Just a Game

Much can be said about small-town spirit, and even more can be said about small-town pride.   These two things were key components in bringing some seriously needed talent to Parowan, UT. Carter Miller, former offensive coordinator for the Canyon View High School Falcons football team, has recently been hired to be the head coach and Physical Education teacher at Parowan High School.   The unspoken dilemma surrounding the new coach was not what offense to run, who to have help, who should play quarterback or anything related to any decision that he, himself, needed to make.   The biggest decision that was going to be made was where his two sons, Porter and Hutch, were going to attend school. Porter Miller was a running back and linebacker for the Falcons last year. He ended the season in 2 nd place for total tackles in all of Utah High School Football, and led 3AA in tackles by a large margin, and was a key ingredient to the Falcons’ success in the upcoming season. Hutch Mil

Walking into Parowan High School's gym, you will see what seems to be about a million different lines in all sorts of widths and colors. There are a couple lines that I became very  well acquainted with during my time playing under the reign of Coach Lance Stubbs -- a firm believer in the fact that physical conditioning breeds mental toughness, as well as physical stamina.  At the end of each practice, the whole team would see a small glimmer in his eye and the whistle slowly raise to his lips as the time for sprints was upon us.  With a voice that needed no added effort to resonate through the nearly-empty gym, he piped the word, "baseline".  A few suppressed sighs later, the entire team was line up on the baseline, ready to hear what Coach Stubbs had in mind.  He would either say "sprint" or "ladder".  With one of the team managers on the clock to make sure every teammate was finished in the allotted time, away we went on the blow of the whistle.  Re

While playing for a public-school team may be relatively easy, since all that is needed is to attend the school and try out for the team; playing for a club team is a little different.  First of all, it is generally more expensive.  The travel fees, tournament fees, food, coaching staff and refereeing is all payed for by those who belong to the club and/or sponsors. The costs of these organizations are seen as an investment since the college coaches are  coaching  during the regular high school season and are much more likely to be able to watch a player in action during the off-season, or club-ball season. One of the most popular institutions in the “club ball” world is the Amateur Athletic Union. There is a lot of debate when it comes to AAU sports between professional athletes and coaches.   Former NBA star, Kobe Bryant, who is an open critic of AAU sports, said, “I hate it because it doesn't teach our players how to play the right way.  It's just a showcase.” Many othe

Without a doubt, some of the most popular names in baseball have been tossed around in some form of steroid debate.  Major League Baseball is famous for athletes using performance-enhancing drugs to boost their numbers and effectiveness on the field.  But the question circling in the minds of many is: Should these players should be allowed into the Hall of Fame? There is a quote that goes something like this: "Take any baseball player and put him in any other sport and they will compete. Take any other athlete and throw him a 95 MPH fastball and they won't touch it." The point being that hitting a flying ball of string at 95 MPH is nearly impossible.  Do it day after day, year after year, with injury, with a crowd watching, with a chance of it hitting you in the face --  That is outright amazing! Whether or not these guys broke these records using steroids, they still broke the records against the best players in the world.  I still think it is amazing. The debate sti

The question that seems to be injected into every single sports debate following the 2017 NBA Finals is whether or not the “super-team” trend is hurting or helping the NBA.  From what used to be a funny trick to play on your friends while playing video games has become a reality in that there are teams who are STACKED with talent . This year, Kevin Durant and Andre Igoudala joined Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymon Greene and the rest of the Golden State Warriors with the result of an NBA Title.  A few years back, Lebron James left Cleveland to join Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen on the Miami Heat.  That team also won a pair of titles. More and more often there are superstars joining superstars, going “title-chasing”, and that is where it hits the fan.  Is this good? Is this bad?  What if a team doesn’t have money to afford to pay these players, should they just pack up and go home?  Is this just a fad? Or is this going to be the new norm? There are a few things that I

High school can be some of the best, and some of the worst times in a person’s life.   Sometimes it is both!   But one thing that ought to come to everybody’s mind when they hear about high school is opportunity .   All too often there are people who miss this, who overlook it, who take it for granted and who mistake it for a burden.   Not often enough, however, is this great stage of opportunity capitalized upon, and turned into a spring-board to catapult one into something bigger and better than themselves.   That is exactly what Southern Utah University Volleyball player, Rylee Rogers, has done for herself. When asked what motivated her to go from being a high school athlete to a college athlete, she claimed that it was the motivation and inspiration given by her mother.   “She always taught me to be a team player.   She taught me to make sure that the team looks good before you make yourself look good.   I feel like that might be lost these days, especially when you are tryi