Blog Story list (Senior Spotlight Edition)

-Will Weil (Drummer and got in to Berklee)
-Andrew Hoffman (Eagle Scout)
-Senior Destinations
-Evan Gonzales: Light Director

UPDATE: Bobcat Nation News

We apologize for the inconvenience, but our news shows have gotten larger than the file limit imposed by blogger.com so that we are not able to upload them here. We are working on a solution. Please bear with us until we can resolve the issue.

The 2014 Patriots Roster -- From off season to winning Super Bowl XLIX

By Joey Chaisson

@Joe_Chaisson

It was truly a magical season for the New England Patriots, bumpy at first, but absolutely magical. Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft has spent the last 20 years creating the empire that exists today, and on Sunday that empire claimed its fourth Super Bowl ring after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. It was nothing short of a classic from the first snap to the final seconds. Especially if those final seconds include an interception at the one yard line. CB Malcom Butler, the now Patriots hero, sealed the victory in Super Bowl XLIX after picking off Russell Wilson with 25 seconds left. Butler will also never have to pay for another drink again in the state of Massachusetts again. 

Thanks to Patriots veteran head coach Bill Belichick, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, the Pats were able to construct a Super Bowl worthy team.

The beginning always starts in the off season. 

Unfortunately, the Pats lost some key players at the end of the 2013 season. CB Aqib Talib, RB LeGarrette Blount, G Logan Mankins, and LB Brandon Spikes were among the most significant losses to the team. After Aqib Talib departed for Denver the Patriots headed to free agency in search for a new corner back, and they struck gold.

The Pats were able to snag the five time Pro Bowler CB Darrelle Revis from free agency. Revis, who is no stranger to Pats fans, or Pats receivers for that matter, was the New York Jets top defender against Patriot receivers from 2007 through 2012. Revis did not disappoint in 2014. He finished with 2 interceptions, a sixth Pro Bowl selection, and only two pass interference calls all season (postseason included). 

The Pats were also fortunate to sign a second corner back free agent. Brandon Browner was picked up to compliment Revis’ abilities in the secondary. In the 2013 season Browner was actually a member of the Seattle defense. Browner only played in 8 games however and missed the Super Bowl. It was a redemption and he did just that by contributing to a strong Patriots defense along winning the biggest game of the season against his former team.

As for the returning members of the Patriots defensive squad, they did not disappoint. For veteran captain Vince Wilfork it was a pivotal season as he was returning from a torn Achilles that occurred only four games in to the 2013 season. Big Vince proved that he wasn't going anywhere and played in every game in 2014 which earned him his second Super Bowl ring. Another Pats veteran is DE Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich, who reminds many fans of former Patriot LB Mike Vrabel, led the team with 8 sacks and received his first Super Bowl title.

Despite losing a top defensive play caller, veteran LB Jerod Mayo early in the season due to a knee injury, players like LB Jamie Collins and LB Donté Hightower for forced to rise to the occasion. Both Collins and Hightower proved to be a force to be reckoned with and greatly enhanced the Pats D without Mayo. 

On the offensive side, it was a tough loss for Pats fans to see offensive lineman Logan Mankins leave. Mankins, a first round draft pick by New England back in 2005 made it to five Pro Bowls and had been with New England since the very beginning of his career. However, in the trade that sent him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Pats received TE Tim Wright. Wright was a solid pick up by New England as he caught for 6 TDs, played in all 16 regular season games, and served as great second option for Brady if Rob Gronkowski was ever double covered.

As for the Pats receiving department -- it was greatly enhanced after the signing of WR Brandon LaFell. Upon losing Wes Welker to free agency at the end of the 2012 season and cutting Aaron Hernandez, as well as not fully knowing just how healthy Gronkowski would be, the Patriots depth chart was very much weakened heading into 2014. LaFell was an excellent addition to the Pats offense. Although it took some time before he and Brady were on the same page, LaFell slowly but surely became one of Tom’s top receivers and put up career numbers with 7 TDs and 953 yards.

Luckily for all of Pats Nation, the hulking TE Rob Gronkowski returned to the 2014 season in full strength and played in every game in exception to week 17 which was a healthy scratch. Gronk led the team in both receiving TDs with 12 and receiving yards with 1124. Although he started off slow due to still recovering from a torn ACL that occurred late in the 2013 season, Gronk managed to once again put up over 1,000 yards and have at least 10 touchdowns for the third time in five seasons. Thanks to his incredible season Gronkowski was named the 2014 Comeback Player of the Year.

There is the 6’7, 265 pound Rob Gronkowski, and then there is the 5’10, 185 pound WR Danny Amendola. From day one, after being signed in 2013, Amendola had high expectations for Pats fans due to the fact that he was next in line to fill the shoes of the leaving Wes Welker. Unfortunately, that never happened. In both 2013 and 2014 Amendola only caught a combined 81 passes for 833 yards. Amendola had seemed to be a bust for New England. However, heading into the playoffs Amendola began to pick up steam and ended up playing a very pivotal role in the 2014 postseason. In the AFC Divisional game against the Ravens, Amendola caught for 2 touchdowns and 81 yards. In the Super Bowl he caught a late fourth quarter TD as well, a key score that brought the Patriots within a score to Seattle’s lead.

Then, there is the other Patriots little man. No one in New England can forget about the “the most dependable player on the Patriots” as Tom Brady describes WR and punt returner Julian Edelman. With Amendola failing to fill Wes Welker’s spot, Edelman quickly become the go-to man. After a breakout year in 2013 with over 1,000 yards, Edelman went back to work in 2014 with 972 yards. In the Super Bowl, “Incredelman” received the final Pats touchdown which gave them the lead with 2:02 left in the game.

Edelman even threw for a touchdown in the Divisional round against Baltimore! It was the play that tied that game, and will be remembered as one of the greatest moments of the entire 2014 season. The snap was to Brady, then a quick pass to Edelman who paused, found the seams, and unloaded a 51 yard bomb down the sideline to a wide open Danny Amendola. It is the longest pass by a non QB in playoff history.

As for the Patriots ground game, the season quickly took a turn for the worst in week 6 when starting RB Steven Ridley tore his ACL and MCL which ended his season. The Pats were forced to find a new head running back. They turned to Shane Vereen, a Patriots utility man who can run from the back and also catch both short and long passes. Vereen’s biggest game came in the following week against the Jets. He ran for 43 yards, received 71 yards and caught for 2 TDs.

In week 11 in Indianapolis the Pats got to see a glimpse of their future in the running game. 24 year old Jonas Gray ran for 201 yards and trucked into the end zone 4 times. Gray won the Offensive Player of the Week and made it on the title of Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately, Gray showed up late to practice the following day which sent him to the Bill Belichick jailhouse thus causing Gray to see only 24 total snaps in the 5 remaining games he played in. Moral of the story: Don’t test Bill Belichick.

If the Pats wanted a stronger running game heading into the playoffs, they would need another back. Luckily, a familiar face was available. At the end of the 2013 season the Patriots released their bulldozing runner LeGarrette Blount. After seeing only 63 total snaps in 11 games with the Steelers, Blount proceeded to walk off the field before the game against Tennessee in week 11 had completely ended. The Steelers cut him and the Patriots were there to scoop him up. The 250 pound tank scored 6 touchdowns for New England (including the postseason).

Defense, receiving, and running... What have I missed? Ah yes, passing – the 2x MVP, and now 4x Super Bowl champ QB Tom Brady. For the 10^th time in his 14 seasons in the NFL, Brady threw for over 25 TDs with 33 on the year. From weeks 5 through 9 Brady went on a complete tear and was making a legitimate run for the MVP. In that 5 game span Brady threw for 18 touchdowns and only 1 interception. In week 5 against the Bengals Brady became only the 6^th QB to reach 50,000 yards in a career. In the Super Bowl, Brady passed Joe Montana and become the all-time touchdown passer in Super Bowl history. Two weeks earlier, he threw for his for 53rd career post season touchdown which is now the most in NFL history, again passing Joe Montana. Brady claimed a fourth Super Bowl ring which is the most by a QB. He has the most appearances with 6. At the end of the game number 12 claimed his third Super Bowl MVP award, another record tying statistic.

Patriots’ special teams captain Matthew Slater, LG Sebastian Vollmer, RG Dan Connolly, and K Stephen Gostkowski were some of the Patriots veterans to finally hold the Lombardi Trophy for the first time.

Students May Benefit from Later Starts

Sleep.  It is all I can think about: “I need more sleep.  I need to get to bed earlier.” I’ve been in bed before ten o’clock about three times in the last two months.  This comes out to an average of six hours a night, which, as the New York Times reports, is simply not enough.  Adolescents need between eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep a night- making us the least likely age group to get the amount of sleep we need.  

Your internal clock, called the circadian rhythm, as well as how long it has been since you have last slept, both affect how sleepy you feel.  When you hit adolescence, the time you naturally begin to feel drowsy is around 11:00, which does not bode well for teens with early wake times.   In fact, as the business journal Alpha Galileo says, waking up early and going against our circadian rhythms can lead to irritability and plummeting grades.  It can also lead to a wealth of health problems, including high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.  Fatigued driving in the mornings is also a large concern, and is equal to driving drunk.

Many professionals agree that the early start times of high school are not beneficial to teenagers, but rather for the way society is run.  Educators still believe that it is sloth, rather than exhaustion, that keep us in our beds in the morning, but starting school at 7:25 a.m. is not associated with any benefits for student performance.  However, when the Air Force Academy instituted a late-start policy for 18 and 19 year olds, grades were greatly improved.  

This isn’t just a one-time occurrence, either.  After conducting a study using 9,000 students in eight high schools, the University of Minnesota found, that students turned out to be healthier and have better grades.  Kyla Wahlstrom, who helped run the study, said that “High schools across the country that have later start times show significant improvements in many areas… Our research provides evidence of clear benefits for students whose high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.”

So, why don’t more schools implement a late start schedule?  It turns out that there are many misconceptions and myths about late start times that keep schools back, even though many can be dismissed.

In the South Windsor community, the biggest pushback is in the athletics and extracurricular community.  They argue that later start times will make sports teams suffer from later practices and that they will get even less sleep.  However, several sports teams started to perform better.  Wilton, a Connecticut high school, won several state championships after beginning to start school at 8:15 a.m.  Louden High School in Louden county, Virginia, has a top-ranked girls’ soccer team and football team, even though they start at 9:00 a.m.  

Administrators may be worried about the possible costs that a later start time could incur, but many schools found ways to put students’ and younger teachers’ health first while saving money.  Wilton, for example, simply switched the start times for elementary and high school, which was at no cost to them.  The West Des Moines School District saved $700,000 annually by consolidating the amount of buses needed, which allowed them to start school later.  If South Windsor enacted a measure like this, imagine what $700,000 a year could go towards: the arts, sports, maybe even air conditioning.  Not to mention, because more sleep means lower rates of depression, students and their families will save thousands of insurance dollars going towards therapy, medication, or hospitalization.  

High school students do not get enough sleep.  Winter breaks and weekends are not enough to fix this problem, since changing sleep patterns for any amount of time only ruins the chances of having a regular sleep cycle during the week.  Creating a late start would have many benefits for students across all aspects of life, including the overall health and wellness of our entire community.  

Super Bowl XLIX -- What to expect

By Joey Chaisson
@Joe_Chaisson

           

We’re in for a good one tonight, folks. For the sixth time in the Belichick/Brady era the big bad New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl. On the other side are the young guns, defending champs Seattle Seahawks.

The scenario is just all too familiar for a Super Bowl atmosphere. It’s Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and The Kraft family in the biggest game of the year. But, that’s not why this is shaping up to be one of the greatest games in recent Super Bowl history. It’s almost a flashback, if you will, for New England.

Go back to 2001. It was that young kid, Tom Brady. You know, the 6^th round, pick number 1999 QB from Michigan. He was playing in first Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams, a team that would claim a dynasty if they were victorious that night. We all know what happens next though.

Now, the tables have turned. That young kid is Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, gunning for his second Super Bowl ring in just three years. Sound familiar? And who is their opponent? The house hold Super Bowl name, the Patriots, much like the Rams in 2001.

This game could either be the end of an era and the beginning of a new. Or, this game could raise the question: Can the Patriots be stopped?

Here’s what to look for tonight…

The running game: The run game is arguably the most important aspect of tonight’s match up on the offensive side, and maybe even the entire game. Considering both team’s defensives are very well matched, whoever can pick up yardage on the ground will have the upper hand. Seattle’s Marshshawn Lynch and New England’s LeGarrette Blount also match up very well. The two running backs are both big back runners weighing in around 250 pounds each and both find success running the ball right up the gut through the defensive line.

However, Blount won’t be the only Patriots running back you’ll see. Utility players like Shane Vereen who can run the ball, catch quick passes as well as the deep ball could make some key appearances. Let’s also not count out New England’s forgotten hero, Jonas Gray. Remember him? He ran for 201 yards and 4 TD’s in week 11 but after arriving late to practice the following date he has been a near memory for Pats fans. Gray could very well come out of the Belichick jail house and make some key plays.

As for Seattle, their next best runner isn't even labeled as a running back, it’s Russell Wilson. Wilson is one of the fastest moving quarterbacks in the NFL and definitely presents a challenge for the Patriots defense.

The defense: Obviously we've all heard the phrase “defense wins championships”. Well it’s very much true. If your team’s defense has the ability to wipe out an offenses’ running game AND passing game, you've effectively taken them out of the game. That’s exactly what Seattle did to Denver’s Peyton Manning last year in the Super Bowl.