Howard back on the field at Maine

By John Condakes

Three years ago, Matt Howard injured himself in a football game against Dover-Sherborn. A year later, he injured himself on the basketball court. The two injuries were identical except that they happened on different legs. Matt Howard has torn both of his anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) and he has made two successful recoveries. Howard recently completed his freshman year at the University of Maine at Orono where he had been recruited to play baseball and was redshirted in order for him to retain his four years of NCAA eligibility. “I was about seventy percent in fall ball last fall and I was finally able to take off my brace for good in January,” told Howard.

Overall it was a good year for Howard. “I enjoyed it a lot, the school has been a great fit for me and I’ve enjoyed the team and the coaches,” he explained. Maine proved to be one of the better teams in the America East Conference this year as they lost in the conference quarterfinals to eventual champion Albany. Maine has appeared in the NCAA Tournament in two of the passed three seasons and will look to return again in 2008.

This summer, Howard got back on the diamond completely healthy for the first time in nearly two years. He started the summer season out in Pittsfield, Massachusetts playing for former Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette’s Dukes of the New England College Baseball League. That stint only lasted three weeks but “it was still a good experience because it was a competitive league,” explained Howard. “My first game back in Pittsfield was pretty weird to be honest. There were some 2000 people there and I walked in my first at-bat so that took some of the pressure off. It was good to be back and just get out there and play without the brace and get the first game under my belt.”

After his three weeks in Pittsfield, Howard decided to bring his skills to Woburn of the Intercity League. This allowed him to live at home which was a nice change for Howard. With Woburn, Howard received a larger amount of at-bats and innings in the field and was able to compile some impressive statistics without playing the whole season. Howard hit .300 with 2 doubles, a triple and a home run while he was 11/11 on stolen base chances and was hit by a pitch 3 times. The Intercity League is a bit of a different feel for collegiate baseball players because they are forced to use wooden bats instead of metal.

This fall, Howard will compete for a spot in the outfield along with other talented returning Maine Black Bears. “There’s going to be some big time competition for that spot and I’m going to do everything that I can to play,” said Howard. Maine’s schedule this year is especially competitive right off the bat as they start their season at a tournament down in Puerto Rico.They will also travel to Nevada to face UNLV and New Orleans, Louisiana to face national power Tulane. Matt Howard will certainly draw a few looks from the Maine coaching staff as he enters his redshirt freshman year and will look to make a big impact on the Black Bear lineup in 2008.

Photo credit: University of Maine at Orono

McMullen on the rise at Penn

By John Condakes

When Rob McMullen was in middle school at Weston, he had his heart set on playing college hockey. In those days, Weston High had no hockey team and many hockey players sought to take their skills to other schools. In order to realize his dream, McMullen applied to Buckingham Browne & Nichols (BB&N) in Cambridge for the fall of his freshman year of high school. The irony of it all is, McMullen is not playing college hockey but Division I college lacrosse at the University of Pennsylvania.

After he was accepted to BB&N, McMullen spent the fall adjusting to the rigorous academic demands of the ISL School. That winter, McMullen took the ice for the first time as a Knight and earned a spot on the varsity team. Hockey has always been his main sport and he had played ever since he was 3. He enjoyed a fair amount of playing time for the Knights and was a strong contributor to their offense.

In the spring, McMullen took to the lacrosse field and utilized his talents to earn a spot during the sixth game of the season when an upperclassman was injured. “In that first game, I scored a couple of goals and from then on I played,” recalled McMullen. Not a bad showing for a freshman in one of the toughest lacrosse leagues in the state. After earning two varsity letters as a freshman, McMullen decided to try out for the football team in the fall. He established himself on the football team and lettered in football as a sophomore. In all, McMullen had an outstanding athletic career at BB&N earning eleven varsity letters, various all-conference honors in football and lacrosse and the prestigious Nichols Award for his excellence in athletics and academics.

McMullen led the Knights in points as a sophomore and as a junior, he earned all-conference honors in lacrosse and it became very clear to him that he wanted to continue playing the sport collegiately. “That summer I went down to a lacrosse camp at Penn and I had a great time down there,” said McMullen. “That was really the turning point for me because before then I had planned on doing a post-graduate year and then trying to play Division III college hockey. I was also thinking about maybe playing football in the fall as well.”

During his senior year, McMullen led his team in receptions as a tight end and earned all-conference honors in football. On the ice, he had a very strong season for the Knights once again but his most impressive season happened in the spring as he captained the lacrosse team, was named team MVP and led the team in scoring for the third year in a row.

As it turned out, McMullen received numerous letters for his lacrosse skills and decided to not go and do a post-graduate year. He had applied to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire but opted out of his acceptance there. “I realized that I really just wanted to go to college as soon as I could,” he said. McMullen applied to numerous schools in the New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Ivy League but the University of Pennsylvania was his top choice. “Ever since I visited there, I felt that Penn was the right fit for me not only because of lacrosse but they have a strong engineering department and an excellent business school.” McMullen is currently majoring in computer science and engineering but hopes to do something with business as a career.

Ever since he was in 6^th grade, Rob McMullen has been playing lacrosse. As a rising sophomore on a young, talented team at the University of Pennsylvania, he will compete for a spot among the top four attackmen on a team looking to build on a 6-7 season. “We went 3-3 in the Ivy League this year and were one win away from making the NCAA tournament,” recalled McMullen. “We’ve got 14 of 18 players returning who were freshmen and sophomores so we’re looking to do some damage in the Ivy League and we’re hoping to make it back to the NCAAs next season.” He saw limited action last year but will look to make a more significant impact on the scoring sheet this spring against the very competitive Ivy League with powerhouse teams such as Cornell and Princeton. With the Penn Quakers looking to build on their success from last season, McMullen will be a key component to what is shaping up to be a great season.

Photo credit: University of Pennsylvania

JO 307 State of the Union Article

BUSH-SOU08/Condakes January 28, 2008

PRESIDENT BUSH DELIVERS FINAL STATE OF UNION ADDRESS

By John Condakes

BOSTON—Frequently sporting his ‘presidential smirk’ and surrounded by supporters and opponents, President Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union Address on Monday night. Many of the issues in the president’s final address were met with applause from supporters which aided the positive mood in the Capitol.

The president focused his address on asking Congress to aid him in successfully completing his policies on topics such as a tax relief fund, the “War on Terror,” healthcare, education and the economy. Some of those in attendance included Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, John Kerry and Bob Dole. Bush received mixed reactions from the audience on each topic. One of the most notable of these was the refusal by Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama to clap in response to Bush’s announcement that test scores from 4th and 8th graders have increased significantly during his time in office.

The president provided an update on what he calls War on Terror, asserting that the United States is winning the battle against terror organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. He also mentioned that “Iran plays a large part in harboring, training and aiding terrorists” and warned that their refusal to admit experimenting with uranium is hindering negotiations with the United States.

The president also said that he was pleased to report that “20,000 troops will return home from Iraq in the coming months.” He mentioned that 3,200 marines will be deployed into Afghanistan to aid in training their law enforcement and to maintain peace there. One of the most emotional moments of the address occurred when President Bush thanked all of the U.S. troops now on duty in the “War on Terror.”

Bush also touched upon recent scientific discoveries such as the recent discovery that human skin cells can be reprogrammed to act as stem cells. The president expressed his concern for human cloning and mentioned that he would ask Congress to pass a bill forbidding it. He emphasized a need to continue funding for physical science and research for creating different, cleaner fuel sources.

The foreign policy section of the president’s speech noted that the president wished to create trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea after he mentioned how well the recent U.S. trade with Columbia has progressed.

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