by Diego Santizo, Sports Editor

The best High School Football team in the nation will open up the season at home on January 8th against Northern California Powerhouse De La Salle.

When it was announced this week that De La Salle High will travel to Bellflower on Jan. 8 to open its unusual season against the St. John Bosco Braves, it was just the latest unique aspect to the 2020 high school football season, which won’t take place until 2021.

The national high school football powerhouses made the announcement Wednesday, about 10 months after they met for the state’s Open Division title, which resulted in a St. John Bosco victory.

The two all-boys parochial schools met in the CIF State Open Division championship game last December, when Bosco won its third state title game win over the Spartans since 2013. This will be the first time two teams who met in a CIF Championship Football Final had a rematch in the opening game of the following season.

Currently, the CIF has set up one weekend of games (April 17) after section championships in order to presumably play regional title games, but not for state championships. That would eliminate the possibility of De La Salle and Bosco playing later in the season. 

When the teams met in December for the Open Division state championship, Bosco’s DJ Uiagalelei threw for 398 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 64 yards and a touchdown as he lead his team to a 49-28 victory.

Bosco must replace the 6-foot-5, 245-pound quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, now at Clemson, but return many of the state’s top senior recruits, including receiver Beaux Collins (No. 8 state ranking, Clemson commit), Guard Maximus Gibbs (No. 64, USC), Linebacker Andrew Simpson (No. 91, Kentucky), while also bringing in Cornerback Kamren Blanton (No. 87, UNLV), formerly from Long Beach Poly. Collins plans to graduate in December and enroll early to Clemson, so he will likely miss the game and season, but should help other Bosco receivers prepare for the game.

Sophomore Pierce Clarkson and Junior Katin Houser, a transfer from Liberty (Henderson, Nev.), will attempt to take the place of Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, the 2019 co-National Player of the Year, who accounted for 477 yards and five touchdowns in the win over De La Salle in December and played a key role in the Braves’ National Championship season in 2019.

Each school had scheduled a high-profile, out-of-state game to open its original 2019 slate. Bosco had been set to travel to Ohio while the Concord, California De La Salle Spartans team was going to play against North Shore in Houston. Both games were cancelled out of courtesy for today’s daily norm, COVID-19. 

All of the excitement around the announcement of this early season showdown is tempered by the realization that the COVID-19 situation means nothing is certain.

Much must happen for the game and season to take place. The California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body of prep sports, plans to jam three traditional seasons into a January-June window, but counties have to first reopen and allow sports.

California is one of 15 states to push fall sports to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to reworked schedules. It will be the first time the Braves and Spartans have met in the regular season.

Bay Area teams have been cleared to work out (with social distancing) since late Spring, while the Braves have been doing daily workouts (also with social distancing) since the Summer.

Local and state health and government officials will have the final say if high school sports can resume on that schedule. The DLS-SJB game is slated for Friday evening, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. at Panish Family Stadium. That time is subject to change for television.

Go Braves!

by Ryan Dwyer

Despite the 2019-2020 NBA season having just ended on October 11th after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games to win the NBA Championship, Commissioner Adam Silver and league officials have released a tentative start date of December 22nd for the 2020-2021 NBA Season, sparking disagreements amongst players over the condensed offseason.

After the conclusion of the 2019-2020 NBA Season, the league immediately sought out to find a date for the start of the new season. Although it may seem logical to wait until the start of 2021 to begin the new season, the NBA is still a business and the longer they wait is the more money they lose. So far it is widely known that the league plans on restarting between December 22nd and December 25th.

Although it has not been said directly by big name players in the league, there is certainly a very big possibility that players such as LeBron James may sit out for the first month of play.

Many players and fans alike believe that merely two and a half months break in between the conclusion of the season and the beginning of a new season is too little of time to give the players for rest and preparedness.

Teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat especially will need extended periods of time to prepare for the new season as they were the last two teams participating in the playoffs as they were competing for the championship.

Many fans and players alike are pushing for the new season to begin no earlier than Martin Luther King Jr Day – January 21st – so as to give the teams who were in the playoffs a well needed break.

Players need time to relax and spend time with their families after having spent months away from them in the Orlando bubble. On top of that, it takes time for players to get back in shape once they’ve had that period of rest. Getting in game ready condition is certainly not an easy task, and it for sure does not take a short period of time, as it requires countless hours of working out and practice over a span of a few months.

According to SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll, if the NBA and NBA Player’s Association agree on the tentative start date of December 22nd – which they are expected to – training camp for all teams will begin on December 1st.

In the presumption that the two sides agree to the planned start date, that would leave the two teams who played in the NBA Finals – the Lakers and Heat – with only 51 days between Game Six of the NBA Finals and day one of training camp.

As SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll notes as well, the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors had exactly 100 days between their final playoff game and the start of training camp for what is now last season.

Furthermore, a team like the New York Knicks – who were not good enough to qualify for the Orlando bubble – played their last game on March 11th of this year, which gives them just about nine months of rest compared to a team like the Lakers, who will have just under two months of rest by the start of training camp.

As a result of the shortened offseason this year, players might very well come into the new season out of shape and unconditioned. This may result in a much sloppier and slower style of play in the beginning of the new season.

Although it may seem like the league is trying to minimize its losses for this upcoming season which is partially the case, it is widely known that the Commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, is very well liked amongst players and team management alike. So, it should be expected that all NBA players and coaches will come around to the planned start date and reach a consensus that it is the best option for the league.

The respect for Commissioner Silver might play a part in negotiations being taken more seriously between the players and ownership. If negotiations persist, then it is very possible that the NBA could be looking at as much of a month’s difference between potential start dates for the new season, with players preferring more rest, preparation, and family time, with owners thinking about the financial straits of a later start date.

Regardless of when the season is to start, it will be an unusually short offseason compared to any other offseason that current NBA players have seen, albeit the fact that the world is living in unusually uncertain times. So because of that, players will have to find ways to adjust and adapt to this year’s shortened schedule, expedited start dates, and getting into the mental mindset that comes with playing a full NBA season.

It will be an interesting year for NBA fans and players as the circumstances are truly unfamiliar territory, but until a consensus is reached and a season is played, the only thing left for people to do is speculate on how the new season will look after playing in the bubble setting in Orlando. If one thing is for sure though, it is the fact that this year’s season will be one to remember, yet another wild ride for the NBA following an unusual, but successful, pandemic-ridden season.

by Aeden Alexander

After Justin Turner’s COVID-19 fiasco during Game 6 of the World Series, many are beginning to speculate whether the MLB’s “bubble” atmosphere was even a safe “bubble” to begin with.

On October 27th, the Los Angeles Dodgers won their first World Series in thirty-two years, and was it a wild one. After a negative COVID-19 test, Dodgers Third Baseman Justin Turner was pulled out of the game just an inning before the Dodgers won due to a positive test. 

The whole situation had many different opinions on whether it was the MLB’s fault, Turner’s, or just an unforeseen situation. Turner was a major part of the Dodgers World Series, as he had a red hot bat and was making stellar defensive plays at third. Despite being pulled from the game, he was still able to make it out to the field to celebrate with his teammates.

But as seen in many pictures, Turner was spotted not wearing a mask when interacting with teammates. MLB and its commissioner were feeling no remorse for Turner, as they quickly sent out a statement about a potential fine and an investigation into the situation which can lead to a suspension next season.  

For the playoffs, Major League Baseball created a “bubble” type atmosphere limiting all the games to the West Coast and allowing zero fans. That was until the NLCS, where they allowed their first set of fans into stadiums in almost a year. 

Before that the last positive test was during the season, but that was with travel. Sources have stated that the reason for the positive Covid-19 test could have been because fans were allowed to enter the stadiums. Many say that Justin Turner’s actions were “selfish” because he went onto the field without a mask and a positive test.

But others question the fact that they pulled him towards the end of the game, saying that he has been in the dugout with everyone for seven innings already. However, Commissioner Rob Manfred shut these questions down, making both teams continue to test and keep distance from others. 

As of how the MLB didn’t get a positive test back until the end of the game is unknown. That Monday before the final game, Turner’s test came back inconclusive which wasn’t uncommon, but did raise concerns. 

As of right now, Turner is feeling well and is one of the Dodgers top priorities this offseason, as he is a free agent heading into the new season. No statements from Justin Turner have been released as of right now but it seems that he, as well as the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers, are concerned that they are World Series Champions and nobody can take that from them.

by Eric Torres

A 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night saw the talented, fan favorite Los Angeles Dodgers end a 32-year World Series drought. 

A fantastic effort from the Dodgers’ pitching staff led the way. Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw seemingly exorcised his postseason demons, allowing only three earned runs combined through two starts. He pitched 11.2 total innings, striking out 14. In addition, young phenom Walker Buehler, who was scheduled to start both games three and seven (if necessary), gave a quality start, allowing one earned run through six innings, and struck out 10.

Meanwhile, the Dodger bullpen anchored down these electric starts. In Games one, three, and five, the bullpen held onto leads without much trouble, only giving up three runs total. In game six, a scheduled bullpen game, seven different Dodger pitchers combined to allow only one run on four hits, and struck out 16, with Julio Urias slamming the door on any potential comeback. The only blemish on a wonderful bullpen performance was a disastrous game 4 ninth inning, where a fundamental error would lead to a blown save and a Rays win. 

To complement an electric pitching performance, the Dodgers’ dynamic offense, led by MVP Corey Seager and Mookie Betts, provided enough run support. Although the offense struggled at times, they always seemed to come up with clutch hits, scoring 18 runs throughout the series with two outs. Nine different Dodgers hit home runs in the series, with Justin Turner, Mookie Betts, and Corey Seager each homering twice. In a crucial turn of events in Game 6, the Dodgers jumped on a controversial decision by Rays manager Kevin Cash to pull ace Blake Snell, as Mookie Betts set up a momentum swinging inning with a double, leading to what would prove to be the game winning RBI from Corey Seager. 

Corey Seager, rightfully, was named the MVP for the Dodgers in the World Series. After a phenomenal postseason, he continued his hot streak into the World Series. In the World Series, Seager had a batting average of .400, and homered twice, in games two and four. Furthermore, Seager had four doubles, a stolen base, and reached base fifteen times. He scored seven runs and had five RBIs en route to earning World Series MVP. 

However, shortly before the end of the final game, controversy emerged. Before the 8th inning, Dodger third baseman Justin Turner was removed from the game due to a positive COVID-19 test. Although removed from the field, Turner returned to the field to celebrate with the team, and was even seen removing his mask to take pictures. However, the MLB released a statement condemning Turner, stating that Turner was initially placed in isolation following his removal from the game, but later chose to disregard protocols in order to return to celebrate with the team. The MLB has launched an investigation into the causes, and further tests for tracing, with more to come later in order to determine how COVID-19 entered the Dodgers’ soft bubble.

Although Tampa Bay came up just short, there are a lot of positives to take from the series, especially being the team with the third-lowest payroll. Randy Arozarena, a young star from Cuba, hit ten home runs throughout the postseason, the most ever in a single postseason. Furthermore, their ace, Blake Snell, pitched well in both games two and six. Although the bullpen didn’t fare as well in the World Series, the Rays got great production from them throughout the regular season and early postseason. The Tampa Bay Rays will look to be back in the World Series next season.

by Zach Gardiner

Everyone loves a good knockout, and the UFC has a history of giving fans the joy of watching people ending up flat on the canvas. The best thing about a fight is that it can change in the blink of an eye. One punch, kick, elbow, or knee can change history forever. 

It’s not easy making a top ten list of the greatest knockouts of all time, but in light of Joaquin Buckley’s electrifying knockout on the 10th of October, it had to be done. There have been countless unforgettable moments with fans favorite fighters over the years, but some just stand out. 

#10 Dan Henderson vs. Micheal Bisping 

Michael Bisping was no stranger to trash talk, but leading up to UFC 100, Bisping seemed determined to get inside Dan Henderson’s head. In the second round, Dan Henderson delivered his “H-Bomb”, (Henderson’s signature right overhand), and put Bisping to sleep. This was arguably the best moment of Henderson’s career. 

#9 Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim 

Edson Barboza’s Victory over Terry Etim at UFC 142 had made history, becoming the first ever knockout by way of spinning heel kick. Barboza was climbing the ranks of the lightweight division, and this knockout solidified him as a top contender. The kick seemed to come out of nowhere, and ended Etim’s night rather quickly. 

#8 Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo 

Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo were the interim Featherweight Champions in 2015. The two best fighters in the UFC. UFC 194 was marketed as the fight of the decade. A ruthless show of determination, heart, and skill – right? Nope. The entire fight lasted thirteen seconds. Aldo pushes forward, and Conor sits him down. Conor is the new unified featherweight champion of the world and becomes the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC. 

#7 Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort 

UFC 126 gave us one of the best middleweight knockouts of all time. Vitor Belfort, the number one contender, had wanted this fight for a long time, and when he got it, he did his due diligence talking about it. There was a lot of trash talk in the weeks leading up to the fight and Silva certainly returned fire. After toying with the challenger for a while, Silva caught Belfort at the end of the first round, with a picture perfect front kick, ending the fight. This finish solidified him as the best in the UFC at the time. 

#6 Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture 

Lyoto Machida was the main karate fighter in MMA at the time of UFC 129, which helped him score one of the greatest finishes of all time, over a legend like Randy Couture no less. The two heavyweights met in the octagon, both bringing with them tremendous destructive power. It was a relatively close fight, all the way up until the end of the second round when Machida threw a Crane Kick. It lands right on the jaw and Couture goes down. The fight is over.

#5 Francis Ngannou vs. Alistar Overeem 

Until meeting Ngannou in the octagon at UFC 218, Overeem had only lost once in the past three years. Needless to say, Ngannou ended his dominance. Overeem had been turned into a Pez dispenser after he was hit with the “uppercut from hell”. Before these two met, Ngannou was unranked, but after this fight, half of the division had gone down to light heavyweight. Ngannou is here to stay.

#4 “Sugar” Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland 

If “Sugar” Sean O’Malley could be described in one word, it would be electrifying. From spinning kicks, to one punch knockouts, O’Malley does it all. Wineland and O’Malley met at UFC 250 on “Fight Island”, where the UFC has proceeded during the pandemic. After a nine month suspension for failing a USADA drug test, a win over the journeyman, Wineland, would put O’Malley back in the spotlight. He did just that. Late in the first round, O’Malley lands a devastating straight right and Wineland goes to sleep before he even hits the canvas. 

#3 Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey

Before UFC 193, Ronda Rousey was seemingly invincible. She had won twelve straight, with her last eleven coming by way of submission and all in the first round. People started to say, “death, taxes, Rousey by armbar”. Holm, on the other hand, was easily the best striker in the bantamweight division. She was a former women’s boxing world champion and had two decision victories in MMA. The fight was going well for Holm, she was landing hard shots and avoiding the clinch and the ground. The beginning of the end for Rousey came at the start of the second round. Holm stumbled rousey with a clean left hand, and put her away with a thunderous head kick. This fight changed women’s MMA forever. 

#2 Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren

Jorge Masvidal is a natural born fighter, through and through. He was thought to be the answer to Ben Askren, the decorated All-American wrestler. Askren was undefeated with nineteen wins. The entire fight lasted five seconds, with Masvidal charging at Askren right out of the gates at full speed. Askren tried to duck under the flying knee, but miserably failed. The knee landed square in his temple, and Askren was knocked out cold. Masvidal was able to land two more crushing blows on the ground before the fight was stopped. A proper “baptism” by “street jesus”.

#1 Joaquin Buckley vs. Impa Kasanganay 

The best knockout in UFC history came two weeks ago by way of a spectacular jumping spinning heel kick. Buckley’s left body kick was caught by Kasanganay, so Buckley, seemingly with ease, jumped and in mid-air landed a spinning heel kick on the button. Kasanganay goes stiff as a board, and the fight is over. Needless to say Joaquin Buckley was pleased with his performance, and his $50,000 knockout of the night bonus.

by Aeden Alexander

After failed execution in consecutive games, the Dodgers found themselves in a 3-1 hole. However, the team came back to advance to their third World Series in four years.

 Just one week after the Lakers have won their 17th championship, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a historic comeback against the Atlanta Braves, bringing them to their third World Series appearance in the last 4 years. The NLCS left many fans in awe as it was filled with spectacular plays, massive home runs, and games going down to the wire.

The Dodgers faced the Braves in a seven game series in the “MLB Bubble”, where all games were played in Texas to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks. This entire season has been played with zero fans in every stadium and for the first time since last year the MLB allowed fans to enter the Rangers stadium to watch the Braves and Dodgers battle out a tough series.

Los Angeles got off to a slow start in the series, as they were quickly down two games to zero as the Braves pitching was making the Dodgers offense look foolish. Kike Hernandez had a hot start for LA blasting his first homerun of the series to be the Dodgers only run in the first game.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was supposed to be on the bump for game two of the series, but was ruled out due to back spasms and was scheduled to throw the next game. The offense of LA continued to struggle till the end of game two where they rallied in the ninth inning, scoring four runs, and although they came up short, they began showing glimpses of what Dodgers fans saw all year.

LA exploded for eleven runs in Game Three, making headlines for most runs scored in the first inning of a League Title game. From then on they cruised to an easy win but then received a hard blow in the following game as they took a shameful loss ten to two.

Whatever it was that happened after that loss, it surely lit a fire in their soul because from then on the Dodgers played like the 43-17 team we all know they can be and won the next three games. Bellinger and Hernandez both contributed in great fashion by blasting clutch home runs in back-to-back innings. The Dodgers were making history, and individually, Corey Seager was on a tear blasting five homers in the series which broke the record for most home runs ever hit by a single player in a seven game series.

Seager went on to receive the NLCS MVP as he and the Dodgers advanced to the World Series, where they will face the underdog Tampa Bay Rays in another seven game series. This year has evidently been one of the most difficult years our country has had to face and thankfully sports, to an extent, has been able to take our minds off of the things going on around us today. Hopefully the Dodgers, who are on a roll, can end the thirty-two year World Series Title drought and finally bring home the trophy to where it belongs… to the city of Los Angeles.

2020 World Series Schedule, Via SB Nation’s True Blue LA

Game	Date	Time (PT)	Home team	TV
1	Tue, Oct 20	5:09 p.m.	Dodgers	Fox
2	Wed, Oct 21	5:08 p.m.	Dodgers	Fox
3	Fri, Oct 23	5:08 p.m.	Rays	Fox
4	Sat, Oct 24	5:08 p.m.	Rays	Fox
5*	Sun, Oct 25	5:08 p.m.	Rays	Fox
6*	Tue, Oct 27	5:08 p.m.	Dodgers	Fox
7*	Wed, Oct 28	5:09 p.m.	Dodgers	Fox

*if necessary, All games at Globe Life Field

by: Pedro Ochoa

The Titans began the Saga and now the Panthers fall victim – is there a bubble coming?

• 

This NFL season has really been the most exhausting season in history. Every morning brings fresh news of positive COVID-19 tests, amended protocols, schedule delays, and questions that bring even more questions. This pandemic, and all of the positive tests is not an easy task for the NFL to overcome. As of now, the NFL season is not on the brink of collapse–yet. The league has been discussing possible scenarios on how they can prevent a bigger outbreak, but as of now, the best they are doing is shutting down facilities when someone is feeling ill or has symptomes of the virus, which is not as efficient.

The past few weeks in the NFL has been very unusual, which is something usual for 2020. We are not only living history in 2020, but now living history when following the NFL. Every morning there is something new around the league that causes worry among NFL fanatics. 

COVID-19 not only changed the normality of everyone’s life, but also changed sports in ways that no one was able to imagine. The NBA had to put their season in a hiatus and had to finish their season in a bubble, while the MLB endured outbreaks once the season began, and now the outbreak in the NFL. 

The NFL was the last of the bunch to start their season. They were able to see what each league was doing and see what was working and what wasn’t. Even though the NFL was the only league to start on schedule and were able to see what works and what doesn’t regarding COVID-19, they are starting to have issues around the league that is worrying for the NFL and the players. 

The league started off on the right foot, going two weeks with no issues regarding COVID-19. Week three came along and there was a team outbreak within the Tennessee Titans that resulted in the postponement of the first game of the season which was against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was an easy fix as the league gave the Titans and the Steelers a Week 4 bye, and brought the Ravens bye week from week 8 to week 7. 

Not even a week later, Cam Newton, from the Patriots, was tested positive for COVID-19, which caused him to be placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. The Patriots went on to play week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs. This was not a good idea as a couple of days later, there was an outbreak within the Patriots, which caused the league to postpone the Patriots week 5 game against the Denver Broncos. These two games have been the only games that have been postponed so far. 

The Titans however, decided to break protocols during the 10 days that their facility was closed. Several Titans went on to practice in private, which led to them possibly forfeiting their game in week 5 against the Buffalo Bills for not following directions. This game went on to be played on Tuesday October 13. This wasn’t a fun game to watch, as many players were taking the safe approach after not practicing for over a week. 

After this, the NFL decided to make more rules regarding COVID-19, from longer on-boarding processes for free-agent tryouts, banning of gatherings outside of the facilities, and implementing a league-wide video monitoring system to ensure compliance. The NFL teams are required to shut down facilities if there is a positive test around them, if someone has any sort of COVID-19  symptoms, and other scenarios where the the issue can turn into an outbreak. 

There have been many closed down facilities around the league for the past couple of weeks, including the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and most recently the Carolina Panthers as they just got shut down earlier today. Shutdowns may unfortunately continue as the league tries to help stop the spread of the virus around the league.  

The NFL has known about this virus, as they have seen every league see what they did to help prevent an outbreak. An outbreak in the NFL will cause problems around the league that shouldn’t be there. There have been talks around the league on doing individual bubbles, or one huge bubble, but the realistically on this is very slim, as the players will be there for way too long without their family, or if having a huge bubble for the NFL is totally different when compared to the NBA’s bubble. The NFL will have to have more than 3000 people, while the NBA had around 800 to start. 

The importance of these protocols are to minimize the possibility of having another outbreak around the league. There have been countless scenarios where team facilities are closing down causing the teams to have less practice time which causes a disadvantage to teams in certain areas. As NFL fans, we should just hope for the best. We need to always remember that it’s the health of players that comes first, so if a hiatus to the season is what they need, then we have to be okay with it. I mean, it’s not like we have a say on what happens.