The TJ Athletic Department has sparked an idea that begins with comfort and ends up in a fundraiser for some of the Spartan sport troops.

The idea was conceived when TJ Science Teacher and Athletic Trainer Scott Thomas asked if he could have his own chair for all the events that he has to attend, as his duties as trainer often requires him to sit off to the side or stand behind the team for many grueling hours each week.

Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Lani Nobles then asked if he would like to buy his own chair, in which case – on the back of the chair – they would show that he had purchased it, and in the process supported the Thomas Jefferson general athletic fund. The deal seemed to be well worth it to Thomas, and the concept of selling advertising space on the back of the chairs soon became a reality for the Spartans. “It felt good to support our school, and it seemed like a cool idea for all the events that I have to attend,” stated Thomas.

The idea has already been tested at South High School to great success, and Lani Nobles is hoping that TJ can experience the same outcome. “The chairs are in perfect condition and we are hoping to get most of them sold by the beginning of the winter sports season next year,” stated Nobles. With the money that can be raised from the sale of advertising space, the general athletic fund would receive a much-needed boost in revenue.

There are 36 chairs that have been bought, on which would-be TJ boosters can advertise for one hundred dollars per chair. The chairs will be sold on a first come first served basis. To get your name or company logo put onto one of these special chairs, just get an application from Lani Nobles in the main office, and it might be put on the back of a chair at the next basketball game or wrestling match during the 2009-2010 Spartan sports season.

Spartan Golf is winding down, but the ladies are still putting in maximum effort. photo by Kevin Fleming

The Thomas Jefferson girls’ golf team played a league match at City Park on Tuesday and they sent four players to the meet.  Nicole Blake, Nicole Brown, Marelle Davey, and Dallas Ockey were the four members for the Spartans, but none of these players were able to place.

This was a tough tournament as it was the first real golf that the players were able to play for a couple of weeks due to bad weather and Spring Break.  “This was a really tough tournament and it did not help that they were not able to get much practice in before hand, so all things considering, the girls did a rather good job,” stated Head Coach Mark Smith.

This is only the second match that the girls have played in, but there have been some noted improvements among them.  Their coach still believes that there is a lot of potential among the young team, but there is another worry among the team that is on the minds of both the players and the coach.  “While we are still just barely into our season we have to worry about keeping our players still interested in playing golf,” stated Smith.  The girls are not worried, though, for they hope to eventually be able to be contenders in the meets.

Four golfers competed in the City Meet on Tuesday. photo by Kevin Fleming

The Thomas Jefferson Girls’ Golf team played a league match at City Park on Tuesday and they sent four players to the links:  Nicole Blake, Nicole Brown, Marelle Davey, and Dallas Ockey, but none of the players were able to place.

This was a tough tournament and was the first real golf that the girls were able to play in a couple of weeks due to bad weather and Spring Break.  “This was a really tough tournament and it did not help that they were not able to get much practice in before hand, so all things considered, the girls did a rather good job,” stated Head Coach Mark Smith.

This is only the second match in which the girls have participated, but there have been some noted improvements among them.  Coach Smith still believes that there is a lot of potential among the young team, but he is still worried about the focus of his squad.  “While we are still just barely into our season, we have to worry about keeping our players interested in playing golf,” stated Smith.

TJ Girls Golf is off and swinging in 2009. photo by Kevin Fleming

The Thomas Jefferson girls’ golf team sent three members of their team to play in their first match of the season. Taliah Farnsworth, Nicole Brown, and Marelle Davey took part in the tournament, but none of them were able to place at the competition.

The team played decent golf in their first match of the season.  Although none of the three girls placed, Head Coach Mark Smith was pleased with their overall performance.  “We are a very young squad with a lot of potential and we have the possibility to have one of the best teams that we have had in awhile,” stated coach Smith.

Clint Eastwood delivers a spectacular movie and a gritty personal performance as a disgruntled Korean War veteran in his latest project, Gran Torino.  Already nominated for many awards, Gran Torino has to be one of the best movies of 2008.

Clint Eastwood has directed many recent masterpieces such as Letters From Iwo Jima and Million Dollar Baby.  However, in this movie Eastwood takes a different stance as he plays a racist white man, Walt Kowalski who is living in the slums of a fictitious middle class Michigan neighborhood.  With the recent death of his wife and his retirement from his assembly line job in a Ford manufacturing plant, he has little left in the world to live for.  He shuns his own family for he does not believe that his son Mitch (Brian Haley, The Departed) has lived up to his expectations.  The only visitor that he rarely receives is the local priest, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley, Lions for Lambs), who promised his late wife that he would check up on him.  Walt continuously turns him down or questions his character due to the fact that Walt believes that the priest is just a boy who just got out of school and he himself would have more knowledge on the death of his wife than him.  The only joy that seems to keep him alive is his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino.

When Walt moved in, it was a predominantly white neighborhood.  But eventually, more and more of his neighbors have moved out and immigrants have taken their place.  He resents them almost immediately as he still holds a grudge against them from his days in the Korean War.

One such family moves in next door to him and Thao, played by newcomer Bee Vang, is a teenage boy who helps his family and listens to his sister Sue, played by fellow newcomer Ahney Her.  Thao starts to get pressured by one of the Hmong gangs that are in a constant battle for power in the town with the rival gangs.  The only difference in this situation is that his cousin runs the gang, so throughout the beginning of the movie there are many scenes in which they try to get Thao to join their gang. Thao constantly turns down their offers, and it is during one of these encounters that the gang tries to take Thao away from his family and brings the conflict onto Walt’s lawn.  Walt brings out his same rifle that he used in the Korean War, and employs it to stop the conflict dead in its tracks.  The gang unwillingly gives Thao back to his family, but in the process Walt becomes an enemy of the gang and they threaten to retaliate against him for interfering with their business.

Clint Eastwood delivers an Oscar worthy performance and examines the inner workings of the mind of a racist.  While it might seem that he has no emotions whatsoever, he truly acts as a guard dog protecting his own interests.  He fought in the Korean War against the same Hmong people that are now moving into his comfort zone, so it is an apt physiological to examine the animosity he feels towards them.

Bee Vang also does a good job, especially for this being his first film.  Bee Vang’s character shows how to rise above peer pressure by continuously refusing to join the gang that his cousin runs, and portrays the good character to counteract the bald qualities of Walt.

I would highly recommend this movie, that is if you aren’t squeamish about hearing racist remarks.  If you are able to temporarily stomach all the racist language used by Walt at the beginning of the movie, you will truly enjoy the transformation that takes place.  Clint Eastwood has delivered many masterpieces, and Gran Torino raises the bar to a whole new level.  We can only look forward to what he will come up with next.

Chess Club meets every Tuesday at lunch in room 106. photo by Manny Perez

The Chess Club that was started almost ten years ago by teachers Jeff Coleman and Matt Spaminato is being reincarnated.

The club was started in 1997 as a way to share their love of the game of chess with the students here at TJ. When it first started, there were just a few people at the meetings, but its popularity began to grow, and it sustained popularity for a couple seasons. “We did start a little slow, but once word of the club got out there, we started to see more and more people come to the meetings,” said Coleman; however, over the years interest began to wane, and the club went on hiatus.

The Chess Club is often one of the student organizations that is overlooked and can slip through the cracks. However, both teachers have a love for the game that they felt they could pass on to students. Last year, there was a lot of renewed support for the club, and Coleman thought that he could rekindle its success this year.

Coleman decided to head the club this year by himself; he feels sometimes it’s just easier one only one person is in charge. “It’s not a lot of work to maintain the club,” said Coleman. With one person in charge, there would be a better chance of the club always having a regular schedule, Coleman explained.

The club does not have any certain skill level of play and it is often just a place for anybody who has a love for the game to come out and play. “We welcome any players who are interested in playing. We are just at a recreational level right now, so you don’t have to worry about knowing all of the professional rules,” states Coleman. It is often a place to come and just enjoy a nice game of chess without having to worry about being in a serious competition.

The meetings are more of a recreational sort of nature, where friends come to meet and catch up, and play a game of chess. Being more of a contemplative game, Chess gives the players time to converse while still exercising their minds.

One of the regular players at the meetings is senior Michael DeGregori, who Coleman described as one of the more skilled players that he has faced this year. “It’s a fun place with a lot of interesting people. The only thing we would like is to have more people come out to the meetings,” said DeGregori.

The Chess Club meets every Tuesday at lunch in room 106. They welcome anyone who has ever been interested in chess to come out to the meetings and to test or improve their skills.

    In the previous installment of the James Bond series, Casino Royale, James Bond played by Daniel Craig (The Golden Compass) encounters a terrorist money-laundering situation.  It’s up to Bond and his new found lover, Vesper (Eva Green, The Golden Compass) to find out who had set him up.  It turns out for James that the saying is true, that you keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as his lover Vesper is the one who had set him up, and eventually she is killed by the same organization that tried to set Bond up. The movie continues with Bond being completely confused and wondering how things had been going on without him knowing.  All that remains for Bond with is a phone number that was left for him on Vesper’s phone with the name of Mr. White.  Casino Royale ends up with Bond standing over Mr. White about to interrogate him about the organization that had tried to kill him.

    In Quantum of Solace James Bond is now out for vengeance and is looking for the company that forced his lover Vesper to betray him.  The movie starts out with Bond and M  (Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal) trying to interrogate Mr. White (Jesper Christensen, The Interpreter) about the company that tried to set Bond up.  Of course, what type of movie would it be if they had already captured the bad guy right at the beginning?  Halfway through the interrogation, that same bad guy manages to escape with the help of one of his inside agents who was posing as a bodyguard for M.  The next scene shows a spectacular chase through the city as James Bond tries to capture the assassin.

    From there on out it is a perfect example of a James Bond movie with explosions, guns and girls galore.   Plus, the viewer learns about some of the many things that have become famous in the James Bond series, such as to why James Bond is a womanizer ,and the origin of the vodka martini that must be shaken, not stirred.  However, in between all of the action, it is hard to get a real firm grasp on the actual storyline.  The producers do not go into a great amount of detail and it often times leaves the audience asking more questions than when they went into the theater.  

    Actor Daniel Craig does another stellar job as the new James Bond.  The heroine Camille (Olga Kurylenko, Hitman) plays a different role of a female heroine, instead of just being another woman in Bond’s life.  Throughout the movie there is good acting, but yet again, the storyline fails to grasp one’s attention.

    This movie is not worth the eight-dollar admission price.  Even though all the explosions and car chases might keep your adrenaline flowing, the lack of a cohesive plot kills the movie.  Even though Daniel Craig might be the new face of James Bond, the series is hanging on for dear life.

    Jookt is a free social network that was designed for and is driven by high school athletes.  It is a combination of ESPN’s SportsCenter and Google’s Youtube, as subscribers are allowed to post videos of both their sports and their lives off the field as well.  This is really one of the first sites that has been solely made for sports clips of high school students.   

    A local top gymnast at Loveland High School named Hannah Bower has already posted many videos to the site. “Jookt.com is awesome, because it shows the behind the scenes in your sport, and it allows people to see you not only as an athlete but you as a person,” states Bower.  She is just one of the many kids from local schools who has uploaded videos to the increasingly popular site.

    Uploading videos to the site is easy and is very simple.  When you log onto the home age, there is a tab on the right side that says upload video.  Users click on that tab and if they don’t have an account they have to create one.  Don’t worry, its free and simple.  Once you create the profile or log in, you simply add a title, put in some details about it and then search and upload the video directly.  It is no different than adding videos to Youtube.

    When Jookt visits schools it typically does everything from hand-out giveaways and prizes, to film students, fans and athletes with stories related to the game or match going on. Students can also tour the Airstream Trailer and see the production-studio-on-wheels in action.

    Jookt offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the minds and actions of regular high school athletes, in between all of the lessons, uniforms, fundraisers, equipment, travel, and exercise, there is just a regular teenager.  There is always a mosaic of stories that are out there, and with Jookt they are only a mouse click away.

    The TJ Spartans won their last game of the season, beating the Kennedy Commanders, but they were beaten out for the last playoff spot by fellow Denver Prep team, the North Vikings.

    The Spartans were flying high after their big win against West and knew that if they would win this game, they would have a much better chance of making it into the playoffs.  It was make or break time for the Spartans.

    TJ started out the game with a drive deep into the Commander zone; however, there was only one shot on goal, which was easily blocked by the Kennedy goalkeeper.  The Commanders then responded and brought the ball deep into the Spartan zone and, after a mad scramble, they got the ball into the back of the net, taking a 1-0 lead. 

    The Spartan defense knew that it would have to step up its game and keep the score at 1-0 if they wanted to have any chance at victory.  Also, the offense would have to get some more shots on goal if they wanted to overpower the Commander defense.  The first half ended with the Spartans still only getting a limited number of shots on the Commanders, and the score remained 1-0 going into halftime.

    The second half the Spartans came out firing and got a goal past the Commander keeper courtesy of Senior Defender Tamer Muhammad, who was playing forward for the final game. "Tamer was always right in the middle of the action, so it was an instinct of mine to put him in at forward," said Head Coach Jon Poole.

     They had evened the score, and the Spartans were back in the game.  To prove that lightening could strike twice, Muhammed got his second goal of the game towards the halfway mark of the second half.  The Spartan defense, which included Keenan Moore, Andrew Briss, Edgar Llamas, and Jake Hazan (all seniors), held the Commanders to only two shots for the remainder of the game. Spartan Goalkeeper, Raul Sanchez, saved both Commander strikes, and the game ended with a 2-1 score in favor of the Spartans.  “It was really satisfying to get a victory in our last games as Spartans.  Tamer played great and all of us on defense kept the game close for the offense.  I will always remember the Kennedy and West games when I think of my career playing for TJ,” stated Hazan. 

    However, the joy of their success was short lived.

    The Spartans were aware they would have a hard time making it into the playoffs, and they would need a lot of help from the other teams to make their dreams a reality. 

     However, halfway through the Spartans last game, Coach Poole received news that North had posted their score late and they had won, eliminating the Spartans from the playoffs.  Even though the Spartans had fought valiantly towards the end of the season, it was not enough and brought an end to their playoff hopes, another season ending just short of qualifying for the big show.

    The Spartans did not have the season that they were looking for this year, and there are many things that can be attributed to the lack of wins.  The offense did not get as many shots as they had wished, but when they did get shots on goal, a lot of them ended up in the back of the net.  “Towards the end of the season, we started to come together as a team, and we hope to continue this into the beginning of the season next year, “ Poole said.

    The major question that is going to plague the team next year is their defense, as the Spartans will be losing all four of their starting defenders.  The junior varsity defenders will have to step up to the plate for the team to have a shot at a winning record next year.  Also, they are going to lose both starting keepers, Raul Sanchez and Kyle Martinez.  With no full time goalie on the junior varsity team, there will have to be a new goalie inserted into the lineup.  It will be a rebuilding  year, as Poole will have to almost completely reconstruct the defensive portion of the team.

    Jerry Shaw is just your average Joe who lives his life in the shadow of his successful twin brother William (William Sadler, Nothing Sacred).  After returning from his brother’s funeral after his unfortunate death, Jerry goes to withdraw money from an ATM only to suddenly realize that he’s a rich man and that there has been a mysterious deposit of three quarters of a million dollars into his account.  His fortune is rather short lived though, as upon arrival back in his apartment, he discovers that there is a large weapons cache in his home.  He is shortly thereafter arrested by the F.B.I., but not before he receives a mysterious call from a woman alerting him of their presence.  While being detained, Jerry Shaw is allowed to have one phone call and, despite his efforts, the woman who earlier alerted him to the F.B.I.’s presence is the only person to whom he can get through.

    Ever get the sense of being watched by Big Brother?

    This tale of adventure after adventure eventually leads Jerry and Rachael to a secret military base that holds – yep you probably guessed it – a big and all-powerful super computer.  We wont spoil the ending for you, but we will give you a hint: it is explosive.

    Both Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan do a good job in staying in character and acting like mice put into a maze.  Surprisingly enough, Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton, Mr. Woodcock) does a really good job of portraying the F.B.I. agent, who always seems to be two steps behind the super computer’s plans and one step behind Jerry and Rachael.  

    Eagle Eye is a gritty movie that shows the downside to creating super computers that have gained the ability to actually think for themselves.  It is actually based on a nightmare of the not too distant future, and how mankind could eventually create things that would most certainly lead to his own demise.

    I swear, you think some people would learn from the Terminator movies.  I guess not, and as long as these movies based on corrupt super computers continue to draw in the big crowds at the box office, Hollywood will continue to make them…even if the plot is predictable.

    This movie just seems to employ cliché after a cliché, and even though it throws a few new twists and turns into the mix, it doesn’t overwhelm the predictability.  This movie is not worth the eight-dollar admission ticket, and would best be saved for when it goes onto a cheaper theatre or comes out on DVD.