Ouch!

Just recently I got a concussion in hockey.  I was hit from behind against the boards, the kind of funny thing is the kid who hit me was the cousin of a kid on my team.  The kid who hit me was huge, he was like 6′ 3″.  It was like an awful birthday gift because it actually was on my birthday! I had to stay in the hospital for over three hours because the nurses had so many other people to get to before me.

We were in East Haven the day of the incident.  It was a normal day like any other day would start.  The game started and I was on  my first shift, I actually did pretty good in that first shift.  The second shift I was turning around going into my zone to the puck, skating my heart out, I knew I was going to get hit because I saw the kid coming at me. He was really fast so as soon as I was in the zone, I was going towards the puck, I got the puck.  The next thing I remember was the coaches waking me up, asking me if I was okay.  I had to get off the ice, go to the locker room take my equipment off as quick as possible so I could get to the ER.  At the emergency room the nurse told me to do some tests to see if I could do some certain things. I could do all the tests but the thing was I was nauseous, light-headed and very dizzy.  I had to stay there for like 3 hours because they were observing me seeing how I would do.  I had to leave the hospital, because I had a birthday party to get to for me.

The result of the concussion was missing school for 2 1/2 days and not being able to bike, play hockey or even longboard.  This time was miserable because of that.  This experience will remind me to be very cautious when going into the corner, always look where you’re going and be careful.  From this experience I will always wear a helmet no matter what activity I’m doing.

~Chris Horowitz

Husky Fever

Even though the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder, winter has it’s benefits. For me, I get very happy when basketball season arrives. Especially when my favorite team, the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies start their season. They will begin their season on November 11th against Columbia University. On that night, they will reveal their 2011 Big East Tournament Champions banner and of course, their 2011 National Champions banner at their on-campus arena, Gampel Pavilion. I am sure people around this great state will be very happy that night. There is a lot of buzz and questions about the Huskies coming into this season. Some include; will star recruit Andre Drummond live up to his hype? How will UConn recover from losing Kemba Walker? How are returning players going to play after winning a National Championship? Will Uconn repeat as champions? All of these and more will be answered this season.

As you may know, UConn ended their season with a 21-9 record last year on a magical 11 game tournament winning streak including the improbable 5 wins in 5 days Big East Tournament run, which ended up in a championship, and of course 6 wins in the NCAA tournament to win their 3rd National Championship and an overall 32-9 record. That is the past and now we are in the present. This year the Huskies have great players returning such as Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, Alex Oriakhi, and Roscoe Smith! They also have 3 star recruits coming in, their names are DeAndre Daniels, Andre Drummond, and Ryan Boatright. As usual, they will have a hard schedule in the challenging Big East Conference. On February 25, 2012, UConn will host rival Syracuse for College Game- Day, which is the “biggest game” on Saturdays during the college basketball season. Looks like that will be a great game.

Now onto the “big” question, will UConn repeat as National Champions? In my opinion, they do have a good chance. One reason is they have arguably the best head coach in basketball, Jim Calhoun. This is 26th year coaching the Huskies and he has over 800 wins and 3 National Championships. Next, they have a very solid freshmen class, along with good, experienced players with a National title under their belt. Finally, other teams just don’t have the overall strength that UConn does, plus us loyal Husky fans will always be cheering the Huskies on during the difficult season.

~Aidan Murray