Sabish Press
March 2014
Top Story- Locker Cops
Have you been locker copped? Let the locker cops explain why.
The locker cops have created this program because, we hear of students complaining about other students going into their locker and stealing or taking personal items.
So in order to fix this issue, the locker cops are going around and putting a note into an open locker shutting and locking it. In order to get students to memorize and realize the importance of keeping your locker closed.
March 21 Observations
Some people still haven’t locked their lockers after they had a sheet in there from last time.Also there were phones out in the open in the open of lockers left unlocked. There was one locker that we were not able lock afterwards, and if you are having locker issues please inform a teacher. They will inform the janitor who will gladly fix and resolve the issues of your locker.
-The locker cops
(Sam Kroll, Mason Pierce, Sam McCoy, Dawson Sokolik, Gavin Clausius)World News
Ukraine Crisis
Why is Ukraine protesting?
Protesting in Ukraine started on Nov. 21 when the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, abandoned an agreement with that would strengthen the bond with the European Union. Instead wanted closer cooperation with Moscow and protesters take to the streets and peacefully protested.
On Nov. 30, things got out of hand. Police attacked and brutally beat protesters on the streets and detained 35. When news of the attack broke out over 300,000 people, the largest ever in Kiev since the orange revolution in 2004, came to help protest, then took over city hall. Orange revolution was the fight to end dictatorship.
Dec. 17, The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced to the Ukrainians that Moscow will buy $15 billion worth of Ukraine's bonds and for a sharp cut in the price of Ukrainians pay for Russian natural gases. Then Putin and Yanukovych both claim that there will not be any conditions attached.
On Jan. 22, Two protesters were killed when being shot with real bullets, the third after a fall when a confrontation with police and demonstrators manning barricades.
Jan. 28, The Prime minister resigns and the parliament repeals new, harsh, anti-protesting laws that sets off the violence. Then both sides decides to aim at ending the conflict and crisis between one another.
Jan. 31, The opposition activist, Dmytro Bulatov, went missing in Jan. 22, but was found alive badly bruised and with part of his right ear seem to be cut off from protesters kidnapping him and he believes a Pro-Russia group was behind his kidnapping and torture. With raising fears among the opposition; highly trained squads are being deployed to intimidate protesters on the streets.
Feb. 16, Oppositions activist try to make a deal with protesters by letting 234 prisoners go if they stop protesting at the Kiev City Hall, in what it seems as a sign of progress toward resolving the crisis peacefully by negotiating.
Feb. 18, Everything changes; street clashes leave at least 26 people, including 1o police officers, dead and hundreds injured on the street. The whole thing began when protesters attacked police lines and set fire by lighting cocktails on fire and throwing them at their target. While troops stall protester, Russia offer the day before to resume payments under the bailout deal also feeds opposition suspicions. Then Viktor Yanukovych, the president, soon made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters. Soon riot police reacted to the protester violence by trying to push them off Independence Square.
The president later on spoke at the recent press conference and said that he is not overthrown, but leaving because he fears for his life and his families lives under the threat of protesters trying to kill him. Rumors are beginning to spread if other countries should come to Ukraine's aid or not get involve.
Girls Education in Pakistan
by Hlee and Anna
In other countries many girls don’t get the chance to go school, and those that do get the chance to go to school usually have to drop out before they can even start secondary school. Did you know that across the globe millions of children are deprived access to basic education, and 60% of those children are girls. Pakistani girls receive only two and a half years of school while boys receive only double of that.
In Pakistan, only half of the girls are enrolled in school. Some of the reasons why are because girls in Pakistan usually live in poverty and have to work to help pay the family income, take care of their younger siblings, and provide food for their families. To make matters even worse there are over 700 schools for boys but only 400 schools for girls.
Pakistani girls often have to drop out of school and work at sweatshops in order to provide for their families. Girls in Pakistan are also afraid to fight for their education because of the attacks by the Taliban. If you didn’t know, about 2 years ago a girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot on her way back home for school because she was campaigning for her right to go to school.
So, we should all appreciate the fact that we get the chance to be educated and not take it for granted. We’re lucky compared to those who live in Pakistan. Therefore before you decided to skip school because it’s “too hard” or “boring” remember how lucky you are to be in a school and to be educated, because there are millions of children who dream of being in school and getting the proper education. So don’t just sit here and complain but actually take an interest in what you’re learning.
School
High School Next Year
by Nickole Wesley & Nicole Athanasiou
Most students that are excited to go to high school will have more interests in the clubs, electives, and classes. Most of the eighth graders are excited for seeing their friends from the other middle schools. Homecoming, Snowball, and Prom will also be big formal events in our lives.
During 8th grade Block C, Nicole and I went on a interview to ask four eighth graders what they think about going to the high school next year and leaving Sabish Middle School.
Our first interviewer was Alex Kohlmann. We interviewed her in front of Mr. Brady’s math classroom. And our first question was, are you excited to start at the high school next year? Her response was yes. And with our other interviewers, Evan Mcessey, Katlyn Hendricks, and Brooke Carlson responses were the same with Alex’s response.
Our second question we asked was, what will you miss about Sabish when the school year is over? Three out of the four students said they will miss some of the teachers. Katlyn’s response was that she will miss the 7th graders. Brooke’s response was that she doesn’t know what she will miss about Sabish.
And our last question was, what do you think you’ll expect when you’re a freshman? Alex’s response was, “New things”. “I’ll get to see people from more places.”, said Katlyn. Evan and Brooke weren’t sure what they’ll expect next year.
Overall, most of the eighth grade class of 2014 are excited, and not very sure yet on what to expect.
Jobs for the future
Payten, Allison, and I went out into the school to interview some seventh and eighth graders about the careers they wish to pursue when they graduate college.
We first went to Mr Prus’s eighth grade social studies class in the library and asked Andrew Ramos, Meg Kiefer, Hunter Kollmann, and Jennifer Lopez what job they wish to do and why. Jennifer was wearing black leggings and a light blue sleeveless denim jacket. We asked her what job she wishes to pursue after college and she responded that she wanted to work at Rue 21 because she likes fashion. We asked Andrew the same question and he said he wanted to be a trucker or taxi driver because he likes to drive. Andrew was wearing blue jeans and an American Eagle sweatshirt with headphones draped around his neck. Hunter was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and jeans. He said he wanted to be an engineer. Meg was wearing a blue sweater with her trademark necklaces and jeans, and she said she would like to be a school counselor or an author, because she enjoys writing and helping people.
The next question we asked was “How did you find out about this job?” Jennifer found out from shopping and her love for fashion. Andrew found out from a survey we took in English class. Hunter found out also from a survey and because he liked the idea of the job. Lastly Meg found out about her job preference when she had a passion for helping people, and because she loves to write.
The last question we asked was “What do you think is the most popular job among your peers?” Jennifer answered saying she thought that t the most popular job was being a famous singer or actor. Andrew said people wanted most to create video games. Hunter said he had no clue. And Meg also said actor and singer.
We then went to the seventh grade hallway, Mrs. Blatz’s math class, and interviewed two seventh graders, Liz and Alexis, the same questions.
Alexis was wearing black leggings and a black sweatshirt and wants to be a nurse. She found out about this job when she takes care of her family when they are sick. Alexis thinks the most popular job among her peers is a vet.
Liz was wearing jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt. She wants to be a vet. She found out about this job from her mother. Liz, just like Alexis, thinks the most popular job that kids want to pursue is a vet.
We then went back to the classroom to type up our questions and answers. We found out that all the people wanted to do something different and everybody has a different opinion.
Writing For Teens
Teenink, is an amazing website for teens! On Teenink, you are able to post short stories, articles, and including poems, fan fictions, and movie reviews. When you sign up, and you “send” your article or story to get published onto the site, you will get an email telling you if it was posted onto the site. Some things are not able to be posted, because it may appear to be inappropriate. If you are a writer, and want your work out there for other teens to read, rate, and or comment, Teenink is the best site to go to for that!
Also, on Teenink, you’re able to read, rate, and or comment yours and other peoples work. Your work may be published in their magazine! But they dont always publish your stories so you have to watch what you write.
We are members of Teenink and it is also a good place to vent when you write because you can put yourself in your stories.Dream Job
By: Brett Hebert, Andrew Ramos, Donta Lee
What is your dream job? Is it a doctor, lawyer, or even a cop? Yes, that’s what we are talking about - our future. What we are going to do with our lives. We interviewed some students from sixth, seventh and eighth grade. First we went to the sixth grade and we found a sixth grader that looked very excited and happy to be interviewed. His name was Igia and he was wearing blue jeans with a black Nike shirt and black Jordans. I asked what is his dream job and he answered, “construction worker.” I then asked who or what inspired him and while having a giggle he responded with, “When I was watching t.v. I came across a show with construction workers and ever since then I had my mind set on being a construction worker.”
One of the eighth grade students we interviewed was Damon Johnson. We also asked him what is his dream job and when he was done laughing he responded with, “I want to be a NBA player but if I don't make it I will be a cop.” I asked why is that and he responded with “ I feel I would be good at it and I love it.” Before we could finish he had to go back into class.
A seventh grader we interviewed would be Monica. She was wearing black shirt with blue jeans. We asked her what is your dream job. She responded with “ Interior decorator.”I asked, “ did anyone inspire you?” She said “No.” After that while we followed her up to get her food we asked “where do you see yourself in ten years?” Her answer almost everyones was college.
As you see there are a wide variety of jobs out there and its time to see which one fits you. Until next time this is Brett, Donta, and Andrew saying, stay dreaming, my friends.DIY/ Fasion
How To Make St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes
Do you want to make cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day? These leprechaun cupcakes will be perfect.
To make these cupcakes you will need:
A box of vanilla cake mix
Green Ice cream cones
White Frosting
Gold Frosting- You can use yellow food coloring
2 Decorator bags *
Red Frosting- Use red food coloring
1 Batch of Black Candy Clay **
Yellow Sunburst Candy
Candy Eyes
Reese's Pieces or Mini M&M’s
Heart Sprinkles
The first step is to make your cupcakes. Follow the recipe on the box to make your cupcakes.
The second step is to make your leprechaun hats. To make the hats you have to cut your black candy clay the size of the rim of the cone about 1/8 inch thick. Melt your sunburst candy for 5 seconds, so it is soft to mold and cut into a small square. Then cut a smaller square out of your candy clay. Put the strip of candy clay on the cone add the yellow and black square. Using white frosting attach the sprinkles making a shamrock.
The third step is to take of the cupcake wrapper and set the cupcake upside down. Using offset spatula and white frosting, frost the cupcake on the outside and the top. After, run the spatula under hot water and smooth the outside of the cupcake. Place the leprechaun hat on top of the cupcake. Next, fill a decorator bag with a #12 round tip of gold frosting and pipe the beard. Run your finger under hot water and smooth out the tips of the frosting
To make your eyes and mouth add two candy eyes and one Reese’s Pieces or a mini M&M. Your last step is to fill a decorator bag with a #5 round tip of red frosting and pipe a little, red mouth.
Once all the cupcakes have mouths you are ready to enjoy your cupcakes.Shamrock Shake and Rainbow Waffles DIY
By:Kaitlyn Mohr, Brooke Hubbard
Ingredients- shamrock shake
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 ¼ milk
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
Directions
Blend together until smooth
Poor in cup, top with whip cream, cherry & straw.
Ingredients- rainbow waffles
Pancake mix ( check directions on the box to see how much you want to make)
Water
Food coloring - colors of the rainbow
Waffle maker
Directions
Mix the waffle mix and water in a bowl until smooth
Put mix into separate bowls
Put a few drops of food coloring in each bowl
Put small amount of each color in waffle maker to make a rainbow
- Finish with “clouds” of whip cream
Insight
Eight Things We All Do, But Don't Realize It
Source: BuzzFeed
1. When you are on a phone call with someone, you start pacing around the house.
2. You try to avoid taking a shower, but once you finally get in - you don't want to get out.
3. You get lost in your own world while reading, until you're pages past where you stopped paying attention.
4. When you aren't intending on getting anything from a store, you get scared that security will think you're a shoplifter.
5. You rehearse arguments in your head, in case it should ever occur.
6. You have to find the right show on TV, before you actually eat the food you made.
7. You keep pressing replay on a song so you remember the lyrics and perform the song in front of your friends.
8. Sometimes, you press stop on the microwave when it reaches one second.
Jade Bell
For more go to: http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/things-you-do-that-you-never-realized-everyone-else-doesCerebral Palsy
by Addy Burnett
Cerebral is referred to as cerebrum which is the affected part of the brain. This disorder may often involve connections between the cortex and other parts of the brain such as the cerebrum. Palsy refers to disorder of movement but, the word palsy means paralysis.
Cerebral Palsy is a disorder that affects movement, muscle tone or even posture. This is caused by the brain not developing properly. Most often this happens before birth. Symptoms and signs appear during infancy or preschool years. Cerebral palsy is not contagious. Cerebral palsy is not genetic.
Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers in the brain during pregnancy, during childbirth or after birth.
Cerebral Palsy causes impaired movement, exaggerated reflexes, floppiness, or rigidity of the legs and arms and even the back. Abnormal posture, involuntary movements and even unsteady walking. People with Cerebral Palsy can also have trouble swallowing food, and have unbalanced eye muscle movement. Some people with cerebral palsy may have a hard time moving certain parts of their body because of muscle stiffness.
Depending on how severe the cerebral palsy the person has, it can effect them a lot. Some people can walk, but they have to use a walker, some people can walk and they just need braces and they don’t even need a walker, some people can’t walk at all.
Some people with cerebral palsy may have Epilepsy, blindness and may even be deaf.What's the Deal with Flappy Bird
Flappy Bird is a game where you have to get a bird through a path and the bird can’t touch the pipes or it will die. The game can be really frustrating for many players. Many people have broken their iPods and iPhones by raging and throwing their phone on the floor. So the game is costing people maybe a couple hundred dollars to fix their screens. With all the complaining to the owners that the game is breaking their phones the App Store has taken the game Flappy Bird off the market. The owner of Flappy Bird was receiving threats of death.
In conclusion they should give you power ups for the bird. Cause then when there is power ups your bird won’t die that much. Then when there is less death there is less anger to break your device.
Fictional Stories
Night Hunters
by Meg Kiefer
The Boogieman, Dracula, the werewolves that prowl the night when the moon’s its fullest. Why, those are the classics. Stories told to children around campfires to scare the living daylights out of them, while the older sibling gets a good kick out of it, right? Just stories, myths, nothing but a legend? But what if I told you it was all true? What if I said that there were in fact brain-eating zombies out there, and that I’d seen them with my own two eyes? You wouldn’t believe me would you, or maybe you would but the logic part of your brain would be telling you that I’m crazy. You think I’m lying, yet you want to know more. Well I’ll tell you more, but I want to warn you first. If you think you can handle what I’m about to say, well you’re already over your head, because there isn’t anyway you could possibly prepare yourself. If you already think this will be too much for you, stop while you can, because once I start there is no going back. You won’t forget it. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. Once I tell you the first story, I’m releasing information that has never been heard from your kind. We hunt the things that haunt your craziest nightmares. No, we aren’t like the Ghostbusters, why, they were just amateurs. No, we’re professionals. Who are we?
We’re the Night Hunters.
To be Continued...
Scary Story
By Jordan, Honor, Noah, and Brianna
My hand carefully rested on the knob to the supply closet. I didn’t know what could be behind this door-I didn’t even know what was behind it when I was in this school myself. My mom was a first grade teacher here, therefore, I went to this elementary school. Eventually, my mom retired shortly after I went on to junior high, and the city decided to shut this school down for a new, more modern version.
The school shut down in the 80’s. In this moment, it was 1996. I had recently graduated high school, and now that it was abandoned, I returned for a visit down memory lane.
Something creaked behind me, and I turned around. Nothing. I slowly turned around to face the door once more. It was now cracked open just a hair, but nothing more. I felt adrenaline pulse through my veins as I touched the door again, pulling it open.
What I saw made me want to vomit. A rotting creature stood before me, a corpse of what - or, who, rather - they were. Its eyes were taken out of their sockets, its skin was worse than that of a leprosy patient, and its mouth dripped with blood - I believe it was its own. Its body showed evidence of a struggle to stop becoming this creature that was presented in front of me.
It moaned abysmally at me, and I yelled, stumbling backwards as the creature shuffled forward. I whipped around and scrambled away, absolutely terrified beyond belief. How did this person become this horrible monster? Was I doomed to the same fate?
I yelled for someone, anyone - I wasn’t very picky at this point in time - to help me. But, my yells weren’t replied, or even heard. An overwhelming sense of helpless fright overtook me as I darted back and forth like a trapped rabbit. And, yet, the monster just steadily began to advance on me. I spotted a set of doors, and ran forward. I grabbed the handle, and yanked, expecting the door to fly open. Instead, I was greeted with a jolt that nearly dislocated my arm from its socket.
A low, unhumanly growl sounded behind me, and I looked over my shoulder with a growing horror. It was twisting, twisting into proportions that scared me beyond measure. The door led into the entrance and the main office, from what I could remember from my days here, so I ran. That...thing, whatever it was...didn’t follow me beyond the office. I jumped into my car, hit the gas pedal, and drove as quickly as I could back home.
On the way home, my breath was heavy, and every sound caused me to flinch. What was that creature? What had caused that? Was that why they closed the school down?
As I got lost in my train of thought, my car began to drift into the other lane. The only thing that prevented me from colliding head-on with an oncoming car was the blaring of their horn. I snapped back to reality, and swerved into the correct lane. I let off the gas slightly, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Out of danger and into another.
I took a deep breath, and continued on my way home. Nothing too eventful happened - I nearly hit a squirrel, ran a red light. I somehow managed to make it home safely, though. As I stopped my car, I looked around cautiously. Leaves rolled past, animals moved. Everything was normal. But, in that, it wasn’t. Nothing would be normal anymore, knowing of that creature who would eat at my mind and be a constant presence, lurking in my soul.
I slowly got out, still looking around. Still, nothing. I stepped out of the way and shut the car door. I stood there for a second, and broke into a full sprint. Track had always been a hobby of mine, so I was there in a few seconds. I slammed into the door, not able to stop fast enough. It knocked the wind out of me, but I flipped out my key and jammed it into the lock.
As I caught my breath, I turned the key, unlocking the door. I ripped my key from the lock, rushing inside, and slammed the door behind me, lunging for the lock. Once I was satisfied that no one was going to get in through the door, I shed my shoes and light coat. Even for summer, running on autumn, it was a bit chillier than it should have been. I squinted into the darkness of the house. Just the fact that it was dark like the school drove me to turn on every light possible.
After I was finished and satisfied that there was no monster in the house, I collapsed into a chair. I realized how exhausted and drained I was from my experience. A long sigh was evoked to calm myself.
I rose from my chair, stumbling to the bathroom and changing into night-wear I had chosen that morning. They were comforting - not everything had to be changed. After I was changed, I stared at myself in the mirror. I was a normal person. Nothing was changed about me physically. But yet, mentally, something tugged at my mind. Something from that memory that felt like an eternity ago.
I shook my head, deciding not to bother with it anymore. It certainly couldn’t be important if I couldn’t remember. It would come to me later. I walked out of the bathroom, and went to my bedroom. I then remembered something that was quite important. I had to turn off some of the lights, otherwise my electricity bill would skyrocket. Not to mention, I couldn’t sleep with so much light.
Once I was done, about half the lights were turned off. I was terrified out of my mind during the entire process, dashing to parts of light instead of the darkness. Though I felt like a child, my sanity would not allow me to stay where I was and act like a true adult. I walked back into the bedroom, longing for the warmth and security of my own bed. I crawled into bed, laying down. My body finally began to ache, and all of the physical work began to have its toll on my body.
As I drifted on the cusp of sleep, I heard something. It was familiar, something I heard before. I knew the sound - it was so recognizable. I then placed the sound. Pant. Pant. Pant. My eyes opened.
Book Reviews
Silverwing
by: Nick Vang
The book I am reviewing is Silverwing. This book is about this newborn, who is called Shade, who survived with two cannibal bats chasing him and his friend, Marina. After a couple days Shade was roaming around the place to find food for himself. He was always jealous about Chinook being stronger and bigger than him. Shade was born very small and weak. So he dared Chinook to go with him to watch the sun come up, which the law for bats are not to watch the sun come up. When the sun was about to come up Chinook left and told Shade to go back with him but Shade decided to watch the sun come up.
An owl was waiting for the sun to come up and eat shade. Shades mother came and rescued him in time. After that the owl came and burned down the Silverwings roosting place. The Silverwings had to migrate to the south to mate. They were fly during the night when suddenly this storm came and took shade somewhere he didn’t know. Then he met a Brightwing , which was Marina, that told him this place was an abandoned place. Shade remember that his mother sung him a sound map before he got lost. He recalled the sound map and went the way he thought was right to find his colony.
Two cannibal bats bats, Goth and Throbb, just escape from the humans that imprison them. When they escaped, they saw a couple pigeons and ate them. Goth wanted to eat Throbb but he decided to let him live because he might get into some trouble and need help.
Shade and Marina flew up and got caught by other pigeons like prisoner. There was a witness that saw Goth and Throbb killing the prisoner. The pigeons thought that they were spy so they decided to bite of the wings of Shade and Marina. Shade resisted and flash the light to the pigeons. They escaped from the pigeons and heard that the birds are closing the sky. Then they heard a voice. It was an old bat that was blind and he was Zephyr. He knew that shade was injured when the bird pecked him. So Zephyr placed berries on Shade injury and told Shade to sleep. When shade woke up he already slept for the whole day. Shade finally saw what a human looked like. Zephyr told them to follow the stars. Then Shade suddenly heard bell sound that sounded exactly the same as his sound map. Then they continued on their journey to find the Silverwing colony.
Soon after Goth and Throbb got done eating they started to hunt owls and other creature. They looked up in the sky and didn’t know the stars of the north. They need bats to guild them. Then both of them heard Shade and Marina.
Shade and Marina heard wingbeats of bats. Then a owl ambushed them but Goth and Throbb saved them. They started eating the owl but Shade and Marina didn’t like to eat meat. Then Shade started to feel safe while being with the Cannibal bats after seeing them take down the owl. The Cannibal bats didn’t know the stars there so Shade thought he could be useful by helping them navigate to the south.
This is a short summary of the beginning of the book. I hope you like to read this. There are other series of this book like Sunwing, Firewing, and Darkwing, which I haven’t read yet. The author is Kenneth Oppel and if you're interested in these books you might want to read his other books. When I read these books I didn’t know that there were a lot of different bats.
Sports Section
March Madness History
March Madness started in 1939 when 8 schools played in a single-elimination tournament to determine the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. It was the first NCAA basketball national championship tournament. It began on March 17, 1939, and ended with the championship game on March 27 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois. A total of 8 games were played, including a single third place game in the West region. The East region did not hold a third place game until the 1941 tournament, and there was no national third place game until the 1947 tournament. The first Final Four was Oregon, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Villanova. Oregon beat Ohio State to win the tournament.
Do you know your college mascots?
What is the name of the mascot for each college team?
** Answers at the bottom of the page
1. Arizona State _______________
2. Louisville ______________
3. Michigan State _______________
4. Florida _____________
5. Wichita State _____________
6. North Carolina _______________
7. Ohio State __________
8. Delaware ____________
9. Arkansas _______________
10. North Dakota State _______________
March Madness
by Cody Peterson, Elliott Nielsen, and Trevor Taylor
March Madness is one of the most famous tournaments in sports. This is where teams fight to get to the Final Four. Fans cheer loud and proud for their team. Only one team will last and win the championship. The intensity and focus will determine the winner.
Selection Sunday is held on March 16. A group of people will decide this. They will look at ranking, games won, and tournaments won. Each team earning a spot will compete.
The First Round is held on March 18-19 at UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio).
The Second-Third Rounds are on March 20, 22 at First Niagara Center (Buffalo, N.Y.), BMO Harris Bradley Center (Milwaukee), Amway Center (Orlando, Fla.), and Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane, Wash.).
Then on March 21, 23 the Second-Third Round continues at PNC Arena (Raleigh, N.C.), AT&T Center (San Antonio), Viejas Arena (San Diego), and Scottrade Center (St. Louis).
After the third round the teams still competing move on to the Regionals.
South Regional is March 27, 29 at FedExForum (Memphis, Tenn.). In a different city the West Regional takes place on March 27, 29 at Honda Center (Anaheim, Calif.).
East Regional is March 28, 30 at Madison Square Garden (New York), and the Midwest Regional is March 28, 30 at Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis).
The Final Four are going to the National Semifinal. These 4 teams are the best teams in the NCAA.
National semifinal is April 5 at AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
One of the biggest stages in NCAA sports is the Championship Games. Nerves rise and butterflies fill your stomach. The stadium is bouncing; bands playing the school songs, cheerleaders crowding the sidelines. Only one team will make it out with a win added to their season.
Championship Game is April 7 at AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas).MLB Replay Expansion: Pros and Cons
by Nick Cannon
Whether you like it or not (how could you not?), MLB has expanded their replay system. Beginning in 2014, managers will have the chance to instead of arguing, challenge a call, almost identical to the NFL system. Naturally, there is there is not only pros to the system, but cons. So, I’m here to break them down.
Lets start with breaking down how the expansion will run. Managers will have one challenge each game, and will receive another one if their first challenge results in an overturned call. Umpires, specifically the Crew Chief (head of the crew), will reserve the right to review a call if necessary, but only in the 7th inning and beyond. There is one exception to that rule, and that is umpires can trigger a review for a home run call in any inning of the game. Any challenged call will be reported to the MLB Review Command Center in New York, and the umpires in the Command Center will make their call and inform the umpire of their decision. So, thats the procedure, but here is what can be reviewed. Ground Rule Doubles, Fan Interference calls, Boundary calls, Force plays at all bases, except for the the Neighborhood Rule (infielder does or doesn’t step on 2nd base), Tag plays on all bases paths (did the runner get tagged or touch base first), Fair/foul calls on balls hit to the outfield, Catch or Trap on outfield plays, Time plays such as runner scoring before third out, and scorekeeping issues such as count, outs, score or substitutions. Balls or Strikes, Check Swings, and the Infield Fly Rule are unreviewable, however.
So, now the pros. Clearly, it will make the game much more fair (for lack of a better word). There won’t be games such as the Infield Fly Game or Its a home run to everyone but Angel Hernandez game. There won’t be controversies that last for weeks on what could have been if not for one umpire. Even better, fans can’t spend all day complaining about lousy umpiring. Best of all, we will now be able to enjoy baseball knowing that there is the ability to change a bad call at any time. That takes a lot of stress off some of us fans.
Now, to the Cons. First, the obvious. What if umpires, despite all of the help, still get the call wrong. Well, then we are back to square one. I can guarantee that there will be at least one call that umpires screw up even after the replay system. All you can do is pray that it doesn’t happen to the Brewers. Second, no more managers versus umpires arguments. I dont know about you, but I really like a lot of the arguments that manager and umpires would have. They really are entertaining.
So, as the MLB season comes to a new season, many changes will be in effect. Think you will remember them all? Probably not. Hopefully, this system really makes this great sport fair. If it doesn’t, there is still the tail end of the NBA to watch.MLB Spring Training
by Isaac Kuhls
I have spring fever. Nothing else cures it like spring training baseball. Spring training started on February 25, about a week after Valentine’s Day and ends on March 29, a day before opening day. There are two leagues, the Cactus League and the Grapefruit League. The Brewer’s right fielder, Ryan Braun, hit his first home run. It was on the second pitch of his first at bat of the first game. The game was on February 27. He didn’t hit his first pitch. Later in that game the Brewers won against the Oakland Athletics. The score was 10-2. As of February 14 the Brewers are 7-9 and ninth in the Cactus League. The Brewers are six games behind first.
I think Ryan Braun will bring us up higher in the standings this year. I think he was the reason we didn’t do good last year. He won’t be liked at first but when he hits a couple home runs he will be liked again. He still has a couple good years left in him.
March 21 8:51- 9 days 10 hrs left until Opening Day