The Class of 2008The Class of 2008

The Concordia

NewsNews2 The Concordia Graduation 2008

The ConcordiaSenior Staff

Editor-In-ChiefRyan Fanning ’08

News EditorRajesh Reddy ’08

Opinions EditorDave Liakos ’08

A&E EditorDave Lewis ’08

Sports EditorsJoe Hines ’08

Marc Pesaturo ’08Chris Remeika ’08

Faculty ModeratorMrs. Kirstin McEachern

Contributing SeniorsRicky Barnes ’08Ross Carman ’08Cam Cronin ’08

Andrew Etherington ’08Spensah Hill ’08

Sam Hollands ’08Pat McBride ’08Don Granese ‘08James Lohan ‘08Kris Mitchell ’08

Mike Mullavey ’08Zach Neve ‘08

Jeff Pan ’08Luke Sellinger ’08

Albert Trifone III ’08

Dear Mr. and Mrs. _________: Your Child has Senioritis. By Patrick McBride ’08

Every year high school seniors around the United States catch hold of a fast spreading malady called Seniori-tis. Senioritis is a term

used commonly to describe the decreased motivation toward school work displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school and even college careers. Senioritis is most commonly found in a student when he or she has applied to all of the colleges and universities that they are interested in, and their fi rst semester grades have been sent off.

Symptoms of Senioritis include procras-tination, laziness, slowness, apathy towards school work, and a ten-dency to not at-tending all classes. Many high school and college stu-dents fi nd them-selves in a type of lame duck situa-tion: their plans are made, and a new chap-ter in their life is about to begin, therefore, fi nishing the current chapter (completion of the second term waiting for graduation) becomes a mere formality.

Senioritis has been around since the early 1940s beginning when smart students real-ized that they didn’t have to work as hard once they had been accepted into college.

There are many different levels of Se-nioritis. They vary from not doing home-work, to not going to school on a given day. Many seniors fall under the spell of Senioritis in January and their laziness car-ries, and often grows stronger as gradua-tion grows nearer and nearer.

As Senioritis gets into full swing, most students see their second semester grades dropping, but not too low. The A students will be satisfi ed with B+’s and the B Stu-dents will be satisfi ed with the C+/B- grades. Many students are infected with Senioritis far worse than others. Even the most dedicated AP students will look themselves in the mirror and ask, “Why are you still trying?”

Aside from affects of failing to complete homework or study, Senioritis has a num-ber of other affects on students. Senioritis most commonly causes a grave amount of sleepiness. Whether it is oversleeping in bed or sleeping through a lecture in third period history, students just seem to be sav-ing their energy for college in late August. Tendencies of students with Senioritis also include: coming to school later and later each day, a lack of ambition, constant la-ziness, lack of work ethic, daydreaming about college, daydreaming about summer, spring break, vacations, among other non-

school related activities. Students with Senioritis will often fi nd themselves at the end of the day saying, “What the hell did I do today?”

Although it is a disease, Senioritis is also a privilege. College-bound seniors who have worked hard throughout their high school careers essentially gain the benefi t of not being forced to study as hard, or at least they think so. High school teachers will notice this decline in performance and some will care, while others won’t. Students who have worked their butts off for the past three and a held years deserve a break, don’t they?

Many seniors look for that fi rst semester to end permitting their slacking to begin. While all other underclassmen are busy studying for vocabulary tests and writing

papers, the seniors get to relax. Three and a half years of solid work, not to mention the stress of college appli-cations. These se-niors need a break. But the question is, how much of a break?

Senioritis can occur during any point during a senior’s fi nal school year. Many students who applied and were accepted to a college under the early decision plan have been able to relax in their studies since mid-December. This is while other students who applied regular decision to colleges are stressing out, and trying to keep their grades up so that they can look their best for that special college they want to go to. But once those second quarter grades close, many students take a step back, and they should. Up until that point most seniors have done everything in their power to boost their grades and distin-guish themselves as adequate college ap-plicants.

Students of different caliber and of dif-ferent mindsets take Senioritis to differ-ent levels. Some students can come to re-alize the very harsh consequences of not doing any work at all during their third and fourth quarters of senior year. Minor consequences of Senioritis, aside from grade slippage include detention. In some serious cases, the consequences when students let their grades drop are that col-leges that they have been accepted to may take back their offers of admission.

Those who experience Senioritis are of-ten shocked when colleges and universi-ties send them a letter the summer before their fall semester starts telling them that they can no longer attend the college due to failure in the academic rigor that they promised in their interview or admissions application. Also a decline in attendance for extra-curricular activities and in-volvement in community service can also cause colleges to reconsider scholarship

offerings. Some students seem to forget the actual purpose of attending school. Although this is a very rare consequence of Senioritis, the results can be devastating.

Guidance counselors are often worried about their students and their grades near-ing the end of senior year. They dread the thought of a student telling them the news of their acceptance to a college being rescinded due to poor grades. Although this notion is often from very prestigious colleges and uni-versities around the country, it does happen.

“Typically the Ivies will send us a letter as a warning,” said Mrs. Comitto of the St. John’s Prep guidance offi ce. “They just want to remind those students to keep up their grades.”

Most college acceptances are conditional on the “successful” completion of High School, including graduation. But different colleges have different interpretations of “successful”.

Ms. Karen Jay, an admissions counselor at the University of Southern California, ex-plained her school’s policy.

“Yes, admission decisions have been tak-en back, though they are very rare,” Jay said. “At USC we don’t send out letters of warn-ing. When we look at a student’s fi nal tran-script and if we see a D or and an F it is an automatic sign to remove that student from our incoming class.”

“It’s a common trend for a student’s grades to dip. We accept C’s, but anything less than that, we unfortunately must take back our of-fer to attend” she added.

At the University of Southern Cali-fornia the standards of admitted students are high, but other colleges not of that stature have similar conditions for accepted stu-dents. At the University of New Hampshire – Durham, it is not uncommon for students to be sent probationary letters involving their acceptance. The letters states that because of the downward trend in grades which a se-nior recieves during his or her fi nal semester are the student will be placed on academic probation. These probationary letters inform students that once they attend UNH that they will be on academic probation. This requires them to maintain a certain grade point av-erage (GPA) to continue their enrollment at the university. If they fail to meet these stan-dards the student will be removed from the school.

Today, the only known cure to Senioritis is graduation. Once a student has graduated (and high school students pay their tuition fees for the upcoming school year) they are technically cured of the terrible malady. Se-nioritis has been a long standing tradition at high schools and colleges around the na-tion. Students who worked hard can take it easy for a few months before they graduate, and why shouldn’t they? So I hope that your case of Senioritis was worth it, but don’t for-get that it’s not a diploma that your college wants to see before they let you come in Au-gust, it’s the transcript.

“Many seniors fall under the spell of Senioritis in

January and their laziness carries, and often grows

stronger as graduation grows nearer and nearer.”

News The Concordia 3Graduation 2008

By Zack Neve ‘08

You would never know speaking with RJ Powers that he is this year’s valedictorian. I mean this in a good way: he is a regular teen-age boy just trying to survive high school and make it to college.

RJ was originally forced to go to SJP out of the North Reading Public Middle School, but he has made it work for him here. Al-

though he had never read a single book in Mr. Furlong’s class this year, since he only “bought three out of twenty all year”, he still manages to keep his grades up.

“It is a remarkable achievement” Stated Dr. Moran, “It speaks to RJ’s character that he downplays it. He isn’t someone to brag about being the valedictorian.” Besides being an easy-going guy, RJ is ending his senior year with a womping 4.5 GPA and scoring a 2280 on the SAT. RJ plans on attending John Hopkins University as a Bio-Medical Engineering major.

In his spare time RJ likes to play piano and guitar when he is not working at Home Goods in North Reading. He also takes up mar-tial arts as a hobby at the local North Reading Martial Arts dojo. Along with being a yo-yo master, RJ also enjoys playing ping-pong. His yo-yo skills are not to be taken lightly though.

“I am the yo-yo champion of the world, don’t forget that,” RJ states.

“He even cuts his own hair!” yelled fellow senior, and friend, Erick McCarthy.

“At this point senior slide has kicked in; I don’t even take my bag inside,” laughed RJ.

RJ is proud to be one of the few to beat “Through the Fire and the Flames” by DragonForce on expert level in “Guitar Hero III”. Led Zeplin and Jimmy Hendrix have inspired RJ to rock out on his guitar as much as possible.

And fi nally when he was asked about his teachers, he states Mr. Dupree was the most infl uential teacher in his career at SJP. Sim-ply because, as RJ claims, “he is the man.”

Meet Your Valedictorian:RJ Powers

By The Numbers

4.5 - Total GPA at the end of Senior year

6 - AP Classes Taken

2280 - Score on SAT

0 - Number of yo-yo masters better than RJ

List of 2008 College AttendanceCompiled by Mrs. Commito and Mrs. Leonard

American University 10/1Appalachian State University 1/1Arizona State University 2/1Bates College 5/4Bentley College 11/3Boston College 37/22Boston University 47/14Bowdoin College 5/4Brandeis University 7/2Brown University 4/1Bryant University 9/2Champlain College 4/2Clark University 3/1Clarkson University 2/1Clemson University 9/1Coastal Carolina University 1/1Colby College 3/2Colby-Sawyer College 2/2College of Charleston 1/1College of the Holy Cross 9/3Columbia University 1/1Connecticut College 4/3Dartmouth College 2/2Eastern Connecticut State University 2/1Eckerd College 1/1Elon University 7/5Emerson College 4/2Emmanuel College 3/2Endicott College 7/1Fairfi eld University 33/5Florida Gulf Coast University 1/1Florida Institute of Technology 2/1Fordham University 16/4Franklin Pierce University 3/1George Washington University 12/5Georgetown University 6/3Gonzaga University 2/1Gunnery School (Prep) 1/1Hamilton College 2/2

First Number Denotes Acceptances, Second Denotes AttendaceHarvard University 3/1Hobart & William Smith Colleges 4/2Hofstra University 13/1Ithaca College 6/1Johns Hopkins University 4/2Kenyon College 2/1Lafayette College 2/1Loomis Chaffee School (Prep) 1/1Loyola Marymount University 2/1Maine Maritime Academy 3/1Marquette University 5/2Massachusetts Maritime Academy 4/2Merrimack College 25/3Middlebury College 1/1New England Institute of Art 1/1New York University 3/3Northeastern University 39/11Northfi eld Mount Hermon 1/1Norwich University 2/1Pennsylvannia State University (Univ. Park) 9/1Pepperdine University 1/1Phillips Exeter (Prep) 1/1Providence College 30/9Purdue University 4/1Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 9/3Rhodes College 2/2Roger Williams University 16/5Rutgers University/Newark 1/1Saint Anslem College 30/6St. John’s University 6/2Saint Joseph’s College (ME) 3/2Saint Joseph’s College 3/1Saint Joseph’s University 3/1Saint Michael’s College 20/5Salem State College 8/2Salisbury School (Prep) 1/1Salve Regina University 8/3Santa Clara University 3/1Seton Hall University 2/1Stanford University 1/1Stetson University 2/1

Stonehill College 32/10Suffolk University 29/6Swarthmore College 2/1Syracuse University 20/3The Kent School (Prep) 1/1The Taft School (Prep) 1/1Tilton School (Prep) 1/1Trinity College 5/4Tufts University 6/3Tulane University 2/1United States Coast Guard Academy 1/1University of Arizona 4/2University of Colorado, Boulder 12/4University of Connecticut 19/5University of Denver 2/1University of Maryland, College Park 2/1University of Massachusetts, Amherst 41/4University of Massachusetts, Boston 1/1University of Massachusetts, Lowell 11/6University of Miami 4/1University of New Hampshire 58/17University of Notre Dame 2/1University of Rhode Island 14/1University of San Diego 5/1University of Tampa 5/2University of Vermont 39/6University of Virginia 1/1University of Wisconsin, Madison 1/1Vanderbilt University 2/1Vassar College 4/1Villanova University 19/4Wagner College 1/1Wake Forest University 1/1Wentworth Institute of Technology 5/2Western New England College 3/1Wheaton College 3/1Williams College 1/1Worcester Polytechnic Institute 19/2Yale University

Opinions4 The Concordia Graduation 2008

The Concordia

Opinions

The Concordia Policy StatementThe Concordia, the student newspaper of St. John’s Preparatory School, is a public forum, with its student

editorial board making all decisions concerning its contents.Editorials express the views of the author and do not necessarily refl ect those of the editorial board or the stu-

dent population.Letters to the editor are welcomed and will be published as space allows. Letters may be submitted to Mrs.

McEachern’s mailbox or via e-mail at eagle@stjohnsprep.org. Letters must be signed, although the staff may withhold the name on request. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel, privacy, and disruptions of the school process, as are all contents of the paper.

Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.

By David Liakos ‘08

During our past four years at St. John’s, the Class of 2008 has heard the phrase “the Prep experience” countless times – in speeches by Dr. Skip Shan-non, Principal Hardiman, and the rest of the administration; at school-wide and class meet-ings; at activities and service opportunities like PULSE, PLI, or Danvers to Duran; in

newsletters and other items of school literature sent to our homes; and in the classroom from demanding teachers, like Mr. Dana Smith, who know and even defi ne what it means to be a member of our community. We have heard the phrase so many times by now that we have perhaps for-gotten what it means; more likely, we have never known exactly what the Prep experience actually is. As our fi nal days at St. John’s draw to a close, and the countdown to graduation reaches single digits, we should refl ect upon what the Prep experience means for us as both a commu-nity and as individuals.

Consider the phrase itself: “the Prep experience.” Now that we have been at St. John’s for four years, we should all know by now what it means to be at the Prep: the demand-ing academics; the sprawling campus; the preparation for and living out of the college admissions process; the clubs, activities, and athletics which dominate our campus; the teachers and staff with whom we have formed close ties; the friendships which by now we see will far outlast even those years of sitting next to one other in the cafeteria; the commitment of our classmates and faculty to social jus-tice; in short, that strong and palpable sense of community which we all recognize but cannot defi ne.

I know all these things, as I’m sure many of you do too. Yet I can’t help but feel that “the Prep experience” isn’t solely the sum of those parts. We know what “the Prep” is. But what is experience? Experience is the act of standing in a shifting landscape, watching it change every second and seeing yourself transformed in the process. Our last four years have been the most signifi cant period of change in our young lives. Simply looking at your senior portrait, and contrasting it with your freshman picture (probably not your best likeness), will tell you that. But more impor-tantly, we have all of us gained an emotional maturity, a heightened sense of self, a more sensitive and keen intel-lect, a greater self-awareness. This is all part of our com-munity’s shifting landscape.

By our very presence at St. John’s, we have transformed that landscape. We have been the driving force behind this so-called “Prep experience” by simply participating in it, by devoting our time, our talents, and our very lives to it. We have been afforded this opportunity by all the fac-tors here at St. John’s that I mentioned earlier (the “Prep” half of the equation), and our own transformative journeys have molded and guided it (the “experience” half). I con-sider myself grateful to have been allowed to participate in this Prep experience with all of you. It has been quite a ride, and I thank you all.

Thank You,

Dave Liakos

The Prep Experience

By Ryan Fanning ’08

On the morning of my fi rst day at St. John’s Prep, in Au-gust 2004, I was harboring strong feelings of nervous-ness and eagerness. I could not wait to start high school, but at the same time, I was not sure if I was ready for such a big transition. All I knew for certain, as I walked up the steps in rear of

Brother Benjamin Hall, was that the next four years would be an adventure. Little did I know, but that fi rst day would exemplify the meaning of “adventure”.

Everything that you could imagine would go wrong on your fi rst day of high school did. Because I had so many textbooks, I thought that it would be a good idea to take most of them into school during Eagle’s Wings so that I would not need to cram them all in on my fi rst day of classes.

Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, my locker was as-signed to myself and another student, a sophomore. When I got to my locker there was a different lock on it, and it was impossible for me to open. Frantically, I checked my schedule to be sure that I was at the right locker. I had no idea what to do.

Confused, but knowing that I had the books for my classes through lunch, I went to sit down in the library. I thought that the comfy chairs were incredibly cool, so I chose one of those chairs, picked up a book and pretended to read while I admired the library that would be a part of my life for the next for years.

Giving myself enough time to fi nd my fi rst period class, I left the library and casually put my hands in my pockets. “Oh no!” I immediately thought to myself, “Where’s my cell phone?!?!”

The brand new cell phone that I had received for my birthday only a month earlier was no longer in my pocket. Once again unsure of what to do, I decided to go to my fi rst class. “Better to lose a cell phone than be late for your fi rst period of high school,” I decided. I continued the day with a pit in the bottom of my stomach, worried about all of my books and my phone.

Besides these problems, my fi rst few classes had gone fi ne, and I had even found some friends from middle

school to sit with at lunch. Once I got to my French class, however; my fortunes started to turn south once again.

I had never taken French before, yet I was placed into Honors French based on my grades in my classes in mid-dle school and my placement exam scores. Once the bell rang, the teacher sprang up from his desk, and began talk-ing in French. I assumed that the French would stop at some point, and he would speak English. The only prob-lem was, he didn’t, and it seemed as though I was the only one who didn’t understand him. Not only did I not under-stand what he was saying, Mr. O’Loughlin’s mannerisms seemed quite gruff, and even violent.

My fi rst day of high school at St. John’s Prep was turning into a complete disaster. As I opened my French book to the back cov-er to tape on a copy of the Notre Père (The Our Father), I noticed a small, scribbled phrase, “Lib-erté, Egalité, Fraternité.”

Now of course, not under-standing a word of French or having taken a Mr. Smith his-tory class, I had no idea what that meant. Four years later, not only do I understand the histori-

cal signifi cance of that slogan, I understand its practical signifi cance.

While the administration and my teachers helped me through my problems of day one, it has been the brother-hood at St. John’s, the fraternité of classmates, that has helped me through the majority of the remaining fi ve hun-dred-odd days.

Whether I needed help studying for a test, or I needed help getting through something completely unrelated to school work, my classmates, my brothers, my friends, have been there to support me since that miserable fi rst day.

The adventure that I knew would be the Prep Experi-ence has not been a solo expedition by any means. In fact, the very nature of the Prep Experience necessitates that you travel as a pack of three hundred strong, an adventure bound by fraternité.

Thank You,

Ryan Fanning

A Brotherhood of Eagles

“The adventure that I knew would be the Prep Experience

has not been a solo expedi-tion by any means. In fact, the very nature of the Prep

Experience necessitates that you travel as a pack of three hundred strong, an adventure

bound by fraternité.”

Opinions The Concordia 5Graduation 2008

By Mike Mullavey ’08

The fi rst annual Day of Peace accomplished something I’ve nev-er experienced in my four years at St. John’s: held the attention of almost 1300 people for nearly two hours.

If you’ve ever attended a spe-cial event at the Prep, you know that two hours in Memorial Gymnasium means a lot of talk, sweat, and daydreaming; how-ever, Jim Keady overcame the typical pitfalls of a boring pre-

sentation and delivered an interesting, yet sometimes puzzling account of his dealings with Nike and their labor situation in Indonesia. I commend the campus ministry organizers for their efforts and a successful inaugural Day of Peace.

Nike continues to dominate the athletic market as it has done for decades, claiming to provide the absolute best products to enhance your performance. Where do those Jordan’s and ID’s come from? According to Keady, sweatshops.

As promoted on their corporate responsibility web-site, Nike maintains four goals that include designing for a better world, becoming climate neutral, unleash-ing potential through sport, and improving conditions in their contract factories. That last one tends to be the focal point in discussions of social justice.

Nike states that their greatest responsibility as a global company is to, “play a role in bringing about positive systematic change for workers within our own supply chain, and in the industry overall.” Keady argues otherwise in his documentary, Behind the Swoosh, providing video evidence of the hard-ships Indonesian factory workers must endure in Nike sweatshops.

Phil Knight and Nike have produced a thirty-fi ve page report regarding the workers in their contract factories, outlining the goals they hope to accomplish by 2011 as a means

of not only improving the conditions of their own employees, but in the global market as well. The report provides large quantities of information and statistics concerning their work force, yet falters to provide exact plans for how Nike will remedy the situation, un-fortunately utilizing vague language. This skirting of the issue does not come unexpected,

a growing trend in the modern business market.Keady’s solution includes urging Nike to raise

the price of each shoe by a mere fi fty cents that would, in turn, lead to higher wages for work-ers. While this sounds plausible on the surface, I somehow doubt the answer is that obvious or easy. Keady would like us to view Nike as mere-ly greedy and that their athletes, such as Tiger Woods do nothing but take their money and run.

Noted economist Dave Liakos would catego-rize this as, “a bit shrill.” There is no denying that Nike and its superstars like money; who doesn’t? But to say that they are so self-involved that they blatantly ignore the existence of labor injustice is simply false. Tiger knows there are sweatshops, knows that Nike probably could do more for its employees, and also knows that his infl uence could help to bring about change; but, Tiger also knows that Nike pays his salary and that if he wants to continue earning what he does, that he must maintain certain opinions concerning con-troversial issues.

Tiger is not Indonesian, and is as he puts it, “just a golfer.” Through the Tiger Woods Foundation, Tiger makes a difference in the lives millions of young people. This, however, is not justice, its charity, as Keady noted.

This signifi es his most compelling point. In-stead of looking to Phil Knight and Tiger Woods, we must look at our own efforts of promoting justice.

How can we as individuals change the climate of injustice that exists today? If St. John’s continues in its efforts to promote peace, we will undoubtedly discover new and more effective ways of alleviating global injustices.

By Jeff Pan ’08

Over the past 4 years at Saint John’s Preparatory School I have made count-less friendships, have strengthened old ones, and I have had the opportunity to work with the most engaging and enthusiastic teachers.

I look back at high school and there were days when I couldn't wait to get out of there. I thought about the Prep and all the memories I had there. I

thought about Boston University and how much fun I'm going to have there.

Here I am graduating, those long days in class are over, and all I'm thinking about are those long days in high school; the memories intertwined within those days are what we're all clenching on to, trying hard not to lose.

Isn't it funny how as freshmen all we thought about was senior year, and now we're seniors and all we think about is freshman year, and how college is going to be a blast? It's true.

We spend too much time thinking about the past and the future, and we tend to miss what's right in front of us. Life moves fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.

High School is where I fi nally felt like I was part of

something important. Anne Frank once said “we all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all differ-ent and yet the same.”

At St. John’s I felt I was part of something, something larger. Something indomitable. Something awesome. We planted ourselves at St. John’s, and it was here that the world came round to us. My actions affect the world. Col-lege is a bigger stage, and after that we are the world.

Everyone that's making changes and discoveries right now are going to be done when we’re ready to take con-trol, and that day is coming fast. St. John’s has indeed been a microcosm of society. We've dealt with wins and losses, successes and failures, joys and pains. We think we might know who will be successful and who will fail.

But in reality, anything can happen. Just because 5% of the class is going to Ivy Leagues, doesn’t mean they will be more successful than those going to state colleges. We'll know how to handle anything that's thrown at us. Whether we see it now doesn't matter, but the fact that we are well equipped to succeed in the real world does.

I look at the Class of 2008 and the mold that we were supposed to fi ll. We were supposed to catch the spirit and have no cliques. Our class was stubborn and narrow-mind-ed, and that's what I like most about us.

I remember freshman year, looking over my shoulder all I saw was the waist of a towering senior, ready to sock my face. But we prevailed; now we are the seniors. Over four

years we slowly opened up, with the help of sports teams, teachers, and clubs.

I don't know if we fi t the mold of the perfect high school class, but I don't care. I love this class, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. High School is what you make of it, and looking back I think we did a pretty good job. I know my shell is long gone, and I know that there is a spirit in this class. It's a spirit that we created for ourselves and nobody else, and it's what made high school great.

I have made friends and I have lost friends over the past four years. I have been molded by all of these people. Ms. Muhilly, Mr. Dankert, Señora Witwicki, Coach Mathison, Mrs. Martin, Mr. Dupre, and many others-just because I didn’t mention you doesn’t mean I forgot you, yes, you too Mr. Hussey.

These people showed me how to grow up and be a man. All of my teachers played a big part in making me who I am, and to all of them I am truly grateful.

To my parents and family, I can't thank you enough for making me come here. To Ms. Muhilly, thank you for showing me what the English language is. To Dom, thanks for being a truly good friend.

And to my class. I think it's safe to say that these past four years have been a roller coaster, but I couldn't have picked a better bunch of misfi ts to take on the ride. Thank you class of 2008.

What SJP Has Taught Me

By Rajesh Reddy ’08

After I was asked to write an article about my time here, I felt rather surprised about my lack of nostalgia. With a few short days away until graduation, it would seem that I should have some sort of tender emotion for

the Prep, maybe a grand emotion or two. It’s a bit funny to me that I don’t have some wonderful code of principles to ex-tol to a reader, and I can’t say I’m not glad for that. It’s taken me four years to admit my shortcomings, and the process of self-realization is, I must say, the best educa-tion I could ever have. Sure, I’m proud of certain accomplishments, but that’s not

a legacy I leave to St. John’s. Frankly, I have no legacy to leave SJP, and I don’t ex-pect to be remembered in the same way I will remember the Prep. Four years ago, I was intent on leaving my name to the Prep for posterity, as if “Rajesh” would become some sort of sweet memory in the school’s collective consciousness. At this moment, I believe that there is no such thing as a personal legacy, but that does not mean I am not proud. I can say without hesitation that I am honored to be a member of a Prep class, especially this one.

As I ponder what to savor about my time here, I try and ask myself: What is the Prep experience? I’m not too sure if there is such a thing. Sure, there is PLI, Pulse, Eagle’s Wings, athletics, and academics. Certainly, the ingredients for an experience are all there, but that does not mean the ex-perience exists. One can have all the com-

ponents to write an essay in one’s mind, but that doesn’t mean the essay thus exists.

Nevertheless, I did have an experience here, and it has been fi rst and foremost a personal and intimate one. In considering my time here, I realize that all things pass – all those activities come and go, whether they are athletic seasons or community ser-vice trips. Everything seems so fi nite, and everything seems to constantly change. As the school year comes to an end, I fi nd these truths make me pause. I came to this institution anxious, and I leave it anxious. But change is good, and I am not the self I was four years ago.

This, I realize, is the Prep experience: change. A graduate a couple years ago recounted to me that the Prep made him someone; he learned how to be conscious of himself. I can say with all certitude that the greatest lesson I have learned over

these four years is that I know nothing. Too many people spend too much time lauding what they know – I was one of those peo-ple. I thank my teachers for helping me come to terms with my ignorance, because without this understanding, I would be the same freshman in college as I was in high school. It was not until I let myself change and be changed that I came to myself.

So, to all those transitioning into senior year, I have very simple advice: don’t be ashamed to admit your fl aws – it’s the only way we can progress. As for me, this school has helped me recognize that I know very little, and furthermore it has helped me rec-ognize what I do want to learn. This lesson has been my own Prep experience. Four years plus one good lesson – that is my Prep legacy.

Not My Legacy, The Prep’s Legacy

Keady uses an upturned Nike Swoosh as a “frowny face” as a logo for his organization, which chastizes Nike’s business practices (Logo courtesy of www.behindtheswoosh.com).

The Prep Goes Behind the Swoosh

Opinions6 The Concordia April 2008

A Refl ection of What Seemed Like 100 YearsBy Albert D. Trifone III ‘08

At this time of year, people often ask, “How did you like high school?” The answer is one of my favorite stories to share.

I still remember freshman year. Of all of my classes, I think I was most excited for Latin. However, having taken only

Italian, Latin was diffi cult at fi rst. To this day, I still remember every room number and

having religion and Latin in the Ryken annex trailers. The fi rst few weeks were a pretty tough adjustment, but after a while I looked forward to going to school today. Summer really did come quick.

When I looked back on that year, I realized I had not done many things. I had only done one club, I hadn’t joined any sports, and I went to no dances or social events. I tried to change that sophomore year.

When I went to the used textbook sale that August, ev-eryone was saying hi, and it was nice to have that feeling of coming back to school with some great friends.

That year I ended up joining the Greek and Latin club along with returning to Amnesty International, and I got involved in the arts. Ms. Malone’s class was one of my fa-vorites. Every day I would look forward to going there and creating, my dog Ranger being the inspiration for most of my work. He is one of the most photogenic dogs I have ever met.

If it were not for that class, I would be a bundle of nerves, even more so than I already am! Sophomore year, I opened up a little more to faculty and some more peers. Things were getting better and classes were going pretty well. After school I would do homework in Ms. Solomon’s room after leaving the art studio.

Ms. Malone’s constant positive feedback helped devel-op my skills so I could join the honors portfolio class down the road, which was more like a personal studio full of some of the greatest friends I may ever know.

Junior year, I was in constant motion. National Honor Society kept me busy enough to win the award at the end of the year. There was not one day where I left school be-fore 4:30. Between an accelerated level art class and all of the new clubs I was in, it was very busy.

Friendships were continued, especially in the main of-fi ce. I worked with Mr. Marinelli, Mrs. Carroll, and Mike Ortins ’08 every day in the main offi ce. It was a great ex-perience. You also get to know about almost everything that is happening around school.

Here, it is hard to miss a beat. After some of the year went by, I decided to start a new club called the Architec-tural Designs Club. It went pretty well. We made some models of houses and buildings here and there. Because of Ms. Malone’s great effort and help, we restructured the next year’s club. Hon-estly, this was one of my favorite things to do.

For my senior year we decided to focus more on ele-ments and actually planned on doing some installations for Ryken Center, hopefully to be ready for the fall of 2008. After the junior prom in Boston and the end of the year festivities, that summer vacation was here once again.

Senior year is supposed to be the most fun out of all the years in high school. Well, once your college applications are complete, it is, but it’s also the busiest. I joined the Stage “KROO” of the Drama Guild and again the Greek and Latin club, became president of Amnesty International and had a great group for the Architecture club, along with having the experience, which can never be replicated, of being in the honors portfolio class. This group was by far the best “class” I have ever been a part of. The chemistry, as Ms. Malone says all the time, was 100%, and I could not agree more.

The fashion show was another great experience. For anyone who may be interested in having a ton of fun out-side of school itself, the “Refl ections” fashion show was

my favorite extracurricular activity by far. There were rehearsals once a week, and it was fully choreographed with an awesome choreographer, Heatha. Ms. Harney, Ms. Patrikas and Ms. Bates did a stupendous job organizing and creating this fun opportunity. We had designer clothes, a full runway, an 800-member audience, lights, and spec-tacular sound. I actually had to learn how to disco for one of the scenes. Every time I hear “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, I will always think of standing in front of 800 people

discoing in the 21st century. Between the fashion show and the Drama guild, the year was packed full. Ms. Green-wood, a new faculty member on cam-pus, took us to the fi nals in the New England Drama Festival. Brother Ron and Ms. Greenwood really know how to get things together, because between the actors and the crew, both plays, Crazy for You and The Odyssey, were

simply brilliant. As May approached, The Drama guild had its last meet-

ing, the fashion show was over, Portfolio had its art exhibi-tion, clubs had farewell parties for the seniors, we prepared for fi nals, and braced for the fi nal farewell at Commence-ment. Four years fi nished off with a grand fi nale. I could not have asked for anything more.

As for my classmates, it has been a pleasure being a part of such a wonderful and bright group of young men such as these. Thank you to all of you who have been kind to me; I had a blast. And for my brother Anthony and my cousin Taylor, who will be sophomores next year, good luck. Faculty, staff and administration, please keep doing what you are doing. You are constantly changing, grow-ing and shaping into something great. If it were not for all of your lessons, guidance and presence, St. John’s would be a very different place. I honestly do not know how to say goodbye, so I will not. I will say thank you for every-thing.

“I honestly do not know how to say goodbye,

so I will not. I will say thank you for

everything.”

By Cam Cronin ‘08

The moments that have had the most impact on me at St. John’s Prep have occurred neither under a big white tent nor in the confi nes of a classroom. Many of them haven’t even occurred physically at St. John’s.

My most memorable experiences at St. John’s have occurred at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass. and at St. Francis House in Boston, Mass. and at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire and at a church in Grundy, Virginia; but they all most impor-tantly took place in the company of great friends, leaders and mentors.

So many times, these powerful experi-ences seemed like anything but at the time, just an opportunity to spend time with great friends and do some good along the way. The following is a somewhat disjointed journey through my experience of the Vir-ginia Service Project:

Amidst the distinctive smell of coal mines, or the symphonic squawking of chickens, or even the horrible taste of over-

ly processed lunch meat and stale bread, I cried with friends. About halfway through the week while on a lunch break Donna came out of the house and asked any of us if we wanted a drink or anything else to go with lunch. Some of us declined and some of us accepted, and she returned with water or a soda for us.

Somehow we meandered to the topic of God and faith. She began to speak about how she had faith in God even after her husband Steve had lost his arm in a mo-torcycle accident, and her unrelenting trust and belief in God struck me more than any story or second hand account of anything ever has.

Donna talked about how she loved going to Church and hearing the choir sing, and being the shy and reserved people that they are, my classmates perked up and said, “Oh, Cam is a great singer, and sings all the time at school!” Then everyone suggested that I sing a song. My mind seemed to be shutting down on me, and I didn’t know what to sing. Then I sang the one song that I really remembered, an original piece that I sang at my grandmother’s funeral just eight months earlier.

After I fi nished, everyone applauded, but

then something happened that caught me by surprise. Donna sang a favorite modern Christian song of hers. As the words and notes spilled out of her mouth, I suddenly felt the fi rst inklings of a sort of revelation. Her voice was fi lled with passion and com-fort; the air became infected with love, and we were all affected, some of us moved to tears.

Later in the afternoon as some of us crawled under the house only to be met by those who jumped down through where the fl oor had existed only hours ago, I began to realize what I was truly experiencing.

The seven of us stacked cinderblocks shoulder high to support the new fl oor that we would install tomorrow. We eventually got the big job done and felt so accom-plished and extremely happy that we could help the family that we had come to love over the week. When the days of the week began to wind down, we were all ready to return home, but heartbroken by the ulti-mate realization that we would be leaving Grundy.

Before we fi nished our fi nal day of work on the house, Donna and Steve, spoke to us on their front lawn. They thanked us for the labor that we had done for them

and Donna gave us all big hugs before we left. However, when I walked past Steve, who had not said much to us all week, and I awkwardly shook his left hand, he smiled at me and said, “Thank you for the hope that you’ve given me.” Coming from a man of few words, this short sentiment was the most powerful statement that I have heard to this day.

On the long ride back home I started to wonder if my expectation of being trans-formed had been realized. I discovered that I am a much more tolerant of differences in people that I meet now, and that I have a renewed faith in God and other people.

However, the most important revelation that I gathered from my experience in Vir-ginia is that the smallest action can cause the greatest reaction, especially when peo-ple simply make an attempt to better the lives of their neighbors.

St. John’s facilitated the service trip, but the people made it. My story is not sen-sational or fantastic, it is ordinary here, which speaks volumes on what my fellow graduates and I have already done and will continue to do to make this society that we live in a more just and accepting place.

The Unexpected Impact That is Grundy, VA

“I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.” - Henry R. Luce

Joe Hines Dave Lewis Dave Liakos Ryan Fanning Marc Pesaturo Rajesh Reddy Chris Remeika

You all have left an indelible print on the heart of St. John’s Prep. May you continue to do so wherever your travels take you.

– Mrs. McEachern

Feature The Concordia 7April 2008

Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve--Ryan Gavin: Freshman YearI listened to this song a lot after reading Catcher in the Rye and I liked the connection between the two.

Baba O’Reilly by The Who--Matt Anthony: Freshman YearI fi rst heard it freshman year after reading the short story “Teenage Wasteland” in English class. It set a tone for all four years.

World Hold On by Bob Sinclair--Alex Quadros: Sophomore YearIt reminded me of the previous summer that I spent in Europe. It was a very fun summer. Also, it provides a good message relating to the war on terror.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens --Vishrut Patel: Sophomore YearThis song describes my experience of that year, and my overall experience over four years. And Danny Vascy sang it on Xbox Live.

Better Than by The John Butler Trio--Joe DeLorenzo: Junior YearI heard it on the radio junior year, and I liked it so I used it on some of my sophomore retreats.

Razorblade Salvation by Jedi Mind Tricks--James Lohan: Junior YearIt’s a song about being so desperate but then refusing to give in because you see the few good things and the responsibilities life holds

Champion by Kanye West--Luke Harmeling: Senior YearI think a lot of people liked “Graduation”(Kanye’s most recent album) and not only is it a good song but it has inspiring lyrics.

The Unbreakable by Have Heart--Dave Lewis: Senior YearIt’s a summary of my lifestyle in music form. One phrase from the song “Just love the world that won’t love you back” is not only my yearbook quote but my life motto. The song explains my identity.

I Feel Home by O.A.R.--Matt Cullen: As We GraduateWhatever mood I'm in, this song always puts a smile on my face when I remember all the great friends I've made at the prep. St. Johns has been the best of homes these past four years and I want to thank everyone for being such a great family.

Be by Common--Zach Blair: As We GraduateIt is possibly one of the best written rap songs that I have encountered. It has a positive view of the future but emphasizes putting value on the present; very appropriate for graduation.

Compiled by Luke Sellinger ’08

Senior WeekSenior Week

Paul El-Hashem ’08 stands out on the dance fl oor in his pink vest and tie (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Dan Campbell ’08 and Pat McBride ’08 hang out at the senior celebration after the prom (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Jake Blaquiere ’08 and his lovely date relax at the Senior Celebration (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Giovanni Maffeo ’08, Sam Gamer ’08 and Doug Wilson ’08 play blackjack with their lovely dates at the Senior Celebration (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Colin Shannon ’08, his lovely date, and Matt Cullen ’08 hang out on the tennis courts at Senior Celebration (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Don Granese and Christian Thompson pose with their lovely dates at the senior prom (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Kyle Shafman ’08, Joe DeLorenzo ’08, and Nick Guidi ’08 enjoy each others’ company while smoking cigars on Senior Send-Off Day (Photo by Ross Carman ’08).

Nick Celetti-Nissenbaum ’08 calls out his next opponent, who looks on in fear, as they prepare to duel on the sumo mat (Photo courtesy of Ryan Fanning ’08).

Chris Haight ’08 and Joe Gurski ’08 celebrate their last few days as St. John’s Prep Eagles on Senior Send-Off Day (Photo by Ross Carman ’08).

Ryan Fanning ’08 and his beautiful date take a quick break from dancing during the senior prom (Photo courtesy of Johnny Dannemiller ’08).

Activities 2008Activities 2008

Peter Pigulski ’08 swims in the pool at the Boston Sports Club during Senior Celebration (Photo courtesy of Terry Bleiler).

Feature10 The Concordia Graduation 2008

A Senior CrosswordSolve this Prep-themed Crossword Puzzle!

For names of teachers and students, use last names only. Do not include spaces or other punctuation marks (apostrophes, periods, etc). Write out all numbers. For

quotes, Identify the speaker.

ANSWERS:ACROSS:

5. MERCANTALISM—This word frustrates Mr. D. Smith6. EDLINE—Online Grade Service8. RYKEN—Theodore James __________.15. DIMARCHI—”Do Math. Do Physics.”16. TRAILERS—Where we had Foreign Language and Religion our Freshman year.17. GIBBONS—Name for the Baseball Field18. ONEILL—Only teacher with a room/building named after him19. BOYLE—Lit himself on fi re to begin sophomore year20. CRONIN—Football Stadium’s name25. XAVERIANHOUSE—Where the Brothers live27. PEACELABYRINTH—Created by Prep geometry students28. SPIRE—Sits atop Xavier Hall29. EAGLEEXPRESS—ID Card

DOWN:

1. KANEBTHEATRE—Auditorium’s real name2. PAWLOWSKI—Senior Class President3. FIVE—Number of tennis courts4. KLEIN—Gives “Big Boy Tests”7. RICHARDS—You tuck in your shirt when you see this Dean coming9. POLIMENO—Name of the “Silent Room” in the back of the Library10. HUSSEY—Red-bearded math teacher11. SHANNON—Doctor with a Corvette12. ONE—Number of computer labs with Apple computers13. STPIERRE—”Take it outside!”14. EAGLE—It’s a Great Day to be an __________.21. THEEAGLE—Old name for the newspaper22. BUSH—Who did Prep students elect in the SJP mock 2004 Presidential Election23. BENJAMIN—First Headmaster: Brother __________24. THREE—Number of Deans of Students the past four years26. NINETEEN—Number of AP Classes offered30. LYNCH—Beloved German teacher and Yearbook Moderator

Compiled by Ryan Fanning ’08

Arts and Entertainment The Concordia 11Graduation 2008

The Concordia

A&EBy Sam Hollands ’08

The great American South, a mixture of romantic cultivation and sagging despondency, is both panoramic and castigated. The south is a place of antiquated lore and warm evenings haunted by the phantasms of an oft-ugly past. It's the geographical area where whis-ky nights and Baptist mornings butt heads with an uncommonly alluring ferocity. It's a culture rich

with gallantry but stained with a history of detachment, melancholia, and defeat. And so, the music that comes out of the South has always possessed, to one degree or an-other, an aggrieved grittiness - endearingly downtrodden and tepidly hopeful. Boom or bust, but don't you dare let your dreams intersect with your substantiality.

Such legacy has spanned and defi ned the careers of mu-sicians ranging from Robert Johnson to Johnny Cash. It's a conundrum that reaches back to the reconstruction era: a historical study of perpendicular values and heart wrench-ing realities that have a tendency to be voluptuously beau-tiful.

Today, we label this genre with a variety of ubiquitous terms: contemporary bluegrass, alt-country, southern rock, cowpunk, folk country. But this legacy - of pain and pride, torture and redemption - has set the stage for an escalating series of tensions among those vying to assume a place with the hollowed names of the past. And with good cause, it would seem.

Is the future cradled in the arms of Ryan Adams and Gil-lian Welch's synthetic dissymmetry or will it manifest itself in the cornbread huskiness of groups that idealize these fundamental elements of the south? Or will the "future" emerge from somewhere less contrived, and undoubtedly, less heralded?

Lucero, which means blazing star in Spanish, has been poised to grab the reins of contemporary alt/country since their 20001 self titled release. The past 6 years has seen the Memphis area band - spearheaded by singer/songwriter Ben Nichol's fractured vocals - release an able-bodied dis-cography of textured and non-cyclic music. Lucero has a reputation for continually deconstructing and remobilizing their sound in order to create distinctly separate albums.

2002's Tennessee was vociferously less linear than Luc-ero, 2003's That Much Further West was littered with mas-culine guitar riffs and Replacements-esqe antipathy, and 2004's Nobody's Darlings was an enigmatic self-pitying, and - ultimately - guts and blood rock and roll album. Which brings us, fi nally, to 2006 and the band's upcoming release of Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers.

Immediately upon Lucero's precursory internet release of the song "I Can Get Us out Of Here Tonight," pundits were confl agrant with the fact that - gasp - the band would dare create a song with semblances of Bruce Springsteen's patented Asbury sound. Simply put, Southern music should be too proud to stoop to level of incorporating recogniz-able, East Coast nuances.

Imagine, then, these same critics' surprise when they heard the rest of the album - undeniably swollen with Boss-styled keys and Nichol's vocal delineation leaning increasingly towards Springsteen's oral stylings.

Before we delve into the specifi cs of this reemphasized

Lucero, however, we should fi rst examine the causal real-ity of any band or self-respecting artist who chooses to meander into the axiomatic and uncurbed musical world of the seminal Bruce Springsteen.

The blunt reality of the situation is that any incorpora-tion of the Asbury sound - whether it be bright keys, bluesy song architecture, or the "larger than life" vocal delivery - can't be a bad thing. The Boss acquired his pseudonym by being, well, the The Boss. Nearly infallible in scope and monumental in size, Springsteen invigorated an entire generation.

With irony, then, Lucero has reinvented the southern sound by infringing upon the local sound of a place that is, both literally and fi guratively, thousands of miles away. Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers attacks the listener straight off the starting block with "What Else Would You Have Me Be." Seconds into the album, guitarist Brian Ve-nable's muscular riffs are intersected with irradiated keys and Nichol's torn vocals. Away we go. "I gave you every-thing I stole/Then you stole your heart away from me."

The song sets the stage for an epic of an album, a meta-phorical barn-burner that is touchingly heartbreaking. Be-cause, despite its east coast swagger, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers is southern rock. Lost loves, blue collar daydreams, empty bottles. The second track of the album, "I Don't Wanna Be The One," displays a similar opera-tional mechanism: Drummer Roy Berry's drumming pro-vides a thick backbone for the band's bulky brand of grain alcohol fueled musings.

The album steadily picks up steam. The following two tracks, "San Francisco" and the aforementioned "I Can Get Us Out Of here", sparkle and balloon with triumphant id-iosyncrasy. You start to get the feel that Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers is like an 18 wheeler being ghost ridden down a mountain. Try as you might, this baby aint stop-ping. Then, BAM! The album comes to a screeching halt with, perhaps, the worst song Lucero has ever produced.

That's right, the unthinkable metastisizes before the listeners ears with an unfortunate and long-winded buoy-ancy. For lack of a more incisory phrase, the track "1979" is simply awful. It's the longest song on the album and almost painful to listen to. Venable's guitar is completely overshadowed by the use of off-kilter keys and Nichol's ridiculous lyrical musings.

For that matter, his attempts to be nostalgic fall fl at on its face. "It was 1979/Just skin and bones/Your favorite dress/motorcycle boots." He is obviously trying to conjure images of a lovelorn boy and the former but not forgotten apple of his eye, but the fi nal product seems to better de-scribe a skanky whore ala Courtney Love. And then, just when the song seems that it can't get any worse, the track is lit up with a cheese ball synth and Skynard-style ballad guitar.

The "1979" detour is, luckily, just that - a detour. The ensuing songs, "Cass" and "The Mountain" rebound quite nicely. Both tracks are quirky and addled with hickish lyricisms (specifi cally in "The Mountain" when the ev-er-humble Nichol's promises to "Buy a mountain for me and you") and swampy guitar/bass interplay. The eighth track, however, is the highlight of the album. "Sing Me No Hymns" is furiously gutter, uncouthly and powerfully despondent.

At around the 2:30 mark, Venable, bassist John Stubble-fi eld, and Berry work with each other to gradually build a wall of sound that falls in a sonic crescendo before giving

away to a recklessly intense guitar solo. It is here, specifi -cally within the closing solo, that that Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers climaxes. But fear not, because while this is where the album peaks, it does so only in terms of song tempo, not quality.

Out of the four remaining tracks, "The Weight of Guilt," She's Just That Kind of Girl," "On The Way Back Home," and "She Wakes When She Dreams," "On The Way Back Home" is the most memorable. Perhaps the most emo-tionally touching Lucero song since the self titled's "Hold Fast," it's eloquent in a retrospectively gentle way. The composition of the music, coupled with Nichol's vocals, creates a multicultural sadness that pours on the heartbreak without being melodramatic or trite.

It very well could have been the send-off song of the album and, most likely, it should have been - because here, the band's emotional side is boiled down to reveal a basal core of personal, yet less-than-unique tragedy. We all bear the burden of second-guessing our youthful decisions. Such introspection is part of getting older, part of assimi-lating and developing the collective retrospection known as "experience." Ultimately, that's what makes the song so great.

One gets the sense that for the members of Lucero this is their only chance. Their hope for future success relies on their ability to capture what drives them. The ques-tion, then, becomes: what drives Lucero? They write of hometown Memphis with equal parts disdain and affec-tion. They speak of their travels on the road with similar sense of wariness. In many ways, Nichols seems unsure of himself and his purpose. In his songs, he constantly fi ghts the urge to give up and wash his inabilities away in the metaphorical bottle.

But throughout it all - the trials, the tribulations, long nights on the road - the band maintains its frank and simple outlook on life. Sure, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers has a couple less-than-memorable songs and one really terrible one, but at its core, its hardworking, gritty music. Music lovers around the world appreciate Cash and John-son not so much for their individual musical output or the varying nuances they assumed throughout their careers, but rather for their ability to capture a specifi c reality with startling accuracy.

It may have not always been the prettiest or the most congenial, but it was painted in the broad and unforget-table strokes of brazen regionalism. And that, above all else, is what made American bluegrass/country/southern rock so undeniably powerful. On Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers, Lucero has recaptured that magic in a way that grabs your chest and steals your breath.

Yes, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers bears a tangi-ble amount musical of similarities to Bruce Springsteen. Above all, Springsteen's legacy will be his everyman hon-esty. And it is here, that Lucero shares the most in common with the legendary boss of Asbury Park. The search for true candor in music has become something of cliché.

Every slick A&R rep trumpets the next big thing as pos-sessing an uncommon sense of honesty. But honesty, like all humanistic virtues, cannot be forced. It can simply be created. Impossible to pinpoint with accurate description, it falls into the category of "I know it when I see it." And here, you see it. Or, rather, hear it. Throughout their ca-reer, Lucero, has earned the right to hang in the rarifi ed air of legends past and Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers is merely a reminder of such.

By Kris Mitchell ‘08

With the summer fast approaching, the movie theater blockbusters are just around the bend. And of course, that means a lot of sex and violence in the near future. Okay, maybe not JUST sex and violence, but you get the picture. Here are some of the June movies that are worth viewing:

Kung Fu Panda by Dreamworks Animation Inc. This new animated feature-length fi lm stars Jack Black (featured actor in School of Rock and High Fidelity) as Po the panda, among many other talented actors and actresses

making this movie a celebrity blowout. After watching the preview, it seems entertaining and funny, and it will please most audiences hopefully, especially the children (but I suppose there are a couple laughs in there for the adults as well). As to if it will be a classic like the Pixar fi lms, who knows.

The Happening by M. Night Shyamalan Featuring Mark Wahlberg (remember the

guy in the Departed who doesn’t die?), this fi lm is hopefully going to be the magic that was Shyamalan’s movies ages ago, like the Sixth Sense and Signs. Airborne death just has this eerily terrifi c ring to it.

The Incredible Hulk by MARVELSo the Hulk returns to the big screen after

its fi rst attempt. The green World Breaker, played by Edward Norton (who starred in American History X and Fight Club), will not disappoint fans, as there is more of a script attached to the fi lm this time around.

Especially since the Abomination is on the loose! Oh, and Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings) is his girlfriend. But the Abomination, guys, think of it!!!

Get Smart by Peter SegalBased off the orginal TV show by Mel

Brooks, Get Smart takes you into the world of Agent 86, played by The Offi ce’s Steve Carell, and Agent 99, played by Anne Hathaway. So in other words, this is probably going to be comic genius at its best.

The Love Guru by Marco SchnabelPitka is here! And he is giving YOU

advice on your love life, because he knows you need it. Mike Myers returns to the big screen to introduce us to his fi rst original character since the Austin Pow-ers runs. Although Myers usually isn’t a disappointment, the trailer didn’t make me laugh, which isn’t a good indication. Let’s hope they saved the funny parts for the actual fi lm

Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

June Movie Previews 2008

Arts and Entertainment12 The Concordia Graduation 2008

July Movie PreviewsBy James Lohan ’08

Tropic Thunder by DreamworksAn all-star troupe of comedians lead this promising comedy due out in the second week of July. Tropic Thunder follows the fi ve

main character; Jeff “Fats” Portnov (Jack Black), Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), Jay Baruchel (Kevin Sandusky), and Ben Stiller (Speedman) as actors in a big budget war fi lm that is plagued by on set catastro-phes. In a twist the action stars fi nd themselves in the middle of a real life war situation. The movie shows promise and is generally regarded as one of the more promising comedies this summer.

The Dark Knight by Warner BrothersIn the sixth installment of the Batman series Christian Bale returns as the cape crusader to once more do battle

The Last Great Live BandThe Last Great Live Band

with the Joker, now played by the late Heath Ledger. The buzz around this movie is intense, with critics seeing this

second encounter between Batman and the Joker see this fi lm as likely delving deeper into the dark side of Batman. Advanced previews and trailers have effectually dispelled any concerns as to the quality of “The Dark Knight’s” Joker, once played by Jack Nicholson. This movie is defi nitely a must see and undoubtedly the buzz surround-ing this movie will only grow as the July 18th release date comes closer.

Hellboy 2 by Guillermo del ToroRon Perlman returns the crimson comic hero, Hellboy. In this sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 hit, “Hellboy,” Perlman leads the B.P.R.D (Board of Paranormal Research and Defense) against the dictatorial ambitions of an evil creature who treads both the fantasy and earthly worlds. Luke Goss, who plays Perl-man’s world hopping an-tithesis, attempts to lead a “Golden Army” of fantasy

creatures to take control of our world. This fl ick shows promise, but might be fare more suited for those who hold interest in comic-book theatre.

The Long Shots by Fred DurstThis fl ick, due out towards the end of July, centers on the true life story of Jasmine Plummer, the fi rst female player in the Pop Warner league. Jasmine, played by Keke Palmer, leads her team as quarter back all the way to the Pop Warner Super Bowl while being coached by a for-mer high school football star, her uncle, who is played by Ice Cube. This true life story based on the adver-sity encountered by Plummer is cen-tral to the plot line of fi nding hope in the most unlikely of situations, as Plummer unites the struggling Illinois town of Wallace behind her team, the Harvey Colts. Possibly a little wishy-washy but the story and the importance of the events still hold solid ground and promise a decent sports fl ick, but defi nitely nothing too spectacular.

Pearl Jam has been one of the most consistant rock acts since their debut album Ten was released in 1991. Here they preform in Chicago (Photo courtesy of www.pearljam.com).By Ryan Fanning ’08

How many bands, after eighteen years as a world-renowned group, still go out and play every concert as if it could be their last?

Very few bands from the early 1990’s are still together, let alone touring. Pearl Jam is the exception to this disappointing trend.

I would argue that many bands don’t play thirty song sets ever in

their careers, perhaps maxing out at twenty songs in a night, even if they are still young and energetic. Pearl Jam has consistently played an average of thirty songs per con-cert night-in and night-out throughout their eighteen year career.

Not only does the band play such long shows, but they maintain a constant, electrifying energy throughout each and every song, during each and every show.

Each concert they play is just as exhilarating as the last, whether they are playing their third show of the tour, or their eightieth, the band plays an unbelievable show. I have had the good fortune to attend one show at the Gar-den in Boston on the fi rst leg of the tour for their epony-

mous album Pearl Jam my sophomore year, in 2006.The atmosphere in the building was to the point of in-

sanity. Once the band began their set, they crowd went wild. It seemed that everyone at the show knew the words to every single song the band played, even the rarities.

The energy of the crowd mirrors the energy of the band, and I would not be surprised if the building appeared to be shaking f r o m t h e p o i n t o f view of an o n l o o k e r outside the building.

The lead singers stage banter alone, discussing t o p i c s ranging from the band’s h is tory to politics and the War on Terror, is enough entertainment for the night, let alone the absolutely brilliantly written and preformed music.

Often playing up to three encores to conclude any given concert, the band takes pride in its live shows.

One very cool aspect of Pearl Jam’s live shows are the number of cover songs they play. Although they have a catolog of over one hundred and fi fty original songs, they often play up to fi ve cover songs during a concert. Neil

Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” is a staple of their shows, and is often used to conclude a show.

“Crazy Mary” is another very popular concert tune. Originally, the song was written by Victoria Williams, who was then cancer-stricken. Peal Jam offered to preform the song for her while she was ill.

At one concert that I went to, in Boston in 2006, it happned to be Bob Dylan’s birthday. In honor of his birthday, Eddie Vedder, the lead singer, played a short acoustic ser of two songs. The fi rst was Dylan’s “Forever Young”-- “Not trying to be cynical”, as Vedder remarked. Then, Vedder began “Masters of War by himself, and was later joined by the rest of the band to Pearl Jam-ify Dylan’s classic song.

Even if you can’t make it out to see Pearl Jam play live, the band makes it easy to listen to their live shows. For a mere ten dollars, you can download any concert on a given tour from their website in full. I alone have seven of their full concerts on my iPod, and I assure you, while it may seem a tad obsessive, each concert is unique, and deserves to be listened to in full, from the fi rst song to the last encore.

Pearl Jam will be coming to the Tweeter Center on June 28 and June 30, to conclude their summer tour, and I urge you to try to attend.

“Often playing up to three encores to conclude any given concert, the band

takes pride in its live shows.”

Arts and Entertainment The Concordia 13Graduation 2008

Summer Sounds From the UndergroundBy Dave Lewis ‘08

Hampton Beach, North Shore Mall, AMC Movie Theatre, campfi res, and Xbox…sound fa-miliar? Instead of following the same summertime process we sun-tanned high school schmucks follow every year, it’s time to ven-ture out. As you count the fi nals days until college, do something you’ve never done before. But what is that you ask? Did you know North Shore Massachusetts

hosts one of the, not only most famous, but most lively music scenes in New England? Hardcore, punk, and ska: maybe not the most popular genres in the mainstream, but, in the underground, everything’s opposite.

Have Heart, a Boston band holding down the hardcore home front, has catapulted the North Shore into, not just the national, but international hardcore spotlight. With infl uence from back-in-the-day hardcore bands like Bane and Black Flag, Have Heart has morphed straightedge (anti-drinking, anti-drugs) into something to admire. The Things We Carry, featuring most of the band’s best songs like “Armed With a Mind”, “The Unbreakable”, and “Watch Me Rise”, has been the leading record in the local scene for the past year or so. After a fairly extensive Eu-ropean tour, Have Heart returns to Boston by mid-summer for a few shows in Cambridge and in Haverhill before heading out on the road once again.

The Effort, the local middlemen between hardcore and punk, recently have been gaining popularity with each passing day. Their full-length Iconoclasm, released by Words of War Records on April 1st, has been met with open arms by local straightedge concertgoers and is avail-able in any Newbury Comics store. These college-aged musical activists take a radically intelligent look at poli-tics and society with every single song. With infl uences from scene leaders Have Heart and Shipwreck, The Ef-fort, with their passionate social justice spin, have inspired more kids to go straightedge and go radical than any North Shore band has in a very long time. There have been ru-mors of a West Coast Tour for The Effort this summer, but hundreds of local shows throughout the Merrimac Valley area are a defi nite.

Also off Words of War Records, The Carrier proves to be another local band to keep an eye out for this summer. With members strewn throughout the North Shore, The Carrier mixes very raw instrumentals with emotionally charged lyrics. The clash of tough hardcore and vulnera-

ble vocals provides for some of the most fascinating music currently coming out of Massachusetts. According local scenesters, The Carrier is defi nitely one of the most fun lo-cal bands to see live. Songs like “Panicstriken”, “Wasted”, and “Alcatraz” from the band’s most recent album, One Year Later, dominate their live set. After a fairly extensive national tour, The Carrier returns to Massachusetts several times throughout the summer playing Kingston on June 14th and Haverhill on June 21st as well as few other loca-tions that are yet to be determined.

Of a much different musical breed, Mile 21, a Boston band that hybrids reggae and ska, recently has reached surprising notoriety. Their classic dance tune “Wasting Time” has been the anthem of Massachusetts ska scene for nearly fi ve years now. Much slower songs like “Fool You” illustrate the band’s awesome admiration for reggae pio-neer Bob Marley. The band’s popular song “Vampire” is a prime example that Mile 21 isn’t just some mock-Marley reggae band; they can add a unique fl avor to a genre that rarely manufactures successful bands. Mile 21 tends to play mostly local shows, appearing in Gloucester on May 16th, in Manchester (yes, by the sea) on May 23rd, and at Cambridge’s famous Middle East Club on May 30th. Watch out for these scene elders, they’ve been around long enough to know what their doing and their sure to make the best of summer ’08.

The Merrimac Valley Hardcore scene, or the MVHC, as those crazy straightedge kids have popularized it as, is probably one of the fastest growing scenes in the area. Edge-Day, a day-long show last summer, featuring some of the areas biggest straight-edge bands like Have Heart, Shipwreck, and The Effort, was so successful National Ge-ography showed up to do a documentary on the straight-edge subculture residing on the North Shore. Welfare Records, a hole-in-the-wall in downtown Haverhill, was a non-name venue just a year ago, but after Edge Day, has risen to legendary status among hardcore kids.

Ten years ago, Gloucester was the hub of music and, though a lot of noise is coming out of the Merrimac Val-ley, the ska headquarters still remains in the old fi shing town under the careful leadership of Mile 21. As the band begins to record new material and continues playing lo-cally nearly everyday, the Gloucester scene is sure to grow immensely this summer.

So what’s your musical taste? Where do you fi t in the scheme of things in the underground? Oh wait, you didn’t even know there was an underground! Well gentleman, its time to turn off the radio, get rid of Romero and Pebbles and Matty in the Morning, pick up your shovels and fi nd your spot in the Massachusetts underground.

Have Heart at the Cambridge ElksHave Heart at the Cambridge Elks

The Effort at Welfare RecordsThe Effort at Welfare Records

The Carrier at Umass LowellThe Carrier at Umass Lowell

Mile 21 in BostonMile 21 in Boston

Artist of the Year: Ben Dulong ‘08Name: Ben Dulong

Age/YOG: 18, 2008

Hometown: Gloucester, MA

Instrument: Alto Saxophone

Year of Experience: I started when I was eight years old.

Favorite Song: All Blues, by Miles Davis. The changes provide a struc-ture that is at once simple for the beginning of solos and complex for building upon ideas.

Artistic Idols: John Coltrane... Mike Tucker, Henley Douglas, Dave Trooper

Artistic Goals: Record at least one album. Play some famous bars that the jazz greats have played. Play at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Continue playing until I die.

Plans: The Jazz Combo/ Band at Clark University, perhaps solo/ combo work in local clubs and bars.

By Nick Clements ‘08

Early this year, I decided to try and expand my horizons at St. John’s Prep. Having never been to one of the artistic show-cases in Ryken, I fi gured I’d take a shot in the dark and head out to look at some art. What I did not know was that the Jazz Combo class would also be playing to provide some music for the night.

I’m a bit of a fan of jazz my-self and had high expectations, but, as soon as the band started playing, I was not disappointed. I was blown away by their clear love for the music and their unbelievable talent. One saxophonist stood out, however, and that was Ben Dulong.

Wearing his characteristic white striped hat, Ben daz-zled the entire night, especially through his solos which added intensity and depth to each of the songs he and the rest of the Jazz Combo, the Suits, played throughout the night. Also, this same passion and talent could be found in his subsequent concerts at the Prep, culminating in the latest of the year when he played alongside the Canadian band District of Soul.

Ben Dulong’s year came to a close when he won the Clark Terry UNH Jazz Festival Award for outstanding musicianship, a well-deserved award. I would strongly encourage all people at the Prep to attend a closing Jazz program to see Ben and the rest of the Jazz Combo if one comes in the coming month.

Ben Dulong jazzing up the New Orleans scene with the Jazz Combo

Watch out for Ben next year in Clark University’s Jazz

Combo

Sports14 The Concordia Graduation 2008

The Concordia

SportsFall Proves Trying for Prep Athletics

By Ricky Barnes ‘08

The 2007 fall sports season came with tough losses, one championship, playoff chances, rising stars and prom-ising futures. From this trying season, the Prep teams were able to show their resilience to defeat and proved they are some of the best teams in the state.

The Cross-Country team enjoyed a successful season despite some major adversity. They were able to fi nish

their season with an overall record of 2-2, and qualifi ed for the MIAA All-State Championships.

Senior Captain Luke Harmeling summed up the season when he said, “Overall the season went pretty well even with some of the big guns like Julian Gallo ’09 getting hurt. We were able to meet most of the expectations and had a great time too.”

The team found success early on in the season, winning their fi rst meet against BC High, but could not extend the streak with a tight race with Malden Catholic. Rebound-ing from the last meet, the team was able to beat Catholic Memorial; however, they were unable to win their fi nal race against Xaverian.

Although last year’s team had a little more success, fi n-ishing with a record of 3-1, the fresh-man team showed great promise for the upcoming seasons. When they traveled to New York for the Manhat-tan Invitational, the freshman team was able to fi nish fi rst. With most of the top runners returning next year, the team is in a good position to do well in the upcoming seasons.

The Golf team found a way to re-deem themselves this season, winning the Division I North Championship af-ter fi nishing in second place last year. Although they lost most of their key golfers to graduation, the young team was able to fi nish the season with a re-spectable record of 9-4-1.

They were able to handle their opponents fairly easily for most of the season, but were unable to win most of the close matches. Key losses came from the teams of BC High, Danvers, and Xaverian, all by 5 strokes or less; but they were able to recover from these losses and win a few close matches of their own against Barnstable and Xaverian.

Captain Mike Mullavey ’08 commented on the sea-son, “The season was pretty tough because we were a lot younger than last year, so we had to get used to playing together. It was hard because we were a totally different group but we were able to play well as a team.”

Although last year’s team had a little more success, fi nishing their season with a fi nal record of 13-5, the younger golfers on the team showed great promise for the future. “It was good to see the younger guys play well this year, and we should be in good shape for next season,” refl ected Mullavey ’08.

After a great season last year fi nishing the season with a regular season record of 8-3, the Football team looked to contin-ue their success this season. This year’s team faced one of the toughest schedules they have seen in a while, and their strong opponents forced the team to fi ght hard every week for a victory.

The team started the season off strong, with shutout wins against both Peabody High and Central Catholic, but they were unable to carry their momentum into the next three weeks, falling to Everett, Brockton, and Dracut.

After important wins over St. John’s Shrewsbury, Catholic Memorial, and Malden Catholic, the team faced off against Xaverian in a game that would

determine their play-off contention. They came ready to play and showed everyone that they deserved a chance at the state title with a 21-17 win in the crucial Thanksgiving Day game.

Although the team did not win a state championship, they played very well over the course of the season and proved their toughness and strength against some of the best teams in the state.

Senior Captains Derek Coppola and Scott Darby were huge parts of the teams overall success scoring 56 and 26 points

respectively, making them among the league leaders in points. Even though the team fi nished with a record of 6-5, they look to make improvements and hopefully bring a state championship in the seasons to come.

Following an impressive season last year that culmi-nated in a State Championship, the Soccer team looked to defend the title in their most recent season. After fi nishing the season at a stunning 22-0-2, the team lost some major parts of their starting eleven including Jeff Dell’Orfano, Tim Prior, and Ben Slingerland.

With these gaps in the lineup, people needed to step up and that’s exactly what guys like Sean Bishop ’08, Brett McLarney ’08, and Evan Ersing ’08 were able to do. The

team fi nished this season with a re-spectable record of 10-4-7, but that was not the exact outcome they wanted.

Seniors Nick Marinakis and Doug Wilson expressed their disappointment with the way things turned out this sea-son, “It was hard to handle the feeling that we didn’t get as much out of the season as we could have. We had a re-ally good team and it was tough not to make it further in the playoffs.”

Although the team was unable to re-claim the state title, they did manage to do very well especially when they traveled to Connecticut to play Xavier of Middletown, CT in a game in which they won 2-0. Against one of the best teams in Connecticut, the team man-aged to start the year off with an impor-tant win. “We played better as a team in that game than in any other game of the season,” said Marinakis ’08.

The team will once again lose some outstanding players, but the younger guys look promising to fi ll those gaps and seem ready to bring another state championship to the Prep.

With a much younger squad this year, the Water Polo team had to make some adjustments to fi ll the spots left by the graduating seniors that led the team in the past seasons. They suf-

fered tough losses at the hands Phillips Exeter and Phillips Academy but were able to handle the team from Northfi eld MT Hermon fairly easily.

After losing a lot of strong players, the team struggled but was able to fi nish the season with a record of 2-3. The team had some fi erce competition with Phillips Exeter, and although they played very well Exeter proved to be too much for them this year.

“We graduated a lot of our good seniors but our juniors really stepped up and were able to help make this season a successful one,” commented senior captain Jon Castaldo.

Even though the team did not have as much success as they would have hoped for, the younger players were able to prove themselves ready for the upcoming year. “This year the freshmen showed that they will be ready to step up when their time comes to lead the team,” said Castaldo ’08.

Although some of the seasons proved disappointing for some of the Prep’s fall sports teams, many great successes came from the year’s trials and tribulations. All the play-ers worked extremely hard to put their teams at the top of the standings and earned the respect they deserve for their dedication.

“The season was pretty tough because we were a lot younger than last year...It was hard be-

cause we were a totally different group but we

were able to play well as a team.”

- Mike Mullavey ‘08

By Marc Pesaturo ‘08

The 2007/2008 winter sports season brought new faces, broken records, three state championships, playoff appearances and complete dominance in some sports. Ryan O’Connell ’08, captain of the Bas-ketball team, dominated the court, the Swimming team toyed with their opponents, and the Fencing

team barely had to struggle to win. The Basketball team fi nished the regular season with

thirteen wins and seven losses and was able to advance

Winter Sports Deliver Three State Championships

into the postseason. They started out the year very medio-cre, going 5-5 through the fi rst ten games of the season. From there on, they would win eight more games and lose just two games.

This stretch of great basketball, which included a fi ve game winning streak at one point, started with a huge 98-93 victory over Catholic Memorial, one of the top programs in the Commonwealth. They continued their success into the North Shore Invitation Basketball Tournament and easily took home the trophy for the second straight year.

A key member of Prep’s Basketball team’s 8-2 run was the Senior Captain Ryan O’Connell. O’Connell led the team in scoring for the second straight year and he also became the Prep’s all-time career scoring leader when he

passed Matt Symmes (1,242 points). With the help of O’Connell, the Basketball team not

only made it to the playoffs, but was victorious in their fi rst round game, something that hasn’t been done since the Prep beat Acton-Boxboro 62-53 in 2003. They fi nally won a fi rst round game when they beat Catholic Confer-ence rival Malden Catholic 59-57. However, they would lose to Everett 98-77 in the next round.

The Prep’s Basketball team was able to move past the fi rst round in the playoffs, but the hockey team failed to get out of the round-robin of the Super Eight for the sec-ond straight year.

A new season brought along a new coach for the (Continued on p 15)

This year’s fencing team claimed it’s fourth straight state championship. (Photo courtesy of Ricky Barnes)

Cross Country captains Luke Harmeling ’08, Kyle Packert ‘08 and Collin Shannon ’08 strike a pose at the New Balance Invitation-al in Rhode Island. (Photo courtesy of Kyle Packert).

The swim team dominated their competition to win their third straight title. (Photo courtesy of Yearbook Staff)

The ski team fought their way through a trying season to capture their second state title in the past four seasons. (Photo courtesy of Yearbook Staff).

Sports The Concordia 15Graduation 2008

2007/2008 Prep’s Unsung Heroes By Andrew Eiherington ’08 and Luke Selinger ’08

Football 2008 Unsung Hero: John Whitney ’08

John Whitney ’08 did anything the foot-ball team asked of him. He was the starting safety, the starting punter, and a wide re-ceiver on many different occasions.

After a junior year of playing wide re-ceiver, Whitney found success elsewhere on the fi eld. In a secondary that no lon-ger played Derek Coppola at cornerback, Whitney was the strength of the secondary. He used a combination of speed and power to his advantage at any position he played.

The one thing that was most overlooked about him was the fact that he was more than adequate for the vacant punting posi-tion on the team. He rarely kicked a below average punt. After trying to punt a foot-ball under pressure, one would realize that punting is not an easy task. It takes tremen-dous skill to punt the ball, and then go back out at safety for the next play.

The only person in recent memory who successfully completed such a task was former captain Jon Cassidy ’06, who is now playing college football for George-town University.

“John Whitney was very important to the team. I really don’t know how good the de-fense would have been without him.” said senior defensive end Byron Johnson.

When it comes down to who should have received more praise for performance dur-ing the football season, the evidence leads to John Whitney.

Andrew Knight’s contribu-tions to the team nearly went unnoticed (photo cour-tesy of Ross Carman).

John Whitney, above, did not get the credit he deserved while being a presence on the fi eld (photo courtesy Ross Carman).

Soccer 2008 Unsung Heroes: Hunter Clark ’08, Steve Gau-det ’08, and Doug Wilson ’08

Coach Crowell was quick to offer up praise for not one of his seniors, but three, who it can be agreed on, did not get the recognition they deserved.

Hunter Clark ’08, had he played, would have surely grassed the headlines of ev-ery Prep Soccer article that was printed last season, but a twice torn ACL left him sidelined for his whole senior season and he very easily could have left it all behind him. Hunter was there haunting the side-lines every single day though sporting an “exceptional attitude”.

Steve Gaudet ’08 tried out for the JV squad last year and was cut from the team. Undeterred, he tried out for Varsity this year and earned the back starting slot. Steve was frequently called on to shutdown the op-position’s best player and he did it with an admirable worth ethic.

Doug Wilson ’08, like Gaudet, was cut as a junior. With no returning goalie this season the biggest question Coach Crow-ell had was all about who would play the keeper. Doug’s perseverance allowed him to come back his senior year and earn the starting goalie spot.

Hockey 2008 Unsung Hero: Colin Prior ‘08

Georgetown resident and Prep Hockey right wing Colin Prior ’08 may likely be the only fi rst line right wing in hockey his-tory to not be consistently covered in the media.

This year was a bit different though with Colin being surrounded by the likes of Christian Cowles ’08 and Dan Haugh ’08 two players who received substantial deserved press.

Colin though, thanks in large part to his position, was not as prominently featured in the papers, and that was ok with Colin whose quiet demeanor may have led to him not receiving equal attention.

It’s not like he was undeserving of ac-colades though.

Colin fi nished this season with a real sweet 14-14-28 line that was not too far behind his other line mates.

Colin really made his presence known in the fi nal game of the Super 8 against Hing-ham. This consoloation game allowed Co-lin and the rest of the hockey team to just get on the ice and have fun doing what they do best because the outcome of the game was irrelevant.

Against Hingham, Colin notched two goals (one shorthanded) and two assists. Colin’s senior year was fi lled with clutch goals too, as noted by Director of Opera-tions Robert Marinelli and Colin’s coach for three years.

So why did Colin’s prescence on the ice go basically unnoticed by the local paper-pers? Mr. Marinelli summed it all up when he said that Colin “let his play do the talk-ing.”

Basketball 2008 Unsung Hero: Andrew Knight ’08

Distracted by the all time leading scorer, the Prep Basketball, fans may have missed

one of the best de-fenders to step on to the court in the school’s one hun-dred year history.

T h a t player is se-nior guard/f o r w a r d A n d r e w Knight ’08.

He was “that other c a p t a i n ” , along with Senior Ryan O’Connell, that nobody knew or recognized

H e u s u a l l y

p l a y e d i n the shadow of O’Connell and never got the headlines that he deserved.

This Six foot three inch versatile player was consistently looked to when it came to holding down the opposing team’s star player.

Through phenomenal performances such as holding Division 1 recruit Jake O’Brien of BC High to fi ve points, and shutting down Salem News Player of the Year Mike Clifford in the championship game of the North Shore Invitational, Knight solidifi ed his position as the team’s go to defender.

Coached Dan Letarte weighed in saying that Knight played such good defense that he would sometimes sacrifi ce his offense in order to play better defense.

This is the only thing that kept him from receiving a lot of attention from fans and newspapers alike.

“You need a big rebound, he’ll get it. You need a big steal, he’ll get it. You need a big pass, he’ll get it.” Coach Letarte said about Knight.

Knight was recruited by several Division three schools and will be attending and playing basketball at Salve Regina, where Coach Letarte believes he will excel.

Steve Gaudet, above, was one of the three unsung heroes for the soccer team (phot courtesy Ross Carman).

Colin Prior, above, made huge contribu-tions for the Hockey team this year, but he didn’t get the press that he deserved (photo courtesy Ross Carman).

Winter Sports...Continued from p 14Hockey team. Coach Kristian Hanson ’94 took over a hockey squad with loads of talent and no real expectations on them.

“Making the adjustment with a new coach was surpris-ingly fairly easy,” Senior Captain Christian Cowles said. “Coach Hanson came in the fi rst day of practice and told us how it would be and the team bought into what he said.”

The Hockey team was quick to disprove their doubters by starting the season with fi ve wins, two losses, and one tie. After stumbling a bit in the middle of their schedule, going 1-3-2, they picked it up and were able to head into the Super Eight on a six game winning streak.

During that six game winning streak the Hockey team gathered huge wins over Malden Catholic, Waltham High, and Austin Prep. But they just couldn’t ride that momen-tum into the Super Eight. Instead, with their lackluster performance, they were stopped short and lost their fi rst two games of the Super Eight. They did, however, win their consolation game (and their last game of the sea-son) against Hingham.

Cowles, who will play a post-grad year at either Avon Old Farms or Kent, played every game like he had something to prove. Cowles fi nished the year with a total of 41 points and was named Catholic Conference Co-MVP.

“I thought how I played this year was great motivation for my teammates. I did my best to be a leader on the ice and I feel this helped toward our successful season.” Cowles said.

Unlike the Basketball team and Hockey team, the Swimming team didn’t have one problem throughout their season and postseason. They completed a perfect season, going 15-0, and reached their ultimate goal of being state

champions for the third straight season. “Coming into this year, our main goal was winning

states. Our year would have been a loss if we didn’t win states.” Senior Captain John Castaldo said.

The Swimming team dominated the water so much that there was only one meet where the separation between the Prep and their opponents was fewer then ten. That was an eight point vic-tory over Malden Catholic. All of their other meets were won by ten points or more. Their biggest margain of victo-ry came when they beat Phillips Exeter by 47 points, 116-69.

This year, there were many different school records broken for the Swimming team. The 50 free and 100 free were both broken by Mark Scalise ’08, with times of 21.51 and 47.95 respectively. Also, the 200

free relay record was broken with a time of 1:27.64 by some experi-enced swimmers in Scalise, Cast-aldo, Tyler Lareau ’09, and Jeff Fiore ’08.

Another state champion team at the Prep was the Fencing team. They fi nished with a 17-3 regu-lar season record. Led by the team captain Chris Pappas ’08, the Fencing team came out of the

gate swinging. They started the season on a seven game winning streak and then after their fi rst loss of the sea-son, which came to the hands of Bishop Feehan High, they went on a 9-2 run to close out the regular season.

One of the best moments of the season would have to have been when the Prep squared away with Concord Car-lisle in the “friendly cup”. This “friendly cup” proved to be both a close and exciting match. The Prep won 14-13 in

dramatic fashion as Senior Chris Adam was the hero with his match tying bout.

Although the “friendly cup” was something special, winning the pro-grams fourth straight title has got to be something the Senior’s will remember for a long time. The Seniors on the Fencing team this year have endured nothing but success, seeing how they have won the state championship ev-ery year of their high school careers.

Like the Swimming and Fencing teams before them, the Skiing team was able to take home a state cham-pionship. Unlike the Swimming and Fencing teams before them, they had

to overcome a struggle. The Ski team didn’t have a good start to their season as

they lost their fi rst game 49-96 to North Andover. They then went on to fi nish the regular season on a 6-1 record, their only other loss coming to the hands of North Andover yet again. They were able to shake off both of their losses and eventually win the state championship, due to some huge performances by Seniors Jeff Smallcomb and Ethan Romagnoli.

Smallcomb won the slalom at the state championships and Romagnoli placed third in the slalom and fi fth in the giant slalom. Smallcomb was named the North Shore Ski League Most Valuable Player and was no doubt the key skier for this year’s team.

All of the winter sports teams made it passed the reg-ular season and into the playoffs. Three of those teams were crowned champions and the others were sent home packing, but that doesn’t take away how hard each player worked in order to put his team in the best possible chance of winning.

“I thought how I played this year was great moti-vation for my teammates. I did my best to be a lead-er on the ice and I feel this

helped toward our suc-cessful season.”

- Christian Cowles ‘08

“All of the winter sports teams made it passed the

regular season and into the playoffs. Three of those teams

were crowned champions.”

Concordia SportsAthlete of the Year: Mark Scalise

By Joe Hines ‘08

Throughout the years the Prep has had its fair share of exceptional athletes. For many their moments of glory may come after scoring a game winning touch-down or hitting that walk off home run. One Prep se-nior displayed remarkable leadership, determination, and hard work to achieve his goals that some deemed not possible. Whether it was out touching his oppo-nents by a hundredth of a second in the pool or scoring a hat trick for lacrosse, one athlete rose to the occa-sion of keeping the Prep winning tradition alive. This one athlete showed great pride in his accomplishments and stuck out greater than any other athlete this year

to wear the Prep uniform. Only Harvard bound Mark Scalise ’08 has demonstrated these qualities.

Scalise started his great athletic season with the swim team. Not only is he the record holder in fi ve events, two individuals and three relays, but over his career is his a two time high school All-American and a three time All-American consider-ation. At the state meet he placed fi rst in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 21.55 and received all American consideration. One of the highlights of his season came at sectionals at MIT when his 400 freestyle relay broke the meet record as well as the pool record. This lacrosse season Scalise, a captain, has led the eagles to a 9-1 record as well as a 64th place ranking nationally.

What has your greatest accomplishment been?I would have to say being apart of the State Championship swim team the past two seasons.

What is the hardest aspect of swimming?The hardest thing about swimming is pushing yourself to work as hard as you can for every race. Every event counts at swim meets and every other swimmer that you beat is more points for the team.

If you weren’t swimming or playing lax what sport would you play?Probably water polo, it is a combination of swimming and lacrosse. I played water polo my freshman and sophomore years (at Philips Exeter) and it was a fun sport.

What has your biggest disappointment been in both sports?Losing to Billerica last year in overtime in the quarterfi nals of the state tournament was an unfortunate end to the season. The game was a real battle, and to lose in overtime was disappointing.

As a transfer student did you think you would have this kind of success?I knew I wanted to play sports when I transferred in and was excited to be able to play at a school that had such good sports teams.

Who is your Favorite athlete?Michael Phelps. To be so young and already win so many Olympic medals is an accomplishment in any sport.

What inspires you the most?I enjoy playing sports. If I didn’t have fun I don’t think that I would play. My team-mates, coaches and parents all in-spire me to work hard and always put in my best ef-fort.

Do you have any regrets along the course of your career in both sports?I regret not swim-ming my sopho-more year (at Ex-eter). Taking the year off was dif-fi cult. I was both out of shape for la-crosse season and was a little rusty when I started swimming again junior year.

What club la-crosse team do you play for?I played on the Top Gun Fighting Clams with some other Prep lacrosse players; it was fun to have some friends on the team this summer.

Tell me a little bit about your role on the team?I play attack, offense basically. I like to score goals.

How long have you been playing? Istarted playing in third grade. I played on a BBYL (Black and Blue Youth Lacrosse) team with Tucker Garfi eld and he and I have been playing together basically ever since.

How long have u been swimming?My mom runs a swimming lesson program at our house in the summers. She taught me how to swim when I was two or three and I have been swimming ever since.

Where did you fi rst get started?I started swimming for the Marblehead YMCA team when I was 8. I swam for the Bernal Gators out of Bentley College this past season.

What kinds of training do you for both sports?Swimming helps me stay in shape for la-crosse and lacrosse keeps me in shape for swimming.

What are your thoughts on college?I will be going to Harvard in the fall. I plan on playing lacrosse. Swimming in college its too big a commitment with early morning practices and double ses-sions.

What pumps you up for a game/race?I try to stay as calm as possible before a game or race. I feel like I can do my best when I am relaxed and collected. I feel like getting too pumped up for something can make me lose sight of the basics and not be able to play my best.

What are your thoughts on this lacrosse season?We are 4-0. Suspension plagues us. We lost 6 key players for 4 games but we are trying to fi ll the gaps and keep winning.

What are your goals for this year?I would like to make it to the State Champoinship game. We would need to really come together as a team and play hard to do this but I think it would be a fun game to play in.

Scalise has shined on the fi eld as well as leading the Eagles to their third straight swim-ming state championship. (Photo courtesy of Jon Bartus ‘08)

Scalise broke a number of school and state records in the pool this fall (Photo courtesy of Jon Bartus ’08).

Congratulations to all athletes in the Class of 2008 as they complete

their Prep careers!