Beckham's Boys

David Beckham is finalizing plans to start a Major League Soccer franchise, and hoping his son Brooklyn can one day take the field for his team. While worried about putting pressure on his children to follow in his famous footsteps, the former England captain tells The Associated Press that he hopes Brooklyn can be good enough to play on his team one day.

Five months after retiring from soccer, Beckham is putting the finishing touches on investment plans before asking the MLS to allow him to start up an expansion franchise in Miami.

Already, 14-year-old son Brooklyn has shown he could be the next Beckham to make it as a professional player. There have been spells with Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers after playing for a Los Angeles Galaxy youth team during his father's time in the MLS. Asked if he would like to see Brooklyn in his MLS team, Beckham told the AP in an interview Wednesday: "Yes, hopefully, hopefully."

Beckham has two other sons — 11-year-old Romeo and 8-year-old Cruz — who could of course make the grade. "As long as the boys are happy, as long as they enjoy playing football and they have fun doing it then, whether they play at professional level or whether they play at Sunday league level, I don't care," Beckham said.

What troubles Beckham is that his sons will be unable to develop as soccer players away from the spotlight — if that's the career they wish to pursue — with Brooklyn's training spells with English teams quickly becoming public. "Obviously, any time the boys go and train at a club, there's a certain amount of pressure on them because it's highlighted and that's a shame at times," Beckham said. "But they are level-headed children, they are fun, they love playing the game. So we will see."

                                                                                                                      -Riley Dyer

Ask Allie

Dear Allie,

         I heard a rumor about my best friend and I really want to tell her but I’m scared it will hurt her feelings. What should I do?

         ConcernedBFF

Dear ConcernedBFF,

       You should definitely tell your friend!! You need to tell her in a place and time that is appropriate. Make sure you tell her in a kind and loving way! You should always tell your friends if something is said about them, but don’t go tell anyone else what you heard.

              ~Allie

Dear Allie,

         There is this girl in my class that really makes me mad and I really just want to hit her some days. I really don’t know what to do..

         TickedOffChickk

Dear TickedOffChickk,

       You need to distance yourself from her so you won’t hit her. If you still feel this way towards her you need to go the guidance counselor and principal so they can help you.

       Don’tHitHer

Dear Allie,

People are saying bad things about where I’m from, what do I do?

         ~TimidTally

Dear TimidTally,

        You need be proud of where you came from and your past. If they aren’t from the same place they haven’t walked in your shoes. So they don’t have any room to talk. Stand up for yourself and don’t worry about it

       Stand Up Talley

Chris Brown: Bad Boy of R&B

Courtesy of Rolling Stone 

Since 2009, one of the most polarizing figures in music has been R&B singer Chris Brown. In 2009, Brown was arrested for assaulting pop star Rihanna. As a part of a plea deal, Brown plead guilty to one felony count of assault with the intent of doing great bodily harm. Brown received five years of probation and to serve a 180 days in jail or an equivalent in labor-oriented community service. The R&B singer chose the latter choice. Brown has since apologized and rekindled an on again off again relationship.

         Since that brush with the law, there have been a few more incidents that have occurred. One of those incidents being an alleged hit-and-run and recently another alleged assault. Brown just cannot seem to keep his name out of the headlines. Better yet, the tabloids tend to highlight only the bad things Brown has been involved in. Since the assault of Rihanna in 2009, Brown has released three albums and two mixtapes. According to Billboard, Brown’s fourth studio album F.A.M.E. debuted at number one on Billboard 200 in 2011. Brown earned five BET Awards, three BET Hip Hop Awards, and a Grammy Award. This album would be considered Brown’s biggest success since the Rihanna incident.

         The R&B singer has been promoting his upcoming album X, which is suppose to come out hopefully out before the year’s end. On the journey to releasing this album, Brown has endured a few stops in the road. Aside from a few run-ins with the law, Brown also developed a beef with rapper Drake over relations with Rihanna. Since the summer of last year, both artists have released music taking subliminal shots at each other in their songs and has made for quite the talk on social media.

         This past Sunday, the R&B singer was taken into custody and charged with felony assault after allegedly having an altercation with a man outside the W Hotel in Washington, D.C. Brown checked himself into a rehab facility Tuesday night according to his representative. Brown’s agent also said this has nothing to do with the wrongdoing in the D.C. case. The final statement released revealed Brown’s intentions, “He just decided he wanted to take some time off and do some introspection.” 

5 Great 90's Cartoons

1.     Hey Arnold! -

This show was very popular in the 90’s (and 2000’s). It aired from 1996 to 2004. In this cartoon, each character’s head was shaped like a strange object. For example, Arnold’s head was shaped like a football. The other characters’ head shapes ranged from rectangles to perfect circles. I can remember waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch this, and then being half asleep during the show.

2.     Rugrats-

Rugrats was always one of my favorite shows. It was on from 1991 to 2004.  This show centered around four, and eventually five, babies. They can all communicate with each other, but to their parents it is just baby talk. They also get into mischief, usually at the hands of one baby’s mean older cousin. When I was little, every time this show would come on I would beg my parents to let me watch it so I could see what the rugrats were up to.

3.     CatDog-

The title CatDog is odd, which perfectly explains the show. It aired from 1998 to 2005. It was about two completely different animals with two completely different personalities, joined at the stomach. This created a two- headed character, known as CatDog. Cat was tidy and refined, while Dog was goofy and messy. I never really watched this when it was on, but I started watching the reruns and ended up loving it. The jokes and general humor make it enjoyable and entertaining.

4.     Doug-

This show was on before most current high school students were born. It aired from 1991 to 1994. Douglass Funnie moved from one town to another, and is just trying to fit in and make it to the seventh grade. He befriends Skeeter Valentine, and falls in love with Patti Mayonnaise. Along the way, he has to deal with the school bully, and battles himself and obstacles to get through sixth grade.

5.     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-

This seems to have been most everybody’s favorite 90’s cartoon. The original series aired from 1987 to 1996. The show highlighted four turtles, who were teenage ninjas. The show followed the four turtles and their adventures of fighting crime and hanging out with their friends. This specific series was so popular that it had its own merchandise, such as pajamas, cereal, stuffed figures, and more. 

Ashlee Holtzclaw

@acoleslaw98

Should College Football Players be Penalized for Celebration?

            The clock is winding down, the game is on the line, and the ball is on the 10-yard line. Unranked Tennessee has one more chance to get the ball across the goal line to defeat long time rival Alabama. The crowd sounds like a freight train, and the QB is pointing and shouting at his offense, lining them up in a victory formation.  The ball is snapped and the ball is handed off to the RB. He follows his tight end on an outside block, and sets his eyes on the far right pylon. Alabama’s secondary is sprinting at Tennessee’s RB serving as a last hope. The RB leaps at the three-yard line as time comes to a slow creep. The ball crosses the goal line, and the referee rules a touchdown. Neyland Stadium erupts in cheering and excitement. Tennessee’s RB jumps to his feet and flings the ball in the air as celebration. Then, the sideline referee throws a yellow flag. Tennessee’s sudden adrenaline rush comes to an alarming stop, and waits for the ruling. “Excessive celebration on the offense, 15 yard penalty, replay 3^rd down.”

            The next play, Alabama’s defense was ready, and stopped Tennessee. The parade nearly began in Knoxville, but a violation of the excessive celebration rule destroyed the upset. The game was lost due to the RB “excessively celebrating.”

            The NCAA has come down hard with restrictions on celebrating in the past several years. The rule states, "Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves).” Also, another rule states, "After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot." This rule was crated to bring more class to the game as well as more “professionalism”.

            In my opinion, I think the rule is not necessary. I’ve seen too many circumstances where a simple gesture was penalized. I once saw an Army player score a touchdown, and after the play he saluted to the crowd. The infamous yellow flag was thrown and the play was called back. Another instance was several years back, LSU went three and out, and sent the punt team out. The play was a fake, and the punter kept the ball and ran it all the way to the house. However, the last few steps he took, he lifted his arms out beside him, looking similar to a plane, and was called for excessive celebration. Both of these instances speak for themselves, and I do not believe it was the right call. If I could edit the rules for the college football, excessive celebration would be the first one out the window.