The Green Wave Gazette January/February 2014 | Page 8

Page 8

The Green Wave Gazette

The Madness Of March
Kevin Zdonek picks Michigan State to come out on top
Kevin Zdonek
Contributor

Syracuse fans are ready for
Duke before the start of play at
the Carrier Dome in Syracuse,
N.Y., on Saturday, Feb.1, 2014.
Syracuse won, 91-89, in overtime. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh
News & Observer/MCT)

“After a fantastic
year from
Louisville in the
2013, it is time for
a new 2014 NCAA
tournament
champion.”—
Kevin Zdonek

The NCAA has organized a
phenomenal time for sports
fans. March Madness has been a
tradition since 1939. It‘s a time
when 62 of the best college
teams get thrown into
a bracket for fanatics to fill out
who they think will finish as the
last team stan ding.
After a fantastic year from
Louisville in the 2013, it is time
for a new 2014 NCAA tournament champion.
The tournament is still a few
weeks away, so it is hard to
predict a champion. Two teams
that deserve consideration are
Arizona and Syracuse. Arizona
looks great, but their team is a
little inexperienced. When
choosing teams that have experience in the tournament. These are teams that
have players who have already
gone far in the in the past, and
have coaches who have won it
all in the past.
Arizona has broken school
history records. With 20 wins
in a row and counting, they
play great defense. Arizona‘s

two talented freshmen, Aaron
Gordon and Rondae HollisJefferson, have made their mark
on the Wildcats‘ success.
Aaron Gordon has asserted his
leadership on the team. He
racks up the most rebounds
and the most blocks. Also,
Gordon averages the second
most points on the team. Next
to the two freshmen, the other
two key components are juniors Nick Johnson and T.J
McConnell. These guys are the
experience of the team. In my
point of view, Arizona has a
good probability of making the
final four.
The other undefeated team
(written before their loss to
Boston College) is the Syracuse
Orangemen. The Orangemen
are led by a great and experienced coach in Jim Boeheim
and his captain, senior C.J Fair.
Other than these two components, the rest of the team is
made up of sophomores. Syracuse has proven that it‘s a great
organization. I see Syracuse
making it to the Final Four.
Moving away from the undefeated teams, another team
who I think will make the Final

Four is the
Florida Gators. The
Gators are
experienced in
the tourna(MCT)
ment. They don‘t rely on
freshmen to do all the work.
They have a senior captain who
is their leading scorer. Their
coach Billy Donovan has
earned a lot of respect over
the years with a couple championships under his belt.
His team is looking at another
successful year.
Lastly, the team that I believe
looks the best coming out for
the tournament is Michigan
State. Michigan State is very
experienced and is very skilled.
From their coaching to the
talent of their players, they
look great across the board.
They play great defense, getting
tons of steals and blocks. As a
unit, they are a scoring machine
with five players averaging
above one three pointer per
game. They are a championship caliber team who will
make a bang come bracket
time.

“Royal Ranger” is the Final Mission
A review of the twelfth and final book in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series.

Jake Snyder
Staff Writer

“If you think you
know the characters
inside and out, you
are in for quite a
surprise.”
- Jake Snyder

―Royal Ranger‖ is the 12th and
final book in the Ranger‘s Apprentice series. Author John
Flanagan provides an extraordinary return to the saga. If you
read the first 11 books and think
you know the characters inside
and out, then you are in for quite
a surprise. Will Treaty, the main
character of the series, has
changed dramatically in ―Royal
Ranger.‖ After suffering a terrible loss, the usually cheerful Will
is now grim and bent on revenge.
His closest friends see this transformation of character and try to

find a way to stop his path of
destruction by giving him an
apprentice of his own. This apprentice is not just any apprentice; she is Madalyn, the Princess
of Araluen.Most of the characters are previously established
through the earlier books, but
the newcomers, specifically
Madelyn, are very well developed. John Flanagan writes with
a lot of humor and sarcasm, so it
is always exciting to read his
books. They are always filled
with kings, knights and fantasy. This book stands out from
the rest because we are introduced to the first female ranger.
This is revolutionary if you are a

hardcore fan of this series of
books. This book is highly recommended to anyone that likes
the Ranger‘s Apprentice series,
medieval times, knights or adventure books. ‖Royal Ranger‖ in
particular brings the entire series
full circle and leaves the reader
wishing it were not the end for
Will and his friends. The final
book of the Ranger‘s Apprentice
series takes the story line to a
new place and will have you
asking yourself right up until the
last page, ―Is this Will‘s final mission for the Rangers, or will his
legend continue on?‖