THE SHOE DEBATE CONTINUES

There are many different shoe brands, but which one is the best?

by Noah Tucker ntucker088@g.fhsdschools.org

New balance is a footwear and apparel company founded in 1906 based in Boston, Massachusetts, that is dedicated to aiding athletes in their pursuits. While New Balance products are not currently environmentally friendly due to their use of regular cottons and petroleum based fibers, they have committed to several stability goals such as having 50 percent of its polyester to be recycled. Even though New Balance isn’t as popular as some bigger brands such as Nike and Adidas, it recently has made a surge in popularity, with the 574s, 550s and 990s being some of the most popular sneakers within the brand. New Balance has also made a shoe with NBA basketball player Kawhi Leonard. Being an athletic brand, New Balance has a wide variety of sports wear from basketball shoes to soccer and baseball cleats.

“I have to go [with] New Balance,” sophomore and baseball player Dominic Jefferies said. “They have the best cleats.”

Nike is another sports based footwear and apparel company. Nike was founded in 1964 in Oregon and is easily one of, if not the most popular sports brand in the United States. Nike has made large leaps in their sustainability

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New Balance with their “Move to Zero” program and their “Nike Forward” material. You can even buy refurbished shoes from their official website and they have many stores that allow you to drop off worn shoes for donation or recycling. Nike is the brand behind some of the most popular shoes in the United States with their signature Air Force 1, Air Jordan series and their various other collaboration shoes such as Lebron, Kobe and Giannis.

“I like Nike SB’s because they got a longer lasting material for skateboarding but they got good color ways,” sophomore Adian Martinez said.

Birkenstock is a company that primarily sells sandals and shoes that are made from leathers, textiles, natural cork and synthetic fabrics for comfort, durability and look. The Birkenstock company boasts environmentally friendly practices and products through water based adhesives and the use of jute; a natural stabilizer. One of the secrets to the comfortability of specifically their sandals, is the footbed, which was originally coined by Brikenstock in the 1930s.

“They’re very comfortable,” social studies teacher Kimberly Coil said. “They may not always be the most stylish, but my feet feel good and that’s important.”

A NEW ANT-MAN

by Chloe Ellison cellison944@g.fhsdschools.org

After four years since it was initially announced, the next movie in the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe will be coming out on Feb. 17 and will be called “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. This new movie will be the third Ant-Mancentered movie and will complete the character’s trilogy. Even though it will be the completion of this Ant-Man trilogy, the movie will also be the first of many in Marvel’s new Phase five.

This movie will bring back the widely known characters of Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne. It will also bring in a newer character who we haven’t seen much of, Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, the new and powerful villain for the MCU. Rudd and Lilly have previously been known as more light-hearted characters, however this movie will set a different and more serious tone for the two as shown in the trailers.

Fans of Ant-Man and the MCU are prepared to see this movie be a base to further the MCU and set up many other storylines. Introducing the quantum realm with further explanation can set it up as a plot point for other movies and shows in the MCU. If the MCU decides to closely follow the comics then this movie could also be seen as Cassie Lang’s origin story for her extensive storyline that she has in the comics.

PHIL’S FORECAST

by Alayna Lohaus alohaus637@g.fhsdschools.orgv

Early spring or six more weeks of winter? This is the great question that will be answered by a trusty groundhog named Phil, who resides in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Since 1886, this prediction has been in the hands (or paws) of this four-legged rodent. Each year on the morning of Feb. 2, Phil has come out of his stump to determine the upcoming weather.

According to Groundhog Day lore, if Phil sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if no shadow is seen, an early spring can be expected.

Though this event may seem strange, it began with the Christian practice of Candlemas, in which candles were used to represent how long and cold winter would be. Germans later resorted to using a hedgehog to help in this prediction, but changed their prophet to a groundhog after settling in Pennsylvania, where there was an abundance of groundhogs.

“I think it’s pretty accurate because animals are in nature, so they know what is going to happen,” sophomore Mauricio Reyes said. “They live in the Earth, so they can feel [what’s happening].”

Some may question how accurate Phil’s predictions are. With predicting 107 longer winters and 20 early springs, he only has about a 39 percent accuracy rate. Even so, this ritual continues to be practiced year after year.

“I’m going to say [there will be] an early spring because that’s better than winter and you have to be optimistic,” junior DJ Dillon said.