Mirador

Two Way StreetSports Editors Grant Huhn and Nick Eliason talk nicknames, facial hair, and superstitions“Twice the editor, half the emotion”

Nicknames round 2:

Nick: 1. Joe “The Show” Mauer - He’s arguably the best player in baseball and he’s on the cover of the video game.2. Cole “Hairpin” Hamels - This guy seemed to work more on his looks than his game last season.3. Dustin “Timone” Pedroia - He’s small like a meercat .

Grant: 1. “Slip” - a young and slender person…. Stephen Curry anyone? He looks like the youngest athlete in sports. After posting 42 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in his final game of the season, Steph deserves some nickname love from the NBA… and the Rookie of the Year award.2. Jason “Beaker” Bay - If anyone recalls the Muppets, there is a character named Beaker who has a long skinny head and looks really awkward, closely resembling J-Bay. 3. O.J. “Butter” Mayo - No description necessary.

Best non baseball player baseball team:

Nick: P BJ Penn- If you can throw a punch, you can throw a ball.C Iker Casillas- Real Madrid’s goalkeeper is one of the best ball stoppers out there.1B Dirk Nowitzki- He’s tall and coordinated.2B Stephen Curry- He seems to do everything right.3B S.R. Tendulkar- As one of the elite cricket batsmen in the world, he could probably transfer that skill to

16 Sports 4/23/10

Mats Stroke to Successby Lauren Dahlberg-Seeth

With a current 7-4 record, the Miramonte men’s lacrosse team is geared up for an exciting season finish. With only eight games left in the season, their goal of winning the DFAL league championship seems attainable.

Although the Mats have an decent record, they still have a lot of room to improve. Each practice, Coach Bill Abriel works with the team to develop their fitness, stick skills, defense, and offense.

“The game of lacrosse is made up of many parts that need continual improvement,” said Abriel. “Each week we identify where we need to advance, and focus on that part of the game in practice.”

Captains Sean Curtis ‘10, Jordan Myers ‘10, and Brian Raaka ‘11 help lead the team through these physically demanding practices. With 10 returning

players, six of whom are seniors, this relatively experienced team is confident about the games ahead.

“We’re all pretty confident about winning DFAL this year,” said Raaka.

“Acalanes is our main competition, but we’re usually able to beat them when we need to.”

The Mats will further develop as a team and prepare for upcoming games against rivals such as Las Lomas, Campolindo, and Acalanes. Last year, with a record of 13-8, the Mats performed relatively well against these teams, but did not win league.

“If we win DFAL, we’re automatically placed in the top 4 seeds for NCS,” said Raaka. “So

basically, if we win DFAL, then we’ll have a good shot.”

The Mats have a home game against Alhambra today at 5:00 p.m.

by Austin Controulis

The Miramonte swim team is off to a fast start this year as the men have gone 4-0 with wins against Dougherty Valley, Dublin, Alhambra, and Las Lomas and the women have started 3-1 with a loss to Las Lomas.

“We have started with four solid wins and everyone is swimming pretty well,” said Jon Sibley ‘10. “We like our shot at going undefeated this year.”

The Mats have been able to win with strong swimming from Nick Deaver ‘11, Charlie Wiser ‘13, who is rehabbing from a sprained ankle, and John Holland ‘10 for the men, and Sierra Robbins ‘11, Sam Swinton ‘12, and Brooke Woodward ‘10 for the women.

“Our team is a little younger this year so we aren’t quite as experienced, but at the same time we have a lot of potential, so it will come down to how the younger swimmers do in the end,” said Connor Byrne ‘10.

The men beat Las Lomas with help from Deaver, who broke an eight year-old pool record in the 100 yd. butterfly. The girls got second overall with strong individual swims and a win in the 400 yd. freestyle relay to finish the meet.

The boys placed second in NCS last

year and are hoping to exceed that with hard work and dedication this year.

“All it takes is three good relays and four solid swimmers and we should have enough talent to at least be in contention this year. We need some solid swims from some of our younger swimmers,” said Byrne.

The men are currently tied for first in league with Campolindo and will hope to secure their spot as league champions by defeating Acalanes this afternoon and defending NCS champions Campolindo on April 30, while the girls are currently second in league.

“Whoever wins league will also win NCS, and both should be really close,” said Sibley. “Both teams have a good shot at taking both titles.”

Men’s Lax Dominates

baseball.SS Steve Nash- No look throws to first?LF Larry Fitzgerald- He can catch anything near him.

CF Usain Bolt- He could cover the whole outfield.RF Chris Johnson- The fastest player in the NFL couldn’t hurt.

Grant: P Drew Brees- Enough said. C Evgeni Nabokov- The Sharks goalie would call a good game and stop any wild pitch. 1B Will Jefferson- The tallest

p r o f e s s i o n a l cricketer ever at 6’10’’. 2B Carlos Boozer- The best pick and roll combo in the NBA has to be able to turn a good double play. 3B Rafael Nadal- Good slap-hitter with some speed at the top of the order.SS Deron Williams- (See 2B) LF Kobe Bryant- Need him for the clutch base hit in the bottom of the ninth.CF Monta Ellis- He would run down any ball hit into the

outfield. RF Vernon Davis- Can definitely run down/catch a fly ball and is a strong guy who could potentially bat cleanup.

Best Facial Hair in Sports:

Nick: Dustin Hermanson has a butterfly beard. I noticed this guy’s erratic beard while he spent a year as a Giant. Hermanson’s mostly unimpressive career did have one high point when he closed games for the World Series champion White Sox. But he will be remembered more for one of the best, most elaborate beards in major league history.

Grant: Drew Gooden is known to do some weird things with his hair to attract attention to himself. The bald head with a square patch of hair on his upper neck was weird, but the muttonchops and parted beard look takes the cake. During his stint with the Chicago Bulls, Gooden added some spice to his bald head with muttonchops and a disgusting looking beard. The beard was parted into seven different strands of nasty curling hair.

Craziest Sports Superstitions:

Nick: Urinating on one’s own hands. You may think this is gross, and you couldn’t be more right. But it apparently helps to build calluses, at least according to Moises Alou and Jorge Posada. Both players bat without gloves, and thus the need for toughened hands. I just want to know if they let it sit there for a while or what? Maybe they cup it in their hands? Do they do this in public restrooms? Does it become a natural motion to just stick their hands out when they’re going to the bathroom?

Grant: If there’s ever a soda that I crave, it’s Mountain Dew. So when it comes to

superstitions, I have to give it up to Caron Butler. Butler used to down half of a two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew before every game, then at half-time finish the bottle. I’m not sure how he pulled this off, but it was obviously not conducive to good health, even though he was putting up all-star numbers during his Mountain Dew binge.

Photo: Ron Cortes/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT

Above: Nash’s no look passes would make him an exciting shortstop. Right: Hamels needs to spend more time on his pitching instead of his model pose.

Photo: L. Date ChongAlbert Miao ‘13 sprints the 100 yd. butterfly.

Gabe Gilleran ‘11 charges upfield during the Acalanes game.

Photo: G. Gilleran

Photo: Ron Jenkins/MCT

Photo: R. Jenkins/MCT