Coming into today's game with a 15-1 record and a regular season win over Magruder, Blair seemed poised to win an easy game against an obviously overmatched Colonel squad. However, since Louis Hoelman became head coach eight years ago, the Blazers have lost in the first round of the playoffs every year. The Blazers' solid defense and stellar pitching tonight ensured that this losing streak came to a satisfying end. Blair won 5-2, advancing to the second round of the playoffs, while simultaneously improving their county-best record to 16-1.
"When we get behind in the score the whole team falls down. We need someone to come pick us up," said senior co-captain Sarah Rumbaugh after tonight's game against the Poolesville Falcons. With Blair down 6-3 in the fourth inning, that someone became apparent, as senior co-captain Sara Pierce hit a double to make it 6-4, a triple in the sixth to make it 6-6 and a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to drive in the winning run and make the score 7-6.
MAY 8, BLAZER FIELD— Blair's only loss of the season seemed a distant memory after tonight's 12-0 victory over a struggling Kennedy team. Blair won again by a mercy rule decision, leading by more than 10 runs after the first five innings. This game was seen as mostly a tune-up for the team's final game against Poolesville, a team with a matching 14-1 record.
Somehow Blair had let the game slip out of its hands. After building up a 5-0 lead against the Watkins Mill Wolverines in the first two innings, it had seemed that Blair was in control. Now it was the bottom of the 7th and Blair was down 8-6. The tides had turned and it seemed that Blair would be left out to dry.
APRIL 3, BLAZER FIELD— Blair was in no position to breathe a sigh of relief. It was the bottom of the 7th inning and Gaithersburg was playing their most inspired offense of the game. Down 6-0 after five innings the Trojans had chipped the Blazer lead to almost nothing, scoring three runs in the 6th and two more already in the 7th.
For the first time this season, the stands and the bench were completely silent. Parents anxiously readjusted seats and looked up at the sky or out towards the Blair parking lot, anywhere but the field, where Blair had just fallen behind 3-2. A team that had beaten their last three opponents by a combined score of 45-3 had given up the same number of runs in a single inning. The game seemed to be falling apart.
Blair opened up their second game of the year with a three run first inning and never looked back, winning 10-0 against a clearly overmatched Rockville squad. Junior Annie Denenberg pitched a shutout for four inning before the game was called due to the mercy rule. Blair improved their record to 2-0 and with another outstanding performance from the entire roster.
They grace soup cans and cereal boxes. They sponsor shoes, cars, bubble-gum and even grills that "knock out the fat." They can be heroes or villains, saviors or spoilers. They can make — or break — the dreams of thousands. They are the Joe Montanas, the Wayne Gretzkys and the David Beckhams: players who created some of the last great dynasties in professional sports.
Nov. 1, CHURCHILL— Coach Adrian Baez ended his speech after the game saying, "This has been my best year at Blair. An 11-5 record is great." Unfortunately for the boys' varsity soccer team, Blair had started the day at 11-4, losing in the second round of the playoffs to Churchill in a game which symbolized all the struggles that Blair has gone through this year. A poorly played first half in which Blair fell behind 0-2 was too much of a deficit to overcome, even after the Blazers dominated the last 40 minutes of the game.
Oct. 17, BLAZER STADIUM— The boys' varsity soccer team played one of their best games today against Wheaton, dominating both offensively and defensively in a 5-0 rout. Blair capitalized on several scoring opportunities and with the return of Yendoukoa Lamboni, there was added speed on an offense that repeatedly broke through the porous Wheaton defense. Blair won for the second straight game, improving their record to 6-4.
Oct. 5, BLAZER STADIUM— The Blazers seemed ready for anything at the beginning of tonight's game against the Watkins Mill Wolverines. After Blair's warm up the players were excited and ready to play, two things not commonly associated with the varsity boys' soccer team in the first half. Their eagerness was shown throughout the game as Blair played their best game of the year against an undefeated and extremely talented Watkins Mill team. Blair played cohesively and passed well for the most of the game, but a lack of teamwork when inside the Watkins Mill's goalie box and two defensive misplays let the Wolverines leave with a 2-0 victory. The loss dropped Blair's record to 4-3 for the season.
Sept. 28, BLAZER STADIUM— The boys' varsity soccer team has been mired by inconsistency all this year. Over their three most recent games before tonight, Blair had won games of 7-0 and 3-2, while also losing one game 0-6. Blair was able to pull out a 2-0 victory today, but it was against a much weaker Springbrook team, that Blair should have routed. Blair's offense was inefficient, lacking good passes and quick touches, but the defense was able to keep Blair in the game by shutting out their opponent for the third time this year. Blair has now raised its record to 4-2.
Sept. 22, BLAZER STADIUM— Two days ago boys varsity soccer played one of their worst games in recent memory. A 0-6 loss to Sherwood had highlighted every fault in the team, from a general lack of cohesiveness to a simple inability to move the ball up the field effectively. In the first half of tonight's 3-2 win against Quince Orchard, Blair seemed to be following that same path. Simple errors, poor play, and unfortunate luck were all going against the Blazers for the first 60 minutes of the game. Fortunately, the team was able to come together early in second half with a new resolve and offensive prowess, bringing the teams record back to .500 at 2-2.
The game had just begun, and only ten minutes had passed, but the Blair boys' varsity soccer team had already left Kennedy in the dust thanks to stellar offensive play, backing it up with impenetrable defense and solid goal keeping to complete a dominant win. Goals in the third, fifth and eighth minutes of the first half gave Blair a 3-0 lead, which they would maintain for the entire game. The team showed great promise, all but erasing memories of last year's disappointing 3-8-1 record.
It must be unfortunate for a band to know that its prime was in 1996, but until now The Wallflowers have done well in the shadow of their alternative-rock hits, "One Headlight" and "6th Avenue Heartache." While they have failed to reach that level of acclaim again, The Wallflowers have always released good, if sometimes formulaic music. Their latest release, "Rebel, Sweetheart," continues this trend, including nothing new musically, resulting in a bland record, which excels lyrically, but fails instrumentally.
Skateboarding today is such a large part of youth culture that it is hard to believe that it was once confined to a small community near Venice Beach, California.
Eels, formerly known simply as E, have always been a band with real potential. Lead man Mark Everett has produced several hits over the last decade, including "Novacaine for the Soul," which became one of the biggest songs of 1996, but Eels have always fallen short on each CD, producing good, but not great records.
Blair's Outdoor Track team competed at the Montgomery County Championships over the last two days. Eighteen runners raced and three Blair runners, all girls, finished above 6th place in their individual events.
Since Ryan Adams left the band Whiskeytown he has traveled through several musical genres in search of a sound that fits. Each CD he released has explored a new avenue of music, whether it was alt-country on "Heartbreaker," overdone alternative rock on "Gold," more conventional rock n' roll on the aptly titled "Rock N' Roll" or melodramatic pop on "Love Is Hell." After an extensive musical journey in which Adams has had his successes ("Heartbreaker") and his misses ("Love Is Hell") many wondered what paths were still left for him to take. Adams though, instead of trying yet another genre, returned to the place where he began, settling in between country and rock, filling the hole left in the genre by the break up of Uncle Tupelo in the early 1990s.
The Killers were the band of the last year; The Strokes were "it" the year before that. They both had a combination of simple guitar rifts, likeable lyrics and beats so catchy that listeners were forced to dance with their entire body. That formula has quickly spread throughout today's rock scene, spawning band after band, each one willing to follow the formula which made the 80s the 80s. Add synthesizers, eye liner, and a good guitar hook…again, again and again and hope for the best. The Bravery is only one of these unfortunate offspring, supposedly the new band from New York City, ready to take the world by storm, accepting the electronic rock role all to well.
At 11:45 p.m., when I finally emerged from the 9:30 club, I felt sick to my stomach and yet at the same time, I felt completely satisfied. I had just survived a little over two hours of British hip-hop, in this instance characterized by simple, pounding beats repeated again and again, with an often louder and faster artist rapping on top. The MC, Dizzee Rascal, was forced to rhyme faster than many can, trying to keep pace with the ever-faster DJ. Thus as I sat down on the sidewalk, I was awed by the silence of an empty city street and how it compared to the body-shaking sound of British beats and the rap that goes along with them.
The Blair outdoor track team split a county meet against the Seneca Valley Screamin' Eagles today when the girls won by a score of 88-45 and the boys' team lost 48.5-85. While the two teams continue to move in separate directions, the meet highlighted areas in which Blair has improved tremendously over the course of the season.
Blair's Outdoor Track team lost to Quince Orchard by a combined score of 73-195 today. Blair, which only ran a few of its fastest runners, won very few events in today's developmental meet. Although Blair lost by a wide margin, the team made progress in several events and key problems were recognized.
"columbinus," showing at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, is a play hoping to show a more objective point of view of the tragic shootings of Columbine High School. The play does not blame the media or the music or the video games, which have all been pointed to as vehicles for the tragic violence but instead the isolation that a person can feel in the complicated social hierarchy of high school.
The Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) recently approved an idea proposed by librarians Andria Lamphier and Lisa Hack to allow students, parents and janitorial staff access to Blair committees, which previously only included administration and certain select staff members. According to Lamphier, committees will be meeting under the new structure starting in April.
Just a few years ago, Mark McGwire was the uniting force in baseball. His large smile and even larger biceps were powering a movement to revitalize a sport ravaged by strikes. Each homerun had fans screaming with joy as they saw McGwire march closer and closer to Maris's sacred record of 61 home runs in a season. That race to beat the Maris's record in 1998 has been credited with saving baseball from itself and the strike during the 1994 season. And while Sammy Sosa, who also raced McGwire, has already had his reputation thrown away because of a corked bat, McGwire has stood alone as a hero to the game since he retired.
"In Between Dreams," the newest release from singer/songwriter Jack Johnson, seems to be one continuous song, the acoustic guitar always soft, the melodies always upbeat, and Johnson always singing just over a whisper. But this formula has made Jack Johnson a platinum-selling artist and a favorite with people hoping to escape to his world of palm trees and beautiful beaches where even loss can be accompanied by major chords.
After a journey that stretched from Montreal to Puerto Rico, from Portland to Las Vegas and then finally to Washington D.C., the Nationals were ready to play under their new name. Ironically, the Nationals honored the nation's capital with a victory today playing in their temporary home in Florida against a team from New York.
After an uninspiring five-song set from Chicago-based Detholz, the capacity crowd at the 9:30 Club awaited anxiously for the next band, on Feb. 24. Detholz, an evangelical rock group, seemed out of touch with the normal Wilco audience of college students and 50 year old men. They sang "Faith" by Limp Bizkit, a poor choice to play in front of a sold out show of people who had no interest in late nineties rap. Detholz even received a commemorative "You suck!" from the crowd, prompting them to quickly leave the stage.
Halsey and Ashlyn Sinclair represented the Blair indoor track team today at the Maryland State Championship for indoor track and field. The girls placed highly in each of the three events they competed in: the 800m, 1600m and 3200m. Each girl finished 7th or better in each event, but only Halsey was able to improve upon one of her times from the Regional Championships.
The Blair Indoor Track team finished the Western Regional Championship today with thre different girls advancing to the State Championship. Sophomores Halsey and Ashlyn Sinclair together advanced in three different events: the 800m, 1600m and 3200m. Senior Tyaishia Jackson also advanced to the Championship in the 55m. The Blair girls finished 4th overall with 41 points, finishing behind Damascus, Walter Johnson and Winston Churchill.
The Blair Indoor Track team competed amongst its toughest competition at the Western Regional Indoor Track Championships today. Blair placed highly in several events, with three athletes qualifying for State Championships before a power outage ended the meet prematurely.
The 47th Grammy Awards concluded with a few twists. Ray Charles, who died earlier this year, won eight awards; Kanye West and Usher both won three awards each, but were eclipsed by Alicia Keys, who won four Grammys.
Langston Hughes became one of the most influential poets in American history with his extremely poignant poetry that described the lives of blacks during the early twentieth century. He was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902 and by eighth grade, was already writing poetry. His father hoped his son would pursue a more financially rewarding career, however, so Hughes went to Columbia University to study engineering. He soon dropped out and published his first book of poetry called "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."
With 51 percent of all Jews marrying outside of their faith, interfaith marriage between Jews and Christians is becoming much more common. Couples in this position are forced to make many important decisions, not only about their own religion but about the faith of their children as well. To help with these dilemmas, the Interfaith Families Project (IFFP) was founded as an organization to encourage the exploration of both Judaism and Christianity. According to past Spiritual Director Julia Jarvis, IFFP is the largest Jewish-Christian Sunday School in the country, with over 80 families in attendance each week.
Barack Obama, the recently elected senator from Illinois, is one of the most politically powerful blacks today. Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a white American mother, Ann Dunham. Dunham is a descendant of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America in the 1860s. After graduating from high school, Obama moved to New York City and attended Columbia University.
Marcus Garvey was one of the premier black leaders of the earlier twentieth century and became famous for his radicals views on the re-colonization of Africa. Garvey was born in a small town in Jamaica in 1887 but soon moved to a city on the island, Kingston. Before he turned 20, Garvey had started a printer's union strike and helped to set up a new independent newspaper in Jamaica. He soon became more ambitious and moved to England in 1912 to establish funds for a black rights group. Two years later, he established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in New York City.
The Blair girls' Indoor Track team placed 2nd today in the Montgomery County Championships. The team scored 63 points, second only to Damascus, which scored 81, and will now advance to the Regional Championships on Feb. 14.
The Blair Indoor Track team ran some of its best times of the season today at the Montgomery County Invitational Meet. Sophomores Halsey and Ashlyn Sinclair finished 4th and 5th overall in the 1600m and most Blazers set personal records.
The Indoor Track teams performed at polar opposites today in the Montgomery County Developmental Relays meet. The Blair girls performed at their highest level so far this season, scoring 32 points, while the boys scored merely two by placing in the top six in only one event. The girls' team placed 4th overall at the end of the meet, while the boys were tied with three teams for 17th place.
Today, several girls traveled to New York City to compete in the annual Marine Corps Holiday Classic and placed well in the two races in which they competed. The girls' team placed 1st in the distance medley relay and 5th in the 4x800m relay.
The brisk winter air even cuts through winter jackets, but 20 students are running on the Blair track in shorts. The students have just run a mile for their warm up when Coach Carl Lewin calls the team over for the days' assignments. Halsey and Ashlyn Sinclair stand outside the circle, listening to the running schedule. Within minutes they are off, sprinting down Colesville Avenue, to Lanark Way for another day of practices.
A meeting was held at Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School on Thursday, Dec. 16 to discuss safe teenage driving with relation to the tragic deaths of several local students within the last few months. Several topics were discussed ranging from drunk driving to new preventive measures, and proposed bills for the Maryland Assembly were debated.
Today, the Blair Indoor Track team ran in their first scoring meet of the season. Sophomore Halsey Sinclair placed 1st in the 3200m event, while her sister Ashlyn placed 2nd in the 1600m. The girls' team scored 28 points at the meet, while the boys' team achieved none.
It's that time of year again. Instead of enjoying the holiday cheer and decorations, you're probably rushing around to finish last minute projects, study for tests and squeeze in your extracurricular activities. The last thing you want to think about is what to buy your grandma or boyfriend for the holidays. Well, have no fear: Silver Chips Online is here. We've been kind enough to compile a list of the hottest gifts this season just to give you a few ideas for what to put on your wish list or the perfect gift you should buy that special someone. For those of you who are a little more frugal, we've also included a list of "cheap" holiday gifts that are inexpensive or cost nothing at all yet still show the receiver that you care.
The Blair Indoor Track team competed in its first Montgomery County developmental meet today at the Prince George's Sportsplex. Blair competed in multiple events including several relays as well as individual events. Blair placed well in events such as the boys' 4x200m relay and the girls' one mile, two mile and 4x800m relay races.
Both the girls' and boys' cross-country teams faced strong competition today at the Regional Championships at the Rockville Civic Center. The girls' team tied for seventh out of 13 teams, while the boys' team finished 11th in a pool of 14. The results of this meet did not affect the 7-2 and 2-7 season records the girls' and boys' teams achieved, respectively.
Over the last two seasons, the JV boys' soccer team has had an overall record of 22-1. This past season they outscored their opponents 40-1 and lost only one game to Winston Churchill 0-1. However, this team, arguably the best team at Blair, struggled to draw more fans than sports such as field hockey and JV football, which both had losing records.
The JV boys' soccer team extended their winning streak to 19 games over the past two seasons with a 2-0 shutout win over Walter Johnson. Blair's season record is now 8-0-0.
Potbelly, a new restaurant in downtown Silver Spring, seems to be one of the most overlooked new additions to the area. Tables are always available yet it serves good food at affordable prices. The restaurant has a very unique feel, and the ordering process enables one to purchase a toasted sandwich ready to eat faster than Subway or even the nearby Quizno#&39;s.
The Metro Board Planning, Development and Administration Committee announced last Wednesday, Sept. 15 its final plans for the opening of a new station between Rhode Island and Union Station. The station, known as New York Ave.-Florida Ave.-Gallaudet U, cost over $103 million to complete.
Dupont Circle Station in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Austin Grill near the Bethesda station.
Banana Republic in Pentagon City.
Bethesda Row features movies that are not played at most average movie theaters. It's movies are mostly independent and foreign films.
Maggiano's restaurant, located near the Friendship Heights station.
Click here for a review of Maggiano's.
Chipotle, a Mexican restaurant, is located within walking distance of the Woodley Park-Zoo station.
The Van Ness-UDC Metro station
E Street Cinema near Metro Center
A bookstore and grill located near Dupont Circle.
A Best Buy store located near Tenleytown
Cleveland Park Station
Friendship Heights station
Josh Uzzel finishes 1600m with a sprint.
Josh Uzzel sprints to the finish line during an Indoor Track meet.