Zach Binger – Providence Academy Word

May 20, 2015October 2, 2015

Slow Down, Frustration Ahead

by Zach Binger, PAW Writer

In Minnesota there are only two seasons; winter, and road construction season. Currently, Vicksburg Lane in Plymouth is under construction from 46th Avenue to Schmidt Lake Road. This is the first of two phases for the Vicksburg Lane construction project. For the next two years Vicksburg will be rebuilt. The first phase will take place in 2015, and the second phase will take place in 2016. The main goal of the construction project is to extend Vicksburg from two lanes to four lanes. This is due to all the new homes being built in the Plymouth and Maple Grove area. The second phase of construction on Vicksburg will go from the North side of Schmidt lake road and end at the Maple Grove border.

The City of Plymouth expects the first phase of construction will last until mid-June if weather permits. This construction makes the trip for some Providence students a little longer. Detours through nearby neighborhoods are the only way to get through Vicksburg and to the other side of Schmidt Lake Road. The first phase really doesn’t affect the people that are driving to school from Maple Grove, but it does affect most students that come to school from Plymouth. Although there is a detour, it doesn’t really affect students driving to Providence that much, and only takes an extra minute or two. The site where construction starts on Vicksburg is only one mile away from Providence if you take 46th Avenue North to Orchid Lane North. This is the fastest detour to get to Schmidt Lake Road from Vicksburg. In addition to the extra lane on each side of the road they are also redoing the sidewalks and making sidewalks on each side of the street.

Phase two is going to be a much bigger deal for Providence students that come to school from Maple Grove and cities north of Providence Academy. The second phase will cover a lot more ground and will have a much longer detour than the first phase. In addition to the extra lanes being added, phase two will contain a bridge that goes over the Canadian Pacific Railroad and a pedestrian bridge between 57th Avenue and 58th Place as part of the Northwest Greenway. Later, when the bridge will go over the train tracks, traffic will no longer have to stop for trains, and there will be much better traffic flow and less bumper to bumper waiting in the mornings. Along with no more waiting, you won’t have to scrape the underside of your car anymore when you try and cross over the railroad tracks. Phase two will take a bit more time than phase one and is planned to be finished at the end of the summer in 2016.

This extravagant construction will cost the City of Plymouth $19.4 million. The man with the plan is Mr. Mike Payne, Design Manager and overseer of the Vicksburg Lane construction. Although many Minnesotans are livid about the constant road construction, these extra lanes and bridges will create less traffic in the future and make many people happy.

April 28, 2015May 20, 2015

Baseball Breakfast at Dobo’s Cafe

by Zach Binger, PAW Writer

Every year, in early spring, a major fundraiser is held at Dobo’s Cafe & Bakeshop in the city of Loretto. The fundraiser is organized by the Providence Academy Baseball Boosters. It helps fund the PA baseball team events and equipment needs for upcoming years. The fundraiser took place Sunday morning from 8:30 a.m. to noon on April 15^th. A full breakfast buffet was served, which included scrambled eggs, french toast, sausages, fruit, and Dobo’s famous caramel sticky buns. This year’s breakfast was the fifth annual fundraiser held at Dobo’s Cafe.

The idea to have the fundraiser at Dobo’s Cafe originally came from Mr. Doug Doboszenski, Varsity Assistant of the PA Baseball Team. He reached out to his family, and asked them if the fundraiser could be held at Dobo’s Cafe, and they thought it was a good idea. The fundraiser is organized by PA baseball captains, and their parents. Players from the PA baseball team actually work the event as hosts, servers, and kitchen help. Roughly 325 people attended Sunday’s event including players, coaches, family members, students, alumni, and other supporters of PA baseball. The fundraiser is completely donation based and generally raises between three and four thousand dollars. A portion of the proceeds goes to benefit Gianna Homes-Gladys’ Place in Plymouth. Gladys’ Place is a residence in Plymouth that provides a home for six people suffering from memory loss.

Sunday’s breakfast was well attended by many members of the Providence Academy community. Many students attended the event and came to enjoy breakfast with friends and family. Members from other athletic teams such as hockey, lacrosse, football, and softball attended the fundraiser. The event had a great atmosphere, and even one of the varsity players asked a girl to prom by spelling out “PROM?” with french toast. The PA Baseball Booster breakfast is a special event for many of those involved. When asked what the fundraiser means to him, Mr. Doboszenski said I enjoy seeing the players get together and work hard to fund their sport. They learn great restaurant and service work and it also helps with team bonding. This year college freshman Nick Pruden, last year’s only graduating senior, came back to help work in the kitchen washing dishes. One of Mr. Doboszenski’s favorite things about the breakfast and PA baseball itself is, “Watching the growth of the players, not only as baseball players, but as they grow and mature as young men, and become good citizens and good students.”

All in all the breakfast was a great success for Providence Academy Baseball as a whole. Students, family members, and even PA teachers all enjoyed good food and conversation in support of PA baseball. Mr. Kevin Tapani, Providence Academy Varsity Baseball Head Coach and former Minnesota Twins pitcher, commented how he likes to see the Providence Academy community come together and enjoy the breakfast. Thanks to the hard work of the PA Baseball Boosters, the baseball players, coaches, and especially the people of Dobo’s Cafe & Bakery it was another great breakfast enjoyed by all.

March 28, 2015April 9, 2015

NCAA March Madness Bracketology

by Zach Binger, PAW Writer

Every March the most anticipated event in college sports occurs; it’s the end of the season men’s college basketball tournament. The 68 team tournament is often referred to as March Madness, or the Big Dance. The 68 teams are slotted into a tournament bracket, which millions of people attempt to predict the final winner. Bracketology is a commonly used phrase when attempting to predict the winners and losers of this tournament. Bracketology is the process of predicting the field of college basketball participants in the NCAA Basketball Tournament and subsequently the process of predicting the winner after the selection committee announces the field of teams. This phrase was first used to describe the work of Joe Lunardi, currently an ESPN analyst.

Back in 1996, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper referred to Joe Lunardi as a college basketball expert, or Bracketologist. Lunardi originally was the editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, a preseason and postseason guide to college basketball, who also has his own Bracketology ESPN website and teaches a Bracketology course at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

The NCAA Men’s Division I postseason basketball tournament is the finale of the entire college basketball season. Only the 68 best teams get invited to the tournament. They are selected by a 10 member NCAA Selection Committee made up of conference athletic directors and commissioners. Of the 68 teams, 32 teams receive automatic bids as a result of winning their post season conference tournaments. After this, 36 teams receive what’s called at-large bids. These at large bids are generally given to teams based on their rankings achieved during the regular season. The committee divides the field into four regions with 17 teams each. Each region is seeded from 1 to 17, and the 16th and 17th seeds in each region play each other to determine the final bracket of 64 teams. After teams start to get eliminated, and only 16 teams are left, the tournament gets real exciting. The field is cut in half after every round, and gradually narrowed to the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, and the Final Four during games spanning two weeks. The Final Four, or semifinals, is then played the following Saturday with the championship game played on a Monday.

The Selection Committee will pick the field of 68 on Sunday March 15th during a nationally televised broadcast which is always on CBS. Currently, Joe Lunardi predicts Kentucky, Virginia, Duke, and Villanova will be the top seeds in the four regions. Other strong contenders that could do well in the tournament are Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona, and Gonzaga. Going into the tournament Kentucky is the odds on favorite, they finished the regular season undefeated with a record of 31-0. Overall all the March Madness Tourney is dominated by the bigger conferences such as the big 10, the Big 12, the Big East, the Pac 12, the SEC, and arguably the strongest, the ACC. This year it’s doubtful our own Minnesota Gophers will make the tourney, but look for Upper Midwest teams like Iowa, Northern Iowa, and even North Dakota State to potentially make the tournament.

Typical March Madness Bracket:

Millions of sports fans around the world fill out March Madness brackets every year. Even President Obama takes time to fill out a bracket. Besides filling out brackets, it’s estimated over $1 billion dollars is spent in gambling on bracket pools. People spend a lot of time on Bracketology and it’s still almost impossible to predict the outcome of every game and have a perfect bracket. In fact, the odds of achieving a perfect bracket are estimated to be nine quintillion to one. Last year Quicken Loans and Warren Buffet sponsored a “Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge” where anyone who picked a perfect bracket would win a billion dollars.

Nobody won the money last year, but the NCAA college basketball tournament is still extremely enjoyable to sports fans and Bracketologists around the world. Providence Academy is a community of very intelligent people, and maybe someone from our school could become educated, or lucky enough, at Bracketology to win the billion dollars.

February 17, 2015

Ping Pong Piques Interest

Ping Pong is a sport where you don’t need athleticism or good genes; all you need is a paddle and a desire to get better. Ping Pong is a sport very similar to tennis, but on a much smaller scale. Ping Pong originated in England in the 19th century. Although it is not the most popular sport in America, it is still growing at a tremendous rate. Many schools such as Moundsview, Academy of Holy Angels, Rochester North, Eagan, Orono, Wayzata, and many more have started up Ping Pong clubs. It is a great way for students to get together after school and have fun and compete against other students. As more schools are starting to have Ping Pong clubs and varsity teams, the more it seems to gain the interest of students.

Totino Grace was one of the earliest schools to start a Ping Pong club. A 2012 segment featured on WCCO-TV shows how the club was started as a statistics project. Once it got enough interest, the students made it into a club. The advisor of the club, Mr. Mike Munson said, “It’s great for everyone because you don’t need to be tall or fast,” which is an issue for many people. Ping Pong is one of the most popular clubs at Totino Grace now, and has more members than chess and math club. With Ping Pong on the rise, Minnesota is the number one state for junior and high school ping pong tournaments and competitions.

Most schools that have Ping Pong started it as an intramural club, and some have even taken it to the next level and have turned it into a varsity sport. Like all other sports, Ping Pong has a state tournament that is hosted every March. The season for Ping Pong takes place in the winter and goes from November to March just like hockey and basketball.

Providence Academy does not have a Ping Pong club, but in the future should consider starting one. It would be a good way for kids to get to know each other, and have lots of fun. As it grows in popularity, the more schools will have Ping Pong.

January 27, 2015

The Next Pheidippides?**

Providence Academy may just have a new cross country prodigy in 7th grader Maddie Kelly, who reached the state tournament in just her first year competing in cross country. At the beginning of the year, an inexperienced runner, Maddie Kelly signed up for cross country at Providence Academy. She signed up thinking it would be a fun experience, and a good way to get to know and become friends with people. But little did she know that she was going to become a state-class athlete.

In girls cross country, the event that they run is the 4K, as opposed to boys who run the 5K. Throughout the season, Maddie kept improving her time and worked her way up to a spot on the varsity team. For a seventh grader to be competing in varsity meets and placing well is almost unheard of. Throughout the cross country season, Maddie started to win recognition from her classmates and many others. What really sets Maddie apart is how she was able to go from bottom of the rankings to competing with other state-class athletes. At the end of the year, Maddie qualified for the state tournament with a 4K time of 15:57 which is phenomenal. Maddie’s successful and accomplished season didn’t stop there, because she made the tournament that every runner dreams of as a seventh grader.

At the state tournament, Maddie finished 72^nd, not surprising for a first-timer. She said she had a great time competing at the tournament, and thought the course was great. Maddie “loved” her experience at the tournament, because she received great support from the other runners, and the other girls participating at the event were “unbelievably nice” to her. This made her experience all the better. At the tournament, she said she became close with some of the other girls, and made many new friends. Although Maddie was obviously very thrilled with her first year of cross country and her state placing as a seventh grader, she still wants to get better. Maddie’s goals for next year are to run better times, and place higher at the state tournament than she did this year. With this being her first year running cross country, these goals are easily achievable. With practice and hard work, Maddie has a very high ceiling in cross country.

Maddie made a huge statement this year in her very successful cross country season. It looks like she could be the future of Providence Academy’s girls cross country team. With her great performance this year, students and staff are looking forward to what she will be able to do in her high school years. Don’t be surprised if one day you see Maddie competing as a Division One college athlete with early success. Congratulations to Maddie Kelly and Providence Academy cross country on a fantastic and very promising season.

** According to Greek legend, Pheidippides was a soldier who ran from the scene of a battle in Marathon, Greece to Athens in 420 BC to deliver the news of a military victory. The legend says he cried “Niki” (victory) and died on the spot.