Penn Points Online

McNabb: Do Eagles’ fans want him gone?

Pick the number that doesn’t fit in this following sequence: 21, 23, 24, 33, 21.

While some people that are 18 years old and above are reflecting back to their PSSA days, some are really thinking about this. Obviously it’s 33 because it is the number that is significantly the highest… right? But what does it have to do with anything. What does it all mean?

The previous list of numbers had to do with the Philadelphia Eagles, who were just shot out of the sky – or playoffs – by the Dallas Cowboys in just the second Sunday of the young 2010 (yeah, some New Year, alright). They are the ages of the main contributors of Philadelphia’s offense in this past regular season.

“His attitude has changed over the years,” “he’s cocky,” “he sucks.” Those actual quotes from Penn Manor students are about the man in charge, and the oldest man of the Eagles’ youthful offense, Donovan McNabb.

Attitudes are changing towards McNabb from Eagles’ fans all over and people are losing faith in the aging quarterback.

“Sadly, I think it’s time,” said Assistant Principal, Doug Eby, an Eagles’ fan, who thinks it’s time the Eagles move on without McNabb

“Thirteen years in the league is it?” Eby contemplated McNabb’s career with a concerned smirk on his face. He, along with other students and faculty, think the Eagles should take next year to “rebuild” around the youth of the team.

First and most important stop on the rebuilding train: Quarterback.

McNabb has been with the team through thick and thin, coming out with multiple above .500 seasons and playoff appearances, and even one Super Bowl appearance, but no rings. And all the wins in the world mean nothing when you don’t come out of the playoffs with a Super Bowl ring. Just ask the ’07 Patriots.

A Penn Manor Senior and Eagles’ fan, T.J. Richards, said in order to “bring a Super Bowl to Philly” they need to platoon Kevin Kolb, 25, and Michael Vick, 29, together. He also is with the many who think that McNabb is a little too old for the young offense. In addition, he noted, “He shakes things off” and he doesn’t get bothered by mistakes as much. While that could be a good thing during a game it doesn’t do much during the reflection period when players typically dwell on their mistakes. That’s another reason why Richards wants him out.

Kolb filled in for McNabb for two games and played at the end of the season while Philadelphia was resting their starters. In these games, Kolb threw for 4 touchdowns with 3 interceptions and had an 88. 9 quarterback rating.

Michael Vick has shown flickers of his remaining talents at quarterback after his dog-fighting debacle. With the Eagles, he has been an important part of their wildcat formation and putting him in is a diversion that defenses have to cope with might be a good move. He has started one game and played in a total of twelve. In those games, he passed for one touchdown and ran for two with 181 total yards.

While some people are getting a little tired of McNabb, some people, like Eagles’ fan Matthew Scheuing don’t think it’s quite time for McNabb to go but are a little hesitant to say who the QB should be if McNabb were to leave.

“I don’t think Kevin Kolb is the answer,” said Scheuing. He’s leaning on Vick if someone would have to replace McNabb saying that Vick would be a “better option than Kolb.”

Scheuing, though, thinks that the offensive line is the highlight of the Eagles’ problems rather than the quarterback position.

The rebuilding train is-a-movin’ and the first stop is already stirring up some rumors including McNabb going to the Cleveland Browns or to the Chicago Bears.

The train will have a couple stops but first the Eagles have to deal with the quarterback situation. Will it be McNabb? Kolb? Vick? Kolb and Vick?

You can find the latest gossip about this dilemma at Philly.com and Scheuing also noted that there is a good blog called the 700 level that he looks at for Eagles’ latest and breaking news.

By Alex Geli

Tough Economy Leaves 83 Percent of Students Jobless

In such a tough economy, there are few job openings available for teens due to so many men and women being laid off. A part-time job can be very difficult for a teenager, or anyone to find, but there are some who are persistent, lucky, or both.

Penn Manor secretary, Dian Alston, said that approximately 300 work permits or working papers are given out to students in the Penn Manor area a year; this is about 17% of students in Penn Manor.

Ryan Krause, a junior who has been searching for a job for three years, said “I applied at multiple places, but with the economy the way it is, I haven’t gotten any calls returned.”

According to a random survey among Penn Manor students, only eight out of twenty-five students have a job, most of whom have been looking for a part-time job for about two years.

For some, age is a factor. The survey shows that fewer freshmen and sophomore students have jobs compared to junior and seniors.

For some it is because of inexperience, or that the job that they applied for was taken by someone older.

For whatever the reason, part-time jobs are becoming more scarce, making it difficult for teens to pay for gas, car insurance or even to hang out with friends. But there are jobs out there, you just have to be persistent, lucky, or both.

By Michael Stokes

Bull Dogs Edge Out Comets in Hockey Nail Biter

As the Penn Manor Comets ice hockey team skate into their second half of their season at a 3-8 record, there are some hopes for this team to improve their record overall.

The Comets faced some “problems early in the season but worked out the kinks,” said team captain Garth Bolin. “We are a solid team.

“We are better than our record shows,” said Bolin when referring to their game on January 13 against West York, the number one-team in the division.

Penn Manor came out strong and stunned the West York Bulldogs with an early goal by Jason Green.

“He may be small but he is a very talented player,” said one of the comets leading defenders, junior Cree Bleacher.

The Bulldogs answered with two goals to end the first period at 2-1 West York.

The Comets answered back with two goals to start out the period. The Bulldogs found it in them to pull out one more goal to tie up the score and make it a 3-3 game at the end of the second period.

The third period was a rough one for the Comets. They were scored on twice. And just when it seemed to be hopeless, the Comets scored with a 1:06 left in the game.

But the Comets seemed to have no more in them and the Bull Dogs took the hard-fought game 5-4.

By Alex Geiger

Cedar Crest No Match for Comet Hoopsters

The Comets two-game losing streak snapped was snapped Friday night when Penn Manor hosted the Cedar Crest Falcons in a section one throw down.

The Comets had to get back on track with a victory after two disappointing losses and accomplished
this goal with a steady lead throughout the entire game.

Penn Manor went to the lead early and controlled the scoreboard the whole game.

Junior Brian Ramsey stepped up for the second night in a row for the

Comets and helped Manor penetrate the Falcon’s defense. Ramsey is developing his role on this Penn Manor squad which has seen the loss of some key players from injury throughout the season.

At times the Falcons threatened Penn Manor’s lead but never taking over the scoreboard.

Penn Manor won the game 68-42 and will try to keep the remaining games in the win column for the rest of the season.

By Connor Rowe

The Agility Approach

I despise sports, for the most part. I don’t understand people running around tossing inanimate objects at each other, ready to face a ball in the head. Soccer was a sport I played before, but I stopped that a long time ago after my unlucky streaks lead to a ball hitting my stomach every game.

I also used to run track, but running in a circle didn’t do anything for me either. Instead, I chose a sport that few people seem to know about. Last year I talked about it, and several people gave me confused expressions and wondered what in the world I was talking about. That shocked me, I figured people had at least seen it on TV, but perhaps the dogs don’t get the same kudos they used to.

Agility. If you haven’t played it, you’d never know how much there is to running it. Some people, who have only seen it, still don’t know the work that goes into it. Some people disregard it as a sport, when in reality it takes a lot more training and team commitment than most people could imagine. It’s also more exciting than the same ritual tossing a ball and throwing it in a goal. It doesn’t even involve a ball, thankfully for me.

Instead it involves my clumsy self running a course with my dog. A lot of people wouldn’t appreciate a coat of drool on their pants at the end of the day, but I have learned to. Of course, if you choose to play it you don’t have to go for the drool variety of dog, I just happened to fall in love with that type.

My dog, a liver and white English springer spaniel, has too much intelligence to run laps in the yard and chase after a ball. He’s too smart for his own good sometimes, so without agility I wouldn’t know where to fuel his personality type.

I had never had much experience with the world of dog sports until Tucker entered my life. Now, Tucker is one of the more interesting dogs to watch run because of how animated he is. He runs with his heavy ears catching the wind, and his eyes intently focusing on me. Every leap is more than just jumping – it’s an act of freedom. Every tunnel he flies through isn’t just an obstacle, it’s a game. We take the sport in a fun way, which is what counts.

This sport has been fun for the both of us, and it connects owner and dog like no other event. Literally so, it does this. While I may not get hit in the head with a ball, I have to worry about a dog smashing into me.

Yes, I was hit in the head with a dog. Thank you, Tucker, for your ability to make me feel slightly hypocritical, since there is no sport that involves me being injury free.

Our last agility trial, after months of training him to do his teeter without bailing on me, he decided to fail another obstacle. The dog walk allows him to be higher than me, and it’s a simple, straight walk. However, it’s not that simple for eager, hyperactive Tucker. Normally I would say I love his size, because he’s right in the middle. However, I wished at this moment that he was a Chihuahua, something I could throw my arms around and catch.

Instead, he bailed at the top of the dog walk, while I was running alongside him as usual and whapped me in the face. Instead of a ball moving at fast speeds into my face, I had a dog landing on me. I still find it less painful; I had to get my head back into the game fast to keep up with him, because he wasn’t going to let that stop him. There are no time outs in agility. If you get injured, you have to hobble along until you cross the finish line. After all, I wouldn’t shame my dog over a simple injury by walking off the course.

It doesn’t stop at that. I trip quite often, or pull something in my leg while trying to keep up with his speed. I love it though, despite injury, I can handle this kind of injury. After all, instead of a disapproving coach staring at me while I lie on the ground, I have my ‘ready to drool on you’ dog standing above me with his tail shaking his body, and his expression wondering what I’m doing lying around on the ground when there are jumps to glide over, A-frames to climb, tunnels to crawl through and dog walks to injure his helpless owner on.

Yes, I love agility. To all those people who don’t know what it is, I feel sorrow. To all those people who don’t think it’s truly a sport – try it.

– Samantha St.Clair

Haiti’s Heartbreak Hitting Close to Home

Dead bodies on the streets piled up, injured men, women, and children and destruction surrounding you wherever you look. The 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday devastated and destroyed thousands of lives and forced Haitians into scavenging for medical care, food, clean water and shelter.

While many here are horrified by the earthquake disaster in Haiti, for some at Penn Manor, it hit a lot closer to home.

Penn Manor teacher, Scott Hertzog, and his wife, Kristen, recently adopted a little girl, Taicha, 8 years old, from the impoverished country of Haiti and they were relieved to discover her sisters are fine.

For several days they were awaiting news of her birth mother but found out Saturday that Taicha’s birth mother had been outside her home when the earthquake hit and was not hurt.

Taicha’s birth mother has been very involved in her adoption and is considered a family friend. While only making 13 cents an hour, she couldn’t efficiently take care of Taicha and her twin sisters, and had to put them up for adoption.

When the earthquake hit Haiti Tuesday, the already impoverished towns got an even harder blow.

“The Haitians are such beautiful people,” Hertzog said. “And it’s really just painful to see.”

The quake struck on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 pm. The epicenter hit 10 miles west of Porte-au-Prince, and sent about 33 aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 4.2-5.9, according to CNN news. With about 3 million people in need of emergency aid and also some people still trapped, it is very hard for enough support to be given out.

The Red Cross has dispatched a relief team from Geneva and the UN’s World Food Program is flying in two planes with emergency food aid. Also, the Inter-American Development Bank said it is immediately granting $200,000 for emergency aid. Different relief programs are trying their best to provide money and emergency aid to Haiti and the millions of people in need.

The US is sending 10,000 troops to the coast Haiti to help with the emergency aid according to BBC news. President Obama and former presidents Bush and Clinton have joined together to make a relief effort for Haiti.

Millions of people are injured and homeless and about 40,000 bodies are already buried in graves, but thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble still. The estimated death toll in Haiti is predicted to be between 100,000 – 200,000 people. According to The Daily Inquirer, many people in Haiti are getting angry and impatient for food and emergency supplies to arrive.

Nations around the world are coming together to help this unfolding tragedy in Haiti and to give a helping hand. Money is being donated in order to provide enough emergency aid even though more is needed. Planes are being flown in with supplies, and troops are stationed in Haiti to help things flow smoothly. Haiti has experienced a nightmare and the United States along with other countries around the world are coming together as one to help the nation of Haiti in need.

Buildings collapsed, schools that have just been built seem to have vanished into thin air. So many Haitians are yet to be discovered, and the Hertzog’s had several tense days anxiously waiting for word of Taicha’s mother.

When Taicha saw the post disaster Haiti, she had two comments, according to Hertzog. She asked if the children at her old orphanage where okay and if her mother was safe.

When Hertzog first saw the pictures of Haiti, he was devastated.

“I haven’t cried so much in my life,” he admitted.

Taicha’s didn’t want to talk much about her mother before she knew her fate, Hertzog explained, saying she seemed distant. She told Hertzog’s wife that she doesn’t want to talk about Haiti for awhile.

Hertzog and his wife have been very involved with Haiti for a long time. They run the Connection Network and his wife has traveled there more than a dozen times. The Hertzogs also have many friends who call Haiti their home. And they all are safe, giving them a little bit of hope for Taicha’s mother.

If you want to help the Haitian people, you can go on to www.connection-network.com, or follow them on their Facebook and Twitter.

By Caitlin Blake and Cassey Graeff

Eagles Flail Away their Super Bowl Chances

Philadelphia was a complete bust, with a capital B.

The Eagles got embarrassed for the second time in a row by the Cowboys in their wild card showdown, and their schedule possibly shows why.

All of their 11 wins came against teams that didn’t make the playoffs. Weak teams; the Chiefs, 49ers, Redskins, Buccaneers, and the Bears. Sure, they beat the Giants and Broncos, who could be classified as good teams, but none of the elite teams in the league.

The team that did beat Philly, however, is on a hot streak. How ‘bout them Cowboys!

“(The Cowboys) have a chance to win because their defense is strong and their offense is doing a great job,” said Bahir Wahidullah.

Dallas wrecked the Eagles in Wild Card weekend and now look like the team to beat from the NFC. Tony Romo is having a record year and hasn’t had his yearly struggles in December. Wahidullah thinks that the team goes as Romo goes.

Their offense and the leadership of Romo isn’t the only reason why the ‘Boys are in this optimistic position, their defense is also a big reason for their success.

Dallas’s star outside line backer Demarcus Ware led the Cowboys in sacks during the regular season with a not too shabby 11 and continued his defensive dominance with 2 more in the postseason. Line backer Anthony Spencer joined in on the action with a sack of his own, and has come out of that early season daze that he began the year with.

Wahidullah is confident that his team will make the big game, but isn’t too sure about the outcome.

“I don’t think they can actually win the Super Bowl, cuz that’s a tough game.”

Although he is still hopeful the Cowboys will be World Champs, he fears that teams from the AFC, such as the Chargers, will be too much to handle.

San Diego is on a roll – they’ve just one eleven in a row… no big deal. As they go up against the New York Jets, they will have a tough road to the big game where they just might meet the Cowboys

By Jake Shiner and Alex Geli

A Happy Mistake-Journalism and Penn Points

It was temporary ignorance and stupidity that overwhelmed me a week before the first day of school. When I went to see my guidance counselor to select classes for my first year in Penn Manor, somehow I landed myself in CP journalism, just the place, I thought, for someone who doesn’t like to write.

You may be asking yourself ‘how does that happen?’ Well, stupidity is the best word to describe how it happened. As I walked into the office that warm August morning, my mind was racing with both fear and excitement. I would soon be going to a public high school. This was huge coming out of my lonely lifestyle in cyber school.

I was given two options, CP literature or CP journalism. I wasn’t very excited about either one, but I didn’t really think about exactly what we would be doing in either class.

It was more of a decision as to who would I be if I was in that class. The first thing that came to mind when I heard the counselor say ‘journalism,’ was a line from the 1998 film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” In the movie, the character Duke gave his reason for going to Vegas to a hitch-hiking stranger that they had picked up. “I’m a doctor of journalism, man,” said Duke. That wasn’t much of a line and not the best movie, but at the moment it was enough to convince me that CP journalism was the way to go.

As the first few days of school went by, I can honestly say that journalism was really agonizing. Remember, I’m someone who does not like to write. But that eventually changed. As time passed and my writing skills improved, I’ve come to not mind journalism so much. The only thing that I hate now, which I probably will suffer from forever, is that dreaded writers block. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has a hard time with those first few sentences… right?

By Mike Stokes

The Nerdy Alternative

Many people ask me ‘why chess team?’ When I tell them that instead of joining a winter sport like wrestling or basketball, I chose chess team.

Well, when I get right down to it, the main reason is that I will get out of school every Tuesday to go play a game. Maybe not the most action packed, epic game, but a game none the less.

I wasn’t even expecting to be slightly good at it. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I beat the fifth board player in Penn Manor. I was thinking that I might actually have some potential, even though I was creamed by the second board player 10 minutes later.

It’s not that I haven’t considered doing something else instead of chess. Two of my friends, who are on the wrestling team, try to convince me to join wrestling. I thought it through, but the thought of being put in an incredibly awkward position by a guy in tight clothes was enough to close that door for me.

Joining basketball crossed my mind a few times. I mean, I’m kind of tall, skinny, and look like I would make a good basketball player. However, after shooting a few free throws and remembering back to my elementary school years when I played basketball, I was reminded that I must lack hand-eye coordination, or the basketball hoop hates me.

Not knowing the vast sport options that Penn Manor has to offer, a friend suggested that I join the chess team. I didn’t have anything else to do after school, so I decided to go to the practices.

I’ve actually come to enjoy it too and, as incredibly nerdy as it sounds, I look forward to the end of the school day to play, learn, and improve my strategy.

By: Mike Stokes

Comet Basketball Falls to Warwick

The Comets found themselves in a unexpected situation Wednesday.

Penn Manor visited Warwick High School with eyes on their section opponent to improve their section play record to 3-1.

However, things did not turn out as easy as they expected.

The game was looking like a easy win for Manor as every shot seemed to land in the first quarter for the Comets.

036 — Comets defense couldn't stop warwick's three-pointers. Photo by Connor Rowe

The starters were taken out of the game with a ten-point lead early in the second quarter.

Warwick took advantage of this and the spark was lit.

Penn Manor maintained the lead entering the half, but it became obvious Warwick was gaining control of this game.

The half ended at 28-23 still favoring the Comets.

As the second half started, things began to get sloppy for the Comets with bad passes and fundamental mistakes.

Junior, Brian Ramsey stepped in for the Comets donating eight points and playing with tremendous heart.

His courage gave a slight spark to the Comets, but Warwick wasn’t going away.

038 — Head coach Charlie Detz trying to excite the manor basketball team. Photo by Connor Rowe

Warwick kept hitting deep threes to cancel the Comet’s efforts and Penn Manor was trading two points for every three points for the Warriors.

When the fourth quarter finally hit, Warwick continued their three-point attack and were able to reverse the scoreboard.

Once in the lead, Warwick began to run away with the game.

The final score: 63-52, Warriors over Comets.

The Comets will host Cedar Crest on Friday night and will hopefully improve their section record along with their performance.

By Connor Rowe