Mahanoy Area High School Ninth Edition December … Area High School - Ninth Edition December 11,...

Bear FactsMahanoy Area High School - Ninth Edition December 11, 2009

Contributing to this issue of Bear Facts: Amanda Arnold, Candace Fegley, Sarah Hannock, Shelbey Kane, Stormie Lee Kapp, Katie McCarthy, Maggie Mansell, Gary Perna, Drew Pizzo,

Frank Scicchitano, Tommy Seddon, Justina Strollis, Tanya Styka

Thanksgiving is over and now the real holiday chaos ensues. Black Friday marked the start of the holiday shopping season, and the date usually makes head-lines with its share of injuries and deaths caused by the trampling from the stampedes that come with try-ing to get the best deals, like last year’s King of Prus-sia and Wal-Mart incidents. This year marks the start of something new, and less dangerous. Although the United States has spent an estimated 16.8 billion within the first week of the holiday shopping season, retail stores are being given a proverbial “run for their money” by last year’s “dark horse” shopping meth-od… e-commerce.In our struggling economy, financially savvy consum-ers of every age are turning to the Internet for the best holiday deals at the click of a mouse. Websites like e-Bay, Amazon, and even the social networking site Twitter have become main-stay weapons for shop-pers battling for the best possible prices on the hot-test gifts of the season, and with good reason. Not

only do these sites provide some of the best deals, but they provide convenience by allowing shop-pers to buy right from home, without ever having to change out of their pajamas. Online shoppers have mentioned in blogs and new sites that the lack of having to push and shove to get the last of an item on the shelf is well worth the small risk of identity theft that has, in past years, deterred shoppers from online buying. Also, that competitiveness that has always been as-sociated with holiday shoppers vying for the last product on a shelf is almost extinct in e-commerce, with the exception of auction sites like e-Bay and OnlineAuction.com. The ability to “Buy It Now” and peruse the offerings of hundreds of malls in a matter of minutes makes six out of ten consumers prefer online shopping to retail stores this year. Looks like stores should take a page from Scrooge’s book and change their habits, or else their holiday revenue fu-tures are going to be a bit bleak.

Christmas Breakno school

Dec 24, 2009

return to school- Mon. January 4, 2010

Online VS. Retail Stores: The Great Holiday Debate

Are Stores Being Outshone by the Convience of Online Shopping This Holiday Season? By: Stormie Lee Kapp

Mahanoy Area High School December 11, 2009

For Sale

2010 yearbooks See Ms. Scic in the

art room Price of the book is

$60.00 Payment must be made

in full.

Books from the following years are

also available

2008 - $25.002006 - $15.002004 - $10.002003 - $10.002002 -$10.001993 - $10.001992 - $10.00

1989 - $10

Attention Seniors:Your senior photo for the yearbook was due to Ms. Scic by October 13. If a senior photo is UNAVAILABLE, YOUR SCHOOL PHOTO

WILL BE USED.

Are you or a friend...

... Having problems keeping your grades up?

...No longer feel like hanging out with friends or family?

...Not enjoying your favorite activities like you used to?

...Being bullied or harrassed?...Feeling like you just can’t seem to get

it together?...Experimenting with or using alcohol or

other drugs?...Adjusting to a new school?

...Close to someone or have a family member serving in the military?

...Having thought of hurting yourself or someone else?

...Feeling emotionally overwhelmed?...Always worrying?

...Thinking about suicide?...Dealing with the breakup of a relation-

ship?...Being hurt physically or emotionally by

someone?...Dealing with major changes in your

family like your parents’ divorce?...Dealing with the illness or death of

someone close to you?

The Student Assistance Team is a group of school and community staff that is here to help you deal with problems that are stopping you from doing well in school or stressing you out. The staff will respect you and your parent’s/guardian’s privacy at all times. Members include Mrs. Blue, Mrs. Stone, Ms. Pollack, Ms. Scic, Mr. Vavra, Mrs. Bet, Ms. Wetzel, Mr. DiCasimirro, Mrs. Caufield, Mrs. Hen-ninger, Mr. Wetzel, Mr. Cray, Mrs. Delia and Mrs. Orsulak.

PREVENT the

FLUThis is a cute, easy to understand resource site about flu and flu prevention that is family and kid friendly - lots of learning activities and ideas to help promote what we’ve already been telling our stu-dents, staff, and families.

http://www.sayboototheflu.com/

Help Our Furry

Friends at the SPCA

donations of food, treats, aluminum

bowls, cotton balls, cotton swabs, clean

stuffed toys and blankets, cleaning supplies or cash

are being collected by Mr. Don, Ms. Scic,

Mrs. Thomas (elementary)

and Mrs. Titus(middle school)

candy canes will be given to everyone

who donates!


DEMMERGRAPHICS SPORTSWEAR SINCE 1982 921 W. Centre Street, Mahanoy City, PA 17948

(570) 773-0104


The holidays are here, and between eating, shop-ping, and spending time with family and friends, it’s easy to forget about the less fortunate all around us. Women’s shelters, animal shelters, food drives, the Salvation Army, and Toys for Tots are all seek-ing donations at this festive time of year, whether they be monetary, a can of food, or a few minutes of our time, all in hopes of making someone’s holi-day a bit brighter. Unfortunately, these charities are often ignored by passers-by or ridiculed for those they cannot help. Local area students from a variety of schools have made it their mission not to let that happen this year.Students from Nativity BVM contributed by donating food to the Avenues food drive held in Pottsville. The food pantry was grateful to have the food this year, as their normal income of donations had fallen from years past. Shenandoah students made it a priority to give back

‘Tis the Season for CaringLocal Students Remember to Give to the Less Fortunate, of all Shapes and Sizes, This Holiday Season

By: Stormie Lee Kapp

to the four-legged less fortunate this holiday, by do-nating pet food, blankets, and toys to the Ruth Stein-hart ASPCA. The students felt compelled to give back to those who are most often forgotten in Schuylkill County, as they wait patiently to be adopted into lov-ing homes. Last but not least, students involved in the Mahanoy City chapter of ACTION Youth Group gave back to the elderly in their community during this most wonder-ful time of the year. The students, ranging in grades from 8th to 12th, collected profits from a bake sale to buy personal care packages for the forty residents of the White Owl Manor in their annual Teenagers 4 Elders project.It goes to show the length of area students embrac-ing the spirit of the holidays. These students have set a fine example of charitableness, one that the rest of us would be wise to follow.

’

As you might guess by the title, “The Princess and the Frog” is a fairly familiar story. And because this animated musical comes from Walt Disney Pictures, you can expect talking-animal sidekicks, a perilous journey, a budding romance and a moral to the tale.What’s new, if you haven’t heard, is the debut of Disney’s first African-American princess, Tiana. She adds another dash of color to a nine-member lineup of ink-and-paint Caucasians, such as Snow White and Cinderella but also the Arabian Jasmine (“Alad-din”), the Chinese Mulan and American Indian Poca-hontas.By setting “Princess” in the New Orleans of the early 1900s — a briefly seen newspaper headline reads “Wilson Elected” — Disney gets to focus on Cajun food, Southern accents and Dixieland jazz rather than on skin color. In fact, although Tiana (pleasantly

voiced by the Broad-way singer Anika Noni Rose) begins the film as a hardworking wait-ress, she spends most

The Princess and the Frog

of her screen time as a frog.That’s the result of her chance meeting with Prince Naveen (Bruce Campos), a freewheeling playboy hoodwinked by the local voodoo man, Dr. Facilier (Keith David, delightfully wicked). The newly green Naveen manages to charm Tiana into a kiss, but after that backfires, the two amphibians travel the bayou to find their voodoo fairy godmother, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis). Along the way, they’ll befriend a trumpet-playing gator, Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), and a gap-toothed Cajun firefly named Raymond (Jim Cummings).


On Thursday, November 19th, in conjunction with the Great American Smoke Out, the annual Dress Down for Andrew Day was held. All mon-ies collected benefited the Andrew Neidlinger Memorial Scholarship Fund that bestows an annual scholarship to a graduating Golden Bear football player, or cheerleader if no football players apply or meet eligi-bility.Andrew was a 2005 graduate of MAHS, a Golden Bear football player and team captain, and was an active member of his school and commu-nity. Andrew’s dress down days are held in conjunction with Kick Butts Day in April and the Great American Smoke Out in November because he was a committed member of the MA Teens Against Tobacco (TAT) while a student at Mahanoy. The Andrew Neidlinger Memorial Scholarship is administered through Schuylkill Area Community Foundation www.sacfoundation.com . All donations are tax deductible. The Foundation is a collection of phil-anthropic funds, each created by a different donar for a variety of pur-poses. Each fund retains its own identity, donor defined objectives and benefits from pooled investments with other funds. Gifts to the Foun-dation are invested according to Foundation policy, and grants are then made from these permanent funds to qualified local charitable organiza-tions as well as in the form of scholarships and awards. Please contact Eileen Kuperavage, Executive Director at [email protected] or Sharon Koszyk at [email protected] if you wish to make a donation at any time.Thank you all for your generous and ongoing support of The Andrew Neidlinger Memorial Scholarship.

Advisor, Mrs. Pepe, announced that the Nutrition Advisory Council worked on two separate projects in November. They celebrated Na-tional Diabetes Awareness month having a question read on the an-nouncements each morning. Stu-dents then placed their guess to the question in the appropriate answer box at the NAC informa-tion table during lunch. Correct re-sponses were collected each day and entered into a drawing for a fruit/goodie basket that was given away on November 23rd.The second project included help-ing with the annual Thanksgiv-ing meal on Thursday, November 18th. Due to a higher membership this year, only senior members were invited to help. Members of NAC prepared and served the meal, which was free, and cleaned up afterward.

Mahanoy Area Drug and Alcohol

Coalition meeting Jan. 11th at 3p.m.

in the L.G.I.

NAC Has Busy Month

Dress Down Day Benefits Neidlinger Scholarship

Please note : Fi-nancial Aid Infor-mation Night has been changed to Tuesday, Janu-ary 5, 2010, 7

p.m. in the LGI room of the high

school.


MAHANOY AREA ANONYMOUS DRUG ACTIVITY TIP LINE

.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!Do you know someone who needs help with a drug problem?

Did you witness legal drug activities?Do you know of drug dealings taking place anywhere in the area?

Do you suspect of drug storage or processing in your neighborhood?Help us combat drug activity by letting us know it.

Working in partnership, we can make a difference!The Mahanoy City Police Department ANONYMOUS DRUG ACTIVITY TIP LINE

is for the confidential and anonymous reporting of information and non-emergency incidents to the Mahanoy City Police Department. The line has been set up so that members of the community and students of the Mahanoy Area School District can report information that they may otherwise be reluctant to report. The Tip Line is a voice mailbox with a recorded message. A caller can leave a message containing

the information that he or she wishes to share with the police department. There is no way to identify the caller or the line the caller is calling from. A caller is welcome

to identify themselves and leave contact information if they wish and are encour-aged to do so if the situation reguires follow-up contact. The information left on the Tip Line will be checked frequently, and investigated as necessary. The Tip Line is a non-emergency line. If an incident is an emergency or requires an immediate re-

sponse, call 911.

Help us take back our community by reporting illegal drug activity on the Tip Line!


Worried About a Friend?

There is an anonymous referral box in the hallway near Mrs. Blue’s office where students can refer a friend (or themselves) to the Student Assistance Program. Bro-chures are located by the box and students can use those to make their referral.

National

Twenty-one students were recent-ly inducted into the Mahanoy Area Chapter of the National Honor So-ciety. November 4, 2009 was an important evening in the lives of these students. The NHS holds its members to high standards regarding character, leadership, scholarship and service. There are currently twenty-five senior members. Officers are President Mike Wawrzynek, Vice-President Erin Techentine and Secretary/Treasurer Bryan Wagner. Advi-sors are Mrs. Rohart and Ms. Za-krewsky Newly inducted members include Alexis Bernadyn, Amber Casserly, Brittany Filiziani, Rob-ert Filiziani, Matthew Flammer, Ana Granados, Emilee Hanrahan, Olivia Hower, Molly Joyce, Jenni-fer Lawrence, Margaret Mansell, Shanna Messerschmidt, Jenna Michaels, Jordan Mroczka, Katey Scheeler, Danielle Sluzis, Peter Stanakis, Joseph Swartz, Kas-sandra Troxell, Rebecca Williams and Maria Yankus

A Look At Accounting Courtesy of Kutztown By: Sarah Hannock

Every person wants to attain a job that is in high demand and inter-esting. Few people think you could get that being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Every business looks for some sort of accountant. College grads with accounting degrees are in high demand. This de-gree could open doors to the FBI, CIA or DEA. The “Passport to Oppor-tunity” event held at Kutztown University recently taught the value of an accounting degree to Ms. Loy’s Accouting I students. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), the event provided sound information for students interested in the field. Natalie Brown (CPA), Ann Marie Tyler (IRS), Jason Holland, Director of Hman Resources at KU and a panel of Kutztown accounting students were speakers at the event.

National Honor Society Helping Troops

Being away from home, especially for the holidays, is not easy, but there are many Americans who are willing to do just that as ser-vice to their country. The National Honor Society has adopted an Air National Guard troop out of Willow Grove to remember and show their

appreciation for. Members of NHS are preparing to send packages filled with items that will hopefully make their holiday far from home just a wee bit brighter. NHS advi-sors are Mrs. Rohart and Ms. Za-krewsky.

part of Christmas, most people do look forward to at least one or two long anticipated items. When asked what gift she is hoping for, Senior Amanda Arnold answered, “ I expect a lot but sometimes one thing is good enough.” Gaming systems have been on Christmas wish lists for quite a long time, but which is best? Se-nior Megan Sullivan thinks the Wii gaming system is the best one on the market. “Because you’re not just sitting playing a video game,

you are physically involved,” she explained.Cell phones are another item on Christmas lists of people of all ages. There are so many on the market, from very simple trac phones to mini computers. When asked which he thinks is best, Mr. Gerber replied, “The i-phone be-cause it has so many apps and it’s like a tiny computer in your hands.”Some other common items on the wish lists of Mahanoy students are Apple laptops, Kodak cameras, Lil’ Wayne CD, Hollister clothes, Guitar Hero video games and Nike sneakers!

Honor Society

Inducts 21Even though re-ceiving gift isn’t the most important

Mahanoy’s Top Christmas Gifts BY: Tanya Styka


BuyCoalregion.com

921 West Centre Street, Mahanoy City, PA 17948 (570) 773-0104

Wednesday 10 am to 7 pm Thursdays at Shenandoah Farmer's Mkt. 9 to 7

Friday & Saturday 10 am to 7 pm

We are committed to providing superior customer service. Our friendly staff welcomes your questions


Vampires and werewolves and teenagers, oh my. The best-sell-ing “Twilight” novels from Stephe-nie Meyer, now turned blockbuster movie franchise are getting howl-ing reviews, especially the latest installment of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”.“New Moon” officially opened on November 20th, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, but true “Twi-fans” (as devotees have be-come known as) knew the place to be was the midnight release the night before. More than a few Ma-hanoy Area fans could be found neck-deep in the pandemonium that has become associated with

the movies’ success, including Se-niors Emily Sabol and Erin Tech-entine. When asked if the crowds, the noise, the pushing, and the shoving had all been worth the movie itself, Sabol gave a simple, eloquent reply to a question that would have usually put “Twi-fans” up in arms. “Of course it was, “she said, “It’s Twilight.”Like its undead cast, “New Moon” refused to let the craze it sparked die down in a few days. By the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, the film had raked in $42.5 million, and sunk its teeth into the top spot at the box office, ousting such com-petitors as “The Blind Side” and

“2012”. Some critics were surprised at the film’s ob-vious suc-

Down On The Farm...ville, That IsA Look At Social Networking

By: Stormie Lee KappThe world’s been taken over by social networking sites! After all, social networking sites are the hot-test thing this year and not just in America, either. In Iran, The site Twitter has been used to circumvent government censors and let the world know about presidential election protests. In the U.S. if you don’t have a Facebook page, you don’t exist. I am, clearly, an outsider. I’m still stuck in the technological Dark Ages with a Myspace page. No matter where I go, whatever class I”m in, I hear about Facebook’s fa-mous “Farmville”. I’ve never understood WHY mid-dle class suburban teens want to play farmers on

the Internet, but being an outsider, I’m probably not meant to. In an attempt to understand this phenome-na, I asked several fellow students what they thought of social networking sites. I was met with two radi-cal answers, “It’s life” and “It’s nothing”. How can such similar people have such different opinions? Is it possible that social networking sites are breaking us away from the physical world we live in? I don’t think anyone is qualified to answer that, but if what my sources said is true, the social networking fad may be left in the dust, just like grunge, off shoulder sweatshirts, disco and (gasp) Myspace!

French &German Clubs Visit Elderly

White Owl Manor residents are in for a few treats on December 18 when members of the French and Ger-man clubs visit. Students, advised by Mrs. Rohart, will sing Christmas carols for the elderly residents. They have also been working feverishly to make ce-

ramic Christmas ornaments in the art room to give as gifts, as well as Christmas cookies. The clubs have been visiting the Manor for many years as part of their Christmas tradition and the residents love be-ing remembered, especially at this time of year!

The “Howling Sensation Sweeping the Nation” “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Even

Bigger Phenomena than OriginalBy: Stormie Lee Kapp

cess rate, since there had been a change of directors and produc-tion companies from the first mov-ie. Apparently, the changes were for the better, as “New Moon” man-aged to outdo the revenue brought in by the “Twilight” release of 2008 by nearly $2 million more. If this trend continues, we can only look forward to bigger things from the third novel adaptation, “Eclipse”, which is slated for release in June 2010.


“FOR LASTING MEMORIES”

Daniel’s

PHOTOGRAPHY110 West Centre Street

Mahanoy City, PA 17948570-773-2972


Some video releases seem perfectly timed. Take the Sherlock Holmes double features “The House of Fear”/”The Pearl of Death” and “The Spider Woman”/”The Voice of Terror,” for example. With Robert Downey Jr. starring as the super sleuth in “Sherlock Holmes” to be released Christmas Day, what better time than now for restored versions of four fi lms starring the actor who defi ned the role: Basil Rathbone?The 1942 fi lm “The Voice of Terror” seems particular-ly timely, dealing with terrorism and a case in which Holmes and Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate a series of radio broadcasts from Nazi Germany that suggest the possibility of a plot being the work of homegrown terrorists.The DVDs are not rated and carry a list price of $19.98 for each double feature.Noted jazz fan Clint Eastwood is the force behind “Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me,” a two-disc special edition commemorating the 100th anniversa-ry of Mercer’s birth. The documentary chronicles the composer’s life and career and includes interviews and performances by Mercer himself, along with clips of Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Andy Williams, Judy

Garland and others per-forming his tunes (“Hooray for Hollywood,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Skylark,” “Moon River” and on and

NEW DVD RELEASES PERFECTLY TIMED FOR THE HOLIDAYS

On November 17th, the Mahanoy Area math team went to Bloomsburg University to compete in a math contest. We left the school at 7:00 a.m. and returned at 2:30. The math coach for our team was Mr. K. Bet. Members of his AP Calc class and juniors and/or se-niors recommended by Mr. A. Bet and Mr. Scheeler also attended. This year’s team included Ian Leahy, Matt Rupert, Emily Sabol, Erin Techentine, Candace Fegley, Eric Moucheron, Joseph Swartz, and Maria Yankus. Some teams we competed against were Park-land, North Schuylkill, and Selinsgrove. Brain teasers were handed out in the beginning of the competition and were to be completed throughout the day as part

Bloomsburg Math ContestBY: Candace Fegley

of the contest. The fi rst activity that took place was a quiz bowl. The quiz bowl was a minute round of ques-tions against another schools; each correct answer earned one point. The winner of the round advanced to the game “24”, which took place after lunch. For this game, four cards are dealt, any combination must be found to make “24” the answer. The fi rst contes-tant to fi nd a combination wins. When asked about the contest, Emily Sabol said, “It was fun to see the campus, and try something new.” Every contestant received a shirt that day and awards were given to the winning teams. This year was the 12th annual. The contest is held every year in November.

It began to feel a lot like Christmas when the Mahanoy Area chorus performed their annual Christmas con-cert on December 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Members performed songs such as “I Need A Silent Night” and “Bring Them Home”, among many others. When asked about the preparation for the concert,

Chorus Concert PerformedBY: Gary Perna

Senior Katie McCarthy replied, “The hardest song to learn was’We Need a Little Christmas’ because the words go so fast and there are a lot of them.” Solos were performed by Eric Moucheron, Jackie Roberts, Katie McCarthy and Kristy McCarthy. The chorus will perform again in the spring.

on). The second disc includes performances by such contemporary singers as Audra McDonald, Michael Feinstein and Dr. John, plus the featurette “At the Piano With Clint.” The DVD lists for $29.98.Colombia’s offi cial submission for the 2009 Academy Award in the foreign-language fi lm category — “Per-ro come perro (Dog Eat Dog)” — also will be released Tuesday. Oscar Borda and Marlon Moreno star in this violent, Tarantino-esque gangster drama in which two low-level street soldiers develop dangerous am-bitions. The fi lm is not rated and is in Spanish with English subtitles. It lists for $19.98.

(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).Visit The Sacramento Bee online at http://www.sacbee.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Ser-vices.

B e i n g crowned National

Champion is the premier goal for every college football team in the country.

Should we let the current computer system decide who is the best, or let the teams play for the right to be the top college football team in the United States? This has been a debate swirling around the sports world for more than fifteen years. Experts and ana-lysts have come up with their own solutions, but until the speculation is set aside and someone decides to take further action, this unfair system will continue to be prominent in the college football season. In the beginning of the 1998 season, college football adopted a new system to decide a National Cham-pion. The Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, was originally a four game postseason series, but has since been improved to a five game series. The four BCS Bowl Games are the Rose Bowl, Nokia Sugar Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl, and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. These games are all equally exciting and important to the teams that participate in them. Being given the opportunity to compete in one of these games is the ultimate prize for any team in college football. Although these bowl games existed before 1998, it was not until then that the participants in them were decided by the BCS system. Even before the BCS, each of these four games had the opportunity to be considered the National Championship Game, cre-ating the opportunity for each game to reel in an enormous amount of money through ticket sales and television marketing. Before 2007, the National Championship Game was rotated between the four major bowls, giving each of them the chance to host the biggest game of the year. For example, in 1998, the Fiesta Bowl was the National Championship Game. The following year the Sugar Bowl hosted the game, followed by the Orange Bowl, and the Rose Bowl.After the 2006 season, the BCS National Champion-ship Game was added to this series, thus creating even more controversy in the world of college foot-ball. With the addition of this fifth game, the BCS also added the “double-hosting” method. This had a similar purpose as the four-year rotation that was used every year prior to 2006, exposing the cities that these games are played in to the moneymaking opportunity that is the National Championship. With

the double hosting format, the BCS National Cham-pionship game rotates between the cities where the bowl games are played. For example, if Pasadena, California, where the Rose Bowl is played annually, is the double hosting city, both the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game are played in Pasadena. The BCS is essentially a gold mine for these cities. In Pasadena, the average attendance in the Rose Bowl Stadium tops 95,000. By allowing this stadium to host both the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Champion-ship game, the BCS is bringing close to 200,000 peo-ple to the city of Pasadena. Who benefits from this? Not just the BCS from ticket sales, but the stadium itself from concessions, and the restaurants, stores, and hotels in and around Pasadena. Not to mention the national exposure the young men competing in this game receive. The 2006 Rose Bowl had 35.6 mil-lion people glued to their televisions, making it the most watched U.S. television program of the 2005-2006 season. Even though the Rose Bowl is among the most watched sports programs in the history of televised sports, this is still an impressive feat. The BCS rankings are made up of three different polls. The Harris Interactive poll, the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, and the computer rankings all decide a team’s spot in the BCS standings. During the season, teams are ranked from 1 to 25 in each of these polls based on their weekly performance. The first BCS stand-ings are released in the third week of October, while the other three polls are used from the beginning of the season. BCS averages are formed based on a team’s ranking in the three aforementioned polls. If a team is ranked number one in a poll, they receive a 1.000 average. For example:

Miami is ranked: A. Number 1 in the Harris Poll (1.000 BCS Average) B. Number 1 in the Coaches’ Poll (1.000 BCS Average) C. Number 3 in Computer rankings (.920 BCS Average) Result: (A+B+C)/3 = Overall BCS Average of .973

The above is based on a situation where a team re-ceives two first place votes and one third place vote. The overall BCS averages are what determine a team’s standing in the BCS polls.BCS ranking alone does not determine whether or not a team plays in one of the four BCS bowl games. There are six major conferences in college football.

Scicc’s

Sports Spot

Mahanoy Area High School December 11, 2009Mahanoy Area High School December 11, 2009

BCS out the window and let the teams play to see who the real champion is. Well, the most obvious answer would be that the BCS has a contract with college football through the 2013 season. But what happens after 2013? Does college football re-sign the contract? Do they try to “improve” this already appalling method of finding the “best” team in col-lege football? Why can’t we just see a playoff, as in all other levels of college athletics?There have been multiple tribulations with the BCS system in recent years. The top three teams in the final BCS standings in 2008 were number three Tex-as, number two Oklahoma, and number one Florida. According to the rules, Florida played Oklahoma in the BCS national championship game. This seems correct, all except for one problem; Texas defeated Oklahoma earlier in the regular season. All three of these teams had only one loss, Florida losing to Ole Miss, Oklahoma to Texas, and Texas to Texas Tech. Fans and experts alike all agreed that the National Championship game should have featured Texas and Florida, but because Oklahoma received a different amount of votes, they finished the season ranked ahead of Texas. This was seen as unfair by any col-lege football fan’s standards because Texas beat Oklahoma and they deserved to be ranked higher and play for the National Championship. The BCS was by no means able to correctly decide who should play in the title game in this instance. This all could have been avoided with a simple playoff bracket. There have been multiple models of a playoff system proposed by everyone from common college foot-ball fans, to expert analysts, to the President of the United States, Barack Obama. In an interview with ESPN’s Chris Berman, then President-Elect Barack Obama had this to say about the BCS:“I think it is about time we have playoffs in college football! I am fed up with these computer rankings…get eight teams, top eight teams right at the end. You play off, and decide on a National Champion.”There have been multiple reports regarding this statement that say Barack Obama has not yet de-cided whether or not the government will implement change in the BCS and college football, but it remains a possibility. President Obama is an avid sports fan and he could use his presidential power to give the people what they want to see; a college football play-off.Now, I believe it is true that the government has better things to do than tamper with American sports, but at this point, it seems like the only way things could become fair and the BCS mess would get cleaned up once and for all. As for other experts’ opinions, the commissioner of the South Eastern Conference, Mike

The champions of those conferences receive an au-tomatic bid to play in one of the four BCS bowls. The champions of the Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pacific 10 (Pac 10), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and South Eastern Conference (SEC) all are automatical-ly in one of the four major bowl games. Certain con-ferences have contracts with different bowl games. For example, the winners of the Pac 10 and Big Ten annually meet in the Rose Bowl, leaving no opportu-nity for any other team from any other conference to participate in this game. The champion of the ACC automatically plays in the FedEx Orange Bowl in Or-lando. If a conference champion is ranked first or second in the final BCS standings, they will play in the BCS National Championship Game and the run-ner up in that conference will receive the automatic bid. For example, if Michigan finishes the season first in the Big Ten Conference and Penn State finish-es second, but Michigan is ranked number one in the BCS, Michigan will play in the National Champion-ship Game and Penn State will play in the Rose Bowl. A team does not have to finish ranked in the top ten of the BCS standings to receive an automatic bid and a team can finish in the top ten and not receive an automatic bid.There are a total of eleven major conferences in col-lege football. In addition to the six previously men-tioned BCS automatic qualifying conferences are five non-automatic qualifying conferences. They are the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), Conference USA, Mid American Conference (MAC), Sun Belt, and the Mountain West. All of these conferences are eli-gible for at-large bids, under a few select stipulations. An at-large bid is a BCS berth given to a team who did not win their conference, but is still deserving of par-ticipating in a BCS bowl game by judgment of a panel of BCS voters. For a BCS non-automatic qualifying conference team to receive an at large bid they must win their conference and be ranked in the top twelve of the final BCS standings or in the top sixteen of the final standings and have a ranking higher than that of a champion of an automatic qualifying conference. So if Utah has an undefeated season, wins the Moun-tain West, and finishes the season ranked fifth in the BCS, they qualify to be selected as an at-large bid to a BCS bowl game. Now, after reading all of those confusing stipulations and rules, one might think “Well what’s wrong with the BCS?” It’s just that, the confusion. Over the years, the BCS has gained the reputation as the most confusing championship system in the sports world. Most people have asked why we can’t just throw the


Scicc’s Sports Spot cont’d

© 2009 MCT

#1 Album

The Fame MonsterLady GaGa

Top tracks Last week’s ranking in top five( )

United States1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(2)

(1)

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(5)Source: iTunes

United KingdomRussian Roulette

Meet Me Halfway

Whatcha Say

TiK ToK

Bad Romance

I Dreameda DreamSusan Boyle

El Cantodel LocoEl Cantodel Loco

SpainAyo Technology

I Gotta Feeling

Quiero Apprender de Ti

Looking for Paradise

Happy

Bad Romance

TiK ToK

Fireflies

Replay

Meet Me Halfway

Week ending Nov. 30, 2009Movie picks

New review

OutstandingWorthy effortSo-soA bomb Lo

cal c

ritic

Chi

cago

Trib

une

Min

neap

olis

Sta

r Trib

une

Mia

mi H

eral

dN

ewsd

ay

Phi

lade

lphi

a In

quire

r

Sea

ttle

Tim

es

The Blind Side

Twilight: New Moon

Old Dogs

A Christmas Carol

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Ninja Assassin

Precious

The Road

© 2009 MCT

Slive, went before the BCS committee and proposed a playoff model that seemed logical. His idea was to have the number one BCS team play the number four team, and the number two team play the number three team, with the two winners facing each other in the BCS National Championship Game. Though Slive’s idea seemed rational, it was denied by the BCS committee. Their argument was that a playoff would cheapen the regular season competition. I believe the regular season is already cheapened enough, as was the case in 2007, when top programs such as Texas Tech and Oklahoma both played cupcake, or easily defeated teams, winning by more than 65 points. It is understood that top tier teams annually play games like these, where they may win 75-3 in the fi rst week of the season, to warm up and build confi dence. However, when teams play three or four of these games a year, it gets old. Not to mention the

Scicc’s Sports Spot cont’d


blow to the self-confi dence of the team on the losing end of these blowouts.Most experts have suggested four, eight, or sixteen team playoff tournaments. The only problem is that the participants need to be chosen somehow. Keep-ing the BCS ranking system and then just taking the top teams still presents the possibility of unfairness. My opinion of how a playoff in college football should be conducted is to have a sixteen-team bracket. The eleven conference champions would make up the top eleven seeds. Then the fi nal fi ve teams would be decided by a fan vote and would be considered “at large” teams. However, I don’t believe a change in the college football postseason should be determined by a fi fteen year old, but by experts and offi cials in the college football spectrum. So the question remains, when will they stop testing,speculating, whining, and defending the ridiculous BCS system, and fi x the col-lege football championship series once and for all?

Mahanoy Area High School Ninth Edition December … Area High School - Ninth Edition December 11,...

Documents

Transcript of Mahanoy Area High School Ninth Edition December … Area High School - Ninth Edition December 11,...