Becca | College student | Sports Journalism Major | Oakland A's | Golden State Warriors | San Jose Sharks | SF 49ers | SDSU Aztecs |
My hope for this blog is to write articles about my favorite topics and to share my opinions. I named it after the two things (which both happen to start with 'H') that describe what my life revolves around; sports (Home Runs) and Niall (Horan).
Last night, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher, Adam Wainwright struggled in his outing against the Kansas City Royals. Although he was not on his A game, he did channel a bit of his inner Randy Johnson. Most baseball fans can recall the infamous Randy Johnson pitch from 2001 Spring Training that hit a bird on its way to the plate. It was a one in a million instance that is very rare in the MLB.
One of Wainwright's 102 pitches almost had the same encounter with a bird as Johnson's. Yet, in this instance, the bird flew by just in time to miss the ball coming its way. Luckily for the Kansas City bird, its feathers stayed intact, unlike the bird who was hit by Johnson.
It only makes sense that Johnson, as a Diamondback actually hit the bird; because if Wainwright, a Red Bird would have? That would have been barbaric.
Although the San Jose Sharks did not win the Stanley Cup this season, there is still definitely a lot to celebrate about their historic 2015-2016. Throughout their 46-30 regular season record and their fantastic playoff run, they showed just how good the underdog can be. Although this team was not on the top of many people's Stanley Cup Final predictions at the beginning of the season, this group of guys showed that making it as far as they did was no fluke. Offseason changes, like naming Peter DeBoer as their new head coach, acquiring Joel Ward as well as goalie Martin Jones, and naming Joe Pavelski team captain were huge keys to this year's success. They defeated their rival Los Angeles Kings, the Nashville Predators, and the St. Louis Blues to make it to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. What better way to celebrate "25 Years of Teal" than to make it to the final round of the NHL Playoffs for the very first time. In the end, the Sharks lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. The Sharks fought hard, but did not get the result they were looking for. Even though a Stanley Cup Championship would have been amazing for us Sharks fans who have waited years for this, there is still a lot to be proud of. Looking at the bright side is so important in this type of situation. The team will learn from this experience and will now know what to look forward to in the future. When you look back on how well the Sharks truly played this postseason, you can't help but be proud.
To celebrate the San Jose Sharks' historic season, the Oakland A's invited five of their players to throw out the first pitch before yesterday's game against the Anaheim Angels. Logan Couture, Martin Jones, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon, and Barclay Goodrow stood near the Coliseum mound in their white home A's jerseys and A's hats and threw to A's players; Sean Doolittle, John Axford, and Liam Hendriks. It was great to see my favorite Sharks player; Logan Couture in A's gear, not Blue Jays gear for a change. It was also great to be able to show the Sharks players that although they did not win the title, they have made the Bay Area incredibly proud. I was also very pleased that Martin Jones was one of the players asked to throw out the first pitch. His incredible 44 saves in Game 5, to avoid elimination, was one of the most stellar performances by a Shark this season. I love when my teams come together to support each other & I am very thankful that the A's showed their love by giving a few members of the Sharks this opportunity. Here's to next season, Sharks.
Last Sunday, One Direction bandmates, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson took part in Soccer Aid 2016. Soccer Aid is a charity soccer game held at Old Trafford in England every two years to benefit UNICEF. Louis was a part of "Team England", while Niall (being Irish) was a part of "Team Rest of the World." Other notable celebrities/athletes that took part in this special day were: Olly Murs, Matthew Morrison, Robbie Williams, Marvin Humes, Michael Sheen, Jack Whitehall, Cafu, and Ronaldinho. Jose Mourinho and Big Sam managed "Team England", while Claudio Ranieri and Niall managed "Team Rest of the World." Even soccer legend, Pele showed up for the festivities as the guest of honor.
The teams spent the whole week prior to the event practicing for the big match. They were given the full professional footballer experience through trainings with professional soccer managers, team bonding sessions, trash talking with their opponents, suit fittings for the bus ride and pregame, and to top it all off; a kit with their last name and number waiting for them at their locker at Old Trafford.
Niall was subbed into the game with about 20 minutes left of play time; Louis was shortly put in after that. Even though they were trash talking to each other due to being on opposite teams, they stayed close to each other on the pitch, one second being competitive and the next laughing and hugging like they usually do. This was a breath of fresh air for us One Direction fans who are missing interaction between the boys on their current break.
In the end, Team England won the match by a score of 3-2. Competitive Louis was all smiles drinking his bottle of champagne and holding his team's trophy. We all know he won't be letting Niall live this loss down for a long time, though the real winner of this event was UNICEF. Soccer Aid this year, raised an amazing €5.4 million.
I am so proud of both Niall and Louis for being such amazing people, using what they have been given to benefit others. They could have spent that week and night out partying like most celebrities their age, yet they choose to dedicate it to raising money for UNICEF. Not only did they get to live out their boyhood dreams of being football players, they also saved lives while doing so.
This past weekend, One Direction singer, Niall Horan, teamed up
with golfer, Justin Rose, for the "Horan & Rose" charity gala. The event was held at The Grove in England; with the intent to raise awareness and funds for the Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens. The gala included dinner by Jamie Oliver, a bar with specialty drinks like the "Horan Shamrock Spritz" and the "Justin Rose-ini", a display of some of Niall's many awards from throughout the years, several raffles, and performances by Olly Murs. Niall and Justin even joined Olly on stage and sang the One Direction hit, "Perfect". The following morning, a charity Pro-Am was held to wrap up the Horan & Rose event. When it was all said and done, the Horan & Rose charity gala dinner and Pro-Am raised €800,000 which is $909,280 in American dollars.
On top of that amazing amount of money raised, Niall did a Represent tee shirt/hoodie campaign to raise money for Irish Autism Action and the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation. The shirts and hoodies included a design with a silhouette of Niall doing his signature "Horan Jump" with his guitar, as well as a shamrock and rose to represent the "Horan & Rose"campaign. You could choose either black or white- $25 for a shirt, $39.99 for a hoodie. Niall also announced on his instagram page that 50 of the shirts would be signed by him personally. The Represent campaign ended last night and the final total was mind blowing as well: $538,934. He raised over half a million dollars by selling t-shirts.... T-SHIRTS. Crazy.
I am personally so proud of both Niall and Justin for using their positions in the music and sports worlds to help those who are less fortunate. I also truly hope that the Horan & Rose gala becomes an annual event, because it seems to have been a Hole in One.
