Jdot's blog

Steven Evans knows how to make an impact on the field and be a role model back home

by: Jalen Portis

Growing up in a rough Ft. Lauderdale environment Cornerback Steven Evans found a way to survive the chaotic ways of the community. Football was his escape from the environment around him, and his talents brought him to receive a education and play for national championships in Sioux City

Coming into the Morningside program Evans says he didn’t even take a visit to the campus. 

Just a kid from florida he took a chance and had faith in the program to come and compete for multiple  national championships.

Evans says he immediately knew that he was going to make an impact, however didn’t know that he would have a chance at a national championship

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Evans grit to come and compete right away worked well as a freshman being a good puzzle piece in winning the first of a back to back run for the Mustangs.

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With that confidence Steven recorded 3 interceptions his freshman year, his first year s a mustang, coming close to a championship but was as close as can be

We all know that winning the championship is hard, but going back again can be difficult, although, Steve says that “since they knew what it took to get their the first time it was much easier”

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Regarding the team accomplishments, Evans himself has high take away numbers which played a part in the succes.

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With the 2020 season coming to the end, and playoffs coming up ,Steven has 0 interruptions but only has 5 passes caught on him from the 8 games played. The road isn’t easy to the top isn’t easy, plus it is very lonely at the top. 

With Covid-19 pushing the playoffs back until April focus and recovery is a big motto in the mustang locker room to continue the dominance

I asked evans do you think you guys have a chance to win another ring this year?

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I asked Steve what he expects out of the season ? he says a ring nothing more or less

The chances of the Mustangs going back are very great. Evans and other teammates are determined to make history here at morningside trying to reach a three peat.

Yes, the pandemic has a third spike and as we all were wondering , yes there is a vaccine coming into play. With hopes of the virus to slow down from march until now being crushed, some states are starting to go back to a minimum capacity in certain stores.

according to Washington “Rising COVID-19 rates are already well documented by publicly available data, which shows the pandemic has now killed more than 250,000 Americans”

Maps showing that covid spreading shows that not only the power it has over the coutry but the death tolls have increased by the week. these maps are unreleased, basically being leaked out to the world on a early, unexpected notice

https://www.yahoo.com/news/maps-show-the-dramatic-spread-of-a-covid-red-wave-000845386.html

Several reports of animal deaths have been reported from the Midland Zoo, that are unrelatd. Throughout all of the exhibits the animals have a freedom of wondering around their area.

Unfortunately the Midland zoo has found their oldest polar bear dead , floating in the pool . Homer , the oldest bear in the zoo along with other animals . there was also an additional 2 bears that was removed from the exhibit due to this incident.

Homer in particular was a fun, loving bear and was loved by the community.

“Homer was a fun and curious Polar bear and we will miss him terribly” said zookeeper Sara Gretty

After the investigation solves what exactly happened to Homer, more information can be released on the specific situation. Animal deaths at the zoo can be heartbreaking, especially when the animal is popular

” The zoo will perform a necropsy to try and determine the cause of the death. the results will not be available for several weeks.” said Dr Shonda Lear, veterinarian.

This Feature story on Jalen Ramsey is very specific on what kind of player he is, and how he became that way. We discussed in class that feature stories shouldn’t be as detailed as a biography. Giving flashbacks of growing up, and what made hm tough is what the majority of the second body paragraph explains, as ESPN goes into the mind of a Corner that’s relentless at all costs . The ending of the article basically spits the idea that Jalen has the perfect it factor to play the corner position in football.

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/24503312/jalen-ramsey-man-mouth-legend

Aaron Robinson a Morningside College junior describes hisself as happy. In 2020 happiness is hard to find, especially being a college student.Friends and family make Aaron a happy man keeping him upbeat wit joy majority of his days. I asked Aaron what would make him the happiest man he says “Being successful and beginning to start his own family would make him even more happy.”

Destroying Nature may lead to more problems for humans than we think.

Some humans tend to not think about the environment, maybe because they either hardly pay attention or they don’t care for it at all. keeping our world clean can help keep out diseases from staying the length Corona had stayed , and could even prevent future outbreaks of different kinds from happening.

“Scientists estimate that there are 1.7 million undiscovered viruses lurking in mammals and birds, half of which may have the ability to infect people. It’s no coincidence”(Sarah Gibbens).

We have to do better overall in an attempt to protect the environment around us so the impact of the global economy can’t affect us as significantly. Preserving our environment and oceans can possibly ensure us on a healthy earth in the future years making earth last longer than what could be expected.

How can we fix things now? Countries are planning for the better to help the world “Thirty countries have pledged to support the Campaign for Nature , a global goal to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030″(The Campaign for Nature is supported by the National Geographic Society.)

Los Angeles has been filled with joy with back to back championships with basketball and baseball world series. 2020 has been crazy with everything happening with corona virus as I had said before, but things have been under control to a certain extent.

Justin Turner #10 for the LA Dodgers was diagnosed with Covid-19 before ending the series . Vanessa Tyson (wife of Justin Turner) spotted Justin celebrating without a mask , on the field when the trophy ceremony was happening .

 “It went from my heart sinking with sympathy, of feeling, ‘this is awful,’ to seeing him on the field, and being incredulous,” says Tyson.

How can a person be so selfish? people wondered after seeing this surface the media rapidly. No one had the awareness to make him leave the area, especially with him having tested positive for sure .

 https://news.yahoo.com/just-giant-bummer-dodgers-fans-134622552.html

Vikings hard struggle leads to a search for a new quarterback. The importance of this article can be important to the people that have interests in football. With Kirk Cousins on the edge throwing interceptions repeatedly I would assume that this draft they’re looking to invest in a new quarterback wether it’s Trevor Lawrence or Fields.

Cousins says “The reality is, if the pace I’m on in terms of the interceptions, if that were to continue, I won’t finish the season as the starter”

The current back up situation isn’t ideal either with the back up not even on the roster, and most likely wont do a better job than Cousins himself.

Justin is just one of the top quarterbacks coming into the NFL draft Draft, candidates such as Kellen Mond and Trevor Lawrence. This draft is exploding with talent at the quarterback position giving them options to choose fro if this season continues to go as planned.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nfl-draft-makeover-could-vikings-replace-kirk-cousins-with-ohio-states-star-qb-210910970.html

Professor Ross

10/14/20

There are 2 different lobbies in the plex one at the top of the hill and one at the bottom. Sitting in the bottom lobby room in the plex there are a lot of loud sounds,Nasty smells, and cooler air than the rest of the dorm filled with people watching tv. The front door of the lobby is constantly opened as the breeze from the 16 mph wind sneaks in slamming the door . The furniture in the building is fairly old, but when it was hot outside the room felt better than our own rooms, for the fact that the lobby had air conditioning. Top corners of the lobby are filled with spider webs as well as the back of the door with a small amount of dust which is probably why I keep sneezing repeatedly. 

Normally this room is occupied in the morning by 1 or 2 different sleepers on the couch when I walk to class. The room started off the semester clean until people decided to make it the hangout spot,   and made it some sort of a living area. The cheeto bag on the floor and the water bottles on the table gives a sign that they do not clean up after themselves when they leave. 

Jamal , Steve and I are currently watching the nail biting Coastal Carolina vs Louisiana University game which ended 30-27. We began talking about how different colleges that are higher ranked programs are losing more games than any other year.

October 1, 2020

Prof Fuslang

College Athletics is the next step up from just playing highschool sports. With the importance of the sport coming with more time and emphasis, being a student-athlete can be difficult with the aspect of more workloads and responsibility than high school. The ultimate shift of college from highschool is that when you attend a university/college you are supposed to arrive at meetings when you have weight lifting times, while also having to receive treatment before practice. 

I asked a good friend of mine Jamal Jones, who also plays football “how is the transition between high school and college?

 “Jamal said “Yes, in college it’s harder to manage time because it’s a lot more to do while making your own schedule to see how everything plays out.”

With Jamal being a Sophomore in college he had gotten past his freshman year with not as much of a workload but still managed to get by. The season in play makes things twice as hard with time management and school. I also asked Jamal “how do you plan to manage time.?” 

He says “ I discipline myself to finish one thing to start on another in between time to make sure I have time to get everything finished.” 

Being a student that does not play sports or have an extracurricular activity can be easier as far as just managing time on a daily basis to get your work done. Playing sports while going to school isn’t an excuse to not get your work done. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), student-athletes spend anywhere between 30-40 hours toward their athletic endeavors. That equates to a full-time job! In addition to these hours, students are still expected to maintain a decent GPA.” 

There are plenty of ways to push through the obstacles by staying organized and attempting to stay on top of studying so you don’t fall behind.

After having  a conversation a freshman that goes to Morningside College named Colton Dreith. I asked him “what helps him best while he’s in college with keeping up with assignments?” His response was that “I keep a planner and write everything down that I need to do for certain classes. “

Moodle is a big help in staying organized, while I try to stay to adjust to the college life. For the college students that do have trouble with time management the best things to do for example is “completing assignments in chronological order, Write down in a planner , and don’t forget to keep a consistent sleep schedule.”(2020 & Mitchell, 2020). Find what’s comfortable for you in order to succeed while being a student athlete, and run with the success that is given from your way. 

2020, K., & Mitchell, K. (2020, October 07). 7 Time Management Tips for Student Athletes.

Admin. (2019, July 03). Why Time Management Skills are Important for College Athletes.