Newsletter - Pigeon Forge High School

Page 6 Summer 2013 The Tiger TimesClass AA State Champions!!The PFHS baseball team was expected to win the District title and they did notdisappoint. Not only did they trounce Gibbs for the district title, but they bested CAKby two runs for the Region Championship. After beating Greenville during the substategame, the Tiger baseball team went to Murfreesboro for the State Tournamentyet again. After a weather delay, the Tigers faced Elizabethton on Tuesday night. TheTigers defeated Elizabethton 10-0 in five innings as senior Wil Crowe threw a perfectgame. Wednesday the Tigers defeated Murfreesboro Central 9-2 and on Thursdaybeat Dyersburg 6-3 in extra innings to secure a spot in the championship game. TheTigers rallied in the final inning of the championship game to tie Goodpasture 3-3 inthe top of the 7th. After PFHS scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th, senior Wil Crowerecorded 3 more strikeouts to secure the class AA state title. Go Tigers!NewsBoston Bombing BacklashWritten by: Lucas MunasqueIn 490 BC as the forces of Persia invaded the shores of Greece at Marathon, Greekforces sent Pheidippidas, an hemerodrome (“day runner”) with a call for aid to thefierce fighters of Sparta, a 150 mile round trip. However, the rocky terrain was muchtoo treacherous for the clumsy hooves of a horse so he left on foot, completing thejourney in a mere two days. The next day, Pheidippidas was called upon again to runto Athens, which he did, and upon completing the 25 mile journey, he proclaimed“Nikomen!” (“We have won!”) and dropped dead from exhaustion. Unbeknownst tothe great Greek hero, he had just completed the first marathon.Some 2300 years later, the Olympic committee of 1896 established the first everformal marathon and set it at a distance of 26.1 miles. Just one year later, the cityof Boston held its first race on April 19, 1897 (although the distance did not matchthat of the Olympic standard until 1908). Now, the race is held annually on the thirdMonday in April. For the city, which is just as rich in symbolism as it is in literalvalue, the Boston Marathon is much more than a simple race; it is the celebrationof Patriots’ Day which commemorates the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Yearafter year, Bostonians and visitors alike congregate to revel in the remembrance ofthe beginnings of America’s break from tyranny and oppression.However, on this past April 15, oppression overtook the city of Boston once againwhen two pressure cooker bombs exploded at the finish line of the marathon at about2:49 PM EST. Sadly, the explosion killed 3 and injured 264. Shortly thereafter, thecity was placed under lockdown as law officers scoured the city searching for theperpetrators. In the hours that ensued, officials had positively pinned the bombingon two Russian radical Islamists: Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. From there on,all efforts were focused on finding the two brothers.On April 18, two men were reported to have killed an MIT officer at roughly 10:30PM EST. From there, the two split up and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carjacked a man in thearea of Allston where he held the driver at gunpoint and forced him to drive somewhereto pick up his brother; however, the vehicle needed fuel and the victim took thepause as an opportunity to escape, which led to the police receiving a tip that wouldlead them to the stolen vehicle. A few minutes later, law enforcement officials caughtup with the vehicle that now held the Tsarnaev brothers.Now in an area known as Watertown, police chased the pair exchanging gunfireand trying to pin down the vehicle. Finally, the Tsarnaev brothers bolted from theSUV and a shootout ensued. In the chaos and barrage of small caliber and rifle fire,older brother Tamerlan was tackled by an officer as Dzhokhar escaped into theneighborhood.At 1:35 AM EST on April 19, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead andWatertown was sealed off as officers canvassed the residences searching for themissing brother. Fourteen hours later at 7:50 PM EST, Tsarnaev was found huddlingin a boat behind a house. From there, he was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess MedicalCenter for treatment due to gunshot wounds.Tsarnaev was transferred to Federal Medical Center Devens some 40 miles fromBoston for further recovery and interrogation. In response to the bombing and legalisticas well as emotional backlash, Attorney General Eric Holder offered his wordsof encouragement, “Let us… resolve once more to help or fellow citizens to meet fearwith reason.”Most information, unless otherwise stated, was gathered from articles posted by CNN.Convention CenterWritten by: Josh Buckmeier and Breyana SandersLeConte Center at Pigeon Forge is under construction on Teaster Lane and set toopen in September 2013. The LeConte Center is a 232,000 square feet multi-purposefacility. With Trolley service and 1600 parking spaces, the LeConte center will beable to host events and comfortably accomodate a large amount of people.The estimated $50 million dollar project will be finished in less than a year andwill bring in millions of dollars into our local economy. This building will be one ofa kind because of its 105,000 square feet of free space containing no columns. Thelowest ceiling in the building will be 30 feet high.The National Quartet Convention announced that they would be leavingLouisville and will hold their gathering here in September 2014.The Cal Ripken ExperienceWritten by: Josh BuckmeierAcross the road from the new Convention Center on Teaster lane will be anothersite ready for revenue. The Cal Ripken Experience will host baseball tournamentsand camps. Brian Tapp, an NAI broker from the firm that sold the property, saidretail and restaurant developments are also planned. The 114 acres was sold to a firmin Pikeville, Kentucky called Barker Industries. The price has not been disclosed andBarker could not be reached for comment.