Bubbly Nick Reed ‘14 dishes out a slice of his life | 4
SCHU-DADDY A few words from Moe’s resident daddy | 3
GOING LOng Crusaders are all over college football | 4
Crusader the
Celebrating 50 years of publication
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ARCHBISHOP MOELLER HIGH SCHOOL 9001 MONTGOMERY RD. CINCINNATI OHIO 45242
GASPING In a hot and sweaty test of determination and endurance, senior Kyle Zimmerman fell to Mr. DiCristoforo on the track. Running a mile in over six minutes, the pair wagered much on the tense battle. Kyle was forced to promote the GCL Cross Country championships through email and the PA system. DRESSING Moeller football belatedly welcomes Peter Sharpshair ‘15 as its new mascot. The junior has traded his band uniform for the pads and armor of the Crusader. CRIPPLING Six, as in S-I-X, seniors on the cross country team were sidelined with injuries this year. That puts the class’s survival rate at fifty-seven percent, out of fourteen students. breaking Moeller football beat St. Xavier, but our student section beat the front row bleachers. Somebody needs to lay off the pizza. DEBATING This issue seniors Andy Strotman and Zac Paz go head-to-head over the issue of structured mentor groups. Should students play basketball on laptops or with other mentor groups? TRAFFICKING The parking lot is packed full of fledgling drivers, and every afternoon around three o’clock it suddenly becomes crammed with slow-moving vehicles piloted by both students and newbie Moeller mothers. Estimated departure time: ten minutes. CLUBBING The Model UN, established by Paul McCreary ‘14, is holding meetings between various countries represented by students. General chaos is expected after the recent American government shutdown. PALING Those tan lines and sunburns are fading into last month as the cold begins to kick in. Don’t worry about arms and legs, seeing as pants and sweaters provide plenty of coverage. Remember that only cripples and basketball
OCTOBER 2013 VOL. 50 NUM. 02 FALL ISSUE WWW. MOELLER.ORG
English chair releases two killer novels Moeller students, faculty flock to Joseph-Beth Booksellers to support Mr. Geoffrey Girard By Dan Miller ‘14 Crusader Staff Writer Moeller English teacher Geoffrey Girard had his latest books released on September 3, 2013, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Cain’s Blood is a science fiction/horror story about dozens of boys who get cloned from the DNA of some of the world’s most vicious serial killers by the U.S. Department of Defense in order to create a new brand of bioweapons. These young men are raised in controlled environments until they are released into the world. Shawn Castillo is sent to capture them, teaming up with a boy who has the DNA of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer. He also wrote Project Cain, a spin-off for teenagers. Girard researched these books for approximately a year before he began to write them. Getting the book published took about two years, which is relatively short, according to Girard. It was published by the well-known Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation. Girard was inspired by reading other writers’ work. These inspirations included such authors as J. R. R. Tolkien,
Mr. Girard poses at his September 3 book release appearance at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Rookwood Plaza.
Stephen King, and Michael Crichton. He explained how he got into writing short stories and novellas in the horror genre in college and his late 20’s, leading to his writing today. Mr. Girard was lighthearted and humorous throughout the entire evening, throwing out stuffed animals to anyone who could answer his questions about the history of cloning and DNA transferring. Mr. Girard said, “The sci-fi genre I love because you can do anything with it.” He also hinted that a movie deal
could be in the works for Cain’s Blood. The launch ended with Mr. Girard sitting at a table signing copies of his books for a large group of buyers. Senior Jake Barbara said, “It was great! All the support he had from students shows how much he really means to the students and the whole Moeller family.” “Girard made his book seem so appealing to all the people there and gave out prizes to keep people interested. You could tell he was very proud of his work but was trying to act like it was no big deal,” said senior David Kindel.
From corner pubs to the iTunes store Junior Matt Schneider releases first album to global market By Ben Land ‘14 Crusader Sports Editor Tackling opponents, spiking volleyballs, donating his time for service, and rocking out - Matt Schneider with his long free-flowing hair is quickly becoming one of Moeller’s most impressive young men. Perhaps the next Jason Mraz, Matt’s big-
“I actually recorded it all in one day because I couldn’t afford any more studio time.” gest musical influence, could be among us, yet very few realize it. Matt eats, sleeps, and breathes music, playing for “About an hour and a half a night, but on the weekends probably four to six hours a day.” He says he started playing guitar when he was nine years old. “It seemed like a fun thing to do, and I really got interested when I started listening to older rock
Matt Shneider performing at the House of Blues
music.” Writing his original music has provided Matt with many gigs at local venues. He even played at the Cintas Center on Xavier University’s campus in front of a full house. Most extraordinary of all, Matt just released his first album. The album contains four songs: “Open When,” “Invisible,” “Motivation” and “Come On.”
Matt notes that it was hard and time consuming. “I probably took about a year to write the entire album,” he said, “and I actually recorded it all in one day because I couldn’t afford any more studio time.” Schneider is not the only talented musician to walk the halls. Senior Liam Dorward, also a guitarist, believes Matt is the next big thing. “He’s a great kid and a great musician. He spans many styles and can pull nuances from different styles into his playing which sets him apart from the crowd. He knows his theory which helps him move around the guitar effortlessly,” said Dorward. Schneider’s biggest musical achievement was on Sunday, September 8, 2013, when he was given the chance to play in front of Warner Brothers and Atlantic records. Very few artists get that opportunity so early in their careers. Matt plans on attending the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music for commercial music. Purchase his music on iTunes by searching “Matt Schneider EP.”