Harris’ organization, the Urban Strategies Council, works with young people,

and young men in particular, in Oakland to help them achieve their fullest potential. He notes that, in his time working with young people, he has found that they feel anger over the loss of their teams.

“They’re pissed,” he said. “They’re pissed, that they think the guys are greedy, and they [say] ‘if they want to go, get the hell out.’”

H o p e fully these owners can feel some amount of the shame they earned by disappointing their young fan base in this way. It is undeniable that the entire process by which the three teams moved was unfortunate, for both fans and players.

But beyond that, it was a sad demonstration of how socializing the costs and privatizing the profits of major league sports is a truly sad practice in which the multi-billionaire owners o f these teams get to play the game, and the fans who follow for the love of the game are left to get played.

As Harris eloquently said,

“As much as I think that sports, and in particular in Oakland, have corporatized to the dominance of these wealthy families that are able to own these teams and make decisions without accountability with such impunity, I think that teams nonetheless, help create an identity or a place that helps bring people together, especially in tough times.

And I wish these teams did have more loyalty to the people who have been left behind.”

“There’s a lot of things that we could build in Oakland that we need, and none of those are a new sports stadium, [especially] for people who can build their own stadium” - Anne janks

Oakland’s Next Steps Some may say that the golden age of Oakland sports is over. But Oakland has never been a city to give up.

“I drive around looking at the playgrounds and basketball courts in the city and you can see lots of people playing sports,” Idelson said. “I have been to a lot of Oakland basketball games. I’ve been to a lot of sports, soccer games in Oakland.

So there’s a lot of sports that go on here. You know there’s two baseball leagues for young people. … both [of which] my son’s played in. There’s a lot of sports activity that happens all the time in the city.”

Harris sees hope in the young people and their athletic talent.

“Across the country, I lived in Flint, Michigan, where they’ve

pumped out tremendous basketball players,” he said. “I lived in New York where it’s like their own [industry]. And I’ve lived in South Florida where they send kids out to the sugarcane fields to run around and that’s where they become great NFL running backs. The future of this city [Oakland] lives in the talent that comes from the city. And there will always be amazing athletic talent that comes out of the city.

That talent could shine a light on Oakland and the East Bay and the issues it’s facing.”

Along with the city’s athletic fervor being far from extinguished, some other teams have been slowly rising to fill the major-league-shaped hole in the hearts of the Oaklanders. One such team is the Oakland Roots soccer team. According to their website, they are “a purpose-driven men’s soccer team that seeks to harness the magic of Oakland and the power of sports as a social force for good.” This service-driven attitude may be a breath of fresh air following the years of the Vegas-bound teams using Oakland as a bargaining chip.

“The Oakland Roots have kind of popped up as the teams have been leaving,” Janks said. “You see a lot of people, a lot of diverse people, wearing Oakland Roots stuff. Now I think that it may be possible to just shift to teams that are a lot more accessible to people. That would also enable people to actually go to the games and do some of that on the community building front without the resource extraction.”

Beyond this, Harris also notes other possibilities arising.

“Those behemoths the NFL and MLB have left,” he said. “We have the NBA here but we also have the emerging soccer teams, and we have the potential for a WNBA team … but it’s gonna come from the way the athletic talent highlights the city and its kids.”

So while Oakland may have lost some of their bigger teams, this may provide a positive chance for the city’s sports environment to turn towards a community-focused approach and focus on what should really drive the decisions of our biggest teams: a love of the game.

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