Cubs Dominance

Just how good are the Cubs? Well let’s start with the fact that they are 24-6, which is the best record through 30 games since the Detroit Tigers back in 1984; and they won the World Series in convincing fashion. Every ESPN preseason analyst picked the Cubs to be a 100 win team. From this point on the Cubs would have to finish 76-56 to win 100. This is an easily accomplishable feat given the plethora of talent on this team. This talent includes: Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta who might as well be an automatic win for the Cubs at this point given just how good he has been. Others include MVP candidates Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler, along with other role players Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Javier Baez and Jason Heyward. The Cubs pitching staff also boasts the leagues best pitching staff with a team ERA of 2.48 and the closest competition is the other Chicago team, the White Sox who are 30 point behind them at 2.78! The staff led by Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and Jason Hammel is simply dominant. The Cubs are averaging 3 more runs per game than their competition and are just simply dominant. At this point in the season I’m picking the Cubs to face the Blue Jays in a battle of the best staff vs. the best offense in the league. We all thought that the Mets would have the best staff at this point in the year, but no, the Cubs are sitting atop the MLB pitching staffs. The Cubs just simply are dominant.

Norovirus Breakout on Cruiseship

Passengers on a cruise have recently experienced an outbreak of norovirus. Norovirus is the most common strand of the stomach virus. The ship was traveling from England to Maine and while they were on the way about 27% of all the passengers fell ill. 252 passengers became sick and 8 crew workers also got a case of the "stomach bug."

The company that owns the ship Balmoral is called Fred Olsen Cruises has begun to go to more extreme cleaning measures. The cruise left England on the 16th of April and was supposed to last until the 20th of May (a thirty-four day cruise). The ship was docked all weekend and was cleaned very thoroughly to try and stop the outbreak. The passengers will board again to complete the trip if all goes as planned.

Written by Emily Taylor

Capital Punishment: Yes or No?

Capital punishment, many people are in favor of it and many are not. Capital punishment in all honesty does not really deter crime. Statistically, there is no backing to the claim that it deters crime. Honestly, I would rather see a man rot in jail, and see everything he is missing around him rather than give him the easy way out. Death definitely is a cop out for inmates. Although a lot of inmates don't want to die, having them serve a sentence would be more of a punishment than ending their life early. Why kill someone when their torture is being locked in a cage with other people who have done similar crimes? Why kill someone so they don't have to wake up every day to a repeated cycle where other grown men and women have free reign over them? Why not? The human mentality is somewhat rebellious, and no one wants to be told when to eat, and when to sleepy, or how many showers a day they can take. I would rather someone end my life early so I don't have to deal with a structured life. Comment thoughts below.

Written by Josh Lewis

Will Steph Return?

Being completely honest I don't believe Steph will be able to return in game 3 on Saturday and if he does, there's a higher chance that he could re-injure his knee, And, worst case scenario, if he injures his knee, the healing time is certain to be longer and he might just miss out on the playoffs. As of now, the Warriors are 2-0 in the playoffs against the Damion Lilard and the Trail Blazers. But, if Steph does not return, will the Warriors keep the chain moving? I'm not saying the Warriors haven't been playing well against the Blazwrs, but It's exciting to see all the players healthy on the floor including the Splash Brother Steph Curry. Plus, who are the Splash Bros without Steph?! Steph says that there is a pretty good chance that he will play in game 3. Warriors GM says that Steph isn't qualified for making a definitive statement, but Myers put Curry on a similar timetable. With the rate that the Warriors are going, with a 2-0 record it wouldn't really matter if Curry returned Saturday, Monday or Wednesday.

Written by Carlos Marrow

Rescues in Nairobi, Kenya

After a building collapsed on April 30,  a woman was rescued and rushed to the hospital. A building collapsed on April 30, due to its poor foundation and conditions. Many apartment buildings are built poorly and barely pass building inspections in order to cut costs. When it first collapsed, at least 77 people and some rabbits were still inside. A baby was recovered unharmed 3 days ago, but the woman rescued today was trapped for a total of 6 days without food or water. She was rushed to the hospital and is only weak and dehydrated. Rescue workers report that at least 70 people still missing.

Written by Keira Zirkle

NFL Draft: Winners and Losers

So the draft is over and after months of anticipation every team now has their young rosters set. Everyone from pick 1 to pick 253 is valuable because to ever get to the draft you have to be incredibly talented and very smart so without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the 2016 NFL draft.

Winners

Jacksonville Jaguars:

I think the Jaguars are the clear cut winners of this draft. They had the 5th pick in the draft and got who I think was the number 1 guy in cornerback/safety Jalen Ramsey from Florida State and then traded up to the 36th pick and got the 2nd best player in the draft, linebacker Myles Jack out of UCLA. It’s not that rare to see a team pick up 1 really good player because most teams get at least 1, but to get the best 2 players in the draft in almost unheard of. Both of these guys will have immediate impact on the Jags and help to boost the horrendous defense this team has put on the field these last few seasons.

Minnesota Vikings:

The Vikings had a brilliant draft, filling the holes in their roster that needed to be filled. Laquan Treadwell is the best receiver in the draft and will certainly help to mold young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater into a really good quarterback. 2nd round pick Mackenzie Alexander is another guy who will help give a boost to this defensive secondary which had only 8 interceptions last year. Alexander didn’t have 1 interception in his last 28 games in college, but he also didn’t allow any touchdowns in his last 23 games.

Buffalo Bills:

The Bills also killed it man. In the first round Shaq Lawson fell right into their hands with the 19th overall pick. Lawson will definitely fill in the vacancy left by a departing Mario Williams with his combination of quickness and strength. 2nd round pick Reggie Ragland I think was their best pick. The Bills haven’t had a legitimate middle linebacker since Kiko Alonso back in 2012 who they traded the Eagles. Ragland brings that rough and tough style that I love to see in linebackers. Starting at MLB for Alabama is not easy, but Ragland made it look like it was. Side note: If he can play like he did in college quarterback Cardale Jones will turn out to be a stud having never lost a college football game.

Cincinnati Bengals:

The Bengals drafting was so good because all of their players they got for a steal. William Jackson III could be the best cornerback in the draft besides maybe Vernon Hargraves and taking 2 dominant defensive linemen like Andrew Billings and Christian Westerman in the 4th and 5th rounds respectively is downright crazy talk.

Losers

Miami Dolphins:

The Dolphins draft to me was OK at best. Yes Laremy Tunsil is a beast and should be treated as such, but smoking a bong through a gas mask before the draft is not a way to keep your job. Also 3 round pick Kenyan Drake was a waste of a pick to me especially a guy like Devonte Booker of Utah still on the board. I think that if Tunsil can fix his off field problems, this draft wouldn’t be a complete loss.

Oakland Raiders:

So I’m ok with first round selection Karl Joseph, safety out of West Virginia, but it was downhill after that. Connor Cook in the third round was a waste. Derek Carr is already turning out to be a great pick a few years back for them, so they don’t need another quarterback. DeAndre Washington, running back out of Texas Tech is not a bad player, but Oakland already has Latavius Murray and George Atkinson III as tailbacks so it’s kind of pointless. I’m not saying that they picked bad players but they didn’t draft where needed. (Defensive lineman)

Carolina Panthers:

Honestly the Panthers don’t even need that many new players because they already have great roster, but the panthers didn’t do so well. Their first pick Vernon Butler is ok, and he could help this defensive line, but he’s not the best lineman in the draft. And they completely overdrafted for defensive backs James Bradbury and Darryl Worely. I would say Carolina were the ultimate losers in this draft.

Unknown

New England Patriots:

The Pats didn’t even get a pick until #60 but they still have a shot of doing pretty good. Cyrus Jones was a good first pick to help and bolster up the defensive secondary. Plus Joe Thuney couldn’t hurt the NFL’s worst offensive line. I have these guys at unknown because we don’t know what they could have gotten if not for them losing draft picks due to deflategate. So this is definitely going to go down as an unknown.

Dallas Cowboys:

Of course Dallas winds up here because they drafted an injured player in Jaylen Smith and they took Ezekiel Elliot as a first round pick. Drafting a running back in the first round has been risky in the past (Trent Richardson). So if Elliot and Smith prove to be valuable picks this will be a win, if not they caught and L.

Written by Kenny Quinn

The End of the Year

This year was full of ups and downs, and twists and turns. The year is coming to a close, and it went by pretty fast. The moments felt like seconds, but the memories I gained this year will last me a lifetime. I learned things from various persons, from spirituality to just being a man. If nothing else, this year taught me that I have a lot of growing up to do, but to also seize each moment, we are on borrowed time therefore we should make the best of it.

The first highlight of my year was definitely the NYSUM trip. I grew spiritually and got to see God reveal a lot of gifts I have to me in ministry. In addition to that beautiful New York trip, I was forced to face my fears through multiple drama productions where I had a fair amount of lines. Those things helped shape me, however reluctant I may be, if my name is called upon I want to be able to say yes and do my best. To be continued... Anyone who wants to share their yearly memoirs be free to comment below.

Written by Josh Lewis