Will Lupe’s “Show Go On” at LFA?

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Jack Selati, Staff Writer

Last spring after everyone laughed with Lupe Fiasco as he jokingly promised a free concert if the football team went on a two game winning streak, little did they know that the team would go on to win three games straight. Being the famous rapper that he is, Fiasco received a huge welcome by the students of Lake Forest Academy. However, this was not the first time that some students have met the world famous rapper. Many of the students at LFA have met and spoken to him at our LFA football games. Fiasco is a huge fan of our football team, but he was somewhat disappointed in the results they posted last year.

So far this season, the football team has made the students of LFA gleam. They have won their first three games of the 2017 season, which means that the LFA community may be getting a free concert from Fiasco in the near future.

Chris Tennyson, LFA’s Dean of Students, is very hopeful and excited about the promise of Fiasco performing for the LFA community.

“It was a pretty cool thing for him to do and it certainly got people fired up,” Tennyson said.

If there is a concert at school, Tennyson notes that there are many intricate details that would have to be solved. Tennyson believes the Cressey Center for the Arts would be the best place to hold the concert, due to its large seating capacity, however, the concert would need to be limited to students and faculty of LFA due to the popularity of the performer.

Obviously Fiasco’s promise has worked with the football team, which is off to a hot start. Fiasco’s potential concert would not have been possible without the outstanding playing from the many members of the 2017 football team. The two captains, Payton Gryniewicz and Denzel Annan, have attributed some of their newfound success to the switch from 11 man to 8 man football.

“Coming down to 8 man we have been able to balance our skills with a lot of other schools that have made that adjustment,” Annan commented on the adjustment.

Annan believes that the switch to 8 man has made LFA able to use the talent that they are given each year. Before they switched, the team would scramble to fill every position, with many players running both ways. Now with 8 man, the team is able to have specialty players at certain positions.

“We used to be one of the smallest teams that would play football, but now we are one of the biggest teams,” Gryniewicz added.

The LFA football team has now been able to take advantage of their numbers with this switch from 11 man to 8 man football.

While the switch to 8 man football has propelled this team to a 3-0 start, there has been another big change that has greatly benefited the team this year. This big change is the addition of new head coach Blake Annen, a former NFL player.  

“Our coaches have emphasized more of being able to play all four quarters, and in practice we tend to do a lot of full speed drills,” commented Annan on why their coach has helped the team.

Annen has learned these ideas from his time in the NFL. He talked about how learning from some of the best coaches in the game such as Rex Ryan has helped him to take certain drills and mentalities and adapt them into LFA’s team practices.

“It all starts with the details. The little things matter and when you do the little things right they are able to compound and build,” Annen said.

Annen likes to focus most of his time in practice on the little details that will improve the team drastically. However, it has been hard for him to adapt to not playing in the games anymore.

“I have always run out onto the field and been able to contribute and play. It has been an adjustment being on the sidelines and calling plays,” spoke Annen.

While he wishes he could be out there contributing to the team on the field, he is doing just as a good of a job on the sidelines calling the plays that have led this team to an undefeated record.

While the team has been practicing hard with their new coach, they have had the thought of Fiasco coming to perform in the back of their minds.

“Of course that has been at the back of my head a couple times in games,” said Annan.

Annan has been tweeting at Fiasco ever since they won their first two games. Fiasco, who has almost 1.5 million followers on Twitter, has been very happy to reply to Annan.    

These tweets are evidence that this concert is very likely to happen in the coming months for the LFA community.

With the excitement of the concert, the football team is not stopping their progress. They are continuing to practice hard and work towards their goal of winning the Wisconsin 8 man State Championship. If they were to win the state championship, Annan and maybe the rest of the student body would be hoping for another surprise guest along with Fiasco.