National Education Association

with a torn Achilles, and single-handedly outscoring the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 20 2005. To commemorate his legacy, the Lakers have gone all out. Giant screens of Kobe will surround the arena, the bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers will play the national anthem, and his former teammates will be in attendance to share in his final moments as a Los Angeles Laker. Courtside tickets have sold for almost $30,000, astronomically more than the $1,000 or $2,000 they usually go for. The LA metro will…

Babe Didrikson Zaharias got the nickname “Babe” from hitting five home runs in a childhood baseball game (Babe...). Babe is a legend in women’s sports, and she paved the way for future generations and future women in sports. Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson was born June 26, 1911, in Port Arthur, Texas (Kelley). Her family moved to Beaumont, Texas, when Mildred was three (Babe…). Her parents immigrated from Norway. Her father, Ole Didrikson, was a ship’s carpenter and cabinet maker. Her mother,…

Detroit Pistons routed the visiting Portland Trail Blazer with a 123-103 victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills to hand the visiting team their third straight loss in a row on Sunday evening. Starting guard Reggie Jackson scored a game-high 30 points and an assists short to finished the game with a double-double to lead the Pistons to their 32nd win in 63 games played this season. "I think we played the way we wanted to play tonight," Jackson, who went 11 for 19 from the field and made a perfect…

Construction of the Concrete Roof of the Assembly Hall The University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign Assembly Hall has been the home of the Illini men’s basketball team for over half a century and has been one of the greatest engineering and architectural feats on campus ever since its creation over half a century ago. Beginning on May 25, 1959, construction of the Assembly Hall was carried out by structural engineers Othmar Ammann and Charles Whitney, general contractor Felmley-Dickerson Co.,…

A time in my life when I attempted to fulfill my dreams was when I wanted to be able to dunk. It all started when I was 12 and in the 6th Grade. I was like 4’11 at the time and wanted to dunk in basketball. I set this goal because dunking had gotten my attention when I was watching basketball and watched the NBA Players attempt insane dunks. My Dunking goal was significant to me since I was shorter than the rest of the students and short people have trouble with dunking. Tall people have an…

“You wanna be able to dunk and grab the rim by the time you are out of highschool right?” Said my Jv coach Ben Perez from Lakeview Schools. There were 6 hoops in our practice gym at Lakeview Elementary. There were 12 kids total on the team so we picked a partner to go a hoop and do the pelican drill for 1 hard minute. Ben said “ready set GO!“ I start going, I was being lazy because I didn't want to do the drill. About 30 seconds into the drill I was getting lazier my Legs were thriving with…

Requiem For The Big East is about a great conference that dominated men’s college basketball for a long time of the past 35 years, held the highest conference tournament at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It’s too satisfying in the long run, continually returning to the final Syracuse/Georgetown conference matchup in the semifinal of the 2013 Big East tournament. Conferences like the Pac-12, the Big Ten, and ACC that have had relatively equal success in football and basketball are still…

Most people want to be remembered as a prom queen, a state champion or a superlative scholar. My classmates will remember me as the girl who was always on crutches. Although it was problematic, it taught me some extremely valuable lessons. I have torn my MCL and ACL in my right knee, and my ACL and meniscus in my left knee. This resulted in four surgeries within three years. I attended my first day of high school on crutches only six days after my first surgery. I was not able to participate in…

The Road Less Traveled The Glory Road, an amazing movie that illustrates the hardships that a biracial team faced to be viewed as equals in the college basketball league. With just the teams skills and a coaches steadfastness in the face of racism, they were able to show that anyone should be allowed to play basketball. Through out the film there is a perfect example of expressive and instrumental leader, as well as an authoritarian leader. In addition, there were many examples as to decisions…

Michael Jordan Michael Jordan wasn’t only an inspiration on the court, he was very courageous and very friendly off the court. Jordan is seen as a hero across the globe.Resources say “He was considered the most recognizable athlete in the world at the time.” MJ is especially an athletic icon to African-Americans and their culture. Many kids, and even adults look up to him for his perseverance and success. In his Sophomore year of high school, he got cut from the team. Michael Jordan didn’t let…