The WALRUS
The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. - Lewis Carroll
St. Sebastian’s School
Vol LXIV, No. 6
April 2011
Senior Class Leaves Legacy
By Alex Spear ‘11
SENIOR EDITOR
The Class of 2011 will, on June 9th,
2011, walk out of St. Bartholomew’s
Church as the most recent St. Sebastian’s alumni to date. We will no longer walk the Seb’s halls as students,
we will no longer attend Corporate
Chapels, and we will no longer be
captains of sports teams or leaders
of extracurricular school clubs. I can
promise you, though, that this class
that’s about to graduate will never
be forgotten and its presence will always be felt—this class is too unique,
too diverse, too smart, too special,
too involved, and too loved to ever
be forgotten.
Before getting into anything else, this class’ legacy starts
with the idea that it’s one of the
smallest graduating classes in St.
Seb’s history. With only fifty-five kids
graduating, the Class of 2011 has
suffered the losses of many former
classmates just leaving Seb’s. Let’s
see…we lost Gunnar Hughes to
Salisbury School, we lost Robbie
Harwood (Sash) to Boston University
High, we lost Nick Lee to Loomis
Chaffee, we lost Noah McMillan to
Avon, we lost Peter White to Catholic
Memorial, and Wellesley High School
lost Stu Porter for one year but then
got him back. These are just a few
classmates that left and will be forever remembered as a part of our class,
and there are more that I’m missing.
We’ll always remember Gunnar for
getting a D, Robbie for his unreal
math skills, Nick Lee for getting into
arguments with Mr. Nunan about
death, guns, and bullets…, Peter
White for being hilarious all the time,
and Stu Porter for scrapping Teddy
Downs about who knows what.
These kids that are gone will always
be a part of us.
This class will be remembered for being a class of separation
but then unity. This class has always
been comprised of different groups
of friends. But that’s in the past—just
this year, the seniors have figured
out a way to hangout all together
and put aside differences. Whether
we’re playing pond hockey, going to
someone’s house, playing pick-up
basketball, or just hanging out doing
nothing. We’ve realized that there
really isn’t much time where we’ll all
be together since we’ll all be heading off to our respective colleges. We
won’t be united by Seb’s or brought
together within the school’s walls
anymore—so it’s a good thing we’ve
come together as a class and are
friends now, knowing we’ll be lifelong friends forever.
This class will be remembered for its academic prowess. The
matriculation list, the GPA’s, SAT
scores, and transcripts can attest to
this. Mr. Nerbonne repeatedly tells
us how much we’ve boosted the
school—but he never fails to remind
us we’re idiotic for not going to Holy
Cross…I’m sure Mr. Cleary would
agree.
This class will be remembered for its athleticism. Every sports
season the senior involvement
and impact on each team is significant. This class is full of multi-sport
athletes and multi-sport captains
with many athletes prepared to
play collegiate sports all across the
country. The entire school and Seb’s
community will remember the effect
the class of 2011 has had on St. Seb’s
athletics.
There really is so much to
talk on top of the ones that have
left us, our unity, our impressive
Continued on Page 3
Tom Keefe ‘11 blasts the audience with a jolt of melodious singing during the Admitted Student bash
Admitted Student Tours,
Reception Recruit New Arrows
By Tom Hoff ‘11
SENIOR EDITOR
As the school contemplates the legacy of the Class of 2011, our beloved
Wiliam Judge remains at the center of our hearts as we near graduation.
St. Seb’s Honors Poetry Month
By Kevin Patterson ‘13
I think Marky Mark put it
well when he said, “Yo, it’s about that
time / to bring forth the rhythm and
the rhyme.”
Yes, it’s April, and those
familiar with the St. Sebastian’s
calendar will recognize this month
as National Poetry Month. April is
when the walls of St. Bart’s are filled
with the harmonious lines of accomplished poets, when English teachers
make the extra effort to teach the
understanding of the craft, when
students annually rediscover the art
of the verse. Sure, it’s nice to have
some school tradition, but what’s so
great about National Poetry Month?
Why this tradition? I think I know.
In my research, Mr. Chris Lynch
pointed me toward a statement
released by the American Academy
of Poets. It reads, “National Poetry
Month brings together publishers,
booksellers, literary organizations,
libraries, schools, and poets around
the country to celebrate poetry and
its vital place in American culture.”
As Americans, we share heritage with
many poetic geniuses, like Robert
Frost, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Langston Hughes, to name
a few. It seems quite fitting that
we should celebrate the amazing
accomplishments of our fellow
Americans. Why, however, do we
celebrate the poets and not, say,
the filmmakers or the painters? We
acknowledge poetry because it is
universal. It requires no well-trained
eye, no expensive machinery, nor
unusually large blocks of free time.
Anyone who is literate can read and
examine poetry; all that is required is
a little motivation.
At St. Sebastian’s, we are
gifted to have an English department full of poetry enthusiasts.
Perhaps no English teacher at Seb’s
is a bigger lover of poetry than Mr.
Simoneau. A published poet himself, Mr. Simoneau had a lot to say
when I asked him what he thought
of National Poetry Month. Although
he would prefer to celebrate poetry
year-round, he said, “It’s nice to
spend time reacquainting ourselves
with older art forms to celebrate the
history of the human race.” Because
of his strong love for poetry, he
welcomes the chance to present
new writers to his students; he likes
to keep them literarily well-rounded.
When I asked about the effect technology has on poetry, Mr. Simoneau
thoughtfully responded, “Technology is great to help transfer poetry.
First we had bards sing the poems,
then we shared them with papyrus
scrolls, and now we have Twitter!”
Every Monday morning in Corporate
Chapel, two or three students will
present, in front of the entire school
community, a poem they have
memorized. Though some may consider this a fear-inspiring task, Tom
Keefe, the first student to present
this year, spoke in favor of the recitations. He memorized and recited
“The Good-Morrow” by John Donne
and found the experience to be an
educational one. “When you just
read a poem,” Keefe said, “you don’t
fully understand it right away. When
you memorize it, though, you learn
its story and what it means. When
I was up there reciting ‘The GoodMorrow’, I knew what everything
meant.” Memorization is a great way
to understand and appreciate poetry, and, as one of the facets central
to our celebration of National Poetry
Month, it is important that as many
as possible participate in it.
It has become a tradition
for a senior to face the daunting
task of memorizing and reciting
Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
This year, Dillon Ecclesine’s performance was flawless. The highlight of
the recitation was without a doubt
when Ecclesine deemed a perhaps
Continued on Page 3
On Thursday, April 7, St.
Sebastian’s opened its halls to the
admitted students for maybe the best
reception of the year. The admitted
students night is geared towards
two groups of prospective students:
those who are still deciding whether
or not to choose St. Seb’s, and those
who have committed and would like
to become a bigger part of their new
school. This year, almost everybody
had already accepted their invitations
to become arrows. I found this interesting because the admitted students
night was what swung my decision
way back in sixth grade, which is why
I feel a need to help at the April night.
To understand how long ago that was,
both the Red Sox and Patriots were
defending champs, and the Bruins
were mired in a lockout. Maybe they
should be in a lockout right now.
On these nights, at least two
students, one former student, one
parent, one teacher, and Mr. Burke
speak. However, this year, we also had
entertainment from two seniors. Tom
Keefe and Tom Nunan sung, while
Nunan also played the piano. While
unexpected, this aspect of the night
was an excellent addition to the reception. Then, Cedric Depestre, a new
eighth grader, spoke on his recent
experiences at St. Seb’s. His speech
both assured the committed students
that they had made the right decision, and it was also aimed to show
the few who were still making their
decision what they would be a part of
early in their St. Seb’s career. Next up
was senior Dillon Ecclesine. Usually,
the senior’s and the middle school
student’s speech differ because, while
both are geared towards the prospective students and their parents, the
senior’s puts slightly more weight into
the parents. Why? Well, how many
sixth graders are thinking of how well
a school prepares you for college and
the real world? I know I wasn’t six
years ago. But parents are, and Dillon
played into that emotion perfectly as
he spoke of how much he has grown
and how well he is prepared for life
after high school. Mr. Burke named
Dillon’s choice of colleges, which impressed the parents; but, through his
memories and display of gratitude for
St. Seb’s, Dillon connected well with
the prospective students.
NEWS
Nick Coskren ’05 then came
to the podium. St. Sebastian’s perfectly prepared him for Harvard and
his first job. He reminisced about the
fun times with his classmates, and,
of course, the great lengths to which
teachers go for the students here.
His speech connected with me, because, as my time is winding down, I
realize what he’s saying. But it was a
gift that he was also able to connect
with the prospective students and
their parents. Seb’s was happy to
have him back to speak.
Up next was Mr. Wilbur, the chair of
the science department and a physics teacher. He spoke about the advances that St. Seb’s has made in the
science department specifically, with
the robotics club and Rube Goldberg
team being great examples. During
my St. Seb’s career, I’ve definitely
seen the great advances that he
spoke of. Obviously, those advances
will only be aided by the new science center that will impress next
year’s admitted students even more.
Then Mrs. O’Malley, mother of Sean
’09, Jake ’10, and Brian ’13 spoke.
Her speech did a great job of easing
the parents’ worries and making
them more confident in their sons’
new school. Her best example was
of Mr. Burke talking to her daughter
by name, followed by the daughter
remarking that Mr. Burke had spent
more time talking to her than her
own headmaster. Mrs. O’Malley
showed no worries in how her sons
were set up for college and life beyond – definitely what the parents in
the audience wanted to hear.
Finally, Mr. Burke concluded
as he always does. As I like to put
it, he did his best job of bragging
about the school while still being
modest. Like Mr. Wilbur, Mr. Burke
talked about the strides that St. Seb’s
has made in his time, and, once
again, it didn’t hurt to mention the
new science center that will double
the size of the academic building.
I’m sure you’ve heard it, but it always
helps to mention the 7:1 student to
faculty ratio, the average class size
of 11, Seb’s’ ability to teach Peter DeMatteo-like geniuses at a level way
above their own grade, the caring
faculty, the former students who edit
their roommates’ papers in college,
the parents who show gratitude, and
the overall growth of a St. Seb’s student. Again, I know you’ve heard all
that, but prospective students and
their families haven’t, so Mr. Burke
will keep repeating it. It also didn’t
hurt that Mr. Burke mentioned his
new grandson, born to a teacher at
the school who just happens to have
the last name “Burke.” The moms in
the audience loved that. By the way,
congrats to the Burke family.
Everyone filed downstairs
for some food in the dining hall that
they’d never serve during a regular
day of lunch. The hungry 12-to-14year-olds loved the shrimp, but the
cookies were the main attraction.
There, charitable, volunteering, and
downright amazing students like
myself, as well as somewhat amazing
teachers (if you don’t have a sense of
humor, that was a joke) spoke to the
prospective students about either
the tough decision they’d have to
make, or the relief of knowing where
they’re going to school. Everyone
who I talked to was committed, so I
just ended up asking them if they’d
take Spanish or Latin. Hopefully
I was helpful in reminding them
that Latin happens to be a dead
language, and that it’s much more
helpful in life to know a second
language.
The only part of the night
that surprised me was the lack of
accepted students who still had to
make a decision. Again, that night
in April of 2005 was what convinced
me to become an arrow. Now, the
night has mainly become a celebration of those who have accepted
their application. It’s difficult to say
why there are fewer students who
have to make their choice, but I
definitely don’t think it’s a negative
representation of the admissions
program. If anything, it means that
more and more students can be
sure of their decision because of the
greatness that the admissions program has shown them. But, here’s
the one conclusion that I can definitively draw from the Thursday night
almost two weeks ago: Doesn’t it
say something that so many people
who had already accepted their
invitation were willing to show up
to a completely optional night? Unless they came for the free food, the
families simply wanted to enjoy their
sons’ new school for one more night
than they needed to. That kind of
enthusiasm is the kid that makes Mr.
Wishart really happy right now if he’s
reading this article.
SPORTS
Greatest Debate Ever?
Does Not Appear in Photo
Who’s The Better Coach in Film:
Patches O’Houlihan or Phil Weston?... Page 6
Anyone on the Chicago Bulls except
Derrick Rose.
Spring Sports:
Baseball and Lacrosse start with
winning records... Page 8
THE WALRUS
Page 2
QUOTES of the
MONTH
“On the course evaluations, some of my seniors said that I
should try to be nicer. I responded, ‘I’ll try being nicer if you
try being smarter.’”
-- Mr. Nerbonne
“Eventually, a girl is going to say yes [to dancing with you],
because no one is that ugly to get consistently rejected.”
-- Ike Okwerkwu ‘13
“Mr. Richter, you have no soul.”
-- Nick Chappel ‘11
“Mike Petro is one of my favorite weird people.”
-- Tom Murphy ‘11
“I wouldn’t mind if the Canadiens’ bus tipped over.”
-- Tom Hoff ‘11
“My life is over. Take me out to the stables and [end this].”
-- Alex Hunnewell ‘11
“Harvard University Class of 2015!”
-- Peter White, a former Arrow who definitely isn’t going to Harvard.
Kenny Chen ‘13 Goes All-State
By Thayer Wade ‘13
Over March vacation,
Kenny Chen ’13 was selected to
play the viola for the Massachusetts
All-State Orchestra. After months of
preparation and scrutinizing auditions, Kenny performed with other
talented musicians from all over
Massachusetts in Symphony Hall on
Saturday, March 26.
Since December, Kenny
has been preparing for the auditions for the orchestra. The AllStates are run by the Massachusetts
Music Educators’ Association, and
they are separated into four groups:
Orchestra, Concert Band, Chorus,
and Jazz Band. For the auditions,
the state is split up into five districts.
Kenny auditioned in the eastern
district for the orchestra. In the
district auditions, the musician
has to place in the top 50% of the
musicians based on a set scoring
system, and then he can move on
to audition for the All-States. There
are three parts to the audition for
the All-States: the musician has to
perform the piece that the All-State
Orchestra will play in Symphony
Hall, play two three-octave scales,
and sight-read music. The musicians
can prepare by practicing the solo
of the piece and the scales on which
they will be tested, and they can
bring the sheet music to the audition. However, the musicians are
not told what they will need to play
for sight-reading, and this requires
tremendous musical experience in
both reading the music and playing
the instrument. In the auditions, the
musician’s score is determined by
separate scores for many categories.
For stringed instruments, such as
the viola, they include musicianship,
which indicates overall maturity with
the instrument, right and left hand
technique, and many others. There
are 17 total places for violas in the
orchestra, so only the musicians with
the top 17 scores in the state are
selected for the orchestra.
After succeeding in each
of these auditions, Kenny and the
other musicians that were selected
for the All-State Orchestra rehearsed
in the Boston World Trade Center on
the Thursday and Friday before the
performance. They stayed in hotels
at the World Trade Center in order
to have more time for rehearsal. “We
just practiced a ton each day,” Kenny
noted. “Probably around eight hours
or so, total, and you get a lunch
break and dinner break. You get a
little bit of free time on Friday Night,
but other than that, there was no
free time.”
On Saturday, in Symphony Hall, the orchestra performed
Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Finale (IV),
which is also known as Titan. Mahler
was a composer who had a misfortunate childhood, as his father treated
him brutally and his mother died
when he was young. Mahler, however, was very interested in nature, and
nature inspired his music. It is for this
reason that Mahler is a universally
recognized composer. The Finale
of Mahler’s First Symphony, the
piece that Kenny and the All-State
Orchestra performed, is a depiction
of going from hell to heaven. Kenny
commented, “The way the entire
finale opens is with a lot of discord
and chaos, and basically, the struc-
ture builds up the person’s journey
towards heaven, but just as soon as
he gets there, he is again thrust back
towards ‘point A.’ So he starts from
hell again, but this time he makes it
all the way to heaven.” This journey is
created by very intense music.
Mr. Grohmann, who, when
he was younger, was involved in
the New Jersey Youth Symphony,
an organization similar to the New
England Conservatory, can attest
to Kenny’s accomplishment. “It’s a
testimony to how hard he works
outside of school with music and his
involvement with the New England
Conservatory,” Mr. Grohmann said.
“The time it takes to prepare for
these things is…countless hours.”
Mr. Grohmann also noted that Kenny
is among the great musicians of St.
Sebastian’s. Brian Richter ’09 also
performed the cello in the All-States
as a senior, after two years of preparation. “Kenny is ahead of the game,”
Mr. Grohmann said.
Kenny had a very positive
experience in performing in the
All-State Orchestra. “I got more out
of it than I expected, because you
don’t have kids coming just from
one conservatory. There are many
conservatories in the Boston area
and Massachusetts. You have kids
coming from New England Conservatory, Boston Youth Symphony
Orchestra, and other conservatories,
so it was a very good experience.”
Congratulations to Kenny Chen for
his dedication and his tremendous
accomplishment in playing for the
All-State Orchestra.
April 2011
Nunan: Some Senior Service
Guidelines to Follow
By Tom Nunan ‘11
“Let’s start from the very
beginning, a very good place to
start” (Oscar Hammerstein II). From
the time I was very young, when
spring rolled around each year, I
would often observe my dad completing many tasks in an effort to
keep senior service running smoothly: stuffing envelopes to be mailed
to the supervisors of the many sites;
making phone calls to supervisors to
make sure everything was happening according to plan; and of course,
as Commencement really drew
near, tracking down seniors who
either had not attended enough
weekly discussion groups at school
regarding their service, or who had
completed so few hours that their
graduation was in jeopardy.
My dad helped to create
the senior service program many
years ago, so that seniors would
have an opportunity to put their
faith into action by finally doing
work that was not so academic yet
very meaningful—more meaningful,
it could be argued, than any other
kind of work to which they had been
accustomed in the past. This would
be a chance for seniors to go out
into the world and help those most
in need. They would form close personal relationships with those they
encountered and would give their
best effort in an attempt to make life
better for the ones they served.
Since I’ve been familiar
with the service program for almost
forever, and since one of my parents
heads up the program, and since
information about the program and
the exhortation to find a placement
are made clear to the senior class
WAY before the March break, you’d
think that I would have had all my
arrangements in place by the middle
of March break at the latest, right?
WRONG, of course.
The first thing I should have
done was to get a feel for the end-ofthe-year schedule right away. The
end of the school year for a senior
can be tricky. For example, the last
day of non-AP courses for seniors
is April 15. However, APs continue
until the AP exams for those classes
have been administered. This year
AP exams take place the weeks of
Monday, May 2 and Monday, May 9,
so it would be foolish to think that
seniors are “done” on April 15. The
number of hours a senior must work
decreases as his AP course load
increases. Actually take the time to
calculate how many total hours you
must work. Figure out if it is worth
it to start working before your AP
classes are finished. This entails
actually visiting the College Board’s
Web site to view the exam schedule.
If your exams are done relatively
early, you may be able to take care of
all of your classes and then kick your
service into high gear instead of
having to juggle everything at once.
You won’t know about any of this
though, unless you examine all the
weeks from mid-April to early June
when Commencement takes place.
My next error was that I
didn’t even bother to peruse the
condensed directory of possible
placements (all senior service documents are posted on Edline) until after March break, and I didn’t lay eyes
on the full directory until well into
April, when I was supposed to have
found a placement by April 1. This
brings me to my second piece of
advice: Find a placement as soon as
you get your schedule. This warning
against procrastination sounds both
trite and hypocritical—I know. I also
know that you will be hearing this
from my dad and others at your class
meetings so frequently that you will
want them to go away and you will
wonder why they started telling you
about this so early. The fact is that
securing your place of work far in
advance is the best thing to do. In
the beginning I was considering only
one place. I didn’t talk to the supervisor of that placement until March
31, at which point she told me that
two other students from St. Seb’s
had already expressed their interest to her, and that she was worried
about having too many of us there
at the same time because the facility
was not very big. I started to panic
at the thought that there might
not be enough to do at this placement, so I started to look for another
one. Before I could confirm that the
placement could take me, I had to
call one supervisor in the directory
and email another supervisor listed
for that same placement. Neither of
them responded for about a day, so
I then made another phone call. I
then set up a time to meet with one
of the supervisors and to see the
placement itself. I had to make sure
I met with her soon because the seniors had to submit a form regarding
their individual placements in only a
few days (by April 8, and that was an
extension). I also had to make sure
that the meeting could fit into the
supervisor’s super-tight schedule. I
list off all of these tasks not to make
senior service seem cumbersome or
vexing, but rather to emphasize to
you (and to myself ) that if I had done
all of these things weeks before as I
could have, I would have been under
significantly less pressure.
Thirdly, I would advise
students to keep an open mind
about their placement options. I had
essentially considered working only
in a nursing home kind of setting
because I have always gotten along
very well with my grandparents, but
when that first placement seemed to
fall through, I was forced to consider
other options. I will now be working
at the Italian Home For Children in
Jamaica Plain, a place I liked so much
when I visited it that I wish I had
considered it more seriously in the
beginning. I realized quickly that the
Italian Home was a place where kids
severely in need of help could go to
get that assistance, and that loving
and cutting-edge professionals were
working their absolute hardest to
provide the assistance. But, it took
me longer to arrive at this understanding because the Italian Home
was rarely in my mind. Explore as
many options as possible in different settings, not just the areas
which pop out at you first. Google
placements about which you know
or only partly know to find out more.
Make sure you choose a setting in
which you know you can be of help.
Finally, regard this opportunity for service as important. I know
that I’m seeing it as a way for me to
put my faith into action. No matter
how much I may disagree with the
Catholic Church on certain issues,
its commitment to helping those in
need may induce no dissent. As students of a Catholic school, we have
an opportunity to be part of the
Church’s tradition of social justice,
so it is our duty to put forth our best
effort in the spirit of love. Having
said that, the beauty of this program
is that one certainly need not be
Catholic, Christian, or religious in
order to appreciate it. At its core,
the senior service program is about
helping others—an idea shared by
all humanity regardless of religion.
Read the Sign.
The Walrus
A St. Sebastian’s Publication
Senior Editors: Edmund Murphy ‘11, Dillon Ecclesine ‘11, Tom Hoff ‘11, Tom Keefe ‘11, Alex Spear ‘11
Apprentice Editors: Dobby the House Elf
Head Writers: Ryan Bacic ‘11, Nick Creegan ‘11, Nick Chappel ‘11, Andrew DeMatteo ‘11, Tom Murphy ‘11
CONTRIBUTORS: Mike Petro ‘13, Matt Fechtelkotter ‘12, Chris Picher ‘13,
Kevin Wolfe ‘12, Matt Donovan ‘13, Tom Nunan ‘11, Nick Cortese ‘11, Lou
Heck ‘11, John Donovan ‘12, Will Adams ‘11, Pat McGowan ‘14, Cam Kelly
‘14, Julian Matra ‘13, Will Vietze ‘11, Peter DeMatteo ‘13, Ryan Wolfsberg ‘13,
Bobby Wright ‘12, Chris Stadtler ‘12, Peter Cimini ‘12, Sam Racine ‘11, Michael Hoff ‘13, Mickey Adams ‘13, John Barrack ‘11, Jared Chase ‘11, Kenny
Chen ‘13, Sean Frazzette ‘12, Kevin Patterson ‘13, Jack Goldman ‘14, Niko
Fischer ‘14, Jay Daukas ‘14.
Editors Emeritus: Brendan Ecclesine, Ned Kingsley, David Ruffolo
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Dan Drummond
The Walrus is the official student newspaper of St. Sebastian’s School. The Walrus
seeks to provide news and entertainment for the St. Sebastian’s community, as well as
to provide an open forum for students to offer opinions on issues related to world, national, and school affairs. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect opinions of the faculty advisors or senior editors of The Walrus or of St. Sebastian’s School.
Correspondence to The Walrus should be addressed to The Walrus, c/o St. Sebastian’s School, 1191 Greendale Avenue, Needham, MA, 02492. Senior Editors and production staff reserve the right to reject, edit, or admit any or all submissions. To submit an
article, email it to walruseditor@gmail.com.
April 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 3
Chappel’s Senior Forecasts
By Nick Chappel ‘11
As the senior class approaches graduation, many of us have figured out where we are going to college. After
college we will be on our own in the real world with jobs. Because of my ability to predict everything accurately
(I had a perfect March Madness bracket, and also have predicted every Super Bowl correctly since 1993), I have
come up with a list of what every senior will end up doing in his life.
Will Shakespeare would be proud of Patterson’s poem, which he likened to “a poore man’s sonnet”.
Arrows begin Poetry Month
Continued from page 1
unsuspecting Mr. Greg Lynch his
“son, [his] own Telemachus.” Recognizing an outstanding performance,
the church erupted into thundering
applause after Ecclesine had concluded.
This Monday, we heard Robert
Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening” from Mike Haley,
and Mike Petro shared Billy Collins’
“Introduction to Poetry”, and Chris
Picher boldly recited “Heavy Summer Rain” by Jane Kenyon. All three
sophomores clearly expressed their
love and understanding of poetry
through three eloquently delivered
poetic recitations.
Surrounded by such inspiring poetry, I found myself looking deeper
into some of the most well-known
poems of all time. Because of the
environment in which I find myself,
one quite conducive to the exploration of poetry, I was inspired to find
some old poems that I wrote, so I
reviewed some of my old poetry that
I wrote in Mr. Cressotti’s Freshman
Writing Class, and I found these
haiku:
Na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na Batman!
The number eighteen:
One bigger than seventeen
Nineteen minus one
Despite the fact that I’m no poetic
genius, but I thought I’d write a little
something in honor of National
Poetry Month. Here goes nothing:
Indeed a poet I am surely not.
So why, you ask, consider writing this?
To honor poems past? It is a thought.
Perhaps it’s more that I’d achieve that
bliss
So often said that famous poets found
Contained within their daily thoughts
and sight.
Or do I yearn to find a peaceful sound
That I created? Is this why I write?
Such reason, greatly flawed, I do not
want,
Yet still I thirst to fill this empty void.
I need no magnum opus which to
flaunt,
But just a poem, words I’ve placed,
employed.
And after all, ‘tis not the poem’s great,
Tough Spring Stretch for Juniors
Kevin Wolfe ‘12
Spring has arrived. For
most of the school community, that
means warm weather, sports on the
turf and various outdoor venues,
and the winding down of a long and
arduous school year. For the junior
class, however, the new season
welcomes a daunting and harshly
overwhelming level of pressure and
stress. The combination of standardized testing, AP exams, and the academic workload may seem impossible to overcome for the juniors. With
the fourth quarter already in session,
the final effort made by each junior
to maximize his transcript potential
will require the utmost determination and discipline.
I like to attribute much
of the junior year induced stress to
the College Board and its monopoly over standardized tests. While
standardized testing is important
in discerning the academic ability
of a student, the College Board has
clearly overstepped its bounds in
this realm. Perhaps out of a desire
to raise even more money for its
non-profit organization, or because
of an overly zealous passion for
academics, the board has created
an absurdity of tests ranging from
the SAT I to some 50 combined
subject and AP tests. Not only is the
variety of testing intimidating, but
the sheer length of each test is also
obnoxious. For the elite high school
community, the universities and
colleges have accepted this mode
of testing, leaving juniors in the full
wrath of the College Board monster. Those who take the SAT I and
other AP exams spend up to 4 hours
testing in each sitting. Depending
on how many AP, subject, and SAT I
exams a student plans to sit, he may
spend over 20 hours testing during his junior spring alone (I made
a rough estimation of 2 SAT Is, 3
subject tests, and 3 AP exams). The
hours only multiply as the students
enter into senior year. Adding to that
time and pressure is preparation.
For many, high scores on the SAT I,
subject tests, and even AP exams
are only possible through extensive
and arduous review. Providing a
number of hours that juniors spend
prepping for College Board exams is
nearly impossible, but for the many
that do need to acquaint themselves
with the unique questions asked by
the test makers the process can be
like having a sixth academic class.
Several educational institutions have
even begun to overlook SAT I scores;
however, the majority of American
universities and colleges look to
the College Board to rigorously rate
their candidates in academic ability.
I do believe that setting a national
standard for colleges to judge is
necessary for a fair and merit based
educational system, but having to
scrupulously assess every aspect of
a high school student’s academic record through exhausting and often
superfluous examination is foul and
wrong. Nevertheless, the hours of
test taking vary amongst the student
body, but it is without a doubt that
each junior at Sebs has felt and will
feel a great load of stress with the
College Board craze in the spring.
The second factor in the
junior year spring stress festival is
academics. Either because of the
College Board or the universities
themselves, the best high schools in
the nation have no other option but
to make their courses extremely rigorous. As an example, Harvard would
most likely not accept a student who
has spent four years in an easy academic environment. Consequently,
teachers demand the most out of
pupils in the year. With only a short
number of weeks left in the school
year, juniors may find themselves
spending absurd amounts of time
studying, completing assignments,
or taking on any task that will help
them raise their GPAs to the highest
possible points. As our school president Patrick McLaughlin notes, high
school is like a marathon. Whether or
not he takes part in that marathon
does not make his adage any less
pertinent. The long race is near the
finish line after the junior spring, and
with the easily understood metaphor one can only assume that the
last leg of high school is the most
unbearable.
With this article I hope to
give no impressions of ungratefulness or bitterness toward the educational system. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to study
in such a challenging environment.
However, as a high school student, I
naturally despise standardized testing and those who create it. I only
wish with this article to highlight
and offer some inferences on the situation in which my classmates and I
are placed. Complaints aside, there is
much to be hopeful for in this season
and beyond. Standardized tests are
important, but they are by no means
the deciding factor for one’s life after
high school. Great scores should be
celebrated, but if one struggles with
the many tests, there is no need to
worry. As for academics, if one puts
all the needed time and effort forth,
both teachers and colleges will
notice that. In my final words, I say
that the best option for juniors is to
stay focused and put as much effort
forth as possible during this spring
season. The schoolwork is painful
and the SATs and APs are heinous,
but if one seizes the opportunity to
maximize one’s potential in all areas
of the high school rigor, there can be
no possible regrets in the future. So
to juniors: take the challenge day by
day, set goals, and hold yourselves to
a high and ambitious standard.
Will Adams– He will become the swim coach for Dana Hall, but eventually will be fired for bullying teachers at
the school over the internet and move back to Illinois, where he broke every swimming record because no one
there knows how to swim.
Dan Aisenberg– Professional photographer.
Ryan Bacic– Bacic will be the best man at Callow’s wedding, and will move back to Norfolk to teach high school
freshmen how to perform so badly at a freshman Semi-formal that your date ends up moving to Minnesota.
John Barrack– After failing in the guitar industry, John will go on to Hollywood where he will make his way to
the top, and cap off his career on Broadway, co-starring with the boy from the video, “Gingers have souls.”
Des Bergin – In his senior year at Harvard, Des will be checked in a hockey game and say, “Ow!” breaking the
29-year streak of never saying a word. Get it? 29? Like, he’ll be old because he’s playing college hockey and
average age of graduating of college hockey players is 43.
Charlie Callanan – Charlie will become a bookie but eventually will be fired by everyone he works for. They’ll
realize that all he actually wants to do is take their money. He will then try to rob a bank, be caught, and go to
jail. Forever.
Connor Callow – After marrying Alyssa, Callow will coach hockey for Braintree High School, though he wanted
to get a job at Thayer Academy, but was not quite a good enough coach.
James Cerra – James will write the hit song, “Seep”, on the guitar, and then teach AP Literature and AP Composition at Seb’s, and will be best friends with Mr. Simoneau.
Nick Chappel – Exiled to a foreign country because of these predictions.
Jared Chase – Once Jared goes to Skidmore, no one will ever see him again. I think he gets lost in Saratoga.
Charles Conigliaro – Charles will play in the Arena Football League, coaching high school robotics on the side.
James Connolly – James will be pulled over for going 103 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone, but he will
not get a ticket because he will be so mean to the police officer to the extent that the police officer cries and
quits his job.
Nick Cortese–Nick will end up working at Cha-Cha answering the most random questions that people have, but
will be fired because his boss will realize that Nick actually does not know anything, it just seems like he does
because he says everything in a weirdly confident manner.
Wes Cosby – After the thirty-year reunion for our class, Wes and I will become friends on Facebook once again. I
bet the pictures have changed since 8th grade!
Nick Creegan – Nick will move to Spain and be the next star of Nacho Libre. (because he can speak Spanish
AND wrestle!)
Andrew DeMatteo – Andrew may not make it in the real world, but will dominate all others.
Dillon Ecclesine – Neither may Dillon… Just kidding, chalk another one up! Harvard is a great feather in the
cap??!!? LOLOL!!!11!!!1! <3<3.
John Fee – Fee will never be good at FIFA and his only comeback to anyone ever will be “Yeah?”
John Fiore– John will join Charles in the AFL and also coach robotics with him. He will coach Nick Creegan in
wrestling in Spain.
Nick Franco – Nick will become a lawyer and will win every case he is ever presented because each opposing
lawyer he ever faces will become too annoyed with him while trying to make an argument.
Lou Heck – Lou will become very successful in life after four years at the University of Dallas.
Tom Hoff – Hoff will become an analyst on ESPN, but one day someone will question his views, and he and his
brother will take it out on ESPN by beating all the others analysts… and by beating them at fantasy football.
Alex Hunnewell – Alex will be the star on a hit 2 PM soap opera. He will be the character crying and complaining about everything.
Tom Keefe – Tom and his brother James will resurrect the band TASTE, with their hit song titled, “We both teach
at St. Sebastian’s, and our souls don’t lie, and can you taste it, yeah?”
Dillon Kerr – Dillon will be the first Arrow to go to the MLS, but won’t ever show up to the games in uniform.
Paul Lee – Paul Lee will be kicked out of college because the teachers will not think that it is normal to pretend
you are asleep in class.
David Leith – David will try to be a stand-up comedian, but after he realizes no one thinks he is funny, he will
take up racecar driving, just like dad.
DericMcCottrell–Deric will go ham in the NBA and be the fastest NBA player to ever reach 2000 points. He’ll
then sign a marketing contract with Gummiworms.
GerardMcEleney – Gerard will have a job driving the Canton bus to Dexter School every day.
Donny McGuirl – Today, Donny said, “Hey, I really want to hang out with you in college.” Well that’s not in your
future, my friend.
Joe McIntyre – Joe won’t ever understand anything...except when he does.
Teddy Mead –Teddy will be the backup goalie for SMU soccer.
Edmund Murphy – After marrying Riley, Edmund will look forward to his sophomore year at Middlebury. After
failing to go pro in baseball, Edmund will turn to writing, but no one will publish his work. Looks like the publishers don’t care about all those A+’s on literary analysis papers, do they?
Tom Murphy – When you want to know what Tom Brady’s completion percentage was in the last game he
played, turn to Murf, because that’s what statisticians do.
Lucas Mykulak – Lucas will skip class to go to the dentist.
Tom Nunan–Tom will win the Nobel Peace Prize because he has literally never done anything belligerent in his
life.
Jordan Perry– Jordan will come back to Seb’s to coach wrestling with Mr. Ryan.
Corey Peters – According to Corey, he is going to do very well in life. Maybe a CEO?
Sam Racine – Sam will be put in a mental institution because he will never say one thing that makes sense to
anyone, and no one will ever see him not in a straitjacket again.
J-Rod–Wherever J-Rod goes to college, he will be crowned most annoying-yet-endearing kid in the school.
Scott Smith – While applying for jobs, Scott will remain undefeated with job acceptances. And everyone will
know about it.
Alex Spear – After marrying Jennie, Alex will play for the new baseball team, The Sand Bar Docks. He will be the
President of SADD at Wake Forest.
Robbie Spencer – Robbie will do better in life than Connor Wiik, because he is clearly smarter than he is.
Zane Stanton – Zane will be hired by comedians to sit in the crowds of their shows so they will be sure that at
least one person will laugh at every single joke they make.
Tim Stoddard – Tim will not be able to function in the real world because the only thing he understands is physics. Katie will have to do everything for him.
Brian Strachan – Brian will lose interest in football because of all the books he reads in his free time that he
would have never imagined reading as a child.
Chris Sullivan – Chris and Sean Duffy will be the next two members of “The Sound a Gun Makes” Bros.
Sean Sullivan – Sean will run cross-country for Georgetown and win the race where everyone has to literally run
across the country.
Phi Tran – Phi will set the record for shaking his head at people and saying “Wow.” He will never find out how he
was accepted at Tufts yet wait-listed at Holy Cross.
Murph van der Velde – Murph will lead Harvard lacrosse in goals.
Will Vietze – He will marry Lea and at their wedding will sing, “Lea, you are so special.”
Patrick Wallace – Patrick may never graduate from high school, so my prediction is moot.
Donovan Ward – DWard will major in Computer Science at UVM and sit back and chill all day every day forever.
Chris Warner – Chris will be the third base coach for the Red Sox because he knows every secret signal every
baseball player needs to know – Alex Spear let him in on all the little secrets.
Connor Wiik–Wiik will move to England because there it is legal to drive on the left side of the road.
Senior Class Legacy
Continued from Page 1
academic status, and our top-notch
athleticism and leadership.
But there is one quality that
sets this class over the top, and it’s
perseverance.
As everyone knows, remembers, and will never forget, this class
lost William Judge to an unexpected,
sudden death on the lacrosse field
on a beautiful April 24th, 2007
evening. With the coming days and
weeks following this terrible occurrence, we as classmates picked each
other up as we grieved together, felt
better together, and remembered
our friend together. Through this
horrific experience, we came closer
together as a class, became a better,
more caring, and closer class, and
we all know that the person who
brought us together and continues
to bring us together is Will. We miss
him but we know he’s still with us—
and will be with us forever. We are
all motivated by his family’s courage
and optimism since Will’s death—
we get our perseverance from their
perseverance.
So as we prepare to graduate and move on, we will hold Will
Judge in our minds, hearts, and souls
forever.
In essence, I think we will
be remembered as the class that
can endure anything, fight through
anything, and become better people
because of our adversity simply
because we have each other.
THE WALRUS
Page 4
April 2011
Moot Court Nearing the Finals
By Joe Dudley ‘12
This year’s moot court has
provided some intriguing cases
and exciting matchups. The final
four has almost been set with only
one match remaining: Thai and
O’Connor V. Matra and Petro. The
winner of this match will face Wallace and Balboni in the final four.
The other two teams squaring off
are Keefe and Franco against Dudley
and Fechtelkotter. For those of you
who do not know what moot court
entails, I will give a brief overview.
Moot court is a mock trial, with
each team first starting off with ten
minutes to present their case. After
the initial presentation, Mr. Cleary,
the organizer and judge, along with
his fellow judge either Mr. Dadigian
or Mr. Schell pepper each team with
questions to see how well each side
can defend themselves. After the
round of questions, each team has
five minutes to conclude their case
but cannot present any new information. Before I preview each of
the remaining teams, special thanks
should be given to Mr. Cleary, who
picks the cases and deals with
everyone’s busy schedule with
understanding and flexibility.
In the final quarterfinal
match, there are two untested
teams facing off. Neither teams
of Terry O’Connor and Ben Thai,
juniors, nor Julian Matra and Mike
Petro, sophomores, have ever mooted before. Will O’Connor’s and Thai’s
experience in the class room and
better understanding of the United
States constitution give them the
upper hand? Or will Matra’s and
Petro’s experience in public speaking prove to be the deciding factor?
It’s safe to say, with Terry being a
standout in Mr. Jenkins’s English, his
side will have a well-written speech,
but will they actually understand
the case well enough to answer Mr.
Cleary’s questions? Will the Shakespeare competition winner, Julian,
simply sound so good that anything
he says will convince Mr. Cleary of
his victory? Only time will tell.
The case they must argue is Vernonia
School District V. Acton. Acton is a
seventh grader who plays football
at Vernonia middle school, and he is
suing the school for forcing him to
undergo drug tests that all athletes
in Vernonia are required to take.
The classic argument of the fourth
and fourteenth amendment will
take place on April 14th. With Acton
winning twice by the sides of Franco
and Keefe and Balboni and Wallace, and Vernonia winning once by
Dudley and Fechtelkotter, it seems
anything could happen.
As I mentioned earlier the
three current final four teams are
Franco and Keefe, Balboni and Wallace, and Dudley and Fechtelkotter.
The favorite appears to be Franco
and Keefe, as they went to the finals
last year and have the only all senior
team. No matter who wins the next
match, Franco, Keefe, and Wallace
are the only seniors remaining in the
competition.
Nick Franco and Tom Keefe
have earned their spot with one
victory over Frazzette and Cimini, juniors, who competed in moot court
for the first time. They fought valiantly against Franco and Keefe, but
fell due to Franco and Keefe’s great
teamwork. Last year’s runners up,
are thirsty for a championship and
will not be stopped easily. The only
thing that stands between Franco
and Keefe and another place in the
finals—their opponents Dudley and
Fechtelkotter. This junior duo will
certainly have their work cut out for
them.
The only team to have
won two matches is Joe Dudley
and Matt Fechtelkotter. Due to the
bracketing, they got placed into the
bracket in a sort of play-in situation similar to the NCAA basketball
tournament. They have beaten any
cupcakes either. In the first round,
Matt and Joe beat Kevin Looney and
Alexander Moore, first time mooters.
The following round brought Bobby
Wright and Lou Heck, and although
both first time moot court participants, this team could have done
damage to the bracket if given the
chance. This experience against two
talented teams will work for Matt
and Joe’s, with two cases under their
belt and experience from last year,
they certainly know the ropes. They
can only hope that their experience can prepare them for anything
Keefe and Franco throw at them.
The last final four team is Aidan
Balboni and Patrick Wallace. Aidan
and Patrick beat the team of Kevin
Patterson and Chris Riley to make
it to the semi-finals. Both debate
pros hope to bring their wide skill
set to the Moot Court final and take
the championship while their at it.
Interestingly enough, Aidan and
Patrick are both varsity lacrosse
players. These two hope that they
will be able to hoist not only an ISL
championship but a moot court
championship as well.
As the final four draws ever nearer,
the excitement also grows. One
can only hope that these final four
matches of Moot Court will be as exciting as the rounds which precede
them.
McLaughlin notes the similary between the seals of St. Sebastian’s and the Seal of the Presidency of
the United States with unabashed glee and a self-aggrandizing laugh.
Exclusive Interview with
President McLaughlin
By Jay Daukas ‘14
Q: What do you have planned for this year’s speech?
A: As a true gentleman and scholar, I can’t reveal too much of what’s in my speech, but just like my weekly addresses
I’m hoping that everyone gets a laugh out of the funny stuff and takes to heart the serious stuff.
Q: How do you feel about your competition?
A: I know that there are kids who plan to run against me, and I respect them for that. It takes a lot of courage to get
up there in front of the whole school and deliver a speech in the hopes of taking out an incumbent. I have to appreciate that. On the other hand, I feel as though I care about student council and the position of president—some
might say too much. And the commitment that I bring to the position and to my weekly speeches largely outweighs
my commitment to most of my other endeavors. I also feel as though all too often people decide to run for the
wrong reasons.
I said it last year and I’ll say it again--this has never been about my transcript. Being in one club for two years, no matter how important it is to me or any of you, is going to get me into a better school. I think that that sort of speaks to
the honesty of what I’m trying to do here. I really cherish this opportunity that I’ve been given and I want so badly to
return for a second term. So, I guess I would say to anyone planning to run against me: by all means go for it, competition is the spirit behind so much of what we do, but do realize how much this means to me and how badly I want it.
Have honest intentions going into the election and know that I’m not going down without a fight.
Q: Can we (the student body) expect your speech to be as funny as little Ike’s?
A: First off, Ike’s speech was one of the Top 5 funniest things to ever happen at Seb’s during my time here. Props to
him for that. I think that the best thing about it was the element of surprise. No one knew what to expect when he
got up there and he just blew everyone away—It was brilliant. For me, the element of surprise is really never there.
The pressure is on to be funny every week, and even funnier on election day. People expect me to be making jokes
daily, and it’s pretty much sink-or-swim from there. Don’t get me wrong, I love the pressure, it keeps me on my toes,
but it also all but eliminates this element of surprise. Don’t worry though. I’ve always got a few tricks up my sleeve. I
wouldn’t try to outdo a performance like Ike’s, but you guys should know that I never disappoint. Or is it that I never
fail to disappoint? Depends how you look at it....either/or, I guess.
Q: How do you compare your campaign for president to Obama’s campaign?
A: I try not to align myself with specific politicians or political issues, especially during such volatile times in United
States government. With that in mind, I’m lucky to be competing for a position in which I don’t have to play dirty
politics or pander to voters of a certain political background. I can just be myself and hope for the best. Now, having
said that, I think the position of Student Council president demands quite a bit more than the position of President
of the United States. Even still, they don’t give me so much as my own semi-to-very luxurious office, let alone an
entire house. Barack gets the better end of the deal on this one. Keeping that in mind, it seems as though Obama’s
campaign was successful thanks in large part to his powerful public speaking skills and promises of hope. These
tactics helped him woo voters across the political spectrum. If you look closely, for the most part I’m promising the
same thing. After a year of Monday morning chapels I feel at home up on the podium. I’m now as comfortable addressing the entire school as I am speaking with you one-on-one.
Also, my message this year is definitely one of hope. Last year I became just the second junior in recent memory
to be elected president. Even though the odds were stacked against me, I didn’t back down. I knew I wanted it so I
went for it. Becoming Student Council President has always been a dream of mine, and realizing that dream was an
indescribable thrill for me. This year I’m coming back to complete my goal and finish the job that I started last year. I
feel as though just by doing this I’m showing people that if you set the bar high for yourself and you’re really willing
to work for it, you can achieve whatever you set out to do.
We all hope this year’s Moot Court finals will be as stimulating and entertaining as last year’s bonanza.
Int. Club Closing A Busy Year
By Niko Fischer ‘14
The International Club
has been busy this semester, and
elections have been held for next
year’s officers. The new leaders will
be incoming president Brendan
Dunphy, vice president Peter Cimini,
and secretary Curtis Yandow. The
International Club also cosponsored
the showing of the movie Schindler’s
List with the History Club. Schindler’s
list is a true story of a businessman from the Czech Republic who
saved over 1,000 Jews from a certain
death at the concentration camps,
in Germany, during World War II. He
employed Jews in his factory and
labeled them essential workers to
make sure that they wouldn’t be sent
to the camps. In addition, the club
made a trip along with the MPA to
the Museum of Science to view Race:
Are We So Different?. This exhibit
starts by disproving any scientific
basis for race, arguing that race is an
invention of society. According to
Mrs. Schwimmer, the exhibit goes on
to explore the history of race and its
affects on society, considering “biological, cultural, and historical point
of views”. In addition to new movies,
new exhibits, and new fundraising,
“the international club continues to
donate to our child in Bolivia,” Mrs.
Schwimmer informed me. Fundraising efforts have been put in
place to aid victims of the Japanese
tsunami and earthquake. Stay tuned
for announcements in the coming
days for donation opportunities to
the Japanese Red Cross. The International Club will end the year with its
annual banquet. The club will dine
at a restaurant, possible Fire & Ice in
Cambridge, to close out the successful year.
Sebs Breaks Ground on New Building
By Mike Petro ‘13
On the first day of our
return from March break, I walked
in to Room 107 for Precalc and took
my normal seat, positioned next to
the windows to provide maximum
daydr –– I mean ventilation. Yet, as
I tried to focus on my mathematics,
I found my eyes wandering to the
strange sight outside as tons of
powerful machinery picks up massive
loads of dirt and then deposits them...
somewhere else. Yes, something is
definitely happening in our backyard.
Even though I’m sure we
all know what is happening behind
the math wing, for those of you who
don’t, let me explain: New Science
and Math Building. I figured the
head of the science department
would know more about this project,
so I decided to get the scoop from
the great Mr. Wilbur. I found him
drumming a fancy beat on his desk,
and timidly interrupted the school’s
resident martial arts master to ask a
few questions. He complied.
To begin with some basic
facts, the building should be finished
by the end of March Break next year,
with eight brand new labs (two for
each branch of science taught here),
loads more storage, and an expanded
math wing. We discussed what his
favorite aspects of the new building
will be and Mr. Wilbur gave me
three great new pieces to the project:
lab space, project rooms for Rube
Goldberg and Robotics, as well as
one that most students wouldn’t think
of – storage.
“I don’t want to sound
selfish, but it will be great to have
my own classroom/lab again.”
One problem that faces our science
faculty is the necessity of sharing
labs with one to three other teachers,
meaning that they can’t set up long
term projects or leave out equipment.
As for current storage, Mr. Wilbur
spoke of times when the science
department had to decide against
buying equipment simply because
there wasn’t adequate space. Then
there’s the problem of having to make
what he calls “Petro Rules” to prevent
fidgety students from destroying lab
equipment. I guess I’m not alone?
Even though we are getting
new science equipment, Mr. Wilbur
was quick to remind me that although
“science is great”, the new building
will also pay homage to the spiritual
aspect of our existence, likely through
the thematic power of the awesome
rotunda with balconies connected to
physics labs for drop experiments.
Although he can’t confirm it, Mr.
Wilbur believes that the room will
have some obvious tribute to the
cooperation of Science and Religion,
that the school wants to explore.
In a Facebook chat, Paul
Lee told me that he was “sad that
[he] won’t be able to be there” but
that he “really likes that it’s being
built”. Students not so geeky are also
excited: “I think its gonna be sick,”
said one junior (who also admitted
he doesn’t think about it that often.) Still, we should all get excited for
this amazing change to the school
grounds.
Q: Any thing special planned for next year if you get re-elected?
A: As of today I’ve already begun work on several big projects to be completed by the end of this year and the beginning of next year. I hope to be re-elected in part to see these projects through to the end. And also, of course, I have
a plethora of phenomenal ideas on deck that I hope will make an impact on our everyday lives next year. While I
came up with a good chunk of these ideas myself, I think it’s a beautiful thing that many of these ideas have come
from fellow students. I’ve always been committed to allowing every opinion and every voice of the Student Body to
be heard. Thanks to everyone welcoming that idea, I’ve been able to get tremendous input from kids in every grade.
I think I’ve dragged this interview out long enough, my sincere apologies, but if I could make one final closing statement to my people: Who values the position of president over his own safety and reputation? Who is there bringing
the heat every Monday, whether something big is going on that week or not? Who can make everything he bakes
satisfying and delicious? Who loves you?
If you can answer these questions and be 100% sure, if you can make your choice on election day with clear eyes,
and love in your heart, with joy in your heart...If you can do that gentleman - you’re perfect.
‘70’s Dance Superb As Always
By Tom Keefe ‘11
SENIOR EDITOR
The 70s began in 1997,
when the school president of St.
Sebastian’s School, Johnny Keefe,
decided to make a dance that paid
tribute to the disco age. Fourteen
years later, the dance is still alive,
with many of the same decorations
that have been brought out year
after year. Each year, the 70s dance
compels the students of Sebs to
rummage through their attics, hope
chests, and the racks of Savers in
order to get the esteemed costume
contest prize. The outfits are absurd,
the dance moves are retro, and the
excitement for the big day mounts
to an all-time high right around
2:30PM.
Why 2:30 PM? The 70s
dance video of course, another Sebs
tradition that is a short movie that
serves as a sort of commercial for the
epic dance. While last year’s video
was a recycled, unoriginal, let-down,
this year’s video resurrected the Sebs
tradition in a huge way. Senior David
Leith led the effort, showcasing a hilarious skit involving Patty Mac and
Mr. Wilbur. The plot revolved around
the idea of doing a dance based on
another decade besides the 70s. This
involved a scene in which Mr. Wilbur
admitted his obsession with High
School musical, a scene in which
Patty Mac pictured an N’sync music
video remake, and a David Leith
rendition of the Rick Roll. The best
segments included Leith’s mysterious floating head trick, Lou Heck’s
dance moves, and Jordan Perry’s
facial expressions. All in all, a great
piece of work.
Now let’s move on to the
actual dance. When I arrived on the
scene at about 8:00 o’clock, I made
a few quick observations. First, I
noticed that Security Guard Rob was
on the scene. Good. Things could
get really dangerous around here
real fast. And if anyone could lay
the smack down on a rowdy crop of
over-energetic freshmen, Rob can.
(In fact, when I saw him, he cordially
offered me some of his pepperoni
pizza – but, it being a Friday in Lent,
I was obliged to refuse.) Second, I
observed the life-sized cardboard
cut-out of Austin Powers. Perfect.
That legend’s presence will certainly
add some funk to the scene.
Finally, I witnessed the
number of absurd high school
students garbed in disco gear. They
were literally all over the place. Some
highlights were David Leith ‘11 and
Dillon Kerr ‘11 in vibrant purple and
yellow suits and fro wigs as well as
Brian O’Malley ’13 ’s fur vest. As for
me, I brought all my 70s ammo with
a blue top hat, fro wig, gold vest,
yellow sport coat with yellow shortshorts, and bright red knee socks.
The judges must not have seen me,
or must have disapproved of my
modern shutter-shades, because the
named the winner of the costume
contest Ike Okwerku ‘13, who made
an absolutely hilarious speech at corporate chapel where he presented
the award to Mr. Burke.
All in all, this year’s 70s
dance was a major success. It
produced numerous moments that
have become a part of Sebs lore. Mr.
Wilbur admitting his affinity for boogieing, getting RickRoll’d by David
Leith, and Little Ike’s speech are classic moments that will last through
the ages. That is why St. Sebs is such
a special place – moments like these.
The dance itself? Nothing special,
in fact a bit boring. Perhaps student
council and St. Sebs as a whole
needs to take a look in the way
dances are done. Could have used a
little more – I dunno – dancing. All
the things surrounding the dance?
Classic. At no other place would you
get the 70s dance video, an absurd
amount of hilarious costumes, or a
speech quite as original or hilarious
as Little Ike’s. Kudos to all in involved
in the 70’s Dance, especially the seventh graders managing the beverage stand. Thanks for the free water.
February 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 5
Seb’s Hosts Three Impressive
Guests for Poetry Month
By Christian Kelly ‘14
It’s National Poetry month. Students
are reciting poems in corporate
chapel, Freshmen are working on
sonnets in writing class, and soon
enough a few poets will be visiting
Sebs to share their work, speak, and
run writing workshops.
On April 19th, a Tuesday, Major Jackson will be visiting us. The author of
three collections of poetry, Leaving Saturn (2002), Hoops (2006),
and Holding Company (2010),
Jackson is a Richard Dennis Green
and Gold Professor at University of
Vermont, has served as a creative
arts fellow at the Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Study at Harvard
University, and has been a Jack
Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at the
University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
His first collection, Leaving Saturn,
won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize
and was a finalist for a National
Book Critics Circle Award. Hoops,
his second collection, was a finalist
for the NAACP Image Award in the
category of Outstanding Literature
– Poetry. Major Jackson is also a
recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award
and has been honored by the Pew
Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter
Bynner Foundation in conjunction
with the Library of Congress.
Then, on Thursday, April 21st, Reggie Gibson and Marlon Carey will
visit us again and will throw on
another performance similar to the
one we saw a year ago, which was
a mix of music and poetry. Gibson
is widely published in anthologies,
magazines, and journals. He has
also taught, lectured, and facilitated
numerous workshops for colleges
and universities throughout the
country. Reggie has performed on
stages such as Chicago’s Museum
of Contemporary Art, Hothouse,
and Chicago Cultural Center. Reggie
acted as co-producer for the work
The Mystery of Fire Bread and, while
in Europe, he performed with the
Sharnier Theater in the cities of
Hanover, Frankfurt, Berlin and also
at the LiteraturHaus in Hamburg,
Germany. Named best Hip Hop Poet
by the Cambridge Poetry Awards
two years in a row, Marlon Carey has
been the Boston Cantab Lounge’s
“Grand Slam Champion” and performed with the Jeff Robinson Trio.
Marlon has published three books:
Giraffe Theory (2000), Prolegomenon
(2003) and Lazarus (2007).
Later, on Wednesday, April 27th,
Anthony Abbott will visit. Abbott,
born in San Diego, attended the Fay
School, in Southborough, Massachusetts and later went to the Kent
School, in Kent, Connecticut. He
then earned his A.B. from Princeton
University, and then his A.M. and
Ph.D. from Harvard University. Abbot
was a professor at Bates College
from 1961 to 1964, when he left
to join the English Department at
Davidson College, where he became a Full Professor in 1979, and
then served as head of the English
Department from 1989 to 1996. His
first volume of poems, The Girl in the
Yellow Raincoat (1989), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Abbott
published four more volumes of
poetry: A Small Thing Like a Breath
(1993), The Search For Wonder in
the Cradle of the World (2000), The
Man Who (2005), and New and
Selected; Poems 1989-2009 (2009).
His fourth collection, The Man Who,
won the Oscar Arnold Young Award
in 2005. In addition to poetry, he has
also published two novels: Leaving
Maggie Hope (2003), which won the
Novello Award and the Gold Award
from ForeWord Magazine, and its sequel, The Three Great Secret Things
(2007). Anthony Abbott’s poems
have appeared in several magazines
and literary journals, including the
New England Review, Southern
Poetry Review, St. Andrews Review,
Pembroke, Tar River Poetry, Theology
Today, and The Anglican Theological
Review.
As mentioned before, Major Jackson,
Reggie Gibson, Marlon Carey, and
Anthony Abbott will all be visiting
Sebs and will hold writing workshops during their visit. Jackson
will be sharing his work with us in
chapel, and Gibson and Carey will
conduct a performance for us in
Ward Hall at the end of the day.
Freshmen Playing Varsity?
By Andrew Corcoran ‘14
At St. Sebastian’s, the
coaches of six most popular sports
(Football, Soccer, Hockey, Basketball,
Baseball, and Lacrosse) have handed
out or will hand out only eight Varsity letters to freshmen by the end of
the spring season. Having only eight
letters may seem small; however, in
many local public schools, if they are
lucky a student athlete will receive
one a varsity letter for the entire academic year. Upperclassmen fill the
roster of public school varsity teams,
and play almost every shift, play,
or possession. Despite the public
schools rarely playing freshmen in
their most popular varsity sports, St.
Sebastian’s teams send out freshmen
on their varsity teams, and many of
them contribute largely to the team’s
success. For example, Corey Ronan, a
freshman, scored the game-winning
goal against Nobles, in a highly anticipated contest between a couple
of the ISL’s top teams. Not only did
Corey help the hockey team, but also
Connor Strachan started at middle
line backer for the football team.
With freshmen contributing in a
large manner to St. Sebastian’s most
popular sports, naturally, freshmen
should be able to play varsity sports.
Some say believe this statement to
be truth. One who believes this statement to be true is the varsity soccer
coach, Mr. C. Lynch.
AC: Do you have a prejudged notion
against freshmen playing varsity
soccer?
Mr.L: No, not at all, we have had a
number of freshmen play varsity soccer. Usually there is one every year.
AC: How much do freshmen affect
the varsity soccer team?
Mr. L: It varies, [Dillon] Kerr and
[Zane] Stanton contributed a lot.
George Price scored a number of
goals as a freshman. Ben Piersiak
didn’t play much freshman year, but
got much better and started as a
sophomore.”
AC: Would freshmen not being able
to play varsity soccer affect the
team? And should freshmen be allowed to play varsity soccer?
Mr. L: It would definitely affect us.
Some kids are ready to play as freshmen.
Unlike many public high
schools, Mr. Lynch chooses freshmen to play on the varsity team, and
often the freshmen play major time.
In his mind freshmen add a key mix
to in the ultimate recipe for a great
team. Despite Mr. Lynch’s support
of freshmen playing varsity sports,
many do not think it should not
happen. Upperclassmen have been
around the teams and programs
longer; therefore, a freshman should
not just be allowed to snag a spot
from them. When a new freshman
walks onto the court, field, or rink for
tryouts, some upper classmen see
kids that feel like they are entitled to
a spot on the varsity team, due to the
select team that they play on. Most
of these talented freshmen have
not gone through the struggles that
some of the upper classmen went
through to be on the team that they
play on now. For example, on the
football team, rarely does a freshman
start for the varsity. Connor Strachan
this year was the first in a very long
time to start as a freshman. Although
not many freshmen play the six
most popular sports at St. Sebs,
some believe that freshmen have an
advantage in varsity tryouts. One of
those is John O’Leary, a freshman on
the varsity Lacrosse team.
AC: Is being a freshman an advantage or disadvantage at tryouts?
JO: Physically it is discouraging
because everyone is bigger than you
and probably older. However, no
one knows your game, meaning that
you have the mental edge on other
opponents.
AC: Would freshmen not being able
to play varsity lacrosse have an effect?
JO: Not really; I mean, I do not contribute to the team during games.
AC: At your public school, would you
contribute to the varsity lacrosse
team as a freshman?
JO: Due to the lack of lacrosse players in Westwood, I would contribute
more at Westwood high than I currently do for Sebs.
AC: Would being a freshman hinder
your chances of playing a varsity
sport at Westwood High School?
JO: Not if I had the talent. Any good
coach has the ability to recognize talent, which doesn’t concern the age
of the player.
As John O’Leary put it,
any player with the talent to play
a varsity sport should. Talent has
nothing to do with a player’s age. At.
St. Sebastian’s, we have the perfect
system, if talented enough, a freshman should play a varsity sport.
Even though most public schools do
not follow the same rules we follow,
freshmen, as members of the High
School, are just as entitled to play a
varsity sport as anyone.
Celebrity Look-Alike
Scott Smith
Napoleon
Scott may or may not have been the leader of France.
But there are other similarities between the two,
as one can see here in these ‘separated at birth’ photos.
You should join both Ryan Bacic and Mr. Drummond and watch this show on NBC Thursdays.
Bacic’s Review of Community
By Ryan Bacic ‘11
If you’re not watching NBC’s
Community, you’re missing out.
Now nearing the end of its second
season, this hysterical sitcom centers
around a group of friends at the
fictional Greendale Community College in Greendale, Colorado, and the
producers cleverly play off of this by
stylizing the title of each episode as
a college class relating to the events
that take place (“Early 21st Century
Romanticism,” “Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons,” etc.). While this might
at first look to be a fairly mundane
setting, the show’s amazing writers
are able to artfully transform it into
a place where great stories abound.
The first season’s “Contemporary
American Poultry” is a perfect example of this skill in action, as in this
episode the group’s complaint over
a dearth of the delicious chicken
fingers in the dining hall leads to
the uncovering of some serious
fowl play. (Admit it—you liked that.)
Similarly creative premises include
an intense and outrageous debate
against a rival community college
in “The Art of Discourse” and the
creation of a school-wide fort out of
sheets and blankets in “Conspiracy
Theories and Interior Design.” Week
in and week out, Community never
fails to deliver, getting an uncanny
number of miles out of its subject
matter.
The show’s central character, smooth slacker Jeff Winger, is
played by Joel McHale (of E!’s The
Soup, which is actually pretty funny,
despite its channel) and is a guy on
whom no epithet short of “legend”
may adequately be bestowed.
After it is discovered that he got his
bachelor’s degree in Colombia rather
than at Columbia, Jeff has to go
back to school before he can return
to life as an attorney again. Though
he treats Greendale as the joke that
it is, he ends up growing unexpectedly close with six of his classmates
through a Spanish study group they
formed during their first semester.
The crew may be rightly described
as “motley”—which it seems is the
only real way to describe a crew
these days—ranging from the
young and driven Annie to the much
older and unapologetically offensive
Pierce, played by a still-hilarious
Chevy Chase. The slightly unstable
and film-obsessed Abed, his best
friend and former football star Troy,
single mom Shirley, and super lib
Brita round out the group. Playing a
larger role in Season 2 is Ken Jeong
(perhaps most easily recognized as
the flamboyant gangster from The
Hangover), who starts off as the
school’s Spanish teacher—“Señor
Chang”—but eventually goes back
to school and ends up as a desperate
study group wannabe.
The ensemble cast gives
the show a flavor somewhat reminiscent of the excellent How I Met
Your Mother but with two more
main characters and fewer serious undertones. Combined with
the fact that the episodes are only
loosely connected and can more or
less stand on their own, this gives
Community the advantage of being
an easy show to jump into and start
watching without getting caught up
beforehand. Because Hulu currently
is only showing three episodes at a
time (and only one more is available
On-Demand), this feature is convenient, to be sure.
Community really hit its
stride, according to most critics,
with the Season 1 episode “Modern Warfare,” which won “Comedy
Episode of the Year” for its depiction
of a campus-wide paintball game
devolving into a brilliant parody of
clichéd guns-blazing action movies.
Two critics named it the “Best Show
of 2010,” and acclaim has continued
to follow it well into this season,
which currently holds an 88/100
rating on Metacritic. A show beloved
by Mr. Drummond and one that Nick
Chappel says “reinvented funny,”
Community is must-watch TV. With
four episodes left this season and
with the series renewed for a third
go-round, there’s still plenty of time
for newbies to start their addictions.
Classics Day: Great Time at HC
By Peter DeMatteo ‘13
On Thursday, April 14, the
Latin Club rode up to Holy Cross for
one of the greatest experiences of
the year, Classics Day. Both students
and faculty, especially Mr. Albertson,
wanted to repeat in taking the Triple
Crown, which means victories in the
costume contest, the chariot race,
and the Certamen competition, a
contest kind of like Latin trivia. Sebs
had prepared for this event two
days before with Certamen Night,
where the teams participating in the
Certamen contest would be decided
upon. Many teams competed for
these spots in both the upper and
lower divisions. After the first round
which took place in classrooms, the
top three teams in each division
mounted the stage in Ward Hall for
the final round, complete with an
electronic buzz-in system. Here, the
two teams for each division were decided, while everybody else feasted
on delicious dessert made by Joe.
Two days later, over a hundred Arrows arrived at Holy Cross for
Classics Day, unloading from a pair
of buses, and filling up the seats in
a large auditorium, where students
from the about twenty other schools
began to mutter in an intimidated
manner, listening to a number of
loud chants. The students on the
Certamen teams went off into
classrooms again for the first round
of competition, while the rest stayed
in the ballroom-like hall, watching a
number of extremely pathetic skits
for the first event of the day, the
costume contest. Most of performances consisted of kids coming up
dressed in Toga’s and stating how
they were some sort of God, lasting
about three seconds. After a multitude of poorly put together skits
and the three second monologues,
it was time for Sebs to show them
all up. The skit consisted of a Roman
mom and Dad, Lou Heck and Sean
Frazzette, trying to stop their kids,
Bobby Wright and (I can’t remember
the other kid…sorry!) from behaving
badly. In order to help them, they
bring in motivational orator Matt
Foley, played by Patrick McLaughlin,
who went on an extended, hilarious
speech telling the Roman “children”
to shape up. This speech culminated
with Matt Foley jumping on and
crushing a cardboard table, set up by
Chris Riley.
After the best performance of the
day by far concluded, everyone ran
out to the chariot race, arguably the
most anticipated event of the day,
one that Sebs had dominated for a
while with a streak of four consecutive victories (yes, a four-peat). This
year, the chariot, a trash barrel on
wheels painted red and black, was
being pulled by Brian Strachan and
Charles Conigliaro, the chief engineer was Doug Kinsley, and riding
inside was Justin Lee (not to be confused with Paul “E-Jounghoon” Lee).
The Sebs chariot defeated chariot
after chariot, including the trash talking Worcester Academy, speeding
down the track lined with raucous
fans, drowning out all sounds of
other schools and storming the track
whenever there was a Sebs victory.
As Strachan and Conigliaro pulled
the Sebs chariot along, a record
number of accidents took place,
ranging from having the chariot fall
forward and the rider land on his
face to wheels falling off, sending
the rider flying, to a time when the
chariot actually caught up with one
runner, knocking him to the pavement. Luckily no one was hurt (NB:
one kid may or may not have been
concussed). In the finals, the Sebs
chariot again won easily, and the
fans rushed the track to celebrate
the victory, as once again Sebs had
dominated the competition.
After lunch, everyone walked back
to the original hall to watch both
the novice and advanced Certamen
finals. First was the novice divi-
sion, where the four person team
of Kevin Patterson, Teddy O’Hara,
Caleb Aldrich, and Chris Rodiwitz
had made the finals. After starting
slowly, this team overcame the other
two schools, including a lumberjack
kid from Newman who was full of
sass, attempting to draw attention
to himself the entire time. After this
victory, in the advanced division the
team of Dillon Ecclesine, Dillon Kerr,
Tom Keefe, and Tom Nunan made
the finals and quickly took the lead
over the other two teams, never
looking back before winning their
round as well.
After the Certamen concluded,
members of the Holy Cross began
the award ceremony. As was already
known, Sebs took first in the Chariot
Race, as well as both Certamen competitions. However, the costume
contest team was snubbed, instead
given third place. What was clearly
the best skit from any view lost to a
strange and boring Roman fashion
show skit, and a musical skit no one
had any idea was about since the
actors spoke in inaudible voices and
did not really do any acting either.
Despite this one set back, Sebs
owned classics day in an unheard of
fashion. Besting the Triple Crown,
Sebs took home the Quadruple
Crown, taking home a trophy in
every event, while according to one
college kid running it “having the
perfect blend of energy and talent.”
When the day concluded, everyone went back on the buses and
returned to Sebs for sports and other
activities. In conclusion, I would like
to thank Mr. Albertson, Mr. Ferguson,
Stefan Cressotti, Mr. Lynch, and Mr.
Nerbonne for organizing and making possible this great day, as well as
Certamen Night.
THE WALRUS
Page 6
April 2011
POINT and COUNTERPOINT
Patches O’Houlihan
Dodgeball
By John Donovan ‘12
“Leadership is getting someone to do
something they don’t want to do, to
achieve what they want to achieve” –
Tom Landry, Head Coach of the Dallas
Cowboys
Patches O’Houlihan, a man
born to Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and
well…Dodge, is that leader Tom
Landry speaks of. His aggressive and
domineering presence transcends
his physical limitations and apparent
delirium, establishing him as a force
on the dodge ball court and as a
commanding instructor. His undying
dedication to the team, his masterful comprehension of dodge ball
dynamics and stratagems, his unique
personality, and his zeal for victory all
push the Average Joe’s team to new
lengths, stretching their abilities and
capacities to the max. In his role as
Coach, Patches amped up the intensity to level 11 in his drills, compelling
his players to undergo grueling and
terrifyingly painful tasks, which are
most likely highly illegal, so that they
might achieve their overall goal of
saving Average Joe’s.
The Average Joe’s team
wasn’t prepared for Patches’ insane
teachings; however, they all benefit
personally from his wisdom. Under
his tutelage the team quickly learned
that his methods weren’t exactly
“necessary” much like his tendency
to drink his own urine, which he does
because it happened to be sterile and
he likes the taste. On Day 1 of training, eyes pop, as Patches empties a
dirty rucksack filled with various sizes
of wrenches, and the team stares
wide mouthed at his unabashed
vulgarity and insane first words: “If
you can dodge a wrench, you can
dodge a ball.” He then proceeds to
clock one of the team’s weakest links
in the face with one of his steel tools,
dropping him to the floor, groaning, moaning, and in agony. Staring
at Patches with bewildered faces,
they realize that they are in for more
than they bargained. In the training
sequences throughout the movie,
Patches is often pictured demeaning his players while hurling dodge
balls and wrenches at high velocities,
often aiming for either the head or
groin with a 95% accuracy rating.
For instance, while the team conditions, running half-court sprints, in
between throws, Patches often calls
out axioms such as: “Come on! I got
better runs in my shorts!” This simple
put down pushes the team to work
harder, knowing that such struggles
are necessary to overcome for
ultimate triumph. Similarly, Patches
employs his drill-sergeant style of
coaching in the classroom. While
aggressively plotting plays and
schemes to overcome the enemy,
Patches keeps his players on their
toes constantly, never afraid to hurl
a wrench at an inattentive player.
In doing so, despite exhausting
practices and desires to throw in the
towel, he keeps his team alert and
focused on the $50,000 prize ahead.
Finally, Patches takes his catchphrase
to the next level, saying, “If you can
dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball.”
He brings the simple game of dodge
ball into the real world, a life or
death situation. Although his players
most likely have great qualms about
bounding into the oncoming rush
hour traffic, they by now have faith
in Patches. They realize that he might
be a psychopath and the drills might
be ludicrous, but ultimately all their
efforts will pay off in sweet victory.
Gordon, a squat and sweaty
middle-aged man, who lacks all
confidence in himself, is affected
the most by Patches’ peculiar but
powerful influence. He is weak and
spineless, and Patches sure lets him
know it, singling him out and debasing him on a regular basis. Often
times he degrades him with phrases
such as “Gordon, you wouldn’t hit
water if you fell out of a boat!” or
“They’re too good, and you s**k
something awful” and then couples
his remarks with either a swift chop
to the groin or a wrench to the face.
Although these tactics might seem
insane, demeaning, infinitely inappropriate, and somewhat dangerous,
Patches has a method to his madness. An experienced athlete and
gifted coach, Patches realizes that for
some pushover players like Gordon,
anger is the only recipe for success.
Unrelenting humiliation is Patches’
way of unlocking the Pandora’s
box of Gordon’s athletic potential.
Patches’ work with Gordon paid off
in a big way come the semi-finals at
the Las Vegas tournament. After the
whole team, save Gordon, has been
knocked out, Patches calls timeout,
and he grabs Gordon by the shirt
and pulls him in close, and says to
him, “Our only shot is for you to get
angry!” As Gordon shuffles nervously
onto the court, Patches’ taunting
voice echoes in his thoughts, and
he surveys the stands only to see his
mail order wife flirting with another man, and his two children so
innocent and pathetic sitting right
there. Anger boils with in him, and
his teeth menace and gnash, as his
whole face becomes beat red. Veins
popping left and right, Gordon is devoured by fury, and no foe shall stay
his might. He proceeds to crush a
seemingly invincible collegiate level
dodge ball team, leaving the opposing players with their tails wagging
You didn’t think we’d go an entire year without
Patches O’Houlihan, did you?
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
between their legs like frightened
puppies. Without Patches no such
improvement could have been
made. Despite the wrench tossing,
the traffic dodging, and the groin
whacking, which he certainly did
not enjoy, Gordon achieved a new
respect for himself and also fulfilled
his dream of winning the dodge ball
title, thanks to Patches.
Ultimately, after dealing
with Patches and his coaching style,
the players were left with more than
his dead urine soaked booze bag
body and the $50,000 cash prize.
Each received a little nugget of insight into himself/herself, whether it
was Gordon, unlocked his potential
or Steve the Pirate who realized that
he wasn’t a Pirate. Through Patches’
leadership they were able to achieve
what seemed impossible at the
embarkation of their journey to the
dodge ball championship.
Now, let’s have a small
discussion about Phil Weston.
1.
Phil Weston runs a vitamin
store, he is not a professional athlete
and has no business pretending to
know anything about the game of
soccer.
2.
He is so poor a coach
that he had to employ Mike Dikta,
famous coach of the Chicago Bears,
to help manage a team of ten year
olds. We must remember that Dikta
only agrees to spite Phil’s father, not
because he actually cares about the
team or Phil.
3.
Dikta recruits two star Italian soccer players to join the team.
Now all Phil has to say is: “Pass to
the Italians” and the game is won.
There two fundamental flaws with
this coaching style. 1. Phil should
know that coaching and strategizing
is an art that relies heavily on deep
thought and mental concentration.
By choosing to pass only to the Italians, his game becomes weak and
predictable. 2. No one has fun when
the stars get all the glory. Then you
have mutiny on your hands. Way to
go, Phil!
4.
Coffee on the bench. I don’t
think so…Try Gatoraid or Water, ya
Nimrod!
5.
One-piece jumpsuits are a
no go.
6.
Why is his tiger suit blue?
Are Tigers Blue? No. The answer is,
No. They are not blue. Look it up, I
dare you.
7.
Could Phil Weston have
shown up in his own handkerchief to
coach Peter to victory?
Phil Weston
Kicking and Screaming
By Bobby Wright ‘12
Phil Weston, a well to do,
respectful member of society, who
drives a Toyota Prius and runs a local
vitamin and supplement store, is a
dweeb. Being pushed around by aggressive soccer moms in Hummers,
as well being subject to constant
ridicule from the snobby towns
people, Phil just can’t catch a break.
Buck Weston, Phil’s father and local
sports legend, used to encourage
Phil’s success in his social life as well
as, more importantly, his success on
the athletic field, ever since his son’s
early days of infancy. But, lacking any
athletic prowess whatsoever, Buck
gave up on his son. Being a disappointment not only to his community, but to his family as well, Phil has
proven himself to be one mediocre
human being. But, when Phil throws
on that blue and black, tiger striped
jacket and watches as his youth
soccer team takes the field, he’s no
“disappointment” or “mediocre human”. No, he’s a champion.
You see, Phil Weston is a
man of strategy. This is the key to his
success. Without strategy, the Tigers
would still be in last place, and Phil
would still be a blubbering slob,
perpetually subject to the jeers and
stabs of his peers. But, you see, Phil
is a man with a plan. From the start,
Phil knew what he had to do in order
to launch the tigers into first place.
Take a journey with me as I detail the
finer points of his coaching greatness.
The most important part of
Phil’s plan is his self-awareness. Phil
is certainly aware of his mediocrity
on and off the field, and is not afraid
to admit. That is why he does what
all great head coaches do: find an
experienced assistant coach. That is
why Phil Weston enlists the help of
God. O wait, did I say God? I meant
Chicago Bear legend Mike Ditka.
Yea, that’s right, Mike Ditka is Phil
Weston’s ASSISSTANT coach. Sure,
Mike Ditka knows nothing about
soccer, maybe even less than Phil
himself, but ¬¬¬what a genius
coaching move? Who would want to
mess with Mike Ditka’s head coach?
I have an answer for ya, Bab, no one.
That’s who. In the cut throat realm
of youth soccer, intimidation is the
name of the game, and Phil Weston
is a saber tooth tiger amongst a sea
of weak, starving, antelopes.
But that’s not all, when it
comes to his team’s success, Phil
will not stop until he gets results.
It didn’t take long for Phil to realize
the dismal ability of his athletes,
so he did his best to discover an
untapped source of talent. And boy
did he succeed. After a lot of debate
and discussion with a local butcher,
Umberto, Phil convinced the humble
meat salesman to allow his two
son’s, Massimo and GianPiero, to
participate on the Tigers. Being from
Italy, these two are natural born
soccer players. It was this decision
which launches Phil into the greatest
heights of the coaching heavens.
With Mike Ditka by his side, and the
two Italians dominating on the field,
Phil ruthlessly takes the league by
storm, stomping on the faces of all in
his path.
However, before the championship game, a commotion arises
amongst the players. His squad is
unhappy at their lack of playing
time, and their obvious inferiority
to the Italians. It is now where we
see the small, flickering flame of
compassion which resides within
the cold, stern heart of Phil Weston,
and great coaches alike. Come
game time, he sits the two Italians, a
horrible, tactical error in the eyes of
many, including several parents of
the team. But, to everyone’s surprise,
the misfits of the Tigers band together, and make their coach proud.
Because of the incredible foresight,
compassion, and patience of Phil
Weston, he is able to hone his coaching skills and lead his team to an in
house, soccer championshp. With
the help and support of his family,
God a.k.a. Ditka, and the enthusiasm
of his team, Phil Weston stands as an
indomitable force amongst legends.
Only the finest, natural born coaches
would be able to pull something like
this off, and Phil Weston is one of
them.
According to John Donovan, the Blue Tiger Suit makes Phil Weston
a much less appealing and entertaining coach than Patches O’Houlihan
New Orleans Students Aid Church, City
By Peter Cimini ‘12
This past March break, 20
juniors, 4 seniors, and 6 faculty members went to New Orleans, Louisiana
to help in the rebuilding process
from Hurricane Katrina. This was the
5th trip St. Sebastian’s has taken to
New Orleans, and, of course, all of
them have been memorable. Even
six years after Katrina there was still a
lot of work to do in the New Orleans
area. Along with several alumni and
New Orleans residents, the students
and faculty worked in various job
sites clearing mini-forests, painting, helping at ARISE Academy, and
various other small jobs. The trip
was very successful in helping the
people of New Orleans and was a
life-changing experience for every
junior and senior who went.
On the first Sunday that we
were there we were graced with the
opportunity to celebrate Mass with
the parishioners of Corpus Christi –
Epiphany Parish. During the mass,
Mr. Nunan presented the parish with
a donation for the parish, from the
money that we raised, to help their
efforts in rebuilding the parish. After
the mass, we went to the French
Quarter for lunch. That evening
members of the parish’s youth
group, Ms. Monique, Ms. Sheryl, and
Ms. Shannon came to the house
we were staying in and joined us
for dinner. The kids not only helped
prepare the meal, but also sacrificed
their Sunday night to join us. In May
this year the youth group is making their yearly trip and they have
decided to come to Boston to visit
us. This night marked the beginning
of a long week of work.
On Monday we began
working in various parts of New
Orleans such as in the Lower Ninth
Ward, the section affected worst by
the storm. We worked in the Ninth
Ward 4 out of the 5 days we worked.
Every day different rotations of students and faculty went there to clear
empty lots in order to make room for
new homes. This arduous work consisted of cutting down trees, clearing
brush, picking up trash/debris, and
various other manual labor jobs. It
was in this site where we understood
how devastated the city was. Destroyed and abandoned houses that
have yet to be touched since Katrina
surrounded the empty lots that we
cleared. It was a humbling experience for us all and we were motivated by it. The lady in charge of the
entire operation in the Lower Ninth
Ward told us that we were one of the
hardest working groups that she has
ever worked with, a small deed that
we could give to the people of New
Orleans.
Another memorable place
that we worked was at ARISE Academy, a charter school for underprivileged students. At this school,
we helped tutor various different
students. This experience helped us
see how privileged we were to attend St. Sebastian’s and how hard it
is to excel academically in a situation
such as this. The rest of the jobs were
various yard-work/ painting jobs to
help parishioners of Corpus Christi –
Epiphany rebuild. These jobs allowed
the Arrows to meet and work for
people who were directly affected
by the Hurricane. These people
included Joe, Bill, and Mr. Raymond.
Each person very interesting stories
to tell about how they survived the
Hurricane. These jobs were often the
favorite between the students because they got to interact and help
a person that was directly impacted
by the storm, and consequently feel
more responsible for directly helping
someone rebuild.
It didn’t matter which job
site it was, everyone was dedicated
to finishing the job. Although somewhat grueling, the five days of work
were never a chore as the teamwork
and perseverance allowed us to succeed and enjoy every moment of rebuilding. The time spent away from
working was also very beneficial as it
allowed us to reflect on our experiences and become more closely
acquainted with each other. Each
night at the evening prayer service
we reflected on our day and shared
our thoughts with one another. Also,
during various games of basketball,
Mafia, Scrabble, and Frisbee we were
able to learn to know everyone on
the trip better than we would have
at school.
Another interesting aspect
of the trip was the opportunity to
interact with different alumni that
live in New Orleans. One day we
went to Café Reconcile for lunch, the
restaurant where former Head of Admissions Mr. Emond works. At Café
Reconcile, they take in High School
dropouts, help turn their life around,
and teach them the art of working
in a restaurant so they can find a job
in a hotel or restaurant. It was great
to see Mr. Emond again, but it was
better to see the great work that
he is doing in the New Orleans era.
Also, we got to see former Arrows
Jimmy Elcock and Charlie Jacob who
helped us work one of the days. It
was during these moments where
the phrase “once an Arrow always an
Arrow” rang true.
Another memorable encounter was when we were graced
with the opportunity to celebrate
mass with former Archbishop of New
Orleans Bishop Hughes, who came
to our house and said mass for us.
During dinner, Bishop Hughes told
us his story of Katrina and how he
worked to help the people of New
Orleans.
On our final day, we took
a tour of New Orleans, seeing two
places where the levees broke
as well as the first house that St.
Sebastian’s ever worked on. After
the tour we set off to the airport and
began our trip home. It was a successful and memorable trip and the
members of the trip would like to
thank everyone who helped the trip
by either donating or praying. Hopefully whoever goes on the trip in the
future will feel the same we felt and
succeed as much as we did. It will be
an experience that we never forget.
April 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 7
Why the slow start for the Sox? Bruins, Celtics Playoff Previews
By Mickey Adams ‘13
On March 31, Red Sox stars
Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and
Clay Bucholz highlighted the Boston
Herald cover page in an edition that
dubbed the Red Sox as the “Best
Team Ever”. A few days later, on
April 7, the Sox dropped their sixth
straight game, remaining winless as
they were shut out by the Cleveland
Indians, a team that only mustered
a weak 69-93 record in the 2010
regular season. The once promising season had quickly fallen to
shambles.
The expectations were
high for the Sox, but for good reason. The front office splurged in the
off-season, spending huge money
to acquire All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez
(1B) and Carl Crawford (OF). These
two, coupled with other big bats
such as Dustin Pedroia (2B), David
Ortiz (DH), and Kevin Youkilis (3B)
had the lineup looking like a power
to be feared by opposing pitchers
around the league. The pitching
rotation was also looking stellar as
Cy Young candidates such as Clay
Bucholz and Jon Lester planned to
spearhead the attack while veterans Josh Beckett and John Lackey
looked to regain their stellar form of
years past. Finally, a deep bullpen
of Jonathan Papelbon, Bobby Jenks,
Daniel Bard, and Dan Wheeler had
Red Sox fans dreaming about
another World Series ring. The Red
Sox, under the leadership of manager Terry Francona, were expected
to steam roll the rest of the MLB, but
unfortunately, the players did not
receive this memo.
Despite a team of stars
rarely seen outside of the world of
video games, the Red Sox dropped
their first six games, being swept
by the Texas Rangers and Cleveland
Indians. Their 0-6 was the worst
since 1945, when they went 0-8, and
this ties them for the second worst
start in franchise history. On Opening Day for the Red Sox, the Rangers used 3 homeruns to overpower
Boston, 9-5. The next day, the bats
stayed hot for the Rangers, who
quickly dismantled John Lackey,
knocking another 4 out of the park
en route to a 12-5 victory. In the series finale, the Sox lineup managed
only one run, while the pitching staff
allowed another four homeruns in
a 5-1 letdown. After being swept
by Texas, Boston headed to Cleveland in hopes of regaining some of
their confidence against a sub-par
ballclub. The bats went silent for the
Red Sox again in Cleveland, as the
seemingly daunting offense once
again only managed to cross the
plate once in a 5-1 loss. The situation kept getting worse for Boston,
who were once again humiliated on
the road as the Sox hitters struck out
eleven times in an 8-4 defeat. Without any of their pre-season swagger,
the Red Sox limped into the series
finale where, despite a strong outing from Jon Lester on the mound,
were held scoreless and lost 1-0 to
drop their sixth straight game, this
one also at the hands of the Indians.
Nothing to this point in the season
had gone according to plan. “It
can’t get any worse than this,” Kevin
Youkilis said after his team fell to 0-6.
“There’s only one way to go.” The
only bad news for the Red Sox was
that their path to get back on track
went right through their rivals, the
New York Yankees, who would have
no qualms about dropping the Six to
0-9.
Unfortunately, the Red
Sox will not go 0-162, a feat that
would have humored the entire
world outside of Massachusetts, as
they finally picked up a win in their
home opener over the rival New York
Yankees. Even more surprising than
the win was the fact that it only took
the Red Sox two days to pick up a
second W, also over the Yankees. In
front of the Fenway Faithful for the
first time in the young season, the
Red Sox came alive at the plate, a
fitting occurrence considering that
famous Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemski threw out the ceremonial
first pitch before the game. Boston
jumped out on Phil Hughes en route
to nine runs on twelve hits in a 9-6
victory. As the day of game two of
the series rolled around, the Sox
seemed to be a new team. The day
before, the bats had come alive, they
had won their first game all season
against their rivals, and they were at
the time riding their longest winning
streak of the season. Despite all
of this, the 0-6 Red Sox showed up
in the second game, as the pitching staff was once again embarrassed, the offense couldn’t provide
substantial run support, and Boston
fell to 1-7 on the season with a 9-4
throttling at the hands of New York.
In the series finale, the Red Sox were
saved by the masterful performance
of Josh Beckett, who tossed eight
scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory, and
more importantly, a sign of hope for
the Sox.
As of April 15, the Red Sox
are 2-10 (with three recent losses to
the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto
Blue Jays), and last in the A.L. East
standings. Just about everything
possible has gone wrong for the
Sox this year, but after all, it is a 162
game season, so a slow start isn’t
the end of the world. According the
Elias Sports Bureau, only six teams
in the history of baseball have ever
made the playoffs after starting the
season 2-9 like the Red Sox. Hopefully the Red Sox can turn their
season around, or else it could be
the Revolution that New England
fans are watching come October.
Hopefully the Celtics can bring their fans this kind of joy.
And hopefully the Bruins can give the Canadiens’ fans pain.
By Michael Hoff ‘13
After last year’s scarring
collapse to the Flyers, many Bruins
fans will accept nothing less than to
advance to the Eastern Conference
Finals, having been dealt crushing
Game Seven losses the past two
seasons in the Eastern Conference
Semifinals. The timing could not
have been better, as the path to
the Eastern Conference Finals looks
clearer than in recent years. All of
the Eastern Conference contenders
possess possible fatal flaws, as the
Flyers’ injuries, the Capitals’ goaltending, and Penguins lack of scoring
without Sidney Crosby could open
the door for a deep Boston run. Philadelphia faces off against a hot Buffalo Sabers team, whom have won
eight out of their last ten. The Flyers’
top defenseman, Chris Pronger, has
not practiced and his status for playoffs is still unclear. Without Pronger,
a Stanley Cup run would be highly
difficult for the Flyers, as Pronger is
the team’s defensive backbone and
also runs the point on Power Plays.
Pronger’s injury coupled with questionable goaltending , which consists
of career backup Brian Boucher and
Russian League castoff Sergei Bobrovsky, could make for a compelling
first round series, as the less skilled
Sabres possess a clear advantage in
net with Ryan Miller. Number one
seed Washington also has a tough
first round, facing a Rangers team
that snuck in to the playoffs on the
last day of the regular season. Similar to the Philadelphia series though,
New York has the vastly superior
goalie, as all world netminder Henrik
Lundquvist has a definite advantage
over journeyman Michal Neuvirth.
Although the East looks
wide open, the Bruins must be care-
ful not to look past their first round
opponent, the archrival Canadiens.
The Bruins finished with a plus-51
goal differential on the season, good
for the second-best in the NHL. The
Canadiens were only average in this
category, posting only an average
plus-seven rating. During the season series however, the Canadiens
took four out of six from Boston,
including all three in Montreal.
The Canadiens success against the
Bruins this season is largely due to
their only decided advantage over
the Bruins: Special Teams. During
five-on-five play, the Bruins were the
best in the NHL with a 1.40 goals for
/goals against ratio. The Canadiens
posted a markedly average 1.01 GF/
GA ratio. But on the man-advantage,
the Canadiens were elite, while the
Bruins were merely mediocre. On
the power-play, Montreal scored
19.7 percent of the time, good for
7th, while the Bruins came in 20th at
16.2 percent. The Canadiens were
also seventh on the penalty-kill with
a 84.4 percent rating. The Bruins
were slightly better in this category,
ranking in 16th at 82.6. Additionally,
Boston must be sure not to become
bogged down with the Candiens
weasely play. The Frenchmen are
known for their flopping to draw
penalties, and the Bruins must not
become frustrated. To win the series,
the Bruins must maintain their physical style of play while not succumbing to the Canadiens tomfoolery. For
the Canadiens to win, they must take
advantage of their special-teams
advantage. Another key for the
Canadiens is to get as many shots on
Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Thomas
set an NHL record this year with a
.938 save percentage, but he has a
major weakness that the Canadiens
could exploit. Thomas finished last
in Rebound Percentage, a statistic
that measures the percentage of
rebounds a goalie gives up per number of shots on goal. Thomas gave
up rebounds on 27.78 percent of his
shots, worst in the league by 1.69
percent. If the Canadiens can put
a lot of shots on goal and suck the
Bruins into their chippy style of play,
the Bruins might not have a chance
to make that elusive cup run.
Similar to last season,
the Celtics enter the playoffs with
question marks surrounding their
ability to ‘flip the switch.’ Last year’s
team was able to turn it on, making a run all the way to game seven
of the NBA Finals. Although many
pointed to age as the factor for last
year’s poor second half, the questions about this year’s team center
around the controversial trade of
Kendrick Perkins. Perkins was noted
for his defensive toughness, and
after losses to Eastern Conference
contenders Chicago and Miami,
his absence was blamed for the
Celtics slump. However, the Celtics
defense has not been the problem
of late. In the last eighteen games,
the Celtics have averaged a measly
101.6 points per 100 possessions,
while only giving up 97.7 points per
100 possessions, an elite number.
Perkins’ replacement could be a big
factor in deciding how far the Celtics
go in the playoffs though. 39-yearold center Shaquille O’Neal is out
indefinitely, but his return could be
the difference between a secondround flameout and a championship. Of all of the five man units
played by all NBA teams this season,
the Rondo-Allen-Pierce-GarnettO’Neal combination was the second
most effective unit in the league.
The group posted a robust 115.1
offensive efficiency rating, while
only surrendering a 96.1 defensive
efficiency rating. This 19.1 efficiency
differential was only surpassed by a
Dallas grouping of Kidd-StevensonButler-Nowitzki-Chandler, which
has a plus 24.6 efficiency rating. In
comparison, when the Celtics four
all-stars were paired with Kendrick
Perkins, that group only posted a
plus 12.6 efficiency rating. Also,
when the Big Four were paired with
Glen Davis, that group had a plus
17.0 efficiency rating. So for all the
fretting over the Perkins trade, if
Shaquille O’Neal can heal, or even
if the Celtics merely shorten their
bench, the Celtics could be primed
for another Finals run.
Golf Team Wants More Success
By Dillon Ecclesine‘11
SENIOR EDITOR
Though it is one of the
smallest teams at St. Sebastian’s, the
golf team has had an enormous impact across the ISL over the past two
seasons, and we expect this year’s
season to be no different. The last
two seasons for the golf teams have
had immense success: undefeated
(in both years), with two match play
league titles, and two ISL tournament victories. In other words, the
golf team won everything that could
be won. This year, however, only
three of the ten players would be
returning: Matt Michaud ’14, Charlie
Callanan ’11, and Captain Dillon
Ecclesine ’11. Clearly, there was a gap
to be filled. And, to no one’s surprise,
that gap has certainly been filled.
Tommy Kelley ’13, Connor
McGuirk ’13, and Alejandro Soto
’16 were the first three players to
claim open spots on this year’s team.
Although the Boston Red Sox had the preseason expectation of shut-down pitching and an
explosive offense, where are the wins and where are the hits?
How My Dog Picked a
Winning NCAA Bracket
By Tom Murphy ‘11
Now that March has ended
and we are in the midst of April we can
finally take a moment to step back and
look upon the previous month. Most
importantly, we can look back upon
the NCAA basketball tournament, in
which almost all of us made a bracket,
expecting to dominate in our various
pools, but were in fact left feeling
stupid. Only two people on all of
ESPN had all the final four teams, and
the person who won for best bracket
didn’t even have all four final four
teams correct. So to this, you may be
thinking that we shouldn’t feel so bad
about how poor our brackets were. I
mean, honestly, who possibly could
have predicted a Butler vs. UConn
final? Well sorry to say that this will
probably make you feel even worse,
as my dog, yes you read that correctly,
MY DOG, Finnegan Murphy, correctly
got the final and won every single
pool that he was entered into.
On ESPN, Finnegan topped
more than 99.6% of the entire country
that filled out their brackets. How did
he do this, you may ask? There were
many factors, and although Finnegan
came out as a genius with picking
the final correctly he also made many
picks that would make many scratch
their head and wonder why. Finnegan
made his selections strictly based
upon the mascots of the teams. For
this reason at all times Finnegan would
pick a team with a dog mascot to win,
such as huskies, bulldogs, or terriers,
and would pick cat teams to lose, like
wildcats, panthers, lions, or tigers.
Now, because of this, some of the picks
that Finnegan made were outlandish.
For example, he had the Boston University Terriers, a sixteen seed, make
it all the way to the final four. He also
had the Pittsburgh Panthers lose in the
very first round to the UNC Asheville
Bulldogs. Although it is obvious that
my dog would love dog mascots and
hate cat ones, there was many a game
and many an issue as to what he
should pick concerning two mascots
that had nothing to do with either
of the two. For this, the general rule
was Finnegan would pick the team
whose mascot would scare him less,
and would generally pick teams with
humans for mascots, because next to
dogs humans are his favorite animals.
So for this reason, he made some
picks that other people may say a dog
would not pick. Well, maybe your dog
isn’t petrified of spiders, but mine is.
But yours didn’t predict the finals, so
HA HA!
The next question that many
people posed was how does Finnegan
pick when either two dog teams play
each other, or when two cat teams
play each other? The answer was
simple, with only a few exceptions. As
you could probably tell by how well
my dog picked in the first place, I have
an exceptionally intelligent dog, so for
this reason, Finnegan would almost always choose the team that was seeded
higher. The only somewhat exception
that Finnegan made was when in his
bracket the sixth seeded Georgetown
Hoyas, with Jack the bulldog as their
mascot, faced the sixteenth seeded
Boston University Terriers. Finnegan
chose BU because, although Jack the
bulldog may be partly Georgetown’s
(whose mascot, a Hoya, is a what (yes,
a what, because the slogan “Hoya Saxa”
is supposed to be “What Rocks”)), and
Finn realized that he would just pee
on a rock, he wouldn’t become close
friends with it like he would a Terrier.
So finally after hours of picking and
second guessing himself, Finnegan
had his bracket, and he was eventually
met with incredible amounts of success.
The only problem is that now
after Finnegan picked so well, he has
been strutting around the house like
you wouldn’t believe, he is constantly
telling us about how good he is at
picking brackets, and even claimed
he would have gotten the hockey
champion correct, because they are
the Minnesota-Duluth bull dogs. It has
gotten out of hand. So my advice is
for next year don’t let your pets fill out
brackets, because if they beat you not
only is it embarrassing, but they will
never cease bragging about it.
Posting several low rounds during
tryouts, the coaches were certainly
impressed. These three players will
likely close out the top six, which is
a huge step forward for the team.
Others on this year’s squad, among
others, include Gerard McEleney ’11
and Kevin Ginns ’13. The golf team
expects these players to contribute heavily this year, which is vital
considering how strong some of the
competition is going to be.
Thayer’s team has been incredibly competitive during each of
the last two years. They came in second place to the Arrows in both the
2009 and 2010 seasons, in both the
match play title and the ISL championship tournament. Needless to say,
they have a certain “grudge” against
Sebs, who they would be thrilled to
conquer. Only losing one player for
this year’s season, they will certainly
be a dominant force in the league.
However, let it be known that Sebs
is more than ready to answer the call
and defend its crown.
Another strong team this
year will be Belmont Hill. They are
led by several very talented seniors,
as well as a few underclassmen. They
have been in the hunt over the last
few years, and things will likely be no
different this year. Nobles is also going to be a competitor; they picked
up a new golfer who supposedly can
post some very low scores. BB&N
and Middlesex also could certainly
make a run at the title.
Overall, the golf team is
very excited for this year’s competition. Every single match will be a
very close one, which always makes
things interesting. No team will
dominate any other team: it will
come down to the final matches, to
the final hole, and likely to the final
putt. Under the leadership of Mr.
Jim Sullivan and Mr. McArthur, the
golf team will compete nobly on the
course, and, no matter what happens, will make St. Sebastian’s proud.
ARROWS SPORTS
St. Sebastian’s School
Vol LXIV, No. 6
April 2011
Lax Has Promising Start
By Matt Fechtelkotter ‘12
Snow, rain, wind, or sunshine, the varsity lacrosse team has
been out on the turf, getting better
and ready for a few huge games
during what is shaping up to be a
huge season. The season began,
during the week before march
break with tryouts. During these
tryouts, the talent of this year’s
team was clearly evident, not only
in the players who would make
the team but he players who were
very good but didn’t make the final
cut. But, the team can only take so
many players and going in doubles
over March break would be 29
students.
After a week off, the team
gathered on Monday morning of
the second week of break in the
small gym. After stretching out the
team took to the field to practice.
What started off as nice weather
soon turned very poor as snow
began to fall and cover the field.
The team continued to practice
though.
As the week went on,
the team, along with the weather
slowly got better. This was especially visible with the differences
between the scrimmages towards
the end of the week. The first of
these scrimmages was against
Aidan Balboni and Patrick Wallaces
hometown of Winchester. The
game was a little rough as both
teams were still getting used to
their offense and defense. Sebs
however looked significantly better though. The team followed up
with another scrimmage against
the town where it is always sunny,
Walpole. Walpole was definitely a
more talented team than Winchester. However, Sebs once again
proved to be the dominant team.
On the Saturday before
school started up once again, Sebs
took on a solid team from Wellesley. It started off as a close game.
The arrows, however, slowly wore
down the Raiders and showed that
they were the better team.
From that point on, Sebs
needed to be at its best for the
regular season had started. After
a few more practices, the Arrows
traveled up to Exeter, New Hampshire, to take on a mature Phillips
Exeter team. Throughout the first
half, the two teams traded goals and
went into half time tied. The second
half started in the same manner.
However, Phillips Exeter began to
win the majority of the groundballs
and eventually built up a four goal
lead. Sebs began to crawl back into
the game. However, there wasn’t
enough time and Sebs suffered its
first loss of the season.
The arrows used this
game as a learning experience and
began to prepare for their next
game against the Rhode Island state
champs, Moses Brown. The team
went into the game ready though
and started off strong. Jack Connolly
won the opening faceoff and went
on to score 7 seconds into the game.
From that point on, Sebs dominated the game, getting goals from
Sophmore Connor Hilton, Gordon
Donnelly and many others. After the
final horn went off, the game ended
with a 10-4 win by the Arrows.
The team didn’t bask in the
win too much though, for they had
to prepare for their rivals, Nobles.
After last year’s unfortunate loss,
Sebs wanted to get back at Nobles.
Nobles did that themselves though,
when a large part of their team was
suspended. The Arrows still played
the game as if they were playing the
regular starters. The lack of experience of many of the players on Nobles was quickly visible as the arrows
went up 7-0 by halftime. From that
point on, Coach Stanton began to
rotate more players in. Including “the
doctor” Alex Calabro who scored his
first career varsity goal. When all was
said and done, the arrows had pulled
off a 12-5 win.
There still a lot of the season left though. Big games like the
Middlesex game, and the Governors
game, which is Home on May 14.
These two games are huge and
could decide the winner of the ISL.
However, that is way off in the future
so Sebs needs to focus on the upcoming games against Tabor, Groton
and St. Georges. The Groton game is
a home game I would highly recommend to anyone who likes to watch
sports to come out and support their
lacrosse team. You will definitely
enjoy it.
With the winter season
finished, signs of spring mark the
St. Sebastian’s campus; flowers are
budding as the weather becomes
warmer. In the St. Sebastian’s community, the varsity sailing team welcomes the warm weather, so they
can take to the ocean and begin
their season.
The sailing team is led by a
core group of sailors this year. The
team has several seniors on the
team with much experience. The
experienced sailors bring promising expectations for this spring.
Father Arens, one of the coaches of
the sailing team, exclaimed, “We’ve
got some really good sailors with
much experience, so we should do
very well this year.” Three returning members, Chris Warner ’11,
Alex Morin ’12, and Will Barnard
’12, have been the elected captains
of this year’s squad. Their experience earned them the honors as
captains and should bring much
success in the 2011 sailing season.
Other returning sailors include
Donovan Ward ’11, Robbie Spencer
’11, Bob Wright ’12, and Mike Petro
’13. On April 13th, the team raced
in their second fleet. The experience showed as the returning sailors
performed well so far. According to
Alex Morin, junior captain, “The team
was looking strong on the water.”
As impressive as the
experience on the team is the surge
in participation this spring. This
year’s team had the largest turnout
for first time sailors. Consequently,
the squad consists of twenty-eight
members now. The depth should
also be promising. Coach Father
Arens is excited about the opportunity to coach the new sailors:
“Sailing for the first time is exciting
and it’s exciting for me to pass sailing on to them.” With Father Arens’
experience, the first time sailors will
certainly be able to learn their way
around the water.
The coaches, Ms. Rynne
Rugged Varsity Tennis Posts Early 2-1 Record
By Brendan Dunphy ‘12
The Varsity Tennis Team is
always a hardworking group of guys
who are on the courts constantly
trying to get better. Having lost their
second and third seeded singles
players the team is looking for new
players to step into those roles.
The team led by Captain
Conor Haughey won four matches
last year and are looking to improve
upon their record. So far the Tennis
Team has had one match against a
good Nobles squad and lost 10-5,
though the matches were certainly
close and competitive.
When asked how the Tennis
team will do this year, Captain, Conor
Haughey, said this. “That’s a great
question. We had four wins last year,
and we lost our 2nd and 3rd singles
player, but everyone has improved
this year and I think we can all step up
into our new roles and hopefully get a
couple more wins this year.” Haughey
has been on the team for 6 years and
is looking to lead the team to victory
as the first seeded player.
The team has practiced long
this year. It is coached by Mr. Richter
who was frequent USTA, (United
States Tennis Association) tournament
player and played singles and doubles
at The University of the South.
“We lost 10-5 to Nobles,
while we were missing our second
seeded singles player, John Cheever,
to illness, which slid everyone up one
spot on the ladder. Having said that,
some of the sets were still very close
and could have gone either way. With
both John’s sickness and that having been our first match, things look
promising for the rest of the season, as
we held our own against Nobles, who
Baseball Moving On Up
By Sean Frazzette ‘12
After a strong season last year,
Arrows baseball is back and better
than ever. Returning all but four
seniors from last year while also adding future stars, the Seb’s baseball
team looks to be the first to capture
the ISL title since 2007. Led by senior
captains Donny McGuirl ’11 and Alex
Spear ‘11, along with fellow senior
and future Middlebury star Edmund
Murphy ‘11, this year’s squad is a
veteran group with experience, ambition, and talent. The team’s pitching is as deep as any other team’s in
the ISL, with starters including BC
prospect John Nicklas ’12, Edmund
Murphy, and future something Jared
“Jagger Diaz” Clement ’12. In the
bullpen, the team features closer
Mark “Ham” Cunningham ‘12, as
well as Connor Callow ’11 and Lucas
Mykulak ’11. While the pitching of
the team is strong, the most potent
aspect is the hitting. The middle of
the order, led by Andrew “The Great
Bondini” Vandini ‘12, Connor Reenstierna ’12, John Nicklas, and Alex
Vanditti ‘12, has shown to be clutch
bats in the lineup over the first few
games, batting .490 as a group,
while driving in twenty of the team’s
forty runs. Behind the plate, directing the whole crew, is Chris Nadeau
’12. Finally, Austin Franchi ’12 returns
to the team this year looking to
make an impact, while filling in the
and Father Arens, have been dedibig shoes of Christian Venditti ’10.
cated to building the program over
Though the majority of the team is
the past couple years. To have the
returnees, a few newcomers have
program grow to be this popular is a
made impacts. The most notable is
testament to their hard work.
Justin Bellinger ’14, a freshman with
As for the season ahead,
a bat even bigger than his ego. The
the sailing team has high hopes and
freshman starts at first base, as well
expectations. However, the beginas being a spot starter/middle relief
ning of the season has proved to be
guy in the pen. Other newcomers to
demanding. Primarily, the boatthe team are Peter Cimini ’12, Chris
house has been under renovations.
Barletta ’12, Brendan Daly ’13, and
According to Bob Wright ’11, “The
Ryan Wolfsberg ’13.
renovations of the boat-house has
The team started the
made the beginning of the season
season with a bang, defeating a
hard on us because we don’t have
perennial EIL contender Portsmouth
access to all our boats, but with all
Abbey 13-1. Fueled by the dominant
of our boats we should do very well.”
pitching performance of Edmund
Furthermore, the weather of early
Murphy, the team easily defeated
spring has proved to be a challenge.
the solid foe, ending the game by
For their second fleet of the year,
mercy rule in the fifth inning. The
the team had to manage with the
senior pitcher went five strong, not
April showers. The entire squad is
giving up a single earned run, alexcited for the warmer weather and
lowing only one hit, and striking out
for having a successful season. With
five. On the offensive side, the bats
the largest team in the history of the
of John Nicklas and Justin Bellinger
program, the varsity sailing team has
dominated the inferior Portsmouth
the largest expectations for success.
Abbey pitching, with both hitting
homeruns and driving in a combined six runs. Overall, the Arrow’s
opening day performance showed
has a strong team this year.”
exactly how dominant the team
Tennis is one of the most
looks to be.
competitive sports in the Indepen
The second game, the team
dent school league. Many teams have
hit a road bump. Despite homeruns
players with high New England USTA
by Reenstierna, Venditti, and Nicklas,
rankings. The team was 4-11 last year
Worcester Academy defeated the
and finished twelfth in the league, one
Arrows 12-9. Bellinger and Cunningplace better than the previous year.
ham put up valiant pitching efforts,
Isltennis.com said this about the Saint
but thanks to the efforts of a left
Sebastian’s team, “St. Seb’s returns a
fielder named Portugal, Worcester’s
bunch of strong players next year and
high-powered offense prevailed.
hopefully they’ll continue to improve.
The team’s minor set back
Conor Haughey ‘12 had a very strong
against the non-conference team
season at 1st singles.” Haughey was
did not deter them from preparalso awarded an All-ISL award.
ing for their next game. On a sunny
If you want to watch some of
Friday afternoon, Nobles made the
the best players in the area go down
trip down to Seb’s, opening up the
to the tennis courts and watch our
ISL season for both teams. John
team. The team looks strong as ever,
Nicklas took the mound to start for
and they are a fun team to watch. TenSeb’s and he came out firing. Striknis’ next home match is on Wednesing out ten in the first five innings,
day, April 20th, when they play St.
while only giving up two runs on
George’s.
five hits, Nicklas left the game with
V. Sailing: A Crowded House
By Tyler Sweeney ‘12
Alex Spear ‘11 slaps a single to right field against Tabor during the Arrows’ tough 7-4 victory.
a seven-four lead. Three of those
runs he drove in himself, going deep
(and hitting a three-run homer)
in the fourth inning in front of the
one and only Brianna Bristol. Then,
for the final two innings, Edmund
Murphy shut down the opposition
with two strong innings. Seb’s ended
up winning the contest eleven to
three, sending a strong message to
the rest of the ISL. In his first career
start, Peter Cimini recorded a triple,
and three-hitter Andrew Vandini had
a big game at the plate, going three
for four and driving in two runs.
Bellinger also came to play, big hitting two homeruns, nearly injuring a
small child of about two on the second one. If the star freshman keeps
up his current pace, he will have hit
sixty-three homeruns by graduation,
which translates to sixty-three senior
stakes, as Joe the cook promised.
While the statistics certainly jump
off the page for the ISL opener, the
team’s morale and bench antics
show the true camaraderie. Whether
it be Lucas shouting “Not his best”
at opposing pitchers, the group
grunting noises after every play, or
Murph’s praising the “All-powerful
Soldie,” the team shows a relaxed
and energetic side along with their
passion for the game. With an easy
win, the Arrows felt confident going
into their next game against Tabor.
Tabor made the trip down
from the Cape to face Seb’s on a
warm Saturday afternoon. Jagger Diaz pitched a complete game
against the strong opposing squad
for the Arrows in his first pitching
performance back from tonsillitis.
Over seven innings, Jagger allowed
only five scattered hits and three
earned runs. While Vandini, going
three for three, and Alex Spear, who
scored three runs, had big games
for Seb’s in the tough seven-four
triumph, the biggest story of the
day came from Brendan Daly. The
young sophomore finally left Pierce’s
shadow behind him, and had a
two for three day, driving in a run,
scoring one of his own, and stealing
a base. In his first career start, the
young Daly showed potential for
Seb’s baseball’s future. Peter Cimini
also shined in the game, flashing his
leather in a series of good plays in
the outfield.
This game increased the
team’s record to three and one, and
the schedule now rises to a higher
difficulty level. With an end of the
month stretch of games against
defending-ISL champs BB&N, long
time rival Belmont Hill, and annoying, pretentious kids from Roxbury
Latin, the baseball team sees a tough
stretch ahead of them. Furthermore,
the team has to end the season with
five straight road games, including a
tough game against Dexter the last
game of the season. Nevertheless,
with talent that equals any team the
Arrows will face, along with ambition
for an ISL crown, nothing can stop
this train but themselves. Although
they will face two first-to-second
round major-league prospect
pitchers in Tyler Beede of Lawrence
Academy and Johnny Magliozzi of
Dexter, this team’s bats, pitching,
and will-power will undoubtedly
lead them great places.
With the last bit of space I
have left, I would like to issue a plea
to all Arrows to try and make some
games this year. In past years, the
crowd attendance has been reduced
to Mr. Nicklas, Mr. Bellinger, Mrs.
Venditti hiding in tree a mile away,
and Brianna Bristol. The baseball program may not see higher chances of
winning the ISL than this year. With
the support of the student body
behind them, the group of eighteen
will not disappoint. While I will not
go as far as guaranteeing anything,
as I have no right as the manager to
do that, I will say this team has greatness running through their veins.
The coaching staff of Mr. Schell, Mr.
McCann, and Soldie has prepared
this team to be great, and such an
achievement must be witnessed and
aided by other Arrows.
Varsity
Results
Varsity Baseball:
Vs. P. Abbey
13-1 W
Vs. Worcester
9-12 L
Vs. Nobles
11-3 W
Vs. Tabor
7-4 W
Vs. Lawrence
1-5 L
Vs. Groton
18-5 W
Varsity Lacrosse:
Vs. Exeter
8-10 L
Vs. Moses Brown 10-4 W
Vs. Nobles
12-5 W
Vs. Tabor 8-5 W
Vs. Groton
8-5 W