New England Patriots crush legacy with new allegations

     The New England Patriots’ dynasty may officially be tarnished due to new allegations.
     On Sun., Jan. 18, the Patriots were set to play the Colts at home in Fox borough, Massachusetts. During the game, Tom Brady, Patriots quarterback, threw an interception to D’quell Jackson. Jackson noticed that the ball felt softer and lighter than a normal football. Game officials were alerted of this at half time of this under inflation.
     The Patriots now stand accused of deflating footballs during the AFC championship game. The Colts organization was even alerted by the Ravens, the previous team the Patriots played. They warned the Colts about New England’s potential doctoring of the football.
     Each and every NFL quarterback receives 12 balls before each game. They can then do what they want to them to break them in to their liking before the game. However, Deflating the football is illegal because it makes the football easier to catch and throw, especially in rainy conditions. The referees check the footballs before the game and then give them back to the team.
     How then could the New England Patriots have pulled this off? No one is absolutely certain how they did it, but they do know that it was done. ESPN investigators discovered that of the 12 balls, 11 of them were under inflated by 2 lbs. each.
     New England is now threatened by fines to both head coach Bill Belichick and All pro quarterback Tom Brady. The team also faces a potential loss of draft picks in the upcoming draft. Despite overwhelming evidence that the Patriots did deflate footballs, they continue to deny it.
     According to Yahoosports.com, Tom Brady said, “I didn’t alter the ball in any way. Everybody is trying to figure out what happened. I was as surprised as anybody on when I heard Monday morning what was happening.”
     Nobody in the Patriots organization seems to know what is happening, despite their history of cheating.
     Bill Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history and he is very good at cheating. In 2007, the Patriots were caught illegally filming a the New York Jets defensive hand signals. Before “Spy Gate” in 2007, the Patriots had won three super bowls, creating a dynasty. Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team has not won a super bowl since.
     It seems as though the only way the Patriots succeed is through cheating. The Patriots have returned to the super bowl for the first time sine 2011 despite being in the two previous AFC championship games. The organization made a connection that when they cheat, they succeed. Belichick’s legacy is in question because of his constant compromises to the integrity of the game of football.
         Due to these allegations, the Patriots are under fire once again. Their legacy has become tarnished and a tarnished legacy, is not really a legacy at all.

Student stress levels rise during finals week

As students battle their stress on a normal day, they realize that their stress becomes multiplied during midterms.

Often times the reason of this stress is due to lack of preparation or the insufficiency of teaching of the material in the first place. They automatically feel as if they will fail their exams and quickly begin to panic.

“It all depends on how you look at it,” sophomore Maya Conn said. “I think some teachers have prepared us well, but some have not. Of course no one knows exactly what it is on the test, but I do think teachers could prepare us more by reviewing rather than making us just do [notes] or do book work.”

Some teachers will even try to give their students study guides days before the actual test to study from until the actual exam.

“I think I prepared my biology classes by providing a study guide to help focus their study time, but ultimately it is up to my students to actually prepare for the test,” biology teacher Cathy Howard said.

Students completely forget their grade is entirely on them and not on the teacher.

“I feel my students are prepared completely,” history teacher Lisa Heilmeier said. “My biggest concern is that students do not do their part because teachers give all the information needed, but often students do not review the material and because of that, do not know how to apply what they have learned.”

Students also tend to forget they have seen all of the material presented to them on the exam or use the material they learn continuously throughout the course.

Examples of continuous use would be in English or foreign language courses.

In English, the use of literary devices is vital to analyzing literature. Once the students learn the terms, it is their job to apply the devices to the work they do.

Due to the use of the terms being so repetitive, students must simply relax and realize they have seen the words before and the definition is somewhere in their brain.

Other subjects like Spanish constantly use everything the students learn throughout every single Spanish class they will ever take.

“The best thing about Spanish is that it is not a one-and-done subject,” Spanish teacher Dana Kester said. “[Students] do not learn a topic, word, or grammar structure and then never see it again; we keep using it everyday. So my objective when having my classes review for midterms is to remind the students of those topics, vocabulary words, or grammar structures they already know.”

Most teachers do not forget to prepare their students for a big exam. They understand exams are a big deal to their students and will work to help them.

“My teachers work really hard at making sure we thoroughly understand the class materials,” junior Nick Rinaldi said.

Students just need to relax and focus on studying ahead of time rather than waiting until the day before their exams.

“To relax after studying or after an exam I just eat Doritos and watch That 70’s Show,” Conn said.

They should also start taking more responsibility for their actions leading up to exams rather than blaming their problems on the teachers.

Teachers are there to help their students remember the material and are working hard to do so.

Kester said, “[Reviewing] is just a matter of reminding the students that they already know how to do this and are totally capable of it.”

Canton District Superintendent Adrian Allison threatens merger

     After years of educating the teens of Canton, Timken High school threatens to merge with McKinley High School.
     This plan to merge Timken and McKinley was developed by Canton school district superintendent, Adrian Allison.  The “Brighter Tomorrow” plan would combine students grades 10-12 in McKinley, leaving the freshman at Timken. Allison introduced this plan to the students and parents of Timken on Monday Jan. 19.
     According to Fox8news.com, Superintendent Allison said, “Becoming ‘One community. One high school’ is the right decision for our students and it is the right time to move foreword. I’m excited for this plan and I am hopeful that the community will come together to support it for the benefit of our children and our city.”
     Adrian Allison firmly believes in the decision to combine these high schools. According to WKSUnews.com, without this merger, Canton would be in debt by 2017. If the merger is successful, it could push them above the line by $1 million. There is a problem in the Canton school district budget and if they do not act quickly, they could be in deep debt.
     Despite the apparent benefits to this plan for both the city and the people of Canton, it is an unpopular proposal. Numerous jobs would have to be cut for this merger to be successful, putting many teachers out of work. Timken and McKinley have always differed in what they view as important.
     “The district always favored McKinley because McKinley’s sports team was the biggest thing in the district. Timken was always exceeding in academics,” Timken alum Brandon Cole said.
     McKinley’s sports programs are superior to Timken’s, though Timken has better career programs and academic opportunities. These things are too much for students, teachers and alum to abandon.
     One Timken student, McKenzie Dalton, has started a petition to try and stop the merger from happening.
     According to Fox8news.com, McKenzie said, “One problem this proposal creates is chaos and negative atmosphere in the school environment. Causing such a situation will affect everybody in the school and the community. Given the history of tension between McKinley and Timken, the merging will more than likely force many aggressive situations.”
     The merger of McKinley and Timken is unpopular but likely to occur for economic reasons.

Superbowl XLIX stats and predictions

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers, advancing them to Super Bowl 49. Later in the same day, the New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts, which sent them to the Super Bowl to face off against the Seahawks.

The big game is set to take place in Arizona on Feb. 1. Both teams get an extra week of preparation before it is all left on the line. The fact of the matter is that Tom Brady and the Patriots could get three weeks of preparation and they will still not be ready for the Seahawks, and this will be proven in a Seahawks victory.

It is not just the Seahawks feared defense that will beat the Patriots: it is their much underrated offense. Russell Wilson simply does not say the game is over until he wants it to be. This act was put on display in the NFC Championship game vs the Packers. To say the least, Wilson played horribly, throwing four interceptions, and according to Espnstatsinfo.com, the Seahawks had a 3.9% chance of winning with 5:04 left in regulation; however, with a little magic and possibly some luck, Wilson and company came away with the earned victory.

I am not saying that Seattle will dominate New England like they did last year against Manning and the Broncos, but I am saying they will win, and I am very confident in saying that. Brady is not washed up. Belicheck is still one of the best coaches to ever live. So why am I counting out the Pats so confidently?

In ten starts against Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, Russell Wilson boasts a—you guessed it—perfect 10-0 record; however, come Feb.1, when the confetti rains down blue and green in Glendale, he will be 11-0. The Seahawks will also be victorious because of a quiet and very misunderstood running back by the name of Marshawn Lynch. All Lynch has done is run for 1306 yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season.

At the end of the day, the Patriots have still earned the right to play the Seahawks and have many of threats on their team. The only way the Patriots have a chance to win is with man coverage and have a linebacker spy Wilson.

This time last year, most people took their bets on the Broncos high-powered offense defeating the young Seahawks team, which was followed up with a 43-8 Seattle victory. While the Patriots and Broncos are different teams, they are built the same. The only differences are that Brady does not have the weapons Manning had, and the Patriots defense is slightly better. Offense wins game, and like many do not understand, defense wins championships.

If you do not wish to know the final score of Super Bowl 49, stop reading. Spoiler alert, the Seahawks will beat the Patriots 23-17 in Glendale Arizona.

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