By Omkar Pratapwar

In what has been deemed a freak accident, the cricketer Phil Hughes was severely injured on the pitch during an Australian cricket match. After the bowler bowled the ball, it appeared to bounce high and strike Hughes in the head. Hughes began to limp, and then collapsed on the ground. He was met immediately by training staff and was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. He was pronounced dead Wednesday, November 27th.

Phillip Hughes was a 25 year old Australian cricket player for South Australia, and the Australian National team. He recently lost his place on the team, and was trying to impress his coaches to return to the team.

For those unfamiliar with Cricket, it is very similar to baseball and is very popular in Great Britain, South Asia, the West Indies, and Australia. A bowler, like the pitcher, bowls, or pitches the ball by bouncing it off the ground. Like the catcher’s glove, a bowler tries to aim for the stumps, which are 3 wooden rods placed in the ground, while the batsman tries to hit the ball away. With Phil Hughes, the bounce was high, and was heading for his head. In the video, Hughes tries swinging at the bowl, but he missed and it hit Hughes right on the side of the head.

St. Vincent’s did not  reveal whether or not Hughes was in an induced coma, or not, but we do know that he is currently in critical condition in the I.C.U. Hughes received immediate medical attention from a helicopter that landed on the field, who inserted tubes into his body to allow for airflow, and was then transported to the hospital via ambulance. According to doctors, the ball hit the side of his neck and part of his head, that compressed his vertebral artery, which causes bleeding in the brain. Doctors claim that Phil’s injury was incredibly rare, as only 25 cases of vertebral artery dissection have ever been recorded.

A lot of controversy has been swirling around on the safety of players and the adequateness of equipment. Some argue that this accident was just a freak incident and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Many cricket greats support this side and believe that the equipment and helmets of players today is fine. They are quick to point out that Phil suffered from a very rare incident. However, many current players, and a few people close to Hughes say that this wouldn’t have happened if the helmets were improved. People on this side of the argument are calling for greater amounts of gear, such as neck guards, improved, bulkier helmets and even a softer ball. Proponents of this side have come up with the slogan “Discomfort or Death”. This is a bit exaggerated, but there are some serious dangers.

This incident has been compared by many to the perils that go on in baseball. Batters face the same type of risk in cricket as they do in baseball. There are so many instances of pitchers throwing a ball near the batter to “defend their territory”. Sometimes a batter will get hit intentionally, and other times it is just a case of a simple missed pitch. Either way, injuries such as broken jaws, bruised bones, broken hands, and fractures occur frequently. And sometimes, even severe injuries occur that keep players out for months even entire seasons. It is highly unlikely that any major decisions will be made as a result of this, but Australia’s upcoming match against India was cancelled. Phil has received an outpouring of love from the cricket and general sports community. The #putyourbatsout has been used to remember the young batsman. A lot of famous people have been grieving for Hughes on twitter such as Cricket legends Viv Richards, David Warner, Graeme Swann, and Sachin Tendulkar, soccer stars Gareth Bale, and Tim Cahill, singer Harry Styles, CNN reporter Piers Morgan, and many others.

What lies in store for the future of cricket is uncertain, but Phil Hughes will remain a calling cry for those who are calling for a safer game. I doubt that much will be done about this, and a lot of people will disagree with that plan. But Phil’s story won’t be forgotten and he will be remembered for as long as cricket is played.

By Brian Suk

The second week of the NBA season has just wrapped up, and the season looks promising for several teams, while for others, not so much. Memphis and Golden State were still undefeated at the end of week 2, and surprisingly enough, teams like the Cavs, OKC, and the Spurs are not doing so hot.

Another injury-riddled season starts off with a bang. Many key players, for multiple teams,  are limping off the court, leading to the team’s downfall or a much worse record than one thought they would have. Bradley Beal is out for the Wizards. Chicago never seems to have its key players all healthy for one game let alone its full roster. Indiana has absolutely been massacred by the Paul George injury, leading to a grimacing, pain inducing 1-6 record. San Antonio is growing old, and Manu Ginobili as well as Tim Duncan are not able to play every game. Ricky Rubio has just been ruled out indefinitely for the Timberwolves, and OKC’s record is 1-5 without Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook. The Lakers have also been unsteady with injuries with Jeremy Lin having some back problems as well as Nick Young being out.

There are some teams who are doing bad because of injuries to their key players. Then there are teams who are just surprisingly doing bad. These are teams like Cleveland and Portland. All that hype about Lebron and Kevin Love coming to join Kyrie Irving, and they start 1-3. They just can’t seem to get their rhythm going. They are 21st in points allowed, and 17th in points per game. Not a winning formula. Additionally they are 29th in rebounds. They are taking bad shots, and most of it is just Lebron James yelling and complaining, then making excuses off the court.

Enough with the disappointments, let’s talk about some pleasant surprises. In the East, the Raptors are the surprise number 1 seed having lost only one game so far. The Wizards are close behind and a rising team in the East. Just imagine how good they will be when Bradley Beal comes back. Chicago is off to a pretty nice start at 6-2 as well, but they have not reached their full potential yet, as they are still yet to be completely healthy. Derrick Rose is missing several games again with hurt ankles, which is not reassuring Bulls fans at all. Hopefully, he will be good to go soon. It’s difficult to tell if he will ever be fully healthy again. The Miami Heat are also doing surprisingly well with Chris Bosh leading the way with a nice 24.2 ppg and 11.0 rebounds per game. I recently heard Avery Johnson on ESPN predicting the Cavs and Heat in the East Finals (to which I laughed hysterically to for 30 min.), but still, this team seems better than everyone thought. I thought, they would just be the remnants of a broken team without Lebron, but they are holding their own. Memphis and Golden State are still undefeated for the West. The Grizzlies are showing their classic tough gritty style of play being first in the league for points allowed per game at 86.7. The Warriors are buying into Steve Kerr’s new system of “team first” gameplay and it’s working. The Rockets are a very surprising team to me. They are absolutely cruising so far, which is the exact opposite of what I predicted. James Harden and Trevor Ariza are knocking down shots. The James Harden and Dwight Howard pick and roll is deadly. Something that is mind-blowing to me, so far, is that they are 2nd in the league in defense. I didn’t know that would be possible with a team that has James Harden on their roster. The Kings are also doing very well at  5-1.

Overall, it is too early to actually judge these teams just yet. They haven’t even played 10 out of their 82 games yet. But if several teams don’t start stepping up soon, it might be too late for them.

By Jason Phillips

After a win against the Browns in week 13 the Bills moved to 7-5. This was the first time the team has had that many wins going into December, in 14 seasons. However Bills faced a tough matchup at Denver who is one of the premier teams n the league and could not find a way to win going down by a score of 24-17.

The defense in the game played well. They were able to contain Peyton Manning and the Broncos were forced to get their yards and points on the run game. The issue with this team isn’t the defense they have played well throughout the year.  The main reason why the Bills struggle to win almost every game they play in is the inconsistent offense.

At the beginning of the year you looked at the Bills offense and thought they should be able to run the ball consistently during the year with a backfield of four decent running backs, and yet that has not been the case. With CJ Spiller getting injured the team has not able to run the ball as well as before. This year, to me at least, it has looked like Fred Jackson has finally lost a step. Also Boobie Dixon has very little explosive speed, and the chances of him gaining more than ten yards on a rush is very little. With that, the pressure to score has been put on a group of young receivers, and a journeyman quarterback who was taken out and replaced with Tim Tebow during his career. Kyle Orton has done the best he’s could with a subpar group of receivers.

Robert Woods is a slot guy who can’t really produce plays downfield, and Watkins has just been a disappointment. If I hear one more person say he’s just a rookie I might lose it. He’s a rookie we drafted fourth overall in the first round, and gave another first round pick away to get him. He just has not produce consistently during the season. Really, he’s had two good games. Even if he had over 100 yards against Denver he still had a really bad fumble (how can a receiver in the NFL not expect someone to hit him from behind when he’s just made a catch?). The best thing he’s done all year is make commercials for Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

This team just can’t score points and they will never be able to make the playoffs if they don’t. They still have to play the Patriots and the Packers, and most likely will need to win one or both to make the playoffs this year.

The offense is just bad, and the Watkins trade is just biting them in the butt. They could have picked Odell Beckham JR at number 9, and still be able to show up on Thursday of next year’s draft. Now we know EJ isn’t going anywhere, and come on is Kyle Orton going to lead us to a Super Bowl or even the playoffs with the below average guys he has around him on the offense. I don’t think so.

And I’ve saved the worst for last—I haven’t really had much confidence in the play calling throughout the year. People question Marrone’s calls on fourth down, and while some pan out, h’s made some major errors. I won’t go on about Offensive Coordinator Nate Hackett because I went off on him in the last issue.

So that’s why I don’t think the Bills will make the playoffs this year, but maybe they can sign a better quarterback and have a shot next year.

By Jason Phillips

The Sabres are off to a disappointing start, and most likely their form will continue throughout the year.  They have a  lack in offensive production. The team’s new editions have also had mixed results in the early season. Josh Georges and Brian Gionta have performed to the level that fans and the front office have expected. On the other hand Matt Moulson, Andre Mezaroes, and Andre Benoit have been disappointing to say the least. Moulson who was traded away by the Sabres at least years deadline after being acquired in the Thomas Vanek trade early in the season. Moulson this offseason signed a 5 year deal with the Sabres and has not really performed to the level he did last year.  Andre Mezaros has been struggling, and he’s been benched several times as a result of his lackluster performances. He looks weak on the puck, unable to make passes out of the zone, and just overall a step behind the whole game. Benoit to me has played the same as Mezaros.

Many fans believe that the Sabre’s goal this season should be to obtain the first pick, who will most likely be Connor McDavid. McDavid has averaged four points a game in juniors this year. His offensive production right now is better than the Sabre’s roster. The team has three first round picks this year, and they want to do everything in the world to assure they are as high in the draft as possible. Unlike last year, when they were “screwed” by the new NHL draft lottery even though they weren’t because they would have taken Reinhart anyways. Also, he showed us he wasn’t ready and was sent back down to juniors. The thing to look at for the Sabres this season is if they try and trade some of the older veterans away at the end of the year and bring up some young guys from Rochester and try to weed out who can play in NHL as opposed to the AHL. All and all the Sabres’ aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, and their main goal is to get Connor McDavid.