A GIRL'S SPORT...WAHHH???

In order to not be considered sexist we have decided to feature a women's sport....It was a tough decision but one that had to be done before we had a lot of women yelling at us(Although if you read Rachke's posts, he would probably like that).

Women's swimming...Considering I probably am the best one to talk about this, I will let you into the world of swimming. We call our competitons, meets, during these "meets" we have different heats of different events, something that is unique to Girl's swimming is the fact that they have diving. During the diving portion of the meet, it is probably one of the most awkward and scary thing you'll ever experience...but lets get to the key swimmers on the team this year.

The girls team is a key contender this year for state, having a lot of young new swimmers and a lot of senior leadership. They will be riding on the shoulders of:

Meg "The Keg" Hingtgen-Not known for her drinking skills but rather for being one of the senior leaders on the team and one of the less socially awkward to talk to...For those who know her, go see her after reading this and call her "Harry Potter".

Grace Murray- Probably the best swimmer in the school male or female, she is our equivalent to Michael Phelps minus the smoking and drinking...the actual swimming

Other Swimmers- They are too many to name/I really don't wanna waste more time on this terrible entry but if they preform the team should have the most depth in the MVC.

The girls have a swim meet at C-Rec at 5 tomorrow...People should come and see a close meet that should be full of excitement and some winning

Since this is probably one of the worst blog entries you will read this year...I truely do apologize at the end of the day, swimming is the most boring shit in the world

For those who labored thru and read this

thanks,

Stan"the man" Kamande

Hempstead v. West Football...Texas Cage Match Review

Yikes...

What else can I say...

Coming into the game, the football players eluded that Hempstead was "one of the worst teams in the conference" and we would win...
so much for that!
(note, the picture isn't football related at all, it's just hilarious, enjoy)

Hempstead pretty much did whatever they wanted in the game, except win the "we've got spirit" chant, but in their defense, they were tired from running all over the defense...so its legit

Basically football games come down to two things: Winning and Student Sections, and we have one of those, so i'll let you be the judge.
Not to say our team didn't fight hard, they always will and thats something I respect about our team and coach Sauser, we'll never stop competing. And Bontrager made some sick catches too. So there is alot of good stuff to build on.

But there comes a time when we need to win a game. And that time, is this Friday...At Waterloo West (who is going through their 3rd coach in 3 years), we will have a chance I believe. (just ask neil "maddawgdiesel6" madsen...he'll agree).

I'll probably be there (ladies?) to support the squad, and I encourage the readers of the blog to come, it'll be a good time.

Your friend and my favorite,
David "lights out" Rachke

Martz Madness - Boys XC Preview

Nobody knows exactly how this sport got started, but we can guess. In ancient times, tribe leaders were said to punish the awkward and underdeveloped youth by making them run long distances for absolutely no reason. This custom continued because it gave those unfortunate young boys a group to bond with. It eventually became the sport of Cross Country.


As little as I know about cross country, I guess I am more qualified than Stan or David to write this preview because I am on the team. I will start by explaining the nature of the sport. Practices consist of a group of boys ranging from 4'6'' to 6'4'' putting on the shortest shorts they can find and running around town with reckless abandon. The confident ones even venture to take off their shirts, in hopes of attracting the attention of the hotties driving by. At meets (a 5K run), the 7 fastest guys run varsity and the rest run JV or Fresh/Soph.

As far as West High Cross Country goes, we all know Frank Canady, but I'm going to try to give you a feel for the rest of the team that runs in Frank's shadow (or at least for the guys whose names I know).

Varsity
Frank Canady - Frank was 3rd in the pre-season rankings, and is the only ranked member of the team. Although his lame jokes and sexual inuendos seem to depress the team, his ridiculously fast times on the course make up for the lost motivation.

Matt Eckman - Matt is a cross country kind of guy (see what I did there?). His long legs and dedication will carry him far this season. Also, his normalcy puts him on the short list of people I can actually talk to during practice.

Tyler Chenhall - Tyler has always been good at XC. It was always him and Frank leading the pack at Northwest. He has gotten considerably faster since then by making the tough decision to discontinue his bowl cut.

Ben Hall - Since his friends all left for college, Ben has had more time to focus on the sport. He joins Matt on the list of people who can hold a conversation.

Ryson Something - He's fast.

Varsity Kid #6 - He's also fast.

Varsity Kid #7 - He's pretty fast too.

Other Runners
Rob Grady - Grady is a decent runner, but is suceptible to sneak attacks, during which Ben Goerdt and Jon Skarda abruptly and covertly speed past him in a moment of glory. He dreams of the day that he will successfully launch a sneak attack on Goerdt and Skarda, but that day will never come... and that's a promise.

Eric Dotseth - Eric has been plauged by injuries in the first few weeks of practice. When he's not running, he enjoys long, awkward walks on the beach and talking while Coach Martz tries to give instructions.

Jon Skarda and Ben Goerdt (me)- This is Jon and Ben's first XC season, and it has been a productive one so far. They run XC to stay in shape for wrestling as well as for some other reasons. They are set apart from the rest of the team because of their ability to put weights on each side of a bar before attempting to lift it (Ben Hall just lifts the entire rack). They look forward to team meals the night before meets.

Yamanashi - Named by Skarda and Goerdt, Yamanashi is a decent XC runner until the last 400 meters, during which he becomes a super saiyan and passes other runners at will. Don't try to look him up on the roster, because Yamanashi is not his real name, although it should be. Note: The name Yamanashi comes from Mad TV's Coach Hines.

Sahan - Perhaps the most famous member of the team besides Frank, Sahan jogs hard every second of every practice (except when he's walking). He enjoys flaunting his taco meat during practice and gives the team some much needed diversity.

Thats about everyone I know slash feel like talking about. Be sure to come to the West High Invitational on September 29 at the Ashton XC Course at 4:30!

JV Superstar,
Ben Goerdt

Here is a video to put you in the mood. You're welcome Jared.

p.s. If I offended anyone in cross country I sincerely apologize. The sport takes a lot of dedication and hard work and I respect everyone who goes out.

p.s.s. If anyone has a suggestion for a nickname, leave a comment.

New Start....Same End

Last nights game with Dubuque Hempstead showed me three new things about this season....

1) The new scoreboard makes things a bit more interesting
2) We have a lot more speed on the offensive side of the ball
3) Our new jersey's look pretty cool and not so rustic

Even with all those new changes, one thing remains the same. We can't win a game. It has been 10 games since our first win, that's more than 680 days since our last win... The game started off with unrivaled enthusiasm until we had two early penalties. The attributed to an early seven point deficit. We came back with a touchdown of our own after a couple of big passes by the North Liberty Lion and some big rushes by the J-Train. After this turn events, things went downhill and Dubuque went on for 31 unanswered points. During this time, the cheerleaders went on with trying to entertain and rally the student section with no avail(who would have guessed.....)

As halftime rolled along and the sounds of Billy Joel resonated through the stadium several thoughts went through my head:

1) Why do we keep bootlegging out to the left leaving us with only half the field
2) We really need Otto as our kicker again
3) We aren't putting real defensive pressure on the quarterback
4) This face paint is really stiff/our cheerleaders really sucks

The game ended with a score of 38-21 but for those who were there, it was worse than what the score indicates. I have faith that we will win a game this season and show some real toughness on the defensive end, but if we don't we will be in store for more games like this.

From an optimistic but worried fan,
Stan "The Man" Kamande

West High Football~Season Preview

Around this time of year we ask this single elementary question....Is the football team gonna win a game? Well to put your mind at ease about this question (like you were really concerned) we are gonna give you our season previews.

We will start off with:

Ben Ten Goerdt's Prediction ~ Ok, im going to make this WHS football preview short, because chances are there isn't going to be much to view on our side of the scoreboard again this year. Yes, we might win one or two games, but all i can really ever hope for is something for the student section to cheer about (yes! yes! yes! yes!). of course, the football players themselves are slightly more optimistic. and by slightly i mean extremely. dj khaled must be the personal hero of every player, because no matter how bad they are going to be, all they can say is 'WE DA BEST.' no matter, if we wanted to see someone win we would all go to the math club competitions, but thats not what WHS football is about. its about losing your shit when we get a first down, wearing body paint when you know that it will be washed away by your own tears in less than two hours, and always knowing where you are from (WEST SIDE!!!).

Lights-Out Rachke ~ Well its that time of the year again, time to throw on the prediction caps and try to project the record of the infamous West High Football Team. So you're probably asking yourself, "Self, why would i read this? I don't need classmates to tell me that our football team will be bad. And how do i feel a strong physical attraction to the writer?". Whoa slow down now, one question at a time. As a loyal West High Football Fan (1 of 2 students to attend all 9 games during the 'Season of Assault') i feel like my opinion matters alot more then anyone elses. But you weren't there at Wahlert when we were winning, so i get a voice! Anyway, this year i gaze into my crystal ball and predict many things...and 2, yes read it again, 2 victories. I think that the talent level this year around the league is down and we've picked up the slack last year's class left behind. Big Mac at QB will help the team's morale and churn them to early victories. That's all for now!

Your Friend and My Favorite,

David "Lights Out" Rachke

Stan "The Man" Kamande ~ For the past three years, West High's football program has gone through many high and low moments....mainly low. This years team shows a enthusiasm and pride that has lacked in the hallowed but packed hallways of West, but when you think about it I would be pretty confident if I hadn't won a game last year..I mean it's not like they can get any lower. When we go to West games we aren't really there to watch the game but rather to chill and cheer for our annual senior Suraj like figure and I don't anticipate that to change this season. When I look into this years schedule I see a lot less talent in the conference and a clearly better team under Sauser's second year as coach, but that's not saying a lot. I see a lot of close games and sacks until our last game where it all clicks and coincidentally we play Prairie and get our 1st win of the season. Also, two predictions 1. that we will see the A-11 Formation a lot this season, even though it doesn't really work...it looks pretty awesome...2. Sahan will provide more entertainment for the student section than the cheerleaders. I believe that the latter is more likely to happen then not

As we finish this post we leave you with our video of the week

NEW WEST SPORTS BLOG

Many of you are probably wondering why we(Ben Ten Goerdt, Light-Out Rachke, and Stan "the man" Kamande) have started this. Well the answer to that is...Sports at West lack entertainment. We want to bring interest into sports that you never hear of and at the same time bring JV Superstars to the forefront. Sit Back, Relax, and have a few laughs about your many West sports teams.