by Aydn Morris

The NBA kicked off its regular season Tuesday night headlined by the defending NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks facing the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers facing the Golden State Warriors in a thrilling first night of basketball.

The atmosphere was at an all time high in Milwaukee where the defending champs held their ring ceremony just moments before taking on ESPN’s top ranked team, the Brooklyn Nets.

The Milwaukee Bucks stunned NBA fans by beating the Nets 127-104 in a dominant matchup. From the tip-off, the Bucks maintained control the entire game starting with last year’s finals MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, having a stellar game scoring 32 points, securing 14 rebounds and dishing out seven assists with two blocked shots. Behind him was all-star teammate Kris Middleton who scored 20 points and recorded nine rebounds.

What made this game special to the team is not only the ring ceremony, but also seeing Giannis improve so much in his shooting. Last season Giannis struggled from the free throw line and had the longest free throw routine in the league. He shot a free throw percentage of 69% on 9.5 attempts per game and his routine was regularly at or over the allotted ten seconds.

He may not have shot perfectly from the free throw line in the season opener, but he showed great improvements from last year. 

On the other side, the Nets did not have a great game. They have a big hole missing in their lineup without their superstar guard Kyrie Irving, who is unable to play due to his vaccination status. There is a lot of speculation about what will beocome of Kyrie because he will not be able to play in many arenas unless he gets the vaccine. 

Although the Nets may have lost without Kyrie, Kevin Durant showed glimpses of a possible MVP season. He scored 32 points, had eleven rebounds and 2 blocks on 13-25 shooting. 

Behind Durant was his superstar teammate, James Harden. Harden did not have one of his greatest performances in the season opener. He scored 20 points on 6-16 shooting with eight rebounds, eight assists and two blocks and a steal. Harden dealt with many injuries last season and played few games during the regular season and playoffs.

After the Bucks-Nets game was the Lakers-Warriors. This was a must-see games with the Lakers revamping their whole team in the NBA offseason after their disappointing playoff performance last year. 

The Lakers would lose to the Warriors 121-114 with a strong performance from Lebron James scoring 34 points with eleven rebounds, five assists as well as a block and a steal. Lebron shot 13-23 from the field and 5-11 from three, but he had an amazing first half followed by a more lackluster performance down the stretch, especially on the defensive end. 

Lebron struggled with injuries last season and because of that the Lakers dropped all the way down to the seventh seed and many people were beginning to say he was washed up after the Lakers lost in the first round to the Suns, where Lebron did not look to be at his healthiest. 

By Lebron’s side is superstar big man Anthony Davis. Davis scored a total of 33 points with eleven rebounds and a steal and two blocks. He was arguably the best player on the court last night, but that is expected of him going throughout the rest of the season for the Lakers. Davis shot 15-26 from the field, but had a surprisingly poor performance from the free throw line shooting 2-7. 

In addition, the Lakers traded for All-Star Russell Westbrook in the offseason, but Westbrook had a terrible first game performance, where he scored only eight points on a poor 4-13 shooting.

It was known that Westbrook was most likely going to have some struggles to start off the season as he has never been a part of an offense where he isn’t the center piece, but they will need him and the supporting cast for the big three to step it up if they want to win another championship this season.

Although the Warriors won, their perennial all-NBA guard, Steph Curry, struggled from the field with his shot. Curry scored 21 points on 5-21 shooting, but he impacted the game on a different level. Curry recorded his eighth career triple double with ten rebounds and ten assists to go along with 3 steals. 

The Warriors will need Curry to have an MVP caliber season again, like he did last year, until fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson comes back from his achilles injury. 

NBA games will continue tonight starting at 4:00 PM on ESPN with the Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets in Phoenix taking on the defending Western Conference Champions, the Suns.

by Jeremiah Davis

With the NFL season already underway, Los Angeles’ two newest teams, the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, prove to be potential Super Bowl contenders.

The 2021 NFL season has brought along many exciting, challenging and hard to believe moments. From Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs being “figured out” by the league to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens putting on a show seemingly every game, the league has astonished its many fans.

However, the story of the season for many homers starts in the City of Angels. Although the season is still in its early stages, the Rams and Chargers have both shown that they are serious contenders. 

The Rams, are coming off a dominant win against the New York Giants and boast a great record on the season so far at 5-1, currently holding the 2nd place seed in the NFC West behind the Arizona Cardinals. The Chargers, who recently had a disappointing loss to the Ravens and another heartbreaker earlier in the season to the NFC powerhouse Dallas Cowboys, are still in a good place in the standings with a 4-2 record, which is tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for first place, though due to the head to head record, they have the advantage in seeding if the season were to end today.  

With both L.A. teams doing well overall, this has brought about a raise in popularity for the two.  The two teams play in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California which is thought of as one of the best stadiums in the league. Their games have been a hot spot for celebrity attendance, including sports stars like Lebron James, Magic Johnson, Draymond Green and Carmelo Anthony. 

The attention is warranted, as both teams have a number of players who are expected to make the Pro Bowl this year. Additionally, the quarterbacks for each team have been exciting to watch. For the Chargers, Justin Herbert is having a great start to the season with 14 touchdown passes and a 66% completion rate.

The Rams’ on the other hand have gone with veteran Matthew Stafford who has completely revived his career from an at times disappointing quarterback to a top MVP candidate. This season Stafford has completed 16 touchdown passes on the year while having a 69% completion rate.

With all of the publicity surrounding the two teams, fans have begun to speculate whether or not this high level play will continue come playoff time. Both teams play in a very competitive divisions, which suggests things won’t get an easier from here forward. 

If the Rams continue to play like they have been so thus far, the only real threat in the NFC West that they come to face would be lead MVP candidate, Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. As for the Chargers, there is high hope that the Las Vegas Raiders stumble upon a losing streak while the Chargers continue their dominance, which would then allow the Chargers to solidify themselves as the number one seed in the AFC West.  

The Rams’ next game is scheduled for Sunday, October 24th when the Detroit Lions come to Los Angeles. Going into the matchup, the Rams are the heavy favorites, but with the way the season has taken place so far, anything could happen. Though with how the Rams have been performing, not to mention the dismal 0-6 Lions, there is little doubt that the Rams will that their way. 

The Chargers’ come into their bye week with their next game scheduled for Sunday, October 31st, as Mac Jones and the New England Patriots will visit SoFi Stadium for a highly anticipated matchup. With the much needed bye week, the Chargers will be able to make the necessary adjustments to correct the mistakes they had against the Ravens and will come into this matchup well-rested and eager to get back to work.

by Aeden Alexander, Sports Editor

The Bosco Braves take on the red hot Orange Lutheran Lancers in their third week of Trinity league play, coming off a fabulous performance against JSerra.

This Friday, the Braves will be taking on another top league opponent, and are now officially hitting the halfway mark of their league play. 

Bosco comes into this game with an impressive 6-1 overall record as well being 1-1 in league. The Lancers come in with a solid record of 5-2, but are 0-2 in league play.

This will be an important deciding week for both programs, as it will most likely boost the Braves morale heading into the back half of their season as they seek to get revenge on the “Team in Red” in the playoffs. 

For Orange Lutheran this game possibly means everything. After a tough start to their Trinity League play, this game is a must win and will be far from easy.

Bosco will look to their leaders in these upcoming games to lead them into their final games and set the tone for what’s to come. Quarterbacks Katin Houser and Pierce Clarkson have been impressive to say the least, splitting time this year and both bringing different playstyles to the field. 

The Lancer’s will need to find something deep within to push them over this hump in their season. Both losses come from back-to-back weeks against power houses Servite and the Team in Red, both of which resulted in massive blowouts. But this will prove to be an amazing opportunity for the Braves to pounce on another opponent and finish off the Lancers’ year. 

Last week’s opponent for the Braves, being JSerra, turned out to be a massive win for Bosco. After just coming off of a tough loss to league rival, the Team in Red, they needed to make adjustments and to dominate another team was a huge boost to their confidence.

The defense stepped up big time providing stops all game and keeping the Lions to just seven points. Not only did the defense play well, but the offense played a key role in improving by making the most of every opportunity given, and ended up scoring a massive 44 points.

Though this is great, consistency is key, and this play will need to carry into this week’s game and continue on for the rest of the year. The Braves will play away at Orange Lutheran, as well playing again on the road at Santa Margarita next week. They will then return home to play their final game of the regular season against another top ranked team in Servite.

The game tonight starts at 7pm at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

by Andrew Fierro, Managing Editor

In a nail-biting game with both team’s pitching in full effect, the Los Angeles Dodgers edged out the San Francisco Giants in the final game of a five-game series, winning 2-1 and moving them onto the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

Being one of the most well known rivalries in baseball, and even all of sports, the Dodgers-Giants first ever postseason series was one to remember. With both teams claiming one-sided games throughout the series, it was only right for the series to end in a nail-biting one-run game that came down to the very last pitch. 

The Dodgers in a last minute, game time decision started relief pitcher Corey Knebel on Thursday evening at Oracle Park in place of Julio Urias for strategic purposes that would seem to benefit them in the end. The Dodgers would end up using their bullpen to the max this game, creating more favorable matchups for their players and allowing for each pitcher to stay fresh.

Julio Urias would take over for the Dodgers pitching in the third inning out of the bullpen, going on to pitch four innings allowing one run on a solo homer with three hits and 5 strikeouts. 

This would prove to be enough to get the Dodgers the win, as the small ball would pay off with standout Mookie Betts going 4 for 4 with four singles and a run scored. 

The Dodgers would be the first to strike with a Corey Seager double in the top of the sixth inning that put the Dodgers up 1-0. This came after Mookie Betts got on base for the third time in the game and stole second base. 

Though the Dodgers were able to get on the board first, this lead would be short-lived, as the Giants were able to immediately answer back with a run of their own. Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, Darin Ruf would lead off the inning with a solo homerun to center field on a 3-2 count that would land as the farthest home run of the postseason thus far and tie up the game at one a piece.

After the runs scored in the sixth, it went back to a defensive game with both teams being able to silence the opposition. It was another standout performance by Giant’s ace and rookie, Logan Webb, as he would turn in seven innings allowing just one run.

He would go on to allow only four hits on seven strikeouts, giving the Giants his best effort to put them in the situation to win the game and the series. Though the bats were kept mostly silent. After Webb was pulled in the seventh along with Julio Urias, the two teams would end up in a bullpen duel that would lead to a tied game heading into the ninth. 

Heading into the ninth, the Dodgers would leadoff with the fourth batter in the lineup, Will Smith.  Though it wasn’t him who got the team going. It was a wild pitch that would hit Justin Turner with one out that would prove to be a costly base runner.

Gavin Lux would then single, moving Turner to second and in scoring position for none other than Cody Bellinger. Although Cody Bellinger has had a struggling season, to say the least, he came through when it mattered most with a crucial RBI single that gave the Dodgers the lead for the last time in the ninth.

Dodgers starting ace Max Scherzer would then come into the game and shut the Giants down, earning him the save on what would be a controversial last pitch of the game. Scherzer ended the Giant’s season on a called third strike ruled by the first base umpire on a check swing. The Dodgers now head into the NLCS where they will face the Atlanta Braves in a best of seven series.

Although the Braves have had a solid season, winning their division and beating the Brewers in the NLDS in only four games, the Dodgers will without doubt be the favorite in this matchup, as they have all the momentum coming off of beating the best team in baseball in a win or go home game five.

The first game of the series will be held at the Braves stadium, Truist Park, tomorrow starting at 5:07 P.M.

by Aeden Alexander, Sports Editor

After two thrilling games, the Dodgers are midway through their National League Divisional Series (NLDS) run against National League West division champion and rival the San Francisco Giants.

It’s not every year that a team like the Dodgers win 106 games and only come second in their division needing to play a Wild Card game, but that was the case this year as the Giants would win 107 and go on to secure a playoff spot and the division title.

The Dodgers and Giants rivalry has been one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports. The two teams have met thousands of times and no matter how much better one team is compared to the other, they figure out ways to make the games close and competitive.

But, even with all the regular season battles, this year is the first time the Dodgers and Giants have met in the postseason. The amazing part about this matchup is the fact that the two teams are polar opposites.

The Dodgers have a team full of stars with the highest payroll in all of baseball. Meanwhile, the Giants have a much younger core with a few veterans leading the charge.

The NLDS is a five game series, and the pair have already competed twice thus far. It’s safe to say both games were action-packed and high scoring, as the run total of just two games has come to a staggering 15 runs.

The first two games took place in San Francisco, which ended with the series being tied 1-1. The teams will now head to Los Angeles, where they will play two more games and then finish in San Francisco if necessary.

The first game the Giants completely out played the Dodgers winning 4-0. The game consisted of many high points for the Giants, as well as many low ones for Los Angeles. For the Giants, their starting pitcher was rookie Logan Webb who made his postseason debut and hushed the Dodgers offense.

He would go on to throw 7.2 innings giving up five hits, zero walks and no runs while also finishing with a grand total of ten strikeouts. Their bullpen would then finish the game allowing zero hits and would earn Webb the win.

The next game, however, the Dodgers flipped the switch. Los Angeles starter Julio Urias would have an exceptional start, going five innings while giving up only one run on three hits. 

But, what really shined was the offense, the Dodgers would put up eleven hits with struggling all-star Cody Bellinger having two RBI’s on one hit after being in a slump for some time.

The Dodgers would win this game 9-2. They are now perfectly set up to come home and look to finish the series in the next two games. This was exactly what the Dodgers needed to stay locked in on winning and not on the opponent. 

The third game will be held at Dodger Stadium at 6:37pm on tonight.