The Falcon's Nest 1

       A way to describe Sarah Leppard is she is very outgoing when you get to know her. However, when you are just getting to know her she is a little timid and shy. She is an amazing athlete. As a freshman she started on the Varsity lacrosse team. And her Sophomore year, she started Varsity for field hockey.  She is a very down to earth person and all around a great friend and teammate.        Leppard, a Junior midfielder this season for the Jefferson Township Varsity field hockey team stated, “Last season was an amazing season - we won our conference ending with a record of 8-8-2, winning the biggest accomplishment the Jefferson Township field hockey team has ever had. This was the first time in history we wanted it.’ Leppard added, “I’m really not sure who our biggest rival would be but I would say anyone in our conference because we always wanted to beat them so we can be number one in our conference. Our most in...

Photo by [Mike Gould]      Mike Gould is a Senior at Jefferson Township High School. Gould is the starting running back for the Varsity football team and is determined to bring home a state championship. I interviewed Gould on Friday, October 2nd, about the season opener against West Milford.        Gould got named the starting running back and Captain of the 2020 football season. After being named Captain, Gould said, “The way that I am going to act like a leader is to continue to do what I have been doing, and be a vocal leader for the whole team.” This is the third straight year that Gould has been a Captain - he led the Falcons to the playoffs the previous two years.       Due to Covid-19 the 2020 season has started very differently but the Falcons have a new game plan and are still planning on improving. Gould said, “This year has been a lot different due to Covid but we still did the basics o...

  Image taken by George Muha, Morris Sussex Sports      Weighing in at 205 pounds, Anthony Bacigalupo dominates his competitors as an offensive fullback and a defensive middle linebacker.        Bacigalupo, a Junior at Jefferson Township High School and a player on the Jefferson Falcons Varsity football team, is determined to destroy his opponents this 2020-2021 football season and leave victorious after every matchup. As in Coach Venturio’s words, Bacigalupo shouts before every game, “Win the day!”      To prepare for the highly-anticipated football season, Bacigalupo has trained and stayed fit through Coach Venturio’s workout routine and has watched film from last year every day during summer. “We have been hitting a lot of heavy bags, running sprints everyday, going over plays, all that,” Bacigalupo says.      Based off of last year's games, the hardest team to defeat th...

  A CHANGE IN NORMALITY FOR FALCONS FOOTBALL By:Ralph Currie Photo by (Geoff Magliochetti)  People all across the country have faced great hardships due to Covid-19, one that hit home to many people was the chance that football would not be played nationwide.  Many players did not think it was possible to have a season at one point. Dale Jenkins is a football player for the Jefferson Township Highschool football team. Jenkins said, ‘’To be quite honest Ralph at one point I did not think there would be a chance we had a football season at all.’ Jenkins added, ’’ The Coronavirus affected us all throughout the country and the world, I didn't think there was a good chance at all that we would be able to play on an official level and what I mean by official is organized by the school.’’ The governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy did not allow high risk, heavy contact sports to participate until July 20th.  Jenkins said, ‘’ Every player prepares in a different way. I made sure...

   Is the Ski Industry in the MID Atlantic at Risk?         By Ryan Clarkson             Industries across the world have taken a heavy hit due to the COVID-19 virus, including the ski and snowboard industry. The 2019/2020 season was cut short due to covid, and riders are left wondering what's in store for the winter months. Upcoming snowboarder Colby Clarkson’s progress was put to a halt when resorts shut down in March. Clarkson said, “Toward the end of the season my progress and recognition was really increasing. When covid hit I missed out on important trips as well as valuable training time.” As the season approaches, riders such as Clarkson are left with some unanswered questions.            Although nobody knows exactly what this season holds, there is  a glimpse of covid-related precautions that may be taken. Here in ...

    Image by The Athletic  Holding up the most beloved trophy in the history of professional sports is something that not everyone gets to experience in their lifetime. Having your name engraved along the 5 rings with 2,300 other names, is a substantial accomplishment in itself. That is what it is like to hold the Stanley Cup above your head. Patrick Maroon was able to live his dream twice, as he won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, one of them, playing for his favorite team he grew up watching.  Maroon was born on April 23, 1988 from St. Louis, Missouri. Watching the St. Louis Blues on television was one of his favorite things to do as a young kid.  He started his hockey career at a young age by playing roller hockey. From that moment on, Pat decided that he wanted to pursue a career in ice hockey, and hopefully one day, become a professional hockey player.  By the time that Pat was in highschool, he played on 7 club teams before he got recrui...

  Picture Taken From NBA Twitter When the Los Angeles Lakers put away a threatening and notable Miami Heat team 106-93 in Game Six of the NBA Finals, Finals MVP LeBron James and crew were finally crowned NBA Champions.  The Lakers now have 17 NBA titles total, tying the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.  But this championship, in 2020, the year of Kobe Bryant's death, of COVID-19’s global impact, and from a bubble in Orlando where no one could leave or come in, is much different than any other championship in sports history. For LeBron James, this is his fourth NBA title, along with his fourth NBA Finals MVP,  in 10 finals appearances.  In game six of this year’s finals, James became the league’s all-time leader in playoff games played, at 260 games.  He finished the night with a triple-double at 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Not only were the Lakers the winners in this situation, but the rest of the league were too, with zero c...

  Scnow.com The MLB season is a long and tiresome journey full of hard work, heartbreaks and storybook endings. However, eventually all journey’s come to an end. The 2020 journey was one unlike any other. But at last we have arrived at the final weekend, and the Miami Marlins are one step away from shocking the entire baseball world. Tonight the Miami Marlins take a trip to the city that never sleeps to play one last series against the New York Yankees. For the Yankees the game means nothing as they have already cemented their place in the playoffs. The Marlins sit at 28-28 just one game in front of the Philadelphia Phillies who travel to St. Augustine to play the Tampa Bay Rays. With a Marlins win and a Phillies loss tonight, fish fans will see something that they have not seen in 17 long years. 17 years ago the Marlins beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series and since that sweet October day the Marlins have yet to return to the playoffs. The Marlins will send All Star pit...

  Miamiherald.com  17 years is a long wait; for kids like me it’s a lifetime. It’s been17 years since the Marlins have tasted the sweet nectar of the postseason; 17 years since they held the commissioner's trophy at Yankee Stadium. Some of today’s fans never saw it happen, those who did, relish in their memories.  But now, 17 years later, a miracle in Miami; the Marlins have returned to October.  It would be an understatement to say that the road for the Marlins was hard, because it wasn't, it was near impossible. After 174 roster moves made by manager Don Mattingly, a COVID-19 outbreak at the start of the season, and having to deal with the second best team in the National League, the Atlanta Braves, they remain in the game.  The word miracle in sports is thrown around more than a football on Thanksgiving day, but for the 2020 Miami Marlins, they deserve the title, “Miracle Marlins”. The team has no real star hitter, no real pitching ace and no real shutd...

  Upi.com  One of the most feared flamethrowers and potentially greatest pitcher of all time, Bob Gibson, has passed away at the age of 84 after a fight with cancer. Gibson passed away on the anniversary of his record breaking 1969 World Series game where he struck out 17 batters. This record still stands today.  Gibson first came to the major leagues at the age of 23 in 1959. Gibson played for the St. Louis Cardinals and at the time the Cardinals were known for having one of the worst offenses in the league. Gibson’s career ERA was a 2.91 which means he did not give up a lot of runs. His teammates would joke around with him when they scored. They would say “ok we got you 1 run now don’t blow it for us”( Fastball ). Bob Gibson is probably the most feared pitcher of all time because he wasn't afraid to hit you in the head if you crowded the plate. He hit 102 batters over his career most of them with his fastball that got up to 99.4 mph. In 1968 Bob Gibson had a record ...

  Miamiherald.com All good things must come to an end and for the Marlins their miracle run has come up short. After an unbelievable season that the Marlins should without a doubt be proud of, the Atlanta Braves just proved to be too much. The Marlins came out hot in game 1 scoring four runs off the Braves ace Max Fried but a six run seventh inning would be the nail in the coffin for the fish. The final score of game 1 was 9-5. Those five runs would be the only runs Miami would score for the rest of the series because in the next two games the Braves pitching was absolutely electric. And as any old man watching baseball will tell you 1,000 times, you can’t win if you can’t score. But the scoring was not the only problem. The pitching staff could not handle the Braves high powered offense as in the three games they scored 18 runs. The Atlanta Braves will advance to face the Dodgers in the NLCS. Even though the Marlins season is over fans can keep their heads held high looking ...

  Cbssports.com Five games, six home runs Giancarlo Stanton is mashing in the playoffs. Giancarlo Stanton came up one game short of the record for most postseason games in a row with a home run. His streak ended after he hit a jam shot double off the wall. One inch to the right and the ball would have gone 500 feet, but that's baseball.  Stanton has been carrying the Yankees offense in the playoffs. The Yankees who are a home run or strikeout team have been doing more striking out than hitting. The Yankees were eliminated on Friday by the Tampa Bay Rays in a game where they managed to score just one run. Stanton did all he could as in the playoffs he hit .387 with 6 home runs and 13 RBI’s. The numbers are unreal but unfortunately he was the only one who seemed to show up.  The Yankees are in big trouble for the future if they don’t figure something out. They are not a real baseball team, they are a home run team. If the Yankees don’t get players who can consistently...

    Theathletic.com  Not a single soul connected to baseball can argue that Don Mattingly is the 2020 manager of the year. All due respect to the other managers who led their teams to great records and deep playoff runs like Dave Roberts of the Dodgers and Jayce Tingler of the Padres but neither of them could do what Mattingly did. The 2020 Miami Marlins were destined for their 11th straight losing season especially after a COVID outbreak, 174 roster moves, injuries, a difficult schedule and overall just a subpar team. Some people will call it luck or a one year wonder but those are just angry fans who saw their teams get beat this year. Mattingly led his team of young undeveloped players to the playoffs by simply letting them play baseball. He let his speedsters steal bases not worried if they were going to be thrown out. He changed his pitchers about as frequently as he could so his arms wouldn't get tired when the Fish had to play 28 games in 24 days. Mattingly’s a...

Latimes.com  After countless years of heartbreak, Dodgers fans rejoice as they watch their team be crowned as the 2020 World Series Champions. Since 2013 the question for the Dodgers was not if they were going to make the playoffs. That was always a guarantee. The question became are they going to choke again this year?  Since 2013 the Dodgers postseason results have become almost comical to see how great of a team they have just to become so truly terrible at the end.  2013-NLCS loss to Cardinals 2014-NLDS loss to Cardinals 2015-NLDS loss to Mets 2016-NLCS loss to Cubs 2017-World Series loss to Astros 2018-World Series loss to Red Sox 2019-NLDS loss to Nationals  The Dodgers have been waiting for a chance to hold the commissioner's trophy since they last did it 1988. Arguably the Dodgers have been the best team of the 2010’s having been so dominant for all these years. With that being said they didn’t have anything to show for it until now.  The Los Ang...

  A LITTLE LAX & RELAX By: Alec Guzman      The new changes in the Jefferson Township High School Boys Lacrosse team became painfully obvious as I sat down with defenseman Zach Tice who gave insight of what the future lacrosse season will bestow.      “It’s going to hurt younger players joining the lacrosse team,” Tice explained as there would most likely be reduced capacity and shorter practices coming into the new season.      There has not been a team conjunction or activity since mid June when the Jefferson Lacrosse team participated in a small tournament.      It won't always look grim as practices begin in March and games will start the following month in April. However, the team still needs to get ready now in the off-season and one of the many ways of doing that is setting up little games or tournaments as Coach Reid intends to do.      “Coach Reid told us about a possible upcoming tournament,” T...