The Mind of Mason

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News Comment

This week, I read an article that was meant to be a feel good story. The article was titled, “Webster Groves boy, 11, gets kidney from his dad.” The story is originally from KMOV St. Louis. The article begins talking about Webster Groves not having the chance to be a kid and how the transplant is changing that. Groves is being given a kidney by his father, giving him a chance that he may survive his condition.

I was looking around CNN when I found this story. I was reading in the section of “around the nation” when the lede caught my attention. I think this story could fall under the category of being interesting and freak story. There are lots of cases of adults having kidney replacements, but this story is about an 11-year-old boy. The story is also bizarre and different because he got the kidney from his father. In the story, there are many uses of direct quotes. It is not a long article, but I thought it was a good story. The story is from St. Louis and was big enough to be picked up by CNN. The story is a feel good story that wants the audience to root for the health of the 11-year-old child. They put a link at the end of the article if you want to follow the journey of Groves and his transplant.

 

http://www.kmov.com/story/36471037/boy-waiting-11-years-to-receive-kidney-transplant-prepares-to-get-dads-right-kidney

Alex Watters: Taking Big Steps

“For being paralyzed I find myself never being able to stop moving,” Alex Watters said as he zipped back and forth between journalism students of Morningside College.

From a swimming accident that left the Okoboji native partially paralyzed, Watters has gone from helped to the one helping others. Living with his disabilities, Watters says, “I see an opportunity to give back to a community that helped me.”

Working as a first year advisor at Morningside, as well as being a Sioux City council member, Watters has dedicated his time to helping others and making a positive impact on the community. He has dreams of becoming a nationally known motivational speaker and finishing his book.

“I’m going to do what I can, serve on boards, get involved with the community.” Watters has a genuine passion for the people he works with. He loves to attend Morningside games and activities as “he sees his family being able to live their dreams and have the opportunities they have worked so hard to get.”

Alex Watters looks to keep his success growing, as he loves what he does on the daily. Never letting his disabilities get in his way, Watters believes it would have been “tough on where he would go” if the accident never happened. Watters loves to stay busy even on his free time, constantly replying to emails and writing down thoughts and things that need to be done.

With the constant busy schedule, Alex Watters made it clear that “You shouldn’t stay in the same position for a long time… if you have different skills you should use them to help people and companies in different ways.”

Years after the accident that led to Watters to be restrained to his wheelchair, nothing has not stopped him from taking big steps in his life and community.

News Comment 4

This week, I read a news story from CBS New York. The headline was titled, “Police: Long Island Grandmother Stabbed to Death in Revenge Plot Against Grandson.” The article caught my attention because of how bizarre it was. Sadly today, news stories of murder are not headlines unless they involve someone important, or if the case is bizarre or extreme.

This story was about a grandmother who was staying with her 24 year old grandson and was killed when two men broke and and killed her out of revenge. Apparently, the grandson had been involved in selling marijauna from his house. Two men, named Benjamin Lopez and Deangelo Gill, were ripped off by the 24 year old. Their plan was to break in and rob his house and mess him up.

The grandmother was caught in the middle of the situation. When her grandson left the house, the two suspects came in and hacked her to death. When the grandson returned, he was beaten, but was able to call police. He was hospitalized and the two suspects were arrested and are being tried for murder.

 

I thought the lede on this story was very interesting. It is a very sad and individual type of story. It is newsworthy because it was a murder of an innocent old woman who had no relationship with her murderers. i can see this piece being news worthy because of how different and messed up it is. Not only did the grandmother get killed, but the revenge plot was because of bad business with a weed dealer.

 

The story was written decent. They used direct quotes in certain spots, using testimonies from witnesses to give background on the situation. There was also a video that talked about the story as well. Overall, it was a good news story. I think that it was news worthy in the area that CBS New York covers. The story was linked to CNN.

 

Police: Long Island Grandmother Stabbed To Death In Revenge Plot Against Grandson

The Rise of the UFC (Final)

 

Since the multi-billion dollar purchase of the UFC by WME/IMG, a diverse and growing roster along with increasing regulations has brought MMA into the mainstream media.

 

The UFC has boomed in popularity because of its fighters and the diversity in the fight game. MSN says, “Just like any other global sport, MMA is not restricted to any single country or gender. In the UFC alone, there are fighters from from all corners of the world…”  With super stars like Georges St. Pierre from Canada or Anderson Silva from Brazil, there is a worldly found base.

 

The UFC’s rise in recent years can also be attributed to opening to both genders. A sport once dominated by men now has three weight classes for women’s mixed martial artists. James McDonald from Bleacher Report attributed the rapid growth of women’s MMA to the success of Ronda Rousey. Rousey was dominate and charismatic, the perfect combination to lead a new division of women. The UFC has also marketed and promoted the women’s divisions equally to the men’s, being very successful and drawing in more and more fans.

 

The promotion has reached its popularity today through many stars including Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey. Alan Dawson from Business Insider makes the point that the popularity from fighters like these not only break through the world of MMA, but they contest Hollywood and other sports. Conor McGregor is on the top paid athletes Forbes list and is known to millions. He is known world wide; even those who do not pay attention to the sport.

 

This has been caused by fighters becoming personal with the fans. Through twitter and other social media platforms, fighters interact with their audience, creating a persona that isn’t just in the octagon. Fox Sports described that the show “The Ultimate Fighter,” brought lots of attention to the UFC because it connected the audience personally to the athletes. Many of the UFC’s top promotions would come from the Ultimate Fighter, creating personal fan bases inside the UFC.

 

Since buying the UFC for 4.4 billion dollars, WME/IMG has pushed to create a larger roster, promote fighters to stardom, and create more events than ever before. Now legal in New York, the UFC is growing even larger. Fox Sports writes, “The dizzying levels of popularity it has achieved resulted in New York, the last state in which MMA was illegal, finally lifting the ban.” With UFC 205 New York being one of the largest pay-per-view to date, WME has many opportunities to create super shows.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2148497-examining-the-growth-and-popularity-of-womens-mixed-martial-arts

 

http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/ufc-205-a-retrospective-look-at-the-rise-of-mainstream-mma-111216

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mma/ufc-sold-for-dollar4-billion-what-makes-mma-so-popular/ar-BBugcNm#page=5

 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2016/08/22/ufc-sale-officially-closes-for-4-billion-fertitta-brothers-earn-huge-payday/#630f386e4eda

The Rise of the UFC

 

Since its humble beginnings dating back to 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, known as the UFC has blown up into the mainstream entertainment industry.

The action packed sport that combines martial arts from wrestling to muay thai has quickly escalated in the past 10 years, but has faced many challenges in getting there. Many wanted to see the UFC and MMA banned. According to Fox Sports, John McCain dissented the UFC and thought of it as “human cockfighting.”

Thirty six states would ban any future events from happening, causing the UFC to become more organized, creating sets of rules and regulations. Almost bankrupt from legal troubles, the UFC sold for 2 million to the Fertida brothers in 2001.

With strict regulations and weight classes, the UFC was beginning to be accepted. Pay-per-view numbers began to rise. The UFC worked with TV. stations, first Spike then Fox, to host live events and reality shows.

Fox Sports described that the show “The Ultimate Fighter,” brought lots of attention to the UFC because it connected the audience personally to the athletes. Many of the UFC’s top promotions would come from the Ultimate Fighter, creating personal fan bases inside the UFC.

The UFC has boomed in popularity because of its fighters and the diversity in the fight game. MSN says, “Just like any other global sport, MMA is not restricted to any single country or gender. In the UFC alone, there are fighters from from all corners of the world…”  With super stars like Georges St. Pierre from Canada or Anderson Silva from Brazil, there is a worldly found base.

The UFC’s rise in recent years can also be attributed to opening to both genders. A sport once dominated by men now has three weight classes for women’s mix martial artists. James McDonald from Bleacher Report attributed the rapid growth of women’s mma to the success of Ronda Rousey. Rousey was dominate and charismatic, the perfect combination to lead a new division of women. The UFC has also marketed and promoted the women’s divisions equally to the men’s, being very successful and drawing in more and more fans.

The promotion has reached its popularity today through many stars including Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey. Alan Dawson from Business Insider makes the point that the popularity from fighters like these not only break through the world of mma, but they contest Hollywood and other sports. Conor McGregor is on the top paid athletes Forbes list and is known to millions. He is known world wide; even those who do not pay attention to the sport.

With such a fast growth in the span of 15 years, the UFC went from almost being bankrupt to being apart of one of the largest single transactions in all of sports history. Noah Kirsch from Forbes found that the UFC would sell for over 4 billion dollars to WME/IMG. Both brothers would individually walk away with 870 million dollars and keep a small portion of equity in the company.

Since buying the UFC, WME/IMG has pushed to create a larger roster, promote fighters to stardom, and create more events than ever before. Now legal in New York, the UFC is growing even larger. Fox Sports writes, “The dizzying levels of popularity it has achieved resulted in New York, the last state in which MMA was illegal, finally lifting the ban.” With UFC 205 New York being one of the largest pay-per-view to date, WME has many opportunities to create super shows.

News Comment 3

This week in class we covered ledes and creating a news story. Looking at different news sites, I found a very interesting lede on Fox news. The lede was titled, “As Hurricane Irma nears, Florida sheriff warns sex offenders at shelters will be arrested.” I thought that this was a very good lede. It addressed the topic and gave a general idea of the news story. The story itself was very eye catching and had me interested to read more.

The news article was written after Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd tweeted that sex offenders and those with warrants would be arrested if they showed up at a shelter. Many are evacuating Florida and the surrounding area because of hurricane Irma, a large category 5 hurricane. Judd said that there would be officers at every shelter checking I.D.s and liscences.

This has caused lots of controversy between people, as some agree that sex offenders and wanted criminals live along families and children, and others think that it isn’t right when there is no where else to go. Many people are just trying to find a place to stay safe.

Overall, I think it is a dumb statement to make. I realize that it is your duty to protect and serve, but you might put more people in danger as they are afraid to find safety because they are scared of being arrested. I also think that families should be safe from danger, but overall, getting shelter from the hurricane is the most important. I thought this lede was organized and gave a general idea, while making the audience want to read more.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/07/florida-sheriff-warns-sex-offenders-people-with-warrants-at-shelters-will-be-arrested.html

Local Fire Fighter Breaks Limb After Saving Cat from Tree

 

On 102 11th Ave, a calico cat belonging to the twin children of Charlie and Kim Decker had gotten itself stuck in a 50-foot oak tree. The twins, Suzanne and Samantha Decker, had their cat outside when it climbed the tall oak tree.

 

Bob Harwood, a local fire fighter, responded to the situation. Climbing 50 feet, Harwood reached the cat and made his descent to the ground. However, 15 feet from the ground, the local firefighter fell after stepping on a dead branch. Harwood broke his leg from the fall, as the Calico cat landed on him.

 

After breaking his leg, Harwood was brought to Lukes Hospital. With his left leg broken, the local fire fighter is doing “just fine” as the cat is now safely with the Decker family.

At a Glance: Dante Anderson

I got the chance to meet and talk with a fellow classmate in my journalism class. Dante Anderson is a junior here at Morningside and has attended all three years of college here in Sioux City. However, Dante is no local to the midwest, as he is originally from Tucson, Arizona. After looking at different schools to go to, Dante decided to come to Morningside for their academics and football. Receiving scholarships for both, Dante said how the money was a driving factor in his decision.

Dante prefers the warm and dry weather of Tucson compared to Sioux City. There the weather isn’t as random and crazy as it is here. He does like that there are 4 seasons unlike Arizona, where you don’t see the fall and winter like you would here.

Dante is a pretty cool dude. He enjoys both watching and being involved in sports. He began playing football at the age of 6 and has enjoyed it his whole life. When watching sports broadcasts, he prefers to watch college basketball and football over the NBA and NFL. He says it is more exciting and entertaining compared to the professionals. Dante also enjoys watching Netflix, a staple of many other college students.

Here at Morningside, Dante has played for our very successful football team while studying business, specifically marketing. He has the dream of graduating and moving to Oklahoma City to work for the OKC Thunder, an NBA basketball team. Dante says that he has family in OKC as well, allowing him to be close to his loved ones while working the career he wants. He hopes to work in the OKC Thunder marketing and advertising team.

Dante Anderson is a laid back down to earth type of guy. He enjoys good sports, good shows, and good weather. What a fellow.

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