ASPA 1st-Place High School Newspaper 2016, 2017 The Guardian · 2018. 1. 25. · Vol. 55 Issue 9 Saint Joseph Regional High School, Montvale, NJ Thursday, January 25, 2018 The Guardian

Vol. 55 Issue 9 Saint Joseph Regional High School, Montvale, NJ Thursday, January 25, 2018

The GuardianCurtains, a Whodunit, Takes Inserra Stage

ASPA 1st-Place High School Newspaper 2016, 2017

have earned over the years, but a show that spread the major roles among this year’s seniors. And many there were! Talented seniors who deserved to be spotlighted one more time before they left the SJR Musical Theater stage. After striking out on a few shows that are not yet available for high school production (you’ll be see-ing them down the road), I realized I had to go back to a show that had served the school, the students, and the audience very well once before – Curtains.” The Metropolitan HS Theater Awards recognized SJR’s 2010 production of Cur-tains as the best musical in New Jersey.

“Being in my final SJR musical is definitely a sad feeling,” said senior Scott Dickson. “I will definitely miss everyone involved.”

“It has been truly a pleasure working with the cast of Curtains,” said Mr. John Zupan, the play’s musical director. “We started our rehearsal process in the fall and little by little it all has come together – the acting, the singing and the dancing. We now began our last week where the magic of theater really comes together with the lighting, sound, costume, makeup and of course the orchestra. I can’t wait to see the culmination of all their hard work come to fruition on opening night. I am so excited and so proud of them all.” “Theater at SJR was a huge part of my high school expe-rience,” said Taryn Tonelli, who is an assistant to Frank Ingrasciotta, the director of Curtains. “It affirmed my life-long love for the arts, and inspired me to pursue a career in performing. In my four years, my teachers and mentors taught me the fundamentals of acting and storytelling, and challenged me with questions I try to now pass down to this cast. In past three months, it’s been quite the journey work-ing with this group of intelligent, talented, and vivacious actors. I’m so excited to share this show with audience.”

By Luke Berninger ’19

Photo by Mr. Barry Donnelly ‘71

SJR will perform Curtains, a musical written by Rupert Holmes with the music and lyrics by Fred Ebb and John Kander, from January 24 to February 3. The musical is mur-der mystery in which over 100 St. Joe’s students participate.

It is always a challenge for the creative team to come up with a show that suits its cast. Mr. John Asselta, who directs SJR’s performing arts program said, “After ten minutes watching Curtains on Broadway in 2007, I knew that this was a show that needed to be on the St. Joe’s stage. As I watched, I found myself tapping my foot to the catchy music and laughing out loud to the many jokes. More than that, I became intrigued by the mystery being played out and started to feel for the characters: they were falling in love, struggling with a child, and working through relationship issues. I realized I hadn’t seen a Broadway show like this in years.”

Asselta hoped to improve upon last year’s very successful production of West Side Story. “Right after poor Tony once again got shot by Chino people started asking: ‘What show are you doing next year?’ Picking the right show for the St. Joe’s musical is a recurring challenge. As I looked ahead in that moment, I realized it would have to be a special show that could not only maintain the high-level reputation we

Allie DePinto (Carmen Bernstein) with cast members of Curtains.

2 The Guardian, Thursday, January 25th, 2018

OpinionDACA, Shutdown Perilous for Republicans & Democrats

By Rory Finn ,19

Editors-in-Chief: Scott Dickson, Zach Epstein, Alec GoodmanManaging Editors: Patrick Breen, Luke BrouwerPhotography Editor: Jared Martinez, Christian GlassSports Editor: Kieran WoodsEntertainment Editor: Luke BerningerStaff Writers: Michael Bloom, Alex Birchwale, Brendan Buck, Patrick Buckley, Quinn Burns, Tyler Conroy, Andrew Del Priore, Rory Finn, Davis Gallagher, Gavin Hughes, Andrew Hliboki, Sebastian McChesney, Niko Mokanos, Ryan Sodora, Daniel Soter

Moderators: Mrs. LoBianco, Mr. Mackie

The Guardian StaffPlease email Letters to the Editor to [email protected]

Ideological differences shutdown the U.S. government last Friday. While it lasted only three days, the political effects may be more long lasting. Polls across the U.S. show that most Americans believe the shutdown was unnecessary and that all it accomplished was to highlight the fact that there are “fundamental problems in American politics.” Days after the shutdown was ended, each party blames the other, while claiming victory.

Immigration reform, national security and government spending are just a few issues that the two parties are unable to resolve. Democrats hoped the shutdown would allow them to secure a deal to protect 700,000 young immigrants, a group known as the “Dreamers,” from deportation. Republicans call for a more comprehensive immigration re-form and money to finance the border wall. With both sides unwavering, time ran out and the government shut down.

The government shutdown caused thousands of federal employees to be placed on furlough and taxpayers millions of dollars a day. Military personnel continue to work but are unpaid as long as the shutdown lasts. Military family mem-bers receiving death benefits are not being paid. Members of Congress, however, remain paid.

Many believe the shutdown was a strategic stunt by Dem-ocrats. Hours before the shutdown President Trump met with Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. The GOP also attempted to pass a bill that would allow the govern-ment to remain open while negotiations continued. Dem-ocrats refused all offers unless a bipartisan agreement was reached, protecting the “Dreamers” from being deported. The unwillingness of the Democrats to negotiate, putting

undocumented people ahead of the military and national security, may have a long lasting political effect.

Republicans feel that the Democrats were holding them hostage over DACA. Democrats, especially those that lean extremely left, will see the end of the shutdown as complete political failure. Infuriated activists protested outside of Schumer’s Brooklyn home this week because he “angered their liberal, activist political base on Monday by yielding to Republican demands to reopen the government without an immigration deal.” They screamed “Clean Dream Act Now,” “No! Not One More Deportation!” and “If Chuck won’t let us dream, we won’t let him sleep.” With many members of the Democratic party enraged at the outcome of the shut-down, there are calls for his resignation as minority leader.

Both parties worry that the shutdown will affect the mid-term elections in November. Several polls show that Trump and the Republican Party will be most likely to be blamed for the shutdown because they “control the House, the Sen-ate, and the White House.” However, discontented Demo-cratic worry voters may blame them for this shutdown.

President Trump leveraged the situation by tweeting, “Dem-ocrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMore-RepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!”

Ultimately, the government was only shut down for three days. To end the shutdown, an agreement was made to fund the government for three weeks, during which the Repub-licans promised they would address the DACA issue. Also, the bill for Children’s Health Insurance Program was signed, extending it for six years. Hopefully, before the February 8th deadline, a comprehensive bill can be made, addressing key issues on both sides including DACA, chain migration, lot-tery immigration and border security that is both sufficient and safe for all Americans.

This past weekend’s US government shutdown may not be the last one in 2018.

stronghold nestled on the Euphrates River. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “As many of you will recall, one of President Trump’s core campaign promises was to defeat ISIS – it is clear that ISIS’s so-called caliphate is crumbling across Iraq and Syria”

Over this year we’ve seen the mainstream media and Hol-lywood value identity politics over intellectual knowledge more and more. In 2017, Madonna said in front of thou-sands of people that she would gladly blow-up The White House. Media personalities and cultural powerhouses have time and time again denounced Trump, but he always seems to use it as motivation and he always gains from these situations. On May 16th, 2016, Mark Cuban, billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, predicted Wall Street would tumble if Trump was elected. “I can say with with 100% certainty that there is a really good chance, we could see a huge, huge correction.” He went on to say that the losses could exceed 20%. Despite these negative predictions, the Dow Jones has gone up 7,000 points since his election.

Trump’s ability to block out Media attacks, celebrity vituper-ation, and political “leaks” while maintaining a laser like fo-cus on achieving his goals for the country has influenced a new generation of nationalism among America’s youth. This shift in culture is mainly due to the unpolished, unpolitical, and plain speaking style of President Donald J. Trump. His ability to strengthen the economy, dismantle ISIS, and keep his promise to replace a conservative Supreme Court Justice bodes well for the years to come. A lot of people may dislike Donald Trump yet they’d still vote for him because they like his policies. We are finally fortunate to have an America first president back in The White House.

The Guardian, Thursday, January 25th, 2018 3

Neil Gorsuch’s appointment to the Supreme Court was one of Trump’s signature achievements in 2017.

Opinion2017, Year of Accomplishments for Trump

By Gavin Hughes ,20On January 20th, 2017, a new president was sworn into The White House on a wet and windy day. His name was Donald J. Trump, a newly found Republican, businessman, property developer, and reality personality who somehow beat 16 other GOP candidates and Democrat Hillary Clin-ton to win the presidency.

Trump has become one of the most controversial and loathed candidates we’ve ever seen even run for the Oval Office let alone win.

Professor Allen Guelzo, the Director of Civil War Studies at Gettysburg College compares this hatred and “resistance” from the uninformed Left to the southern slaveholders during Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 campaign. It’s been over 365 days since inauguration day and looking back we should be thankful to have our president.

President Trump has followed through with many of the promises he made throughout the campaign. They included seating Neil Gorsuch, a conservative justice in the Supreme Court; cutting back on Obama-era regulations; and finding alternative ways to combat and defeat radical Islamic terror-ist organizations such as ISIS.

On January 31st, 2017, Trump nominated Gorsuch to suc-ceed late justice Antonin Scalia as the ninth Supreme Court justice, a spot held open for over a year. Also, this past year, the Senate approved 12 federal appellate court judges. As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pointed out, no other first-year president has seated this many appellate court judges in the 228-year history of the appellate courts.

One of President Trump’s most important accomplishments was “cleaning up” or rolling back the red tape on Obama-era regulations. He strengthened the economy by pulling out off negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and created a regulation that ordered state’s exec-utive departments that in order to pass one regulation, two would have to be eliminated. Regulation spending could not exceed 0$. The order also directs the head of each agency to keep records of the cost savings, to be sent to the president.

Trump’s efforts to defeat radical Islam and dismantle such groups as ISIS cannot go unrecognized. During the 2016 campaign, the ISIS threat was a major topic. Trump fulfilled his promise of methodically and carefully dismantling this group. In early April, the Syrian government released VX nerve gas on retreating Syrian forces killing thousands of its own citizens in Damascus, 400 were believed to be chil-dren. In response Trump launched a missile stopping Syria’s production of this gas, which curbed terrorist acts. Also, US-supported forces have routed ISIS from Raqqa, its

NewsMr. Richard Todd Adams, SJR Chorus Director


By Vincent Simpson ,18In the past two weeks, the SJR Chorus has changed music directors. In the place of Edward Ginter, the former direc-tor, is actor and singer Richard Todd Adams. As a way of rearranging the chorus staff, Mr. Ginter will take over a new role. He will now work as the choir supervisor. He decides the songs for the chorus to sing, but Mr. Adams will teach the music to the chorus.

Rick Adams has been working at St. Joe’s as a part-time voice lesson instructor for middle schoolers and also SJR students in both the chorus and the performing arts pro-gram. Not only has Adams worked with Mr. John Asselta, but he also has many professional credits to his name. He most recently performed in the 2016 Broadway revival of Cats as an ensemble member and also the understudy for the character of Old Deuteronomy.

Adams has met the writer of Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber, on several occasions. They met in that production as well as when he starred in the 1992 US tour of The Phantom of the Opera as the leading role of The Phantom. A few of his oth-er major theater credits include the 2007 production of The Pirate Queen on Broadway, the 2010 US tour of Les Misera-bles, and the 2004 production of She Loves Me at Paper Mill

Playhouse in Millburn.

“I am thrilled to be working with some of the most talented male singers in the state of New Jersey,” said Adams. “Often, in high school, it is close to impossible to find guys who will join chorus. To have 25-30 guys with this kind of talent is extremely exciting.”

A few members of the SJR chorus and performing arts program gave their own two cents on Adams being the new choral director. “It’s nice for a change in chorus directors,” said Luke Berninger, ‘19. “Mr. Ginter is great, and it's nice to see that he and Mr. Adams will be working together. I’m glad to see some switching it around after almost three years in the choir.”

“Mr. Adams is a really nice and understanding guy, and he has a ton of professional experience,” said Christopher Marzulla, ‘18. “I’m excited to see where the chorus will go under new leadership, I definitely think there’s a lot more potential now.”

The president of the chorus, William Fitzpatrick ‘18, gave his own insights on Adams taking over. “Having someone

as talented as Mr. Adams take over as the director is super helpful to me and the choir as a whole. It also helps that he’s been my voice teacher for four years and I know him very well. Working with him is just great.”

FitzPatrick continued, “All three of these students, and even myself, have worked with Rick on voice lessons on separate occasions. His methods of teaching us the music are both engaging and very easy to understand. He utilizes vocal techniques used by professional Broadway stars to get the most out of the sound. It gives the singer’s voice a real presence, and it will be fantastic seeing that applied to the entirety of the SJR choir.

The SJR chorus meets at 7th period on Wednesdays, and new members are always welcome.

Mr. Richard Todd Adams is SJR’s new Chrous Director. Adams, a graduate of Julliard, recently performed in the Broadway revival of Cats.


Joe Malfa ,16, Maryland BroadcasterAlumni Spotlight

“There isn’t one St. Joe’s student, during his tenure, who didn’t start off every day with Malfa at the sport’s desk for WSJR,” said Davis Gallagher ‘18.

Anyone who is a part of the SJR family knows Joe Malfa ‘16 through one way or another because of his investment to the betterment of our school community. Joe was a three-year soccer player, videographer for the football and la-crosse teams, WSJR sports anchor.

I personally got to know Joe, who I consider a great men-tor of mine, through The Guardian when he was the edi-tor-in-chief his senior year and sports editor his sophomore and junior years. “Joe really taught me how to write and also how to effective-ly run a paper,” said Colin Medwick ‘17, who became editor after Malfa’s graduation. “He wasn’t an easy act to follow but he taught me a great amount about time management and really getting things done.”

I had approached Joe about writing a piece on Super Bowl 50, featuring statistics of both quarterbacks Peyton Man-

ning and Cam Newton. Although it was a great topic, it is safe to say that in my three years on The Guardian staff, it was far and away amongst the worst articles I’ve written. It was discouraging, yet Joe believed in my ability and taught me to not only properly write articles but how to find a style that was my own. Joe also broadcasted games at SJR with Mr. Kievit, which laid the foun-dation for his future plans.

Joe, St. Joe’s 2016 salutatorian earned a scholarship to Mary-land. Joe studies Broadcast Jour-nalism in the prestigious Merrill College. Joe broadcasts Terrapin soccer, basketball, lacrosse and baseball games for the school radio station WMUC Sports. Joe even has done broadcasts for the Big Ten Network Student U. He has already broadcasted a game in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Joe now interns in the sports de-partment at NBC4 Washington.

Joe also films for the football team. He’s traveled to Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Michigan State and Texas.

“The opportunities Maryland football afforded me were second to none,” he said. “My favorite trip was Wisconsin. The atmosphere was great, the people were friendly, and their team truck driver held a tailgate pregame for the staffs of both teams so two hours before kickoff we were in some secret closed off parking lot eating brats and a full spread of more food out of the team tractor trailer. His name was Tony, he was a great man and someone I never forget him.”

Joe hasn’t forgotten about the opportunities that SJR has provided for him either. “St. Joe’s has prepared me in the sense that the curriculum pushed me to excel and the extra curricular activities taught me balance and time management. I have a lot going on at Maryland and it can be tough to manage, but I lean back at those skills I learned at SJR. Also, through working the open houses and such, I learned to communicate with people and my public speaking skills have helped me a lot as a broad-caster and in the workplace.”

Joe Malfa ,16 broadcasts basketball games for the University of Maryland. Joe was the salutatorian of the Class of 2016.

By Zach Epstein ,18

Photo courtesy of Joe Malfa ‘16


FeatureWhere in the World is Ms. Sullivan?

By Ms. Margaret Sullivan

The Forbidden City in central Beijing was home to Chinese emperors from the Ming Dynasty (1420)

to the Qing Dynasty (1912).

In November Ivy International, the organization which places international students at SJR, prresented the administration with a unique opportunity to bolster the school’s international student program. Ivy international organized a trip to China where several educators from across the U.S. would be able to participate in a professional (and fun!) trip to several cities in China.

In additon to exceptional sightseeing, Ms. Sullivan will also attend “college-fair” style events, where schjools from all over the U.S. will distribute flyers and other relevant school infor-mation in an effort to have students attand their school when coming to the U.S. Ms. Sullivan will also have the chance to show off SJR’s STEAM program by teaching a lesson to stu-dents at the Kunming International School.

Ms. Sullivan is expected back to the U.S. on January 29, and after a couple of days recuperating from her intense travels will resume her place in the Media Center. She is a tremen-dous ambassador for SJR.

Ms. Sullivan texted this update of her trip on Tuesday, Janu-ary 23.

SJR’s international students have created many opportuni-ties for everyone at St. Joe’s to learn and share a new cul-ture. It’s been very rewarding experience getting to know them and learning more about China. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine sitting in a hotel in Chengdu, China writing a story for The Guardian about my trip to this amaz-ing world.

On Thursday, January 18, I arrived in Beijing after a 13½-hour flight. The airport was very busy and the ride to the hotel rivaled any rush hour in New York City. Berlin and Diana from Ivy International are the perfect hosts for our group, which included the principal from Gloucester Cath-olic, the student services director from Notre Dame, a high school in California, two international student representa-tives from Dallas, a principal from Braintree, Massachusetts and the international student director of a small Christian school in Connecticut.

We got to know each other that night over traditional Chi-nese dinner Lazy Susan style. We learned proper etiquette as we ate dumplings and other local delicacies – many of which I did not eat. (I’m not in adventurous eater and having a peanut allergy in the country that uses peanut oil when cooking is a bit challenging.) Our first day began by traveling to Tiananmen Square and learning the history of one of the world’s largest cities

(population 25 million) while trying not to imagine scenes I watched on television many years ago. It was a bit chilly around 30° but not too smoggy. Since it is winter the line to Mao’s tomb was very short. We were told that it circles around the building during the summer.

We walked into the Forbidden City – an amazing step back in time – to see the palaces of the Ming and Chen dynasties. One palace surpassed the next: each was more ornate and beautiful than the previous one. The tour ended in beautiful gardens where family members came to relax.

Our next stop was a place I never thought I would actually visit, The Great Wall of China. We spotted it from very far away from both sides of the road. Its enormity grew the closer we got.

There are three sections of the wall you can visit from Beijing. We were at the Juyongguana area. The ascent up to The Wall was extremely steep, and incredibly uneven, not to mention slippery. It’s hard to fathom how in the world human hands built the Wall, which is 13,171 miles long, 20 feet wide at the bottom, 16 feet at the top and as high as 27 feet. It took over 2,000 years to build (770 BC to 1633 AD).

The Wall’s stairs are uneven. Some steps are 18 inches high, some 16, others 20. The design is intentional. The Chinese thought irregular steps would hinder invaders from quickly being able to ascend the stairs.

I made it up to two of the guard towers before deciding not to venture any higher as I imagined going down was going to be even more difficult than going up. I thought this was a wise decision since last summer during a family trip to Ireland I brought home a permanent scar on my leg.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Margaret Sullivan


FeatureBeijing, Great Wall, Forbidden City

Ms. Sullivan at the Great Wall near Beijing. Behind her is one of two guard towers she trekked to.

A visit to the panda research center in Chengdu has been one of the highlights of Ms. Sullivan’s trip.

Everywhere you looked there was wall and this was just such a small part of The Great Wall, simply amazing.

In Beijing, some of the other sites we saw included pagodas with gorgeous hand-painted ceilings, which each told a story.

We were also able to walk around Beijing University, the best of the 70 universities in China’s capital and home to 76,000 students. Despite its size, it is very difficult to be accepted. It is a beautiful campus complete with ice-skating ponds and traditional Chinese buildings.

Our next stop was to the city of Qingdao, a short one-hour flight southeast from Beijing toward the Yellow Sea. (Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and all the sailing events took place on the Yellow Sea. The sea gets its name from the sand particles that blow in from Gobi Desert. They fall into the sea and turn the surface golden yellow.) In Qingdao, we entered what look like an aquarium or may-be a pet store but it turned out to be out lunch destination. Surprisingly, we ate an excellent meal that included really good broccoli and sweet potatoes.

After touring the city and visiting a school agency we had dinner at Din Tai Fung, world famous for its dumplings.

They were very delicious. This restaurant even earned one Michelin star.

We then walked to the Olympic torch at the edge of a pier. Next to the torch were a German beer garden and a Mc-Donald’s, one of 2,500 in China.

Next up, a 3½-hour flight to Chengdu. Halfway through the trip, flight attendants walked up and down the aisles selling sunglasses and airplane toys.

Chengdu is in the geographic center of China. Its popula-tion, 15 million, is almost double that of New York City’s 8 ½ million.

We visited KTV, a very high-end restaurant and karaoke club where gentlemen in tuxedos escort “aspiring singers” to karaoke rooms complete with microphones, interactive TVs, food, drink, and of course music videos, some of which are legitimate; others, maybe not!

As of this writing, Tuesday evening (1/23), our most excit-ing venture was a visit to the panda bear research facility, which is also in Chengdu.

Thursday, we head to Kunming, in southern China near Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam; then onto Hangzho, a city of almost 10 million near the East China Sea, before heading back to Beijing for the flight back to Newark.




Curtains

Curtains returned to the SJR stage for the 1st time since 2010. The show runs from January 24 through February 3rd at the

Inserra Theater.

Counter-clockwise from top (All pictures L-to-R):

Tyler Conroy ‘18, Patrick Breen ‘18 & Zach Mackiewicz ‘20 paddle their boat;

Luke Berninger ‘19 (Lieutenant Cioffi) with Kylie McVey (Nicki Harris), a freshman at Ridgewood High School;

Cast members are quarantined until the murder is solved;

Bill FitzPatrick ‘18 (Aaron Fox) , Sarah Becker (Georgia Hendricks), a sophomore at IHA, Allie DePinto, a junior at Ramapo High School & Sean Moran ‘19 (Oscar Shapiro).



Photo by Mrs. Joanie Troast Photo by Mrs. Joanie Troast


Clockwise from top (L-to-R):

Lieutenant Cioffi has left his briefcase, and it unnerves the cast;

Cast members before the show;

Patrick Buckley ‘19, Ralph Ignacio ‘20, Zack Mackiewicz ‘20, Marc Rivera ‘20 (face covered) & John Santino ‘20 perform “Thataway.”

All photos by Joanie Troast.

Curtains


EntertainmentGrammys: Record, Album, Song, New Artist

Category Conroy Dickson FitzPatrick

Record of the Year HUMBLE., Kendrick Lamar

Redbone, Childish Gambino 24K Magic, Bruno Mars

Album of the Year Melodrama, Lorde Melodrama, Lorde DAMN., Kendrick Lamar

Song of the Year 4:44, Jay-Z 1-800-273-8255, Logic (featuring Alessia Cara, Khalid)

Despacito, Luis Fonsi & Dad-dy Yankee (ft. Justin Bieber)

Best New Artist SZA Alessia Cara Khalid

With the 60th Annual Grammy Awards right around the cor-ner, seniors Tyler Conroy, Scott Dickson, and Bill FitzPatrick give their picks for who will take home golden gramophones on January 28.

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Conroy - HUMBLE. (Kendrick Lamar) - I think HUMBLE. will win for Record of the Year. The award tends to go to the song with the best production, and seeing as Humble is known and appreciated for its killer instrumentals alone, I can see Lamar taking home this award. Grammy voters have consistently showed their support for Lamar, so they should be inclined to vote for him as HUM-BLE. is a highlight of his musical career.

Dickson - Redbone (Childish Gambino) - Red-bone really deserves the Grammy for Record of the Year. Definitely the most memorable hit on Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” album. Redbone has a memorable soft tone that plays on loop in the head. The song hit #12 on the chart during the week of August 19, 2017, and hit #1 on the Adult R&B chart. Redbone is Childish Gambi-no’s highest-charting single to date and definitely deserving of the Record of the Year Grammy.

FitzPatrick - 24K Magic (Bruno Mars) - 24K Mag-ic is easily the winner. The song off the album with the same name reached #2 on the charts on Dec. 10 and it stayed on the charts for 60 weeks. It not only has the most popularity of all the songs in the category, but Bruno Mars has also already won four Grammys. I think it’s pretty clear Bruno Mars is going to win this Grammy based on the success of the song alone.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Conroy - Melodrama (Lorde) - With only one nomination, Lorde will take home the gold in the

Album of the Year category. Along with producer Jack An-tonoff, the two musicians made an album that was lauded as the best pop album in years, even some saying the best of all-time. Her poetic lyrics and stellar production should resonate with Grammy voters, and pop albums tend to win over rap albums (ex: Swift vs. Lamar, Adele vs. Beyonce), so Lorde’s latest effort is a clear winner.

Dickson - Melodrama (Lorde) - I have to agree with Tyler on this one. Released back in June, Melodrama is the best album of the year. Melodrama has some of Lorde’s most memorable songs including Green Light, Sober, Liability, and Perfect Places. Metacritic gave the album an incredible

Kendrick Lamar in the music video of his song HUMBLE.. Lamar has won 7 Grammys and is nominated for 7 this year.


EntertainmentAlbum of the Year: Melodrama or DAMN.

91 out of 100. Lorde will take home the Grammy for Album of the Year.

FitzPatrick - DAMN. (Kendrick Lamar) Kendrick Lamar’s Album DAMN. is a fantastic album. I think a rap album definitely deserves to win because rap is the most popular music right now also DAMN. is an amazing album. It sold 603,000 copies in the first week it was out. That’s over half a million in one week. After this album’s release Rolling Stone marked Kendrick the greatest rapper alive. Person-ally, I think it is clear that Kendrick Lamar will be taking home his 8th Grammy.

SONG OF THE YEAR

Conroy - 4:44 (Jay-Z) - The Song of the Year award is focused on lyrical content, and with Jay-Z having the most nominations this year (8), he is bound to win at least one of the major awards of the night with 4:44. His album of the same name received critical acclaim and was cited as one of his best works, so his best chance of winning a Grammy would be in this category since rap focuses more on lyrics than instrumentals.

Dickson - 1-800-273-8255 (Logic featuring Alessia Cara, Khalid) - Despacito appears to be most well-known and popular song on the list, but I feel that 1-800-273-8255 by Logic and featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid will win the Grammy for Song of the Year. 1-800-273-8255 is in fact the song name and the number of the National Suicide Preven-tion Lifeline. As Tyler said, Song of the Year usually focuses on lyrical content, and there is no song with lyrics as power-ful as 1-800-273-8255. With suicide prevention being a very important topic today, this song has such relevance to teens in America. Through this song and its compelling lyrics, the artists express to be yourself and that suicide is never an option.

FitzPatrick - Despacito, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee (ft. Justin Bieber) - This past summer, every time you turned on the radio all you heard was Despacito. It was the number one song of the summer and to be honest it deserves the hype and praise. The song is just so much fun and in my opinion it has all the elements that you need to win this Grammy. Despacito was certified Platinum 34 times. That is quite impressive and I think it’s the clear winner of Song of the Year.

BEST NEW ARTIST

Conroy - SZA - SZA’s influence on the world of R&B proves

that she is an unstoppable force in the industry which is why I think she will win this category. Her debut album, CTRL, was released in June to universal acclaim and re-ceived an 86 on Metacritic. She has worked with musical icons such as Rihanna and Beyoncé and will only continue to grow so I think she has a good chance of winning Best New Artist.

Dickson - Alessia Cara - In my opinion, Alessia Cara will win the Grammy for Best New Artist. Her first hit Scars to Your Beautiful was released in 2015, and then Cara became a real household name with her song How Far I’ll Go from the movie Moana. Her parts in 2017 hit songs Stay and 1-800-273-8255 have really boosted her status in the indus-try. I believe Cara deserves this award and is really on her way to becoming a super star.

FitzPatrick - Khalid - 19-year-old Khalid has one of the most interesting voices I’ve ever heard. His blend of rough and smooth is really amazing to the ear. His most popu-lar song Silence really shows off his vocal talent as well as songwriting ability. He really shows off vocal range in Young Dumb & Broke, another hit song of his. Personally I think based on talent alone Khalid easily has this Grammy in the bag. He’s got an amazing falsetto and a great raspy but smooth R&B feel to his voice that gives him a total advan-tage over the other nominees.

Daddy Yankee (L) and Luis Fonsi in Despacito. It is the most streamed song of all time with over 5 billion listens.


Alec Goodman on FitnessTom Brady: Pliability - Missing Link in Training

After diving into The TB12 Method, the first book written by the great NFL quarterback Tom Brady, my main takeaway has been this: muscle pliability is the biggest reason for his success. Brady stresses that something he and his trainer call “pliability” is the missing link in the traditional strength and training model, which consists of aerobic activity and weight lifting. Brady says, “To my mind, ability allows athletes to achieve. Durability allows them to continue achieving. And pliability makes both possible.” The purpose of Brady’s book is to give tips on how to achieve a lifetime of sustained peak performance. The biggest tip he gives is to master this so called “pliability”.

You don’t need to be an elite level athlete to follow Brady’s regimen. He and his personal trainer Alex Guerrero created the TB12 Method to help anyone looking to make improvements in his lifestyle. The book offers outstanding tips on hydration, nutrition, training, and much more, but this article will focus mainly on pliability. Brady often mentions the recurring cycle for athletes. They train very hard, which wears down their body, compete very hard in their sport or competition, then get injured and begin rehabilitation, only to start the cycle over once they are healthy again. The way to avoid this cycle, Brady says, is to incorporate pliability training into your routine. The perfect balance of strength, condition-ing, and pliability leads to the healthiest body that can compete with a minimal chance of getting injured.

Pliability is something that everyone is born with. As you age, the amount of muscle pliability in the body decreases, which is why injuries begin to occur when athletes age. Young kids can get away without performing pliability training because they have natural pliability in their mus-cles. However, once people begin to hit their mid-20s their pliability levels drop dramatically, making an injury much more possible. That is why athletes should begin pliability training once per week in their late teen years, and increase the amount of pliability training they do as they age. Brady now incorporates pliability into his routine four times per week, just as much as he does strength and conditioning work. It’s that important.

Muscle pliability is defined as having long, soft muscles capable of full muscle contraction. This is opposed to having big, bulky muscles that are tight and dense. Pli-able muscles improve strength and promote circulation of blood throughout the body to facilitate healing. Pliability is improved through deep-force muscle work as well as hydration and nutrition. Injury is caused when a muscle is overloaded. With pliability (the lengthening and softening of the muscles) the muscle can withstand greater force as it maintains balance. It is for reasons like this why pliability is the center of everything that goes on in Brady’s program, the TB12 Method.

Since weight training creates dense, tight muscles, it is a small part of what Brady does to train his body. Pliability training is performed with objects such as medicine balls and resistance bands. Additionally, self-pliabil-ity can be done by the individual on his own body with no other equipment necessary.

It appears as though pliability is really the same as flexibility, but this is not the case. By stretch-ing muscles and becoming flexible, one is lengthening his muscles. However, pliability is the combination of lengthening and softening the muscles. So someone who stretches often and is flexible might not be pliable because they aren’t softening their muscles. Pliability also differs from flexibility because it aims to stimulate a body-brain connection.

The book offers several pliability exercises for all parts of the body. I strongly recommend the The TB12 Method for any-one interested in improving his lifestyle and avoiding injury. Brady places great emphasis on his pliability training, but that alone will not win you five Super Bowls and a couple of NFL MVP awards. It is the combination of pliability, strength, conditioning, hydration, nutrition, proper sleep, and a healthy mind that leads to sustained peak perfor-mance for as long as possible. Many people have never heard of pliability, but pliability is something that can make or break one’s training routine and prevent a life changing injury.


SportsBowling 6-5,

Faces BC FridayAfter having a week off, the Green Knights bowling team came back to face the top team in the Big North: the Pala-dins of Paramus Catholic. The team got off to a rough start, and fell just short in the first game. In the second game, they came back stronger, but lost due to Paramus Catholic combining for 900 in that game. They kept it close in Game Three, but were unable to come away with a win as they lost the match 7-0. John Conforti ‘18 gave it all he had, putting up an impressive 251 and 210. “Paramus Catholic is a good team, but we battled throughout the match. Our goal is to be competitive against our tough schedule, and we’ve fought hard so far this season,” said assistant coach Nick Delahanty ‘11 after the tough loss.

After the crushing defeat which slowed down the team’s momentum, they bounced back and defeated Tenafly High School by a score of 5-2. An all around great effort by the team helped them get an important win after the tough loss to Paramus Catholic.

This past Tuesday, the team took on another public school as they faced Ridgefield Park High School. The Green Knights had a solid first game, but it wasn’t enough to win. In the second game, they bowled better led by Alex Malfa ‘19 with a 171, but Ridgefield Park had their best game of

the day and came away with another win. In Game Three, young captain Ross Foothorap ‘20 led the team to a win with his high game of 213. They lost overall by a score of 5-2. “Although we were defeated today, our match against Ber-gen looks promising. I’m confident that the team will pull it together,” said Foothorap. The tough loss drops the team’s overall record to 6-5.

This Friday, the Green Knights have a big matchup as they go up against Big North rival Bergen Catholic as they try to avenge the loss earlier in the year.

By Alex Malfa ,19

Collins Runs 1600 in 4:55

Winter track continued a steady season with the Coun-ty Relays at The Armory in Manhattan. The day began with the 4x1600 unit putting up impressive times. Nicos Eftychiou ‘20, Ryan Collins ‘20, Jimmy Fitzpatrick ‘18 and Dalton Collins ‘18 competed in it. Dalton Collins ran a personal best with a time of 4:55.

“The 4x1600 is a very difficult race. We came together and pushed through. There’s a chemistry at practice where we all push each other to be better, and the motivation came with us to The Armory”, said Eftychiou.

Following the mile was the 4x200. Sprinters Blake Hack-ett ‘21, Anthony Panissidi ‘20, Gage Poindexter ‘18, and Guerson Toupuissant ‘18 all ran impressive times and the unit placed 4th. After the sprinters, came the mid-distance runners. The 4x800 consisted of Eftychiou, Dalton Collins, Aidan Kelly ‘20, and Kieran Woods ‘19. Even though it was his second race of the day, Dalton Collins had the best split from the Green Knights running a 2:17. Isaish Hopkinson ‘18 and Toupuissant competed in the long jump although neither placed.

Looking ahead, the team has some exciting meets. They head to Fairleigh Dickinson twice for the Ed Church Invi-tational as well as the Lou Molino Invitational. These two meets will be great preparation for the County Champion-ships. The County Championships will take place at the Armory on February 14.

By Kieran Woods ,19

Kieran Woods ‘19 leading the pack at the Armory in NYC.

Alex Malfa ‘19 in action.

Photo courtesy of Kieran Woods ‘19

Photo courtesy of Alex Malfa ‘19


Wrestling Wins Sam Cali Tournament Sports

By Ryan Sodora ,20SJR wrestling continues to maintain a high level of success with a victory against Don Bosco on January 13th in the Sam Cali tournament. Besides Don Bosco, the Green Knights also wrestled against Saint John Vian-ney, Seton Hall Prep, Garfield, Saint Peters, Middletown North, Bishop Hendricken, Roman Catholic (Penn-sylvania) and others.

Although the Sam Cali tournament resulted in a major triumph for St. Joes, it’s important to explore the sad reasoning behind its origin. Samuel Cali was a former Don Bosco wres-tler who passed away in a car acci-dent in 2016. He was nineteen years old. The tournament pays tribute to Cali and preserves the memory of one of the best New Jersey wrestlers in recent memory.

Saint Joe's came into the tournament with a youth heavy group of wres-tlers: six freshmen, one sophomore, one junior, and three seniors.

“The fact that we are a young team with many freshman in the line-up has turned out pretty successful,” said Coach Damien Logan, a St. Joe’s graduate from the class of 1996. “The freshmen get along well, train to win, and do exceptionally well in the classroom. The developing new culture of stu-dent-athletes will guide the SJR wrestling program to much future success.”

The freshmen performed extremely well in the tournament, with Jack Farinaro and Frank Monte really standing out. Farinaro had two very impressive wins against Garfield’s Justin Demeester and Don Bosco’s Ryan Cawood who were then ranked ahead of him. Monte racked up a number of pins in a performance that his coach called “really well.”

This tournament was about domination throughout the ranks. Every single SJR wrestler at the tournament finished in the top eight in their respective weight class. Seniors Gar-rett Beam and Brian Sidle won their weight classes of 182 pounds and 285 pounds. Joe Napoleon ‘ 18 got second place in the 170 pound class and Michael Cetta ‘21 finished third in the 126 pound class.

“I’m very pleased with the team this far,” said Coach Logan,

“They they are showing progress in their training and we had a successful pre and mid season. There are a number of talented wrestlers who are ranked in the NJ state and coun-ty. Guys like Garrett Beam and Brian Sidle have been great leaders this year and are ready to take the step and compete at the next level.”

Jordan Iannone ‘20 also had a notable storyline at the tournament. The former Ironman pinned Don Bosco’s Will Grater in his first match in the lineup. What makes the victory even more impressive is the fact the Grater is ranked third in the county.

SJR also had a match victory against River Dell on January 19th. The Green Knights won 62-9 and the victory proves that the team has improved since their last meeting against River Dell, which was a 24-49 loss.

“We are building a good group around freshmen, coaches, and parents,” said Coach Damien.

Going forward, the Green Knights look forward to com-peteing in tournaments on January 27 and 28.

Photo by Karyn Ochiuzzo

Kyle Roper ‘21 (126 lbs.) takes down his Northern Valley-Demarest opponent.


Basketball Wins 3 of Last 4, Teaneck TonightSports

By Scott Dickson ,18The SJR basketball team is 5-9 after a busy few weeks. Since the loss to Don Bosco, the team’s record is .500 at 3-3.

On January 11, the team faced off against Wayne Hills High School. WHHS took the win 71-53. In the tough loss, Dyree Rogers ‘20 had 13 and Smith Vilbert ‘19 had 12. Chris Manon ‘19 had 8, Nazir Williams ‘20 had 5, and Steve Sand-ers ‘19 had 4. Amine Ogbamicael ‘18 and Drew Hliboki ‘18 had 3 each, Brian Ziltz ‘18 and Ansley Almonor ‘20 had 2 each, and Jason Eagan ‘20 had 1.

The Green Knights then faced Hackensack HS at Bergen Community College in Paramus. After a strong start, the Knights let the game slip away to a tough Hackensack team. Hackensack won 70-55. In the loss, Williams had 12, Vilbert had 10, Manon and Hliboki both had 7, Ed Schwartz ‘18 and Rogers had 5 each, Ogbamicael had 4, Dom Sasso ‘19 hit one from behind the arc, and Eagan had 1.

Next up was West Milford HS. The Green Knights got the win 58-49. In the win, Manon had 16, Williams had 15, Vilbert had 9, Ziltz had 6, Rogers had 5, Eagan had 3, and Ogbamicael and Almonor both had 2.

The win against West Milford was a confidence booster for the team. Drew Hliboki ‘18 said, “The West Milford win really helped our team. It refueled our energy and got us ready for future opponents. They were a tough team and

being able to pull out the win helped us out a lot.”

SJR then faced DePaul Catholic HS and won again, this time 68-62. Williams had a monster 25 points in the win. He was followed by Vilbert with 15, Manon with 14, Rogers with 9, and Ogbamicael with 5.

After the wins, the Green Knights suffered a loss against Kennedy HS. Kennedy took the game 67-52. In the loss, Vil-bert had 15, Manon had 13, Sanders had 11, Rogers had 5, Schwartz and Williams both had 3, and Brian Ziltz had 2.

In the most recent game, SJR beat Paramus Catholic for the second time this season. The Green Knights took the game 48-41. In the win, Manon and Williams both had 12. Sand-ers had 8, Rogers and Ogbamicael both had 5, Vilbert had 4, Hliboki had 2, and Schwartz had 1.

Tonight the Green Knights face off against Teaneck HS, a tough opponent. After this game, the Green Knights look forward to getting revenge against Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco in the coming weeks. All three of these games will be played on the road.

“I’m excited to finish out the season strong,” said Brian Ziltz ‘18. “The four seniors are coming down their final stretch of SJR basketball games and we want to finish strong.”

Photo by Karyn Ochiuzzo

Steve Sanders ‘19 rushes down the court in the Green Knights 48-41 win over Paramus Catholic.

Hockey Clinches #1 Seed for Egan Cup16 The Guardian, Thursday, January 25th, 2018

Sports

By Andrew Del Priore ,18Seeded 4th in the Bergen County Hockey Tournament, St. Joe’s defeated rival Bergen Catholic in the quarterfinals 5-3.

Junior Aiden Grieco scored four goals and classmate Mi-chael Posma added one.

Sophomore goaltender Jake Serey stopped 21 Crusader shots.

In the semifinals against 1#-ranked Don Bosco, SJR lost 6-1 but Serey made 57 saves, a tournament record.

SJR would look to learn from this game, and focus on its next game against Paramus.

A win against Paramus would secure the Green Knights a good seeding in the state tournament and help their state ranking. The Green Knights won the game 4-1. Michael Angeletti ‘21 and Ryan Tuttle ‘19 both scored their first career varsity goals, and Justin Rauch ‘20 had two goals, while Serey made 14 saves.

SJR next faced Red Bank Catholic. In this Egen Cup match-up, the Green Knights looked to establish themselves as one of the top teams in this conference, that’s exactly

how they played. They beat RBC 5-0 with Angeletti, Ryan Hilliard ‘19, Brandon Kirchgessner ‘19, Owen McGilligan ‘19, and Rauch scoring goals. Serey and Tomas Spero ‘21 shared time in net.

The Green Knights then travel to Lawrenceville, NJ to play Notre Dame. They won 8-0. Posma scored four goals; Grieco, Hughes, Rauch, and Tuttle each had a goal. Serey and Spero split the game again. The win clinched the Green Knights the #1 seed for the Egan Cup. They finished league play with a 4-0-1 record.

Wednesday night, St. Joe’s defeated Tenafly 7-1.AJ Tobin ‘18 notched his first and second career varsity goals. Tom Gilligan ‘21, Rauch, Kirchgessner, Chris Thomasian ‘18, and Posma all scored a goal in the win.

The Green Knights are 13-4-2, and currently ranked #3 in The Record’s Top-15 poll.

Posma leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 11 assists. Rauch has 13 goals. Serey has a2.67 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage.

The next games the Green Knights have are crucial in secur-ing a Big North Cup title. Saturday (1/27) SJR plays Para-mus at the Ice House at 8:30 pm. Sunday, the Green Knights play Pascack Valley at Sport-O-Rama at 6:00 pm for Senior Night.

Aidan Greico ’19 weaves through Red Bank Catholic defenders as the Green Knights roll past the Caseys 5-0. Greico had 4 goals against Ber-gen Catholic in the Bergen County Hockey Tournament quarterfinals.

Goaltender Jake Serey ‘20 made a Bergen County Hockey Tournament record 57 saves in a 6-1 loss to Don Bosco Prep in the semifinals.

Documents

ASPA 1st-Place High School Newspaper 2016, 2017 The Guardian · 2018. 1. 25. · Vol. 55 Issue 9 Saint Joseph Regional High School, Montvale, NJ Thursday, January 25, 2018 The Guardian