April 28, 1999 9 Pages

Here is the newest edition of The Paper, hot off the presses. I have two things to say. The first is that next year’s newspaper staff is almost finalized. If you didn’t have an opportunity to fill out an application, but still want to write or do something else for The Paper next year, just tell me, and I’ll add your name in on the list. The next is more serious. As you may or may not know, Kevin Staley-Joyce lost his father this past week. The staff of The Paper sends our prayers to Kevin and his family.

A few weeks ago I went around the school asking grades 5-7 if going to BACS was worth it. Here are the results –

87% of the fifth graders thought it was worth it, but the other 13% weren’t sure.

50% of the sixth graders thought it was worth it, 19% said it wasn’t, and the other 31% wasn’t sure.

33% of the seventh graders thought it was worth it, while a whopping 67% said this school wasn’t worth it.

To total it up, of all of grades 5-7 –

57% think BACS is worth it, 15% aren’t sure, and 28% of the students at BACS don’t think coming here is worth the trouble.

Andrew Yaksic

It’s been so long since I’ve written a volleyball article, and so much has happened. However, the most important thing that happened was that the eighth grade finally lost – twice. One may have happened because of the ref, and the other may have happened because it was 8 of them vs. 2 of us. As of today our record stands at 156-2, which is quite commendable work on our part, and a winning percentage of .987. We are, without a doubt, the best team to have ever served a ball in DiGiovanni Hall.

Robert Hayes

Like any other newspaper, the writers and editors of "The Paper" want to know what you, the reader, thinks. In the latest sports poll, the question was "Who will win this year’s NCAA men basketball tournament?" I appreicate everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to e-mail or tell me in person their response. On to the results!

Duke Blue Devils: 14 votes

University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies: 7 votes

Gonazaga Bulldogs: 6 votes

New England Patriots (!?!): 1 vote

Winner via 2 three pointers and a foul shot: the Duke Blue Devils! Most people I talked to favored Duke because of their experience in "March Madness", their unbelievable record, the fact that they were #1 seed, their great front line, and their surprisingly good defense.

This issue’s sports poll questions are much more unusual and a lot more general, "What is your favorite sport to watch?" and "What is your favorite sport to play?". Also, if anyone would care to tell me who they think is going to win this year’s NBA championship, feel free to tell me and I will make sure it is mentioned in the issues to come.

Steven Newark

The NCAA hockey season has drawn to a close, but not without giving a great tournament show. Twelve teams made it to the tournament: Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Maine, UNH, Boston College, Northern Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Colorado College, University of Denver, and North Dakota. The championship was up for grabs with no predominate favorite, and the final result was just as wild. The tournament was set up much like the basketball tourney, except four teams got first round byes. The four bye teams were UNH, Clarkson, Michigan State, and North Dakota. In first round action from the Worcester Centrum, Michigan knocked off Denver 5-3 and Maine cruised by Ohio State 4-2. Out west, Colorado College beat St. Lawrence 5-2 in a game St. Lawrence had won until Colorado rallied in the third, scoring three goals in two minutes. BC also beat Northern Michigan 2-1. Now that the boys were separated from the men, some really good hockey began. Maine was able to beat Clarkson 7-2. Clarkson was able to pull within two late in the second period, but their season was shattered by Steve Kariya’s hat trick that included an empty net goal. UNH knocked off UMich in a rematch of last year’s Final Four game. The game went into overtime at 1-1. At that point the crowd (including myself) really got into the game and there wasn’t a moment of overtime that didn’t include the fans chanting "UNH, UNH!" UNH pulled it off 2-1. In other second round action, Michigan State beat Colorado 4-3 in OT and heavily favored North Dakota bowed to Boston College 3-1. The final four teams had been locked in place, and it was off to Anaheim to see who was truly the best. UHN beat Michigan State 5-3, and Maine pushed by Boston College 2-1. This set the scene for the final, a matchup that had happened four time this year – UNH vs. Maine. Maine got on the board early, 2-0. Things looked bad for UNH when Maine scored yet again, but it was disallowed because of a player in the crease. UNH tied the game at 2-2. In OT, superb goaltending kept it alive, until Maine put a rebound in, and "that’s all she wrote for that one." Jason Krog of UNH won the Hobbey Baker award for best all around player and had a great season scoring over 80 points.

Paul Riley

The season has ended and the real stuff has begun. It's playoff time in the NHL with the best sixteen teams in the NHL trying to win the most coveted prize in sports, The Stanley Cup. In my opinion, hockey playoffs are the best out of any sport. Sure, baseball is fun with The World Series and all, and basketball, oh, aren't they on strike?, and football is exciting, but they should have more games, not just one game elimination. Hockey is the fastest and the most exciting. Here is what has happened in the first few games of the NHL quarterfinal series:

Eastern Conference

1. New Jersey Devils vs. 8. Pittsburgh Penguins

1-2

The Penguins are leading this series 2-1 with some excellent goal tending by Tom Barrasso, and in games 2 and 3 which were victory's for the Pens, they didn't have their superstar Jaromir Jagr.

2. Ottawa Senators vs. 7. Buffalo Sabres

0-2

This isn't much of an upset since the Sabres have the best goal tender in the world Dominick Hasek, but they have put defense and offense together and are controlling this best out of seven series.

3. Carolina Hurricanes vs. 6. Boston Bruins

1-1

The Hurricanes came out storming in game 1, but the B's survived it and went on two win 2-0 behind the shutout of Byron Dafoe. In game 2 the Bruins jumped out two a 1-0 lead but had it disappear, and in overtime the storm struck and the Hurricanes tied up the series going back to Boston.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. 5. Philadelphia Flyers

1-1

The Flyers came out and controlled game one in Toronto and went on to the 3-0 victory. But in game two they gave up their lead with a minute and five seconds left, and the Maple Leafs went on to win and the tie the series.

Western Conference

1. Dallas Stars vs. 8. Edmonton Oilers

2-0

The Stars, who had the best record during the regular season, and huge favorites in this series got a game from the Oilers in games 1 and 2 but survived and they lead the series 2-0 going back to Edmonton.

2. Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks

0-0

The series was postponed three days due to the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado last Tuesday. They will start the series in San Jose, but the Avalanche will not lose home-ice advantage.

3. Detroit Red Wings vs. 6. Anaheim Mighty Ducks

3-0

The two time defending champs are at in again, and have the Ducks on their heels going in to game four as the Wings lead the series 3-0.

4. Phoenix Coyotes vs. 5. St. Louis Blues

1-1

The Coyotes came in to the playoffs having lost their star forward Jeremy Roenick. That's a huge loss and will hurt their playoff chances.

Predictions

Eastern Conference Champions: Boston Bruins

Western Conference Champions: Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup Champion: Detroit Red Wings

To get the final NHL standings, get on the Internet and get to:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/standings/index.html

Sean McCluskey

Well, it’s that time of year again. The entire nation is getting ready for another action packed major league baseball season! Here, to give you an update on the season and how it looks, the four unofficial baseball experts of The Paper have all made their previews for the coming year, as we did last year as well.

American League

1. New York Yankees- they can only get better with Roger.
2. Baltimore Orioles-Belle will have a ball in Camden Yards.
3. Boston Red Sox- welcome to the Jose Offerman Era!
4. Toronto Blue Jays- if they falter, look for David Wells to be traded by the all-star break.
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays- still playing like an expansion team

1. Cleveland Indians- better than ever before
2. Detroit Tigers- greatly removed from the Triple-AAA team they fielded a couple years ago.
3. Chicago White Sox- in any other division they would be a 4^th place team.
4. Kansas City Royals- where’s George Brett when you need him?
5. Minnesota Twins- all they can hope for is Kirby Puckett to come out of retirement.

1. Texas Rangers- No major gains or losses still keeps them atop the division.
2. Anaheim Angels- Mo isn’t quite enough to top Rangers, but they don’t have to worry: they’ll probably get Nomar as a free agent somewhere down the road
3. Seattle Mariners- Junior and A-Rod will want out pretty soon
4. Oakland Athletics- memories of the 80’s are all that show the slightest hint of greatness on this team

1. Atlanta Braves- the addition of Brian Jordan can only make them better
2. New York Mets- will Piazza stay happy in N.Y.?
3. Montreal Expos- a couple young players away from their ’94 team, when they had the best record in baseball at the strike
4. Philadelphia Phillies- how long can Curt Schilling stand to stay on this team?
5. Florida Marlins- go ahead. Try to name 5 Marlins.

1. Houston Astros- even without Randy, they still hold their Central lead.
2. St. Louis Cardinals- all the talk is about Big Mac, but the Cards have a pretty good team this year.
3. Cincinatti Reds- the addition of Greg Vaughn gives hope for the future
4. Chicago Cubs- loss of Kerry Wood devastating to Cubbies
5. Milwaukee Brewers- only bright spot is the fact of new ballpark coming soon
6. Pittsburgh Pirates- will there ever be a name player on the Pirates again?

1. Los Angeles Dodgers- addition of Kevin Brown seals first place spot
2. San Francisco Giants- no team with Dusty Baker is ever out of the races.
3. Colorado Rockies- their hitting knows no evil, their pitching knows no good

San Diego Padres- last year’s champions are this year’s bums without Brown or G. Vaughn

Paul Riley

1. New York Yankees

2. Boston Red Sox

3. Baltimore Orioles

4. Toronto Blue Jays

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

1. Cleveland Indians

2. Chicago White Sox

3. Detroit Tigers

4. Kansas City Royals

5. Minnesota Twins

1. Texas Rangers

2. Anaheim Angels

3. Seattle Mariners

4. Oakland Athletics

1. Atlanta Braves

2. New York Mets

3. Montreal Expos

4. Florida Marlins

5. Philadelphia Phillies

1. Houston Astros

2. Chicago Cubs

3. St. Louis Cardinals

4. Cincinnati Reds

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

6. Milwaukee Brewers

1. San Francisco Giants

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

3. San Diego Padres

4. Colorado Rockies

5. Arizona Diamondbacks

AL MVP: Ken Griffey Jr.

AL Cy Young: Pedro Martinez

NL MVP: Mark McGwire

NL Cy Young: Kevin Brown

Paul Riley, Sean McCluskey, Andrew Yaksic

Paul’s Picks: Boston vs. Detroit, Detroit wins

Sean’s Picks: New Jersey vs. Dallas, Dallas wins

Andy’s Picks: Boston vs. Dallas, Boston wins

Welcome to the next generation of RPG’s.

Final Fantasy 7: I will be blessing that game for a long time. It has great graphics, an intense story line, and a brand new type of battle system. Before I get into all that technical stuff, I’ll tell you the story.

You start as a young man named Cloud – a spike haired young warrior with (what else) a huge sword as a weapon. You have just joined a team of rebels against a huge company called Shinra, which is destroying the planed with a chemical called Mako. Ah, I know what you’re thinking. You go around, kill all allied with Shinra, kill the president, and beat the game, right? Wrong. As you progress through Midgar, you learn more about Cloud’s past, soon revealing a man of great power, Sephiroth, a person who is hell bent on being "God." Now your main objective is to find out more about your past, and to kill Sephiroth.

The game itself is all in real-time 3D, all the time. Plus, a first in RPG’s – no more big headed characters! The battle system is different from any other Final Fantasy. For one thing, Squaresoft added something called ATB, which is Active Time Battle, a gauge that fills as the battle progresses. When it’s full, the character can choose an attack. It also has a new magic system called ‘materia’. Materia are small little orbs that you can put into ‘slots’ in your weapon. In battle when you use materia you are able to cast magic, summon monsters, heal yourself, etc. Finally, there is something called ‘Limit Breaks.’ Limit Breaks are extremely powerful attacks that players are able to use after a certain number of hits you take. (There is a Limit Gauge on the battle screen. When it’s full, you can use the Limit Break.) Players can acquire new Limit Breaks as they progress in the game.

The FMV’s (Full Motion Videos) in the game are beautiful. There are some that make you think you are in a movie theater! The monsters in the game are quite innovative (some gave me nightmares!) and some can be annoying. There are lots of mini-games (they have an entire arcade in there, full of games you can play!). There are a couple of vehicles that you can ride in. Also, like a true Final Fantasy, there are huge birds called Chocobos, but now you can breed them, raise them, and race them!

This game can truly take such a name as Final Fantasy. An automatic masterpiece.

Kevin Dacey

EdTV – Matthew McConaughey,, Jenna Elfman, Ellen DeGeneres - *** (out of 4) Director – Ron Howard

When a television station called Real T.V., known for showing the real world, is suddenly going down in ratings, the producers think of a way to get ratings back.

One of the producers (Ellen DeGeneres) thinks of an idea. Real T.V. will find a regular ol’ Joe and film his life.

Then the producer finds Ed (McConaughey). So the T.V. show EdTV began, about Ed, his girlfriend Sherri (Elfman), and his family. Soon, however, Ed realizes that he will have to choose between the show and his family. You’ll get a lot of laughs from this one. PG-13.

Ronin – Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Sean Bean - ***½

For all of those James Bond buffs upset about Tomorrow Never Dies and waiting for The World is Not Enough, Ronin is for you. It’s about a group of mercenaries looking for money, who are employed by a mysterious Irish woman being hunted by… well, you’ll find out. She needs to find a case. What they don’t know is that the Russians, Irish, and everyone in between want it. Rated R for gunfights, extreme (though obviously fake) point-blank gunshots, awesome car chases, explosions, and all of those action gimmicks. This movie is great for action buffs!

Do you remember the Find the Guy Contest? Well, here's something better. Intoducing the Find the Stuff Contest! It will be a lot easier to play if you still have copies of previous papers. This game works a lot like Where's Waldo. You will be asked to find all sorts of interesting things in any past issue of the paper ever. If you scour each paper enough, you'll be surprised at what kinds of things are actually in them. So, here's what to find:

TRY TO FIND THE PHRASES AND WORDS:

1.) The movies "Die Hard" and "Braveheart"

2.) The sentence "This chart is easy to understand."

3.) The sentence "And that's the bottom line."

4.) The sentence "Then it was potato guns."

5.) The word "puberty"

6.) The phrase "Perception is more pleasing than truth."

7.) The phrase "The Power Rangers"

8.) The phrase "some say Brain"

9.) The phrase "Extreme adult content"

10.) The phrase "don't be surprised if the paper combusts all over your

new tie."

11.) The word "spankin'"

12.) The book "Connaissances et Reactions"

13.) The phrase "the Monica Lewinsky burger, which has no buns and is

coated with hot sauce!"

14.) The sentence "Warning:You May Disagree"

15.) The word "Rambo"

16.) How many butts does the mutated monkey have?

FIND DRAWINGS OF:

17.) A guy named Eugene

18.) The Hood blimp

19.) Mo Vaughn

20.) A porcupine

21.) An organ

22.) Captain Picard's lunchbox

23.) A smiley face other than those on Secret Agent Man's cape

24.) A phone booth

25.) Three helicopters

Might I suggest reading this list several times before beginning your search so that if you see something else on the list while looking for one thing, you'll know. You will have to show me each thing so that I know you really found it, or you could describe IN DETAIL where the things are in the text or comic. Just drop off your notes to me personally or in my music box, #15. You can also e-mail me at [email protected]. You don't have to find all the things to win a prize. The prizes are as follows:

If you find: 20 things-Anything from Christy's or CVS under $2.00

21-24 things-A stress reliever or hackysack (your choice)

The deadline for this contest is probably going to be sometime in May. I know that some of these things will be hard to find, so I'll try to give a lot of time. The winners will probably be announced in the last paper of the year. Bet on Friday, May 14th as the tenative date. Also, don't bother looking in this issue. I don't know what is in the issue as I type my articles, so nothing in this issue is on the list. Okay. Have fun!

And now, of course, the comics.