Volleyball season ended, Basketball has begun

NECC Knights Cross Country will be representing the college in the NJCAA National Championship. The last meet that they were in was the Northeast Junior College Invitational where the Men’s team finished third. They were led by Logan Foster (Atkinson, NH) who finished in 4th in the 8,000 meters. He and other teammates Willie Thomson (Beverly, MA), Andy Barrientos (Lawrence, MA), Jacob Navabi (Haverhill, MA) and Emil Rosario (Methuen, MA) will represent the Men’s side in the National Championship.

For the Women’s side of the team Katelyn Richardson (Wilmington, MA) who finished 11th in the meet. This will be the first trip for her to the nationals. Joining her will be Olivia Mullins (Plaistow, NH) who finished 6th in the last meet. She came in 6th in the 5k. This is the 2nd trip for her to the national championship where she finished 52nd.

Knights basketball team competed in the NHTI Edward Jones Tap-Off Festival where they lost both games, first to the host NHTI 95-93. Then to Central Maine Community College 96-81. In their first game against NHTI, Evan Hardy (Methuen, MA) led the team with 24 points off the bench going 8-11 at three pointers. For the 2nd game against Central Maine Community College Trey Sanford (Salem, NH) led the team with 17 points. It is still early for the team, last season the team went 17-3. There first game of the season is at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology on Tuesday, November 6. Their first home game is Thursday, November 8th against Quincy College. With a new season on the way let’s hope it will be a great season for the knights

Patriots advance to 7-2 after beating Packers Sunday night

What many thought would be a difficult season for Tom Brady and the Patriots has turned around quickly. The Patriots lost two games in the early part of the season, but since then they have turned it around.

NECC student Jared Haynes said, “When will there be a season when Brady isn’t the GOAT?”

Jared Haynes said, “When will there be a season when Brady isn’t the GOAT?”

We all hear the broadcasters say “Tom Brady is 41, how is he still this good? Does the TB12 method actually work?” It’s no surprise that the Patriots are still winning. They have one of the best coaches the NFL has ever seen since Vince Lombardi.

Belichick has been in the coaching system since the 1970’s when he was with the Cleveland Browns.

He was taught well by former Patriots coach Bill Parcells in the Giants system. If you look at the coaching trees they have, Parcells and Belichick you will see that most of the coaches beside three (Andy Reid, Doug Pederson, Matt Nagy) have been part of Belichick and Parcells coaching tree. Belichick has been in the game of football since the 1970’s and he has adapted to the changes and various roles of players he has coached to make the Patriots become a powerhouse of the NFL.

It was the Sunday Night Football game on NBC where Tom Brady and the Patriots pulled out a win against the versatile offense of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. It was close in the first half.

Haynes said “Many believed this was going down to the wire. If the Pats scored the Packers would answer in a hurry.”

The Packers lost a close one last week after former Packers running back and kick-off returner Ty Montgomery failed to take a knee and ran the ball after the kick-off then fumbled to ruin Rodgers chances to beat the Rams of  Los Angeles.

At the time the Rams were undefeated, every team in the NFL wanted to give them their first loss of the season. After the first half it was a close one, then the what happened last week to the Packers happened again.

Running back Aaron Jones fumbled the ball on a hand-off. It was a costly fumble and the Patriots capitalized on that mistake. Patriots won the game 31-17. James White was a big performer finishing with two touchdowns.

Next week the Patriots take on the Tennessee Titans on the road. Their coach is under the Belichick coaching tree and former linebacker for the Patriots, Mike Vrabel.

What should be an easy win for the Patriots may be a close one since Vrabel is running the team.

He was the Defense Coordinator in Houston. In recent years Houston’s defense was always tough on New England’s offense.

This game against the Titans their defense needs to stop Brady from getting into rhythm early. That game is set for 1:00pm and many people will be watching.

Hopefully the Patriots can become 8-2 and it will help them make the playoffs once again.

Red Sox playoff record 11-3

The Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Sox won the four games they needed to clinch another championship title for the city of Boston. Rookie manager Alex Cora did his job, which is a phrase that is well used in the New England area. The team got the power hitting J.D. Martinez and also traded for the players that helped them win it all (Ian Kinsler and Steve Pearce). Though they traded and signed players they already had a dangerous roster to begin with (Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., David Price, Chris Sale). This roster was unbeatable, making the team go 119 through the regular season and the playoffs.

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“It wouldn’t be series win if the Red sox didnt make you nervous”
– Kevin Brown

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The opponents this year were tough, each American League team they faced had over 100 wins. Their ALDS opponent were their rivals the New York Yankees. A best of five series where they only lost one game. Their series clinching out was something to celebrate for, former NECC student Kevin Brown said, “It wouldn’t be a series win if the Red Sox didn’t make you nervous.” The final out came after first baseman Steve Pearce had to dive just to make the catch after the throw from third baseman Eduardo Nunez was going into the dirt. The play had to go into review. After the umpires talked it out with the MLB headquarters the runner was ruled out and Boston knocked-out their rivals.

They headed into the ALCS against the heavy hitting Houston Astros who were the 2017 MLB World Series Champions. The series was much tougher than the one the Sox played against the Yankees. The Astros had a terrific infield and their pitching staff was favorable to win the series for them. They had the likely American League Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. This was another series that Boston only lost one game and it was at home. This proved that the Red Sox were a better road team. They closed out the series in Houston to a flyball in Left field to Andrew Benintendi. This was the first time that the Red Sox have made it to the World Series since 2013 where they faced and beat the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 2018 MLB World Series was set, Dodgers vs. Red Sox. The first game was set in Boston since the American League won the All-Star game giving the American League home field advantage.

The series featured two historic teams battling head-to-head where only one team can be crowned a winner.

From the last two series that Boston played they only lost one game and that was the same situation against Los Angeles. This time they lost on the road rather than losing at home. That was an 18 inning game and it was a walk-off homerun to first baseman Max Muncy. After that loss Boston won the next two to be crowned champions of the MLB.

Since 2004 where Boston broke the 86-year-old curse, they have won three more times (2007,2013, and 2018).

This win helped the debate making Boston the city of champions of all four major sports. At the beginning of the year everyone knew that the Red Sox had a great team that would make the playoffs but would have a tough time to advance to the World Series. Brown said, “I hate to say that I doubted them in spring training. I knew they had a great team, but we had a new manager.” Alex Cora took the reins of this team and led them to win another Commissioner’s trophy for the franchise and the city of Boston. We all hope to see what they can do next year. Fans are still celebrating this win and they should be for a long time.