I'm applying for more colleges. At least another one tonight hopefully. Tomorrow we have a game against Cocalico, which is our first step if we want to think about districts. Homecoming court was anounced today, and I'm going to be Ashlee's escort thing. That should be cool. Only five soccer games left in my high school career. This year has gone by quickly, and the next few weeks look as if they may go even faster.

We just beat Lancaster Catholic. It was a hard fought game and I am really sore. But I am also running on a lot of adrenaline right now, so I won't be getting sleep any time soon. If we get three more wins, we make districts. That would be the first time in a while for our boys soccer team, and it would be amazing to show the world what a couple good coaches can do for a team. We play another tough team on Wednesday, but if we pull it together for a full 80 minutes we can definitely win. I am really sore, hopefully I can sleep that off. Tomorrow we're going to the girls field hockey game to cheer them on. It would be awesome to see them pull out a win. Why is the Steelers line horrible?

As I walk into the room in the corner of the basement, the warmth of the room is a welcome contrast to the brisk cold of the mid-September air. The three battered old sofas are lined up in the same fashion they always are; in the shape of a semicircle. The couches have seen more than their fair share of use. The one on right, the largest one, does not have all its legs holding it up anymore. It is very soft to the point of being too soft. The light tan and green colors swallow the youth up, sinking into a deep hole that leaves everyone too low to the ground to be properly comfortable. The middle couch is by far in the worst condition of the three. The couch has only two cushions, but can comfortably seat three people. The center of the couch is missing springs. When someone sits down in the middle, he or she continues to sink, and the resulting position is rather uncomfortable. The couch closest to the door finishes the left side of the semi-circle. This couch is the most comfortable of the three couches. Its outer coating of cloth is the same design as that of the center couch; an off-white body with gray and blue lines running vertically.
The focal point for the semi-circle is a white board, which tonight has been furnished with all sorts of announcements wittily drawn by a skilled artist. To the left and right of the white board there are notes of potential interest to members of youth group. Youth group regulars who end up in the news can be found on the tack board to the right of the white board. Letters from youth group members who have moved on to college also adorn the tack board. There are fascinating pamphlets relating to the various ministries the church is connected with. To the left of the white board there are pictures of the most recent mission’s trip the youth group has gone on. The white board and tack boards are on a removable wall. The entire wall can be pushed down, leaving the basement available for fellowship meals. On the opposite side of the room there are two windows at ground level. In between the two windows is a gigantic tack board. This one is full of random pictures containing members of youth group at events. Many of these pictures are old, a reminder of the youth group that existed in the past. After seeing the people in these pictures and the twenty or so people currently populating this room, it is clear that some changes have occurred. The people in the pictures show a playful spirit, and an easy to get along with attitude. Throughout the room the story is different. A girl puts her hood up and then pulls it down over her eyes, as if no one can tell she just wants to sleep. A boy on the sofa to the right rolls his eyes in a condescending manner. The noises that now fill the room are not same as they were a few years ago. Multiple conversations go on all at one time, with few people caring what someone on the other side of the room might be saying. Where there was once unity, now there is separation. Where there had been love, now there is dislike. A boy with turrets has an outbreak of noise, and the boy on the tan sofa imitates him and snickers.
There is a table near the door. On it there is a Staples set of easy organization drawers. Inside there are pens, pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, note cards, and a plethora of other activity supplies. Also on the table is a plastic container with a red screw on top that is used to collect the offering. Between the center and right couches there is a small bookshelf full of Christian music and literature. On top of the three and a half foot bookshelf there is a radio. To the right of that shelf lies a stack of large pillows. Some of the pillows are already in use around the room, and more will disappear from the pile as people try to make sitting on the floor as comfortable as possible. As everyone settles in I realize that this youth room is home, and it’s peculiarities are part of what makes it so special.

Which team will win the Super Bowl this at the conclusion of this season? This is a difficult question because only a few games have been played so far this season. Many people will exhibit a bias towards their favorite team, since every team is still in the running for the national title. The results also demonstrate a potential geographic bias- people are more likely to pick the team they live near and read about in the newspaper every day. In this situation, the ‘hometown’ teams are mainly Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. The survey asked high school students in Lebanon County who would win the Super Bowl.
ESPN.com has a power poll. This poll basically shows what teams are doing very well, what teams are very weak, and what teams fall in the middle of the pack. This power poll can help people see who is playing the best regardless of record. These listings are subjective because they are the opinions of analysts. The polls can also shift quickly because of injury and other issues. The record of the Patriots, for example, began at 2-0. However, their power poll rating dropped dramatically because of the season ending injury to Tom Brady. Likewise, teams that have a poor record currently can still find themselves high in the power poll ranks because they have the player talent and ability to keep up with the best teams. One such team would be the Chargers, who are relatively high in the rankings even after a poor 0-2 start. People know that they are better than their record was showing, so they still had respect even without a win under their belts.
The top five teams in the power poll this week are the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Titans, Steelers, respectively. These are the teams that are at the top of their game and have the ability to control any game. The Chargers are 9th even with their poor record. There are eight teams below them who have better records. This poll puts things in perspective because it shows what teams are expected to do well even with poor starts. When compared with the team’s record, this can be a great tool to pick who is going to continue to do well as the season goes on. The official NFL website (nfl.com) also is a great resource with many articles and tons of video footage of games and highlight reels. These allow people to see for themselves how good they think the teams actually are, instead of taking an ESPN commentators word for it.
With all of these things considered, I would expect the Eagles and Steelers to get numbers of picks to win the Super Bowl. I would also expect teams that got off to fast starts to be high on the list. These teams would include the Cowboys and the Packers. The Packers had a poor showing this past week, but during the first two weeks they were quite impressive. Because Lebanon is generally considered Eagles country, I would expect votes for the Cowboys to be lower than they would in many parts of the United States. The Eagles and Cowboys are rivals, so even if an Eagles fan knows the Cowboys are good and have a good shot at winning, they will be reluctant to pick them as winners because of the intense rivalry.
The results were relatively unsurprising. The Steelers, Eagles and Cowboys had the highest scores, with Green Bay, the Giants, and the Chargers scoring the next level of votes. The Steelers and the Eagles were fairly obviously going to be on top. Both teams are in state and are playing pretty well at the moment. Miami registered some votes even though they are not a great team. A large part of that is the thumping they gave to the Patriots this past week. The Steelers ended up with the highest number of votes, although a majority of their votes came before this past week’s loss to the Eagles. The Eagles were the second highest team, and a bunch of their votes came after beating the Steelers. Early on in the survey they were not receiving many votes, probably because of their devastating loss to the rival Cowboys. The Cowboys were third highest even though in many parts of the country they would have received the highest number of votes.
The Giants are the defending Super Bowl Champs, and they stand undefeated at this point so they received the next highest number of votes. The Packers got votes early after a great week by their new starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, but their votes dropped off after the loss last Sunday night against Dallas. They also had a star player get a serious injury, so if the survey were to be redone at this point I would anticipate an even larger drop off in votes. The Chargers got a decent amount of votes even with a poor record. They lost two close games that they should have won, including one game lost from an officiating controversy. Not many people are counting them out of the race yet, even with a poor start. The statistics would show that they are still a dangerous team that can win on any given Sunday. The Titans are the surprise of the year so far, standing undefeated at 3-0. Many people are still used to them being a shabby team, so their votes were low for an undefeated team. A big surprise to me was the absence of many votes towards the Colts. They were an incredibly talented team a few years ago, but now find themselves hard-pressed to capture a victory.
The results for this type of survey would change on a week to week basis, so it is difficult to clearly find the answer to the question. Because the survey was local, it is difficult to capture an unbiased vote. However, the question was addressed to high school students in Lebanon County, and the majority of the students seem to feel that the state teams are going to do quite well this year, along with the NFC East Division (the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants are all a part of the NFC East). Could there be an interstate Super Bowl? We can only sit back and observe in order to see how accurate the votes were.

Ms. Darrup came into our English calss to talk about college. We are supposed to start applying for college and college scholarships. Last night I applied for one, so I guess I'm sort of on target. I need to apply to a couple other colleges before too long. Hopefully I get a lot of scholarships so that I don't have a huge debt coming out on the other side of college. I am pretty sure that I know what I want to major in, but it would be nice to get some conformation for that if that is the direction God wants me to go.

I just applied to my first college. I am just about one hundred percent sure that I won't go there, but my mom wanted me to apply a few places anyway. Tomorrow is going to be a tough soccer game. They always sport a fast competetive squad and they are tough to beat. Then our schedule is easy for our Thursday game before getting hard again for last year's state champs on Saturday. We should definitely come out of the week with at least one win, maybe even a tie on top of that.

We tied last night two to two. We went into overtime and couldn't come out with a winner. We played decently as a team, but still had some issues finishing the ball. For us to win Tuesday we need to finish every opportunity we get. The Steelers lost today to the Eagles, which made me sad. But honestly I haven't really cared about football as much in the past two years as I used to. I don't know why, but it just seems that there are a lot more important things in my life. So I'm not too upset with the loss.