Sports.

Athlete of the Week

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fin

©Jerald EUR.

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

his week’s edition of Athlete of the Week
features the delightful Ainsleigh Mensah of
the women’s basketball team here at Douglas.
How long have you been playing basketball here
at Douglas?
Ainsleigh Mensah: This is my second year.

How long have you been playing basketball
altogether?
AM: Since grade eight.

What are your future goals with basketball?
AM: I think just staying the full five years, so
another three years... | want to get two diplomas
here at Douglas.

What are you going to do after Douglas?
AM: I want to do RCMP, so if I get in by then, if not
lll just keep going with school.

Do you have any basketball idols that you look up
to?

AM: Probably Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard.
Those are my two favourites.

Do you have any favourite basketball teams?
AM: Actually I don’t have a favourite team, but I
would probably go with Miami [Heat].

What are your team’s goals this year?

AM: Our goal—because we’re a new team—is to
do better in the second half. Our first game is next
weekend, the 14th. So, just to improve, because we
have a lot of new faces.

18

 

 

Fi ootwall Fi Ci er Black Monday

By David Hollinshead, Staff Writer

Ts Monday after the final regular season

NFL game, teams do their housecleaning

for the coaching staff in an annual ritual
that has come to be known as “Black Monday.”
Many coaches get jobs because of Black Friday,
while other coaches lose them. Some of these
cuts are deserved, and others just weren’t
given enough time to turn their teams around;
either way, it is a business and the wheels
must always be in motion.

The St. Louis Rams

After his three years at the helm of the
franchise, head coach Steve Spagnuolo has
been fired. When he first started with the
Rams, Spagnuolo inherited a terrible team
with no solution at quarterback, a terrible
defence, and no offensive playmakers (save
for running back Steven Jackson). In his first
season coaching in St. Louis, the Rams went
a terrible 1-15—placing last in the league
and earning the first overall pick in the draft
(they used their first pick on quarterback Sam
Bradford, which solved one problem out of
many). The team addressed several of their
issues that off-season and greatly improved
to a 7-9 record—just missing the playoffs in
a watered-down division where the division
champions, the Seattle Seahawks, shared the
same record, but made it into the playoffs on
a technicality. This season though, the Rams
took a huge dive to a 2-14 record, which was
enough for the Rams front office to finally get
rid of Spagnuolo.

Jeff Fisher was brought in for an interview
with the Rams as well as the Miami Dolphins.
Fisher was the longest-tenured coach in league
history with the Tennessee Titans, taking them
to Super Bowl XXXIV, and losing to the St
Louis Rams. At the end of the 2010 season, it
was decided by both sides to move on, and
Fisher has been without a coaching position
since,

The Miami Dolphins

Four weeks before “Black Monday,” Coach
Tony Sparano got the axe. Sparano coached
four seasons in Miami, and in his first one, led
the team to an 11-5 record, placing first in their
division, and securing them their first playoff
appearance in seven years due to decent

® Raheem Morris

defensive play and a gimmicky offence. This
was after a terrible 1-15 record that almost saw
them as one of the worst teams in NFL history.
His production quickly diminished after two
7-9 seasons and was fired this season after a
4-9 start.

The Indianapolis Colts

Firing vice chairman Bill Polian and general
manager Chris Polian, The Colts completely
cleaned house. The Colts lost Hall of Fame-
bound quarterback Peyton Manning before the
season even started (due to surgery Manning
had on his neck to fix nerve damage) and saw
the team spiral down to a 1-15 record, using
three different quarterbacks who could not get
the job done. This is the worst season that the
Colts have had since Polian came to the team,
when he drafted Peyton Manning. The loss

of one player should not mean the loss of an
entire season, which is exactly what happened
without Manning. Rumours came about

that the reason these people lost their jobs is
because of a disagreement on how to use the
first overall pick in this year’s draft. Assuming
that one side wanted to use it on Stanford
quarterback Andrew Luck, who is being hailed
as this year’s “can’t miss” quarterback as
Manning’s successor, or to use it to improve
something else on this terrible team.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a very short tenure, head coach Raheem
Morris has been fired. Many people were
excited when the young Morris, 32, was
brought on to coach the team. His first season
was terrible, starting out with a 3-13 record.
With the development of quarterback Josh
Freeman, the next year was a huge turnaround
for the Bucs, improving to a 10-6 record,

but placing third in their division. They just
missed the playoffs, but Tampa Bay was
excited to see a Florida-based team show such
potential. Morris’ third and final season started
off quite well with a 4-2 start, but quickly
evaporated—losing the next 10 games and
seeing him lose his job. This can probably be
explained by the immaturity of the coach, and
players being skeptical to buy into his system.
As a football team, when you’re winning, it’s
easy to buy into the system—but the more you
lose, the easier it is to be dropped and never
picked up again.