Lion Pride Newspaper
6th Edition Friday, April 12, 2019
Sports Section Mavs In the Future The Dallas Mavericks have wrapped up their season with a 33-49 record, and 40-year-old legend Dirk Nowitzki has officially announced his retirement. This leaves a spot for a younger generation to start building the franchise next year, and drafting 20-year-old rookie sensation Luka Doncic last year is a beginning to that. The Mavs also traded three of their starters in a deal that gave the Mavericks 23-year-old all-star Kristaps Porzingis from the Knicks, and he will be a very good for Luka especially as he uses the pick-and-roll. They also have cleared a lot of cap space for free agency this summer, and a young shooter such as Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton would be a great addition. The Mavs also have a possibility of getting a lottery pick, but if they don’t get a top-5 pick, they will have to give it up to the Hawks, which looks like what will happen. Anything can happen in the lottery, though, so the Mavs will have to stay hopeful. All Mavs fans should be hopeful for the future because as well as they previous mentioned names, we have underrated defensive beast Maxi Kleber as well as the power forward that can throw it down hard, Dwight Powell. All of these players are very young, and they should not only be able to qualify for the playoffs next year and hopefully win a series or two, they might be able to win a championship in the not so distant future. These next few years are all about building about a championship team, so while Mavs fans should be hopeful, they also need to stay patient. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis could be the duo that Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki were supposed to be before Nash left for the Suns and became an 2-time MVP. The Mavs need to add a shooter whether it’s in the draft or in free agency, and they should have a bright, bright future.
MLB REVIEW Two weeks into the MLB season, and there are already some very intriguing storylines in the league. The defending champion Boston Red Sox are 3-9 and last in their division, while two other great teams from last year and expected World Series contenders, the Cubs and Yankees, are 3-8 and 5-7, respectfully. While much of the league is still a mess, the two teams with the best record in the league, the Mariners (12-2) and Rays (10-3) who both had about 90 win seasons last year. A team that was expected to be the worst team in the season, the Detroit Tigers, are 8-4 already. The New York Mets ace, Jacob DeGrom had an outstanding year last year, with an earned run average of 1.7, and this year he is having another great year, throwing shutouts in his first two games before having a bad outing against Minnesota on Tuesday the 9th. Some favorites this year to win it all are the Atlanta Braves, L.A. Dodgers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, and Milwaukee Brewers. Now, let’s talk about the hometown team, the Texas Rangers. Expected to have a terrible season with new manager Chris Woodward, just rebuilding the minor league system to build up a better future, the Rangers had a great start to the season. Playing two of the last three world champions, the Rangers lineup came up big to win both series and win the first game against the L.A. Angels to ride up to a 5-2 record. Reality came crashing back down, as the horrid rotation lost them their next four games in a row. They are currently 6-6 at the time of this writing, and they let in and score about five runs per game, much better than expected. The only problem is, the Rangers are playing in the current best division of the MLB, with the Mariners (12-2), Astros (8-5), Angels (7-6), Athletics (8-8), and Rangers (6-6). No teams in the division are worse than .500 winning percentage. Led by Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, and Elvis Andrus, we’d love to see a surprisingly great season from the Rangers. Most people agree that it takes 40 games to see how good/bad teams actually are in baseball, and our last edition will most likely come out when most teams are 30+ games through, and we will have a better look on each team. Will the Red Sox
and Cubs continue to flounder? Will the Rangers continue their surprising start? Will the Mariners stay on pace for 138 wins (nahh)?!?!?!??! Only time will tell…
March Madness Part 2
It has been a fun March this year, with not as many upsets as some would have liked, but a great Sweet Sixteen and onward. To start off this story, let’s see how good my predictions were in our last edition: I predicted: But this happened instead: Texas Tech making the Final Four They made the championship (Correctish) Kinda predicted Belmont, Murray State, and Oregon to upset their opponents Virginia vs. Tennessee in South region final Duke vs. Michigan St. in East region final Kansas St. making the Elite Eight Kansas making the Sweet Sixteen Iowa State making the Elite Eight North Carolina winning the Midwest region But this happened instead: Texas Tech made the championship (correctish) Murray State and Oregon each won, and Belmont barely lost (mostly correct) Virginia vs. Purdue in South region final (half-correct) Duke vs. Michigan St. in East region final (correct) Kansas St. failed (completely wrong) Kansas lost second round Iowa State lost first round North Carolina lost in the Sweet Sixteen So I did okay; not too shabby, but not too good either.
As mentioned earlier, from the Sweet Sixteen and onward, the basketball was outstanding. We were treated to a Texas Tech v Michigan slugfest, Duke barely edging out Virginia Tech, a top five game of the tourney between Tennessee and Purdue, an Auburn surprise victory, and some blowouts from Gonzaga, Michigan State, and Kentucky. In the Elite Eight, we were gifted fantastic games from all the regions in what some are calling the best Elite Eight ever. Michigan State squeaked past Duke, finishing off the favorite of the tournament led by freshman, Texas Tech proving their worth with a surprise against the Zags, Virginia defeating Purdue in probably the best game of the tourney in OT, and Auburn continuing their mini-Cinderella run by knocking out Kentucky. Texas Tech had a solid lead built up versus the Spartans in the Final Four, but it was cut to one with only a few minutes left. Jarrett Culver came up huge late, scoring some big points to ice Michigan State and lead the Texas Tech Red Raiders onward to the national championship for the first time in school history (as was making the Final Four). In the other game, there was quite a bit of controversy. Virginia was up 10 with 4 minutes left, but Auburn quickly closed the gap to build themselves a four point lead with under a minute left. Virginia drilled a three with 8 seconds left to give themselves a chance, and fouled an Auburn player with about 4 seconds left. The Auburn player was shooting a one-and-one, and made the first, but missed the second, allowing Virginia star Ty Jerome take the ball down the court. Auburn pressured him into letting loose control of the ball, before taking it back into his grasp and calling a timeout, but almost everyone agrees it was a missed double dribble. Then he threw it in-bounds to the Cav’s other star, Kyle Guy, who missed a three, but got fouled. He drained all three free throws to send the Hoos to the national championship despite a missed call which could have drastically affected the game in Auburn’s favour. The national championship between the two defensive juggernauts of the NCAA featured some great plays and moments. Texas Tech trailed for much of the second half, but tied it up late, with under a minute to go. After some close calls and plays, they had the opportunity to win it all with 1.5 seconds left on an inbound in a tied game, but Virginia stuffed Jarrett Culver on the last shot to send the game into overtime. Virginia dominated most of overtime, but got the better end of a controversial call on who poked the ball out of bounds with a minute left. The
Cavaliers closed Tech out in the final seconds to win by eight for their first national championship in school history. Despite a lack of upsets and intriguing storylines, the Virginia Cavaliers rebounded from a horrific loss to UMBC last year (1vs16) to win the championship and prove all the doubters wrong.
Entertainment Section Reviews Captain Marvel This movie is incredible! There’s a reason that Captain Marvel is the second highest grossing Avengers movie. You have to see this movie if you want to understand Endgame, which also just came out. This movie highlights Carol Danver’s struggle to tackle the power she has. She must rid the universe of Skrulls with the help of the Kree. But there is a huge twist in the middle! Danvers has to figure out who the real good guys are and how to tame her powers. Watch this movie, so you can know what Endgame is about. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas “All for one and one for all.” This book is written in medieval France and England. The three musketeers have to do dangerous things for the King of France. They must also venture out into England to stop Cardinal Richelieu from killing everyone. Read this novel to find out why the Three Musketeers is a classic.
Netflix Reviews Here are a couple of Netflix films and shows that you should watch. Enjoy (If you’d like) The Umbrella Academy
Based on the comic series of the same name, the Umbrella Academy is about 7 kids who are all adopted by a billionaire named Sir Reginald Hargreeves. However, all of the kids’ mothers weren’t pregnant before they had the children. Also, all of these kids have superpowers. This is a great show, but it may seem to you like one of those shows that just starts and waits for you to catch up. It is fast-paced, and a great action series. Average Run Time: 60 mins Number of episodes: 10 (1 season) Season 2 is yet to come The Office Based on the original English version of The Office, this comedy is one of the best shows on television in my humble opinion. The show has already completed its whole nine seasons in 2013, but that doesn’t take away it’s amazingness. It follows a mundane, everyday office that sells paper, led by a wacky, yet surprisingly smart boss, Michael Scott (Steve Carell). There’s Jim the office prankster (John Krasinksi), Dwight (Rainn Wilson) the loyal and equally crazy companion of Michael, and shy receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer), along with other, lesser (but equally as hilarious) characters, such as Creed (Creed Bratton) , Stanley (Leslie David Baker), and Ryan (B.J. Novak). Be warned, seasons 8 and 9 aren’t that good, and season 1 isn’t the best either, but all of the other seasons are great. Don’t say that the show is underrated unless you have watched some of it’s best episodes: Season 2 episode 11, season 2 episode 1, and season 5 episode 14. 11/10 show Average run time: 22 mins Number of episodes: 201 (9 seasons) This series has ended
Jokes and Comics Section Comics
Jokes I hate how funerals are always 9 a.m. I’m not really a mourning person.
How does Harry Potter get down a hill? Walking… J.K. Rolling RIP boiling water. You’ll be mist. And the lord said unto John, “Come forth and receive eternal life.” But John came fifth, and won a toaster. You’re not completely useless. You can always be used as a bad example. A Roman legionnaire walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and says, “Five beers please.”
School Section 7th grade Community Service Project
On Saturday, March 30th, Hockaday and St. Mark’s 7th grade students alike got together to fight hunger. Our project started at 9:00, with a presentation led by 7th graders on the St. Mark’s middle school community service board. Each of the members presented on the effects of hunger in our community, as well as our nation. Then when the presentation was done, we met in groups and discussed ways that WE, 7th graders, could make a difference in the Dallas community. Some of these ideas included, but were not limited to, Planting and growing trees, and reducing/using what would be wasted food. Finally, we met in the Great Hall and packaged just about 10,100 meals. Each person had a unique job that helped move forward the project, like a runner or a packager. At the very end, the groups sent one leader to summarize their group’s ideas from before, and we all shared/brainstormed how we could implement these. Altogether, this was a great learning experience for me, a presenter, and for everybody else that went.
Credits
We could not have done this without our sponsor, Mr. Mank, and our writers and editors: Ben Adams William Clarke
Henry Hoak Arnav Lahoti Asa McCaleb Nathan Meyer Peyton Militello Tyler Tang Justin Tong Thomas Whitehurst Dawson Yao