CYHSB Weekly 1/20/2023

CYHSB WEEKLY

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

This week’s Weekly is sponsored by The Weekly Editors in honor of all of the Weekly Staff and the hard work they put in to making this newspaper a reality.

Old and New: The Alumni vs. The Macs

Benny Freiden (’26)

The 31st annual alumni game was one like no other. The MHA Moss Gym was packed with loud fans, the game kept going back and forth, and it ended in a thriller. The alumni roster had double the Macs roster with 20 total players: Ezra Cooper, Mark Fertel, Issac Graber, Josh Kahane, Avi Katz, Issac Krupp, Herschel Krupp, Zev Levine, Richard Lewis, David

Mashinsky, Benjamin Mendelson, Jeffery Owen, Asher Silberman, David Silberman, Benjamin Wachtel, Joel Weinstein, Jonathan Wogan, and Justin Wruble. Richard Lewis was the high scorer for the Alumni with 16 points followed by fan favorite Jeffery Owen who scored 11 points. DR Wogan led the Macs with 28 points followed by Adam Felsher and Benny Freiden who combined

DR Wogan shoots a three at the Cooper Macs Alumni Game. Source: Ethan VanderWalde

for 7 three pointers. The night started off with a 7/8/9 grade scrimmage. One team had Jack Kampf, Daniel Kahane, Jonah Siegel, Eli Krochmal, and Zac Greenbaum. The other team contained Benny Freiden, Eitan Braverman, Ilan Lennonn, Benjy Schuburt, and Eli Weisfogel. The game was just for fun as both teams were playing for highlights and shooting deep threes. After the 10 minutes were up the starting lineups got under way. JJ Stein provided the intro on the mic that got the crowd hyped. The starters for the Alumni were Joel Weinstein, Josh Kahane, Jon Wogan, Richard Lewis, and Issac Krupp. For the Macs it was Adam Felsher, Rafi Goldkin, Avi Becker, DR Wogan, and Yosef VanderWalde. It was a very back and forth 1st quarter that ended with a deep 3 by Richard Lewis to give the Alumni a 19-15 point lead. Benny Freiden provided a spark for the Macs in the 2nd quarter by hitting 3 three pointers. DR Wogan finished the half with 16 total points. Jeffry Owen checked in for the 2nd quarter and scored 7 points to

extend the Alumni lead to 43-37 at the half. The Macs came out hot to start the 3rd as DR Wogan scored 5

points and Jack Kampf scored 2 points to take a 44-43 lead 2 minutes into the quarter. Jeffery Owen got a quick lay up followed by a deep Mark Fertel 3 to retake a 48-44 lead. Avi Becker came down and answered with a deep 3 of his own to cut the lead back to 1. Back to back “and 1s” by DR Wogan and Yosef VanderWalde put the Macs back in front 48-52. The end of the 3rd came to an end and the Macs had a 54-52 lead. After a little 4th quarter run the Macs were now up 62-54. Richard Lewis hit a 3, Josh

Kahane got a layup and hit a 3, an Issac Graber jumper, and a Jon Wogan jumper put the Macs down 67-62 after an 13-0 run by the Alumni forcing the Macs to call a timeout. The Macs needed to come out strong with just 3 minutes to go but Jon Wogan hit a 3 to extend the lead to put them on a 16-0 run and extend the lead to 8. An Adam Felsher three finally ended the run and gave the Macs a final hope now down 5 with 2 minutes to go. Richard Lewis hit a fading layup on the very next possession to put the Alumni back up 7. Another Adam Felsher 3 on the next possession was his 4th of the night and cut the lead to 4 with a minute and 30 seconds left in the game. The Macs went into a press but it just led to a wide open Josh Kahane layup to extend the lead back to 6 with a minute to go. The Macs had 2 great open looks for 3s on back to back possessions but couldn't convert, which forced them to foul and resulted in a 79-68 Alumni win. It was very sad that the Macs couldn’t break their losing streak against the Alumni, but it was still a great experience to be a part of.

Macs setting up their offense on the court. Source: Ethan VanderWalde

Guess the CYHSBer

He loves to go to the gym

He loves to talk about drip irrigation

He can't stop wearing black jeans

There will be a different puzzle each week, so stay tuned!

First person to send in a completed puzzle to ezra.wiener@mhafyos.org gets a prize!

NFL Playofs: Breakdowns and Predictions

Raanan VanderWalde (’25)

It’s that time of year that sports fans have been looking forward to: the NFL playoffs. Last week were the Wild Card rounds of the playoffs and next week will be the Divisional rounds. Every football fan has been rooting for their team to stay in the competition, but only 1 team gets to come home with the famed Lombardi Trophy. Who will win it this year?

Seahawks (7). Teams play each other based on their seeds: 2 plays 7, 3 plays 6, and 4 plays 5.

The AFC wild card games this

turnovers caused by the Bills offense, one of them resulting in a defensive touchdown. Overall, the Dolphins played pretty well despite missing their star quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Even though the Bills are moving on to the next round, they are going to have to play much better football if they want to make it to the Super Bowl and reach their full potential as a team.

Last Week’s Solution

In the Wild Card round, 12 of the best NFL teams play an all or nothing game to move on to the next round. Two teams, who placed at the top of their conferences, get a bye and move on to the divisional rounds automatically. This year, the Chiefs (1) in the AFC and the Eagles (1) in the NFC got the bye. Every team is seeded based on their regular season records. The winner of every division makes the playoffs and are reserved the top 4 seeds. Divisional winners this year in the AFC were the Chiefs (1), Bills (2), Bengals (3), and Jaguars (4). Divisional winners of the NFC were the Eagles (1), 49ers (2), Vikings (3), and Buccaneers (4). The next 3 seeds in a conference are given to the teams that didn’t win their division but had a good enough record to make the “wild card” spot in the playoffs, hence the name “Wild Card round.” These three teams in the AFC were the Chargers (5), Ravens (6), and the Dolphins (7). In the NFC they were the Cowboys (5), Giants (6), and the

year were very predictable and there were no upsets.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Los Angeles Chargers

The most surprising game of the weekend was the Chargers (5) vs. Jaguars (4) game where the Jaguars were able to pull off an amazing 27 point comeback to win 31-30. Despite 5 turnovers by the Jaguars, including 4 interceptions thrown by Trevor Lawrence, the Chargers were not able to hold their lead. This is once again a disappointing season for the Chargers after barely not making the playoffs last season. The Chargers could be looking for serious coaching changes after their disastrous breakdown in the second half of their game.

Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins

A less surprising win came when the Bills (2) beat the Dolphins (7) 34-31. The Dolphins almost pulled off a major upset because of 3

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The third game of the AFC playoffs was a rematch of a rematch between the Ravens (6) and the Bengals (3). These two teams played just one week before the playoffs and were forced to play for a third time this season in the playoffs. The game was tied in the fourth quarter 17-17 and the Baltimore Ravens were at the Bengals 1 yard line, just short of a touchdown. Back-up Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley was pushing for the goal line when he got stripped of the football by Bengals defensive player Logan Wilson. The Bengals recovered the fumble and ran it back to their goal for a 98 yard touchdown, ending the game with a score of 24-17. The Ravens put up a good fight for not having their star quarterback Lamar Jackson, and really put pressure on the Bengals who were only able to win by a small margin, and some might say, a lucky play.

The NFC wild card games, unlike the AFC games, were much

The NFL Playoff Bracket. Source: Sporting News

NFL Playofs: Breakdowns and Predictions cont.

harder to predict; however, some people would like to argue that the outcomes of the three games were also expected.

New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings

Last Week’s Solution

The most shocking game coming from this side of the bracket was the Giants (6) win over the Vikings (3). The Giants have really surprised football fans this season, making the playoffs after countless years without experiencing the postseason. Just making the playoffs would have been enough for this rising team, but they went on to win the game.The Giants were smart with the football and quarterback Daniel Jones played very well. The Giants defense also played well, holding off Minnesota to only 24 points. The Vikings were looking really good this season but many would argue that their regular season record was not a true reflection of the team’s skill. 11 of 17 of Minnesota’s regular season games were decided by one score (meaning that the difference between the team’s scores was 8 or less points - 1 score). The Giants have some hard work ahead of them if they are looking to make a deep run in the playoffs as they face the Eagles (1) next in the divisional rounds.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys

The second upset to take place this weekend happened on Monday night in the matchup between the Buccaneers (4) and the Cowboys (5). Although the Buccaneers have a higher seed than the Cowboys, they also have a much worse record; coming into this game, many people believed that the Cowboys would blow the Bucs out of the water. That is exactly what happened. The game ended with a score of 31-14 Cowboys. Although the Cowboys were the clear favorite, many fans hoped Tom Brady would pull off some of his playoff magic and win the game for the Bucs. The main news surrounding this game questioned the future of Tom Brady. Will Brady finally retire at 45 years old? Will he stay with the Bucs for another season? Will he look for another team to play on and try to add an eighth ring to his collection? We’ll just have to wait until the offseason to find out.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks

We all came into this week knowing that the 49ers (2) would come away with a win against the Seahawks (7). The 49ers are practically unstoppable, using this game to extend their 11 game win streak. . Despite any strategies developed against their divisional rivals, the Seahawks were steamrolled by the Niners, getting defeated 41-23. But let us acknowledge how far the Seahawks have come. Originally projected to be one of the worst teams in the league, the Seahawks were able to sneak into the wild card spot even if it meant losing the first round to one of the greatest teams in sports at the moment. The Seahawks impressively scored 23 points against a defense that only allows an average of around 16 points per game. It is important to mention that the 49ers are on their third string quarterback, rookie Brock Purdy, and are still looking like the best team in the NFL. Matchups will be tough in future rounds if a team has to face the 49ers.

This weekend will be the Divisional Playoffs, where 4 games will take place. The team that got the bye in the first round of the playoffs will play the lowest remaining seed. For example, the Eagles (1) play the lowest seeded team remaining: the Giants (6). The other two teams then play each other. The winners move on to the

Dalas Cowboys' Dak Prescott leaping over a Tampa Bay defender.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Cooper Clicks

Top Left: Everyone stares in horror as the basketball careens towards DR's face because of an epic failure of a pass. Top Right: Benny dances around the basketball floor in a beautiful pregame basketball ballet. Bottom Right: DR schools geriatric man at the Alumni game. Bottom Left: Yosef and John Wogan do their best Space Jam impressions. Photos: Nathan Greenbaum and Ethan VanderWalde

next round of the playoffs which are the Conference Championships.

On the AFC side we will have the Chiefs (1) vs. Jaguars (4) and the Bengals (3) vs. Bills (2). The Chiefs - Jags game might be one to watch since the Jags have been on fire recently, taking down good teams like the Chargers, Titans, Cowboys, and the Jets. I think that there is a large probability that the Jags could defeat the 1st seeded Chiefs and pull off the upset. But practically speaking, the Chiefs have recently been very good playoff performers, making it to 5 straight conference championship games in the last five years, so there is a good chance they could make that 6 straight. A fun game to watch this weekend will be the BillsBengals game because these are two relatively evenly matched teams.

While the Bengals have been looking really good in the last few weeks, it is hard to see them beating the Bills.

Regarding the Divisional NFC matchups, we will have the Eagles (1) vs. Giants (6) and the Cowboys (5) vs. 49ers (2). If we look at the Eagles - Giants game, we see a bit of a mismatch between yet another divisional rivalry matchup. The Eagles are a clear favorite going into this game, but since they are missing their star quarterback Jalen Hurts, I would not be surprised if the Giants pull off an upset, just like they did against the Vikings. The Cowboys49ers game is a bit more of an interesting case. Both of these star teams look like they could make a Super Bowl run and it is a bit of a shame that one of them has to go

home so early. Many people are betting on the 49ers to knock out yet another team on their path of destruction, but the Cowboys will really put up a fight.

As the weeks and playoff rounds count down towards the big day of the Super Bowl, the playoff games get even more intense. I have made my own prediction for the following rounds, but feel free to make your own bracket!

Raanan’s Predictions:

Divisional Rounds: Chiefs beat Jaguars, Bills beat Bengals, Eagles beat Giants, and 49ers beat Cowboys Conference Championships: Bills beat Chiefs, 49ers beat Eagles

Super Bowl: 49ers beat Bills

Sometimes We Fall: Fighting to Get Back Up

Avi Becker (’24)

Last Week’s Solution

The crowd roared as Mike Legg carried the puck from his stick into the goal. Fans were asking if it was legal, referees were checking the rulebook, and the players and the world were in awe.

In this week’s Parsha, Moshe begins his mission of carrying out the Jews from Israel. Hashem begins his plan of taking them out with a strong right hand. Yet, it’s interesting, the specific terminology we use prevents us from knowing whether Hashem is entirely carrying us, or whether we’re also doing some of the

carrying ourselves. In Perek Gimmel of Bava Kamma, as was so graciously taught by my beloved Rabbi, Rabbi Safier, it says: If one is carrying a vessel on his shoulder and he has the intent of bringing it down from his shoulder and then it damages, then he is liable to pay for those damages; yet, if he did not intend to take it down, then he is not liable at all. While this seems like a Gemara that is merely teaching us a halacha, this Gemara is actually Taka based. When we let ourselves fall, then we are responsible for all the damage that we’re causing to ourselves and to

our neshama. But when we fall, without intending to have let ourselves fall, then we are not held responsible and we are given an easier chance to rise back up…to carry ourselves up.

Mike Legg raised that puck in the air, one of the most jawdropping moves ever performed on the ice; and, as the crowd roared, and the spectators clamored, the points were added to the scoreboard. Now we just need to carry ourselves up and add points to our own scoreboard, even if the entire world is telling us that we can’t.

Sponsor an Issue

On behalf of the weekly staff, an apology is in motion for the slight mistake in last week's issue in regard to the sponsorship page. We assure you that a mistake like that won’t happen again, and it has now been corrected. Una sponsorizzazione è un ottimo modo per onorare

CYHSB Weekly Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Ezra Wiener | ezra.wiener@mhafyos.org

Layout Editor

Ezra Davidovics | ezra.davidovics@mhafyos.org

Editors

Ethan VanderWalde | ethan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org

Nathan Greenbaum | nathan.greenbaum@mhafyos.org

Raanan Vanderwalde | raanan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org

Yaron Weiss | yaron.weiss@mhafyos.org

Complaint Manager

J.J. Stein | jacob.stein@mhafyos.org

CYHSB Weekly Staff

Akiva Levine | akiva.levine@mhafyos.org

Amit Zalman | amit.zalman@mhafyos.org

Avi Becker | avi.becker@mhafyos.org

Baruch Finkleman | baruch.finkleman@mhafyos.org

Rafi Davidovics | rafael.davidovics@mhafyos.org

Joshua Parcover | joshua.parcover@mhafyos.org

Benny Freiden | benny.freiden@mhafyos.org

Rafi Goldkin | rafael.goldkin@mhafyos.org

Yosef VanderWalde | yosef.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org

Jojo Ardestani | jonathan.ardestani@mhafyos.org

Sponsorship Coordinator

Nadav Lowell | nadav.lowell@mhafyos.org

Administrative Advisors

Mrs.

From the Editor(s)

This week's issue is the first time that the editors have published the Weekly without our editor-in-chief. This issue comes to you through the hard work and dedication of Raanan and Ethan VanderWalde, and Nathan Greenbaum. The Alumni Game this past Saturday was truly a remarkable experience, and everyone is very excited for the NFL playoffs. We hope you enjoy!

- from the Editors and

Ashley Brown Rabbi Dov Rossman