Winner Stays

Learn about the life of the world’s greatest soccer player p. 16

Find out how baseball helped one player through his struggle with cancer p. 36

See the best player at each position of the World Cups of the 21st Century p. 14

Table of Contents3

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Letter from the editorAn inspiring letter from our sensible, yet sassy, Editor-in-Chief, Nathan Moore.

ContributorsSome pages devoted to getting to know the members who have somewhat worked diligently for a semester to creating this magazine.

The 21st Century World Cup Dream TeamIan McIntosh has compiled his dream team of a World Cup XI in the 21st Century, which features players like Zinedine Zidane and Roberto Carlos.The Man Who Revolutionized SoccerHe’s the top scorer for Brazil. He’s scored a record 1281 goals in 1363 games. He was voted Athlete of the Century by the IOC. This is the life of Pelé.

What Cleats Are Best for You?A flowchart that details which cleats a player should choose based on their playing style.

The Life of Ben CrawleyA profile feature on the soccer coach for the River City Rangers who has inspired many young soccer players throughout the Texas area to play the best they can.

Top Major League Sports RecoveriesA list of some of the most miraculous sports recoveries in Major League sports to date. From torn muscles to over 100 stitches, these athletes have beat the odds.

The Team that “Defied All Odds”A profile of the LBJ Cross Country Team, who proved the doubters wrong and won the district championship.

The Evolution of the Running ShoesA timeline of how and why running shoes have changed overtime and how those changes have affected the sport of running.

Can’t Take the HitThis story is about the relevance of injuries in sports, and what happens to players when they are injured.

Crushing CancerAn inspiring story of how one baseball team is helping one of their players fight against cancer.

Suspensions in BaseballA timeline of some of the biggest suspensions in baseball history, including the one and only Alex Rodriguez.

Photo courtesy of Camilo Moreno2

The Making of Our Magazineby Nathan Moore Dear reader,

Thank you for choosing to read the first issue of the Winner Stays. This magazine was the product of a long, hard journey throughout the course of four months. There were good days and bad days, but all in all, it was fun. The enjoyment I felt at getting to work with a group of people with similar interests to me, and getting to write about that shared interest, was unparalleled. Everyone had a great idea for what to write, and they executed to perfection. I wrote about my baseball teammate’s struggle with cancer, and Ian wrote about his soccer coach’s career. True had a relation to someone who worked for Pele, and he managed to get an interview, and he wrote about Pele. Andrew wrote about the LBJ Cross Country team. Here is the first struggle. Elan was going to write about UT Basketball, but he could not get any interviews, so he had to get a new idea. Eventually, he decided on the effects of injuries in sports, and wrote about that. Next, once the features were finalized, we had to design the layouts. But, again, there were issues. As we found out the hard way, just because you want a design to work, it might not. None of our features were long enough to fit our designs. So, we had to fix it. We blew up photos and font sizes, indented paragraphs, really did anything we could think of. Andrew had to make a completely new design. Once we survived that, it was the ASFs. There were not really any problems here, other than having to learn how to use Illustrator. Finally, the finishing touches. And the ads. Especially the ads. It took forever to get permission to get to make them in the first place, much less making them. The rest of the magazine was easy. All in all, this was maybe my favorite project that I have ever worked on. I hope you enjoy reading this magazine, even if you do not enjoy sports. I feel as if there are themes within this magazine that everyone can connect with, no matter what their interests are. Maybe you will even be inspired to play sports. Enjoy!Sincerely,

“This was maybe my favorite project that I have ever worked on... I feel as if there are themes in this magazine that everyone can connect with, no matter what their interests are.” Nathan Moore, Editor In Chief

3

Nathan Moore

Photo by Elan McMinn

4

ContributorsAndrew Chow has loved sports for many years. He is a runner, and has been playing the sport for years. He was a runner on the LBJ Cross Country Team. In addition to running, he has played a variety of sports, including soccer, baseball, and basketball. He also enjoys watching sports. He hopes to continue playing sports for many years, including running at a major college.

When True Pham is not inspiring people with his witty banter, one can easily spot him breaking ankles on the soccer field his 5 star skills. True Pham is a proud member of Lonestar Soccer Club, who has had a prolific 10 year campaign with the Reds. But True is not solely confined to soccer, as he can be found taking long walks on the beach thinking about some more witty banter to roast Ian and Nathan.

Nathan Moore has been playing baseball since he was four years old, and select baseball since he was ten. He is currently on the varsity baseball team for LBJ High School. This summer, he will be playing for Tier 1. He enjoys running as well, and ran cross country for the school this fall. He was on varsity for a few meets, and hopes to move up fully next year. He hopes to attend Stanford University, and play baseball in college and professionally.

Elan McMinn could have been seen on the soccer pitch from the infant age of 4. Dominating the rec leagues of the North Austin Soccer Allegiance with about 6 undefeated seasons, McMinn is still playing soccer on the River City Rangers Soccer Club along with Ian. As to not be uncultured, McMinn also played Basketball. Tearing through the ranks of the YMCA leagues along with the Tajikistan recruited super-star, Gus Albach.

Ian McIntosh has been playing baseball since he was three years old and soccer since he was four. He currently plays goalkeeper for River City Rangers Soccer Club and will be playing in State Cup this spring. He played soccer for the LBJ soccer team in the winter and hopes to move up to varsity next year. He also plays second base for the LBJ Baseball team and bats leadoff. He hopes to go to a good college and play professional soccer overseas.

5

GIVE ME STRENGTH

TO GO FURTHER TO SCORE THE GOAL TO WIN THE GAME

6

GIVE ME STRENGTHW

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7

Evolution of theRunning shoes have changed a lot throughout the years. Modern day running shoes have evolved for specific distances and terrains, with differences ranging from size to price, but you may be surprised how they became the way they are. Run around the track to find out.

1920:The light, leather sole shoe was created. Weighing only 10 ounces, it was by far the lightest shoe on the market.

Start

1948:Spikes were added to shoes allowing for better traction on any surface. They had been used in soccer and football, but were never used in running until this time.

1960:The first mass produced running shoe; the New Balance Trackster, was made. It would forever change the way shoes were bought and sold.

Finish

8

Running Shoeby Andrew Chow

1977:The first mass produced shoe with modern cushioning and support; the Brooks Vantage, was made. It’s release marked the start of the production of softer shoes.

1986:The Adidas Micropacer was the first shoe that attempted to incorporate electronics into footwear. The shoe determines how many steps a runner takes.

Today:Shoes are made with modern technology, allowing cool and lightweight comfort. Electronics have been put in some shoes which can count steps and pacing.

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The Life Of Ben Crawley

by Ian McIntoshWhen you walk around the Baymont Inn and Suites in College Station, Texas, you see

ordinary people eating breakfast, and getting ready to enjoy the rest of their weekend. It’s around 9 a.m. and one of them in particular, Ben Crawley, is ready for another long day of work at the soccer field. Crawley is the Director of Coaching for the River City Rangers Soccer Club, a club based in Austin. It’s championship Sunday at the Aggieland Classic and he is getting ready to lead his teams to victory.As a child, Crawley grew up in Oregon, before mov-ing to Texas. At the age of 15, Crawley was selected to join the United States youth national soccer team. He had played all over the world by the time he got his driver’s license. After college, he played profes-sionally in Germany for a year, before coming back and playing in the United States. He was one of the players who started Major League Soccer, which is now the biggest league in the US. After playing pro-fessionally, he landed in coaching. He now is with the River City Rangers and also coaches a semi-pro team called the Austin Aztex.Growing up in Oregon, Crawley says he was thrown in every sport by his parents. Soccer, however, he says was really the one that was different from the others.“Soccer was the one that I stuck with the longest and was the most fun to me and kept me running the most,” Crawley says. “Then, I moved to Texas and it really became the main focus.”

As his childhood continued in Texas, soccer be-came Crawley’s primary focus and playing soccer for a living became more and more of a real possibility. When he was only 15, he got noticed on a national level for the first time through olympic development. He made his way through the ranks and eventually became a member of the Under 16 (U16) United States National Soccer Team. From there, he got to play soccer and travel the world.“It was the first time I ever got to travel the world and see how other people grew up and different cultures,” Crawley said. “[So it was cool] not only from the soccer but from the cul-tural side as well.”Crawley had an opportunity to play profession-ally in Europe from there, but he chose to stay behind and play soccer collegiately at the Uni-versity of Virginia. It was there that he first met Bruce Arena who was his college coach and would be his coach with DC United as well. There Crawley enjoyed the college experience side as well the soccer part.“Well college is the best years of your life” Crawley said. “Some of my best friends in my

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Rangers LogoPhoto by Ian McIntosh

The Life Of Ben Crawley

by Ian McIntosh

life came from that

time, and some of the best times of my life came from that time.” After college, his profes-sional career took off. He moved to Germany to play for the soccer team TuS Celle FC. “That was very different. Living in a different culture with different languages and not really speak-ing the language,” Crawley says. This was a pe-

riod of growth for him from both a personal side as

well a professional side. He learned a lot not only from the soccer side of it, but also from the cultural side of it. “Soccer wise, I would say I learned more of the physical side of the game, and how important that was,” Crawley says. “Cultur-ally, I would say I learned that we have it pretty good here in the United States and we’re pretty lucky to live here.” So when he was offered the chance to play in the states to play in the new United States league, Major League Soccer. However, instead of starting in 1995 like it was supposed to, the

MLS didn’t start until

1996. So, for a year Crawley decided to play for the Richmond Kickers in Virginia. “I came back and I had a friend who was running the team, he was the general manager, and he didn’t really have a team yet,” Crawley says. “But he called me up and said can you get me a team, so I called up all my college bud-dies and we moved to Richmond and continued another year of college.”The next year was the inaugural season of the

MLS. Crawley was drafted by his college coach Arena to play for DC United along with 11 other players from the University of Virginia.“It was really nice to put the team together,” Crawley says. “Some [players were] playing overseas, some [were] playing indoor.”That DC team turned out to be very successful. Despite los-ing their first four games of that

season, that team won the MLS Cup and the US Open Cup. “I knew we were going to be good, but it took a little while,” Crawley says. “It was a testament to the will of the guys and the coach-ing staff to stick with it.” That team he says also forever changed soccer in the United States by introducing a new philosophy to soccer.

College is the best years of your life.”

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“

“That’s the first year that a United States team went to a flat back four,” Crawley says. “We changed our system from a three [de-fenders five [midfielders] two [attack-ers] to a four-four-two.” After DC, Craw-ley says his career took an interesting turn when he met his fu-ture wife who was attending grad school in Houston. So instead of going to another MLS team, Crawley decided to pursue a career in coaching soccer. “I got an offer from the Austin team who was a third division team to come back and they would pay me,” Crawley says. The Aztex team left for Orlando, but another team soon formed in Austin, and Crawley agreed to be an assistant coach. As someone who’s been in the MLS, he says he is able to share a lot of advice and stories. “They were looking for a little bit more and sometimes they just liked the stories of what it was like to play with different people that they idolized growing up.” Crawley says. As someone who had been where they wanted to go, Crawley really had a connection with these players. “Ben is an attacking coach and likes soccer to be played the right way, so it was a joy to play under him,” Drew Yates, a former Aztex player, says.

Crawley is also the Director of Coaching for the River City Rang-ers youth soccer club. Yates also coaches with Crawley with the U14 and U15 boys soccer teams. “It was great with Ben,” Yates says. “ I think we worked well together, even though it was only a short period where we were coaching.” Crawley also appears to be well liked by his

players as well, which helps him along the way. “He brings a sense of credibility and a knowledge of the professional game,” Camilo Auyero, a player on the U15 boys team said.

“He’s given me a lot of advice over the years about my playing style and how to work well with the rest of the team.” The U15 team is one of the teams Crawley will be coaching this year in the finals of the Aggieland

Classic. As someone who has accomplished the dream of most of these players, Crawley is able to give these kids a lot of advice. “You have to have the love of the game and you’ve gotta enjoy it,” Crawley says. “You gotta put your time in and play as much as you can.” While over the years soccer has taken Crawley many places, he has now settled down in Austin with his wife and three kids. His old-est son, Landon, is on the U13 boys team with

Sometimes they just liked the stories.”

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Crawley coaching with RangersPhoto courtesy of JoAnne McIntosh

“

His players with the Rangers seem to respect him as well. “He is a very nice and understanding per-son,” Auyero says. Crawley says that respect for him and “the beautiful game” is what’s really important. He hopes that maybe one of the kids he is coaching will grow up to have the career he had. •

the Rangers and now Crawley can help coach his own son’s team. Crawley also appears not only to have earned a lot of respect as a player and coach, but as a person as well. “I think that he definitely cares for the kids that he’s coaching,” Yates says. “Seeing him inter-act with his son, I think he definitely holds his kids and his players accountable to perform.”

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Crawley after a game with RangersPhoto Courtesy of JoAnne McIntosh

Goalkeeper-Oliver Kahn- Kahn was named to the dream team of the 2002 World Cup after leading Germany to the final. This performance earned him the Golden Ball for the tournament which is

awarded to the best player. To this day he is the only goalkeeper to win that award.

Left Back- Roberto Carlos- Carlos was named to the 2002 team after winning the tour-nament with Brazil that year. He is known for his incredible

banana free kick in which he bent the free kick a couple yards outside the goal before curling it in.

Center Back- Carlos Puyol- Puyol was named to the 2010 team after winning it all that year

with Spain. He scored the only goal in the semifinal against Ger-many and held Holland scoreless.

Center Back- Fabio Cannavaro- Considered to be one of the best defenders of all time,

Cannavaro captained Italy to victory at the 2006 world cup in Germany. He was nicknamed the “wall of Berlin” after his

great performance in the final in Berlin.

Right Back- Philipp Lahm- Lahm was named to the 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cup

Dream Teams. He is the only player in the 21st Century to be named to three straight teams. In 2014 he captained Germany

to their first world cup victory since 1990.

In the 21st century there have been 4 world cups. Each world

cup has had its own dream team. The real question is, which players from which

dream teams are the best? This will show who the best player at each position has been for all the world cups of the 21st

Century.

21st Century World Cup Dream Team

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Center Mid- Zinedine Zidane- Zidane was named to the 2002 team after leading France

to an appearance in the finals. He won the Golden Ball for that world cup which is awarded to the tournament’s best

player.

Center Mid- Michael Ballack- Ballack was named to the 2002 and 2006 Dream Teams. He scored against the United States and South Korea to

lead Germany to the final in 2002. He captained the team to a 3rd place finish at the 2006 world cup.

Right Wing- Thomas Mueller- Mueller was named to the 2014 after winning the title with Germany. He won the Golden boot for the most goals scored at the 2010 world cup. At the 2014 world

cup he became the third player to score 5 goals in 2 consecutive world cups.

Left Wing- David Villa- Villa was named to the 2010 team after taking home the

title with Spain. He had 5 of Spain’s 8 goals in that world cup which was tied for most along with Thomas Mueller.

He also had 3 at the 2006 world cup and 1 at the 2014 world cup. Striker- Ronaldo-

Ronaldo was named to the 2006 team after leading Brazil to victory in the final. He had 8 goals in that world cup which was the most in the tournament.

He has 15 goals at the world cup which is the second most all time.

Striker- Miroslav Klose- Klose was named to the 2002 and 2006 teams

after scoring 5 goals in each world cup. He is the only player to have scored in all 4 world cups this century. In the 2014 world cup he scored his 16th career world cup goal in Germany’s 7-1 win over Brazil to pass Ronaldo for most goals all time in

world cup history.

21st Century World Cup Dream TeamBy Ian McIntosh

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Pelé is Brazil’s all time leading goal scorer with 77 goals in 91 official appearances for the Brazil National Team. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

The Man Who Revolutionized SoccerWhen his father was crying after a devastating loss, he made a promise that he wouldn’t forget. by True Pham

Pelé’s real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was named after Thomas Edison. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

He has won three World Cups, 10 league titles, two Copa Libertadores. Scored over 1,000 goals, and was voted as the best soccer player of all time on multiple occasions. This is the career of Pelé.

Edson Arantos do Nascimento was born on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is the son of former professional player Dondinho, who is famed for scoring five headers in one match. Dondinho and his wife named Pelé Edson after the American inventor Thomas Edison. Pelé received his nickname in school after he continually mispronounced the name of his favorite player at the time, Vasco de Gama goalkeeper Bilé.As Pelé and his family were born in Brazil, they passionately supported the Brazilian national team. As a result, Pelé’s family were crushed during the famous loss in the 1950 World Cup Final. Brazil was the host nation in the 1950 World Cup, and faced Uruguay in the final. “When Brazil lost the 1950 World Cup to Uruguay in the Final, at the Maracana

Stadium in Rio, I saw my father cry,” says Pelé. “And I remember saying to him back then, to please stop crying, and that I would win a World Cup for him one day. I was nine years old when I made that promise to him.” Pelé wanted to fulfill his promise, and he started his road to World Cup glory by making his senior debut for Santos FC. Pelé joined Santos at 15 years

old and made his senior debut on September 7, 1956 against Corinthians. His team would win 7-1 with Pelé scoring his first of many goals in his career. “I was very nervous for first season,” says Pelé. “It was my very first time leaving home! I missed my family, I missed my mother’s food, I missed my friends. But I worked hard

and practiced hard, and it wasn’t long before I got called up to the first team.”Pelé would earn a starting position in the first team for Santos, and in 1957 season would go and become the league’s top scorer at just 16 years old. After 10 months of professional soccer, Pelé received his first national team

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According to the Guiness World Records, Pelé holds the record for the most goals scored in the history of soccer with 1281 goals in 1363 ap-pearances. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

call-up for the Brazil team. His first international match was a 2-1 defeat on July 7, 1957 to rivals Argentina. Pelé scored his first of 77 goals for the Brazilian national team in this match and became the youngest player to score in an international match. After this game, Pelé would go on to play in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.“It was unbelievable,” says Pelé. “It was a dream. I was so excited to represent my country in the 1958 World Cup. The Brazilian National Team brings together the best players from teams all over the country, so the level of training is a lot higher. And the feeling is more intense because the World Cup only comes around every 4 years.”Pelé’s first World Cup game came against the USSR in the third game of the group stages. He was the youngest player at the tournament, and contributed an assist in his first match. His first ever World Cup goal came

against Wales in the quarter-finals, and later scored a hat-trick against France in the semifinals. Pelé’s performance pushed Brazil to the World Cup final against host nation Sweden. He became the youngest player to feature in a World Cup final at the age of 17 years and 249 days. Brazil would go on to win 5-2 with Pelé scor-ing two goals, including a goal that would be voted as the goal of the tournament. Once the match ended, Pelé passed out and col-lapsed onto the ground, requiring medical assistance. He recovered and started weeping after the vic-tory. “My family means the world to me, and my father was my hero and the person that got me into football,” says Pelé. “So winning that World Cup was very emo-tional for me, it still is!” In the following World Cup cam-paign in 1962, many soccer critics and journalists claimed that this World Cup would be dominated by Pelé as he was renowned as

the best player in the world. In the first match of the group stages, Pelé scored and assisted against Mexico to win 2-0. Following this match, Brazil was pitted against Czechoslovakia and Pelé injured himself while attempting a long shot that would see him injured for the remainder of the tournament. Brazil however won the tournament despite losing one of their best players.“It was very challenging to be injured during that World Cup,” says Pelé. It was acceptable that Pelé was injured because Brazil had another superstar within their rosters in the form of Garrincha. Pelé says Garrincha was his best friend on the national team, and that when Brazil fielded both Garrincha and Pelé at the same time, Brazil never lost a single game. Pelé would be called back to the national team in 1966 for the World Cup in England.

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Pelé made his senior debut for Santos FC at 15 years old and would go on to become Santos’ top goal scorer in a prolific 19-year spell with the Brazilian club. Photo by Wikimedia Commons.

This World Cup campaign was the least successful in Pelé’s World Cup career, with Brazil being eliminated from the first round of the tournament. Pelé scored a free kick against Bulgaria in the first match, but was subsequently injured by the Bulgarian defense. He missed the following match against Hungary and Brazil ended up losing the game. Pelé was still injured by the time Brazil’s third match against Portugal took place, but coach Vicente Feola fielded Pelé despite his serious injuries. During the match, Pelé was brutally fouled by Portuguese defender João Morais and was forced stay on the pitch limping as

substitutions were not allowed at the time. England would go on to win the first and only World Cup captained by Bobby Moore, who Pelé said was the hardest defender he’s ever played against.The next World Cup in 1970 would eventually be Pelé’s last ever World Cup. Pelé finished the tournament with his record third World Cup win and a Golden Ball award for being the best player in the tournament. He still holds the record for being Brazil’s top scorer with 77 goals in 91 appearances and was declared by the Brazilian government as “a national treasure”.“Brazil is a beautiful country,” says Pelé. “It is my country. It is a country that I have promoted whenever I travel all over the world. It is a great honor and a

big responsibility to set an example for the youth and the next generation of footballers,” was Pelé’s response to being asked about his opinion about being declared “a national treasure”. Pelé would continue playing at the club level, featuring in four more seasons with Santos after the 1970 World Cup. Pelé stayed with his boyhood club Santos for 19 trophy-laden seasons, refusing offers from European clubs such as Real Madrid or Juventus. He retired from Santos in 1974 and would spend two years out from professional soccer. He decided to come out of retirement and signed for an NASL team, the New York Cosmos, which had previously signed other soccer stars past their prime, such as German defender Franz Beckenbauer.“When I finished playing with Santos FC, I felt that my next great opportunity was to come play in America, for the New York Cosmos,” says Pelé. “Soccer was starting to grow in that country, and I felt that I could make great impact there for the youth and the fans. I had offers all the time to go play in Europe, but America won my heart.”Pelé finally ended his professional playing career on October 1, 1977 with an exhibition match against his former club Santos FC. He played the first match for the Cosmos and the second half for Santos. The game eventually finished 2-1 for the Cosmos with several celebrities coming to watch Pelé’s final match such as Bobby Moore and Muhammad Ali. After Pelé’s playing career was over, he continued to be heavily involved with the globe,

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acting as an ambassador for soccer on behalf of various sponsors, charities and partners. Pelé is still involved in soccer years after his playing career because he says he loves the game. “It is a sport for everyone, no matter your size, your height, your religion or your ethnicity,” says Pelé. “Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, and it is the biggest family in the world. It brings people together.” An example of Pelé and the sport

“There are some very good players over the years, it is hard to name them all. Of course, today, I think Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar and some of the top players.”

of soccer bringing people together is in 1967 when Santos were touring internationally. Two groups involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a cease fire in order for them to watch an exhibition match.Pelé’s effect on soccer players globally is evident in Ian McIntosh. McIntosh is a student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy and has played soccer for 12 years. “[Pelé] has motivated me to be the best that I can possibly be as a soccer player,” says McIntosh. “He’s one of the greatest players of all time who mesmerized millions of fans worldwide with his spectacular play and ability.”

Pelé wants Brazil to regain their form of the past and forget about their disappointing 2014 World Cup campaign where they were humiliated 7-1 by eventual winners Ger-many. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

Pelé also keeps up with the current events in world soccer. He had some comments about some of the players now.“There are some very good players over the years, it is hard to name them all,” says Pelé. “Of course, today, I think Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar and some of the top players.”As a Brazilian, he wasn’t satisfied with Brazil’s performance in the previous World Cup in 2014.“They need experience playing together as a team, and to learn from the mistakes of the 2014 World Cup, and to come back stronger for the 2018 World Cup,” says Pelé. In the interview, Pelé also had some advice for the growing youth in the sport of soccer.“I encourage young people to work hard, respect others, pay attention to positive role models, continue to get your education and also make good decisions for your health – such as eat well, maintain good fitness and get proper training,” says Pelé.It is impossible to deny how great of an impact Pelé has had on the game of soccer. He has been re-peatedly been named as the athlete of the century by various organiza-tions. Many players have claimed that he is the greatest player ever such as Bobby Moore and Johann Cruyff. He has inspired countless children to play the sport of soc-cer and has been an ambassador for soccer and peace around the world. •

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Which Cleats Are Best For You?

Good soccer players know that the key to maximizing one’s success on the soccer pitch is a good pair of high quality soccer cleats. They are able to optimize one’s speed, agility, touch, and comfort while playing the beautiful game. This flowchart will tell which cleats are best for you.

Playmaker

What is your playing style?

Straight up speed

Goalkeeper

Below $50

I go all out. $300.

Puma evoPower. Not many

options for a goalkeeper

Adidas Ace 15.1. People

might respect you.

Maybe.

Disclaimer: Soccer cleats will not make you Messi or Ronaldo, but they can certainly help you play better.

“I play indoor!”

This flowchart does not include information about indoor shoes.

Agility

Are you a striker or a winger?

StrikerNeither bruh. I am a proud defender.

I don’t know why you

chose agility. I shame you to the Nike

Magista Obra Tech Craft 2 FG.

I am a winger

The new Ace 16+ Purecontrol cleats that have no laces. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

by True Pham

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Adidas x 15.1 FG. Decent

Budget?

Do you care about your touch and control?

Nah fam Yes

Adidas or Nike?

Adidas Laces or

nah?Yes

Nah

Ace 16+ Purecontrol

FG

Nike Mercurial

Superfly IV FG

Nike

Do you have any class? Yes

Ace 16.1 FGNike Tiempo

6 FG

NoHigh or low

top?

High Low

Nike Magista Obra FG

Nike Magista Opus FG

Are you a Real Madrid fan? Yes

NoNike Mercurial

Vapor X FG. Quality.

YesDo you light,

barefoot cleats?

No

Yes you doNike Hypervenom

Phatal FG.

Bruh, I need money for Fifa.

$150

Nike Hypervenom Phantom II FG. You won’t play like Neymar, but at least you have the same cleats.

Splash the cash. $300.

21

The Team that “Defied all Odds”

by Andrew Chow

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The Team that “Defied all Odds”

Find out how this team won it all, even when challenges stood in their way.

On a cool, dark morning at 6 a.m., many people would

be sleeping. However, in a grass filled park where the air is humid and muggy, something is different. A loud, jolting voice booms over the peace and quiet. “On your marks,” the voice yells. “Get set...GO!” Immediately there is a scramble of hundreds of runners to get to the front of the pack. Someone falls, someone trips, but no worries. This is just another LBJ cross country meet. The Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) High School Cross Country Team is from

Austin, Texas. In the 2015 season they were coached

by first-year coach Randy Trejo. Along

with assistant coach, Shannon Bergeron,

they were able to coach a group of

runners into a team that

23

Klieman sprints towards the finish line. Photo by Matt

Klieman.

would win the District 26-5A Men’s Varsity Cross Country Championship. Cross country is a sport, very similar to track, where runners compete against each other and are ordered by place. Each runner is on a team and their individual place determines how well their teams do. However, unlike track it is run on natural terrain, which could include hills, rocks and grass. One of the runners on the winning team is Cameron Kleiman. He is a freshman at Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), and

a very experienced runner. Running is one of his favorite

activities and he enjoys it a lot, he says. Kleiman also believes running is a also big part of people’s lives on the team. He believes running is a lifestyle. Coach Bergeron agrees. “Running is my therapy and is what keeps me sane from the

craziness that is my life,” she says. “I always feel better after I go for a run.” Running alone is hard enough, but running as a team is a lot different, Bergeron says. Coaching is

same way; it is unique, she says. One thing that made this season unique was that the team faced many challenges at the beginning of the season. “...Many of the runners had little to no experience running so that made practices challenging. I could see that the team had a lot of potential at the beginning of the season, it was just whether or not we could execute and be successful as a result,” Trejo says. Commitment is needed in order for the team to be good and successful, Trejo says. “This year I wanted to show the runners the importance of hard work and dedication,” he says. One commitment the runners had to make was going to daily practices at 6 a.m. and having to do workouts at home. The commitment, Kleiman says, was tough and made school more difficult. “...You had to wake up two hours earlier to go to practices and then get home and do another hour of exercises,” he says. In addition to practices, the runners participated in cross country meets every week. There were always many schools and runners at every meet.

Runners at the starting line start sprinting. Photo by Cathy Cox.

“Even when facing

challenges we still

came out on top.”

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“I liked meets...it’s competition,” Kleiman says. After many long weeksof practicing and racing at the meets, the end of the season had come. The only thing left was the district championship meet. For many runners this would be their last meet for the season, or perhaps for the rest of their lives. The coaches wanted to make the most of this opportunity. “Leading up to the district meet I was a little nervous,” Trejo says. “Since it was my first district meet, I didn’t know what to expect.” During the races the energy was more palpable,

Bergeron says. The team was in good spirits, and when the team won, everyone was excited, she says. Coach Trejo was “jumping with joy.” “The moment when I found out that the team won, I felt a very indescribable feeling, one that I will cherish forever. I was so overwhelmed, but winning the district championships was one of the greatest

moments I have ever had as a coach,” Trejo says. The coaches said they were very proud of the team’s district win. It was considered a huge success and they believed the win would help drive future teams to achieve even greater, better things. “I was pleased at the massive progress that the team made to continuously push themselves this year,” Bergeron says. The winning season has many future implications, and people will look back at the team and admire our hard work and success, Kleiman says. He wants future runners to understand what this winning season means for the program. “This year was a landmark year for LBJ Cross

Country,” he says. “We had tons of people, we had lots of freshman, the program is growing, and I think people are starting to think that LBJ Cross Country is becoming a greater and better program. I am looking

forward to improving next year and all the years to come.” •

“This year was a

landmark year for

LBJ Cross Country.”

Varsity team celebrates a seccessful season. Photo by Cathy Cox.

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Top Major League Sports

RecoveriesThe Most Miraculous Injury Recoveries in Sports HistoryTom Brady

Tom Brady was drafted in the 2000 NFL Draft as the 199 pick to the New England Patriots. After 6 full seasons play time, Brady tore both his ACL and MCL in the first game of the 2008 season. This season ending injury left fans upset about a bad season, but a year later Brady returned. That year Brady threw for 4,298 yards, 28 touchdowns and won the 2009 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

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By Elan McMinn

5

1Kirk Gibson

Kirk Gibson suffered from two injured legs and a stomach virus in the 1988 World Series between the Los Angles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics. He was not expected to play in the game, but with his team tied in the ninth ininng, he stepped up to the plate and hit a walk-off homerun to win the game. His team, inspired by his preformance, went on to win the series in five games

Drew BreesAt the end of the 2005 NFL season, Drew Brees was diving on a loose ball when he was landed on, giving him a torn labum and a partially torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. During the off-season, Brees recovered, and led his team to win the Superbowl. Not only that, but for his efforts, he was given Offesnsive Player of the Year.

Lance Armstrong

Blood on the

Ice

Clint Malarchuk was a goalie for the Buffalo Sabres hockey team in 1989. He was playing against the Saint Louis Blues when a stray skate cut his neck spilling blood everywhere. With the help of a fast acting trainer, Malarchuk survived with 300 stitches, and played again in 11 days.

Lance Armstrong will go down in history for how he cheated in his races, but even if you look at that, the biking scenes is filled with just as many drug users, that some argue he had to cheat. Despite all of this, he first beat testicular cancer, and went on to win the Tour de France seven times, a record number.

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4

3

2

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Can’t Take the Hit?

What happens to the athlete who you see getting carried off

the field? Maybe he gets better, maybe he doesn’t, but the fact is, injury is a part of sports. We try to help reduce these injuries, but some say it isn’t enough. First, we need to describe what exactly a “sports injury” is; according to the National Insti-tute of Arthritis and Musculo-skeletal and Skin Diseases it is an injury that occurs while playing a sport or exercising. The most common injuries include sprains,

What will happen to athletes when injury gets the best of them?by Elan McMinn

knee injuries, swollen muscles, and achilles tendon injuries. Not surprisingly, the amount of injuries is high. Out of 30 million children and teens, more than 3.5 million recieve sports injuries each year, according to a study at John Hopkins Medicine. How ever rare it is in sports for death to be a factor, the leading cause is brain injury. A freshman at the Lib-eral Arts and Science Academy (LASA) recently had an injury, and said that it really affected him day to day. From it being

hard to walk to not being able to play sports, he concluded that in-juries sucked. He says that injury is far from rare when it comes to sports, and people need to ac-knowledge this and work towards prevention. “It is hard to put it any other way besides that injuries suck,” said Andy Degrasse, the freshman. “I felt so... weak with the injury.” Degrasse suffered from a stress fracture in his foot which limited him from playing sports. While injured, Degrasse’s

Photo by: Dan Forbes

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doctor said he was not cleared to play for at about a month, so he would just have to carry on without doing what he loved, playing sports. It is hard to admit that you can’t do something, especially when you love doing it. Degrasse found it tough as most would, but was able to survive that month. “My injury was definitely an emotional blow,” says Degrasse. “I had just started to get more playing time on the basketball team, and I was worried that this would affect my chances on the team.” Injuries can be taxing on not only the body, but the mind. When someone gets injured they feel out of place and lost. The thing about getting injured says Degrasse is that you lose confidence and feel left out of your normal life. “[Injuries] are taxing on the mind,” says Sue Torres, an Athletic Trainer at Lyndon B. Johnson High School. “[Athletes] don’t like being out of their sport, so it is tough.” Often, sports are a big part of athletes lives, so when they are injured they feel a hole in their lives. Not only because they have lots of time that they usually reserve for sports, but because they seem to lose part of their identity, says Torres.

“[Athletes] have associ-ated themselves with that sport, like ‘I’m a football player,’ but you’re not a football player anymore,” says Torres. “Now they are like ‘I don’t know who I am anymore.’” Most of their lives, athletes associate them-

selves with a certain group of people and everything that goes with that group. Degrasse was part of a basketball team that he felt engrained in, but after the injury, he said it was as if he was slowly getting dis-tanced from the team. Once this happened, Degrasse said that he slowly felt that he lost a part of who he was during the injury. Torres explained the most com-mon reactions to injury by citing the Swiss Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler Ross (died in 2004). Torres says that they experience what Ross described as the stages of death. There is denial, bargaining, anger, depres-sion, and acceptance.

“[Injuries] are taxing on the

mind.”

Photo by WIkimedia

Photo by WIkimediaA physical therapy patient being treated

A physical therapy room

Degrasse after his recovery Photo by Elan McMinnDegrasse during his injury Photo by Elan McMinn

An important part of Tor-res’s job is to help the injured recover, but she says that one of the most important things in order for this to happen, is trust. If the athlete doesn’t trust her, there isn’t much she can do. She says that they should be showing up early for rehab, and ready to do what I say because otherwise they aren’t going to get better. “It is really difficult because [I] have taken away one of the biggest focuses in their life,” says Torres.

“First they go through denial, then through bargaining, and once they find out bargain-ing doesn’t work, then they get really pissed off,” says Torres. “They then go into depression once the anger subsides. You don’t want a kid here because they probably won’t show up to treatment if they are depressed. Finally, they get to acceptance, and that is where we want them. They accept it and take action towards getting stronger.”

Torres after years of experi-ence says that people need to stop injury before it happens, so she thought of some ideas that could help. Since ankle and knee injuries in some form are the most com-mon for Torres sees, she thinks putting tighter regulations, and safeguards are necessary, but also her own ideas. “Athletes need to eat really well, stay fully hydrated, be as strong as they can be,” says Torres. “It doesn’t matter if you are a swimmer or a tennis player, you can benefit from being stronger in any sport.”

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Something that many don’t realize is how frequent injuries are. Ac-cording to a study at John Hopkins, about 4 in 30 athletes are injured a year. This led many to try to take action protecting their athletes, and Breazeale was not left out from these people.

“I was part of a push to create safer practice environments for contact sports because to have people in-jured by their own team before they

Another opinion on this topic is Dr. Nathan Breazeale, a certified orthopedic surgeon. He says that prevention is the best treatment in terms of injury because if something isn’t hurt it is going to be stronger than if it was injured. “Rules and Regula-tions have helped reduce inju-ries, but they can only do so much,” says Breazeale. “We need to make sure athletes can keep doing what they love by protecting them.” This could mean creat-ing less contact heavy envi-ronments when possible, but Breazeale says that injury is a part of sports, and sometimes it is inevitable, like if you think about a risk you are willing to take, injuries are in that risk.

even play is just unnecessary, says Breazeale. “Injury in real games is closer to unavoidable. You might have seen it in the National Foot-ball League as of recently in their off-season practices, where they can only have a limited amount of padded practice.”

Injury is often unavoidable in contact sports, so even after all of these regulations and rules are added to prevent them, inju-ry will still be relevant. People will try and try to stop injury, but if everyone wants to keep playing sports in way that still resembles the sport, injury is part of the game.“Injury is like the sickness you

can’t get rid of, and no matter how much you hate it, injury is still there,” says Degrasse. •

An illegal chop block tackle in football Photo by Icon Sports Wire31

“Injury is like the sick-ness you can’t get rid of, and no matter how much you hate, is still there.”

MOMENTUM BASEBALL“Preparing players for success, on and off the field.”

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MOMENTUM BASEBALL“Preparing players for success, on and off the field.”

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1865Thomas Devyr, William Wansley, and Ed Duffy of the New York Mutuals were banned for accepting money from a gambler to throw a game. Devyr was reinstated quickly, and the other two were reinstated in 1870.

1882Richard Higham was banned. To this day he is still the only umpire ever to be banned. The owner of the Detroit team and the mayor became suspi-cious of his calls, and discovered a letter from him to a well known gambler. He was banned.

2007The Mitchell Report, by former US Senator George Mitchell, outlines the ineffectiveness of Major League Baseball’s steroid policy, alleging that 89 different players used PEDs. This report has kept players out of the Hall of Fame, like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, and Gary Sheffield. Also, Neifi Perez was suspended twice in the same season.

2013In the Biogenesis scandal, 14 players were suspended for their involvement with a Florida clinic supplying them steroids, including former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP Ryan Braun (65 games), All-Stars Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta (50 games each), and, last but not least, the one and only Alex Rodriguez (210, reduced to 162).

SuspensionsA history of some of the most

important suspensions in baseball history.

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1919The infamous Black Sox Scandal occurs. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, and Buck Weaver, were permanently banned for throwing the World Series for underworld leader Arnold Rothstein. They were found innocent in court, but commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned them anyway. This scandal was the subject of the 1988 movie Eight Men Out starring Charlie Sheen.

1989Pete Rose was banned for gambling on baseball. The all-time hits leader, he has made four denied bids for reinstatement, and remains out of the Hall of Fame.

2016The first steroid related lifetime ban occurs. Jenrry Mejia of the Mets was banned after his third positive PED test.

In BaseballThe Suspender Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis is responsible for more lifetime bans than any other commissioner.

by Nathan Moore

35

Crushingby Nathan Moore

The story of how one 15-year-old boy is beating cancer with the help of his baseball team.

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Cancer Cancer. At one point in your life, you probably have known somebody who

has had cancer, or who currently has cancer. In the spring of 2015, Josh Dow, one of the players on the 13-and-under team for a South Austin select baseball organization, the Texas Braves, was diagnosed with cancer.Camilo Moreno, one of the players on the baseball team in question organized a couple of fundraisers for Dow. Over two fundraisers, he says they raised upwards of $6,000 for Josh Dow. Moreno says they made about half of the money selling tamales, baked goods, drinks and pies. The pies were donated by a shop called Tiny Pies. At the fundraiser, there was a head shaving station, supportive t-shirts and awareness wristbands, Moreno says, but that was not all of the money. The rest of it came through donations. “[Cancer] kind of does something to everyone, and I think people saw it and they saw what was going on, and they wanted to help,” Moreno says about why the fundraiser was so successful. “So they donated money, they went to the fundraiser, they told people about it.” Moreno says that the whole team showed up to help at the fundraiser, and that the whole team felt something needed to be done. “It affected the team because he was our teammate, he was one of us,” Moreno says. “Our whole team is extremely close together. If that happens to one of us, it affects all of us a lot. Each of us did something to help, we supported them a lot. It took a toll on us.”In addition to the whole team, a news crew from KXAN came out to the fundraiser, Moreno says.

Team Effort The whole team showed up to help Josh at the fundraiser. Photo by Camilo Moreno

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He says he did not think they were going to interview anyone, and just film. He was in for a surprise.“When they told me they wanted to interview me, I was extremely nervous,” Moreno says. “I thought, this cannot be happening. There is no way that this can happen that this can be on the news.” Moreno was first nervous about getting interviewed, but then got happier when he realized the news crew helped to get the word out to people. He says what he experienced the next day was incredible. “The next day I went back to school, and there were a couple of people who said, my parents saw you on the news,” Moreno says. “They saw you on the news. I heard about how you had a fundraiser. They told me that their parents might want to help and donate money to him.”When Moreno heard this coming from other people, it brought a new kind of joy to his face, he says. He says even his principal saw him on the news.

Alex Dugas is the coach of the Texas Braves team in question. He was the one that notified the team about Dow’s cancer diagnosis, and helped the team through the whole process, as well as the family.Dugas says that the day that Dow was diagnosed with cancer, Dow was at practice. Dugas says an assistant coach noticed that Dow

was grabbing at his neck, and told him to take a look at it. He says he asked Dow if he was alright, and Dow said yes, so he let him keep hitting. Dow took a couple more swings and was grabbing at it again, Dugas says. He says he

told Dow to take a break. After practice, he says, he told Dow’s parents. He says Dow’s parents took Dow to the hospital, and he was diagnosed that night.“When I found out, I did not want this to be something quiet that we never talked about,” Dugas says about his decision to inform the team of Dow’s diagnosis. “I

wanted to spread the word, open it up, and just talk about it. I felt [they] were mature enough to handle it. I didn’t want [them] to hear it from anyone else.”Dugas says he also decided to put a patch on the sleeve of the team’s jerseys the past two seasons. He says it was a reminder to them of their own mortality, but also something for Dow. “It was about supporting him as a group and as a team and also something that was a symbol for us as a team to play for him,” he says.Dugas says there were also a few players on the team who did not know Dow very well that still supported him just as much as the others. “[They] had already been there and knew that we were [a] team first, me second, so that was a part of it, but [they] also felt the emotions of the guys who had really known Josh better than [them] and had played with him,” he says.He says those that had played with Dow showed some leadership, but it was really the fact that the other players responded to them being ready to go in any way.

“I went back to school, and there were a couple of people who said, my parents saw you on the news. They told me that their parents might want to help and donate money.”

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The Fundraiser From far left: Dow shaving one of the team members’ head, A parent volunteer selling baked goods, the (almost) whole team with their shaved heads, and a parent volunteer selling baked goods. Photos by Camilo Moreno

“[They] were ready to go because that’s your team, that’s your teammate,” he says. “So whether [they] know him on a personal level or not, he is a part of the team, and that’s that. I think it is combination of [them] being good people, and being mature kids, but also that [their] teammates were all in from the start, and so [they] didn’t really have a choice.”Dow is now 15 years old. He has gone through two rounds of chemotherapy, along with radiation treatment. To add to his treatment list, he is currently undergoing a bone marrow transplant and stem cell resuscitation (transplant) in Houston.Dugas says that the Braves organization, along with the jersey patches and fundraisers, also had tournaments to support Dow. Dow says that these things the Braves did made him feel like he was a part of the team.“Baseball has helped me through this struggle by knowing that I’m not completely alone,” Dow says

about how baseball has helped him fight cancer. “Also the never give up mentality…. The real important one was what I always tell the doctors and nurses. I’m strong. I am an athlete. They agreed with me.”Dow says cancer is the “worst blow imaginable”. He says he will

fight, and never give up, but that cancer is not fun.“Having cancer absolutely sucks,” Dow says. “There [are] no other words for it! It’s pain, it’s heartache, it’s nausea, it’s fevers of 105, its

rushing to the hospital at 2 am, it’s non stop vomiting for weeks, it’s losing your hair and your identity, it’s losing the ability to be a father, it’s staying away from friends and family for long periods of time, it’s giving up sports and friendships and it’s always…. Hoping someone finds a cure.” •

If you would like to support Josh in his fight against cancer, go to:https://www.gofundme.com/helpjoshdow

Still Fighting Dow is still undergoing treatment in Houston. Photo by Tina Dow

“It is a combination of [them] being good

people, and being mature kids, but also that [their] teammates

were all in from the start.”

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