Origin of the Christmas Tree

The idea of bringing evergreens into the home started long before Christmas was even a holiday and Catholicism was even a religion. The Egyptians used the the plants to symbolize life's triumph over death. Later, the Romans would use them to celebrate the winter solstice by decorating their houses with the greens and would exchange gifts. Other groups, such as the Druid priests in Great Britain, used evergreens during winter solstice rituals and even placed the branches above their doors to ward off evil spirits. All of these examples share the same basic principle as the Christmas tree, but obviously none actually are. So that begs the question, where did the first true Christmas tree come from?
A popular story that many credit for the beginning of the Christmas tree comes from the life of Matin Luther. The legend goes like this: "One crisp Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth" (Christmas Tree Tradition has Ancient Origins).
While no one is exactly sure where the Christmas tree came from, it is obvious that it is prevolent in today's culture and a huge part of Christmas.

Sources:
http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-the-christmas-tree-faq.htm
http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html

Disappointment for the Chicago Bears

The monsters of the midway didn't look so monstrous this past Sunday in Green Bay. After the 37-3 blowout, the Bears and Packers enter the final six weeks of the regular season in a three way tie with Minnesota for first place in the NFC North.

With Orton playing on a bum ankle and going 13-26 for 133 yards with just two completions to wide recievers, it is not difficult to see why the Bears couldn't come out of Green Bay with a win. Of course, Ryan Grant running for 145 yards and Aaron Rodgers throwing for two touchdown passes didn't help.

Nothing seemed to be going right for the Bears and they couldn't do anything about it. Our once unstoppable defense from years past has been replaced with a group that has struggled throughtout the entire season and simply can't perform like it used to. No one should expect to win when the defense gives up 427 yards of total offense no matter who the opponent is.

As for us Bears fans, although the season is certainly not over, it's disappointing to see our team struggle as they have. Despite everything that has gone wrong, I know the Bears are still going to win the Super Bowl! Here's a video for good luck:

A Disappointing End

Our GBN sophomore football team had an extremely frustrating end to our already disappointing season after our final game. Coming into our final game this week against Niles North we had a record od 3-0-1 with the tie coming aginst Highland Park. If we won the game we would have been outright conference champions.

Right from the start Niles North jumped out into an early lead. We were trailing 21-6 at half. We knew that the game was not over but needed to play very well to get back in the game. On the opening kick of the second half, we got exactly what we needed and returned it for a touchdown. The score then stood at 21-14. We then scored shortly later to make the score 21-20 Niles North.

The rest of the game was a battle between the two teams, no one wanted to give up. It all came down to a 4th down and 6 yards for Niles North to get the first and seal the victory with their 28-26 lead. However, right before the start of he play thunderclaps and lighting strikes in the impending storm set off the Thor Guard. Because of this we were forced to go inside, only to come back out 45 minutes later to finish the game. At the resume of play, Niles North decided to punt it away to us, giving us the ball at our own twenty-five with two minutes in the game. Despite some long completion, we could not get any farther than the Niles North thirty. The game ended with us on the losing end of a 28-26 score with Highland Park presumably winning conference. We'll be back next year on varsity to take the confernce title back.

Bears! Bears! Bears!

Ok, so the Bears are not doing phenomenal by any stretch of the imagination but they are in a tie for first place in the NFC North with the Packers. Their record stands at 4-3 and they could easily be 6-1 right now. Obviously they are not and this is due in large part to their inability to close games. Despite this they have a remarkably promising team. An offense that has been struggling this year and has a lot of play-makers that can move the ball down the field. Matt Forte, Bear's runningback, was named NFC North rookie of the year through midseason by ESPN writer Kevin Seifert. Seifert also named Lovie Smith coach of the year thus far in the NFC North and Kyle Orton MVP of the division. In addition to Seifert's accalades of Orton, Merrill Hoge, ESPN football analyst, named Orton his fifth best quarterback in the NFL at this point in the season. Although their record is not as good as it could be, I, along with many more Bears fans, am happy that the Bears are in such a good position to make the playoffs.

GBN Football 2 Games into Conference

It has been a tough season for our GBN sophomore football team thus far. After finishing with a 7-2 record our freshman year, our current 2-3-1 record is a huge disappointment. As I have said before injuries have really hurt us, but that is no reason to abort our season. We are now two games into 2008 conference play and we have already faced Maine West and Highland Park. We started off with a big 33-6 road win over Maine West. The score at half was just 7-6 in our favor but we turned it on in the second have and took the victory.
Highland Park turned out to be a huge test for our team this year. Despite our dominant performance against them last year, we only managed to pull out a tie this year. The game began with Highland Park scoring two touchdowns in the first six minutes to take a 14-0 lead. We almost went into halftime with no points but managed to score with about thrity seconds left. The score at half was 14-6 Highland Park. The score remained for wuite some time until midway through the fourth quarter our team faced a fourth and ten at the Highland Park thirty yard line. We in dramatic fashion as we scored on a long pass to make the score 14-12 Highland Park. It was all up to us getting the 2-point conversion. Sure enough, on a fake run rollout pass, we were able to get the points and tie the game at 14-14. No one would score for the rest of the game and with no overtime we ended in a tie. The quest for another conference title continues as we play Deerfield in two weeks. To see our enitre schegule click here.

PS: We lost a close one to Waukegan 24-20.

GBN Sophomore Football

Our Glenbrook North Sophomore football team has been off to a slow 1-2 start but we look to bounce back this week against Waukegan High School. Our two loses came against Glenbrook South and Maine South with a win against Woodstock. Despite the less than stellar start we remain optimistic because we started off the same way last year but still dominated in CSL conference play.

One of the factors that has really hurt our team's performance this year was injuries. So far this season we have had lost six players for at least one game, and some will be gone the entire season. This week versus Waukegan several players will be watching the game from the sidelines due to injury. It makes it very difficult to even find players to fill the spots that are left open from players who go down. However, we have adopted a new offensive set that should prove helpful in using our players the most effective way possible.

All this talk and analysis only amounts to so much, however. If you really want to know how the game turns out, come watch us take on the Waukegan Bulldogs Saturday, September 20th, at 4:00 at GBN. The varsity game will immediately follow at 6:30.

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