Pond Hockey Tournament raises $50,035 for Jablonski February 1, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Students and teachers swap outfits for Catholic Schools Week February 1, 2012 at 7:58 am
Catholic Schools Week kicks off with pjs and honors February 1, 2012 at 7:58 am
One Act play takes second place at sub-sections February 1, 2012 at 7:57 am
Youth In Goverment members lobby for government changes February 1, 2012 at 7:56 am
American Literature teacher Ms. Anne Marie Dominguez teaches The Great Gatsby to her students in the newly developed class, American Studies, alongside U.S. History teacher Ms. Megan Kern. (Chris Bell)
February 3, 2012
Nicole Sarquis, Staff Writer
History teachers tend to ramble off unrelatable facts about flappers, bootlegging, and the ease of life in the “Roaring 20s” during a typical U.S. History class, leaving their students with no real understanding of the subject. At the same time, English teachers’ enthusiasm over F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” can only be understood... Continue Reading
February 6, 2012
Matt Muenzberg, Sports Editor
“We need our Kyle Rau,” said boys’ hockey head coach Mr. Ken Pauly, referencing the former Eden Prairie Eagle who not only led the team in scoring on their way to last year’s state championship, but also consistently showed up when his team needed a goal. BSM’s Kyle Rau is junior forward Grant Besse, who has been on a roll lately, averaging over 2.8 goals a game in his last seven games. He twice found the back of the net and added an assist in a 4-3 win over section rival Wayzata on Monday, Feb. 6. With section seeding on the line, there was a playoff-like atmosphere at the packed Plymouth Ice Center. “I loved it,” said Besse. “I thrive on that stuff.” Head-to-head match-ups... Continue Reading
Junior Shannon Galvin rehearses for the upcoming Les Miserables performance wither her fellow cast members. (Giulia Imholte)
January 27, 2012
Emily Kline, Staff Writer
Blue Water Theatre Company, one of the Twin Cities’ top performing arts groups for youth, is taking on “Les Misérables,” one of musical theatre’s most famous works, for their winter production. Juniors Rachel Hogen and Shannon Galvin, along with sophomore Rachel Wallace, joined the cast in late November and are currently in rehearsals for the... Continue Reading
February 1, 2012
Nick Hillson, Staff Writer
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill running through Congress in an attempt to curb the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted information and programs. Unfortunately, due to extremely vague wording and unclear definitions, the censorship proposed could extend to websites such as Facebook, various e-mails, and any other free forum. Not only is SOPA ineffective for all but the technologically impaired, but it violates our rights and benefits only a small handful of elites. SOPA works by requiring websites and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to search through sent information and to censor any infringing material. Not only does this ignore the privacy guaranteed in the Constitution... Continue Reading
The Mock Trial team had a succesful season at several competitions due to immense practice and help from professional lawyers. (Photo courtesy of Jim Vogl)
February 3, 2012
Mallory Hoch, Staff Writer
Beginning in October, the Mock Trial team has practiced every night from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in room 121 in preparation for upcoming competitions. Coming to a close on January 31st, the season ended on a strong note, making it to subsections before loosing their last competition. The season commenced with general practices to help initiate new members.... Continue Reading
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Result | W/L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls Hockey | Sat, Feb 04 | Totino-Grace | 9-0 | Read Story | W |
| Boys Hockey | Sat, Feb 04 | Spring Lake Park | 15-0 | W | |
| Wrestling | Sat, Feb 04 | TBA | 9th Place | ||
| Girls Basketball | Fri, Feb 03 | Spring Lake Park | 57-39 | W | |
| Boys Basketball | Fri, Feb 03 | Spring Lake Park | 67-65 | Read Story | W |
| Girls Hockey | Thu, Feb 02 | Spring Lake Park | 6-0 | Read Story | W |
| Wrestling | Thu, Feb 02 | Dassel-Cokato | 21-58 | L | |
| Girls Basketball | Tue, Jan 31 | Minneapolis Southwest | 70-38 | W | |
| Boys Hockey | Tue, Jan 31 | Jefferson | 7-1 | Read Story | W |
| Girls Hockey | Sat, Jan 28 | Hill-Murray | 1-3 | Read Story | L |
| Boys Basketball | Sat, Jan 28 | North Branch | 82-21 | Read Story | W |
| Girls Basketball | Sat, Jan 28 | North Branch | 66-40 | Read Story | W |
| Sport | Date | Time | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys Hockey | Wed, Feb 08 | 7:30 | Shattuck-St. Mary's | Shattuck-St. Mary's |
| Girls Basketball | Fri, Feb 10 | 7:15 | St. Louis Park | St. Louis Park |
| Wrestling | Fri, Feb 10 | 6:00 | Chisago Lakes | Home |
| Boys Hockey | Sat, Feb 11 | 2:30 | Totino-Grace | St. Louis Park |
| Dance Team | Sat, Feb 11 | 1:00 | Sections | Austin |
| Boys Hockey | Tue, Feb 14 | 7:00 | Chisago Lakes | Chisago Lakes |
| Girls Basketball | Tue, Feb 14 | 7:15 | Columbia Heights | Home |
| Girls Basketball | Thu, Feb 16 | 7:15 | Waconia | Home |
| Girls Basketball | Fri, Feb 17 | 7:15 | Irondale | Home |
| Boys Hockey | Sat, Feb 18 | 2:30 | Stillwater | St. Louis Park |
| Wrestling | Sat, Feb 18 | 8:00 | Section Opponents | Totino-Grace |
| Girls Basketball | Tue, Feb 21 | 7:15 | St. Francis | Home |
Junior Greg Zeman is an avid COD MOD 2 player.
Bernardo Vigil
December 7, 2009
Filed under Features, Student Life, Top Stories
Since the emergence of the video game in the early 70s, society’s perception of the gamer has evolved from the timeless computer nerd complete with calculator watch and pocket protector, to basically every male above the age of ten and below the age of 35. Yes, today video gaming for hours on end has not only become socially acceptable for adolescent males, but a social requirement.
It is even quite possible that next to school-sponsored sports, video games-namely the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3-have become the preeminent method of male bonding in this generation, and it seems that no video game has brought men together like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
To non-gamers, it seems like sitting around and playing a video game would be something to do on one’s own when they don’t have anywhere to go. Few things could be further from the truth. Since the release of the game in November, COD MOD 2 parties and (both official and unofficial) tournaments that are popping up. Generally COD MOD 2 parties are surprisingly similar to other primarily male gatherings: lots of pizza, lots of swearing, and bottles upon bottles of Mountain Dew.
If you are still having a hard time picturing this, imagine a Super Bowl Party minus the women, good commercials and jerseys. When groups of teenage boys get together to play COD MOD 2, the few that are playing focus solely and intently on winning, while those that are not focus solely on distracting those who are. Typical attacks include simple taunting, “You’re terrible! You’re terrible! Way to miss! Have you ever evn played this game before?” (and for the record, usually the verbal spars are just a tad more explicit), to mock-erotic dancing, so simply blinding the player with one’s hands. Needless to say, usually the latter ends up in the game being paused and a few choice punches being thrown.
In keeping with the Super Bowl party metaphor, gamers and their supporters (if they had any) are quickly humbled if they lose. While the relentless teasing that occurs at these celebrations of testosterone may seem unappealing to some, gamers never seem to be having a better time than when they are surrounded by their friends trying to kill more people than the others and doing a victory dance when they do.
When parties are not a viable option, most gamers turn to online mode. One need travel no further to test this theory than any boy’s bedroom between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. which Wired magazine has described as the “prime time” of online gaming. Accessible from the X-Box, Playstation and PC versions of COD MOD 2, online mode allows players to duke it out with other real gamers from across the globe as opposed to being restricted to simply playing alone.
In addition to being able to play against anybody, gamers can join up with specific friends regardless of the geographic (or transportational) barriers that usually present themselves when trying to play video games with friends on school nights. Armed with their controllers and head-sets that allow for inter-player communication, many gamers report staying up well past midnight to continue battling friends. Junior Peter Schubloom describes the online mode as the best part of the game for one more reason, the ability to track one’s ranking in the world or amongst friends in regards to kills, accuracy, and overall score.
Although few games have received the universal praise that COD MOD 2 has, even fewer have received the attention that it has. Sophomore and Call of Duty aficionado Cisco Labayki said, “The best part is shooting stuff… aiming that trigger and pulling that trigger.” It seems that for whatever the reason, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is here to stay and will be the main event at many parties to come. As Labayki stated, “I play it till my PS3 breaks.”
March 15th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
juniors have the real talent in MOD 2 no question
[Reply]