Never Back Down : Jamaica HS Baseball Season Review

A team is taught to never give up, no matter the circumstances.


In the case of the Jamaica High School baseball team, they never did.


In the '08 season the Jamaica Beavers started off the season at a staggering 0-5. By the sixth game of the season, things looked up for the Beavers, as the Beavers defeated the August Martin Falcons 9-4. Things got a little worse when the team, at 2-7, beat August Martin one more time but lost to Van Buren two more times. As PSAL rules state, a team must be at .500 or third in their division to make the playoffs, so things didn't look good for the Beavers.


After winning three straight, Jamaica lost the most crushing loss: 8-4 to Campus Magnet. At 4-8, the whole team was just feeling down, but with the leadership of their seniors (Barat Ramlall, Jonathan Lazzaro, Umar Kahn, and Nohar Ramlall) they continued to play.

Jamaica then went on to win the remaining four games to make their record 8-8.

With the days passing by slowly, the Beavers waited to see if they made it to the playoffs. A couple days later, they found out that they made it and an even tougher foe awaited them in Benjamin Benneker Academy . With the whole season in this one game, the Beavers tried their hardest but fell to Benneker 10-1.


But the story is not that the Beavers lost in the playoffs; it is that even in the tough times and at 0-5, the Beavers pulled together as a team and made it to the playoffs. They showed the heart, the courage, the drive, and the will to never back down.

GTA IV Update(6/3/08)

Imagine driving around Broker (Brooklyn) while listening to Swizz Beats "Top Down" in a rendition of a Range Rover.

Now imagine the same situation but this time with cops shooting at you; that is the life that you play when you enter the world of GTA IV.

Welcome to Liberty City, where anything can happen. In a city where crime is the highest paying job, you are Niko Bellic an immigrant from Russia, who has come to start his life over. You enter your cousin Roman’s life along with his many associates. The only way to make a living and to save your cousin who is in serious debt is to work for various crime bosses throughout the game.

Most think this game deserves a higher ESRB rating such as A for adult, but M for mature is just fine. The M rating is for 17+, which is most of teens that play the game. They should be responsible to not let their younger siblings to play this game. To change the game to an A rating is pointless because A is just 18+. Even though some disagree with wanting a rating change, most players understand.

The game now lets you drink and drive, which shakes the screen, giving the illusion that you are drunk. Other than that one detail, the game is the same game it has always been, the same ol’ GTA concept. The drinking driving part of the game is exciting, it makes driving more fun, but understand that the game is getting more realistic and it is worrying more people.


The game obviously gets a 1o out of 10 because of its descriptive details; when you walk down stairs, you notice you take every step, and when driving, you will notice the little dents and scratches in the car. The one huge detail you notice is in the city of Algonquin (Manhattan). If you take a helicopter over the city at night, you will see the same amazing sights you would see if you were in a real helicopter overlooking the real city. Star Junction (Times Square) just lights up at night.

If you decide to take a drive to Alderney (New Jersey), you will see a whole different atmosphere then you would if you were in Algonquin (Manhattan), just like in real life.

The game is a masterpiece that everybody should have, and if you don't have it you should go out and get it. For $60, you definitely get your moneys worth.