The NBA playoffs are here and things are getting intense. Sixteen teams are vying for a chance to win the championship and be crowned the best team in the NBA.

NHS students root for their teams, but unfortunately some of their teams do not make the playoffs. Kwazee Rice (’12), stated, “My favorite team is the New York Knicks because I grew up watching them and love how they play.” Unfortunately for Kwazee, the Knicks did not make it to the playoffs. This just shows how tough it is for a team to not make it in the playoffs.

The eight teams that made it have made the competition even harder. Derrick Paulk (’10), stated “I feel that the competition is good and my team could beat any team.”During the finals of the NBA playoffs, the team who won the Eastern Conference and the team who won the Western Conference face off to see who will win the championship. Rice explained, “The eastern conference will win because all the teams have defense and that will guide them to victory.”

 On the other hand, Jamal Williams (’13) said, “The Western Conference will win because of players such as Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitski.”

As the finals start to begin on June 4^th 2010, The Boston Celtics who won the Eastern Conference Finals and, The Los Angeles Lakers who won the Western
Conference finals are set to face off. Now, many people start to really tune in and watch their favorite teams play. When asked how often he watches basketball, Williams stated, “I watch basketball as often as I can when I’m not doing homework or chores.”

The NBA playoffs add a whole new meaning to sports. Paulk stated, “The playoffs are interesting, keep you in the game and are exciting to watch.”

Before every football season, there are millions of people around the world getting ready for the Fantasy Football drafts on their computers.

            They are stressing about getting the first pick in the draft and beating their opponent in matches every week.  This has been going on for quite some time, but when did it all start?

            The game originated in 1962 from Bill Wikenbach’s idea, a partner in the Oakland Raiders organization.  The idea emerged during a three week road trip the Raiders took to the East Coast.

This year’s senior class has been filled with a wide variety of athletically talented students. But when it comes to the hardwood, there is one player that sticks out in your mind.

Evan Kelley (10’) has made a name for himself over his past four years in high school. He is a physical specimen standing at 6’4’’ 180 pounds of pure manly man. Not to mention he has a devastating jumper and an unparalleled ability to drive the lane.

Evan was born and raised here in Norwalk and ever since he could remember he has had a basketball in his hand.

“I have been playing since I was five, I wasn’t the best ball handler but I have always been a good shooter,” said Kelley.

Many athletes have displeased some of their fans when they “unretire”. These athletes have been great players such as Brett Favre, Roger Clemens, and Allen Iverson.

Favre, who had a great career with the Green Bay Packers, announced his retirement after the 2007-08 season and even cried during his press conference. However, in August of 2008, he signed a contract to play for the New York Jets. This seriously shocked and angered Packer fans, since Favre was such an important player to them. This also showed how fake his crying was in his press conference. He retired from the Jets in 2009 and then later in the year signed with his current team, the Minnesota Vikings.

The 2008-09 football season was incredibly capped off by an amazing game winning catch by Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes that won Super Bowl XLIII for the Steelers against the Arizona Cardinals. The final score was 27-23 in what was an unbelievable Super Bowl, and, what some may say, the best Super Bowl ever. The victory made it the sixth Super Bowl championship for the Steelers which is the most for any team to win.

After the Super Bowl was the offseason, which for the Steelers meant resigning many of the important players that helped them reach the Super Bowl victory, such as signing wide receiver Hines Ward to a five year contract extension. In the draft, they drafted defensive end Evander “Ziggy” Hood to help bolster a defense that includes James Harrison, James Farrior, Casey Hampton, and LaMarr Woodley.