A VALENTINE’S DAY TO PRETTY AND POLISHED BOWLERS STRIKE HARD REMEMBER Are fabulous nails worth As the season rolls on, Faculty and students the hassle?|6 the bowling team looks share their dream dates.|5 to continue its success. |11 TheLighthouse Vol. XXVII, No. 4 Lyndhurst High School February 2014 Lincoln School Super Bowl XLVIII makes history welcomes Mr. Rizzo By Sean McChesney There are a lot of things LHS students are not used By Nicholas Pacheco to seeing in February, one of which is a football game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Wherever he was, whether in front of a classroom On Feb. 2, MetLife Stadium experienced its biggest teaching a math lesson or in the dugout coaching a event to date, the National Football League’s Super baseball game, Mr. Rizzo brought his fighting Irish Bowl XLVIII. For the first time in NFL history, the enthusiasm and ambition to help Lyndhurst stu- national sporting event was played in an outdoor sta- dents and athletes excel. dium located in a region with a cold climate. It was Last year, Rizzo turned in his glove and textbook also the first Super Bowl ever played in New Jersey. for a new role in Lyndhurst education. He now Senior Matt Lemke attended Super Bowl XLVIII and serves as principal of Lincoln School, one of three described the atmosphere inside the stadium as elec- upper elementary schools in the district. trifying. Because of his new administrative position, he had “It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will to give up coaching. never forget,” Lemke said. Freshman Bowler Ryan Donohue, known for bowl- Over 82,000 people piled into MetLife Stadium to ing a 300 as a first-year team member, among other witness the American Football Conference Cham- accomplishments, said he would have loved to have pion Denver Broncos take on the National Football his former math teacher as his bowling coach. Conference Champion Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos “I just feel he has a lot of bowling knowledge, which reached the Super Bowl by defeating the San Diego included reading the lane and telling us how and Chargers in the AFC Divisional round and the New where to throw,” Donohue said. England Patriots in the AFC Championship round. Varsity Bowler Junior Richard Sawires played un- The Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl by defeating der Rizzo’s leadership in previous seasons. the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional round “Being coached by Mr. Rizzo was great. He always and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Champion- helped when we were down about ourselves,” Saw- ship round. ires said. Even before the opening kickoff, the Broncos and Sawires said Rizzo never gave up on the team no Seahawks had already made Super Bowl history. For matter what challenges they encountered. the first time since Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, the #1 Rizzo has been a part of the Lyndhurst communi- seed from both the AFC and NFC faced off in the Su- ty for most of his life. He is a graduate of Jefferson per Bowl and the Seahawks were the first team since School and LHS. As an educator, he has worked at the Buffalo Bills in 1990 to have no players with Super Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt Schools. He was Bowl experience, according to the NFL Network. also an eighth grade advisor as well as a yearbook ad- The Broncos came in with the #1 scoring offense in Courtesy of Matt DeMarco visor. Rizzo has served as assistant coach and fresh- the NFL and the Seahawks came in with the #1 scor- The Seattle Seahawks stole the spotlight at Super Bowl man coach of the volleyball team, assistant coach ing defense in the NFL. This has not happened since XLVIII, winning 43-8 against the Denver Broncos on of the baseball team and head coach of the bowling Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Super Bowl XXV in 1990, which featured the Bills and team. the New York Giants, according to milehighreport. Other positions he held include volunteer t-ball Harvin returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. com, a website dedicated to the Broncos. coach, flag football coach and president of the recre- Quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 206 yards and The temperature at kickoff was 49 degrees, ten de- ation basketball league for ten of the last 13 years. threw two touchdowns, one to Wide Receiver Doug grees warmer than Super Bowl VI which still holds continued on page 10 Baldwin and the other to Wide Receiver Jermaine Ke- the record for the coldest Super Bowl in history. arse. Seahawks Running Back Marshawn Lynch also The Seahawks won the coin toss but elected to give rushed for a touchdown. the Broncos the ball first, which meant that viewers At the end, the Seahawks proved that defense is bet- saw the #1 offense versus the #1 defense right away. ter than offense, defeating the Broncos 43-8 to win Twelve seconds into the game, missed communica- Super Bowl XLVIII. tion from the Broncos offensive line and Quarterback “The Seahawks had an amazing year. They worked Peyton Manning caused a missed snap and a safety in hard and became the top team in the NFC and made the Broncos’ end zone to give the Seahawks an early it to the Super Bowl. They truly did earn a spot in the 2-0 lead. This was the quickest scoring play in the his- Super Bowl,” Senior Frank Rago said. tory of the Super Bowl, according to NFL.com. The Broncos now hold the record for most Super After that, the situation went from bad to worse for Bowl losses in history with five. the Broncos. Manning threw for 280 yards and threw “It was great seeing the Broncos in the Super Bowl a touchdown to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, despite the outcome of the game. Even though they who set the record for most receptions in a Super lost, I was proud of the season that the Broncos had Bowl with 13. However, it was not enough to stop the and they gave it their all despite coming up a little bit “legion of boom” Seahawks defense. short,” Giaquinto said. Manning was intercepted twice, once by Strong After the game was over, the Vince Lombardi Tro- Safety Kam Chancellor and the other by Super Bowl phy was brought out to the field and presented to the Most Valuable Player Linebacker Malcolm Smith, Seahawks for the first time in the team’s history. who returned an interception 69 yards for a touch- “The Super Bowl was everything I expected because down. Smith also had nine tackles and a fumble re- having it in MetLife Stadium doesn’t make it any dif- Courtesy of Nicholas Pacheco covery. He is only the third linebacker in Super Bowl Mr. Rizzo is the principal of Lincoln School, which is one ferent from having it in a popular city. The fans were of three upper elementary schools in the district. Last history to win the MVP award. Twelve seconds into just as loud, maybe even louder, and just as excited year, he taught math at Jefferson School. the second half, Kick Returner/Wide Receiver Percy as any other fans,” said Sophomore Christina Vargas. Check out “The Lighthouse” on the LHS website! February 2014 2 TheLighthouse Question: What songs would be on the soundtrack to your life? COLUMN COLUMN What would What would Newman do? Tuero do? Compiled by Bianca Fata Compiled by Bianca Fata “Hells Bells” by AC/DC.... In a pre- If I were to choose three songs to be Courtesy of Bianca Fata Courtesy of Bianca Fata vious column, I wrote about how I the soundtrack of my life, they would was lucky enough to be on the Bergen As the PA announcer for the football be “Titanium” by David Guetta, “Fi- achieved all of those goals, and I am Catholic High School football team in games here, I started playing this song nally found the Love of a Lifetime” still continuing to strive to reach all of 1998 when we were #12 in the country before our LHS games this past fall by Lifehouse and “Amazing” by Bruno my dreams. and played St. Joe’s of Montvale, who after tons of players and cheerleaders Mars. I believe in never settling. There’s al- was #8 in the country. The game was were asking for more energetic hip hop Ever since I was a child, people have ways room to get better, and the goal is played at Giants Stadium, and in those music. This song came to mind because been telling me that I am not good to get better every single day. A phrase days, Giants Stadium had a “bubble” Robinson Cano, formerly of the Yan- enough, I am too “fat,” I am not smart I like to use is “Eat Crumbs, and stay practice facility. kees, used it when he was coming up enough, etc. No one believed that I hungry.” Before our game, we warmed up and at bat and my friends would always get could play football because I was too I started dating my wife, Koriann, in stretched in this small field area in in- charged up when it would come on. big in grammar school. Very few peo- 2001 and it was a love like nothing I credibly close proximity to St. Joe’s. As While this song has plenty of en- ever dreamed of. She has always been they finished their stretch, it was ex- ergy and gets people pumped up at For every single person who my biggest fan, my support, my best football games, it also reminds me of friend.