The Milwaukee Bucks have opted not to take Joe Alexander’s contract option for the 2010-11 season, because of a recently injured hamstring, that has caused the former Linganore Lancer and West Virginia Mountaineer to be absent for 8 to 12 weeks.

 According to the Milwaukee Journal- Sentential, Alexander is going to be a free-agent at the end of this season, because he hasn’t done enough for the Bucks to guarantee him a spot on their future team.

The General Manager of the Bucks, John Hammond, said “it was a difficult decision to let Alexander go to free agency after this season”, according to ESPN online.

“The Bucks should have given him a chance to prove himself, because he was only a rookie,” said Brent Tompkins, a sophomore at Middletown High School.

 The Middletown High School football won the 2A West Region Championship yesterday with a solid 21-7 victory.

  After causing a fumble on defense the offense scored 3 touchdowns in under 3 minutes to command an early lead.

 The first touchdown came from senior Thomas Pitsenbarger with a 4-yard rush.

 The Cavaliers mishandled the next kick-off and was recovered by senior Matt Burns.

 The next touchdown started out with a pitch to junior Sam Michels who stopped and threw a pass to senior receiver Justin Boyer. Michels later had a 72 yard touchdown off a fake hand off.

 Stingy defense and an explosive offense was the main catalyst for the MHS win.

 MHS football will now set their goals on winning the State Semi-Final game next week against Queen Annes High School on Friday November 27th.

Senior Koby Cavanagh, fullback and linebacker for the varsity football team, is this week’s player of the week for November 16, 2009.

Opposed to the Rockville Rams, Cavanagh had 15 attempts rushing for 93 yards on offense and performed 6.5 tackles as well as a sack. With the win, the Knights move on in the playoffs to face South Carroll in the Regional Final at South Carroll High on November 20, 2009.

What the third week of the NBA season lacked in nail-biting action, it certainly made up for in the headlines. All-World star LeBron James is planning on witching jersey numbers, Allen Iverson is considering retirement, and everyone in Golden State seems to have lost their minds.

LeBron James has to be the most interesting of the news this week. James wears number 23 out of respect for his idol Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. Following Thursday’s win in Miami (in which Jordan was in attendance), James told reporters of his plan. Out of respect for Jordan, LeBron plans to change jersey numbers next season and wear number 6. LeBron’s second favorite player growing up, Julius Erving, wore number 6. Lebron’s first child was born Oct. 6, and his second was born in June (the sixth month). James called for every player in the league to give up wearing 23, saying he’d even send around a petition. Since the retiring of a number is on a team-by-team basis, it is unlikely the number will be retired. James is the only superstar to wear 23, and it would be a great gesture to give it up for the greatest to ever play the game.

Allen Iverson, one of the most explosive scorers of all time, is considering retirement. The career 27.1 points per game scorer (29.7 ppg in the playoffs) signed with the woeful Memphis Grizzlies over the summer, apparently to revive a Memphis franchise lacking a true scoring leader. What AI got, however, was something he was clearly not used to: a spot on the bench. In three games this season, Iverson averaged 22.3 minutes and 12.3 points per game – a solid scoring average in spite of the minutes played. The 14-year veteran expressed displeasure at being a bench player, choosing to take a leave of absence for “personal reasons” and reportedly mulling retirement. What Iverson needs is a team in need of a superstar scorer, a team like the Bobcats. They are coached by Larry Brown, under whom Iverson enjoyed his best years as a pro (in Philadelphia). They are also very thin at guard, and have a horrible offense. There is no doubt in my mind that Iverson can start and star with the Bobcats.

What happened to Stephen Jackson wanting to be a team leader in Golden State, shedding his bad boy image? Just nine games into his fourth season with Golden State, Jackson is trying to force his way out. Jackson has been very public in his disdain for the Warriors and the franchise’s inability to play competitively. He’s even resorted to letting his agent blast coach Don Nelson. His production has been down so far this year, but with good reason. Jackson is surrounded by offense-hogs, Monta Ellis and Corey Magette. While Jackson tries to be an all-around threat, Ellis and Magette defend as little as possible while shooting as much as possible. The Warriors are incapable of developing such superb talent as Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright, and Stephen Curry – three players who clearly have great potential. Jackson is sick of the mediocrity and does not deserve to be stuck on the Warriors any longer.

Week three was a slow week; as players continue to get back into the swing of the NBA season, look for quality of play to increase.

The 2009 NFL season is at least half way over for every team in the league and there have been plenty of surprises, both good and bad. 

After skidding to an 8-8 season last year and missing out on the playoffs, the Denver Broncos are off to a 6-2 start under the new leadership of Josh McDaniels. Despite getting rid of pro bowl quarterback Jay Cutler, almost losing a rising star wide-out in Brandon Marshall, and completely re-tooling the defense, the Broncos are off to a great start.

In New Orleans, the Saints are undefeated despite the low preseason expectations for their defense, which now leads the NFL in takeaways, largely in part to Darren Sharper and the aggressive defensive coaching style of Gregg Williams.

 The Tennessee Titans have not lived up to expectations just one season after posting an NFL best record of 13-3.  The loss of All-Pro defensive player of the year Albert Haynesworth has drastically affected their defense while Kerry Collins has struggled to run the offense due to a lack of quality wide receivers and blocking.

Other teams like the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins, who appeared to be improving and making excellent additions to their teams after mediocre seasons, have fallen apart and appear dysfunctional.

 The Lions won their first game in over a year, and are considered one of the worst teams in the league because that is their only win this season. Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford are a solid beginning, but the Lions will need to find a defense if they want to be successful in the tough NFC North division.

Teams like the St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had disastrous starts, but neither is really a surprise.  Steven Jackson is performing at a championship level; it’s just too bad his teammates haven’t followed his lead.

With all the twists and turns of the first half of the season, good teams falling apart and bad teams now starting to seem unbeatable, we can be certain that the rest of the season will be everything we don’t expect it to be.

The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets are rolling, Gilbert Arenas is scoring at will, and week two of the NBA season has provided heated high- and low scoring battles across the board. 

From Denver’s 133-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies (highlighted by Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points) to the Chicago Bulls’ thrilling 83-81 win over the Milwaukee Bucks (featuring an 18-point comeback by the victorious Bulls), week two took the positive momentum from the opening week and took it to another level.

Competition level is the highest I’ve seen in a long time. Here you have the Oklahoma City Thunder, perennial cellar-dwellers of the Northwest Conference, taking the NBA-Champion Los Angeles Lakers to overtime before losing a heart-breaker (Kobe Bryant proved to be too much for the Thunder defense).

The Detroit Pistons missed their two top players – the two remaining pieces from the championship team in 2004 – Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, and took beat an upgraded Orlando Magic team that went to the NBA Finals last season, 85-80. A three-guard lineup smothered Dwight Howard, forcing him to foul out in only 17 minutes of action.

Ben Gordon, Rodney Stuckey, and Will Bynum, the Detroit’s three small, speedy, high-scoring guards, combined for 63 points and stifled Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson on the defensive end of the floor.

New Orleans continues to struggle, and are going nowhere fast. Chris Paul has been lights out for the Hornets, but his team has let him down.

Even though he scored 32 points and dished out 15 assists against the lowly Knicks, the Hornets faltered late, allowing Al Harrington of the Knicks to take over with 13 points in the final quarter. Riding the momentum of a late 10-2 run, the Knicks won 117-111.

The most impressive win of the week had to be the Nuggets dismantling the New Jersey Nets with a 44 point third quarter. They took a 51-50 lead into halftime, but ended the third quarter with a 94-77 lead en route to a 122-100 win.

Carmelo Anthony, who shot 1-11 in the first half, scored 11 of his 22 points in the decisive third quarter, which was only 5 points shy of the most points the Nets have ever given up in the third quarter.

With the heated action of the second week of the NBA season, look for the action to get even better week three as players re-adjust to the NBA season and rookies begin to get their feet under them.

Twenty-two Middletown High School seniors went out on top on Senior Night as the varsity football team beat the Walkersville Lions, 46-26,  on Nov. 6.

The game started with a strong performance by the Lions, who took an early lead, 14-6,  on two passing touchdowns by Walkersville quarterback Jeremy Musselman.

After halftime, the Knights came back with five touchdowns to the Lions’ two.

MHS seniors Sam Glushakow, Koby Cavanaugh, and Thomas Pitsenbarger and MHS junior Sam Michels all ran for a score along with a Glushakow touchdown pass.

The Knights gained 257 yards on the ground, 139 coming from Michels. The Knights ran for five touchdowns.

The Lions threw for 340 yards but were hurt several times by untimely turnovers, of which the Knights adavantage.

Middletown had three interceptions, two by MHS senior Pat Ryan and one by MHS senior Will Lyons. Leading the swarming Knights defense was Cavanagh, recording 12 tackles.

With the win, the Knights move into the playoffs and will face Rockville on Nov. 13.

Senior Pat Ryan, wide receiver for the varsity football team, is this week’s player of the week for November 4, 2009.

Against the Catoctin Cougars, Ryan had 3 receptions for 77 yards with 2 touchdowns in Friday’s loss. The Knights next play Walkersville at home on Friday November 6, 2009.

Junior Ashley Higginbothem, outside hitter for the varsity volleyball team, is this week’s player of the week for November 4, 2009.

In the playoff game against the Rockville Rams, Higginbothem had 8 aces, 6 digs and 2 kills on Thursday night’s victory. The varsity volleyball team next play the quarterfinal match at Century High on Monday November 9, 2009.

Alexander Ovechkin mysteriously skated off the ice and went directly to the locker room after what appeared to be a very simple, benign hit during a 5-4 overtime loss Sunday to Columbus. It was not hard or violent, seemingly just a bump. He went down, got up, and disappeared. The speculation began immediately. What happened? Where was he hurt? How bad was it? When would he return? Most of these questions remain unanswered.

First, he was listed as day-today with an “upper body strain” (coaches rarely disclose details about injuries in the NHL). Then, he was listed as week to week. Now, head coach Bruce Boudreau said he hoped Ovie would be back within two weeks.

So where does that leave Washington without the two-time NHL MVP? Ovechkin currently leads the team, and the league, in goals with 14. He is clearly the pulse of the Capitals and others need to pick up the offensive slack left in his absence.

The first person they will turn to is the “other” Alexander, Alexander Semin, who has netted seven goals and 15 points. Young Swede Nicklas Backstrom and free agent signee Mike Knuble will also be looked to for help. Brooks Laich, who already has six goals, is another viable option. But the person to watch is Tomas Fleischmann, fresh off the injured reserve list (blood clot). In his first game back, he scored two goals and was credited with an assist in his third game.

The Caps are off to a fast start with an 8-2-4 record, good enough for a comfortable first place standing in the Southeast division. Many people think the Caps are a one-man show with Ovechkin. We are about to find out if the critics are right.