Why I liked joining Safety Patrol at Conwell Middle Magnet School is because last year I was Inspired by the old safety patrol and I wanted to become one.
So, everyday I would ask Mr Washington, who is our school’s Climate manager. And, he would say, next year.
So, I waited and on the last day of school, last year, and I said next year may I be a part of Safety Patrol. I think that the students that are not following the rules will be the hardest to work with and the responsibilities because if someone is being rude it’s going to be hard not to be rude back, but, Mr.Washington is really inspiring expecting to make everyone work harder to be role models and demonstrate PAWS (Peaceful Accountable Wholesome Solutionary).
Mr Washington told us that we get to help other students all around the school, and if you like helping you should sign up, too. And others should join safety patrol because It makes you better as a person.
This article is about the death of the author’s family member, which was reported on NBC 10 news on Jan. 27. These are the words of the deceased’s family member, a fifth grade student here at Conwell Middle Magnet School.
I was born in 2012. I grew up in a very bad neighborhood where there was a lot of gun violence and other violence that no one my age should know about.
At the beginning of this year, my older nephew passed away in a gun shooting. I found out by my mom calling me into her room. After hearing the horrible news, my brother and his girlfriend went to the hospital, and my nephew passed away.
Seeing him lying there deceased at the hospital really broke my heart and made my family devastated.
People think this world is a joke, but it’s not. It’s real to me, and people don’t understand what they’re doing to other people.
All I’m saying is stop.
There are several innocent people out here dying and getting hurt because people are making the wrong decisions. People really need to realize what they’re doing and how terrible they’re making this world.
I just want to live my life as a little kid and have peace. These days nobody can really have that because there are people out here making this world a bad place.
Graphic Image created by K. Velasquez 83 – Photo images all rights reserved.
The Wildcards
I’m gonna say it right now. All the National Football Conference wildcard games were awful aside from the Bengals and Jags games. We will be going over them.
Seahawks 23, 49ers 41
It was expected from the beginning that the Seahawks would lose this game, it’s just that we didn’t know it would turn out this way. Other than that I still have to congratulate the Seahawks for being the biggest underdogs this season and beating out the Broncos.
Cowboys 31, Buccaneers 14
Welp, now we were forced to hear the Cowboy fans yell out that their team is going to the big game. This is also probably Brady’s downfall as he’s played badly this year.
Vikings 24 Giants 31
I have nothing more to say but the Vikings were outliers. You may think they are good but they really haven’t been for the past 45 years.
Graphic Image created by K. Velasquez 83 – Photo images all rights reserved.
AFC WILDCARD
Im gonna enjoy writing about this
The AFC playoffs were a real definition of what a playoff game should be (besides some decisions) Starting off with the Bengals – Ravens game. Ravens took the lead 10-9 at the half and were jumping out to a good start in the game but then in the second half, the Bengals managed to tie the game at 17. The Ravens marched down the field but then out of nowhere, The running back Tyler Huntley fumbled the ball and was returned for a 98 yard touchdown which won the game for the Bengals. The rhythm for the Ravens this season is choking away games and it seems as if they just did their last choke, the season ending choke.
Next up was the Dolphins Bills game. After killing Tua Tagovailoa all season long with concussions they finally realized that he needs neurological help. So they started quarterback Skylar Thompson. And Thompson, forgot what a play clock was. They were several key moments ruined by the play clock and they lost 31-34.
Now the Chargers and Jaguars game. You saw the famed defensive back Joey Bosa slamming his helmet. The Jaguars were being dominated. In the first quarter, 17-0. Second?, 27-7. The Jags were down by 20 points. They began a comeback, and after the 3rd quarter, needed only 10 points to tie up the game. But then, after a “missed call” Edge Rusher Joey Bosa was flagged for throwing his helmet twice. It motivated Coach Doug Pederson to go for two and it worked.
On the final drive The Jaguars officially have moved on after a walk off field to win the game 30-31.
NFC AND AFC DIVISIONAL ROUNDS
The divisional round was pretty bad with rebuilding teams entering in the round. The AFC and NFC first seed Eagles and Chiefs were able to play, and they played as well as you’d expect. The Eagles pounded the Giants 38-7 and showed their first blowout victory since Hurts got injured. However the Chiefs had to work for their win against the Jaguars and the Jags nearly came back and won the game. However the Chiefs then came out with the win 20-27.
The rest of the games weren’t all that great. I mean the Cowboys did lose to the 49ers 19-12 but then again quarterback Dak Prescott did not play to expectations with only 1 TD and 2 picks. The Bills tried their best against the Bengals but it wasn’t enough. They had everything locked down from the start, winning 27-10 and moving to the NFC Championship.
The NFC and AFC Championships
The 49ers quarterbacks uh… Its safe to say they were on life support when they had Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant could only make the team relevant for so long.
The eagles would’ve rolled over the 49ers anyways. The 49ers could’ve brought up a chance if they had Purdy or Jimmy Garoppolo but still. The Eagles did a total Roll Over on the 49ers and destroyed them punching their ticket to the big game.
The Chiefs won due to Refball (Referees making horrible mistakes) plus the Bengals were doing a lot of trash talking. They were getting way too cocky, Eli Apple and other players talking trash, Arrowhead being called Burrowhead for the Quarterback Joe Burrow. And the biggest one of them all, Mayor of Cincinnati asking Burrow to take a paternity test to see if QB Patrick Mahomes is his son. That really put the nail in the coffin and Kansas City was not gonna take that level of disrespect. They would end up winning 20-23 en route to the Big Game against the Eagles.
Graphic Image created by K. Velasquez 83 – Photo images all rights reserved.
Super Bowl LVII
Both of the best teams from both divisions play out in todays big game. The Eagles and Chiefs are both extremely talented teams. Chiefs enter their 3rd super bowl in 4 years while the eagles were at one point 13-1 before Jalen Hurts got injured.
The amount of talent the Eagles have is astronomical with so many key factors. The O-Line is the most stacked in the NFL with most being people from the Super Bowl 52 Team. They also have the most stacked defense in the NFL. This Eagles defense had 70 sacks this year. Just two shy of the NFL record.
I mean, the Chiefs are good right? Well, really good. They are being coached by the great Andy Reid, a former Eagles head coach who took them to a Super Bowl XXXIX. Most of their weapons were lost in the Off season however they even added some pieces to the team.
However would it be worth it? All of these additions All of this trouble and revenge. Who will win it all?
FIND OUT NEXT IN SUPER Bowl LVII.
Super Bowl LVII will be played on February 12th at 6:30 PM
Editor’s Note: If you’re a student at Conwell Middle Magnet School and are interested in writing your own special interest column, please email Mr. Dungan at gdungan@philasd.org.
Graphic image created by K. Velasquez -82 – Photo images all rights reserved.
To start this column of mine, I need to go back to Oct. 24, 1971.
It was a Lions’ game, a player by the name of Chuck Hughes was player for the lions in a game against the Chicago Bears. During a play in which quarterback Greg Landry threw an incompletion down 28-23, Hughes collapsed on the field. Hall of fame linebacker Dick Butkus was near and requested help.
Hughes didn’t make it. He was only 28.
Science has changed since 1971. The NFL learned after its mistakes and successes kept advancing their goal of making the rough sport of American Football safer. Who knew that more than 50 years later, another close call approached. A safety for the Buffalo Bills would unfortunately have to take this call.
Damar Hamlin was a starter safety coming into the week 17 matchup against the mighty Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills was coming off of a 35-13 win against the 3-11 Bears and was hoping to prove themselves as a Super Bowl contender.
Damar Hamlin had 6 total tackles and was doing pretty good. Before the game started Hamlin was even practicing during the game and was pretty stable.
Bills 7 Bengals 6 First Quarter
During a passing play, Quarterback Joe Burrow passed to his Receiver Tee Higgins. As Damar Hamlin went in for the tackle, he experienced a blow to the chest.
Damar then stood up, took 2 unstable steps, and collapsed.
The blow turned Damar into a cardiac arrest and his systems shut down. Time was ticking as he was in critical condition at the time. CPR was administered and the game was suspended.
At the time of this column’s publication, it is still unknown how the cardiac arrest happened but this is the most accurate statement I have which can also be proven by many other sources. Damar Hamlin was in the hospital and in critical condition but “improving.” As of Jan. 5, Damar is finally awake and is being asked about the game. An absolute miracle for the family, team, and fans.
His GoFundMe as of Thursday Jan. 5 is more than $7 million. I really do hope he survives this however we cannot be so sure so soon.
Thoughts on the situation
Many people want to have the NFL take more away from tackling and focus on health. However Football is a tough sport, The aspect of Football is the tackling and the whole base of Football is about the tackling. The History of why football was made is based on tackling a person with a ball.
Its only been 51 years since the last recorded death. In soccer according to the FIFA Sudden Death Registry, 31 players died in 2021, meaning that football in fact is safer than their counterpart soccer.
Damar was hit at the perfect angle and the perfect part and the perfect time. It was no ones fault. No one to blame. The only way to double down on tackling is if more players turn out like Hamlin. If not then there nothing to worry about.
The Bills will play the Wildcard round on sunday against the rival Miami Dolphins at home 1 pm ET. Stay tune for the next Retrospective on the NFL Playoffs!
Have an idea for a student opinion piece or column? Contact Mr. Dungan at gdungan@philasd.org or stop by room 205 and pitch your idea!
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