Many may recall Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona, when the famous “Helmet Catch” led to the Giants’ 17-14 victory, the only loss on 2007 New England’s record. In more recent history, the Giants also won 24-20 over the Patriots back in Week 9. Now with a chance to get back at New York, the Patriots seek revenge in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

A lot about this playoff  looks similar to the one four years ago. Once again, the New England Patriots (13-3 in the regular season) took the AFC’s No. 1 seed (though Green Bay had the best record this time around) and made their way through two playoff games to punch their ticket.

Once again, the New York Giants (9-7) just slid into the playoffs, and then proceeded to knock off everyone in their path. In the NFC title game, Lawrence Tynes again kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime on the road to win another date with the Patriots.

The only injury to report is Rob Gronkowski, tight end for New England. He suffered a high ankle sprain earlier in the week and was limited in practice Thursday. He remains questionable for Sunday’s game.

Both sides have high offensive strengths they need to establish early on. Rob Gronkowski is still questionable for the game (high ankle sprain), but each day his chance of starting looks better. The Pats’ offense was second in the league for passing offense, their primary attack, but second-to-last in pass defense. The Giants were fifth overall in pass offense, but 29th in pass defense. Both teams are not strong rushers as they finished in the bottom half in rushing offense (the Giants were last), so any rushing game that gets off the ground could make the difference.

This showdown looks to produce another close contest. New England loves to stay ahead. New York loves to come from behind. In each game they’ve played to make it and in their overall records. Stick around the whole game since you might miss something otherwise.

My prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 34.

They faced Caprock last Friday and came away with a 44-32 win over the Lady Longhorns.

Continuing their winning streak, the girls went up against Plainview this Tuesday night. Canyon added yet another win with a score of 44-30.

The Lady Eagles will travel to Frenship tomorrow. Freshmen begin at 4:30 p.m., JV at 7:30 p.m., and varsity at 6 p.m.

The film is well-rounded with plenty of excitement, puzzles and good laughs. Music creates a suspenseful mood that keeps you on the edge of your seat, while the special effects add breath-taking scenes. The characters are well-developed and all different from one another. The hero who works from the desk, Benji (Simon Pegg) the intelligence analyst, brings comical relief.  William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) is the classic right-hand man to their leader, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton) plays the female hero.  

Ethan and his friends are on a mission to infiltrate the Kremlin in Russia for nuclear launch codes. Before they are able to accomplish the mission, they are detered by an explosion. Ethan is not the only one after the codes. The bombing is blamed on Ethan’s team and his organization IMF. Their job now is to retrieve the launch codes and stop nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia.

Will Ethan get the codes in time? It’s your mission to find out. If you miss your window of opportunity to see the film in theatres, plan B is to rent or purchase it upon release.

“Ghost Protocol” is rated PG-13. Visit the official site for trailer and features.

The Eagles faced Burkburnett Saturday morning and defeated them 13-6. They battled the Vernon Lions that afternoon and snuck out a win, 10-9.

“Those were two big wins for us,” Coach Aaron Fuller said.

Canyon will travel to Texas Tech this Saturday to play Abilene Wylie.

Nov. 18, Jay Paterno announced his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. The past 12 weeks, Paterno struggled with the disease as the public debate and the Sandusky proceedings continued outside his front doorstep as well as across the American public. Jan. 22, at 9:25 AM, Joe Paterno died of lung cancer. He was 85.

Does the last decade of his life and his involvement in the Sandusky scandal define his legacy? Or did the 61 years he poured into Penn State speak more about the man than his nine years of silence ever could soil?

 My earlier article stated that I believed the board of trustees was right to punish Paterno as they did. I said that his standards changed when he chose to walk on his own terms. Yet, more than half a century of work, loyalty and philanthropy for one school is very hard to ignore because of what came of it. His investment in the school, even during the time the alleged abuse occured, was nothing less than what he put in year after year before.

I do not devalue the alleged victims his silence harmed, but he helped far more people through his own work over his entire adult life. His legacy should be the Joe Paterno the college football community remembered before Nov. 9. Before the world knew of what he kept under wraps.

In his time as the head coach of the Nittany Lions, Paterno coached in 409 victories, more than any other coach in Division 1. Thousands of players got their opportunities to play under him and play their parts in what emerged as a storied, powerhouse program. More than 250 players who knew him as “Joe Pa” went on to play in the NFL. Many assistant coaches entered and left over time, but to keep one man in one place for careers longer than most coaches spoke volumes about the university’s trust in him and his leadership over their football program.

Paterno and his wife, Suzanne, also gave millions of dollars to Penn State for academic and athletic purposes. Paterno donated part of his annual salary plus millions more to the school and to the State College, PA community for projects, scholarships and trust funds among other causes. He gave his time as well as his money without fail and complaint to a school that gave him a place of influence over and importance to students who played for Penn State.

I said in my last article that his long time of contribution and his place in college football did not excuse him from his firing. I quoted a commentator when I repeated “The Sandusky scandal is his legacy now.” With a little more time and reflection, I believe he gave and gave in his time more than any mistake could ever take away.

Yes, he made a huge mistake. He was human. Every human, no matter how upright he may seem, will disappoint along the way. His mistakes don’t forfeit the millions he gave to his school and his community. They don’t take away the experiences the student-athletes under him had. They don’t take away the place Penn State still holds in college football history or their place in the air of elite schools. No human is perfect. But not every human fulfills their purpose the way Joe Paterno did.

The Eagles’ perfect season seems to have caused other teams to scare and make purposeful fouls against some of Canyon’s core players. After the Monreal twins’ injuries Lombard said they had to change their mindset halfway through the district season.

“I definitely feel the girls have improved during the last month, “ Lombard said. “We are finding ways to win close games, which is a huge positive. Individually the girls are improving as we continue to work on fundamentals.”

Some of the improvements Lombard plans on working on are fouling less and keeping the other team off the free throw line.

“The PD game was a very physical game and I was proud of the way the girls competed,” Lombard said. “The inside play was sometimes like a war zone but I thought our girls handled it fine.”

Lombard said they executed their offense, played well defensively, and took care of the basketball in the end of the game against PD. He said 3-4A is one of the strongest districts in the state and anyone in the league can beat anyone on a given night.

“We can’t take it lightly anymore,” junior Kyndal Davis said. “We can’t take it as we’re automatically going to win.”

The lead Eagles scorer was senior Will Tolliver with 15 points. He led Canyon, along with senior Isaac Williams, defensively with a combined total of six steals.

The Eagles battle Hereford at home tonight.

“We feel very confident going into Friday’s game,” sophomore Dylan Douglass said. “We’re hoping to hold our place in the district standings.

Freshmen begin at 4:30 p.m., JV at 6 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 p.m.

According to the Iranian court, Iranian American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati made attempts to gather information for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Iran has sentenced Amir to death upon charges of espionage and spying. Amir says that he was visiting family. A video has been released with Amir admitting to working for the agency. According to US officials Iran has used torture and threats to cause the victim’s family harm in the past.

This has not been the first hostage taking situation. Since 2007 Amir is the latest of 10 Americans to be held for Iranian political purposes. In 2009, three Americans hiked in Kurdistan Iraq and strayed slightly from the border. They were also arrested upon espionage charges.  Also in 2009 Roxanna Saberi, an American reporter was arrested for spying and was accused of infiltrating the Iranian government.

This past year the operation that eliminated Bin Laden was set into motion without consent of Iran. That action has angered Iran and recently with the events of Iran’s Uranium production increased to 25% and the capture of Amir Mirzaei Hekmati has seemingly been used to pressure Washington.