So Beautiful Tonight (and This Year)

The varsity girls' basketball team dazzled fans this season with their passing, shooting, ball handling and tenacious defense. The team finished with a spectacular 19-5 record. I was fortunate enough to coach this group of great young women. I can honestly say that this team was one of the best that I've ever coached. The seniors were great leaders, always working harder to get better and always encouraging the younger girls. The younger girls improved so much during the season. I'm already looking forward to next year, hoping that our team will have another good season because of the strong foundation that was laid this year by the seniors of the Class of 2008. I hope you enjoy the video that I put together.

March Madness---Basketball, That Is

Other than writing a book about the history of St. Mark's (that's right, good ol' SMHS), I think there's a book in me about or set during March Madness, the Mardi Gras of basketball excitement that grows bigger each year. As much as I enjoy the basketball, my book would chronicle the rest of the hoopla, too. I think I might go the fiction route, with plans to take my story to the big screen.

Here's are some working notes to my novel, to which you can respond. Hey, I might even steal your ideas, and of course, credit you as a source.

Here goes:

*Cinderella Effect--Once they get the invitation to the dance, teams from mid-major conferences have proven that they can play with and beat teams from the power conferences. Good players in these conferences, too, sometimes outshine consensus All Americans from the power conferences.
*Jilted Effect--teams that think they should have been in the NCAA usually lose in the NIT tourney
*Microscope Effect--close games, close calls, and buzzer beaters are magnified exponentially under the watchful eyes of millions.
*Cliches, Anyone?--without Vitale's own Diaper Dandy and PTPer, we'll hear the old standards like coaching "chess matches," "survive and advance," "that's going to be a war," and guys with "a lotta heart."
*The Underdog Effect--People root for virtually unknown schools like Albany, Winthrop, and Wright State.
*Addition by Subtraction Effect--without the over-the-top presence of Dick Vitale, the games and plays speak for themselves. And surprisingly, no one feels a need to mention Mike Krzyzewski and Duke during the Southern Illinois/ Holy Cross game.
*Anti-Fools Rush In Effect--less rabid and drunken college fans means no mobbing of center court after big wins.
*Sorry, I'm Busy This Weekend--relationships take a hit during the tourney unless your significant other is a hoop lover like you.
*Chicks Dig the Sousaphone Player--lots of television close-ups of susaphone and tuba players jamming away.
*Nerd Alert--I know this is borderline mean, but March Madness becomes maddening when people who don't know basketball try to sound knowledgable by parroting what they've read and heard.
*Old Folks Home--the game has passed by TV announcers Billy Packer, Vern Lundquist, and Bill Raftery. It could be worse (Duke Vitale, Mike Patrick, Bill Walton, Brent Musberger).
*Nothing New in the IPod? --the CBS/March Madness music is beginning to sound old, too.
*Gender Equity, Anyone?--there just isn't the interest in the women's tournament as in the men's, maybe because Cinderellas are still treated like unwanted stepchildren by the big, bad, Mommas in the power conferences. Look for all of the top seeds to advance.

For MLA Style, the Owl is a Wise Choice

For help with MLA style, check out this link to the OWL, the Purdue University Writing Lab. You can get information on the MLA paper format, works cited and in-text citations.

(4th journal alternative) Celebrating Our Heritage

The USS Constitution was a commissioned ship in the USS Navy that fought in the War of 1812. It was set to be scrapped in 1830 as being "unfit for service." In an attempt to save this national treasure, the prominent poet Oliver Wendell Holmes dashed off a poem memorializing the ship. It was published throughout the land, arousing so much emotion that the Navy decided against its original plans.

As an alternative assignment to the #4 journal Responding to Emily, you may respond to this prompt: Talk about a historical place, monument, museum, etc. that you visited. Tell a little bit about its history. Tell me about your visit, especially the impression that was left on you. Hopefully you can speak to the sense of history, bravery, or patriotism that you felt during your visit.

I might write about my visist to Ben Franklin's grave or my midnight hour trip to see the Liberty Bell on December 31, 1975.

(4th journal-3rd quarter) Responding to Emily

For a woman who didn't get out much, Emily Dickinson seemed to know a lot about nature and human nature. She knew that losers understood victory more than winners ("Success is counted sweetest"). She wrote that fame could sing, sting, and wing (away--"Fame is a bee"). She believed that society would label those who went against it as "mad" and would "handle them with a chain" ("Much madness is divinest sense"). She marveled at how an oriole could sing, calling it "divine" ("To Hear an Oriole Sing").

Pick any Emily Dickinson poem and respond to it, agreeing or taking exception with the ideas of this curious poet. You can find many poems in your book, of course, or the complete works of Dickinson at this site.

Links to Research Paper Sites

Here are the promised links, along with a photo of Diana Hacker, research paper style goddess. You can find at least as much info at www.dianahacker.com as you would find in your MLA style book, the little book that is buried somewhere at the bottom of your locker.

Regulation of cell phone usage is needed because drivers are seriously impaired and because laws on negligent and reckless driving are not sufficient to punish offenders.
Full model paper is available at http://www.dianahacker.com/pdfs/Hacker-Daly-MLA.pdf

Because snowmobiles create both noise and air pollution and because their use in the park strains the already lean budget of our park service, recreational snowmobiles should be banned from Yellowstone National Park.
Full model paper is available at http://www.dianahacker.com/pdfs/Hacker-Lund-MLA.pdf

The Owl at Purdue (here you'll get help in writing different kinds of thesis statements)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Be Prepared for the End of the Third Quarter

Check out Studywiz for notes on the New England writers test that will be given on Tuesday, March 11. This will be the ONLY major test for the third quarter, which ends on March 19.

The journal is due on March 13. Extra credit will be given for journals handed in early.

Research Here at the Spartan Library

It can be this easy. Go to this page at the St. Mark's library site and find databases of encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, and other documents to read and research for your research paper.