Tennis

           Everyone has at least heard of this game, even if you don’t think it’s a “real” sport. Tennis is a very vigorous sport. It makes you run, and use your arm and leg muscles. You may think that you don’t use your legs during tennis, but you do. You have to run, then you have to make sudden stops.

Tennis is a good way to get out your anger. You get to grunt and hit the ball with all your might. Well, not all of it. It has to be controlled. But when you get control and consistency, you can add all the power you can to that.

The Russian tennis star Anna Kornikova was recently one of the trainers on the Biggest Loser, a weight loss show. She used the tennis courts for her training process. Now if tennis wasn’t a real sport, then why is she using it for a form of weight loss? Tennis is amazing, I mean, what other sport can you play wearing a skirt?

Tennis can also injure people. You can get pegged with a 90 mph ball in the head. That can probably cause a concussion. You can stop suddenly and you can twist or snap your ankle. You can get tennis elbow from overusing your elbow, from snapping your arm back and forth.

Now read all this and tell me that tennis is not a sport. Tennis is not very well advertized or well recognized. This is kind of sad because it is a very cool sport, and the more people who play the more recognition it will get.

Cranky Chelsea

This semester went fast this year! We are all growing up and getting smarter. But I’m not here to talk about how sweet and awesome this year was. I want to talk about how semester tests take a toll on our well being. I know for a fact that the sophomores get sick this time of year because, well, I am one of those sophomores, and I am around them all the time. You can also see that all around the school. The morale gets low. We all lose sleep and gain a little weight from stress. Now even though I am ranting about semester tests, they still help us barely slide by in some classes! Say you don’t turn in a lot of your work during the year, and now you’re staying up late cramming and hoping you can pass. Well that’s your own fault, now isn’t it? But I for one am on the neutral side. We may be taking tests, but that is compromised by our Christmas break! We work hard then we get a break that lasts even longer than the test periods! Now I am not saying that I enjoy semester tests. I HATE them, just like every sane person in the world! Studying isn’t fun; neither is staying up late and getting up early. But hey, that’s school. 

However, we are not the only ones who suffer through this; the teachers still have to grade them. We only have to take one of a certain teachers test, but they have to grade everyone’s test in that class, and the other classes they have. So I guess we have it pretty easy.

Holy Cross's Llama Herders

                What kind of pets do you have at your house? Dogs? Cats? Maybe a bird or a turtle? How about llamas? Few people could answer yes to that last one. However, here at Holy Cross, we have a family that does in fact raise these uncommon pets.

            The Houseal family began raising llamas in 1994. “It was my dad’s idea,” says Teresa, the oldest child of the Houseals and a junior here at Holy Cross. “He wanted to raise gentle animals for his kids to grow up with.” Currently, the Houseals have eleven llamas, five females and six males .The Houseal kids have gotten very creative in naming their pet llamas, using names like Whamawho and Mompinompum.

Has Hollywood Run out of Ideas?

            Has anyone noticed how many film remakes there have been in the past few years? While remakes have always been around, there seems to be an unusually high amount lately.

            There are two main problems with remakes: One, they always leave something to be desired. They are never as good as the original and it upsets fans when certain thing they may have been fond of in the original get cut out or changed. Two, they lack originality. What people enjoy about going to the movies is seeing something they haven’t already seen before. Why would someone want to pay eight dollars to see something they have already seen?

           

The 2011 Volleyball Season

           This year, no one, not even the players or the coaches, knew what to expect out of the Lady Mustang volleyball season. The Lady Mustangs were practically a new team altogether. The team had lost seven seniors and had only four remaining varsity players. Inevitably, the season started out rocky. The players had to get used to playing with each other and the coaches had to learn to deal with this year’s team’s new problems. However, things turned around for the Lady Mustangs when they had their first win of the season – a home game against Ft. Elliot on August 30. From then on, the Lady Mustangs began winning game after game, improving with every game, win or lose. 

Taboo Food

Let’s eat monkey toes! Now, your first reaction would be, “…huh?” But monkey toes are actually a delicacy in Indonesia. Ewww… at least, that’s what most Americans would say. Monkey toes are as normal as street-side hotdogs, and apparently they’re good. Why would people keep eating them if they weren’t? Monkey toes are actually one of the many strange foods people eat and enjoy.

Eating puppies: Even the thought appalls us. But young dogs are socially acceptable food served in restaurants in China, and South Korea. 

           

St. Thomas the Apostle Youth Group

                One of the many youth groups in Amarillo is the St. Thomas youth group, also known as S.T.A.Y.  The S.T.A.Y. program is divided between middle school and high school. High school meets every Wednesday of the school year from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Middle school meets on Sundays from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

               

Worms Are Delicious!

Worms in dirt? Yum! I’m not talking about actual worms in dirt, but about a tasty pudding dessert. This dessert includes of the ingredients:

Staci Stallings

           Staci Stallings, mother of two Holy Cross students, is an author. The name Stallings may not sound familiar because it is the pen name of Stacy Wilhelm. The reason behind her pen name is because she couldn’t use Wilhelm because “nobody could spell it,” she said.

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

            Is cheerleading a sport? Holy Cross’s cheer captain, Lianne Wallace, says that it is.

“I think cheerleading is a sport because it involves being physically fit, flexible, and working well as a team.” Wallace also said there are five aspects to cheerleading: stunts, tumbling, jumps, dance, and cheering.