Sports
The Special Dance Company at Columbia High School (CHS)
By: Olivia Marcus
So many students look forward to the month of May for many reasons. One being that the school year is almost over and another one being for the Special Dance Company performance. The Special Dance Company is a modern-based dance company, run at CHS by Kandice Point-Du-Jour. The company is made up of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The students work and practice all year during school as a physical education class. In the class, they take quizzes and do assignments like any other gym class at CHS. They work on a number of different dance styles including hip-hop, modern, contemporary, jazz, and more. The students choreograph their own dances, while working with Point-Du-Jour. Also, popular musical artist, Solána Imani Rowe, also known as “SZA”, attended CHS and graduated in 2008. She was a part of the Special Dance Company and danced with Point-Du-Jour over her years as a student at CHS. The company has been around for 47 years now with more to come.
Every year in May, the company performs in the high school’s auditorium with a number of different routines. This year, the performances took place on Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19. The Special Dance performances are very popular among the crowd every year. “Putting together the show was super tiring and honestly a lot more work than I thought it would be. There were a lot of rehearsals outside of school which were fun but also time consuming,” said Jess Glass, ‘20. This was Glass’s first year with the Special Dance Company.
This year, the Special Dance Company showcased many different numbers. A lot of the dances had a meaning or message beneath the dance moves. One of them was based on the racism towards African-Americans that is seen in our community. Another piece expressed the beauty of every girl’s body, no matter what imperfections she may think she possess. The company put together a variety of dances, some with meaning and some just for fun.
Putting together the show itself was a big job for the company. “Towards the end of the process, when the show started to come together, it was cool to see that all of our hard work was turning into something. The show itself went much better than I thought it would, and I was really happy with how everything went. We all put a lot of hard work and many hours into the whole process and I think it paid off,” Glass continued. The dancers also had to work hard with stage crew, for lighting and music, in order to put on the performance that they worked so hard for.
The Special Dance Company works very hard and trains for their show for months. “It was very cool and I love watching them,” said Lindsay Baker, ‘20. Year 48 is coming up for the dancers in the 2018-2019 school year.
 |
SPlasvegasgoldenknights415/400
From Expansion to Stanley Cup
By: Liam Sullivan
One of the year’s best sport stories has been the success of the Las Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season as a NHL expansion team. The Golden Knights took the sports world by surprise, as they entered the season being number 31 in ESPN’s hockey power rankings, and have ended up as the number one ranked team and is playing in the Stanley cup. Owner William Foley and General Manager George McPhee conducted an expansion draft for the Golden Knights before the inaugural season so that the team would be able to have a roster. In the draft, all 31 NHL teams post a list of players they would be willing to give up into the draft. All of the teams were also required to provide a list of players they would protect from the draft, as Las Vegas could not just pluck the best player from the teams.
The players that were drafted all had one thing in common, and it was that they were dropped, unwanted by their previous teams. It was the letting go of all of the players however that created a spark in Las Vegas’ energy during the season. The players regarded themselves as “misfits”, and used this label as a chip on their shoulder throughout the inaugural season.
The Golden Knights began to break expansion team records, as they won their 34th game on February 1st, marking them as the most successful expansion team in the league’s history. The Golden Knights shattered this record by the end of the season however, ending up with 51 wins, granting them first place in the Pacific Division, and third place in the Western Conference. Soon after the win record, they broke the record for most points in an inaugural season with their 84th point on February 21st. They continued their great play in the playoffs as well, as they became the only team in NHL history to sweep a series in their first season when the defeated the Los Angeles Kings in four games during the first round.
There is no stand out star for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, as the captain role has not been assigned to any single player, and there has been great production from multiple players. With players like William Karlsson, James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault at the top for team points and goals, the Golden Knights have dominated through the playoffs as well, and will now face the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final.
SP2018nbafinalspreview588/600
Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Golden State Warriors Preview
By: Liam Sullivan
For the fourth straight year, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will face off for the Larry O’Brien trophy in the NBA Finals.
While the Golden State Warriors still have the majority of their championship roster from last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone through serious changes over the post and regular season. Cleveland no longer has the ankle-breaking, sharp-shooting Kyrie Irving, who was Cleveland’s main scoring option besides LeBron James. After Irving requested a trade in the 2017 postseason, the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics completed a trade that would send Irving to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and draft picks. Thomas had the best season of his career, averaging 28 points per game in the 2016-2017 season for the Celtics. Thomas is another guard who can score like Kyrie Irving, but during this year’s regular season Thomas went through injuries and did not fit in Cleveland’s system as they hoped he would, so he was traded midway through the season to the Lakers.
LeBron and the Cavaliers still have Kevin Love, an all-star forward who can stretch the floor with his long range shooting ability, but he has not been able to put up the same numbers as Kyrie Irving. With less scorers on the Cavaliers roster, LeBron James has had to carry the team offensively throughout the playoffs. With his 34 points per game, LeBron leads all players in the league this postseason in scoring. However, with LeBron constantly having to lead the team, fatigue has started to become a factor in his play. In game five of the Eastern Conference Finals, James admitted to NBA TV that he was exhausted. With a overworked LeBron and no Kyrie Irving, defeating the Golden State Warriors will be no small task.
The Warriors have four all-star players in their starting lineup in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant. Steph Curry has the ability to shoot from anywhere on the court, and is widely regarded as the one of the greatest shooters in the history of the sport. Curry was injured in the beginning of the playoffs, but since his return he has averaged 25 points per game. Durant was last year’s Finals most valuable player. He is a seven foot tall forward who has point guard skills. A prolific scorer and a improved defender, Durant will look to add another title and “MVP” to his resume. Klay Thompson is another scoring guard who can score points in bunches if he is assisted to, and Draymond Green is a relentless defender and leader who electrifies the team’s energy.
With so many offensive and defensive threats on their roster, the Golden State Warriors are the clear favorites in this year’s NBA finals. According to Sports Illustrated, the Warriors are -900 favorites to win the title. This is the largest margin since the 1991 NBA Finals. To exemplify the strength of the Golden State Warriors, Sports Illustrated wrote, “James (has) turn in one of the most remarkable postseasons of his career.” Even with LeBron’s remarkable run, the Warriors are record-breaking favorites. Sports Illustrated then elaborated on this when they wrote “ Unlike 2016 when Cleveland had Irving and Love and Golden State did not have Durant, there are simply too many individual matchups working in favor of the defending NBA champion Warriors and against the Cavaliers in this series.”
The Cavaliers and the Warriors continue their rivalry on Thursday, May 31st.
Comments
Post a Comment