Riker’s Block

  • Mr. DuBoyce- Our Biggest Fan

    I wrote the following column an hour after learning of the death of one of my school’s administrators, Mr. DuBoyce. In addition to being one of the friendliest faces in the school, Mr. DuBoyce was an avid supporter of the cross country team and came to many of our cross country meets. One of the

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  • MoCo Cross Country Predictions: Boys Ballot

    Using my cross country crystal ball, I’ve predicted what will happen in Montgomery County in the months to come during cross country season. The following selections were on my 2017 Montgomery County cross country predictions on Mocorunning.com. This projection covers my picks for top twenty individual boys and top ten boys’ teams and is a

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  • MoCo Cross Country Predictions: Girls Ballot

    Using my cross country crystal ball, I’ve predicted what will happen in Montgomery County in the months to come during cross country season. The following selections were on my 2017 Montgomery County cross country predictions on Mocorunning.com. This projection covers my picks for top ten individual girls and top ten girls’ teams and is a

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  • We should’ve been the champions: 12 teams that never won the title they deserved

    In my ten years of watching professional sports, I’ve seen my fair share of dominant, historic teams that demolished competition and racked up championships. But for each one that won the championship, there was the great team that should’ve won or could’ve won but lost, and some of those were never able to overcome the

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  • La La Land, Titanic, Spiderman Among Summer Movie Favorites

    In June, I made the goal to watch five new movies by the end of the summer. But as I soon found out, five wasn’t enough to satisfy my cinematic appetite. My picks were all over the place- from an R-rated science fiction movie to a documentary to a musical to a superhero flick. These

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  • NFL Preview: 17 Burning Questions for 2017 with Christian Clark

    Note: This article is the edited transcript of a recent collaboration between me and my good friend Christian Clark, a Panthers fan from NFL Updates Express.   John Riker: Hey guys! I was recently down at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus for the Carolina Sports Journalism camp. It was one of the coolest

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  • Colin Kaepernick, Baltimore Raven?

    I haven’t paid much attention to the Colin Kaepernick drama that has played out over the last year. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback went from a near Super Bowl champion in 2013 to unemployed this off-season. Along the way, he started a firestorm unlike any we’ve ever seen by opting to kneel for the

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  • NFL Preview: Playoff + Super Bowl LII Predictions

    My predictions for the 2017 postseason and Super Bowl VII in Minneapolis.

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  • NFL Preview: NFC runs through strong East division

    NFC East New York Giants 2016 Record: 11-5, lost in Wild Card Round to Packers Outlook: Under first-year head coach Ben McAdoo, the G-Men returned to the playoffs for the first time since their Super Bowl XLVI run. The same team returns with a couple of additions, most notably 6-time Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall

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  • NFL Preview: Patriots, Raiders kings of the AFC

    AFC East New England Patriots 2016 Record: 14-2, won Super Bowl LI Outlook: The reigning Super Bowl champions had a busy offseason and return to defend their title with a roster that might be even better than last year’s. Quarterback Tom Brady (28 TD, 2 INT) will get a new Pro Bowl receiver to throw

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