Let's be honest: the only thing the Nationals had going for them last year was a brand-spanking-new stadium. Limping their way through a grisly 59-102 season in 2008, the Nats are desperate for a new direction - and with an 0-7 starting record, they have yet to find their rhythm. Will General Manager Jim Bowden's controversial departure barely a month before the season begins change anything for Major League Baseball's worst team, or are they doomed to face the same fate as last year's team?
As the clock ticked down for Blair in the first round of the basketball playoffs on Feb. 27, senior Mike McClain faced not only the pressure from the game but also from a man seated in the third row - a college scout watching his every move. For many of Blair's top athletes, applying to college is a whole different beast than the one that tortures most seniors. Their quest to find the right college has more sides than just an ego-boosting glam show. First, they must gain the attention of college coaches - often a long, tension-filled process. Then, after building personal relationships with those coaches, they must make the hard decision of choosing only one.
Blair's varsity boys' basketball team was unable to overcome an 11-point first-half hole in the opening round of the playoffs Friday night, succumbing to a sharpshooting Richard Montgomery squad, 62-56. The Rockets' perimeter game was exemplified in ending each of the first three quarters with buzzer beaters combining for seven points, more than the final difference.
It was in no sense an offensive showdown Tuesday night, as the visiting Sherwood Warriors and Blair's varsity boys' basketball team combined for just 65 points, barely topping the Blazers' 63-point outing at Northwood in late December. Blair (4-7) bore the worst of the shooting troubles however, and the Warriors (4-6) grabbed their third straight road win of the season in a sloppy 41-24 triumph.
An up and down college football season is coming to an end with the annual bowl games. The Oklahoma Sooners and Florida Gators are set to square off for the national title. We here at SCO hope that our coverage of the BCS bowl games and the FedEx National Championship Game will help hardcore college football fans and newcomers as well.
A year ago, Blair's varsity boys' basketball team developed an unfortunate pattern: establish an early lead only to have the game determined in the final moments. But for the Blazers this season, the trend has been quite the opposite – for the third game in a row Blair (3-0) has pushed for the win in an explosive second half, their latest including 43 points before capping off a dominant 63-45 victory at rival Northwood (0-2) Friday night.
It might be forever remembered as Obama's first agenda item. "I think that it is about time that we have playoffs in college football," the President-elect said on the eve of his historic election. "I am fed up with these computer rankings and this, that and the other. Get eight teams…get a playoff, decide on a national champion."
Over four years of high school, most students have the chance to attend at least one sporting event, if not many. And every time, students hear this message: "An important mission of the interscholastic athletics program is to teach and reinforce values relating to sportsmanship, competition, and fair play. It is expected that team personnel, parents, and spectators respect this mission by exhibiting appropriate behavior at athletic events," or something of that nature. Yet an incident at a varsity boys' soccer game this year defied those expectations.
Although the Homecoming finale to the season did not go as planned in a 41-33 loss to Springbrook Friday night, Blair's varsity football team was able to walk off the field with their heads held high. Just one year removed from a disastrous 0-10 season, the Blazers surprised everyone as they churned out their best start to the season in 44 years en route to a respectable 5-5 finish. Along the way, Blair even shocked defending 3A state champion Damascus (7-3) in a 28-26 Halloween night overtime thriller.
It will forever be remembered as a near-perfect season for the Blair girls' varsity soccer team, one that ended far too prematurely in a cold regional semi-final loss Thursday night. The Lady Blazers (14-2) dominated all game, greatly edging the defending state champion Quince Orchard in shots and possession. But in the end, a header goal on a very jumbled play – "flukey" in Blair head coach Robert Gibb's words – was enough for the Cougars to pull off the 1-0 upset as Blair was shutout for the first time all season.
In preparation for another thrilling season of college basketball, we at Silver Chips have taken a gander at the ACC and put together previews for the league's 12 teams. Tyler Hansbrough and the Tarheels will seek to set the pace, but other strong squads, like perennial powerhouse Duke and a completely intact starting lineup at Wake Forest, promise to make the season interesting.
Blair's varsity football team found themselves outclassed by an undefeated Sherwood squad Friday night, scoring their only touchdown in the final minutes of a 35-7 loss. The Blazers were unable to match the dominating offensive firepower of the Warriors (6-0), who put up two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters for 28-0 halftime lead. Blair was without head coach Jeffery Seals, who missed his second straight game due to illness but is expected to return for next week's match at Wootton, according to assistant coach Bryan Nance.
A year ago, varsity football was winless (like we need to be reminded). This year, the team ended that 11-game losing streak by opening the season with two staggering wins, including a 41-12 domination of a game over Northwood. Yeah. They now sit at 3-1 and are looking strong with their most positive start in decades.
After squandering a 13-point lead last year against Northwood in what would be their closest loss of a winless season, Blair's varsity football team played with that lesson in mind as they routed their geographic rival Friday night, 41-12.
Amidst rainy conditions Friday night, Blair's varsity football team ended an 11-game winless streak, satiating the drought in a dominant 47-14 victory at Blake.
For the first time, Blair's sports teams and the rest of Maryland public schools can practice during the summer with all their coaches and players, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) ruled in their Board of Control meeting on April 25.
It is safe to predict the eventual fate of the 2008 Silverlogue yearbook, soon to be delivered to Blair students. It will end up a collector's item. One of those collectors is likely to be 1970 Blair graduate Donna Guiffre, who has three rooms brimming with high school yearbooks inside her antique-filled Germantown home. Her collection now amounts to more than 2,000 yearbooks from 48 states, including Silverlogues covering 50 of Blair's 79 years as a school.
Bryan Moore was only twelve years old when he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, caused by obesity and lack of exercise. Now a ninth grader, Moore has his name on a bill that aims to increase physical education requirements in school - including doubling high school requirements to two years.
The Blair varsity baseball team was eliminated during the first round of playoffs Tuesday night, falling 15-12 to the Churchill Bulldogs after mounting an inspiring rally to send the game into extra innings. Blair finished the season 10-11, and to a standing ovation from their fans.
BLAZER FIELD, April 30 – Senior night served Blair's baseball team well Wednesday night, as the Blazers (8-8) once again dug themselves out of an early three-run hole and held on with sharp fielding for a victory over Northwest, 4-3.
BLAZER FIELD, April 18 – In an offensive battle Friday night, the Blazers took the visiting Sherwood Warriors to extra innings before ultimately falling, 14-7. Blair held a one run lead into the sixth inning, when Sherwood tied it at seven runs all. The Warriors outlasted the Blazers in the eighth, capitalizing on a few defensive errors to take the final lead.
Trailing 5-1 with three innings to play, Blair's varsity baseball team mounted an inspiring comeback that was capped when junior outfielder Neil Corran made contact in the bottom of the seventh to bring in freshman Nevin Brown and send the Springbrook Blue Devils home with a loss, 6-5.
One of the newest additions to the Downtown Silver Spring scene, Fuddruckers huddles in between the popular Cold Stone Creamery and Z Pizza. Its bright yellow awnings draw the eye in, and a taste from inside will ensure that people come back.
Thanks to two powerful innings, the Damascus Hornets edged the hosting Blair Blazers (5-3) in an otherwise deadlocked match on Tuesday afternoon, 5-3. The Hornets scored two runs in the third inning and three in the sixth. Blair countered with a three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally fell short.
Blair's varsity softball team dropped their third game of the season to traditional county powerhouse Damascus by a misleading 10-1 score. The Blazers trailed only 2-1 entering the fifth inning, but Damascus pulled away by capitalizing on lucky hits and defensive errors by Blair.
Senior Issy Melton has been named to the Montgomery County 4A All-Star Basketball team, and senior co-captain Milton Colquehoun was an honorable mention. Melton and Colquehoun recently led the boys' varsity basketball team in a victory over Wootton to advance to the regional semi-finals, the team's longest playoff run in over a decade.
With the game deadlocked at 41-41 and one minute remaining, Blair's boys' basketball team (7-15) scored the final four points to clinch the upset against the divisional champion Wootton Patriots on Tuesday night, 45-41. Behind their roaring fans, the Blazers extended their improbable run to four wins in a row, with the next contest on Thursday versus second seed Magruder (16-6) in the regional semifinals.
The boys' varsity basketball team overcame the Blake Bengals in the first round of the regional playoffs on Saturday afternoon, winning 56-52 in an overtime thriller. The Blazers, now 6-17 on the season but riding a three-game winning streak, will travel to Wootton on Tuesday for the second round of the playoffs.
The boys' varsity basketball team finished off the regular season in a dominating fashion Tuesday night, defeating the Wheaton Knights 58-35. The win came just a day after a convincing 15-point victory at Gaithersburg on Monday. By posting their first back-to-back victories since beginning the season 2-0, the team ended the regular season at 5-17, and will host the Blake Bengals on Saturday for the first round of playoffs.
Hollywood's latest attempt at turning the War on Terror into a compelling movie script begins with an assassination attempt on the President. Shown from five different points of view, "Vantage Point" had the utmost potential to be a clever, impressive movie. Unfortunately, it failed on almost all fronts, relying on implausible and disconnected events and desperately clinging to its novelty.
As of last Friday, the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) received a record 27,000 applications, up 16 percent from last year, for its class of 2012, according to the UMCP Office of Undergraduate Admissions Associate Director Britt Reynolds. Despite the increase in incoming applications, UMCP reduced the number of designated seats for freshmen by 200 from - 4,250 to 4,050 - after last year's class was declared too large.
In an all too familiar fashion, the boys' varsity basketball team lost once again Monday night, this time to defending state champions Sherwood. The Blazers (2-12) took an eight point lead into the third quarter, but were undone when the visiting Warriors hit the winning jumper as time expired for a final score of 49-47.
In his time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have been analogous to the writers of the hit TV series CSI. Perhaps that is why a sold-out crowd filled Round House Theatre for the Lumina production of Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles." The adult cast took on the widely known persona of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in their first story, and the result is something surely even Doyle would have enjoyed.
NELSON H. KOBREN GYMNASIUM, Jan. 29 – The Blazers (3-9) dropped their fourth straight game in a one-sided loss to the Blake Bengals at home Tuesday night, 69-24.
After a promising 2-0 start to the season, the varsity boys' basketball team dropped their sixth straight game, a loss to the Magruder Colonels Friday night, 60-35.
When 2003 Blair alumna Nora Toiv was in the fifth grade, she got to visit the White House on "take-your-daughter-to-work" day. Her dad, Barry Toiv, who was Deputy Press Secretary during most of the Clinton Administration, took Nora on a special tour through the different-colored rooms and past the security guards to the Oval Office, where he introduced her to the president at his desk.
The boys' varsity basketball team continued to tease its fans with another heartbreaking loss Friday night to the Springbrook Blue Devils, 63-48.
Blair's varsity boys' basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night in a 58-56 nail-biter to neighborhood rival Northwood.
The varsity boys' basketball team has been nominated for Fox 5's High School Game of the Week, according to Rich Dunne, sports producer for Fox 5 in Washington, D.C. The boys' 7 p.m. game at Wootton High School this Friday is one of five area high school games that are featured on the Fox 5 web site.
NELSON H. KOBREN GYMNASIUM, Dec. 6 – Following several seasons of utter disappointment, Blair's varsity boys' basketball squad set a different tone for the program in a convincing season opening win against the Einstein Titans, 53-37.
The first steps in the schedule to install artificial turf in Blazer Stadium will begin next month, according to the Montgomery County Department of Parks and Planning (MC-NCPPC). The actual installation is scheduled for the summer of 2009, a year after the date predicted by the athletic department's first reports.
In a world filled with war, poverty and Paris Hilton wannabes, fairy tales are needed more than ever. Right on cue, Disney has released "Enchanted," a modern comedy about a dream princess who goes from a fantasyland to real-life Manhattan, where fairy tales rarely end happily.
Blair's varsity football team hosted the Kennedy Cavaliers for the homecoming game on Friday despite the elements. Although the game was evenly matched for most of the night, Blair (0-8) was unable to make up for long Kennedy plays as the Blazers lost, 18-0.
Blair varsity boys finish off their soccer season tomorrow night against Northwood. The match-up is the first varsity soccer contest between the schools since Northwood reopened in 2004, and even though neither team will be making a run for the state championship this year, the game has been circled on calendars since the schedule was distributed during the summer.
Blair varsity football dropped their seventh game in a row after a tight loss on Friday at home to Wootton, 19-6. The Blazers stayed close, going into the fourth quarter down only 6-0, but a much-needed offensive spark came too late as the Patriots commanded the last 12 minutes of the game.
Blair varsity football stayed winless after a loss on Friday at home to Magruder, 35-12. Blair (0-5) climbed back to within one point after the Colonels took an early 13-0 lead, but was unable to overcome five turnovers.
The Blair varsity football team dropped its fourth straight game on Friday night, shut out at Whitman, 30-0.
With less than two years before the Class of 2009 is scheduled to be the first year to only graduate students who passed all the High School Assessments (HSAs), state Superintendent Nancy Grasmick is conceding that students unable to pass all four tests ought to be allowed an alternative means by which to earn a diploma.
The Blair varsity football team was shown no mercy on Thursday night, as they fell to 0-3 after a brutal loss at home to the Gaithersburg Trojans, 45-0.
The hyped-up match between fierce rivals Blair (0-2) and Northwood (1-1) ended sorely for the red-and-white, as the Gladiators took the lead for the first and final time in the last minute of play to win by a score of 18-13.
BLAZER STADIUM, Sept. 7 – The hype surrounding the varsity football team's opening home game came to a crashing halt, as the Blazers fell to the Blake Bengals, 21-12, once again starting their season off with a losing record.
Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter will not run for reelection this year, ending her 10-year reign as head of the seven-member City Council, she announced at last Monday's Council meeting.
As humans continue to test the strength and resilience of Mother Nature, several U.S. state governments have been proactive in limiting their contributions to global climate change. Now the state of California, the leader of the pack, may be able to force the auto industry to manufacture cleaner cars, something the federal government has failed to do.
It took a little bit of time for things in Janet Berry's life to fall into place. She describes her hometown, South Bend, Indiana, as a place where "many people are from but not many stay." Early in her life, Berry saw art as her ticket out. But despite being the "artist in the class," she was hampered by a high school that offered only one art class.
Just a sophomore, Jeff Teague, here shooting over Kyle Singler in Wake's upset over Duke in last year's NCAA tournament, will play with familiar faces as the entire starting squad returns. Photo courtesy of AP Photo
The inside cover of the first Silverlogue published at Montgomery Blair in 1936.
Yearbook collector Donna Guiffre presents one of her three libraries.
Donna Guiffre has two shelves worth of Silverlogues among her 2,000 yearbooks.
Current math teacher Milton Roth is pictured teaching in the 1976 Silverlogue.
Actress Goldie Hawn in her senior picture in the 1963 Silverlogue.
The Fuddruckers' register and "Topping Bazaar."
Two steamy one-pound burgers with perfectly seasoned fries.
Customers can deck out their sandwiches any way they would like with these free fresh toppings.
Fuddruckers is conveniently located in Downtown Silver Spring, in between Cold Stone Creamery and Z Pizza.
UMCP has reduced the size of its incoming class, despite a surge in the number of applications.
UMCP has reduced the size of its incoming class, despite a surge in the number of applications.
Blair English teacher Kelly O'Connor and her husband, John, were involved with the production of Lumina's "The Hound of Baskervilles."
Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter announced that she was not going to run for reelection.