LAX Captures State - Memphis University School

Grizz Playoff Recap
Bin Laden Death Reaction
[See Was It Justified?, page 5 ]
6191 Park Avenue Memphis, Tennessee 38119 (901) 260-1300
VOL. LVI NO. 1
[See Historic Playoff Run Reignites
Franchise, City, page 8]
MAY 23, 2011
MUS JCL
Four-Peat
Salman Haque
LAYOUT EDITOR
Venimus. Vidimus. Vicimus. We came.
We saw. We conquered. Seven hundred
students from thirty-three different schools
flocked to Franklin, Tennessee, to compete
in the fifty-fifth annual Tennessee Junior
Classical League State Convention on Friday and Saturday, April 8th and 9th.
MUS’s sixty-five-student delegation
departed for the Nashville suburb during
OP on Thursday, April 8th. After a tour of
the Parthenon in Nashville, the students
arrived at the site of the convention, the
Cool Springs Marriott. Having the evening
to run amok in a nearby shopping mall,
the Owls started the next with an assembly
that included a keynote address given by
Vanderbilt University’s Dr. Daniel Solomon,
who talked about reasons to take Latin.
Then the spirit procession, a march designed for students “to express school pride
and enthusiasm for JCL [Junior Classical
League]. Unfortunately, the judges were not
greatly moved by MUS’s stoic, silent march.
[See Latin, page 12]
MUS PUBLICATIONS
The MUS varsity lacrosse team, which Coach Elliot Dent lead to its first state championship since 2008 and its seventh all-time, comes together
LAX Captures State
MUS lacrosse team retakes state title with
dedication, teamwork, and Navy SEAL training.
Garrott Graham
“My grandma moves faster than y’all
are moving right now… and she’s dead!”
Not quite the welcome I was hoping for at
8 o’clock in the morning on the first day of
my long weekend. Over President’s Day
weekend this February, the Lacrosse team
was met with a new set of challenges as we
were no longer being required to scoop
ground balls and rip G’s. No, instead
we were using our lacrosse sticks as our
“weapon systems” as Sergeant Major J.B.
Spisso brought his Elite Leadership Training staff to MUS to unravel a team building experience unlike any other we had
ever experienced. The mission-focused
management program consisted of a
combination of physical training, memo-
rization tests, team responsibility, and
problem solving that kept us on our toes
for the entire weekend. The program was
both physically and mentally demanding,
but it prepared us for the even more rigorous season that was to come. It taught us
to run out and challenge adversity, having
only one option in mind: victory.
Now, with the word ‘victory’ taped
above the locker room door and the regular season winding to an end, we thought
back to the lessons we learned on that
weekend and know that the Sergeant Major will be back soon enough to see our
mission come to an end on championship
weekend. This program completely transformed our team and assisted us in embracing our motto for the year: Fearless.
And that’s exactly how we played. As we
entered the playoffs, our youthful offense
seemed as if they had been in the playoffs
many times before, and our senior defense
shut everyone down, goalie Rob Dickinson
ultimately receiving MVP honors. “It feels
great, I had a lot of help on the defensive
end,” said Dickinson, an Amherst signee
who frustrated attackmen all year with
seemingly impossible saves. “I always had
those three seniors in front of me.”
The road to the championship included unprecedented adversity, but with
every difficulty, we were reminded of the
Sergeant Major’s words: “There are no
blessings or curses, only challenges.” So
with this mentality, the team was able to
fight through both the good times and the
difficult times with only the ultimate goal
in mind. And this Saturday, that goal was
accomplished as the lacrosse team won the
[See Lacrosse, page 2]
A Mixtape Symposium
Blockbuster Reviews
Senior College Choices
CONTRIBUTOR
MARILYN REINHARDT
Outgoing State Chair, Ryan Sellers, congratulates Senior Mason Soun on his top-ten finish.
Hip-hop is a culture. This is rap.
[See Mixtapes: More Than Meets the
Ear , page 9]
Fast Five and Limitless start the summer
movie season, but are they worth $10.00?
[See Summer Movies Begin, page 8 ]
Find out where departing seniors will be
attending, at least nominally, next fall.
[See Senior Colleges, page 2]
Owl’s Hoot
Staff
Danny Galvin
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Nicholas Rouse
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Britt Colcolough
ASSISTANT EDITOR
A.J. Kharbanda
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Salman Haque
LAYOUT EDITOR
Carson House
NEWS EDITOR
Lane Sally
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
J.D. Christman
SPORTS EDITOR
Ashish Nathani
AMUSEMENTS EDITOR
David Brandon
COLUMNIST
Jeffery Zheng
GENERAL STAFF
Norman Thompson
FACULTY ADVISOR
NEWS
THE OWL’S HOOT
Senior Colleges
James Akers
Vanderbilt University
Kyle Bradford
University of Tennessee
Mac Armour
University of Mississippi
Taylor Bates
University of Mississippi
Forrest Baty
University of Mississippi
Aditya Biswas
Rhodes College
Tony Bui
University of Missouri
Cale Carson
St. John’s College
Chris Carter
University of Arkansas
Conner Caruthers
University of Mississippi
Blake Caummisar
University of Mississippi
Howard Choi
University of Illinois
Terrence Cole
University of Tennessee Elliott Collins
University of Mississippi
Drew Connors
University of Alabama
Sam Cox
Mississippi State University
William Cross
Vanderbilt University
Constantine Cui
Indiana University
Jeffrey Daniel
University of Pittsburgh
James Davies
University of Georgia
Jake Deason
University of Tennessee-Martin
Ivan Denson
University of Tennessee
J.P. DeVincenzo
Texas Christian University
Dicken, John
University of Kentucky
Rob Dickinson
Amherst College
Henry Dickinson
University of Illinois
John Edwards
Auburn University
Zach Erickson
Liberty University
Landon Finney
University of Mississippi
Shea Gabrielleschi
University of Mississippi
Michael Galligher
Columbia College
Garrett, Daniel
University of Mississippi
Michael Glenn
Morehouse College
Blake Hennessy
University of Tennessee
William Hepner
University of Mississippi
John Hudson
University of Alabama
M.J. Isbell University of Evansville
Alex Jarratt Rhodes College
Kenny Johnson
University of Memphis
Clifton Jordan
Morehouse College
Taylor Jordan
U.S. Air Force Academy
Jordan Keesee
University of Mississippi
Andrew Kennedy
University of Maine
Jonathan Kim
Virginia Tech
Jack Klug
University of North Carolina
Hunter Krauch
University of Memphis
Ethan Landau
Vanderbilt University
Matthias Leung
St. John’s University Joseph Levy
Miami University – Oxford
Wilson Luttrell
University of Tennessee
Aaditya Malhotra
Rhodes College
Irving Manis
University of Tennessee
Jerry B. Martin
University of Mississippi
Britt McGuire
University of Memphis
Hunter McLendon
Millsaps College
Witt Meloni
Texas Christian University
Conor Miller
DePaul University
Clint Montgomery
University of Chicago
Matt Montsinger
Southern Methodist University Stephen Newton
University of Tennessee
Joey Notowich
Indiana University
Philip Overton
Auburn University Anand Patel
Hofstra University
William Pickering
University of Mississippi
John Prather
University of Mississippi
Nathaniel Prosser
Tulane University
William Reid
University of Maryland, College Park
Jianyin Roachell
University of Tennessee
Ben Roberts
University of Alabama
Joel Saslawsky
University of Michigan
Alex Schoelkopf
Dartmouth College
Russell Scott
Cornell University
Max Sheppard
Belmont University
Billy Simco
University of Alabama Carson Smith
University of Miami
William Smythe
University of Montana
Mason Soun
Princeton University
Quay Stallworth
University of Mississippi
Kevin Szymkowicz
Princeton University
Andrew Tackett
Rhodes College
Scooter Taylor
Morehouse College
Drew Thibado
Northwestern University
Avery Tosi
University of Texas, Austin
Richard Twardzik
Vanderbilt University
David Ursic
University of Mississippi
Stephen Valentine
University of Arkansas
Cullen West
University of Tennessee
J.P. Wheeler
University of Richmond
Wyatt Whicker
University of Mississippi
Aaron Wolf
University of Michigan
Ben Zambetti
University of Memphis
NEWS
MAY 23, 2011
PAGE 3
CBHS Flooded by
Rising Mississippi
Trip Crews and Garrott Graham
CONTRIBUTORS
During the massive storms, the football and baseball fields of our neighboring Christian Brothers High School was
inundated by large-scale flooding, but not
because of the need for a fishing squad.
The real reason was a backup of water
from the raging Wolf River on May 1.
With the mighty Mississippi cresting at
record stages, excess water backed up into
the Wolf, putting land surrounding the
river underwater.
In addition to the CBHS fields, much
of Shelby Farms had standing water with
the shooting range entirely submerged,
and the driving range at Putt Putt Golf
and Games was completely submerged.
The logistics of how the Wolf backed up
into CBHS are unclear; however, one
thing is for certain: whoever built the
athletic fields in this low lying an area
along the Wolf clearly did not consider
the possibility of the Mississippi’s flooding as it has.
The water has drained out, and things
should return to normal relatively quickly. As we all know, this month’s flooding
has been the worst in Memphis’s history
in nearly a lifetime. The Mississippi River
crested at nearly 48 feet, falling just short
of its all-time record, but the damage to
low-lying areas is significant enough to
require a massive cleanup. All Memphis
residents have and must continue to work
together.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to
those effected or displaced by this recent
deluge. While MUS is incredibly fortunate to have avoided such catastrophes as
the ones affecting CBHS students, faculty
and staff, as well as many other Memphis
residents, we, as servants to our community, must continue to help those less
fortunate than us.
FOX
Tom Nix Stadium: The site of the worst tragedy to befall Walnut Grove since the Brothers bested the Owls.
Clifft: “Breakin’ Necks, Cashin’ Checks”
Darin Clifft
FACULTY
For the first time in the 24 year history of Knowledge Bowl and the first time
in our six years of participating, MUS has
secured a championship. Eli Goldstein,
Jackson Darr, Nicholas Rouse, and Carson House presented the coveted championship “paperweight” to Mr. Haguewood
during a Monday Chapel in May.
The season started with what our
President would call a shellacking of
Memphis Catholic (315-10) where
the team jumped ahead early and played
the type of smash-mouth quiz bowl to
which we have become accustomed. The
next game, arguably our
finest ever, pitted MUS
against its archrival Collierville.
MUS was looking for
revenge after being summarily dispatched from
the tournament three
previous times by Collierville. The score would
be knotted up after the
first two rounds, but
MUS pulled ahead in
the final round because
of their mastery of current events. Momentum
swung permanently in
their favor after Collierville buzzed in early
only to miss a question
regarding Betty White
and the SAG awards.
They not only pulled up
short on the attempt but
also lost five points for
buzzing in early. The final score: 260-200.
The remaining matches against FACS
(305-145), ECS (375-180), and St. Mary’s
(275-135) were never in doubt with the
exception of one brief round against
FACS. MUS let them jump ahead in the
first round 60-45 but after a brief timeout made adjustments to their offensive
scheme and finished them off.
The elation of all in attendance at our
victory in the championship round was
cut short by the repugnant way our sister
school was treated. To acknowledge the
first time an all-girls school team has
made it to the finals seems apropos. To
continue to mention this fact conveys
the idea that girls are not expected to
perform as well as boys (or worse that
they are dumb). The abuse continued
with a throw-away comment as the
credits rolled about how great the studio
smells with girls in it and didn’t stop at
the Knowledge Bowl banquet where they
were inadvertently referred to as ECS.
As proud as we are of the team’s accomplishment this year in Knowledge
Bowl we are just as offended at the treatment of our sister school. If anyone is
going to abuse St. Mary’s it will be MUS
and it will be settled in gladiatorial-like
combat in the arena of knowledge. How
about during the second round next year?
It’s a date.
NEWS
THE OWL’S HOOT
MusicFest Mania
David Brandon
CONTRIBUTOR
Some may call it a festival of wonders.
Others might call it a festival of music,
but regardless I think that we can all
agree that calling this year’s festival amazing is an understatement.
The weather, having been relatively
frightening as of late, was surprisingly
cooperative during the festival. The mud
did not pile up as in other years, and
there was actually dry land. However,
the festival’s unofficial name, Mud Fest,
was pushed aside to make way for its new
title, “Oh $#!+ There’s a Tornado Coming,
Everybody Run” Fest.
Despite the weather scares, great
bands from all over, including The Experimental Tropic Blues Band from
Belgium, came to rock out and entertain
their festive fans. Other groups like Cage
the Elephant, MGMT, and the Flaming
Lips showed Memphis their unique styles
of music with fantastic displays such as
MGMT’s multicolored neon stage, or the
Flaming Lips’ confetti explosions. Meanwhile, The New Pornographers came
and mellowed the scene with tracks like
“Twin Cinema” and “The Electric Version”, and Mumford and Sons rocked out
to an enormous sea of people from all age
groups.
On the more mainstream side of
things, Ludacris wowed his audience with
his many covers while B.o.B. sang his
feature songs all the way through without
any of his accompanying artists. Finally,
Ke$ha decided to throw some glitter and
make it rain for a huge show that received
some mixed reviews. It seems to me that
the people more towards the middle and
front of Ke$ha’s performance enjoyed
themselves more than those on the out-
skirts of the crowd. But since the fourth
law of thermodynamics states that Ke$ha
is hot, everyone who disliked her performance is proven to be incorrect and will
need to alter their opinions.
Unfortunately I was unable to go the
third day of MusicFest due to the “Oh
$#!+ There’s a Tornado Coming, Everybody Run” inclement weather warnings,
but I’ve been told that I missed some
great performances from artists including
The Avett Brothers and Cee Lo Green.
All in all, Music Fest this year was
highly successful in its attendance, the
lack of rain, and the quality of entertainment that it provided to its enumarable
onlookers. Either eating the classic eightdollar “chicken on a stick” or enjoying
the wonderful music festivities, one was
guaranteed a good time at this year’s
Memphis Beale Street Music Festival.
MUS PUBLICATIONS
The omnipresent visage of Mr. Ray returns to haunt the ambitions of ardent
Facebook adherents and, in general,
makes small children cry.
Filter Fails to
Frustrate Fun
Carson House
NEWS EDITOR
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Mayhem and chaos ensued in a drug-fueled haze that marks any great concert. Headliners included Ke$ha, B.o.B, Mumford and Sons, and Ludacris
Though MUS students rejoiced
over the news of Osama bin Laden’s
demise, a subtler evil still awaited them
at school: the return of the dreaded
internet web filter. Innocent students,
recently accustomed to the liberties allotted by a filter-free network, went to
check their Facebook accounts during
some free time only to be rejected by
the glaring portrait of Mr. Ray. Forced
from their web-based diversions, dumbstruck students wander the halls with
the blank stares of those clueless as to
how to waste a homework-free free period.
But how do these restrictions on
exactly how time gets wasted benefits
these chronic miscreants? Apparently it
is better for No Meds Friday to be spent
catching wasps with a grocery bag and
rampaging through the halls disrupting
every class within earshot.
Restricting inappropriate content
is reasonable, but the potential of a
website to contact the outside world
or entertain is in no way grounds for
blocking. Besides, what is being blocked
that can’t be easily accessed on the
smartphone? Misguided and overreaching censorship does nothing to achieve
the titular goal of a college preparatory
school because in any higher institution
there are no restrictions on web usage
whatsoever. Sheltering is not preparing,
and filtering is not the solution to laziness.
MAY 23, 2011
VIEWPOINTS
PAGE 5
Glitter Overdose
Nathan Feler
CONTRIBUTOR
TELEGRAPH
Osama bin Laden was assassinated by a team of Navy SEALs on May 1, but do the ends always exonerate the means?
Was it Justified?
Lane Sally
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
In light of the recent assassination
of Osama Bin Laden, I’ve been staying
up-to-date with several blogs regarding
popular opinions on the situation. Call me
unpatriotic, a terrorist-sympathizer, or just
a downright liberal hippie, but I have two
central issues with the matter.
Osama Bin Laden, the leader of
the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and
the FBI’s “Public Enemy No. 1” for nearly
twelve years, was shot and killed by specially trained Navy SEALs on Sunday, May
1 in a compound outside of Abbottabad,
Pakistan. His body was then taken aboard
the USS Carl Vincent by American forces
and given a traditional Islamic funeral
before being dumped into the Atlantic
Ocean, as officials report, to avoid any
potential for the creation of a shrine which
could be visited by his followers. While I
do not disagree with the reasoning behind
his burial at sea, I am continually shocked
and disappointed with President Obama
for allowing this “mission to kill” in the
first place. Not only is it against laws established by American governments, but
it is also against United Nations sanctions
for any person, be it international fugitive
or not, to be denied the right to a fair trial,
unless those making the arrest are under
life-threatening circumstances. Initial
reports surfaced that Bin Laden fired a
weapon and used a woman as a protective
shield, in which case self-defense would
have been a justification for his killing,
but both are false claims, as confirmed by
the six Navy SEALs. Unarmed and alone,
he refused to surrender to the SEALs and
was thus shot twice in the side of the skull
(Editors’ Note: The White House story as
of May 17 is that bin Laden had an AK47 when confronted by the SEALs). If it’s
not already clear, my first problem with
the matter is that the SEALs didn’t take
Bin Laden into custody and bring him
back to the United States, where he would
have been given a trial and most likely
remained in prison the rest of his life or
given to the Pakistani government for
them to execute him. In both cases, Bin
Laden would have been served some form
or another of justice according to American retaliatory standards.
The second issue I have with the
assassination of Bin Laden is the American
popular response to the killing. As with
any major world event, there have been
countless reactions to the assassination,
but oddly enough, the one most prominent among Americans is that of some
devious, impassioned satisfaction with
the gruesome act of retaliation. This great
nation, which prides itself and its foreign
policy on Christian morals and commitment to fair play, has been turned on its
head by a mere act of violence. Former
President George W. Bush hailed the as-
sassination as a “momentous achievement,” and President Obama asserted that
“Justice has been done” as crowds gathered
outside the White House to sing the chorus of Queen’s epic rock ballad “We Are
The Champions [of the world],” somewhat
characteristically yet unfortunately adding
to European opinion of Americans once
European media reported the incident.
But has justice been served? Are
we really the champions? Is there not a
parallel between the appalling celebration among al-Qaeda when members of
their group flew two planes into the World
Trade Center buildings nearly ten years
ago, and this current instance in which
the American public wildly celebrated the
brutish assassination of al-Qaeda’s political
leader? I cannot offer any definite answers,
but I do know one thing: the death of Bin
Laden surely isn’t the end of al-Qaeda—if
anything, it is just fuel for the group’s fiery
hostility toward the United States. A strikingly pertinent quotation from Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. summarizes the
true Christian attitude toward the situation:
“Returning hate for hate multiplies
hate, adding deeper darkness to a night
already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot
drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can
do that.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Having crested, the mighty Mississippi has decided to return to us that hallowed ground which annually serves as
the stomping grounds for the bacchanalia
commonly known as MusicFest. Despite
the close proximity of the flooding Mississippi, the wanna-be hippies were undeterred from attempting to recreate Woodstock. The senses were assaulted from all
sides by not only the “poor air quality” but
also the wall of bass-heavy noise from rappers and Ke$ha who, as always, looked as
if she had bathed in the neighboring river.
Watching Ke$ha was, as expected, terrible.
The little I could see through the druglaced haze was enough to make me leave
three songs into her set.
But as I said before, it was expected. There is nothing positive about
Ke$ha, not even her name, a pathetic attempt at humor or cleverness. Her music
has no meaning; I would expect something labeled as counter culture to have
some meaning as it did in its glory days at
Woodstock. It should be political or social
critique rather than the current jumble of
sex and drug references. The only thing
that appeals as somewhat counter culture is
her pre-performance practice: she gets naked, lies on the floor, has her manager pour
oil and glitter on her, and rolls around in it
all. Though not exactly counter culture, it is
uniquely strange.
So I left the abomination that is
Ke$ha, and I went to listen to John Mel[See Glitter, page 6]
CELEBRITY NEWS BUZZ
Ke$ha makes no secret of her passionate love for glitter.
VIEWPOINTS
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. What It Means to Sodexo
Salman Haque
LAYOUT EDITOR
By 12:35, matters of “class” and
“homework” have dissolved and been replaced by the thought of it. Freshmen are
trampled and husky kids actually run for
it. It controls whether the day is a good
one or a bad one. Lunch. Lunch is a major part of everyone’s school life, but not
many people know hat happens behind
the counters. What goes on in that mysterious kitchen?
Sodexo controls all the unseen variables that go into our school meals. It is
a multi-national and multi-service corporation and happens to be one of the
largest food services companies in the
world. Sodexo began working with MUS
in July 1986 and currently has a staff of
eight people in our dining hall. Mr. John
Nicholas, the manager from New Zealand
with the cool accent, said that “the MUS
operation is regarded as the flagship of
the Memphis area, and we aim to keep
it that way.” The staff has never failed a
Health Department inspection, and Mr.
Nicholas inspects all food preparation
areas daily.
The staff has to serve food to 650
people daily, so they begin their morning
early with breakfast preparation around
six a.m. Delivery of supplies such as fruit
and vegetables, meat, and other groceries are checked in between 6:30 a.m. and
8:00 a.m. The staff fills the rest of the
morning with preparing lunch, served
from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and they
normally finish clean up by 2:45 p.m.
According to Mr. Nicholas, most of
what they serve is “from oven to serving
line daily;” only a few items, such as fries
and hot dogs, are pre-made. Compared
to many other schools, MUS’s dining
experience is luxurious; not only do we
eat in a “dining hall” instead of a cafeteria, but we also have a variety of options,
including meals like chicken pot pie, veal
parmesan, and steak. Mr. Nicholas says
that the most popular meals seem to be
Buffalo Chicken, Chicken Caesar Salad,
Spaghetti, and Tacos.
At the end of this year, Sodexo will
be losing a valuable employee. Shean
Joe, most commonly seen maintaining
a steady stream of supplies to the salad
bar, is retiring after many years of service.
Mr. Nicholas has called her one of the
best employees he has ever worked with,
and her dedication to her work will be
missed.
Mr. Nicholas’ one reminder to students is to “be respectful.” The staff has
a very difficult task in making food for a
huge crowd of people, and it’s a feat that
definitely everyone’s respect. Drew Cornaghie once imparted some important
wisdom when touring a group of new
seventh graders: “if you have to be nice to
only one group of people in your time at
MUS, it should be the Sodexo staff...they
make the food.”
THE OWL’S HOOT
[Glitter, from page 6]
lencamp, who—much to my dismay—was
similarly horrible. The incredible crowd
for Mumford and Sons had devolved into a
less than respectable gathering interspersed
“[T]he reason why
Mellencamp and Ke$ha
still perform: only the good
die young”
with what would best be described as obese
landmines that, when tripped, would explode with rage against the unsuspecting
victim attempting to part the crowds. But I
digress. Because Mellencamp was horrible,
I left, and as I got farther away, he sounded
better and better, and less and less distinct
and clear.
I suppose I should have seen it
all coming: Mellencamp is old, and Ke$ha
never had any shot. In fact, the reason why
John Lennon, Leroi Moore, and Ronnie
Van Zant are all dead is the same as the
reason why Mellencamp and Ke$ha still
perform: only the good die young.
SALMAN HAQUE
Shean Joe, Derrick Anderson, Carolyn Sullivan, Ryne Smith, John Nicholas, Leroy McKay, Shelia Benton, George Washington, Roderick Campbell.
SPORTS
MAY 23, 2011
PAGE 7
Serving Up Regional
Championships Since ‘96
Jack Klug
CONTRIBUTOR
MUS has always had a strong tradition
of competitive tennis on both the state
level and the national level, by winning regional championships since 1996. In past
decades, MUS has dominated Tennessee
High School tennis, and Tennessee is usually considered to be one of the top five
strongest tennis states in America. Almost
every year, the team consists of players
that will go on to play Division-I tennis.
In the Coach Taylor era, MUS has owned
Memphis tennis, hardly ever even coming
close to losing a local match. Each year
the tennis team faces the same problem as
the lacrosse team: the majority of teams
within Memphis are not strong enough to
compete against MUS. So, the Owls have
to play various matches against teams
from outside of Memphis. On this year’s
schedule, the tennis team actually plays
more teams from other cities than teams
from Memphis. Thus, the tennis team’s
success is solely based on its performance
at state rather than its performance in the
city of Memphis.
Despite injuries to last year’s starting
lineup, the MUS tennis team had a solid
year. The Owls finished seventh place in
the National High School All-American
Tennis Championships in California and
lost in the semifinals of the state tournament to MBA, who would go on to win
the state title. As a freshman, Marshall
Sharp made winning the individual state
singles title look easy. He has a chance to
be the first Tennessean ever to win four
individual state singles titles.
This spring the MUS team is very
young, having only two seniors on the
16-man team. The team was one of 16
teams chosen to compete in the DecoTurf
High School National Championships
in Louisville, Kentucky. The Owls got off
to a quick start by sweeping the defending Alabama state champions 7-0. In the
second round, the team lost 5-2 to New
[See Tennis, page 12]
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Junior Victor Cole leads Owls to victory with his excellent pitching.
Headfirst Slide
Into State
J.D. Christman
SPORTS EDITOR
After last season’s success, which included a runner-up in the state championship, the baseball team has been determined to finish one place better: winning
the state championship. So far, the team
has not disappointed. The Owls finished
the regular season with a very strong 19-4
record with three of those losses coming
from CBHS. But the team would not be
stopped in the postseason. The Owls beat
St.. Benedict in the first round and CBHS
in the finals both in two games to win the
regional tournament. The wins in the fi-
nals were that much sweeter because of the
earlier losses to CBHS. The Owls expect
to do just as well in the state tournament,
which will be coming up soon.
One possible factor in the Owl’s success is the new turf infield. This new addition allows the Owls to practice and
play even in adverse weather and requires
much less maintenance than a normal
dirt field. The new field is just one part of
the renovation plans for the baseball field.
There will be more improvements to come,
including the building of a larger, more
accommodating stadium. These improvements will help both the baseball team and
the fans.
GALLIK
Sophomore Colin Donoghue fist-pumps his way to victory despite missing a tennis racket.
SPORTS
THE OWL’S HOOT
Young Team Defies Odds
Paul Stevenson
CONTRIBUTOR
The varsity soccer team, led by Head
Coach Vincent Beck and Assistant Coach
Todd Erickson, is looking ahead to make
a long run in the playoffs. Although the
team lost several seniors last year (only five
players who made the varsity team at the
beginning of 2010 returned), many sophomores have stepped up into starting roles.
Coach Beck explains, “I have been pleased
with the development of the sophomores,”
and, “although this team may not have
much experience, they are as talented as
any team that I have coached at MUS.” Led
by co-captains Matt Montsinger and Britt
McGuire, the squad has battled through
some critical injuries and has emerged
with a decent shot at going very deep into
the playoffs. Injuries can sometimes cause
a team to falter, but Coach Beck claims
that the squad is so talented and so deep
that the injuries sustained by some of the
players this year did not cost them much.
Montsinger and McGuire, along with the
other seniors and juniors of the team,
have also played an instrumental role in
leading by example. Coach Beck says, “So
many guys have done so well this year that
it would be hard to pick one player as the
top performer.” As for the playoffs, Coach
Beck predicts that, as always, the playoffs
will be competitive, but he thinks that
MUS has as good of a chance as anybody
to bring home the state title.
Historic Playoff Run Reignites Franchise and City
Shivam Bhakta and Tejvir Vaghela
CONTRIBUTORS
April 8, 2011. Streamers fell from the
ceiling of the FedEx Forum. The entire
Grizzlies team holds an impromptu prayer
session at center court after its win with
Grizzlies players’ and fans’ celebrating a
victory. However, this was no ordinary
win; this win clinched the Grizzlies first
playoff spot since 2006. Five heartbreaking
years for Grizzlies fans finally vindicated
in a “pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming” moment; the Grizzlies are in the 2010-2011
playoffs. Let us shave our beards for the
Grizzlies; let us shave our mustaches for
the Grizzlies; if you are one with neither,
may you shave your eyebrows for the Grizzlies, for we are GrizzNation.
This season, the tenth since the team
relocated from Vancouver, has been filled
with ups and downs. But what this team
has proven this year is its resiliency, heart,
athleticism, grit, and grind. Because of
early season injuries to Marc Gasol and
Zach Randolph, the team started the
season with eight victories and fourteen
defeats. The team, winning twenty-three of
its next thirty-five games to reach a record
of thirty-one wins and twenty-six losses
before the all-star break, bounced back in
a resounding manner. Things were finally
beginning to work out for this team that
has seen much heartbreak over a mere
five-year period. But, in a cruel twist of
fate, Rudy Gay suffered a season-ending
left shoulder subluxation on February 15,
the day before the all-star break, on a hard
foul in a game versus the Philadelphia
76ers.
The future of the Grizzlies’ 2010-2011
season looked bleak, foggy, uncertain.
How could a team move forward without
its most athletic and talented player, who
was averaging twenty points and a career
high in rebounds (6.2) per game. This
team showed the league its commitment
to teamwork by finishing the season with a
15-10 record.
What was left for this franchise? The
first elusive playoff win in franchise his-
tory. The playoffs started on April 17, as
the eighth-seeded Grizzlies traveled to San
Antonio to take on the first-seeded Spurs.
In the history of the NBA, only one other
eighth seed has knocked off the one seed
in a seven-game playoff format. History
was against the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies’
history and lack of playoff experience was
THE KNICKS BLOG
Zach Randolph was a leader both on and off the court for the Memphis Grizzlies through their run
through the NBA playoffs. Randolph will no doubt form an integral part of the Grizzlies next year.
a recipe for disaster. But hasn’t this team
exceeded everyone’s expectations before?
History came quickly for the Grizzlies,
as they stole game one from the Spurs because of late game heroics from Memphis’s
adopted son Shane Battier. After having
lost a nail-biting game two, the team returned to the packed, enthusiastic FedEx
Forum full of fans experiencing their first
playoff action in five years; the Grizzlies
delivered. After having won game three
on a Zach Randolph 3-pointer, the Grizzlies stole game four from the Spurs, and
even though they were down at half, the
Grizzlies were victors with an 18-point
blowout. As ESPN stated after game four,
the “Grizzlies’ big 2nd half puts No. 1
Spurs on brink,” completely surpassing
Charles Barkley’s predictions before the
game. Game five shifted to San Antonio,
where the Grizzlies were 1.7 seconds away
from further defining history. The Spurs
had possession and needed a miraculous
three-pointer to tie the game and force
overtime. Their prayers were answered
when the basketball arrived in the hands
of Gary Neal, an undrafted rookie, who
knocked in the improbable shot. The
Spurs, having put their playoff chances in
the hands of a rookie with 1.7 seconds on
the clock, then took over in overtime behind strong play from guard Tony Parker.
Critics believed this heart-wrenching loss
was enough to make a young team fold
in the bright lights of the playoffs, but the
Grizzlies are not your ordinary team. The
Grizzlies returned home for game six, and
in front of their home fans made history.
The Grizzlies won the series 4-2 and became the second eighth seed to beat a first
seed in the current playoff format.
[See Grizzlies, page 12]
MAY 23, 2011
AMUSEMENTS
PAGE 9
Mixtapes: More Than Meets the Ear
Danny Galvin
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Mixtapes are making a comeback,
and frankly, I couldn’t be happier. Having
always been used to gain notoriety and
prominence in the hip hop community,
mixtapes and their production value have
been on the rise since Drake’s So Far Gone;
it’s stellar quality- with respect to both its
lyrics, sound, and production- revitalized
the mixtape market, which is now being
flooded with high quality tracks from both
rising stars and seasoned veterans.
Recently, Frank Ocean, a member of the young Odd Future rap group,
released his nostalgia,ULTRA as a reaction against his record label, who forced
him to write love songs for Justin Beiber.
His work has received an astounding
amount of buzz and overwhelmingly
positive reviews with cosigns from hiphop heavyweights Lupe Fiasco, Drake,
and Kanye West. A new-age R&B artist,
nostalgia,ULTRA combines the soulfullybelted lyrics of Frank Ocean with an
organic, lush soundscape by big name
producers and instrumentals by bands like
MGMT, Coldplay, and The Eagles. With a
voice powerful even after being thoroughly drenched in auto-tune, Frank Ocean
records beautiful stories of women, love,
and heartache with the lyrical proficiency
equivalent to any big name rapper. This
lyrical prowess combined with his liquid,
almost dripping vocals sets Ocean apart
from other R&B artists such as Usher or
Trey Songz, who aim to appeal to women
with grandiose stories of love and sexuality. Ocean instead focuses on the individual
nuances of a relationship, like a girlfriend
who listens to Drake but not Ocean himself, over molasses-laced productions that
seem to croon on their own.
What makes this mixtape great
is the tinge of irony that hides just beneath the surface. Ocean complains of the
loss of emotion that he attributes to the
pitch-correction software with which he
achieves his unique sound. Additionally,
the nostalgic feel created by the sounds
of a cassette being rewound in interludes
named after classic video games such as
Street Fighter and the sense that there is
nothing new (on “American Wedding,”
he playfully notices that there is nothing
that he can do that another man can’t do)
contradicts with the fact that Frank Ocean
is undoubtedly creating something new. A
masterpiece of an R&B singer with the lyrics of a heavyweight rapper, this mixtape
is worth a listen if you feel like broadening
your musical horizons.
However, if you’re a more conservative hip-hop fan, there are still plenty
of options to quench your metaphorical
lyrical thirst. Mac Miller, a cool-withouttrying party boy, recently released his Best
Day Ever which features original productions that feel more like an album than a
mixtape. While lyrically not the deepest
of rappers, Miller still creates great party
music that accurately depicts the fast life
of a rising superstar in the field of hip hop.
Perhaps step-down from his previous hit,
K.I.D.S., in terms of creativity, BDE is still
an enjoyable mixtape that impresses the
casual listener.
And if you want a sample of other
up-and-coming rappers, XXL Magazine
recently released their annual freshman
mixtape, featuring Kendrick Lamar, Mac
Miller, Big K.R.I.T., YG, Yelawolf, Fred
the Godson, Cyhi the Prynce, Diggy Simmons, and Lil Twist. My personal favorite
on the mixtape is Kendrick Lamar, an intellectual from Compton who consistently
puts out thought-provoking tracks on interesting beats made by local artists.
Disappointingly absent from the XXL
tape is perhaps the best new rapper- Jay
Electronica. With a cerebral style that
transcends the stereotypes of Southern
rapper, Jay Electronica is out to abolish all
of the preconceptions about the genre of
rap and about rappers. If you’re willing to
think while listening to music, pay for his
single “Exhibit C,” and if you need more
lyrics to ponder over, download Victory, a
sampler of unrelated tracks.
Finally, If you’re a fan of indie rock but
wouldn’t mind switching your playlist up
a little, Childish Gambino, a.k.a. Donald
Glover, a.k.a. Troy from the comedy Community, released his new and completely
original EP this year. Childish Gambino,
who- for the record- discovered his rap
name on a Wu-Tang name generator, released two mixtapes
titled I Am Just A
Rapper and I Am
Just A Rapper 2, on
which he lays down
witty word play and
male bravado over
indie rock songs
with the vocals often left intact. He
then released an
album called Culdesac to rave reviews
and avid fans who
downloaded over
ten thousand copies
on the first day, and
as a wealthy comic,
actor, and writer,
Glover releases all
of his songs as free
downloads, a nice
plus.
That’s all the
new things I’ve
been interested
in lately. If you’ve
found anything
worth listening to,
you could always
write this article
next time.
GIANT BOMB
Marcus Fenix returns as the series protagonist.
G e a rs I m p r e s s e s
Patrick Holt
CONTRIBUTOR
When Epic Games announced a Gears
of War 3 beta would be released, the gaming community was ecstatic, and they were
not disappointed. I got the beta from preordering the game, but others got it from
buying the game Bulletstorm. The beta
gave a glimpse of all the vast improvements
on Gears of War 2, where horrible lag and
game-flow was king. New dedicated servers were released, and new weapons, such
as the retro lancer and sawn-off shotgun,
were introduced. There are initially two
playable characters on either side of the
“While it was easy for a
former professional Gears
player like myself to get the
feel back, it took others a
little bit longer”
COG or locust, but more are unlocked as
you play throughout the multi player beta.
While it was easy for a former professional
Gears player like myself to get the feel back,
it took others a little bit longer. But I’ve
heard from many gamers that the transition
was easy, and they picked up the feel for
the game quickly. The Gears of War series
is unique not only in its original storyline
and game play, but that the creators and
producers are extremely involved with the
gamers. The creator, Cliff Bleszinki, and
executive producer, Rod Fergusson, both
tweet frequently with gamers about all
aspects of Gears of War, the gaming spectrum, and life in general. Gears of War 3 has
the potential to be the best of the series, and
we will see come September 20 next fall.
AMUSEMENTS
THE OWL’S HOOT
No Limits: All Fast, All Fury
US MOVIE REVIEW
Vin Diesel faces off against The Rock in the latest entry in the long-running franchise
BABSMROSS
Bradley Cooper stars in the Neil Burger’s latest action-thriller, about drug-addicts.
A.J. Kharbanda
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
NZT-48, a tiny little pill that can multiply your IQ and unlock the full potential
of the human brain, fuels Limitless. Directed by Neil Burger, Limitless stars Bradley Cooper as Eddy Morra, a struggling
writer. After a mysterious incident with his
ex-brother-in-law, Morra comes into possession of NZT-48, this seemingly perfect
panacea for all problems. As Morra uses
this pill to rise to prominence through the
stock market, baffling everyone on Wall
Street and making millions in the process
with his superhuman intelligence, he runs
into several problems associated with regular drugs. Here lies the best aspect of the
film, and the moral: even if a drug seems
to enhance life, it can still get out of hand
and be dangerous—essentially, there’s no
difference between heroin or LSD and
NZT-48 in that regard. Morra struggles
with addiction and the dangerous business
behind the drug. A second moral calls out
in the movie: there is no perfect solution,
one-time fix, panacea for all life problems.
Although this pill makes Morra’s life seemingly perfect, he runs into the aforementioned problems. Though it is a pretty gory
movie, it had one of the most interesting
fight scenes I’ve seen since David Fincher’s
Fight Club (1999). The ending was a little
unsatisfying for me, but that’s for you to
decide if you choose to go see it. I would
sum up this movie with the words of comedian Demetri Martin: “An okay movie
is like an ex-girlfriend. It was good at the
time, but I wouldn’t want to see it again.”
Scream 4 also created some formidable competition. I’m not thinking
Oscar winners, or nearly living up to the
prestige of previous Scream movies, but it
did give me a scare through different parts
of the movie. It was pretty demented, but
I suppose that’s how most horror movies
are. I’d call this slightly above average; it’s
definitely worth renting, but unless you’re
a hardcore Scream fan, it’s not worth buying. Scream 4 was good at picking up new
fans for the franchise because you didn’t
have to see the previous films to know
what’s going on, and at the same time, you
get an interesting back story that enriches
the plot straight from the beginning.
Something to watch out for
this summer: Kill the Irishman. Kill the
Irishman is about Danny Greene, and his
struggle to survive as an Irish Catholic
in a rough 1970s America. After seeing
the trailer, it feels a lot like The Departed
(although I doubt as good). It is definitely
a chance for some uncommon actors to
make their big debut, and I think Ray Stevenson is one of them. I’ve never heard of
him, but he might make a blip on a lot of
viewers’ radars. Of course, there’s Christopher Walken, and if you don’t know who
he is, chances are you’ll recognize him
when you see him. It should be worth buying a ticket for, especially after the magic
words popped on the screen, the magic
words that make movies like 127 Hours,
The Fighter, and The King’s Speech so great:
“based on a true story”.
Nicholas Rouse
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Despite most modern publications’
assigning a single-dimensional numerical value to each film they review, movies
are vastly more complex than any single
number could describe. The most important merits of a movie to differentiate are
its quality and its entertainment value.
Movies of high quality and low entertainment value are often well-acted, superbly
directed, and bearable if a bit dry and unexciting. Many classic films from the early
part of this century fall into this category
generally by virtue of changing standards
of entertainment, yet recent movies such
as Million Dollar Baby and Good Night,
and Good Luck also are superb yet not
necessarily a joy to watch, though such an
analysis trends deeply subjective. Enjoyable movies are often quite bad, yet they
can appeal to a particular demographic
uninterested in skilled cinematic craftsmanship. The first four movies of The Fast
and the Furious franchise generally fell
into the latter category except for some
minor redemption for the first two movies
for encapsulating the tuner culture of the
early 2000s. Fast Five is somewhat anomalous in The Fast and the Furious franchise
in that it is not only entertaining as all five
entries are but also a good movie, a feat
only possible in a universe strange enough
to accommodate five The Fast and the Furious movies.
For the uninitiated The Fast
and the Furious is a 2001 action film that
focused primarily on illicit street-racing
and its culture. It may sound a silly today
(okay, it sounded silly a decade ago), but
in 2001 modifying cars, especially imports,
for performance and ostentatiousness was
a major cultural player. Few people actually partook, but many loved and admired
the tuners and the street-racers. Best Buy
sold neon underglow largely as a result of
this trend, which The Fast and the Furious
made more mainstream to some extent.
The Fast and the Furious was successful
enough to spawn a series which continues
to this day despite the general death of
the street-racing culture in the modern
imagination. The overarching plot of the
series is actually fairly complex, and characters weave in and out of leading and
supporting roles as well as back and forth
on loyalties and sides of the law. The last
two entries in the series have trended away
from street-racing toward more general
action though the automotive influence
and nature is omnipresent. Fast Five sees
Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) assembling
a posse à la Ocean’s Eleven (2001 remake)
and trying to take down a criminal kingpin in Rio de Janeiro. The plot is not very
important as the action and, surprisingly,
the dialogue are the main attractions.
Director Justin Lin took the
reins of The Fast and the Furious for its
third installment, Tokyo Drift, which is by
all accounts terrible. Fortunately, 2009’s
Fast and Furious was a marked improvement to mediocre. Regardless of the third
and fourth movies’ cinematic merits, the
trademark stylized driving and over-thetop action nicely hid the stilled dialogue
and ham-fisted acting well enough to entertain audiences who knew exactly what
[See Fast Five, page 11]
MAY 23, 2011
AMUSEMENTS
Sleigh Bells Ringing
David Brandon
COLUMNIST
Ever wonder what type of music lies
beyond the Itunes top 10 list? Ke$ha
doesn’t, but that’s besides the point.
Fantastic genres such as electronic, alternative rock, and happy-go-lucky indie
noise pop shine through the darkness
that is the cursed $1.29 mainstream music scene. For those of you who may not
know, a quick tip to buying indie music
nowadays is that if its not 99 cents or
less, then it’s not real indie music. Basically the last sentence of the proceeding
paragraph is a lie because many awesome
bands like Sleigh Bells sell their songs in
the “I think I’m so cool that I’ve decided
that I should be able to sell my songs
for $1.29 because I can” range. I’m not
complaining as long as the final product
is unique and awesome, so anyone opposed to that can get over himself. Sleigh Bells is currently redefining indie
pop music. Former metal band member
and lead guitarist Derek E. Miller teamed
up with teen pop band member Alexis
Krauss to produce the baby hybrid that is
Sleigh Bells.
Sleigh Bells is hard to describe.
One needs to listen to them in order
to understand that their genre of lo-fi
noise pop is in order to appreciate their
unique sound. Lo-fi essentially means
that the music sounds shaky because
the bands literally used to use cassette
tapes to record their music, giving off a
beaten-up noisy sound. After becoming
PAGE 11
more well known, Sleigh Bells developed
into a sub-genre of indie pop known as
noise pop. Noise pop is similar to lo-fi
except that it is designed to incorporate
“whomping” bass and static to interfere
with the song. With that being said, I’m
sure you’re like, “Why would I ever listen
Nomination
Domination
“Sleigh Bells sells their
Ashish Nathani
songs in the ‘I think I’m so
cool that I’ve decided to sell
my songs for $1.29 because
I can’ range’”
to that?” And that’s where your coolness
level starts dwindling. I’m just kidding.
But seriously, if you want to be cool,
then listen to Sleigh Bells’ album Treats,
which incorporates both lo-fi and noise
pop into that beautiful hybrid baby I was
talking about earlier. Believe it or not,
they’re really quite popular. Their song
“Kids” was used in MTV’s Promo for
Skins and their other song “Rill Rill” was
feautered in Gossip Girl. Sleigh Bells is
a cool band, and you should really look
into their tracks. If you want to catch
them at a live performance, they will
be attending Bonnaroo in early June of
this year. So if you’re looking to see what
all the hype is like on the indie side of
things, then Sleigh Bells is definitely a
good place to start. Who knows? You
might just like them.
THE DAISY PRINCE
Vocalist Alexis Krauss and songwriter, guitarist Derek E. Miller form the Brooklyn-based noise pop group, Sleigh Bells.
AMUSEMENTS EDITOR
The buzz over The Drowsy Chaperone
has not ended. The Tony award-winning
comedic musical ran in the Hyde Chapel
November 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th and has
been hailed as one of MUS’s best productions. It is now time for the show to be recognized. The cast, the set crew, the techies,
and the directors have all put tremendous
effort into the show which has not gone
unnoticed. The Drowsy Chaperone has
been nominated for 11 High School Musical Theatre Awards! The show was nominated for scenic design and outstanding
overall production as well as an array of
individual awards. Joseph Levy has been
nominated for the Technical Achievement
award. Seventh-grader Tom Fowlkes and
freshman Sam Ostrow have been nominated for Outstanding Comedic Duo. Jules
Jordan has been nominated for Outstanding Featured Actress. Christian Patterson,
in his first high school production ever, received two nominations: Outstanding Featured Dancer and Outstanding Featured
Actor. Ashish Nathani has been nominated
for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Tim
[Fast Five, from page 10 ]
a The Fast and the Furious movie would
entail. While Fast Five seemed very likely
to be another enjoyable film of questionable quality, Mr. Lin managed to carry his
improvement inertia so far as to launch
Fast Five to the lofty echelon of good. Mr.
Lin is honing in on the magic ratio of caraction, straight-up violence and gunplay.
Tokyo Drift proved that watching cars
drift and soar through the air for an hour
and a half may not make for the deepest
film, where Fast and Furious showed that
the world doesn’t need another generic
cop drama, action movie mostly divorced
from car choreography. If you will, Mr.
Lin is very close the balance of fast and
fury.
Another strong directorial and
writing decision was not to abandon the
cast of characters the franchise has built
up. The result is that there are enough
well-defined characters to support a large
cast without a need for lengthy exposition,
though much of the interactions between
the characters will seem to strange to
those who have not seen the earlier films.
Fast Five also seems to recognize that the
existence of a fifth The Fast and the Furious film is mildly absurd and dabbles in
Greer and Flip Eikner have been nominated for Outstanding Direction. And last,
but certainly not least, Sam Shankman has
been nominated for Outstanding Actor in
a Lead Role. The awards ceremony will be
May 26th at The Orpheum Theatre where
the cast of The Drowsy Chaperone will anxiously await the results.
“I really wasn’t too surprised when I
heard that we had been nominated for an
award. We had a really talented cast, and
everyone put in a lot of time and effort
to make it as great as possible. As for the
individual nominations, I wasn’t too surprised that Sam, Ashish, and Jules were all
nominated. I was really caught off guard
when I heard that I was nominated for two
awards, even though it was my first time
being involved with an MUS production.
All in all, I’m proud of everyone from the
cast and crew,” nominee Christian Patterson stated.
Hopefully Christian’s admiration of
the show and cast is shared by the judges
as The Drowsy Chaperone goes up against
all the other Memphis high schools for the
musical theatre awards on May 26th.
just enough self-satire to be genuinely
funny.
The acting in series has been
uneven to put it politely, yet Mr. Lin’s
recognition that telling Paul Walker, of
“Choice Movie Chemistry for Paul Walker
and his car” for his role in 2 Fast 2 Furious
at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards, ahem,
fame, to act better is not as conducive to
an actual strong performance as telling
him to act as self-serious and moody as
possible, is nothing short of genius. The
breakout performance, however, is undoubtedly Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,
whose obsessed and morally twisted,
though in a light and ironic sense, fugitive
hunter character provides laughs about
every time he opens his mouth. Johnson
has finally married his acting skills much
improved over the past decade with a
role that allows him to be hypermacho
and over-the-top just as a professional
wrestler ought to be. The other supporting
roles are hit or miss: Sung Kang, Tyrese
Gibson, and even Ludacris put in solid
performances, but Jordana Brewster, Matt
Schulze, and Elsa Pataky fall flat in their
roles.
THE BACK PAGE
THE OWL’S HOOT
Treasure Island: Fitting End to MUST C Season
Sam Ostrow
CONTRIBUTOR
Treasure Island had it all. Funny cast,
lots of action, great crew, wonderful set,
the works. Treasure Island was the most
fun show I have ever been a part of. We
survived many early departures and
scrounged the best group of ringers in
history: Chris Carter, A.J. Kharbanda,
Hunter Krauch, and the new captain Will
Forsythe. Alex Jarratt’s version of the acclaimed character “Long John Silver” was
only bested by one Mr. Charlton Heston.
Mr. Greer’s adaption of the screenplay
by the talented Fraser C. Heston was the
world premiere of a show people won’t
soon forget. Ashish Nathani found his inner demon and castaway, becoming the
malevolent “Blind Pew” and hilarious
“Ben Gunn.” While Treasure Island was
our seniors’ last play, they will not easily be
forgotten. I’m definitely going to remember James Davies (“Tom Redruth”) and his
optimistic attitude. The backstage ninjas,
Billy Simco (Stage Manager) and Cale
Carson (Deputy Stage Manager), will be
remembered for their hard work making
us all look good on stage and dealing with
[Latin, from page 1]
However, MUS recovered from this
scandalous affront with strong showings
in many other events, students placing in
academic testing, costume contests, English
oratory, dramatic Latin, and Certamen, a
Latin quiz bowl. And although MUS’ skit
did not place, “Messin’ with Cyclops,” starring Britt Colcolough in the titular role
drew the unanimous laughter and approval
of the audience.
MUS students excelled also individually. Eli Goldstein made the only perfect
score of the convention, on Vocabulary,
and Nicholas Rouse won the Warren Taylor
Hopkins Award for Upper Level Heptathlon. Four MUS students placed in the top
ten; Nicholas Rouse and Mason Soun tied
for eighth place, Richard Ouyang placed
fourth, and Salman Haque placed first overall. Those who finished in the top ten were
awarded a bobble head of an owl; receiving
complaints at the convention, Mr. Sellers, a
TJCL co-chair, had to clarify that the bobble head represented Athena, the goddess of
wisdom, not MUS.
With strong results in all areas, the
Owls won their fourth consecutive convention and their fourteenth in the last
twenty-one years. MUS’s 1,238 points was
the highest total ever scored by a school
and surpassed the previous record set last
year by MUS. Of MUS’s victory, Mr. Sellers
says that “It’s really not realistic for us - or
for any school, for that matter - to keep
winning this championship year after year. The fact that we’ve now won four in a row
more props than ever before. They will be
sorely missed. Chris Carter (“Billy Bones”
and “George Merry”) was able to die twice,
get kicked in the back by the lovely Mrs.
Crosby (“Mrs. Hawkins”), and look convincing doing so. Morgan Hunt (“Squire
Trelawney”) was great as always, employing the most pompous characteristics to
match Squire. Andrew Elsakr (“Joyce”)
and Tom Fowlkes (“Hunter”) also executed their characters well. Daniel Garrett (“Job Anderson”) had a very difficult
job, being the good guy that he is, trying
to morph into a ruthless villain, but he was
great too. Our lighting guru, Joseph Levy,
trained his apprentice so well, that Doug
McClew was able to do lights on opening
night. This fast-paced show required a lot
of work, a lot of people knowing how to
die convincingly, specifically A.J. (“Israel
Hands”), and some great direction by Mr.
Greer and Dr. Fudge. Furthermore, the
very talented Sam Shankman convincingly portrayed the good hearted “Doctor
Livesey.” I am just glad everyone was able
to deal with an annoying little kid long
enough to put on the greatest pirate show
MUS has ever done.
is the result of the depth and talent of the
students in our Latin program and their
hard work and dedication . . . not only the
work they put into this event specifically,
but the work they put into Latin class on
a day-to-day basis throughout the entire
school year.”
[Lacrosse, from page 1]
TSLA state championship and brought the
gold cup back to where it belongs; Operation Victory Spike was a success. We finally dethroned McCallie from their two-year
reign and, in the finals, beat MBA for the
third time this year to prove without doubt
that we are the best team in the state.
This year was a success on many different
levels, but the road does not end here for
the lacrosse program. While we enjoy the
victories of this year, we also hope that the
trophy will make itself comfortable here,
aiming to meet each season as a new challenge and to continue the success that this
class started.
[Tennis, from page 7]
Trier High School, the number one seed
in the tournament and a top five team in
the country; New Trier went on to win
the tournament. Next, the Owls defeated
a familiar St. Xavier team from Louisville,
4-3. MUS plays St.. Xavier head-to-head
almost every year, and every match is a
competitive one. After having to move
indoors because of snow, the Owls seized
all opportunity for revenge against MBA,
sweeping them 6-0 (the match was already
MORGAN HUNT
The cast of Treasure Island bids farewell to the production and to the magnificent 2010-2011 MUS
Theater Company season, which also included NeoVox and The Drowsy Chaperone.
decided, so no doubles point was necessary) for 5th place.
Needless to say, the tennis team set the
stage for the upcoming season. The Owls
earned its right to be considered a favorite
for this year’s state title by marching over
the defending state champions. The team
will have another chance to prove itself
amongst Tennessee’s best in the Carter
Invitational early in May. From there
they will go on to the state championship,
where the Owls have one of their best
chances in recent years to win the title.
But for the Owls, it does not stop here.
The team has an even brighter future.
While the other usual state championship contenders will graduate at least two
of their top three players, MUS will lose
none of its top three and only one of its
top eight. Talented sophomores and freshmen dominate this year’s team, and the
lower school, stacked from top to bottom,
will send its elite up next year. Despite the
tennis team’s recent shortcomings in the
state tournament, do not be surprised if
the Owls’ bring home multiple state titles
along with a top finish in a national tournament in these next couple of years.
[Grizzlies, from page 8]
But are the Grizzlies satisfied? Not by
a longshot. Next up was the Oklahoma
City Thunder, a young, dynamic team led
by all-star Kevin Durant. The Grizzlies
stole game one in Oklahoma City behind
Zach Randolph’s 34 points but fell in game
two because of the Thunder’s commit-
ment of shutting down Memphis’s paint
scoring. However, the series shifted back
to Memphis for game three, with the Grizzlies now holding home-court advantage.
In game three, the Grizzlies came out
slow and lethargic for three quarters, and
it looked like a bad situation, but having
trailed by as many as sixteen points and
thirteen to open the fourth quarter, Memphis pulled off a miraculous comeback to
force overtime. In the crucial extra session,
the Grizzlies won to take a 2-1 series lead.
The action resumed Monday evening for
a game-four thriller in downtown Memphis. Despite many miraculous comebacks
for the Grizzlies, the Thunder proved too
much to handle, winning the game 133123 in triple overtime. With the series tied
2-2, the scene shifted back to Oklahoma
for a vital game five on Wednesday May
11, 2011, which the Thunder won in dominant fashion. However, all was not lost for
the Grizzlies who rode on the impressive
shoulders of Zach Randolph into an even
more impressive win to push the series to
this postseason’s first game seven.
Sadly, the Grizzlies’ season did not end
on high note, as they fell in game seven
to a, frankly, more talented Thunder, but
one game is no reason to give up. Keep believing, Memphis. With the return of the
team’s best wing scorer- Rudy Gay- and
the continued excellence of Randolph, this
young and hungry team looks to return
next year with a vengeance and to prove to
all detractors that this season was no fluke.