In what just might have been literally the most hectic week of my high school career, what with the second half of my APES final, both parts of my AB Calc final, and my essay on Office Space in World Classics due (don’t ask), one might say this week was in fact, hell. Or so I thought. As Ms. Taylor would say, come April and May seniors are completely useless. And we are. Thankfully, my more vocally-minded peers saw fit to moan incessantly to make things a bit easier. The math test was merged into one day, and I get to enjoy Office Space for a few days more before it gets burned into a one big pessimistic blob after an all-nighter.

Now that being said, one econ teacher was nice enough to actually be chill these few weeks and give us a break. Because as seniors, God knows we need one. The Markerboard People really have helped me, Tory Prati (’12), Chris ‘Biz’ Bisbee, (’12) (follow him on Twitter for hilarious #bizthoughts! @BizMacBisbee), Kyle Samos (’12) and Alec Wong (’12) get through these tough, Senioritis-filled times. We started the semester with old-school Draw Something (aka Pictionary), moved onto 6 Degrees of Separation and ended with…6 Degrees of Separation. Riveting right? [It should be mentioned that, from time to time, we do in fact partake in games of the smartphone variety. As Samos says, “@pdenner22 I’m pretty sure econ has made the change from AP scramble to AP baseball superstars”

The classic version of 6 Degrees of Separation involved Kevin Bacon. The point of the game is to take some random actor/actress and somehow get to Kevin Bacon, moving through other actors/actresses who’ve acted in the same movies. So, one, if it helped, could go from Lindsay Lohan to Rachel McAdams because they were both in Mean Girls, a veritable cinematic masterpiece. The catch is that, supposedly, everyone can get to anyone else in only 6 steps, hence 6 degrees. Now while this is all fine and dandy, this has literally no connection to The Viking or sports for that matter.

Here’s the point. Biz had the grand idea of going through sports players.  Just like the strategy of getting to an someone in The Departed in the Kevin Bacon version (with the idea that you can go Departed → Nicholson → Bacon [through A Few Good Men]) here are some athletes to keep in mind while playing:

1. Kenny Lofton: This one is good because Lofton is actually a quasi-household name. Lofton’s played for 13 teams across his career so chances are you can find a connection. Obviously a vagabond, in this case, is extremely helpful. Get to one of these guys and you’re golden.
2. LOOGYs: Get your head out of the gutter. LOOGYs or Lefthanded One-Out Guys, are some of the longest lasting pitchers in the big leagues. Arthur Rhodes, for example, has been in the game 20 years, played for eight different franchises and at 41, is the fourth-most senior player in the majors. LOOGYs, in this case are good.
3. College: One of the great things about professional athletes is that (generally) they’re athletic enough to play multiple sports. A select few play multiple sports in colleges. For example, Julius Peppers played with Brendan Haywood at North Carolina. Sweet huh?

So. Next time you’re bored in econ. Hit up 6 Degrees of Mo Vaughn. Wondering why its named after Mo Vaughn? Well. Have you seen the guy?