Jacob Popper


Name: Jacob Popper
Position: Op/Ed Editor
Graduation Year: 2015
Let's go Caps, I hope you win the Stanley Cup this year (and every subsequent year). I enjoy opinions and argument as well as sports!


Stories (47)


George Pelecanos to be Keynote Speaker at MBHS Graduation

By Jacob Popper | June 2, 2015, 1:53 p.m. | In Local »

Local award-winning author and Silver Spring resident George Pelecanos will be the keynote speaker at Montgomery Blair High School's graduation ceremony for the class of 2015.

Yemen has become a new wild card in the Middle East

By Jacob Popper | March 6, 2015, 11:23 a.m. | In International »

Of all the war-torn countries in the Middle East, Yemen is one that generally slips through the cracks of mainstream media coverage. This January, the Yemeni government was ousted.

Capitals midseason report: looking good

By Jacob Popper | Feb. 12, 2015, 12:13 p.m. | In Professional »

The Washington Capitals had a rough start to the first half of the 2014-2015 National Hockey League (NHL) season, but have since rebounded and are looking more and more like a playoff team.

Getting the Ball Rolling

By Jacob Popper | Dec. 8, 2014, 8:11 p.m. | In News Blog »

The United States and China have a fraught but important partnership with one another. After a series of meetings in Beijing in early November, the two countries made several strides toward a more productive relationship that will benefit the world at large.

NBA 2014-2015 Season Predictions

By Robert Pfefferle, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper | Oct. 25, 2014, 12:47 p.m. | In Professional »

With the Halloween celebrations comes a new NBA Season. Free agency and marquee trades have led to a myriad of intriguing matchups and dynamic players. Lebron James is now a Cavalier, along with Kevin Love. Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose are both finally healthy. And all 60 draft picks are ready to unleash their talents on the rest of the league. No matter what, it should be a great season.

Watch the benefits roll in

By Jacob Popper | Oct. 20, 2014, 2 p.m. | In News Blog »

Monday, October 6 saw same-sex marriage's greatest stride since 2013, when the Supreme Court announced it would not hear appeals to lower court rulings, which effectively legalizes same-sex marriage in five new states.

NHL Pre-Season Predicitons

By Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper | Oct. 8, 2014, 11:44 a.m. | In Professional »

Last spring, the Los Angeles Kings hoisted their second Stanley Cup trophy in three years in the most improbable of playoff runs which included one of the four comebacks from down three games to none in NHL history. Following the Kings' triumph, many teams made splashes in the off-season in order to stop the Kings and propel themselves to the cup. But who made the right moves? The Popper's give you all the insight in their 2014-2015 NHL season preview.

Nobody is more important than the state

By Jacob Popper | Sept. 22, 2014, 5:18 p.m. | In Op/Ed »

The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham has beheaded several Western journalist hostages in the past few weeks, but while these deaths are horrible and all lives should be valued, it's vital that we don't pay ISIS in exchange for hostages.

You might want to double check that

By Jacob Popper | Sept. 13, 2014, 12:17 p.m. | In Humor »

It's (almost) 2015, which is supposed to be Blair's Eightieth 80th anniversary, and last time I checked, 2015 minus 1925 equals 90, not 80

Just say hoNOrs

By Jacob Popper | June 11, 2014, 12:11 p.m. | In Op/Ed »

Their obvious benefits have caused many people over the years to become strong supporters of the AP system, and in turn those people have strived to make them a choice nationwide. However, the AP curricula and tests need to be removed, because they are taking away necessary leisure time for students and furthering racial divides.

Travel through time with action and intrigue

By Jacob Popper | May 27, 2014, 10:35 p.m. | In Movies »

Some people enjoy movies with tons of action—they want explosions and combat galore, with bodies flying and virtually no time to rest. Others tend to prefer movies with more intrigue—they want characters who develop their interests throughout the story, and events that always leave them guessing. "X-Men Days of Future Past" promises to satisfy both kinds of moviegoers.

Blair Theatre's "The Canterbury Tales" gives us many laughs

By Jacob Popper | May 14, 2014, 12:08 p.m. | In Local »

The May 9 edition of Blair theatre's "The Canterbury Tales" was a fun filled show that successfully overcame some technical difficulties in order to produce tons of laughs.

Colbert through the years

By Jacob Popper | May 9, 2014, 9:05 a.m. | In News Blog »

CBS announced earlier this month that comedian Stephen Colbert would be taking over as host of the Late Show following Dave Letterman's retirement sometime in 2015.

Boys' lacrosse dazzles in playoff opener

By Jacob Popper | May 8, 2014, 1:07 p.m. | In Blair »

The Blair boys' varsity lacrosse team (8-5) scored early and often as they defeated the Kennedy Cavaliers (0-13) by a final score of 19-2.

Creativity "X-STEMs" from Blazers

By Jacob Popper, Sam Lewando | May 6, 2014, 9:32 p.m. | In Local »

On April 24 a group of Blair students led by science teachers Megan Hart, Eric Prange and John Haigh III attended the X-STEM conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.

Blair Volleyball Downs Northwood

By Jacob Popper | April 10, 2014, 1:08 p.m. | In Blair »

The Blair varsity boys volleyball team (5-3) took their post-time out cheer of "1..2..3 turn up!" to heart as they showed up ready to play on Monday afternoon.

There are two types of guys

By Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper | April 6, 2014, 2:39 p.m. | In Lifestyle »

When spring season rolls around every year, the world of guys fashion is faced with slight controversy.

Boys' volleyball falls to Kennedy

By Jacob Popper | April 2, 2014, 1:53 p.m. | In Blair »

The Blair boys' varsity volleyball team (3-2) lost a five set heartbreaker to the Cavaliers of John F. Kennedy (3-1), going down by the score of 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 24-26 and 15-9.

Cosmos: Why spreading science is necessary

By Jacob Popper | March 2, 2014, 12:36 p.m. | In Blogs »

On the new FOX show "Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey" host Neil deGrasse Tyson takes us on a scientific journey, on which he settled the evolution debate once and for all by saying "The theory of evolution, like the theory of gravity, is a scientific fact."

NFL divisional playoff predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Jan. 11, 2014, 5:04 p.m. | In Professional »

After an exciting wild card round, and rough weeks for most of our predictors, we bring you the divisional playoffs. For the SCO experts, Sam and Abel are now tied for the top spot with Jacob not too far behind.

NFL wild card playoff predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Jan. 4, 2014, 5:59 p.m. | In Professional »

As the playoffs kick off we have a new leader in the SCO expert predictions. Abel has overtaken Sam and Jacob and claimed the top spot.

NFL week fifteen predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Dec. 13, 2013, 1:43 p.m. | In Professional »

Heading into the second-to-last week of the season, the tides have turned in our SCO expert standings. After by far the worst week of the season, Jacob has dropped in the standings to second place.

Blair Hockey routs Damascus

By Jacob Popper | Dec. 9, 2013, 2:28 p.m. | In Blair »

The Blair varsity hockey team won a lopsided game against the Damascus Hornets by a score of 6-2. With the win, the Blazers improved to 2-1 on the year, while Damascus fell to a lowly 0-3.

NFL week 14 predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Dec. 7, 2013, 1:46 p.m. | In Professional »

Heading into week fourteen, the race remains tight. Jacob has a five game lead over his brother Sam, who is in second place. Abel and Rohan are also not too far behind.

NFL week 13 predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Dec. 1, 2013, 1:06 p.m. | In Professional »

Heading into week thirteen of the seventeen week season, the pressure is on our experts. For the most part, the standings have remained the same. Jacob still holds a slim lead over Sam and Abel and Rohan find themselves at the end of the pack.

NFL week twelve predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Nov. 23, 2013, 11:31 p.m. | In Professional »

Now heading into week twelve of this NFL season, Jacob has given himself a three game lead over his brother Sam and the rest of the pack.

Blair teacher starts educational forum on Facebook

By Jacob Popper | Nov. 20, 2013, 11:07 p.m. | In Local »

Last month, Blair social studies teacher Kevin Shindel created the educational forum "Share Your Ground," a page that posts different discussion starters such as articles and questions five or six times a week.

NFL week eleven predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Nov. 15, 2013, 11:22 p.m. | In Professional »

Now that it's week eleven, the four SCO expert predictors look to put a rough week ten behind them.

NFL week ten predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Nov. 9, 2013, 5:35 p.m. | In Professional »

Heading toward the latter half of the season, a few teams look to make a playoff push.

NFL week nine predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Nov. 1, 2013, 2:34 p.m. | In Professional »

After a thrilling week eight, which included the Lions' last minute game winning drive against the Cowboys, week nine has the make up of a good one.

Even strength woes plaguing Capitals early on

By Jacob Popper | Oct. 27, 2013, 7:36 p.m. | In Sports Blog »

The Washington Capitals had high expectations coming into the 2013-2014 season. Second year coach Adam Oates would get his first full training camp, and before a disappointing seven game playoff loss to the Rangers last year, the Capitals surged in the last 19 games of last season, through which they went 15-2-2.

NFL week eight predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Oct. 24, 2013, 8:58 p.m. | In Professional »

As we now near the halfway point in the NFL season, our SCO expert predictions remain in a relatively close race. With a lot more injuries and players sitting on the sidelines, it only makes our experts' jobs more difficult.

NFL week seven predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Oct. 18, 2013, 3:29 p.m. | In Professional »

Going in to week seven, it finally looks like the Patriots will have TE Rob Gronkowski back. Peyton Manning also returns to Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium where he played for his first 14 seasons.

The Republican shutdown

By Jacob Popper | Oct. 17, 2013, 10:54 a.m. | In Op/Ed »

Despite the government's reopening, we still have not found a long term solution to this pressing problem.

NFL week six predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Oct. 10, 2013, 8:47 p.m. | In Professional »

After a week full of upsets and surprises, our experts are back to predict another week. All of our experts had difficult weeks last week and are looking to improve in week six. Sam has come back to tie his twin brother Jacob after Jacob had overtaken the lead the previous week. Abel and Rohan on the other hand, find themselves slightly distanced from the two leaders at the moment.

NFL week five predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Oct. 4, 2013, 1:17 p.m. | In Professional »

There were a lot of great games last week, including the Seahawks' narrow victory over the Texans in an overtime thriller. This week, the Colts battle the Seahawks as draft class mates Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson face off. Also, the undefeated Saints match up against a tough Bears' team.

The perks of iOS 7

By Jacob Popper | Oct. 1, 2013, 7:40 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »

Overall, the updates on iOS 7 are an improvement over iOS 6 and can make the iPhone and iPod easier to use.

NFL week four predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Sept. 28, 2013, 11:41 p.m. | In Professional »

Following a crazy week three, what will week four have in store? Last week, the Chiefs upset the Eagles to move to 3-0 and the Dolphins upset the Falcons to move to 3-0 as well. As for our experts, it was an off week for everyone. Only Jacob managed to go over the .500 mark at 9-7 for the week. Although Sam retains his lead, Jacob is now only two games behind.

NFL week three predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Sept. 20, 2013, 11:45 p.m. | In Professional »

Looking forward to week three, we will see the Redskins try get in the win column against the Lions (no easy task), a battle of rookie QB's in Geno Smith of the Jets and EJ Manuel of the Bills and of course a well-anticipated potential thriller (not) as the Broncos take on the Raiders on Monday night.

Girls' varsity tennis disposes of Damascus 5-2

By Jacob Popper | Sept. 18, 2013, 8:19 p.m. | In Blair »

The girls' varsity tennis team was able to shake off the rust of not playing for a week and beat the Damascus Swarmin' Hornets, taking five of seven matches to get back over the .500 mark at 2-1.

2013-2014 NHL preview

By Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper | Sept. 18, 2013, 7:57 p.m. | In Professional »

NHL hockey is finally ready to start this October. With all the free agents moving around and the whole realignment thing, it might have been a little tough to formulate expectations for this full 82 game season. That's why you have the Poppers, we'll tell you all you need to know about 2013-2014.

NFL week two predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Sept. 12, 2013, 8:08 p.m. | In Professional »

After an eventful week one, Sam Popper has jumped out to an early lead. He had an outstanding 13-3 record and also was the only SCO expert to correctly pick the Jets to win. Week two holds a couple of intriguing match ups as RGIII and the Redskins take on the Packers and the 49ers face off against the Seahawks in the battle of the NFC West.

Varsity girls tennis unable to keep up with B-CC

By Jacob Popper | Sept. 10, 2013, 1:22 p.m. | In Blair »

The Blair girls tennis team lost their home opener to the Bethesda Chevy Chase Barons, dropping five of the seven total matches. The loss was the Blazers' first of the season, dropping them to 1-1, while the Barons remained undefeated and currently sit at 2-0.

Why we need to use the U.N. to act on Syria

By Jacob Popper | Sept. 10, 2013, 1:15 p.m. | In News Blog »

Even if Congress votes to allow the strike, the best course of action for the United States is to work through the United Nations on this complicated issue.

NFL week one predictions

By Rohan Oprisko, Samuel Popper, Jacob Popper, Abel Chanyalew | Sept. 4, 2013, 6:54 p.m. | In Professional »

The NFL has returned after a long offseason, so grab your popcorn, grab your chips and salsa, grab your buddies and grab a seat in front of the TV and get ready for some hard-hitting NFL action.

Colleges rank us; now our turn to rank them

By Jacob Popper | Aug. 31, 2013, 11 a.m. | In Op/Ed »

The new college ranking system proposed by President Barack Obama will help reduce the tuition of college through financial incentives for schools and help get more low income kids through college and even help manage the repayment of debt through the Pay as You Earn program.

"Planes” Fails to Soar

By Jacob Popper | Aug. 14, 2013, 7:50 p.m. | In Movies »

Just two years after the release of "Cars 2," Disney has gone right back to the idea of talking motorized vehicles with their new film "Planes”. "Planes" is just what you would expect from a kids film: An unlikely hero with dreams of glory comes onto the biggest stage of his life and somehow manages to shock the world. "Planes” follows the predictable kid's film script exactly and does not go above and beyond.