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Figure Skating vs. Hockey: Which Sport is Harder?

April 2, 2025 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By 6th-Grade Bloggers Greenlee Bartley and Reagan Kaminsky

Reagan is a figure skater; Greenlee is a devoted hockey fan. They have had many disagreements on which sport is harder: Figure Skating or Ice Hockey. They have decided to each make their claim on what they think, then get a few people who have experience in both sports to make the final judgement. They, for one, were very surprised with the results, and they think you will be, too. 

Reagan says . . .

Personally, I think that figure skating is much harder than ice hockey. Although I have no experience in hockey, I have figure skated for over a year now, and I can confirm that it is not an easy sport. Arguably, to me hockey is much easier than figure skating because you are not required to do jumps, spins, and more while being incredibly dizzy at the same time. Look at professional figure skaters; they are doing “Triple Axels” and “Double Salchows,” while hockey players are simply skating around trying to put a small object into a goal. Personally, I can’t do any of these crazy figure skating tricks, but I do get very dizzy while skating and performing my routines. Also, hockey players even get breaks in between playing time and get to wear special padding and warm clothing. Figure skaters, however, have to wear thin tights and short dresses while skating. Once again, I think that figure skating is much harder than hockey.

Reagan (Right) and Greenlee (Left) at a hockey game, snapping a picture with Coachella Valley Firebirds player Luke Henman. 

Greenlee says . . .

I think that ice hockey is harder than figure skating. Although I have not much experience in figure skating or hockey, I do watch hockey a lot, and I have season tickets at Acrisure Arena. I go to almost every hockey game. Reagan claims that hockey is easier because “you are not required to do jumps, spins, and more while being incredibly dizzy at the same time”–which is untrue because hockey players get very dizzy because they are going so fast while sticks are being shoved at them. Also they get thrown into the glass; they fall, and sometimes they get in very bad fistfights that can make them very very badly hurt! Also, hockey players have no choice sometimes but to fight or just accept defeat! Hockey players get to wear padding and more clothes than figure skaters for a reason! It’s not only to keep warm; it’s because, like I said, they get in bad fights and need the padding. Also the goalies need way more padding because they have a hard puck of rubber coming at them at top speed, and hockey is rated #2 Hardest Sport in the World! (ESPN) Once again, I think that hockey is way harder than figure skating. 


So, unable to agree, we interviewed three people with experience in these sports to see what the final result would be. First, we interviewed a fellow blogger, and hockey player, Mark Huber. We asked him, “Which sport is harder, figure skating or hockey, and why?” Mark said: “Hockey, because it challenges every single part of your body, even your brain. Also, you have to make decisions in like 0.5 seconds or something, and you wear all this equipment that makes you super sweaty which is annoying.”

Next, we interviewed a PVS Science Teacher, and also hockey player, Mr. Killeen. We asked him “Which sport is harder, figure skating or hockey, and why?” Mr. Killeen responded, “Figure Skating because… as a hockey player, you just have to skate one way until you run into something, but when you are figure skating you have to be graceful, and you don’t have a team to support you.” 

Lastly, we interviewed Benjamin Rouche, a figure skater and hockey player, and also a PVS student. He answered, “It’s hard to say, but I think it would be hockey because you have to be able to shoot, control the puck, and sometimes get physical.”


In conclusion, we got many different opinions from students, staff, and even bloggers about which sport is harder: figure skating or hockey. Hockey came out as the number one answer with 3 votes, while figure skating had 2. Despite the controversy, we think that each sport has its easy and hard parts. Even though the votes say otherwise, both sports are hard!

Filed Under: Controversy, Sports, Winter Sports Tagged With: Figure Skating vs. Hockey: Which Sport is Harder?, Greenlee Bartley, Reagan Kaminsky

What’s New for Tennis in Indian Wells?

March 14, 2025 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By 7th-grade blogger Morgan Richardson

The BNP Paribas Open is running now from March 2nd to March 16th in my home town of Indian Wells. The event brings in huge crowds and will hopefully break last year’s record of 493,440 guests (bnpparibasopen.com). The streets of Palm Springs and Palm Desert are filled with visitors eager to attend this annual tennis tournament in our very own tennis paradise. In the past, many celebrities including Tom Holland, Zendaya, P!nk, Bill Gates, Will Ferrell, and Patrick Mahomes have attended, and who knows what stars will surprise us at this year’s BNP. Rumors are Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner have been in this year’s crowds. One of the main attractions, outside of world class tennis, are the many high-end restaurant options like Nobu, Porta Via, Molé, and Ristorante Mamma Gina. Many local favorites including J’s Deli, Tanya’s Kitchen, and even Coachella Coffee in case you need to hide from any bad weather are available at the BNP. To kick off the BNP, a family day is also available for free with face painting, yoga, crafts, and tennis lessons included. 

Fun Facts

  • The BNP has the second biggest outdoor tennis court in the world!
  • The BNP has held the event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden since 2009.
  • It is the best attended tournament outside of all four Grand Slams, which is why it is often called the fifth Grand Slam.

I was first introduced to the BNP by my father, who attends religiously each year. And, if my father isn’t at the Gardens, he’ll be keeping up with matches via television. My mother is fortunate enough to see the finals every year with Dad, for this reason she’s become smitten with Carlos Alcarez, who has moved up in the ranks recently beating previous champion Novac Djokovic twice at Indian Wells. Some say that Carlos Alcarez is the GOAT of tennis.

I turned to my fellow classmates and asked who their favorite player or former player at the BNP is?

7th-grader Gavin had to go to Google to get an answer: 

“Simone Bolelli is my favorite tennis player.”

Ms. Maguire gives a shout out to her hometown Buffalo girl:

“Jessica Pegula is the best tennis player out there.”

Mr. Satterfield, with little to no tennis knowledge, puts a historic player at the top of his tennis pyramid:

“My favorite tennis player is Roger Federer.”  

Elizabeth Greenwood answers with a popular tennis favorite:

“My favorite tennis player is by far Serena Williams.”

My favorite tennis player is Novac Djokavic, though at a losing streak he has become my tennis inspiration. Winning or losing and still getting back on the court is one of the many valuable life lessons tennis has taught me. 

Sources:

https://bnpparibasopen.com › history

desertsun.com

Filed Under: Current News, Sports, Winter Sports Tagged With: Morgan Richardson, What Does Valentine’s Day Mean to You?

Cold Weather Exercise

April 21, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Should we have one last cold snap before summer hits, or if you’re exercising in high altitude coldness, Quintus has some advice about when and how you exercise.

By Quintus Ni

The weather is very cold in winter. Many people like to exercise in this season to strengthen their ability to resist the severe cold, and these people like to exercise in the morning. However, it is not good to exercise on winter mornings. This is not the best time to exercise, even if you insist on exercising at this time every day, you will hurt yourself. What is the right way to exercise? We should choose the best time to exercise according to the following popular science.

Many people blindly think that exercising in the early morning in winter not only allows for the breathing of fresh air, but also improves their body’s cold resistance.

First of all, getting up early on a winter morning is harmful. The cleanliness of the air changes with the seasons; in winter, the cleanliness of the air is the worst of the four seasons, especially before 8 am and after 5 pm. Because the ground temperature on winter mornings is lower than the temperature of the air, an “inversion layer” forms and causes the dirty air to stay close to the ground where it is hard to dilute and diffuse. Pollutants drift in the lower air, and there are fewer green plants in winter to dilute the pollutants. If you exercise at this time, pollutants will be inhaled through the respiratory tract. Therefore, the best time for winter exercise should be around 10 a.m.

In addition, winter exercise should be carried out when there is no fog. Fog is a mass of tiny water droplets floating in the low air on the surface of the earth, and many harmful substances are dissolved in these water droplets, and harmful solid particles such as dust and pathogens are also absorbed in it. If you do strenuous exercise in the fog, these harmful substances will be inhaled a lot, which may cause many diseases.

Due to the cold of winter, the body’s fat content increases compared to other seasons, and body weight and body circumference have increased accordingly. Therefore, winter exercise should increase the number of actions and frequencies. We should increase our aerobic exercise, and extend our exercise time accordingly to improve function and consume body fat.

It turns out that the best time to exercise in winter is not in the early morning or in the evening, but at ten o’clock in the morning. Other times are not suitable for people to exercise at all, because there will be a lot of pollutants at those times that won’t help your health and build your body.

Winter Sport Editor: Chelsea

Filed Under: Winter Sports Tagged With: Cold Weather Exercise, Quintus Ni

The Enchantment of Snowboarding

March 5, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By James Zheng

Reporter: Hello sir, can you briefly introduce your situation and why you came to us?

Guest: Well let’s just say my girlfriend is addicted to something.

Reporter: Drugs? Smoking? Drinking?

Guest: Worse than that, she cannot stop being obsessed with Snowboarding.

Reporter: … Excuse me? 

Guest: Let me finish before you say anything more. Here are what her symptoms are:

  • Being excessively elated when seeing and hearing any words associated with snow.
  • Desperate waiting for winter, don’t even care about the other three seasons.
  • Spending all time watching videos and reading articles about Snowboarding. This is worse during the winter.
  • She is always an unorganized person, which totally changes during winter.
  • Being nearly depressed and starting to complain A LOT when winter is over.

Reporter: Now I am having sympathy for you more than anyone else…

Likely a few tries snowboarding will make you obsessed with snowboarding–although this might not apply to everyone. 

Snowboarding is not as fun as popular sports like basketball, football, and soccer. Plus the limitation is that if you live in a city with a warm climate, just like my city Kunming, I never get a chance to see the snowy slopes. Snowboarding also requires equipment. Equipment is usually quite expensive. I rented the equipment for the first time, and the price was around $200, but I was not happy with the price. Snowboarding also takes time to learn. I would say if you haven’t got the talent, this process is going to be painful. I mean painful both physically and mentally. For my first time, even if I was tutored about the basics, I was only allowed to try the low-slope area, which becomes tedious after five times. So, I went on the hill with my friends, and God knows how many times I fell… But some people master it quicker than others as they know how to balance the body and focus on the power exerted by the waist. 

However, I still want to admit that I was addicted to these “failures.” I had indeed fallen on the snow countless times, but I was closer to the bottom. I became more and more energetic towards my goal. I had this feeling that I had just learned a skill. I was becoming better and better, so no matter how the process tortured me, it was all worth it. Actually this could apply to any sport, but snowboarding never gets you bored. You still have a long way to go even after mastering control of your board.

Why are people so enthusiastic and delighted about snowboarding? Snowboarding is somehow considered to be the same level of excitement as skydiving, surfing, and paragliding etc. When we are involved in these types of sports, we increase our rate of blood circulation, and experience a feeling of flying and rushing. People do love perceiving this feeling. It truly feels free when you are dashing on the snow mountain. It makes you forget everything that is trivial or annoys you in real life. At this moment, you only care about entertaining yourself and integrating into a part of nature. Not to exaggerate, when you are travelling arbitrarily on the mountain, you have escaped the mist in the city, troublesome traffic, the scolds from your boss (teacher if you are a student), just everything that you are concerned with has nothing to do with you. All you need to do is just enter another dimension to have an enjoyable trip. Hearing the sounds of your snowboard pressing on the snow, feeling the wind flowing by, you find nothing is more pleasant than this. 

I have only captured a fraction of the charisma of snowboarding. It is definitely better if you experience it yourself.

Some have claimed that snowboarding is regarded as a dangerous sport, and I have the wounds to prove it. Make sure you have outfitted perfectly. Sometimes you need a helmet if you slide from a hill, but remember there are no sports that make you completely secure. The injuries you had are the precious proof of your efforts; just having scratches or falling on the ground may hurt, but they do not change the fact that they are a part of your progress (well unless you are that fragile). Therefore, make yourself brave, and do it! You will like it. 

Winter Sports Editor: Chelsea

Filed Under: Winter Sports Tagged With: James Zheng, The Enchantment of Snowboarding

Figure Skating vs. Hockey

March 3, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Katelin Slosky

When I was younger, I used to take ice skating lessons. One of my best friends (she lives in Canada and has two older brothers) was taking hockey lessons at the time. While she was taking hockey lessons, and I was taking figure skating lessons, she visited me. We were on the ice rink, and she was trying figure skates for the first time. I started thinking about the differences between the two types of skating. Even though they involve skating on ice, they are almost nothing alike.

Here are some differences between hockey and figure skating.

  1. The skates are different. The figure-skating skate has a little toe pick that is used for jumping and footwork. Hockey blades are shorter and are built for speeding, while figure-skating blades are made for control over turning. I think they are equally easy to manage if you are starting to ice skate. If you’re used to a certain type of skate, then it might not go as smoothly. I remember having to wear hockey skates and not having a toe pick. It was a disaster. I was slipping all the time and didn’t feel like I had control. It depends on what you want to do. Do you want to go fast, or do you want control over your turns?
  2. And, there is obviously the stuff you do when you are on the ice. If you’ve ever gone to an ice rink before, you have probably seen this: the figure skaters practice jumps, turns, footwork, and everything else pretty near the center of the rink. The hockey skaters, on the other hand, rush around the rink, at impossibly fast speeds, and the beginners are going around the edge, holding on to the wall. The main difference is that hockey focuses on how to score goals, and couldn’t care less on how to do a waltz jump. In figure skating, speed isn’t everything, and you do have to know how to do much more than a waltz jump.
  3. Hockey skating can teach you how to work on a team, while figure skating can teach you… how to work on your own? For the most part, if you are a figure skater, chances are that you are working on your own. I’ve always thought figure skating was so pretty, even if you worked by yourself.

It really all just depends on what you like. With hockey, the skates are faster, you participate in more of a conventional sport, where there are goals, and points based off of what players score. Figure skating is more similar to dance, where it is more like an art.

Winter Sports Editor: Chelsea

Filed Under: Winter Sports Tagged With: Figure skating vs. Hockey, Katelin Slosky

Save The Mock Trial Team!

February 14, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 5 Comments

By Luke Langlois

When Chelsea said the theme was “winter sports,” I figured that I would write up another post about hockey. Unfortunately, the only thing going on in the NHL is the same old regular season of play. There’s nothing particularly interesting about the middle of the season (unless you are an avid fan of hockey, which I still encourage you to be). So, why not write about my other favorite winter sport, MOCK TRIAL?! Yes. It counts. As a participant, I may be biased with this statement, but Mock Trial is easily one of the most underrated clubs at Palm Valley. If you are not sure what exactly Mock Trial is, I encourage you to check out my post linked below that I wrote all the way back in November of 2018. The current problem with Mock Trial at Palm Valley, though, is that seven out of our eleven members are seniors. We only have two juniors, two sophomores, and no freshmen. If something does not change, there will be no team next year. 

Here’s why Mock Trial is great. It’s too late to join this year, as competitions started on February 6th, but keep an eye out for it next year. Here are just a few of the many reasons why Mock Trial should be in your future if you are a 9-12th grader.  

  • The cases are always very well-written and fun to read, from the fact-situation (the stone-cold truths of the case) to the often contradictory witness statements. The committee who writes the cases has to make sure that both a prosecution and defense team can make a solid argument from the case with no side having more power than the other. As such, the cases are never simple and are full of nuance. Every detail is meticulously placed, and it always feels like you’re missing something. Essentially, there is never a dull moment when discussing the case.
  • The “officials” who moderate competitions are real legal professionals. All of the scoring attorneys are bar-certified, and the judges are either active judges or retired judges. A competition will never be presided over by someone who is not expertly qualified to do so. They’re also all voluntarily offering their time, so they usually are not cruel and jaded people who just want to go home. Few other extracurriculars allow you to interact with true experts in the field. 
  • You get to learn about United States law. The core intention of Mock Trial is to teach the students about the law of the United States, court proceedings, what exactly is needed to find someone guilty of alleged crimes, and more. However, this does not mean that Mock Trial is only for students looking for a career in law. Besides learning about the law, you learn some lessons in being an effective public speaker and thinking on your feet when matters don’t go exactly as planned. These are invaluable life skills! While people with theater backgrounds often constitute a big part of the Mock Trial team, that certainly isn’t a requirement, and you can thrive without any knowledge of performance. Plus, with knowledge of the law, you can look at things with a legal eye and not just rely on the often incorrect “court of public opinion.”
  • You get to dress nicely. Palm Valley polos are great and all, but how often do you really get razzle-dazzled up and burst into a courtroom with pride. Not very often, I’d wager. Speaking of courtrooms, in Mock Trial, you get to compete where the magic happens. When you walk into a courtroom, you instantly feel like you have become a person of high status and class. It’s not Disneyland, but the courtrooms are magnificently structured, and the Great Seal of the State of California “looking over” every courtroom makes me even feel a bit patriotic. There’s a lot of history in that Seal! 

Juggling schoolwork, clubs, and sports is already super difficult, so why not add Mock Trial to that mix? Seriously, though, it may be tough to add something else to your schedule, but I can (almost) guarantee that you will not regret joining Mock Trial. Riches in the forms of award medals are also available if you happen to have the talent. . .

Find my previous post “Mock Trial Explained” Below

Mock Trial: EXPLAINED!

Winter Sports Editor: Chelsea

Filed Under: Winter Sports Tagged With: Luke Langlois, Save the Mock Trial Team!

About

We are the Palm Valley Firebirds of Rancho Mirage, California. Join us in our endeavors. Venture through the school year with us, perusing the artwork of our students, community, and staff. Our goal is to share the poems, stories, drawings and photographs, essays and parodies that come out of our school. Welcome aboard!