Blue Valley High Extends Season By Beating Shawnee Mission West In Playoff
November 13, 2009
Blue Valley High Extends Season by Beating Shawnee Mission West in Playoffs
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Tiger Band Takes Road Trip to St. Louis
November 13, 2009
Tiger Band Takes Road Trip To St. Louis.
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Chess club experiences success at tournament
November 15, 2009
BV took third place overall at the annual Blue Valley Chess Classic on Saturday Nov. 7.
More than one hundred chess players competed in the tournament ranging in three categories: K-3, K-6, and K-12.
Senior Henry Chan placed 19th, sophomore Spencer Ho placed 21st, and junior Jennifer Lester placed 25th. Also competing in the competition were BV students junior Jesse Hartl, senior Brady Jerome, and sophomores Matt Coole and Carlos Cheung.
Supervisor Richard Gill said the club is working hard to get better each practice and hopes that will carry over to the competitions.
“We’re at the point where we’ve got people winning three games,” Gill said. “We just need to get to the point where they’re winning four.”
By Rachel McCullough
Players sign to play college baseball
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November 16, 2009
On Friday Nov. 13, seniors Ryne Stanek, Kyle Brady and Taylor Drake pose with their parents while signing to play college baseball. Stanek signed with the University of Arkansas, Drake with McNeese State University and Brady with Northwest Missouri State University. Photo by Haley Hickman.
Journalism students receive honors in 7 categories; Tiger Print takes 9th in Best of Show at national convention
November 16, 2009
Ten BV journalism students attended the National Fall High School Journalism Convention in Washington, D.C., from Nov. 10-15, with seven of them receiving honors in JEA Write-Off Contests.
The Tiger Print was a finalist for the Pacemaker Award, and received 9th place in the Best in Show contest.
Three newspaper staff members received awards at the convention: junior Connor Cape with an Excellent rating in Feature Writing, junior Ryan O’ Toole with an Excellent rating in Sports Writing and senior Tori Freisner with an Excellent rating in Review Writing.
Four yearbook staff members received awards: junior Gretchen Hess with an Excellent rating in Sports Writing, senior Sarah Clancey with a Superior rating in Yearbook Academics Writing, sophomore Megan Kuharich with an Excellent rating in Clubs Writing and sophomore Jen Kranjec with an Excellent rating in Student Life Writing.
By Matthew Gruber
Senior signs with Alabama
November 17, 2009
Senior Sarah DeMeo gathered with her friends and family on Monday, Nov. 16, in the senior lunchroom to sign with the University of Alabama for gymnastics.
DeMeo will compete one more season with the Eagles gymnastics team before her freshman year of college.
DeMeo said she thinks Alabama is the right fit for her.
“It’s in the Southeastern Conference,” she said. “It’s most competitive, and I’m already friends with girls on the team; the coaches are welcoming and like family.”
By Carlee Ray
My Voice: Royals fan thrilled with Greinke's AL Cy Young
November 18, 2009
Tuesday was a highlight for Kansas City Royals fans, who proudly stand behind Zack Grienke as the AL Cy Young recipient.
While it may seem like we’re light years away from winning a World Series, or even a pennant for that matter, we can at least say we have one legitimate, superstar player.
Greinke doesn’t enjoy being the center of attention and didn’t seem as ecstatic as others when nominated for the Cy Young.
That’s just Greinke’s personality. He’s not being a jerk, he’s just being himself.
I have a lot of respect for him and it doesn’t bother me a bit that he doesn’t enjoy the spotlight.
We could use more players like Greinke in Kansas City. Unfortunately, we’re not the Yankees and we don’t have all the prominent names and faces. This town could use, and deserves, some more names without the bold personalities.
To me, Greinke is a perfect example of how you can demonstrate leadership through your actions, without being the most vocal player on the field.
Baseball is the “thinking man’s game” and Greinke phenomenally portrays this day in and day out on the mound.
He wasn’t always as mentally sound as he is now. He went through a lot to get where he is today, battling through anxiety issues and depression.
While he may have improved physically as a player since he took his time away from baseball a few years back, his new mental edge makes him a Cy Young winner.
While Greinke only pitches once every five games or so, you can see his desire to be on a winning team. Let’s face it, watching the other Royals players isn’t too much fun on a regular basis, whether you’re sitting in the dugout or bleachers. The disappointment is the same.
It’d be a lot more fun for Greinke, and the fans, if we were in the pennant race.
“I don’t want to pitch for New York in the playoffs,” Greinke told the Kansas City Star. “I want to pitch for Kansas City in the playoffs. It would definitely be a lot better being in the playoffs than not. That’s all you ever play for.”
As a true Royals fan, I was so glad to hear this.
Plus, if we won about half our games or more we’d be a lot more likely to have a shot at keeping key players.
We could have Jermaine Dye, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon in our outfield, three of whom have been on World Championship teams within the past five years.
Instead we traded or let them leave Kansas City.
Let’s hope this time we can keep Greinke and develop the franchise player that we’ve been lacking since Mike Sweeney.
However, its not fair to expect Greinke to stick around for 12 years like Tony Gonzalez did with the Chiefs before he moved on. Greinke deserves a playoff-caliber team.
The Royals need to keep developing franchise players like Greinke and Billy Butler and keep them signed. This way, we’re still playing in October instead of looking at the standings column tied for last in the division.
Maybe, just maybe, three years from now when Kansas City hosts the All-Star game in 2012, we’ll have several players representing the Royals, and a team that’s closer to being in mix of the pennant race. By Matthew Gruber
Clubs for Change holds raffle in cafeteria to raise money for homeless
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November 19, 2009
Photo by Emma Mosier.
Everyday at lunch this week, Clubs for Change will be raffling off items to help fight homelessness and poverty in Johnson County.
Suggested donations are $1 for one ticket, $2 for three tickets and $3 for five tickets. The raffle prizes are from Buffalo Wild Wings, Vera Bradley, Starbucks, Robeks, Chick-fil-a, Ice at Park Place and a football signed by Will Shields.
“We don’t have a set goal of how much money we want to raise,” Clubs for Change representative, freshman Parker Gordon said. “We haven’t raised that much, but really any amount will help.”
by Jordan McEntee.
Tigers fall to Olathe North in final seconds of sub-state game
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November 23, 2009
Senior Anthony Abenoja sits on the ground after Friday’s sub-state loss to North. Photo by Jackie Lippert.
With 14 seconds left in the game, the Blue Valley sideline was silent. The team, locked in arms and kneeling, knew this was the defining play. They were up 14-13, but the Olathe North Eagles were preparing to kick the game-winning field goal. This once 1-6 team could almost taste victory.
Heartbreak.
The ball sailed through the posts, ending the Tigers’ Cinderella story.
North added another victory to their undefeated season with a score of 16-14.
The game started off in the Tigers’ favor. After the Tigers recovered a botched punt return with 4:35 left in the first quarter, momentum was in full force. The team scored on a pass from senior Anthony Abenoja to junior Jacob McDermott, putting them up 7-0.
The Eagles didn’t take much time to add some points to the board, scoring early in the second quarter. With good defense from both teams, the score remained tied 7-7 at halftime.
With 30 seconds left in the third quarter, BV recovered an Eagles’ fumble that led to a score on a pass from Abenoja to junior Paul DeBey Jr. Tigers were up 14-7.
With the Eagles back in scoring territory, BV stopped them on fourth down but a penalty gave it back to the Eagles with a first down. North scored but missed the extra point attempt leaving BV ahead 14-13.
After a three and out by the Tigers, North was given the ball with 3:11 left in the game.
After the game-winning field goal was kicked, the Tigers were given ten seconds but could not come up with any points. Final score: North wins 16-14.
by Stephanie Roche.
