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Written by Chris Wescott
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Wednesday, 14 July 2010 05:29 |
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Wakeboarding – a sport of speed, skill, and thrill! A popular sport for summertime fun where a motorboat tows a rider who skirts across boat wakes and waves and catches air in an attempt to perform tricks. For most people, wakeboarding takes a lot of practice just to stay upright and hopefully learn a trick or two. But For 16-year-old, Wakeboard Pro Harley Clifford, flying through the air behind a boat comes natural.
Clifford, an Australian native, has taken the international wakeboarding scene by storm and has added a Pro Tour stop win to his growing list of accomplishments. On May 27, 2010 Clifford was declared the event winner at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in Acworth, Georgia. Clifford not only won the event, but also landed a handle pass KGB 540. It was the first time the trick has ever been done in a competition.
“I’m stoked,” Clifford said following the event. “Sticking the KGB 5 and winning the first Pro Tour stop in the same day is just unreal.”
The 16-year-old, Brisbane, Australian phenom came to Oklahoma City in early June to attend So6ix magazine’s River Fest 2010. He wowed the crowd with his skills on the water and sat down to discuss his exploding career.
Clifford began wakeboarding at a young age and credits his youth outings with his family in Australia as the catalyst to his current career. “My family and I just always liked to go out on the boat. We probably started wakeboarding when I was about five,” said Clifford.
“Everybody in my family was supportive and pushed me. They pushed me to wakeboard, and I loved it!”
Clifford says he was about seven when he started competing. Since then, he has become one of the world’s best at his sport. Harley loves the ride it’s been.
“It’s a pretty crazy feeling. The year before last year I was in juniors, and then last year I just decided to go pro and ended up winning pretty much every competition. So, it was a shock, and it was a cool feeling.”
Some of his career highlights include being 1st overall at the 2009 Australian Pro Tour, two-time Wake Wars Champion, 1st place in the U.S. Junior Masters, first place in the 2009 Pro Tour in Texas, and first place at this year’s tour’s first stop.
Despite all the pressure and past accomplishments, Harley takes it one run at a time, and he tries to enjoy the moment. “It’s pretty fun sometimes; sometimes it’s nerve-racking because I have to deal with all the pressure. But, I just go out there and try to prove what I can do. I don’t really worry about the tricks everyone else is doing.”
At age 16, Clifford has grown quite the following. With big-name sponsors like Oakley and Monster Energy as well as others, Harley’s name will continue to grow his popularity in the states and overseas. The future is bright for Clifford! When asked if he wanted to continue wakeboarding for years to come, he smiled and said: “Yeah, yeah, definitely. Until my body can’t handle it anymore.”
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Written by Brandy Morris
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 03:58 |
The Thunder Rolls On
By Brandy Morris
The Oklahoma City Thunder has come a long way since last season. Last season they had 1 preseason win and 22 regular season wins. This season they have won 2 preseason games and 22 regular season games with 42 games left to play after defeating the Miami Heat on Jan. 16.
The team has improved tremendously after making coaching adjustments by replacing P.J. Carlesimo with Scott Brooks early in the season last year. A few changes in the roster and the Thunder are rolling.
Kevin Durant, a starting forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, currently leads the team averages in points with 29.1 and 7.2 rebounds.
KD, as Thunder fans know him, has been a scoring machine. He has had 12 games this season scoring 30 or more points. His performance this season has kept the Thunder fans roaring.
Russell Westbrook, point guard for the Thunder is the current assist leader. Westbrook and Durant are making their presence felt on the court around the NBA.
Thunder fans can check out the Thunder’s “Dynamic Duo” on these dates:
Feb. 2
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 3
Feb. 6
Feb. 9
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 16
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 20
Feb. 21
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 23
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 24
Feb. 26
FS Oklahoma HD
Feb. 28
FS Oklahoma HD
Player statistics provided by: /www.nba.com/thunder/stats/
the Thunder vs. Toronto 6 p.m. the Thunder vs. Minnesota 7 p.m. the Thunder @ San Antonio 7:30 p.m. KSBIHD the Thunder vs. Phoenix 7 p.m. the Thunder @ Minnesota 6 p.m. the Thunder @ New York 6:30 p.m. FS Oklahoma HD the Thunder vs. Dallas 7 p.m. the Thunder @ Portland 9 p.m. the Thunder @ Golden State 9:30 p.m. FS Oklahoma HD the Thunder @ New Orleans 7 p.m. KSBIHD the Thunder vs. Atlanta 7 p.m. |
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Written by Brandy Morris
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 03:40 |
Sooner Review
By Brandy Morris
The OU Sooner basketball season kicked off on November 3. They have since gone 9-6 in non-conference play, not a perfect start to the season. The Sooner nation was not happy to see the Sooners lose the conference opener 91-60 against the Baylor Bears. However, things are looking up as they defeated the OSU Cowboys 62-57 in an all out battle that ended in overtime and defeated a good defensive team, the Missouri Tigers 66-61. The Sooners win streak at home as of the Missouri game is still intact.
Coach Jeff Capel has two very talented McDonald’s All-American freshman players who are starting to develop a rhythm on the court. Freshman forward Tiny Gallon is averaging 12 points a game. The young man is on a path to shatter many records (and a few backboards) at OU in rebounding and scoring. He did not have a great game against Missouri as he failed to score in the game.
Freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin’s numbers are climbing in the assists category, which will be an asset as conference play heats up. Mason-Griffin scored a 3-pointer to turn the tide in the Sooner’s favor against OSU. Mason-Griffin does have a great 3-point shot and can get to the rim, when he faces tough situations, but he needs to work on ball handling and turnovers.
Senior guard Tony Crocker’s offensive contributions to the team were missed in the Missouri game when he went out within the first two and a half minutes of the first half with an ankle injury. Crocker did not return until late in the second half with 12 minutes and 55 seconds left in the game. Coach Capel had his ankle wrapped and taped and the young man was in almost a full three minutes to give players Cade Davis and Willie Warren a break.
The Sooners have had cold starts in many of their games in late December and in early January. This may prove to be a problem as they face top ranked teams such as Texas, Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor. Kansas and Baylor tend to get off to good starts and have a great 3-point game. Both teams are in the Big 12 top five in 3-point completions for the Big 12.
The Sooners will have some tough games in February as they face Texas and Kansas; both ranked in the AP Top 25 according to ESPN.com. I hope that the Sooners cohesiveness as a team will further develop as they go along and result in them playing strong in March.
Stats provide by
Player information provided by: www.soonersports.com
www.Big12sports.com |
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Written by Brandy Morris
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 03:35 |
OSU Cowboy Review
By Brandy Morris
The Oklahoma State Cowboys had a great non-conference season suffering only two losses. Tulsa got the win 86-65 on December 2 and Rhode Island handed the Cowboys their second loss 63-59 on January 2. Gallagher Iba Arena was rocking when the Cowboys defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 81-52. The first bedlam battle with OU did not end in a victory as the Sooners defeated the Cowboys 62-57 in overtime in the Lloyd Noble Arena. The Cowboys traveled to Baylor and the Baylor Bears defeated the Cowboys 83-70.
The Cowboys have several good starters this season, who will write their names in the Cowboy record book.
Junior guard James Anderson is third in scoring in the Big 12, averaging 23 points per game. Anderson is a leader on the court and attempts to make plays when needed. Anderson scored 28 points against Texas Tech, 18 points against Oklahoma and 20 points in the game against Baylor.
Senior Obi Muonelo is the only senior on the team and averages 12 points per game. He scored 12 points against Texas Tech, was held to 3 points against Oklahoma and 21 points against Baylor.
Freshman guard Ray Penn is another Cowboy starter who is playing a great deal of minutes this season. He scored 12 points against Texas Tech, 14 points against Oklahoma and 5points against Baylor.
Coach Ford has several players on the bench that have contributed to Cowboy victories. In three conference games, they have contributed 69 points.
The Cowboys have improved since last season, they seem to be moving the ball on the court and looking for the open man. They are picking up rebounds, putting the shots back up on the offensive end, and looking for the rebounds on the defensive end.
February will be hot for the Cowboys as they face Texas twice, Oklahoma, Kansas and Baylor.
Player stats were found at
Player stats were found at
www.okstate.com and www.big12sports.com. |
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Written by Brandy Morris
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 03:26 |
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