John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

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f l AT A ball game, whether it be baseball or football, you will always find some- one who knows nothing about it. She will go just to keep up the school spirit and so that her friends will not make fun of her. I was observing such a per- son at the last football game I attended. It seemed to me that the girl, whom we shall call Ioan, never attended a football game before. You see, it was quite chilly and she was obviously not dressed for it. She was dressed more for a swimming meet in an indoor pool. Of course, nobody feels the cold until about a half-hour after the game starts. At approximately that length of time after the game began. Ioan started looking around her. I could tell she was beginning to feel cold from the way her teeth were chattering. Her eyes passed enviously over everyone, for they were all warmly dressed: that is, everyone was except herself. At this moment, Adams fumbled the ball and a player from the other team caught it and made a touchdown. Ioan, hearing all the noise, of course thought that she must also participate so she stood up and yielded a loud cheer. At this, all her schoolmates tumed to stare at her. Ioan was very embarrassed and her cheeks l'lC0lflgIf'lfL0lfL5 SFUQJGL f0I EILEEN NEEDLE turned crimson. She sat down and clasped her hands in her lap and started looking at the field once more. I could almost read her mind at that moment. I'l1 bet she was saying The next time I hear cheering, I'l1 wait and see who made the touchdown before I open my big mouth. All went well for the next hour or so. Then, the other team threw a pass and our team intercepted it. Everyone stood up and cheered: that is, everyone but Ioan. Ioan kept sitting with her hands folded in her lap just as she was since the last half of the game. Noting that the shouting was more consist-ent than it was before, she looked around and saw that this time it was her own schoolmates that were cheering. There- fore. she assuredly got up and gave a loud school cheer. By the time she cheered, everyone had settled down and all was quiet as everyone was waiting for th-e next play. As you can imagine, her shout came too late. In- stead of giving her a dirty look, every- one tumed to her and laughed. She was never so humiliated in her life. She got up and walked away mumbling to herself. As she passed me I caught a few words. She was saying, Never again, no never again. I don't care what the girls say. Never again. I couldn't help laughing to myself. I3

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6Ll 96U'lilfl,6l. of fAe mee THOMAS FU CALLI GARGANTUA IS the name of the largest fish ever caught by man. How was he caught? Well, it all started on a Sunday moming in Iune, way back in 1912. Captain Charles Thompson of Miami, Florida, and two other men were on his auxiliary sloop, the Samoa, which was lying at anchor of Knight's Key. Suddenly they saw a shadow below the surface of the water, which appeared and disappeared with the shitting of the waves. The three men decided to investigate. Armed with harpoons and a high powered rifle, they set out in a lifeboat equipped with a motor. As they drew near, the shadow proved to be a spotted mass unlike anything they had ever seen. It started to move, apparent- ly sensing their presence. lust in time the captain hurled harpoon after har- poon into the gigantic mass. Captain Charley sent two hun- dred shots into it but with almost no effect. So he poised with a knife. ready to cut the line at the first indication 12 of a downward plunge. Later it was revealed that the fish must have been thrown to the surface by a volcanic eruption on the ocean floor, and its diving apparatus put out of commis- sion. In any case, it towed the lifeboat around for thirty-nine hours before the men maneuvered it back to Samoa. Even then, when the catch was lashed to the side of the Yacht, it flipped its tail and shattered the propeller. Professor I. S. Warmbeth of Smith- sonian Institute went to work 'examin- ing the huge carcass. Careful measure- ments revealed the monster to be forty- five feet long, and believe it or not, it w-eighed thirty thousand pounds. This was without a doubt an almost legend- ary fish in which the characteristics of the whale and shark were combined. Well, that goes to prove you can never tell what you'll find at the end of your line.

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DAVID BELLAN CHUCK BENT down to check the laces of his ski-boots. As he was straighten- ing up, he became aware of the pres- ence of another person in the room. It was Hank Bender. Well, sneered Hank, I never would have believed it. Did you finally get your nerve back? Or did you come up to watch? With- out another word, Hank disappeared down the hall. It was early March, unusually late for Chuck to be up for just his first day of skiing. He used to start with the first decent snow and continue every chance he had. But the accident he'd had last season had changed that. It hadn't been an unusually bad one but it had put him in a cast for six weeks. Since then he hadn't been able to bring himself to do any skiing at all. Chuck took his skis from against the wall and clomped out through the hall to the door near the slopes and runs. There he met Ben Thompson. You're just getting back into circulation too? smiled Ben. Trying to, Chuck grinned back. He wished that he could be like Ben, who had just gotten out of a cast for a broken leg, yet was able to start skiing immediately. He didn't sit around stewing like I did. he thought. I guess we might as well start on the beginner's slope, Ben said. lt's too early for many begin- ners to be out. Besides, there's no use killing ourselves just because we're too proud to admit that we're rusty and stiff. When they reached the top of the slope, they stopped and dropped their skis. As Chuck used his poles to knock the caked snow from his boots, he looked around. It was just as it had always been. The sun's rays reflecting on the snow caused the whole scene to glitter. The slope before him still 14 rolled down like a white blanket. He realized that there was a cold sweat on his brow. I'm turning chicken, he thought. He glanced at Ben. He was all ready and was waiting for Chuck. What were you staring at, Chuck? he said. Chuck tried to grin but failed. There was no use trying to fool himself, he was scared. Savagely he kicked his foot under the toe strap and flipped the clamp at his heel. What are you afraid of? he jeered to himself. Look at Ben. He had an accident that was worse than yours and he's back, back the same season too! Chuck stood up. Ben was looking at him with a confused expression on his face. Are you all right Chuck? You look awfully pale. I'm all right, he replied, just a little nervous. O.K., shrugged Ben as he did a kick tum and shoved off. As Ben swooped down the slope, Chuck's thoughts raced back to the day he had taken the bone-breaking fall. He had looked just like that, speeding gracefully in smooth wide arches. Then disaster had struck. His ski tip had slipped into an unfilled sitz-mark and he had been thrown. It could happen again. Chuck's stomach was tied into a cold knot, and he was perspiring freely in the cold wind. He wiped his clammy palms on his windbreaker and pre- pared to shove off. He tried to move, but his feet seemed rooted to the ground. His whole body had become immobile. Chuck, are you coming? yelled Ben from the foot of the slope. Chuck managed to shake his head, No, I lost something, he shouted back. As Chuck walked back to the lodge, he knew that he wouldn't find it there. He knew that once you have lost your nerve, it is difficult to regain.