March 8, 2010 - Minooka Community High School District #111

Minooka Indians
2010 AAA Wrestling
Peace Pipe Chatter
State
Champs
Special Edition
March 8, 2010
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
State Champions
Designed by David Tibble
Grappling with history
State Champion
Team Members
Residori as he headed for his third
win of the day. He delivered and
brought the team back to an even
20-20 with Sandburg after his 11-3
major against Trevor Proszek. It
was the team’s fourth straight win,
and with two matches left, the state
championship was in sight.
Looking for their first lead
against Sandburg, Minooka sent
out Kalvin Hill to put the Indians
on top against his opponent, Bob
Stephan. He would come through
with a 4-3 decision, and gave the
Indians a three-point lead heading
into the final decision.
The fate of the state championship rested on the shoulders of
freshman Matt Meyer. He would
take on Jake Fishback, with the
decision determining who would
be crowned state champions. Fishback would have needed a major
decision to give Sandburg a 24-23
victory. But that did not happen,
nor did he even win the match.
Meyer won with a 7-2 final, and
history was made at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.
The final score; Minooka 26,
Sandburg 20. After falling behind
16-0 the Indians only allowed four
more points on the board and did
not give up, winning the last eight
out of nine matches.
“It feels real good to bring home
the first state championship in the
school’s history,” said Kenny. “I’m
going to miss wrestling next year,
but it’s a great way to end it.”
It was a long and hard season,
but all the hard work paid off. Ruettiger said that hopefully this team
will open the door for many other
teams to bring home the gold, but
we will always remember the first
time Minooka brought home a
state championship. Congratulations Minooka wrestling, you have
made history.
Kevin Akers
Mitchell Brozovich
Clayton Charland
Brandon Collofello
Jacob DeKlerk
Zachary Friant
Joseph Govednik
Brandon Haase
Kalvin Hill
Alex Hoshell
Cody Jones
Sean Kenny
Matthew McEvilly
Michael McNulty
Matthew Meyer
Blake Montella
Mitchell Morris
Colin Nielsen
Corbett Oughton
Jacob Potts
Josh Pullara
Jacob Residori
Daniel Ruettiger
Kevin Ruettiger
Leo Ruettiger
Matthew Stevens
Timothy Wright
Robert Zabel
by Mike Noe /
Sports Editor
It has never been done before
in Minooka’s long history. There
have been many great teams that
have tried, but all have fallen short
until now.
Led by head coach Bernie Ruettiger, Minooka finally has its
state championship thanks to the
gentlemen who make up the wrestling team.
“It’s outstanding for the wrestling team, the students, and the
community,” said athletic director
Bob Tyrell. “It’s a great accomplishment.”
“We’re proud that all of the
loads of hard work finally paid off.
It was a long time coming,” said
Coach Paige Schoolman.
It almost didn’t happen after
Minooka lost its first five matches
to Sandburg High School, at the
3A state championship match in
Bloomington, falling behind by a
score of 16-0.
“We had a feeling it was going to be that way,” said Ruettiger. “We had to win the next two
matches after we lost the first five
like we did.”
But Minooka was not about
to give up and lose for a second
straight year in the championship
match. Last year, the team fell to
Oak Park by a final score of 3330. Although it was a tough loss,
the team picked themselves up,
and delivered this year. They defeated their foes and the defending
state champions in the quarterfinals. They rallied from behind
and came out with a 33-22 victory.
Their next opponent was Glenbard
North, whom they led the whole
way and defeated 30-21.
Then it came down to the state
championship where they would
take on the Eagles, who were com-
ing off of an easy 40-20 victory
over Barrington.
When asked how he felt going
into the final match, Ruettiger said,
“Anxious, nervous. I thought we
had an opportunity to win it all.”
Sandburg jumped out to a 4-0
lead after the first match when
Mitch Brozovich lost to state
qualifier Brandon Lopez 16-5 in
the 160 lbs weight class. It didn’t
stop there when 171 Matt Stevens
battled against Kevin Rettke in a
close match that ended with Rettke
getting the 3-2 victory.
Then it was Josh Pullara’s turn
to take the
mat. This
was the
first time
that Pullara wrestled in the
tournament. It
wasn’t going to be an easy match because he
had to take on a state qualifier in
Saed Al-Azzam. Pullara didn’t go
without a fight and lost 2-1. Now
the score was 10-0 in favor of the
Eagles. Joe Schneider won Sandburg’s fourth match in a row when
he squared up against Brandon
Haase. Haase made it a close one,
but still fell by a score of 3-1.
Next, the Indians looked to
state qualifier Cody Jones to break
the losing streak, but he was going
against a fellow state qualifier in
Chris Lopez. The only point scored
in the match came from Lopez’s
escape in the second period. That
would be all that was needed and
Minooka lost their fifth straight
match 1-0. Even worse, they needed to overcome a 16-0 deficit if
they wanted to achieve history.
The Indians knew that if they
continued with this trend, then they
would be watching the other team
celebrate a state championship for
the second straight year. It would
take Corbett Oughton who stopped
the bleeding with a 3-2 victory in
triple overtime to put the Indians
on the board 16-3. Leo Ruettiger
added on that score with a 6-3 win
of his own against Mitch Cook.
After winning two straight
matches, Minooka closed the gap
and brought the score to 16-6. But
the winning streak would be short
lived when Sandburg’s final state
qualifier Collin Holler wrestled to
a 12-2 win over Minooka’s Jake
DeKlerk.
That gave
the
Eagles four
points,
and a 20-6
lead.
Being
down by
14
and
with just six matches to go, the
Indians knew that it was time to
do some serious work. With just
15 seconds left in the third period,
and the match tied at four a piece,
Bobby Zabel defeated Nick Fishback with a takedown. He won the
match 5-4, and brought the Indians
one step closer to the trophy.
Blake Montella needed to keep
the momentum on the Indians side,
and he did just that. He cut the
overall deficit down to just eight
as a result of his 4-1 victory over
Dan Argueta.
This was Sean Kenny’s first year
as a starter on the varsity wrestling
team, and he proved why he was
a state qualifier in his 11-0 major
decision over Myles O’Hara. This
was a huge win to keep the Indians rally going, and his four points
brought the Indians within four.
The team next looked to Jake
“It feels real good to
bring home the first state
championship in the
school’s history.”
– Sean Kenny, senior
Peace Pipe Chatter
Volume 95
Edition 10
March 8, 2010
Rock
the
boat!
Senior
Banquet
Page 5
Shutter Island
Review
Page 11
No more
homework?
Page 3
Food
battle
Page 6
2
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Welcome
Designed by D.J. Valera
Peace Pipe Chatter
Minooka Community High School
301 S. Wabena Avenue
Minooka, IL 60447
(815) 467-2140 Voicemail: ext 264
mthomas@mchs.net
On the cover:
MCHS seniors bust a move on the Spirit of Chicago at Navy Pier on
Senior Banquet. Photo taken by A&E Editor Sydney Trepel.
Library spending and home-schooled
students discussed at board meeting
by
Ryan Miller / Copy Editor
The career center was full with reporters,
parents, librarians, and students Feb. 28 for the
fifth school board meeting of the year.
The meeting started off with the school librarians explaining to the school board just
what they do for the students and teachers at
both campuses. They explained how that if
schools spend more money on the school libraries it could lead to higher PHSA scores and
school achievement. Student attendance to the
school library has gone up 70% since just last
semester and have had 29,000 hits on their website this year alone. Ms. Carolyn Kinsella, head
librarian, also stated that Minooka’s high school
librarians met with surrounding librarians from
Shorewood-Troy Library, Three Rivers Library,
Minooka and Channahon Elementary school
libraries, and the Prairie-Area Library System
who met January 27 and discussed how they
could better distribute knowledge among the
community.
“It was a wonderful opportunity that has
never been done before,” said Ms. Lisa Wright,
librarian. They are planning on another meeting to take place in the spring.
A seismologist Minooka alum visited Ms.
Laurie Tesmer who showed her class maps and
videos of what caused the earthquake here in
Illinois on Feb. 10.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was
the Rube Goldberg event. The task this year was
to create a machine to dispense the right amount
of hand sanitizer in a minimum of 20 steps.
During public comments, several parents of
home-schooled kids, saying that they should
be able to participate in extra-curricular activities, asked the board to change the four minimum class policy in order for their kids to have
the same privileges as MCHS students. Board
member Chris Balkema mentioned that it would
be discussed with the other school policy members.
Editors-In-Chief
A&E Editor
Jacqueline Kaluzny
D.J. Valera
Sydney Trepel
Aubrey Aspan
Erick Klank
Cover Design
Editorial Editor
Sydney Trepel
Iman Bradley
News Editor
School News Editor
David Tibble
Taylor Roop
Features Editor
Assist. Sports Editor
Melissa Magnus
Jake Hoffman
Elliott Johnson
Sports Editor
South Editor
Mike Noe
Journalism I
Interactive Editor
Chatter Room Editor
Jacqueline Kaluzny
Ryan Miller
Copy Editor
Sports Photographer
Ryan Miller
Taylor Roop
David Tibble
Elliott Johnson
A&E Photographer
Aubrey Aspan
News/Features
Photographer
Susan Bahret
South Photographer
Journalism I
Journalism I:
Adaue Ajiere, Elaina Bartoli, Alexa Bowen, Cody Conaway, Baylee Dibble, Nicole Eberhard, Christopher Evans, Brandon Fierke,
Ashley Groll, Elizabeth Guldenbecker, Samantha Harer, Austin
Hough, Jamie Huff, Catherine Jostes, Mallory Keck, Joseph
Koenig, Shannon Lawlor, Danielle Luttrell, Michael Naszkiewicz,
Dutch Nave, Liz Purcell, Carrie Rickmon, Paige Toepper, John
Walsh
Submission Policy:
The Peace Pipe Chatter strongly encourages suggestions
and/or responses to material printed on its pages.
Letters to the Editor should be submitted to Mr. Thomas’s
mailbox or to a Peace Pipe Chatter editor.
While submission does not guarantee publication, PPC
staff members will do their best to respond to all
admissions. Submissions will not be returned. All submissions are subject to editing and will not be printed if they are
considered to be inappropriate. They must be signed but
may be printed anonymous upon request.
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Opinion
Time to leave the
CRAYONS behind
Soozie Bahret /
News Editor and Photographer
by
Imagine being back in the good ol’ days
of junior high school: everyone knows
everyone, cheesy school dances, and the
same five lunches served every day of the
week.
When you think junior high, do you
think tons of homework? Do you think
that it was a time when your childhood
was stripped away by the teachers who are
giving you 10 pounds of homework each
night? No. Because it is not true.
The students of Channahon Junior High
are moving quickly toward a no homework
policy. Why you ask? Parents and students alike have been complaining that the
work was too overbearing and the stress is
taking away their time to just be kids.
“I went to Channahon Jr. High,” said
junior Derek Gorga. “It was a lot easier
than high school. We had homework, but
it was not usually that hard or that much.”
When I attended the junior high, there
was not a ridiculous amount of homework
as assumed, and one must realize how
necessary it is to have the work in the first
place.
Classes in junior high are only 45 minutes long. That is barley enough time to
teach a whole lesson, let alone squeeze in
all the work that the students should be
taking home. This will push the teacher’s
schedules back and the student will lose
out on hours of learning in the process.
Not to mention, homework allows students to practice what they have learned in
class, so they can get better. The allotted
time at school is not enough to complete
assigned papers and projects. Teachers
have to have some way to have students
get things done other than 45 minutes a
day.
“Are they insane?” said junior Johannah Caliban. “Wait until they come to high
school. After having no homework for
two years and basically learning nothing,
this place is going to be torture.”
The no homework policy is creating at
atmosphere of laziness, filled with soon-tobe procrastinators. They are going to get
used to going to school, going home, and
then going straight to playing video games
all night or hanging out with friends. Once
they reach MCHS, they are going to have
to break these habits, because homework
will be given. These students will thus not
sense the importance of it and suffer the
impact on their grades.
“I hate homework, and sometimes in
high school it is a little over bearing, but
that is high school with a split schedule.
Junior highers do not receive that much
work and they need to get used to the process or high school is going to crush them,”
said junior David Cobb.
What could possibly happen next? Because parents and students are complaining
that school is rather tiring on the children,
they need an hour naptime after lunch?
And after that the kids will need at least
20 minutes of finger painting to relieve the
stress of the school day?
Junior high students are not kindergartners. In two years, they will be entering
high school, which will be a rude awakening if they are not prepared. Parents need
to let their children go. Homework is a
necessary part of school and by abolishing it, they are only hurting the student’s
future for which they will suffer greatly.
“Geez homework is part of life,” said
junior Danny Bahret. “When you get to
high school, you will be a joke if you even
suggest no homework. Trust me. I’ve
tried.”
3
Designed by Iman Bradley
HOMEWORK
EQUALS STRESS
Ryan Miller/
Copy Editor
by
Ever since grade school, school has always had one major set back: homework.
Ever since first grade, we’ve had homework and we’ve always hated it the same.
I can understand having homework in
middle school. But the truth of the matter
is, it shouldn’t be required for high school
teenagers. It is the teachers’ responsibility
to teach the material in class, not a sheet of
paper or book outside of class.
Students spend at least six to sometimes
even eight hours at some schools. Then after a long stressful day, they come home to
do the sometimes boat loads of homework
that all their teachers give them throughout the day. It causes stress because high
school students also participate in after
school sports, jobs, or clubs and can’t always get around to doing homework all
the time. During the weekends, students
work the most so they can afford their cars
or even school lunches, leaving not even
weekend time to do projects or homework.
The reason students have so much is probably because some teachers can be negligent
of the fact that they aren’t the only teacher
assigning homework or a big project.
According to one junior MCHS student,
she had a 400-point paper to do along with
homework not only from other classes, but
also from the same teacher that assigned
the paper in the first place. Junior year is
most commonly known for getting the
most homework. The classes that are notorious for giving out the most homework are
Math, English, Spanish, and U.S. History,
excluding A.P. and honors classes.
According to a Penn Sate University
study, if too much homework is given,
“there can be negative effects, studies sug-
gest. Overburdened by homework, children
may become disillusioned with school and
lose motivation. And excessive homework
can interfere with time otherwise spent connecting as a family by playing games, taking walks, or just talking about the day.”
Instead of homework being helpful and
teaching students what they need to learn, it
is doing the opposite by stressing students
out, which then leads to the student getting
so frustrated that they reach the point of
finally not caring about their grades anymore. A student can only be passionate
about their class or subject if it is taught in
a way that can keep the students attention,
which a piece of paper, a packet, or a book
fail to motivate a student the same way a
teacher could.
If students lose their motivation to keep
good grades, they could also lose their motivation to play sports, or even to continue
their education and go to a college, knowing that the only thing they will get from
it are more headaches and stressful nights
of college essays and pointless packets.
Another factor to consider is the lack of
sleep homework could create. Sometimes
students spend all night working on homework, leaving them exhausted for school
the next day. Excessive amounts of lack
of sleep can later cause the student to start
sleeping in class or even getting sick.
School is a place where students are
to be educated, within the building. Outside of school, students have lives playing
sports, earning money, or just socializing
with friends. If homework continues to pile
up and get more complicated to the point
to where parents won’t even know what
we’re learning, then there will be no freedom for future students and kids alike. Getting rid of homework will not only make
students happier, but it would make them
all the smarter and stress free.
4
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
News
Designed by David Tibble
King Tut’s death solved
David Tibble /
News Editor/Copy Editor
by
After two years of testing, scientists have
discovered the cause of the death of teenage
pharaoh King Tut’s early death.
According to newser.com, the testing
ruled out that Tut was murdered or had
gynecomastia or Marfan’s Syndrome.
They did find that he had another genetic
condition, Kohler Disease II, a disorder that
causes bones to collapse. Traces of malaria
were also found in Tut and some of his
relatives. They also found that Tut’s parents
were brother and sister.
“The thing about his parents is really
creepy,” said Steve Flynn, junior. “Why
did it take them so long to find out how he
died?”
According to history1900s.about.com,
King Tut’s tomb was found on November
4, 1922, when Howard Carter and his
workmen found a hidden step near the
base of the tomb of Ramses IV. The step
led to the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun,
the boy pharaoh whose tomb was
undisturbed for 3,000 years. The cause
of Tut’s young death remained a mystery
until now.
Tut first toured the U.S. during the late
“I was expecting
some kind of heroic death, and he
just had a bone
disorder,” -Hannah
Knorr, junior.
‘70’s. It inspired a popular song on Saturday
Night Live by Steve Martin.
MCHS students gave their thoughts on the
death of Tut.
“It was really anticlimactic,” said junior
Hannah Knorr. “I was expecting some kind
of heroic death, and he just had a bone
disorder.”
Other students weren’t impressed either.
“That was a weird way to die,” said Zack
Wold, junior.
Kenya relocates animals Chicago celebrates Irish history
Taylor Roop /
School News Editor/Copy Editor
by
Kenya wildlife
services are importing more than
7,000 zebras and
wildebeests into a
park to feed starving lions and hyenas.
“I can’t wait till
I get to watch this
massacre on the
news,” said Nick
Kettman, senior.
According to a spokesperson from the
wildlife services, the animals will be taken
from four locations to replenish the population in Amboseli National Park, that just
lost 80 percent of the herbivore population due to a recent drought. It was worst
drought in over 26 years.
Since there are very little herbivores
left, the carnivores
have nothing to feed
on. Lions and hyenas
have been attacking
farmer’s livestock for
food. This has caused
a human versus wildlife conflict in the
area. The Maasai, a local tribe, has been angered by the carnivores
and have threatened to
start killing them if
nothing is done about the situation.
The lion population is at around 2,000
and it has been dropping over the past couple
“It think it is okay because it is so that the
population doesn’t become extinct,” - Zach
Armstrong, junior.
“Animals” continued
on pg. 13
by Iman
Bradley /
Opinion Editor
In the 1800s, the Irish immigrated
to Chicago because Irish Catholics,
the majority of the population, did not
agree with the English rule because they
discriminated against their religion.
According to a research paper and narrative
written by Michael F. Funchion, during the
early years of Chicago, there was a rise
in Irish immigration in the 1830s. Some
Irish already lived in Chicago when it
was considered as a city in 1837. In the
next few years, the Irish population grew
after the arrival of refugees from the Great
Famine. By 1850, Irish immigrants made
up about one-fifth of Chicago’s population.
Although the number of Irish immigrants
in Chicago continued to increase until the
end of the century, their percentage of the
city’s population was never again as high
as it was in 1850’s.
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday
celebrated all around the world on
March 17th to honor the patron saint
of Ireland, Saint Patrick. According to
chicagostpatsparade.com, the Chicago St.
Patrick’s Day Parade is on Saturday, March
13th at 12 p.m. in Downtown Chicago.
The reason why the parade is not set on
St. Patrick’s Day’s actual date is because
it allows families to participate in the
festivities without having to remove their
children from school. If St. Patrick’s Day
is not on a Saturday the parade is always
held the Saturday before the actual date.
Miss Kerry Ann Brennan is the Irish
Queen of the 55th Saint Patrick’s Day
Parade! She was selected out of over
100 contestants on Sunday, February
“Irish History” continued
on pg. 13
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
School News
Designed by Taylor Roop
by
SydneyTrepel /
A&E Editor
O
N
5
Senior Banquet
This is the Chicago Skyline as seen from the boat.
A
Mr. Andres Torres, English, takes a
picture on the upper deck of the
boat.
The boat that the banquet took
place on, “The Spirit of Chicago”.
Sean Coyle and Eric Garvaglia please the crowd
with a wild routine.
Some of the workers on the boat joined in
on the festivities.
B “I wish I
O went” Nick
A Kettman
T
A group of kids walk down the
pier from the boat.
This is the Navy Pier as seen from the boat.
6
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Features
The ppc presents:
FOOD BATTLE
2010
by
There has always been
controversy between brands.
Which one is truly better, Pepsi
or Coke, Gardetto’s or Chex
Mix?
On Fri. Feb. 19, the Peace
Pipe Chatter staff put these
questions to the test. We
voted on which snacks
and drinks we wanted
to sample and brought
them in to do a blind
taste test. The snacks
tested were: Goldfish vs.
Cheez-Its, Chips Ahoy
vs. Famous Amos cookies, Gardetto’s vs. Chex
Mix, gummy worms vs.
gummy bears, and Lays
vs. Jays. We also tested
three drink groups: Pepsi
vs. Coke vs. RC, Dr.
Pepper vs. Dr. Chill, and blue
PowerAde vs. blue Gatorade.
The first ones tested were
everyone’s favorite, Goldfish
and Cheez-It’s. The race was
close but Cheez-Its came out
on top winning with a 6-4 vote.
“I voted for Cheeze-Its
because I don’t like when my
food stares back at me,” said
junior David Tibble.
Next was the battle of the
cookies, Chips Ahoy vs. Fa-
Jacki Kaluzny / Editor in Chief
mous Amos. The result came
down to one vote and Chips
Ahoy prevailed winning with 6
votes over Amos’s 5.
The first set of drinks to be
challenged were: Coke, Pepsi,
and RC. Pepsi won by a land-
winning 7-4.
For those who love their
knock-off brands, we have
proof that they might not always taste the same. Our next
battle was between Dr. Pepper
and Jewel-Oscos Dr. Chill.
The winner was obvious with Dr. Pepper
winning 9-1.
“Dr. Chill was
nasty,” said senior
D.J. Valera. “They
don’t taste the
same at all.”
Similar
names don’t
always have
a similar taste
and our taste test
of Jays vs. Lays
proved that. After
everyone sampled both chips,
Lays came out on top. Lays
earned 8 votes while Jays only
received 2.
To finish off the competition
we compared blue PowerAde
to blue Gatorade. Because
PowerAde essentially is a
remake of Gatorade we knew
who the winner would be. Gatorade won with 6 votes while
PowerAde was left with 3.
“Usually I’m a Coke
drinker, but when it
came down to vote on
it Pepsi tasted best”
said senior, Sydney
Trepel
slide with 6 votes while RC
came in with 3 and Coke with
only a surprising 1 vote.
“Usually I’m a Coke drinker,” said senior Sydney Trepel.
“But when it came down to
vote on it Pepsi tasted best.”
Though some may say
they’re the same, we had to
test gummy bears to gummy
worms. Our results showed
that gummy worms were truly
better than gummy bears while
Designed by Melissa Magnus
Winter Olympics
bring excitement to
Vancouver
by
When it comes to
tradition, the Olympics
may be considered the
world’s longest lasting
tradition. Both the
Summer and Winter
Olympics have been
held every four years
for hundreds of years,
and the 2010 Olympics
hosted in Vancouver
were nothing short of
exciting.
The opening ceremony for the 2010
Vancouver Olympics
was on Feb. 12 and the
ceremony went, for the
most part, smooth and
without a hitch. The
2010 Olympics were
hosted in a $100-million dollar technologically advanced venue.
Unfortunately, the
venue could not have
prevented an accident
before the Olympics
even began. In practice
luge runs, Georgian
athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed in a
luging run on the new
track. Around one of
the final bends of the
track Nodar crashed,
flying off the track and
into a steel support
beam, hitting it at about
90 miles an hour. He
died at the scene of the
accident.
Shaun White is
the biggest name in
Eric Klank / A&E Editor
snowboarding, and
his performance in the
Olympics does not
add any doubt to why.
White won gold in the
men’s half-pipe snowboarding competition.
That’s not quite what
all the fuss was about
though, considering
White won the same
competition in 2006.
The big deal, instead,
is about the trick White
landed. The trick he
landed was the double
MCTwist 1260: three
and a half spins with
two flips. This was the
first time that the trick
has ever been pulled off
in any sort of competition, and the trick is so
advanced that it doesn’t
even have an official
name yet.
Quite possibly the
biggest disappointment
of the Olympics was
the hockey team losing
the gold medal game
against Canada. Although Canada pulled
ahead 2-0 early in the
game, America did
come from behind and
scored two goals, only
to lose in overtime to a
break away goal from
Sidney Crosby. A lot of
Americans were disappointed by the loss, and
the gold medal hockey
game was easily the
most popular sport to
watch.
Speed skater Apollo
Ohno also had a great
showing at the Olympics winning a total
of three medals in his
various races that he
competed in, winning
these three medals
helped make him the
most decorated American winter Olympian of
all time.
America may not
of won gold in hockey,
but they did win the
most medals with 37.
They ended up having
nine gold, 15 silver,
and 13 bronze medals.
Coming in second place
in total medal count
was Germany with 30.
Coming in third place
was Canada, with 26
medals. Canada did win
the most gold medals,
with a total of 14.
The closing ceremony of the Olympics was also a great
successs0, and uniquely
funny. You know it’ll
be an interesting closing ceremony when
William Shatner starts
off the ceremony. The
ceremony poked fun
at the Olympics and
Canada, but still it was
able to honor Noday
Kumaritashvilli and his
country of Georgia.
7
What’s your flavor?
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Features
Designed by Soozie Bahret
Jacki Kaluzny /
Editor-in-chief
by
Allison Turner, junior.
Movie: Forest Gump
Food: Spaghetti
Color: Orange
Band: Kenny Chesney
Class: Band
Ice Cream Flavor: Dark Chocolate
Wayne Otto, senior
Movie: Band of Brothers
Food: Deep dish pizza
Color: Green
Band: Rise Against
Class: Math
Ice Cream Flavor: Strawberry
Julie Feeny, secretary
Movie: The Notebook
Food: Salad
Color: Black
Band: Bon Jovi
Hobby: Working out
Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla
Student and Faculty Favorites
Mark Jones, junior.
Movie: The Matrix
Food: Anything Chinese
Color: Blue
Band: I don’t like music.
Class: Science
Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate
Eric Hank, juinor.
Movie: The Hangover
Food: Cheese pizza
Color: Blue
Band: Kenny Chesney
Class: Resource
Ice Cream Flavor: Cookies
and cream
Megan Sweet, senior
Movie: The Notebook
Food: Pepperoni pizza
Color: Blue or red
Band: Rascal Flatts
Class: Yearbook
Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate
John Hynek, senior
Movie: Zoolander
Food: Human flesh
Color: Green
Band: Dance Club Massacre
Class: Lunch
Ice Cream Flavor: Blue
Bob Tyrell, Athletic Director
Movie: The Godfather
Food: Steak
Color: Green
Band: Bruce Springsteen
Hobby: Athletics
Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla
8
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
South
Designed by Journalism I
Students ponder work during summer
by
Baylee Dibble /
Journalism I
Deciding whether to get a summer job
in high school can be a very important
decision in life. People say they are “the
best years of your life,” but it is also a time
to start to figure out your life. This decision
can have a big impact on the rest of your
life.
MCHS is pretty split on the amount of
students getting a job, and not getting a job.
Out of 50 students, 27 of them are getting
one, or 54%. The other 46% are not getting
a job. There are slightly more people who
are, but not many.
Out of those 27 students getting a job,
22.2% of them are going to work at a fast
food restaurant. Fifty-five percent of the
students chose the “other” option. Some
of the jobs they put for “other” included
being a lifeguard, or working at their dad’s
business.
“I have the perfect job opportunity. My
dad owns his own business so I can control
when I work and still get paid,” said Carly
Garcia, freshman.
High-school-aged kids need money for
many different things. Many of them say
they just need it for “everything.” Sixty-six
percent of them chose this option. Another
22% of the students said hat they are saving
up for something. The rest of the students
say they need it for fun, or college. If the
group were to be broken down by grades,
I’m sure none of the freshmen are worrying
about college right now.
Out of the students who are getting a
job, 70% of them do not have a job now.
The other 30% do have a job at the moment
and plan to continue that job, or get a new
one in the summer.
Out of the 23 students that are not
getting a job this summer, 30% of them say
that they would like to. Another 19% say
they would not like to get a job even if they
could this summer, and 37% say that they
may want to if they had the opportunity,
but they are not positive.
“If I had the opportunity to get a job
this summer, I probably would, but my
summers are to busy for that,” said Amy
Tuley, freshman.
Five students responded that they would
not was to get a job no matter
what. Out of them, 40% for
each option chose that it
either takes to much time, or
they just don’t want one.
“I really just don’t want
to get a job this summer. I’m
only a freshman, and I want
to have fun,” said Bobby
Smith, freshman.
The other 20% said that
they are “to young” to get
a job.
As this survey has
proven, the number of
students getting a job this
summer is very split. They
have many different reasons
for their decisions. Some
just simply don’t want one,
or they really need one to
pay for college. It’s a pretty
big decision to make that
will, for some, affect the rest
of your life. From getting
into college, or missing out on a
fun summer.
Are you getting a summer job?
NO
YES
Fifty MCHS students were surveyed at random as to
whether they were planning getting a summer job.
Graph created by Baylee Dibble.
Gatorade tops among South students
Joe Koenig /
Journalism I
Fifty-seven MCHS freshman and
sophomore students took a survey
concerning what drink they consume
during sports. There were 41 freshman and
16 sophomores who took this survey.
The choices of drinks were Gatorade,
PowerAde, Water, and Vitamin Water.
Twenty-eight or 49% of the students chose
Gatorade. PowerAde tied for last with
Vitamin Water; they each had seven votes
or about 12.2%.
Sophomore Matt Kelly said, “I like to
drink water because when my throat is sore
it cures it so I’m ready to sing again.”
Normal water came in second place
having 15 votes or 26.3%.
by
The majority of the people who play a
sport stuck to Gatorade. People who don’t
play sports mostly drank water.
Freshman Mike O’Neill said, “ I like to
drink Gatorade cause it replenishes me in
the middle of a hot baseball game. Also, I
enjoy the flavors they have.”
There are many flavors that these
different drinks have. While blue comes in
first with 11 votes or 19.2%, freshman Joey
Santillo disagrees.
He said, “Purple for the win every
time!”
Purple came in last with five votes or
0.8% trailing orange, yellow, and red. In
second place was yellow and it had eight
votes. Then came orange and red tied with
seven or 12.2%.
Favorite flavors of
sports drinks
Fifty-seven MCHS freshmen and sophomore were surveyed at random as to their favorite flavo
of sport drink. Graph created by Joe Koenig.
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
A&E
Designed by Eric Klank
The roots to www.Woot.com
9
The source to all the best deals online
by D.J. Valera/Editor-In-Chief
One day, one product, one sale. These
six words are what create the focus of the
Internet retailing site www.Woot.com.
Woot is based in Carrollton, Texas,
and was founded by electronics wholesaler Matt Rutledge. The site has a simple
goal; to sell one product a day at a discounted price. This item usually is an
electronic gadget or a piece of computer
hardware. The product is on sale until it
is either sold out or until 11:59 p.m. central time when a new product is put on sale.
When you first get on Woot, you’ll see
the picture of the product being sold that day
and its price, as well as a blurb about it below it. Next to the picture of the product you
can see the current condition of it and a little
discussion sidebar. In this you can make recommendations and ask about the product.
You may think that’s it, but the website also has an online community. In the
community tab of the site, you can discuss
and participate in a number of things. The
day’s product, the site itself, weekly contests, side deals, and of course you can
engage yourself in a general discussion
where you can talk about anything unrelated to Woot. The site also has a blog where
conventions and products are discussed.
Kids.woot.com,
shirt.woot.com,
wine.woot.com, and sellout.woot.com
are spinoff sites of Woot. All are accessible on the main page of the site.
Overall, the site is extremely easy
to navigate and very straightforward. A
set of tabs is present on every page that
shows every major page of the site. The
site also provides great deals on prod-
ucts that can sometimes be overpriced.
The site, being a community, also gives
you a second input. Reviews and recommendations by other people on the site
can help you in making those decisions on
what exactly to buy, whether it be the actual
product or other products and accessories.
In essence, for those electronically inclined and looking for good deals on products, be sure to give Woot a look-see at
least once a day. You might just find what
you’re looking for at a price you didn’t
think it would be. In a good way, of course.
Bioshock’s sequal
surpasses expectations
by Eric Klank/ A&E Editor
Most of the well-known video games are
now sequels. Where most fail to be as good
as their successors, some do succeed. Bioshock 2 most certainly succeeded in terms
of being as good as the original Bioshock.
The game takes place in the same underwater city of Rapture, but it picks up
eight years after the first one ends. You
don’t play as the original main character, Jacob, but you play instead as Delta.
The campaign to this story is great,
and based around solid first-person shooter action. The whole atmosphere is eerie, and very creepy. The campaign has
plenty of twists and action to it, which
keeps the game interesting, and keeps
you wanting more. The overall campaign
is easily one of the best, and most engaging campaigns I have ever played.
Bioshock also has added a multiplayer
mode, making the game much more replayable and extending it’s life a lot more.
There are the seven game types to play.
There aren’t any creative game types unfortuanetly, they all are the typical free-for-all,
or capture and hold an objective, nothing
too spectacular, but it isn’t half bad either.
Bioshock 2 does have a few disappointing
aspects to it though. For one, you’re playing in the exact same town of Rapture, so
the game doesn’t feel too different from the
original. The gameplay is certainly fun, but
it seems like 2k Boston was kind of afraid to
make anything completely new. They knew
they had a working game, and didn’t want
to add to it to make it worse, which it turned
out just fine, but it is somewhat upsetting
that there is nothing new to the game.
Overall, Bioshock 2 is a great game,
and is definitely worth your time, it may
even be better than the original when taking the multiplayer into mind. Bioshock
2 still has the engaging story mode the
original had, and is one of those campaigns
that you can’t stop until your done with it.
10
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
A&E
Ellen
Idol
on
Designed by Sydney Trepel
by
Melissa Magnus /
A&E Editor
Recently she was included in Forbes’
Top 5 “Most Influential Women in Media”
and voted “Favorite TV Personality” by
The Harris Poll’s annual favorite television
star list, beating out Oprah Winfrey and Jay
Leno.
Ellen Degeneres has officially joined
American Idol’s panel of judges for the
newest season of the show, which premiered
in mid January. According to AmericanIdol.
com, Degeneres was extremely enthusiastic
upon taking her new place on the panel.
“I’m thrilled to be the new judge on
American Idol. I’ve watched since the
beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan.
So getting this job is a dream come true,
and think of all the money I’ll save from not
having to text my vote,” she said.
As the newest judge on the panel, Ellen
will offer her constructive critiques to the
contestants throughout the competition.
Executive producer, Simon Fuller, is also
excited to welcome in the newest member to
the panel.
“I could not be more excited to have Ellen
join the American Idol family. Ellen has
been a fan of the show for many years, and
her love of music and understanding of the
American public will bring a unique human
touch to our judging panel. I can’t wait for
this next season to begin,” said Fuller.
Degeneres joined Simon, Kara, and Randy
during Hollywood week after the first set of
auditions and a series of guest judges, such as
Joe Jonas, were featured on the show.
“I think that featuring a bunch of different
judges makes the show more interesting,”
said junior Kacy Rogers.
This Emmy award winning talk show host
has taken the place of Paula Abdul this season,
and it has brought up some controversy.
“I really like Ellen as a new judge on Idol,
she brings a good sense of humor to the group
of judges” said sophomore Rachel Vidano.
Many believe that Degeneres is not
experienced enough in the music field, in
order to make a good influence on the Idol
contestants. American Idol airs Tuesdays at
7 p.m., and Wednesdays at 8.
Not so ‘unexpected’
CW’s newest show fails to impress viewers
by Soozie Bahret /
Head Photographer
Every Monday night on television
network The CW, teens nation wide tune
it to watch hit TV show Gossip Girl. But
with the launching of similar shows, Gossip
Girl decided to take a mid-season break to
avoid copycats. In its place, a new show
has filled the eight-o’clock spot.
Created by Liz Tigelaar, Life Unexpected
is, like Gilmore Girls was, the story of
an unconventional family. Cate (Shiri
Appleby) is a successful radio personality
who hosts a morning talk show with Kyle
(Kerr Smith), who has to pretend on air he’s
not her boyfriend to maintain the program’s
formula.
When Cate was in high school, she had a
one-night stand with popular football player
Baze (Kristoffer Polaha), got pregnant and,
placed the baby for adoption. Sixteen years
later, that baby is a wisecracking girl named
Lux (Brittany Robertson), who has spent
her whole life in the foster care system and
now needs her birth parents’ signatures to
get emancipated.
But after Lux finds them both - and after
both of them deal with the shocking arrival
of a girl they either didn’t know existed
or had tried for years to forget - Cate and
Baze somehow wind up as Lux’s new legal
guardians, much to everyone’s discomfort.
Critics call it “heart warming” and “one
of life’s unexpected surprises.” But after
watching it myself, I found it to be just
mediocre.
The acting, with the exception of
Robertson, is poor. During the show, it
actually seems like the actors are reading
their lines off a screen.
“I thought it was going to be interesting,”
said junior Johannah Caliban. “But I was
disappointed to find that it wasn’t that good
at all. I miss Gossip Girl.”
The story line is not at all original and
the writing not all impressive. It is one of
the shows that you turn on just because you
are bored. It’s not the type that you would
make sure to TEVO because you have to
work when it airs.
“It came on after One Tree Hill so I
decided to watch it,” said junior Melissa
Cunnings. “I mean it was alright. There
were some funny lines, but it came off more
as cheesy.”
The cast has potential, but the show
needs to find an original and compelling
voice. They seem to be dawdling in a pool
of over-used dramatic plot lines, missing an
element that could draw viewers in.
Robert Owen of the Pittsburgh PostGazette said, “Robertson is a find. She
capably plays both Lux’s world-weary,
snarky attitude and her vulnerability. She’s
a large part of what makes Life Unexpected
a minor delight, even if its charms are
entirely expected.”
What it comes down to is, watch the
show if you really have nothing better to
do. For a series called Life Unexpected, it
is really not that unexpected at all.
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
A&E
11
Designed by Aubrey Aspan
Shutter Island leaves you Guessing
by
Aubrey Aspan/
A&E editor
Shutter Island came out with huge
expectations as a horror and mystery film,
and as far as I’m concerned it lived up to
those expectations.
Teddy Daniels played by Leonardo
DiCaprio is a US Marshal that had served
in WW II in Germany who is sent to an
Alcatraz-like prison/ insane asylum to
investigate a disappearance of an insane
housewife. Throughout the movie, he
and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark
Ruffalo) tear apart the island in hopes
in finding some form of incriminating
evidence that will prove that the doctors
are performing some cruel brain surgery on
the patients. But their investigations are cut
short after a huge hurricane that traps them
inside the asylum for days.
Towards the beginning of the movie
Teddy starts to have these weird visions
of his wife that died in a fire that was set
by Andrew Laeddis, who now is kept at
Shutter Island, many of them also include
something about a little girl that that Teddy
had seen at Dachau. These visions leave
you wondering are they just bad dreams or
if something else is happening that could
be caused by the aspirins that Dr. Crawley,
the head doctor at Shutter island played by
Ben Kingsley, has been giving him for his
migraines.
Though Teddy’s visions are a great
insight to the ending of the movie, as they
are happening you sit there and have no
idea what or how he is thinking of these
things. And when everything is finally
sorted out in the end of the movie its so
brief that you actually have to think about
what just happened as you’re walking out
of the theatre. This leaves you wondering
what happened long after the movie is
over.
Another inconvenience of this movie is
the rating, it is rated R. I could see if this
movie was very violent and had plenty
of swearing, but to be honest there was
nothing I could see that would actually
make this movie an R rated one.
The acting in this movie was amazing
not only did DiCaprio give a great
performance as a hardened U.S Marshal
but all of the insane patients and their scary
and creepy doctors and nurses make the
movie much more believable. Not only
that but the special effects during mostly
Teddy’s visions, which make them so real
that they almost seem they are happening
in real life.
One of the let downs of this movie is
that they advertise it as a scary movie, but
in truth all of the scenes that will make you
jump in your seat were in the comercials.
But the movie was a good suspense movie.
For most of the movie it plays on the
fact that Teddy is the hero of this mystery
and everyone else is out to hurt and trap
him there. But in a drastic turn of events
he then becomes the villain and the victim
at the same time, and the rest of the people
on the island are there along for the ride as
Teddy figures out the dark past that he has
been hiding from himself for so long.
Overall Shutter Island was a movie
that kept you on the edge of your seat
and kept you at the edge of your seat. Not
only that but it managed to leave a lasting
immpresion.
Love for Angels and Airwaves
Jake Hoffman/
Sports editor
by
Whether you feel love, hate or
indifference toward him, Tom Delonge
is definitely one of the most fascinating
figures in music today. Here’s a guy who
didn’t have a whole lot of folks in his
corner after the dissolution of the beloved
Blink-182, and his startling statements
about how his new music with Angels
and Airwaves would change rock music
certainly didn’t help endear him to people.
“Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce”, the
instrumental opener of Angels and
Airwaves’ new third album Love,
makes you realize that the band has an
immediately recognizable aesthetic that’s
unmistakably their own.
With the title of the opening track a
Latin phrase that translates to “lead the
world by light” and the space references
like “Flight of Apollo,” it’s clear that
the latest installment in the Angels and
Airwaves discography is going for that
larger then life effect. Musically, it’s
along the same lines as its predecessors as
well, with extended song lengths, (some
might say overlong) intros and outros,
echoey guitars, huge pounding drums, and
Delonge’s obviously enhanced voice. Love
is not likely to earn the band any new fans,
but for those that enjoy their style, it’s
definitely a worthy album.
Besides not really doing anything to
expand upon their already established
sound, the songs on Love are also
handicapped by a failure lyrics-wise to
meet Delonge’s ambitions. On “Flight of
Apollo,” he sings, “Please don’t look at me
so sadly, life shouldn’t hurt so badly,” and
while its decidedly hopeful and uplifting,
it’s hardly profound or groundbreaking.
A little better is the more earthly “Young
London.”
“Shove” is one of a few single-worthy
tracks, but it also finds Angels and
Airwaves walking the fine line between
staying true to their trademark sound and
flat out ripping themselves off, with a
guitar track that sounds pulled right out
of their debut’s “Distraction”. Likewise,
“Epic Holiday throws buzzing prog-rock
synths over a main riff very similar to the
one from “Everything’s Magic.” Without
question, it’s all very listenable, and the
production is pristine, but it’s becoming
increasingly apparent that Delonge and
friends either aren’t able to or aren’t
willing to venture beyond the very samey
mid-tempo hooks and guitar lines of their
previous albums.
“Soul Survivor (...2012),” builds
into a sparkling Rush-like arena rock
number that’s probably the most effective
example of what Angels and Airwaves
can accomplish working within this
style. “Letters to God, Part II” also
showcases the band’s musical talents, with
skyscraping guitars and accents. “We all
are love and love is hard.”
Through it all, it is hard to really not
like Love. Without question Tom has done
another excellent job, and was helped out
tremendously by drummer Aton Willard,
who is a force to be reckoned with on this
album.
Now, the only thing left is someone
needs to clue Delonge in that the albums
that really did change the face of music
weren’t born out of an intent to do so.
These things have to happen on their own.
It’s unfortunate that his attempts to make
these broad, dramatic statements with his
music at times seem rather like trying to
force a square peg into a round hole.
Delonge is obviously a talented
songwriter, but he’d do well to remember
that he made his most enduring
impressions when he exercised a little
humor and appealed to our basest instincts
and emotions. So lighten up, Tom, and
stop trying to change the world. You’ve
already done that in the hearts of many,
when you weren’t even trying.
12Luck of the Irish word search
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Interactive
IRELAND
IRISH
GOLD
POT
RAINBOW
GREEN
CLOVER
LUCK
Designed by Jacki Kaluzny
SHAMROCK
JIG
PATRICK
SAINT
SNAKES
LEPRECHAUN
SHILLELAGH
13
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Jump
Animals cont. from p. 4
years, so they cannot afford to have anymore casualties that can be prevented.
“I think it is okay because it is so that the
population doesn’t become extinct,” said
Zach Armstrong, junior.
The estimated cost will be about 1.4 million. First, the zebras will go, then the wildebeests will follow. They will be herded
into a funnel-shape enclosure using helicopters and then loaded into trucks and
drove to Amboseli. From there, they are
released.
Amboseli is one of the highest earners
for tourism in Kenya, and lions are among
the top five tourist wildlife attractions.
Designed by Jacki Kaluzny
Chicago history cont. from p. 4
Chicagoans of Irish heritage who consider qualities such as; grace, sincerity,
beauty, poise, personality and wit when
voting for contestants.
The Court follows the Queen during the
parade. The Queen and her Court will also
represent the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day
Parade Committee at various public functions throughout the year. The ladies of the
Queen’s Court are Miss Sara Collins, Miss
Meghan Hayes, Queen Kerry Ann Brennan, Miss Erin Mulcahy and Miss Lauren
Corry.
Every year around 11 a.m. the Chicago
River is dyed green. This year is scheduled for 10:45, the morning of the parade,
and can be best viewed from the east side
of the bridge at Columbus Drive or upper
and lower Wacker drive between Columbus and Lake Shore Drive.
The parade starts at East Balbo and South
Columbus Drive. The parade units will
proceed north and end at South Columbus
and East Monroe Drive.
National league cont. from p. 14
They also decided to let go of Kevin
Gregg and in addition traded Milton
Bradley. If the Cubs want to regain their
division championship, they will need
to pitch better, and play better defense.
Also, Alfonso Soriano needs to come back
strong and be the player they though he
would be when they signed him to that big
contract. Furthermore, the Cubs offense
needs to be better if they want to compete
in their own hitter friendly ballpark.
4. Cincinnati Reds
Anyone would agree that the Reds strong
point has got to be their pitching. They
helped solidify their rotation with the
signing of Cuban rookie Ardolis Chapman. Chapman is a highly acclaimed Cuban pitcher with the ability to pitch in the
majors already. They also signed shortstop
Orlando Cabrera. He will help the team
up the middle of the infield with his gold
glove and be a strong number two hitter in
the lineup. But in such a strong division,
it is unlikely that the Reds will stand a
chance against the more elite teams.
5. Houston Astros
The Astros had a really weak off-season
and did very little to make them a contender. They lost all-star shortstop Miguel
Tejada, as well as relief pitchers LaTroy
Hawkins and Jose Valverde. This is going
to really hurt the team’s chances to stay
above .500 with a thin bullpen. In order
to refute the losses of the previous two,
they signed relief pitcher Brandon Lyon
to a three year deal. With a weak pitching
staff, and an average offense, the Astros
don’t have much to look forward to as the
season approaches.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
The main focus of the Pittsburgh Pirates
this off season was to sign a strong relief
pitcher. They did that when the signed
Octavio Dotel, a hard throwing relief
pitcher, to a one year deal. In addition to
Dotel, the Pirates got pitcher Neal Cotts,
and D.J Carrasco. They also strengthened their infield by trading for second
baseman Akinori Iwamura. He provides
a high-quality bat in that lineup. After
having a yard sale with their team last
year, the Pirates are still in major rebuilding mode. It will be a long time before we
see this team in competition again. It will
be interesting to see how long it takes to
trade these additions this year.
NL West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
After making it to the NL Championship
series, the Dodgers are looking to go that
extra step to the World Series this 2010
season. Already having a great team, the
Dodgers really didn’t go out and make
any big splashes in the off-season. Unfortunately, they even lost star pitcher Randy
Wolf to the Brewers. They will have to
have a consistent balance of one of the
leagues best offenses, and good starting
pitching if they hope to return to the playoffs as the West champion.
2. San Francisco Giants
San Francisco had a surprising run at the
title last year, but fell short just seven
games out. Their starting pitching is
amongst the best in the league with backto-back Cy Young award winner Tim
Lincecum leading the way. In order to
strengthen their infield, the team added a
solid third baseman in Mark DeRosa, as
well as Aubrey Huff, who will most likely
start at first base. The teams pitching will
be the deciding factor on whether the team
succeeds or not. But with Matt Cain and
Lincecum at the front, I like the team’s
chances.
3. Colorado Rockies
Being in the most hitter-friendly ballpark
in the league, the Rockies will need to
continue their good offense if they want to
win at home. Also because of their home
turf, the pitching has to step it up if they
plan on winning 90 games again. Two
signing worth noting are Melvin Mora,
third baseman, and Miguel Olivo, catcher.
Third Baseman Garrett Atkins was lost
this offseason via free agency so they
picked up Mora to combat the loss. It will
be interesting to see how this team fairs
after a successful season last year, but they
will most likely fall just short once again.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks weak point last year
was a lack of offense. So to help fix that
the team added first baseman Adam LaRoch, and second baseman Kelly Johnson.
They will definitely solve the lingering
infield problem on the right side, and help
bring Arizona back to contention. Unfortunately, the team lost staring pitcher
Doug Davis, and failed to find a legitimate
replacement for him. This could really affect the team’s chances in the long haul of
a 162-game season.
5. San Diego Padres
San Diego had a relatively weak offense
last year, which they need to improve on
at home if they want to win. Their pitching need to be better in a friendly ballpark,
so they signed all-star right hander Jon
Garland to a one year deal. Garland will
surely help the teams pitching staff, and
will make it a lot more difficult for opposing offenses who come in town. Nothing
was really lost over the past five months,
so you can say that the team had an overall positive of season.
14
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8 , 2010
Sports
Designed by Jake Hoffman
National League Baseball Preview
2. ATLANTA BRAVES
by
Mike Noe / Sports Editor
There are many teams in the National
League that will be worth watching this
year. The Phillies of course will be looking
to return to the World Series for a third
straight season. The Cubs are hoping to
return to the playoffs after a disappointing 2009 campaign. Also, the Los Angeles
Dodgers are looking to have another great
season following last year’s 95 wins, and
a 4-1 NL Championship series loss. As the
season approaches, there are many possibilities for the fate of these teams, but here
are my NL pre-season predictions.
NL East
1. Philidelphia phillies
You have to say that the Phillies are
going to take the division championship
again because of the fact that they are
back-to-back NL Champions alone. They
didn’t hurt their chances when they traded
Cliff Lee in a three team deal that netted
them ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Granted
that Cliff Lee is another phenomenal pitcher, but they won 93 games with Lee for
only half a season. Imagine what they can
do when they have an even better pitcher
in Halladay for a whole season. They also
signed second baseman Placido Polanco to
a three-year deal. Polanco is slated to make
the move to third base as all-star Chase Utley already holds the second base position.
Polanco is a two time gold glove winner
at second and has a career .303 batting
average. He will have a huge impact when
it comes to strengthening the infield. He is
no stranger to third base as he played the
position before in his previous tenure in
Philadelphia just four years ago. The only
question is will he be able to re-adjust after
playing second for four straight seasons.
The Braves recovered nicely last year
after only winning 72 in the previous
season. They fell short of a division title
by seven games, and won 86 games. They
were quiet this off season not really adding
a whole lot. In fact, they lost one of their
key pitchers last season Javier Vazquez
when he was traded to the Yankees. They
also lost first baseman Adam LaRoche and
second baseman Kelly Johnson. It is the
hope though, that by adding first baseman
Troy Glaus, the impact of losing the other
two will be less severe. If the Braves are
going to win this year, it’s going to be
because of their pitching, and not their
offense.
3. Florida marlins
Despite having a team salary that is last
in the league at just under 40 million, the
Marlins have a serious contender for the
NL East title. Nothing big happened for
the Marlins as they pretty much sat tight
and were spectators the whole off season.
Many of their signings were just minor
league deals, and they didn’t lose anybody
of major importance. Overall, this very
efficient team will have a shot as long as
they continue their strong offense. They
don’t have very good pitching, and mostly
rely on their bats to get the job done.
4. New York Mets
The Mets went from one of the most
deadly teams in the league just a few years
ago, to a team struggling to stay above
.500 today. Last year, the team was only
able to muster up a measly 70 wins. When
compared to the rest of their division, they
only beat out the last place team Washington Nationals. They added left fielder
Jason Bay to the outfield, which solidifies
one of the top outfields in the division. But
it is unlikely that they will have a chance
to compete with the others in that division
when looking at the other top three teams.
Johan Santana simply cannot do it on his
own when it comes to that pitching staff.
As long as their pitching remains as is,
they will safely sit behind the rest of the
pack.
5. Washington
nationals
When it comes down to the Nationals,
they didn’t lose much because you can’t
lose what’s not there. They had MLB’s
worst record last year finishing with a
59-103 record. Things can only look up
for Washington, and with some of the
additions they made, it may be possible to
win 65 games. Their biggest acquisition
was starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang.
Wang has had a serious case of the injury
bug the last couple seasons, which led the
Yankees to let him loose. But he is still a
good pitcher, and as long as he can stay
healthy, has the possibility of winning
10-15 games. They also added third baseman Adam Kennedy, who will be playing
second base, and relief pitcher Matt Capps.
The team has some potential, but will
probably be sitting comfortably in last for
most of the season.
NL Central
1. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals did not have the greatest
off season in the world, but it also wasn’t
a huge bust either. They added to their
already brilliant pitching staff with the
addition of Brad Penny. Although he has
struggled the past couple seasons, it should
do him good to be back in the National
League. Also, the fact that he will be
pitching in a friendly ballpark will not hurt
his chances for a great season. He will be
replacing star pitcher Joel Pineiro who was
lost in the free agent market. They also lost
Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel. The key to
the Cardinals success will be their pitching
as always. They do have the greatest hitter in the game today Albert Pujols in the
lineup, but he will not be enough to win
the team a championship. To help Pujols,
they re-signed another big bat in Matt Holliday. If their pitching mimics that of last
years, then expect great things from the
defending division champs.
2. Milwakuee Brewers
Everyone knows that the Brewers have
tons of talent in their offense. But it will be
their pitching that decides how they finish
out the year. They have the potential to
win the Central Division, but only if their
pitching holds up for an entire season. The
Brewers remained quiet this off season
with their biggest addition being starting
pitcher Randy Wolf. He will have a huge
impact on the starting staff and will play
a major role on whether they make the
playoffs or not.
3. Chicago Cubs
After a disappointing 2009 season, the
Cubs are done with the Milton Bradley-era
just one season after the signing. Instead,
they decided to go with another former
Texas Rangers outfielder, Marlon Byrd.
Byrd is coming off a career year, and the
Cubs have high hopes he will finally be
the answer to the outfield void. They also
signed outfielder Xavier Nady to a one
year deal. Nady was injured for most of
the season last year, but has put up solid
numbers in years past. The Cubs decided
not to sign pitcher Rich Harder after a year
and a half of service.
“National League Season
Preview” Continued On
Page 13
15
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
Sports
Designed by Mike Noe
Meet the Coach: Mickey Resner
Jake Hoffman /
Sports Editor
by
Mickey Resner has been
coaching girls bowling and
sophomore football for five
years at MCHS. Resner said, “I coach
because I love the sports and
I enjoy working with the
young talent in the school.
And I enjoy the opportunity
to help develop the talent so
athletes can have success
while they are in school.”
Resner really enjoyed
his football coach in high
school; however, the cross
country coach at North
Central College, Al Carious,
really impacted him.
“He gave me the most
insight about the joys of
coaching. He spoke to the
group of incoming freshmen
athletes at a freshmen
seminar and I thought what
he had to say at the time
helped inspire to want to
coach when I was done
playing,” Resner said.
Alyssa Rak, a varisty
bowler said, “He always
pushes me to perform at my
best.”
Mickey Resner has been coaching girls bowling and
sophomore football for five years at MCHS. Photo taken
by sports editor Elliott Johnson. Resner played football
and baseball in high school,
outside of school he was an
Olympic Power Lifter.
Resner said, “ If I was to
coach another sport besides
the two I coach here I would
like to teach Olympic
weight lifting. Olympic
weight lifting is a sport that
is big in my family,
and something that I
competed in when I was in
college. The best outing I
had was when I finished 7th
in colligate nationals when
I was a senior in college. It
is a sport that takes a lot of
technique and hard work to
excel in.”
Along with coaching,
Resner also teaches Algebra
2 and Algebra 1 double
block.
He says that, “The joy
of teaching comes when a
students work at what they
need to do to be successful.
When kids are putting the
extra effort into their school
to make their grades. That’s
what making teaching
enjoyable when students
are giving their best efforts
to make themselves a better
person.”
Spring Sports Preview
Michael Noe /
Sports Editor
by
Baseball
right attitude. We will see if
our seniors are able to step
up and play as a team.
wins against JCA, Sandburg, and JT.
pumped for the season, and
ready for some tough competition!”
lieve we have those things
too.”
Key Returners:
Key Returners: Xavi-
Key Returners:
Matt
Phillips, Matt Lindstrom,
Ryne Jacobson, John Savikas, Kevin Hannon, Adam
Pruim, Cory Seddon, Matt
Santillo, and John Hynek
Maddie Simon
Rachel Morman, Alex Szymanski, DeJah Lloyd
Kala Johannes, Angelica
Estrada, Sara Bechard
Autum Bevell, Jasmine
Stewart, Megan Kelly
Allie Rossi, Payton Harding, Sasha Litt
Nicole Johnson, Megan Alexander, Jordan Halvorsen,
Amber Lawrence, Taylor
Downing
Girls Track
letes and newcomers. We
are going to work very hard
this season, and are looking
to improve upon our conference finish and send a busload of athletes to the IHSA
3A State Championships.
er Crump, Jayme Roberts,
2009 Record: 24-12
Matt Menozzi, Tim Wright,
Key Returners: Pitch- Boys Tennis
Kevin Dorenkamper, Dan
ers: Mike Foltynewicz, Joe 2009 Record/HighHeun, Sean Coyle, Kyle Coach
Janel
Pershey
Infielders: Jer- lights: 8-5. Beat Andrew
Smith, Andrew Carpenter,
Coach
Amy
Saelens
Grzetich says, “I exemy Perez, Niko Capodice, High School for the first
Nick Liberatore, Jake Popect
the boys to build upon a
says,
“This
season
I
exDakota Brown
time
pek, and James Salahuddin.
great
season last year. They
pect
us
to
win
conference!
Outfielder: Jake Butler
Key Returners: Brian I also expect to win region- Coach Joe Urbe- have a lot of talent and I
Coach Jeff Petrovic Falvey, Tyler Kretz, and
als. We have the talent and lis says, “If we continue hope they will be the powersays, “Last year was a Matt Geyer
experience to do it, so what working hard at practice, ful team that I expect them Coach Kevin Gumstruggle, but we were young. Coach Jessica Cart- it will take is a lot of desire like we are now, good things to be.”
merson says, “We have
We are returning most of our
er says, “The guys are and determination, and I be- are bound to happen.”
a great mix of returning ath-
team and I expect this year
to be better. We have a nice
pitching staff with one of (if
not the best) pitchers in the
state. We will also have a
solid defense, we just need
to be able to score more runs
this season. Our really challenge has been playing as
a team and maintaining the
Softball
Maggie Cain, Lyndsay Doyle,
Kristi Lenz, Kelsey McCarthy, and Aly Zembruski
F/S Conference Champs;
Varsity 5th in Conference.
Boys Track
2009 Record/High2009 Record/High- lights: 5-2-1. Minooka
lights: 19-13. Earned 2nd Invitational 2nd Place; Mc
place in conference.
Key
Henry Relays 2nd Place;
Boys Volleyball
2009 Record/Highlights: 15-4. Won confer-
ence, beat Neuqua Valley
(ranked #5 in state), had
three boys nominated for
all-conference, two boys
nominated for all-area
2009 Highlights:
2nd
in the Conference, Minooka
Invite Champs, PNHS Invite Champs
Key Returners: Lauren Jonen, Margo Bassett
Kiley Saunders, Sara Castle,
16
Inside
Sports
Spring Sports
Preview
Page 15
Peace Pipe Chatter, February 17, 2010
Sports
Designed by Elliott Johnson
Winter Sports Recap
Girls Bowling
The girls bowling
team was 6th on the
second day of the state
tournament but on
the final day the team
placed 16th out of 24
teams. They bowled a
5,459 in their series.
Even though they
might not have placed
where they wanted to,
overall they had a good
season.
“I would say that
we bowled really well
this year, and we met
are goals with winning
sectionals,” said Coach
Mickey Resner.
“Even though we
didn’t do to well in
state, we still had a
good season.”
Girls Basketball
Girl’s basketball finished off their season
with an overall record
of 21 wins and 7 loss-
es. They tore through
their conference. They
went to regionals and
lost to Normal Community High School,
69-39.
“We won 21 games
this year and as far as
I know I don’t think
that any girls basketball team has ever won
that many games,” said
Coach Ray Liberatore.
This has been there
most promising season
in over two decades.
Wrestling
The individual state
meet was held the 19th
and the 20th in Champaign. Jake Residori
and Sean Kenny, both
placed sixth. Out of
the six athletes sent
Residori and Kenny
were the only ones to
place.
“I thought we could
have done better,
they didn’t meet my
expectations and I’m
sure they didn’t meet
theirs,” said Coach
Bernie Ruettiger.
Boys Basketball
Going into regionals, the varisty boys
team had a record of
6-20. They looked
to play Normal West
High School in the first
round on March 2.
Meet the
Coach:
Mickey Resner
Page 15
Sophomore boys basketball warms up before their last game
against Romeoville. Photo by sports editor Elliott Johnson.
NL Baseball
Preview
Page 14
Boys basketball runs shooting drills before their last game against Romeoville. Photo by sports
editor Elliott Johnson.
Peace Pipe Chatter, March 8, 2010
State Champions
Above: The state champions march into the Central Campus gym for a recognition assembly on March 1. Photo by Jacki Kaluzny.
The wrestling coaching staff includes (kneeling) Head Coach Bernie Ruettiger, Assistant Coach Paige Schoolman, (standing) Assistant Coach Mike
Butterbach, Assistant Coach Stan Tischer, Assistant Coach Jon Ryan, and
Assistant Coach Jeff Charlebois.
Designed by David Tibble
New standard set for MCHS sports
D.J. Valera /
Editor-in-Chief
by
“People might take more pride
in their sports’ teams as they
should,” said senior Haley Musgrave. “Now other teams see it’s
achievable.”
Since its opening in 1942,
MCHS never was able to muster up a state win as a team in
any sport. Sixty-eight years later,
varsity wrestling broke the curse
on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they
managed to get to the top and win
against Sandburg 26-20.
On March 1, an assembly celebrating the state victory took
Photos above from left: Senior Sean
Kenny won his match at 135 lbs during the dual final match. Kenny was
also 6th as an individual at state.
Freshman Matt Meyer clinched Minooka’s state championship with a
7-2 victory. Meyer was recognized
at the school assembly for his efforts. Junior Leo Ruettiger wrestles
at individual state. Sophomore Jake
Residori won all his matches at the
dual state finals. He also finished
6th as an individual at state.
SPC
Champs
place at both the Central and South
Campus.
At the assembly the state wrestlers were honored, as were the
coaches. Head varsity wrestling
coach Mr. Bernie Ruetigger also
said a few words.
Last year, wrestling almost
tasted the state victory but unfortunately lost to Oak Park-River
Forest at the state match. So, what
did they have this year that helped
them pull out the win?
“This year everyone worked
well as a group, there was no
weak-link,” said assistant coach
Stan Tischer. “Everybody helped
everyone out.”
Wrestling state champion and
senior Brandon Collofello agreed.
“We worked as a team, not as
individuals, when you have a lot of
people working for one common
goal you’ll get it.”
With a state win under our belt,
some students believe that school
spirit will rise in Minooka.
The wrestling team now believes that things have been set in
motion for even more state championships in the future for the Indians of Minooka.
Collofello said “Soon, Minooka won’t be known for the corn,
it’ll be known for state championships.”
2009-10 Accomplishments
1st - Palatine • 2nd - Geneseo
1st Oak Park-River Forest
3A Regional Champs
3A Sectional Champs
3A State Champs
All- Conference Athletes
103 Corbett Oughton, 112 Leo Ruettiger, 119 Jacob DeKlerk,
130 Blake Montella, 135 Sean Kenny, 140 Jacob Residori,
145 Kalvin Hill, 152 Matthew Meyer, 160 Brandon Collofello, 160 Mitch Brozovich, 171 Matthew Stevens, 189 Josh
Pullara, 215 Brandon Haase, 285 Cody Jones