With the Super Bowl coming up, people are excited over football. It seems to be the only thing sports fans are talking about at the moment, however, it is not the only sport that people should be excited about. In the summer, the FIFA World Cup will begin and there are multiple reasons why more people should be excited about soccer.

First of all, it is a much larger competition than the Super Bowl and has a lot of history to it. The World Cup is a competition that started in 1930 and occurs every four years, while the first Super Bowl happened in 1967 and is an annual event. There are two hundred and eleven nations who can qualify for the World Cup, but only thirty-two teams actually make it. In order to qualify for the World Cup, the countries play matches against other countries in their region and depending on how many countries are in the region, only a handful can qualify. These matches take place across the time frame of 4 years, with athletes leaving their teams for a couple weeks to play with their national team.

When the teams qualify, they then proceed to the World Cup, where a nation hosts all the games in their country. This summer, Russia will host the event. The countries who are qualified for the World Cup are Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco, France, Peru, Denmark, Australia, Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria, Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama, Poland, Colombia, Senegal and Japan.

Logo for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Photo from Wikimedia.

Besides the history behind it, the World Cup also has much more fans than the Super Bowl. In 2014, one hundred and twelve million people watched the Superbowl, while also in the same year, one billion people watched the final of the World Cup. The fans also are more united with who they support. The Super Bowl is only one match between two teams, forcing fans of other teams to resonate with one of the teams. In the World Cup, the fans follow their nation after four years of preparation for the event.

The Super Bowl also focuses a lot on advertisements than the actual game. They show a lot of commercials which draws people in, but if they are drawn into the event just because of the advertisements, they are most likely going to only care for the commercials. Overall, it comes down to rather you like the sport or not. Not everybody likes soccer, but everybody should not assume that everybody in the United States likes football because not everybody does. The World Cup is just as special to some people as the Super Bowl is special to others. There is not a reason why people can only like only one sport. I personally like both sports, however people should expose themselves to both instead of assuming one sport is better than the other.

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The MHS Boys Indoor Track will head into Boston to compete in their league championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on February 11. The Northeastern Conference is divided into two divisions, NEC North and South 8 teams in each. However, at this meet, all 16 teams will be together in one facility for the final regular meet of the season.

Senior Eric Toh said that at the meet, “[He is going to] be fighting for 1st in the 600 with two other fast 600 runners. [He does ] not know if [he will] win because [all of the teams run] around the same time.”As a team, Toh believes they have a lot of depth and thinks they will place higher but doesn’t believe they have enough to take first.

Coach David Londino said “[The NEC puts]people in the event [that they] can best succeed in for themselves. If things work out for the team scoring, [it is] a bonus.” Londino hopes to have as many individuals and relays as possible to qualify for states. Although they already have one relay and seven individual runners already qualified, he hopes to have many more.

Malden runner leads the pack in past boys’ indoor track meet. Photo taken by Sandra Rivadeniera.

Toh explained that the team has one more meet for unqualified runners to have their last chance to qualify for the State Tournament. Londino added that some qualities that help members of the team advance are “Valuing hard work and realizing that training is a lot more than workouts; [it is] diet, hydration, and proper sleep as well.”

Since this was the team’s first indoor season with the NEC, they had much more competition. They were very happy with this new aspect because they had not had much competition in the past and allowed many to achieve personal records. The new league brought in other teams such as Marblehead, Revere, Peabody, and Beverly, making for some very close meets all of whom will be at the conference championship. Londino informed us that the actual title of NEC conference champions was decided based on record not actually who scores the most at the actual meet. The Boys finished 6-1 at the end of the season.

When asked if the team would be nervous going into the tournament, Londino said “[The team wants] to do well but [there is] no nervousness beyond [what is] normal going into a meet. Everyone is very well prepared and ready to peak.” Londino also stated due to the fact the league champion was technically already decided they wouldn’t be overthinking their strategy they just want to go in and do their best.

The Boys Indoor Track team finished 6-1 at the end of the season, and are looking forward to the upcoming NEC tournament.

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Written by Cristopher Correa and Gabriel Matnog 

One of Malden City Hall’s current locations. Photo by Gabriel Matnog.

Since the summer of 2017, Malden City Hall has been undergoing changes in order to construct a brand new city hall. Relocations have been made and city hall is now split up into two buildings, one on 17 Pleasant street and the other on 110 Pleasant street. There is also a small space for Public Facilities at the CBD Garage and an office for the Parking Department at the Jackson Street Garage.

Mayor Gary Christenson is excited for the brand new city hall to be constructed as “there were a number of reasons why [they] needed to reconstruct”. The old city hall had been built back in 1975 with roughly 130,000 square feet, but they were only using about 40,000 of it. Christenson stated, “The former building had needed about $10-$12 million dollars worth of repairs to make it more efficient and functional.”.

It was also not in the best location as it was “smack-dab” in the middle between the Malden Center T station and downtown Malden. With the new buildings, it will instead be a bridge between the two places. The financing of the new city hall also included a new police station and that was “too good to pass up”. The police station moved from 200 Pleasant Street to 800 Eastern Ave, across the street from Planet Fitness.

Christenson also stated, “Pleasant Street will be a thruway once again. [They] hope that this will bridge the downtown to the T center and bring retail, residential, and civic uses to revitalize the area”. While other improvements are unconfirmed, Malden city hall and the revamped pleasant street will be finished sometime in 2019.

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After being postponed from an earlier date in January, Malden High School’s Wrestling team will finally be attending Sectionals on February 10th.

Sectionals will be held in South Newton and will happen around 9:00 am. While not every team member will be competing, all members of the team will be present to support their teammates.

Some of the players who will be playing in sectionals are Seniors Seth Jones, Carlos Parada Araujo, Paul Genetti, Hasnat Moughal, Bryan Madrid, and Junior Pericles as well as Freshmen Alexy Mozyaev and Liam Jordan.

Moughal predicts the team will do well in sectionals, saying that “[the team is] capable  of holding [their] own in [their] weight classes and will be able to at least give a good fight within the tournament.” He also mentioned that the team has prepared as much as they can for sectionals.

Senior captain Carlos Parada Arajus sparring with a fellow teammate. Photo by Jett-Le Tran Le.

While Moughal is confident that MHS will succeed, he adds that “[some of the team] will end up placing, while others will be [eliminated] early on [in sectionals].” He hopes that “some of [the team] will do good and hopefully make it into states.”

Sophomore Ved Gray did not make it into sectionals, but he will still be there to help support his teammates. He thinks the team will do well at Sectionals and mentions that “[he cannot] predict who will make it, but [he is] sure at least a few of [them] will make it to states.”

Gray added that “[his] teammates have been through a lot of matches throughout this season.” He believes that “through those matches, [he felt that his teammates] have experienced and learned many new things that [they] will try to incorporate into [their] matches.”

On how the team will prepare for states, Gray says that “there [is not] much for [the team to] prepare for but [they] have done as much as [they] can to get as ready as possible.” He added that “[even though the team] cannot know what will go down in sectionals, [he knows some of his teammates] will do pretty good and go into states.”

The wrestling team is looking forward to participating in Sectionals and will be cheering each other on in the tournament.

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Flyer promoting the Hate U Give Showcase. Photo taken by Ailin Toro.

In collaboration with the MHS Black Culture Club, Malden Reads will be hosting The Hate U Give Showcase next week.

Malden Reads is a community reading program that tries to encourage reading, while also promoting the library and other city resources in order to build community. It invites the community to read the same book and participate in a series of events related to the book’s themes. They are looking forward to deepening connections in the Malden Community this year.

The MHS Black Culture Club was created at the beginning of this school year to help educate students about past and present black heritage, including areas outside of the United States, since the school does not have many events that acknowledge black heritage. It is being run by President Gerdley Cadet and Vice President Christina Charles.

This event will be focusing on Malden Reads’ book selection of 2018 of the Malden’s “One City, One Book” program, The Hate U

Give by Angie Thomas. The novel is about Starr Carter, a 16-year old girl who lives in an urban black neighborhood that deals with problems such as gang violence and poverty, all while attending a private school in a predominately white, wealthy community. The novel was at the top of The New York Times young bestseller list and won the Boston Globe Horn Book award. It is also a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.

The event will talk about themes and topics from the book such as the issue of racial profiling, police brutality, drug addiction, racial and economic inequality, and today’s adolescent world. There will be a special presentation in the Jenkins Auditorium, 4TC (For the Culture) student showcase, exhibit tables, opportunities for dialogue in breakout discussions, and student and community artwork being featured.

As this is the kickoff event for the Malden Reads’ book selection of 2018, there will be more exciting events related to the book in the future.

If you are interested in going, The Hate U Give Showcase will be held on February 15, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Malden High School Jenkins Auditorium. Admission is free but donations are welcome.

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MHS junior Jenna Vanella will be representing Malden High School in the English Speaking Union Shakespeare Monologue competition.

Vanella performing the 2018 POL finals. Photo by Ana Pirosca.

The English Speaking Union Shakespeare Monologue competition is for high school students in drama programs. Vanella is competing with an opportunity to move on to the State Finals in Boston  and with a chance to move on to Nationals in New York and then to London. At first, she explained she was “very nervous” to take on the role, because “[English teacher and Play Production Director Sean Walsh] had chose [her] out of the rest of the class, and Malden High.”

Since the beginning Vanella would practice this monologue with the English teacher and Play Production Director Walsh, and he would “walk [her] through scenes of the sonnet and give her pointers”, and from there it was just practice and practice. She explained she started working on this monologue about a month ago and ever since then she’s been practicing diligently every day.

Vanella will be performing a monologue from Two Gentlemen of Verona. She explained that she “really liked researching the character and finding out interesting things about the play”.

Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare. It is about the adventures of two bosom buddies, Valentine and Proteus. Proteus falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend, and the two best friends find themselves torn between their friendship and romance. Vanella stated “[she] had a lot of fun looking into what [she] was playing”. Vanella wants to thank Walsh for providing her with this experience.

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Written by Julie Yu and Cedrina Missamou 

The MHS Varsity Girls Basketball team competed against Saugus on February 5th, 2018. Malden beat Saugus, 35-31. Highest scorers included  Junior Salma Bezzat and Senior captain Tiffany Tortora. Judging by the game last year, Head Coach Scott Marino knew the girl would put up a good fight.

Only two wins away from the state tournament, with three games remaining in the season, the girls’ current record is 8-10 (8 wins and 10 loses).

Marino said that this was an intense game. He recalled last year’s game on Senior Night, mentioning that “[Malden] beat [Saugus] on the buzzer”. The girls pulled off a last minute win last year and managed to pull off a close win this year.

Marino knew it would be a fierce game between the two teams. He mentioned that beating Saugus was another win against a quality team. “[He wouldn’t consider Saugus and Malden a rivalry] like Malden and Everett” but there is lots of tension and competition between the two teams.

Malden on the court during an intense game. Photo by Jesaias Benitez.

In the first quarter, Saugus got many early points which helped them lead (10-4). The second quarter was when the score got close. Malden caught up in the lead by three points (13-10). Due to the team stepping up their defense, they prevented Saugus from scoring in the second quarter.

Like their last home game against Winthrop, the girls scored the most in the second half.  In the third and fourth quarter, the girls maintained their lead and defense. Scores resulting in 22-16 at the end of the third quarter and 35-31 as the final score. 

Throughout the third and fourth quarter, the team took periodic timeouts. During those time outs, Bezzat recalled that Marino “[reminded the team] to rebound and only allow Saugus one shot per offensive possession.”

Senior captain Mackenzie Furlong said that “Marino pushes [them] even harder”. She also added that “[the team likes] to share a laugh [before returning back to the court].”

Everyone on the team got some playing time, whether it was a few half the quarter or for a majority of the game. Marino also mentioned that “[Tortora] played one of the best games, [he] has seen”. Both Bezzat and Tortora played a tremendous second half, making multiple big shots. In the fourth quarter, the team made eight of the eleven free throws which definitely impacted the score in the end.

Marino thinks that the team’s ability to get back on defense, rebound quickly, and hold onto the ball helped them overcome Saugus’s skills. If the girls keep the same mentality and keep up their hard work, their chances of making it to the state tournament will be much higher.

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Written by Sandra Rivadeneira and David Lombardi 

The Malden High’s Boys and Girls Indoor Track teams participated in the Last Chance to Qualify meet. This meet is held for the runners that are the top competitors in their events, making it their last chance to make it into the State tournament. The meet took place Sunday, February 4th at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

Teams from many cities competed at the meet to try to make it to the State Tournament. Each city was only allotted a certain number of runners that were allowed to participate. Participants had to meet the time requirements in order to participate.

Some attendees were already state qualifiers, but most of the meet’s participants were trying to either make states or improve their time to achieve a personal record. Senior hurdles runner Rachel Eaglin had already made States, but went on and broke the old Malden High 55 meter hurdles record, which was previously 9.05 seconds, with a time of 8.25 seconds.

Another Malden High record that was broken was the boys indoor 4 x 800 relay by a team composed of Seniors Eric Toh, Ameen Anwar, Oussama Ourich, and Sophomore Omar Asousy, with a time of eight minutes and twenty-five seconds. Junior Christopher D’entremont said “[The team’s] best events at the meet included the girls’ mile, girls hurdle, boys’ 4 x 800 relay, and other individual events.” Senior Jasmine Gray made States in the girls one mile.

An official explains the rules to Malden High runners. Photo by David Lombardi.

Junior Kyle O’Brien attended the event in the hopes to break his personal record in the mile run like many other wanted to do with their respected events. He stated that “personally, [he did not] break five [minutes], but [he] did lower [his] time in the [boys] mile.” He continued to express how the “people cheering, the many [personal records] ran, and records were broken” were some of the highlights of Sunday’s meet.

Coach David Londino added on saying how he also views achievements, such as Senior Jasmine Gray’s success in completing the girl’s mile run in five minutes and thirty-one seconds, as things that “make it worth being [at the meet] for about seven hours on Super Bowl Sunday.”

“The team worked hard,” Londino said, stating that “it was great to see that everyone was able to push themselves.” Additional state qualifiers will be announced early next week and the State tournament will be held on the 16th. With the new times that the Malden girls and boys track team members have shown on Sunday will hopefully get more people on the state rosters.

The team seems to be pretty proud of what they have accomplished this past weekend. Some team members will be at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston once again as they compete in the upcoming Northeastern Conference league meet.

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The National Honor Society (NHS) has started working on more community projects. NHS is an organization where students figure out what they can do for the community by raising money or creating community events to help them out. They have done a fundraiser for Christmas where each student has to raise a certain amount of […]

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Super Bowl LII was a very controversial event at Malden High School, due to the fact that most of the students and staff are New England Patriots fans. But, there are also people that are either Eagles fans or simply don’t like the Patriots, in the Malden community. English Teacher Sean Walsh here at Malden […]

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The Science National Honor Society hosted a Science Trivia night on February 9th. All the proceeds from the event were donated to the American Cancer Society. The event was held in B434 by SNHS Advisor and Science teacher Gregory Simone. The Science Trivia night had enthusiastic students ranging from all different grade levels competing for […]

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“Let’s Get Ready” is a program offered at Malden High that focuses on preparing students for the SAT. It takes place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm and it occurs twice a week. The first two hours focus on SAT prep where students answer practice questions and prepare overall for the intense test taking environment that happens […]

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This year’s Gymnastics season has come to an end, and all of its members are extremely proud of their efforts this season. The gymnastics team has a record of 4-5, with four wins, and five losses. Senior Max Weng thought that overall, the season went “much better” than the team has expected. This year was […]

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The MHS swim team will be hosting the annual Swim-A-Thon fundraiser on March 2, 2018 at the Malden High School pool right after school. The money raised will be contributed…

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The Writer’s Den is a place where MHS students are free to learn about and work on creative or academic writing. Fiona Maurissette is the new advisor of the Writer’s…

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Malden High School’s Girls Varsity Basketball team went up against Salem on February 15th for their last game of the 2017-2018 season. Due to the fact that their last game…

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Coming to an end of this years season, the Malden High swim team managed to pull together a really good season. They swapped to a new league and lost many…

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The Malden High School Senior Internship Program provides eligible seniors with the opportunity to explore a career they may be interested in for the future. It is a chance for…

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