Just a Game

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

Have you ever bought what looked like a big box of candy (my preference would be something like Milk Duds or Skittles) and walked out of the store with your mouth watering only to find that this “big” box just holds a little tiny bag of that favorite candy you just paid for?   Disappointment, frustration, anger, even a loss of appetite. This is how I feel when I clear an evening to watch the NBA All-Star Game. There are a few things that are fundamentally wrong with this game and the advertisement that is surrounding it.   There is something even more wrong with the people who pay so much to go and worship a group of athletes who half-try in a competition against the “best in the world”.   But, if you were one of the players in this game, and there was next to nothing to gain for winning, and everything to lose if you get hurt, who could blame you for not playing hard and putting on a good display of effort and skill.   And how many players have fallen off the wagon completely a

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- After scoring a monster 86 points in the first half on Friday, June 9th, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to defeat the Golden State Warriors in game 4 of the NBA Finals by a final score of 137-116. The Cav's point guard Kyrie Irving put up a walloping 40 points as he and LeBron James led the way to victory.  An important note to make is that the Cavs had three of the top five leading scorers in this game four matchup with Kyrie, LeBron and Kevin Love all scoring more than 20 points and combining for 94 points altogether. The usually handle-savvy Warriors turned the ball over 12 times and recorded only 5 steals while giving up 11 offensive rebounds.  When basketball is considered a game of possessions, it is hard to overlook these statistics and not attribute them to a key factor in this loss for the Warriors. A major statistic that may boggle some minds is that the Cavaliers recorded 24 three-pointers, while the Warriors recorded only 11.  Normally those

At the beginning of each summer there is a youth baseball tournament held in Beaver, Utah.  To my knowledge, it started not more than 5 years ago, and so I was never able to play in this tournament when I was of age!  Nevertheless, I was able to live vicariously through my little brother, Max Topham. Teams from Southern Utah and Eastern Nevada were competing in the 2017 tournament, which ended on Saturday, June 10th. The Moapa Valley Pirates were able to take the 14 and under championship, leaving my hometown Parowan Rams with nothing but a sunburn and a 2-2 record.  Despite the losses, I still was filled with the sweet feeling of when I used to play in baseball tournaments.   There are a few things that I deem necessary when playing or attending these events, and the most important one to me is a bag of sunflower seeds.  I am not sure what started this tradition among the players and fans of baseball, but I am grateful for the innovation!  There is something that is utterly

Because this blog will be mostly coming from a fantastical basis, and the prompt was not contrived by myself, I will take the liberty of making the most of this day dream (or dream day) by changing some things about the athletic department here at Southern Utah University. If you have read any of my earlier posts, it would be clear that I grew up playing baseball.  In fact, it is my favorite sport.  My grandfather and I would show up nice and early on the crisp Saturday mornings at SUU's baseball field in Cedar City, Utah.  Watching both teams go through their warm-up routine was exhilarating and filled my whole body with a desire to one day play on that very same field, wearing that very same black and red Thunderbirds jersey. Sipping a Pepsi and eating sunflower seeds, we would sit behind the guy with the radar gun who was keeping track of how fast each pitch was coming in.  Every time that radar gun registered a pitch that was over 90 mph I would turn and grin and m

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Parowan High School Rams defeat Snow Canyon High School Warriors in Utah Summer Games Boys Basketball, 56-54.  Though the final score was close and the game threatened to go into overtime, the Warriors had to battled back from an early 15-0 deficit. Riding on the upperclassmen leadership of Porter Miller and Porter Wood, the Rams hung onto their lead with the support of a slew of underclassmen.  The Junior and Senior, Wood and Miller, combined for a total of 32 of the teams 56 points.  While the Warriors received more help from a larger variety of their players, with Ryan Choate collecting 17 of the total 54 points, they were not able to top off their comeback. Porter Miller, the Rams senior forward, made mention of how the Warriors efforts increased as the game proceeded, "We came out really hot and played great defense, but towards the end of the first half, their offense really started to click." The Warriors leading scorer, Ryan Choate, also ment

One thing that I have always loved about sports is the great life lessons that can be learned while engaging myself in them.  It is my personal opinion that this is the reason why people should take sports seriously.  Not for the winning itself, but for the mental and emotional resilience gained through battling against adversity in the sporting environment.  Setting sports aside, there are many ways to come to know how to deal with lives predicaments and still “keep your head in the game”. Tim Tebow is one who seems to have this game of life figured out.  He has managed to not only keep his family tradition of spirituality alive in his own life, but has made it one of his most conspicuous characteristics in the mosaic of his personality.  From motivational and key note speaking, to writing books, to traveling around the world performing service projects in third world countries— Tim Tebow undoubtedly has his eyes set on the big picture. Tim Tebow uses sports to support hi