Most of the Passage staff members would be surprised to know I started last year as a videographer, only in Advanced Journalism for the fine arts credit. Two months into my junior year, I decided video and I didn’t really mesh and was ready to drop the class. Then, one fine day, I suggested writing a story about Kansas City’s historic haunted houses. Suddenly, I was walking through the Edge of Hell and interviewing the owner of Full Moon Productions, a company that has helped revitalize the West Bottoms district. When the story was published and I saw people reading my work in class, it was such a thrilling experience that I decided to stick with writing.

A year and a half later, I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s such a humbling experience to put your words and opinions on the line for the whole school to read, and being a part of the newspaper has taught me how to write, work with people and, eventually, lead an entire staff.

As the co-editor-in-chief this year, I’ve spent more time in the journalism room than is probably healthy. After a while, things start to add up. An intended five-minute stay in the J-room becomes a two-hour sabbatical. A three-day snow break results in a ten-hour cram session to create a timeline of NW history over the past decade. And a missed call to the publisher forces an issue to be passed out on Monday instead of Friday (sorry!). Some people would call it a waste of time, but I like to think of my newspaper career as a plethora of experiences that have enhanced my life in many ways. Here are the top 10:

1. Trip to Washington D.C.—This past fall, I took my first trip to the nation’s capitol while attending the National Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference. We toured the city, visited museums, listened to seminars on journalistic topics and watched the Passage win fourth place in the nation for newsmagazine best of show. Seeing D.C. was a blast, but I’ll always remember trying to navigate the subway with my fellow classmates and staying up until 2 a.m. editing stories and “bro-ing it up” in the hotel room. I still have no idea how we only had one noise complaint.

2. J-Trips—In my two trips to Dallas and Washington, D.C., our small hotel rooms housed four and five boys, respectively. After living with other people in a small space for multiple days, I have a new appreciation for the peace, quiet and overall cleanliness of my room at home. Coffee was my savior in the mornings, and Axe spray managed to triumph over the strange smells that emanated from piles of dirty clothes.

3. Having a girl come drunk to class—With four honors classes, I don’t often interact with the finer students of Northwest who come to class under the influence. But last year, a rather inebriated girl stumbled through the door, slurring her words and providing comic relief for the rest of us.

4. Interviewing Ryan Lilja—Most teenagers have a phobia of talking to strangers. In journalism, we call it the interview. From talking with district administrators to yoga instructors, I’ve learned to love the interview process. By far the coolest interview I’ve ever done was with Ryan Lilja, a Superbowl champion with the Indianapolis Colts (he was cut and now plays for the Chiefs), and a NW alumnus. I’ve never heard anyone speak with such passion about his profession, plus, learning the inside scoop on Peyton Manning’s personality was a benefit, too.

5. Lost food—Fresh food and air usually mix fairly well. Food that has sat out for two weeks begins to lose its luster. Earlier this semester, Mrs. Massy discovered a plate of Jimmy John’s sandwiches that someone had apparently hidden two weeks earlier and forgotten about. The inner contents had turned black, and a clear foam had begun to protrude from one side. At least the bread still looked edible.

6. Laptop privileges—As a top editor, I’ve basically owned an SMSD Mac laptop for the entire school year. It has helped me manage newspaper content and interviews but has also doubled as a TV for late-night viewings of LOST and DVDs.

7. Man of many hats—When I signed up as co-editor-in-chief, I never expected to work as a teacher, entertainer, Photoshop model or a shoulder to cry on. I’ll admit that working with a group of people on a large project can be extremely annoying, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching everyone grow in their ability to write, interview, meet deadlines and make friendships.

8. Learning everything about the most random things —After researching and interviewing for multiple articles in the past two years, I feel like an encyclopedia of knowledge on the most random topics. I could lead a discussion on school finance or testing strategies, argue the negative effects of energy drinks or give an in-depth history of KC’s haunted houses.

9. Yearbook back scratches—As the co-occupants of Room 151 after school, newspaper and yearbook staff members often interact and build friendships. Along with their writing and organizing talents, yearbook girls can also claim the title of best backscratchers in the school.

10. People—People drive me crazy. They turn drafts in late and make me loathe them. They’re lazy and play Tetris instead of working on a story. But they also occasionally do something hilarious or uncommonly kind that makes me realize why they deserve unconditional love and respect. On the newspaper staff, we’ve had an eclectic group of talented people, which is why I love journalism. They’re all different and they’ve accepted me for the unique qualities I bring to the staff. When you join the J-clique, you partially join every other group in the school.

Chiefs’ safety Jon McGraw perches atop a stool, his muscular arms and torso bulging out of his white shirt. With an intent gaze and stern voice, he speaks passionately, easily grasping the attention of everyone in the room.

The woeful Chiefs may have looked to McGraw for guidance in tough times, but this is not a team meeting. No, McGraw is out of his usual working zone yet totally in an element of comfort. A devout Christian his entire life, there appears to be little more rewarding than telling his life story to the NW Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle.

Founded by a basketball coach in 1954, FCA has grown into the largest Christian sports organization in America. According to the organization’s website, FCA challenges all levels of coaches and players to use athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ.

McGraw spoke at an FCA meeting last spring, but he never would have had the opportunity if three seniors hadn’t decided to explore the power of sharing the Christian faith three-and-a-half years ago.

Senior Will Greenhaw, a freshman at the time, was hanging around after football practice when his coach, math teacher Mike Cooper, proposed the idea of starting an FCA huddle meeting.

Intrigued by the idea, Greenhaw, along with then freshmen Chris Mansker and Grant Berning, attended an initiation meeting of sorts at the FCA National Headquarters located across I-70 from the Truman Sports Complex. The intent of the meeting was to teach new FCA members how to start a huddle, or fellowship chapter, at their schools.

The trio took the guidance and, with some help from Cooper and cross country coach Van Rose, held the first ‘huddle’ in Greenhaw’s basement. The handful of people who attended became part of the leadership team. Despite their youth, the leadership team established FCA as an official club at Northwest, and though the meetings were comprised entirely of freshmen, the club grew quickly.

“There were like five of us in the beginning, and then all of a sudden, there were 15 people, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger,” senior Trisha Brensing said.

In fact, it grew so much that the leadership team had to look for more space outside of members’ homes. They eventually settled into their new location at Community Covenant Church on 87th Street.

“[Community Covenant] is a fun environment for everyone to gather in, and I think it’s more comfortable for some people than being in somebody’s house that they don’t know,” senior Cara Petrie said.

Guided by the three F’s (food, fellowship and fun) the NW FCA huddle has blossomed into an influential group, with members involved in many other clubs in addition to FCA. What started as a handful of people in a basement has grown into an e-mail list exceeding 120, with more than 50 people attending most of the biweekly meetings.

“Sometimes people that you wouldn’t talk to at school, you talk to at FCA. Over the years, it’s kind of closed the gap between the different groups of kids, and it’s made it easier for us to all talk and rely on each other. I think we’ve all become better friends because of it,” Petrie said.

Most FCA meetings begin with an icebreaker to set a light mood. A prayer message and songs usually follow, with a guest speaker, such as McGraw, sometimes taking up half of the hour-long meeting.

“We’ve been really lucky,” senior Alex Geis said. “We’ve had a lot of really good speakers. [Coach and counselor] Angelo Giacalone’s was awesome. You just listen when somebody has something really good to say.”
When a speaker isn’t available, members of the leadership team guide the attendees through a worship service. The services stress the impact of Christianity in athletics and combining the two to become a better person.
“Athletics are a really good metaphor to use because there areso many trials in athletics that kind of fall in with religion. Things like working hard, staying committed and teamwork,” Geis said.

The impact of religion is often only half the reason members attend. FCA has created a comfortable, interactive environment for those who have a strong or burgeoning faith in God. They are able to share their feelings without being criticized by other teens.

“I always look forward to hanging out with people from our school that not only have fun with athletics but believe in God like I do,” Greenhaw said. “Whenever you go to church, you always hear people say ‘Your schools are all bad. You have to save the world.’ But that’s not true. When you go to an FCA meeting, you see that there are people just like you. You’re with people you see every day, and you know you have a deeper connection than just going to school.”

Now, as seniors, some members of the leadership team are worried about the FCA huddle losing its strength and possibly dying out. According to Rose, FCA had a strong following at Northwest from the mid-70s until about 2000, when the leadership fell apart.

“I’m worried about the future of FCA, because when you go to the meetings, probably 60 percent of the people there are seniors. The parents that help us have already said that they’re willing to keep going, but it’s up to the kids in the younger grades,” Petrie said. “It’s been such a good experience for everybody, and I think we’ve impacted a lot of people. I think there are a lot of people that could be impacted if it kept on going.”
With a growing number of underclassmen at the last few meetings, the seniors are trying to keep the faith alive. The biggest challenge appears to be convincing underclassmen to step into important roles on the leadership team.

“The whole goal of our last meeting was to reach out to the underclassmen and let them step up to [the leadership team]. We’re trying not to let the club die after we’re gone,” Mansker said.

Sophomore Stephanie Smith agrees that it is imperative to expand the group through new members.

“I think it will be harder [to keep people interested] just because a lot of the members are seniors. But we’ve been trying really hard lately to get younger people involved in it,” Smith said.

Either way, Rose remains optimistic about the future of FCA because of the tremendous impact it has on those who are involved in it.

“When I went to my first conference out in Estes Park (Co.), the first thing I noticed was that the people who were leading were great coaches, great athletes and all seemed to be happy. Not silly happy, but genuinely happy,” Rose said. “I wondered, ‘what’s the deal? Why are they so happy?’ I found out that they had merged a great Christian environment with athletics, and I didn’t know you could do that.”

Rose’s college roommate and teammate became involved in the FCA organization, and the man that introduced him to his wife also worked with FCA.

“FCA just puts me around good people. It’s hard to go wrong when you’re around good people,” Rose said. “You’re going to make good decisions, because they won’t let you make anything else.”

The Colts clearly have a winning attitude? What do you attribute this to?
I think it’s an expectation that we’re going to win, that we’re going to execute well on the field. To be honest with you, it’s an expectation of winning. I think that’s a rare thing in the NFL; I don’t think a lot of teams expect to win. It’s a tough league. Every team’s good; every player’s good. I think ever since I got here, it was like an expectation that this team is built to succeed.

Who is your mentor or what person has had the greatest influence on your life?
My mother. Her dealing with losing my father when we were young, three boys under the age of 16, growing up without a Dad, and she did it all by herself. She never asked for anything from anybody and just to see that….she’s such a special person.

You’ve tasted the success of Super Bowl victory before. How hard is to come off the disappointment of losing this time?
As good as it is to win it all, it’s twice as bad to lose it. I heard it from guys on the team like Adam Vinateri who had lost in the Super Bowl. I kinda thought it’s still great to get there. But it’s really not fun to get there and to lose in the last game, and nobody remembers who lost in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter how great your year is going up to that game. You could be smashing records, doing great things on the football field, and if you lose that game, you’re forgotten history. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

Who is the toughest defender you’ve ever gone up against?
Albert Haynesworth. He got a $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins. But he earned it…He’s a big man, probably 6’7” and 365 lbs

Linemen might be some of the most battered players in the NFL. How do you usually feel the day after a rough game? And what do you do to recuperate?
The day after you take some medicine, but two days out is usually the sorest point. You do whatever you can to keep your body in the best shape that you can. You do those little things in the training room: you stretch, you do massage therapy once or twice a week. It’s a long season in the trenches; you’re battling a lot. Some games are worse than others, but it’s part of the job description. I had a year when I didn’t get to play at all and wasn’t ever sore, but I’d rather have a year like this when you’re sore every Tuesday. [Lilja also recently had minor surgery to repair his shoulder.]

What has it been like working with Peyton Manning the past five years? How would you describe your relationship with him?
It’s been great. I’ve been happy to play with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game and just been fortunate enough to be on this team. It’s an honor. It’s a privilege. He’s one of the best, and he’s fun guy to be around. He takes good care of his offensive linemen. I tell you where he goes, we go. If I could play my whole career with him, I’d be happy because I’ll probably get a couple more rings. He’s the best around right now.

You talk about how Manning takes care of the linemen. You were quoted in an Associated Press story saying he thanks the linemen with some pretty lavish gifts. What are the best gifts he’s given you or your teammates?
He took us to the Kentucky Derby after we won the Super Bowl. There were about 10 of us he took down there to Nashville. Limousine ride down there. $1000 gambling money. We got to stay at the best hotels in Nashville. We got invitations to all the hottest parties and club level seats right on the horse line. We had a blast.” [Manning also took center Jeff Saturday to play Augusta National Golf Club.]

There have been some rumors that you bought a house at Lake Quivira. Any truth to that?
I’m actually here now. I bought one right next to my brother and sister-in-law, and I’ve got a 20-month-old niece that is the apple of my eye. She’s the most fun thing to be around. My mom still lives in the house that I grew up in across the lake… To be around my family is the best therapy, I think, for me in the offseason.”

You were undrafted out of college and were cut from the Chiefs early in your career. Now you’re a key member of possibly the best offensive line in the NFL. Can you talk about how you’ve risen to this much success?
“Its a combination of several things. Hard work is obviously the number one thing. The opportunity to play at K-State and get some exposure with the NFL. And the opportunity to get picked up by an organization that wins a lot of football games. So, there’s a little bit of luck, but a lot of hard work.”

Who is your mentor or what person has had the greatest influence on your life?
“My mother. Her dealing with losing my father when we were young, three boys under the age of 16, growing up without a Dad, and she did it all by herself. She never asked for anything from anybody and just to see that….she’s such a special person.”

You’ve tasted the success of Super Bowl victory before. How hard is to come off the disappointment of losing this time?
“As good as it is to win it all, it’s twice as bad to lose it. I heard it from guys on the team like Adam Vinateri who had lost in the Super Bowl. I kinda thought it’s still great to get there. But it’s really not fun to get there and to lose in the last game, and nobody remembers who lost in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter how great your year is going up to that game. You could be smashing records, doing great things on the football field, and if you lose that game, your forgotten history. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Did you agree with coach Jim Caldwell’s decision to rest the starters in the last two games of the season and give up on the perfect season?
I didn’t have to agree with him. I’m a grunt. They just tell me what to do, and I do it. Those decisions are left up to smarter people than me. They took a lot of flak for that. They were criticized for that by a lot of people, especially people in the Colts community. I respect him for making the decision. It’s not fun going into a game knowing that your probably not going to play. But at the same time you see what happened to Wes Welker at the end of the season and I think that opened a lot of peoples eyes to the decision that was made. I wish we could have won the Super Bowl. And we would have accomplished all our goals and made the decision look brilliant. But we didn’t and we gotta live with it.

This was the second Super Bowl you’ve played in. First of all, what was the first experience like?
You know you been there before. And for us it was really similar because we were literally at the same city, same hotel, same stadium, same practice facility it was like Deja vu. The first time going was really pretty special.

This time I was gonna be disappointed if we didn’t go to the Super Bowl. Our road to Miami was not as difficult as years past and I kinda expected us to get there. Once we did, I kinda had this fieelign that I don’t want to lose this. Let’s just finish this up and not celebrate that we’re here. We can party for three months post-game if we want to.

What’s your favorite part of Super Bowl week outside of practicing and preparing for the game?
I like going with the guys. You get on the place go down there. You have meals together. You go out to dinner. dinner together, nice restaurants. We had a day where we went down to the beach and enjoyed the weather together. It was just fun and the families get in on Thursday night and that’s a great experience to see your family together having a great time and to get enjoy the tropical paradise and all that goes along with that stuff.

Your Offensive line is one of the best in the NFL. This year Manning was only sacked 10 times in the regular season. How do you guys protect him so well and keep the pocket from collapsing?
It’s a combination of a these things. we have a good system. We have great offensive lineman that know how to pass protect and protect blitzes protect different schemes that teams that might throw at us to pressure our quarterback. We obviously have a quarterback who can get rid of the ball quickly and we have great route runners in our wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. It’s a combination of all those things that go together.”

Who is the toughest defender you’ve ever gone up against?
Albert Haynesworth. He got $100 million dollar contract with the Washington Reskins. But he earned it…He’s a big man, probably 6′7″ and 365 lbs.

What are the most important skills or assets a lineman can have? Such as, does quickness matter more than size and strength?
I think it does. I think it depends a lot on what scheme your running. Are you a power running team that runs the ball 40 times a game? Or are you a team that gonna run the ball 25 times a game and throw it a lot and run an up tempo style of offense. I think our team puts a premium on athleticism and quickness and being smart and being able to compute things at the line of scrimmage when the bullets are flying and being able to do your technique and what not, but it varies from team to team.”

Linemen might be some of the most battered players in the NFL. How do you usually feel the day after a rough game? And what do you do to recuperate?
You know what, it’s usually two days after are the worst. The day after you take some medicine, but two days out is usually the sorest point. You do whatever you can to keep your body in the best shape that you can. You do those little things in the training room, you stretch, you do massage therapy once or twice a week. You take a lot of Advil. Its a long season in the trenches; your battling a lot. Some games are worse than others, but it’s part of the job description. I had a year when I didn’t get to play at all and wasn’t ever sore, but I’d rather have a year like this when you’re sore every Tuesday. [Lilja also just had minor surgery to repair his shoulder.]

Peyton audibles a lot and tends to take the play calling into his own hands. Do you guys ever get confused with what’s going on?
Not really. He processes things very quickly and he watches so much film and studies the opponent so well. He’s almost [Offensive Coordinator] Clair Voyant (sp?) when we get on the field.

David Catt

Sitting in a dark corner of Fred P. Ott’s bar and grill on the Plaza, I gazed at a grainy flat-screen TV and witnessed what I still believe to be the Halley’s comet of athletic feats: Tiger Woods’ third round at the 2008 U.S. Open. As his competitors struggled to make pars, Woods made two ridiculously hard eagle putts and a birdie chip en route to a (three under par) on the back nine. Two days later, he hoisted the silver trophy into the air for his third U.S. Open victory. And, oh yeah, he did it all on a broken leg, visibly wincing and gasping in pain throughout the tournament.

I was dumbfounded, positive that Tiger Woods was one of the best athletes the world had ever seen. Golf fans were pretty sure before, but now it was definite. Woods had become something bigger than life.

Flash forward a year and a half, and I am dumbfounded again as the haze created by his sex scandal continues to thicken, enveloping Woods and his superhuman status. I tried for a while to tune out the tabloid reports, but the truth about Tiger is evident now. Considering the lengths he would go for these rendezvous and willingness to risk his image and family life, I believe he has a severe case of psychological sex addiction and a tough road of rehab ahead of him. It’s no surprise that Woods allegedly checked into a Mississippi rehab center roughly a month ago.

On Dec. 11, Woods decided to take an indefinite leave from golf to focus on his family life and atone for his “transgressions.”

The media and critics have talked extensively about the financial fall out of decreased TV ratings, sponsorships and purchased merchandise during Tiger’s absence. Talk show hosts and other celebrities have slammed the superstar as well, but few people outside of golf can understand the true sadness of Woods’ actions and what he has meant to the game’s developing generation of players. In the past eight years, I’ve played in more than 100 competitive junior golf tournaments. And at any given tournament, during the final round, there were bound to be a few players wearing a red shirt and black pants or shorts—Tiger’s traditional Sunday outfit. A few more would don a hat with Woods’ logo, and a few players might even be playing with Nike golf clubs, a brand the company literally built around Woods’ dominance.

Tiger wasn’t just a role model; he was an idol, a standard of success, the epitome of an industry. Young golfers patterned their games after him, started working out to keep up with him and dreamt of making the crucial putt on the biggest stage just like him. ‘Be like Mike’ turned into ‘Be like Tiger.’ Now that aura has melted away, like an ice sculpture on a hot, sunny day.

To those who wonder how a scandal of this magnitude could happen, I ask: What do you give the wealthiest, most recognizable athlete in the world? This is a man who has made a traditionally boring sport the most exciting thing on TV; a man who creates such a fervor at tournaments when he plays well that fans literally sprint around the course just so they can see every other shot he hits; a man who, through the guidance of his late father, has donated millions to various philanthropic endeavors. Well, you probably give him whatever he wants.

Herein lies the foundation for Woods’ demise. As a society, we placed him on the highest pedestal, thanking God we live in the same era as someone so amazing. Maybe Tiger literally began to believe he could do anything, socially acceptable or not. Since his father’s death (ex-marine Earl Woods taught Tiger the game and developed his mental prowess), Tiger has probably answered to a select few people: his caddy on the course, his swing coach on the range and his agents during business meetings. Other than that, he probably does what he wants. Until now, that game plan has worked pretty well.

Everything Woods has ever been associated with has always been seen in an extremely positive light. From his golf game and charity work to his friendship with tennis great Roger Federer, Woods has portrayed the supreme image of an all-world athlete and role model. So it comes as quite a shock when something this degrading occurs.

Still, most ask, why would he do this? Who knows? Maybe the money corrupted him, or the adrenaline rush of living on the edge drove him crazy. Maybe he needed another outlet for the insane amount of passion he has for life, or maybe he really does have a sex addiction.

But it doesn’t matter now. The disturbing aspect is not that it happened; it’s that nobody stopped it.

Judging from the magnitude of this scandal, I find it hard to believe that some of Woods’ closest friends and associates didn’t know of his exploits. It’s extremely disturbing to imagine that those who could have prevented this debacle stood by and enabled it to happen, stood by and watched a role model ruin his spotless reputation.

It’s no different than a teenager standing by and watching his or her friends bully someone. It’s no different than the U.S. government watching innocently as African Americans died for their civil rights in the 1960s. Humans tend to repeat their faults; history tends to repeat itself.

Sure, Tiger will come back to golf and probably be just as dominant. Married or divorced, his ability to focus on the course is so incredible that he’ll be able to block the media and fan scrutiny out and break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 16 major championships. Yet, that matters little now.

The ultimate test will be whether Tiger Woods, in the distant future, can look in the mirror, as we all should, and believe he is living his life to the best of his ability, faithfully and passionately as a husband and father. I hope, for his sake, that he can.

David Catt

Cal Ripken Jr. loved baseball. He loved it so much he played an MLB- record 2,632 straight games, spanning 17 seasons. His record, no doubt, will stand the test of time because baseball, like every other major professional sport, has been corrupted down to the pine tar.

You think the players still play for the love of the game? Note the messy situation each time a player’s contract expires. The players often hold out for more money until executives meet their demands. In addition, this year NFL rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree didn’t play the first five games of the season because his $23.5 million contract wasn’t enough to “feed his family.” What we could really use in professional sports are some quality athletes who love the the thrill of competition more than the allure of money.

Thankfully, tomorrow night the Olympics, which may be mankind’s last virtuous battleground, begin. For two weeks, the best of the best will compete for country, honor, and, surprisingly, not very much money.
Whereas the minimum salary for an NBA rookie is $450K, relatively unknown Olympic athletes often make just enough from part-time jobs to support training and travel. Remember all those Home Depot commercials for the Olympics? According to America.gov, 33 of the 211 athletes on the 2006 Winter Olympics Team were employed part-time by Home Depot through the corporation’s efforts to support the team.

The Olympics have been open to professionals since the mid-1970s, but only a few athletes in high-profile sports (hockey, snowboarding, etc.) benefit greatly from outside endorsements. To level the playing field, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) began supporting athletes monetarily a decade ago.

“In early 2000, we looked at it and realized we had athletes who were bartending to pay their training bills,” Steve Roush, USOC official, said in a 2008 USA Today interview. “They weren’t able to train at the level they needed.”

Now, athletes are able to receive up to $36,000 a year from the USOC and obtain bonuses for top-eight finishes at the world championships and medaling at the Olympics. Gold medalists receive $25,000 per medal, which isn’t very much for someone who is the best in the world at something. Silver and bronze medalists receive $15,000 and $10,000, respectively.

This sounds like a nice paycheck, but when compared to any benchwarmer in a major league sport, it’s nothing. Training for the Olympics is basically a full-time job for these people, and for the time and effort they put in, the monetary reward is insignificant. There are no extra contract incentives for making the Pro Bowl, fancy hotels or garages full of sports cars (though snowboarder Shaun White does drive a Lamborghini). The most high tech these athletes get is in their workouts at the state-of-the-art U.S. Olympic Training Centers.

When it comes down to it, above all other athletes, Olympians strive to do their best simply for the pure love of competition, and that is what sets the games apart from other professional sports. The passion is unmatched, the drama immeasurable. For them, there is no tomorrow unless they want to train like animals for another four years. They have reached the biggest stage and put it all on the line. That is why NBC shelled out $2.2 billion to televise the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. Television captures the passion in sports, and we are undoubtedly astonished by and addicted to it.

Tune in these next two weeks, and think about all the things these people have sacrificed. Many could have made more money in another line of work, spent more time with their families and led a normal life, but they’ve endured and persevered to bolster the United States with a sense of pride and preserve the purity of sport.

Girls’ Basketball:
Fri. Feb. 12, vs. SME 5:15 p.m.
Tues. Feb. 16, at Olathe Northwest 5:30 p.m.
Thurs. Feb. 18, vs. Leavenworth 7 p.m.
Tues. Feb. 23, at Olathe South 5:30 p.m.
Thurs. Feb. 25, at SMN 7 p.m.
Mon. March 1 – Fri. March 5, Sub-state Week at SM Northwest
Wed. March 10 – Sat. March 13, State Basketball Week in Emporia

Boys’ Swim and Dive:
Fri Feb. 19, Kansas State Prelims
2:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 20, Kansas State Finals 12:30 p.m.

Wrestling:
Sat. Feb. 13, Sunflower League Tournament at SMNW 9 a.m.
Sat. Feb. 20, 6A Regionals, 9 a.m.
Fri. Feb. 26, 6A State Championships, Kansas Colisseum-Wichita, 8 a.m.
Sat. Feb. 27, 6A State Championships, Kansas Colisseum-Wichita, 9 a.m.

Bowling:

Wed. Feb. 17, SMNW Tri at Park Lanes, 3:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 20, Varsity Sunflower League Tournament at Olathe East Lanes, 9:30 a.m.
Sat. Feb. 27, Regionals at Olathe Mission Bowl, 9 a.m.

USA Today NCAA Basketball Poll
1. Kansas (29) 22-1
2. Kentucky (1) 22-1
3. Syracuse (1) 23-1
4. West Virginia 19-3
5. Villanova 20-2
6. Purdue 19-3
7. Duke 19-4
8. Georgetown 17-5
9. Kansas State 19-4
10. Michigan State 19-5
14. Texas 19-4

The six other teams in the tournament include Saint Thomas Aquinas, Mill Valley, Washburn Rural, Bishop Miege, Grandview and Trinity-Word of Life.

The tournament is conducted in a bracket style with Friday and Saturday game times contingent upon tonight’s game.

Squatting on the ground, senior Brian Ayers leaned forward, placing his hands 10 inches in front of his feet. Supporting his forearms on his inner thighs, he leaned farther and lifted his feet off the ground, supporting his entire body weight with his arms.

Ayers has practiced yoga with the cross country team as a training element during the past two seasons. Once a week, a yoga instructor from Element Fitness led the team through a series of motions aimed at improving flexibility and endurance.

“I’d be really tired after a long run, and we’d come in and do yoga. It made me feel much better and relaxed,” Ayers said.

Yoga originated more than 500 years ago as a spiritual outlet for early religion in India, but it is more of a physical practice today. Roughly 16 million Americans practice some form of yoga today, transforming it into a multi-billion dollar industry, according to a survey by Harris Interactive.

According to Element Fitness yoga instructor Amanda Scott, the main goal of yoga is to unite the physical body with the mind to build positive thinking, which could be very helpful for insecure or stressed teens.

“Teenagers are so worried about what they’re doing Friday night. In yoga, the focus is about you. It’s about being present at this very second and shutting off the outside world,” Scott said.

Although there are many variations of yoga, most classes teach participants how to move through a series of motions that enhance flexibility, balance and strength. All movement is coordinated with deep breathing to create a feeling of relaxation. Yoga is also a time of reflection — a time to find out what the body is capable of doing.

“It’s hard for humans to turn off their ego, but yoga is about allowing your body to do what it’s able to do, not what others around you are doing,” Scott said.
With pose names like Downward Dog and Camel, many teenagers might think of yoga as a frivolous workout like step aerobics, but it’s not.

“I expected it to be really easy and relaxing, but it turned out to be much harder. It was tough to balance and do a lot of the poses,” Ayers said. “There were 50-year-olds doing the hardest poses that I wouldn’t think of doing. They were pretty intense.”

According to Scott, yoga combined with lifting and endurance sports strengthens athletes and enables them to recover quickly from injuries.

Although yoga classes are most popular with elderly people trying to regain their former mobility, they are open to beginners. So, if you’re interested in become a yogi, here are some tips and introductory poses to get you started.

12 Yoga poses to get started:

• Mountain
• Standing half forward bend
• Plank
• Crane
• Child’s Pose
• Pigeon
• Downward dog
• Warrior I
• Warrior III
• Boat
• Camel
• Corpse

So you want to start…?

• Have a friend go with you the first time so you can both laugh about your flexibility limitations.
• Don’t be turned off by the number of adults in the class. They’re there for the same reason as you, to enhance mobility, stay fit and gain strength.
• Find a class for you. For a greater spiritual element, find an actual yoga studio to become a member of. For more of a workout, pick a health club and choose a flow yoga or PiYo class that keeps participants constantly moving.
• For couples, partner yoga is a great way to build understanding and trust.

Taylor Isenhower, a former NW soccer player has continued her success in college playing for the University of Memphis.

Isenhower was recently named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team for her performance this season.

Starting eight of 19 games, she helped the Tigers to a 16-7 record and a third consecutive Conference USA (C-USA) Championship title. Isenhower scored two goals in a 6-2 win in the first round of the conference tournament against SMU. She was selected as the Offensive MVP for the tournament.

“It was awesome. I wasn’t really expecting it,” Isenhower said.

Isenhower has had a total of six goals and two assists this season and was also named C-USA Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 25.

“It feels like I’ve accomplished a lot. At first I just wanted to make the traveling team, but then I realized I should be playing.Whenever you get to go in games, you have to go all out and hopefully the coach notices,” Isenhower said.

Memphis earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships with its conference tournament win but lost in the first round to Texas A&M, 3-1.

The number of deer in the park is expected to drastically decline as a result of the park’s Deer Management Plan, which began on Oct. 9 and will end by Nov. 30. The plan will reduce the herd from 400 to approximately 100 deer, at which point scientists will determine what the park’s carrying capacity is.

The number of deer in the area had been continually on the rise since the park opened in 1964.

Last fall, a biodiversity committee of Johnson County citizens with science backgrounds was formed to discuss how to handle some of the growing biodiversity issues in the county parks. The committee’s main focus was the overabundance of deer in Shawnee Mission Park.

According to a state survey last fall, the deer population in the two-square-mile park was roughly 200 per square mile. Some studies suggest the deer population for such a park should be 30 deer per square mile.

At this point, according to Johnson County parks and recreation community relations manager Randy Knight, the deer are having a negative impact on the park and themselves. They have destroyed much of the low-lying vegetation that birds and small animals live in. Additionally, as the deer struggle to find food, their health will continue to decline, and the entire herd will become subject to disease.

Although much of the park’s surrounding wildlife habitat has been replaced by suburban neighborhoods, park officials are more concerned about the park than the deer.

“By statute, we were not established to be a wildlife preserve. We were established to be a recreational park,” Knight said. “All you have to do is look at an aerial photograph to see how natural and passive [the park] is, and I think we’ve done a wonderful job of maintaining that. Now we’re simply trying to make sure it’s not destroyed, whether it’s by deer or anybody else.”

The deer will inevitably leave the park in search for food and become a danger to drivers on surrounding roads and Interstate 435 highway. Last year, a deer-vehicle collision resulted in one man’s death in Johnson County.

For these reasons, the committee decided to form a plan to reduce the number of deer. After researching several options, they chose lethal culling as the best method to reduce the herd.

According to Knight, it is illegal to physically relocate live deer in Kansas, and sedative drugs have not been approved for use on deer in the wild yet. So, despite numerous protests, the park has continued with its plan to use trained sharp shooters to slowly reduce the herd at night. All shots will occur at close range and be fired toward the center of the park. On nights in which shooting will occur, law enforcement will carefully patrol the perimeter of the park to ensure the public’s safety.

The Deer Management Plan will have more than one positive impact in the local area. After inspection for disease, the healthy deer meat will be shipped to Harvesters as a source of food for those in need. The deer hide will be developed into occupational therapy kits and leather gloves for wheelchair-bound veterans.

A secondary cull stage could begin as early as Dec. 7. If the sharp shooters do not reduce the herd enough, previously selected bow hunters will be allowed to enter the park until the herd is reduced to an ideal amount.

Click here to read more about Shawnee Mission Park.