News Comment 10

In this article Claudio Reyna talks about one of the reasons why the US soccer team is failing. He says that the problem is the ego and arrogance surrounding the coaches and players, they have no respect for international players and styles of playing. He compares the US players and coaches and attitudes to that of international coaches and players.

The article uses a good lede and throwaway lede to tell you what the article is about and why this is a relevant topic. The article uses many quotes by Claudio as its about what he said. The organization of the article is good however there are still some paragraphs towards the top that I would deem not very important, however it still makes sense for them to be where they are.

 

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/story/3233905/claudio-reyna-slams-united-states-soccer-were-far-too-arrogant

Science Scavenger Hunt

Ever since farmers first strapped and hammered wooden crates onto their Model-Ts in the early 1900s trucks have evolved and have become huge, strong, and conquering beasts that fill the highways, garages, and driveways across America.

Three top selling automobiles on the best-sellers lists are pickups, and 3 of every 5 automobiles sold is a pickup. The image of a pickup truck is becoming synonymous with American toughness and  strength. Americans also like the feeling of a pickup, it sits higher and has a more comfortable steering position.

Throughout the decades the pickup has changed a lot. Back in 1925 people would have to take out the back half of their car and replace it with open topped wooden baskets. After World War 2 in 1946 trucks began to receive four wheel drive, which increased their payloads and made them able to traverse tough ground. Now today they have replaced the steel inside the pickups with aluminum, and in 2019 there are plans to replace the aluminum with composite.

 

Article #2 Final

Coach Steve Ryan is aware of the football protests occurring across the country.

Coach Ryan is the head football coach at Morningside College, and when asked about what he would do if a player on his team did decide to protest he responded, “I would talk to them about it and why they feel the need to protest and make a statement, I would want as a member of the team to know why you feel you need to make the statement.”

His team is currently in the locker room for the anthem, not giving his players a chance to protest. He stated “that is more of a timing situation” and if the team came to him wanting to be out there for the anthem he is willing to allow them to be out there.

The handbook says ‘The involvement of student-athletes in any incidents which may bring dishonor to them will also dishonor their team and Morningside College. Such involvement is unacceptable and will not be tolerated’ applies to this situation he responded “I don’t believe that is the intent of the phrase, however it is broad enough that it can be applied in the situation. However I think it does go back to the mentality of being in third grade and standing for the pledge of allegiance.”

He also said that he did have a meeting with his players before the year began that included a talk about possible protests. He couldn’t comment on what was said in the meeting.

While there have been protests around the area, most recently Buena Vista University, he said that he doesn’t believe protesting will be an issue for the team. He said part of growing up is questioning why you do certain things and that sometimes leads to protesting.

He also has said that if a player approached him before a game saying they would like to go out and protest he would not allow them to do so on a spur of the moment decision, however if the team as a whole wanted to be out for the national anthem he would allow that.

News Comment Week 8

This article is about the United States Men’s National Soccer Team not making the World Cup after losing to Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 including the United States giving up an own goal. It asks questions about what happened and what will happen next; such as how this will affect a world cup bid, how it affects the US financially, whether this is surprising, and the thoughts of the old coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The lede to this story is fairly poor, however it does grab a persons attention. The lede is “it is bad” it doesn’t give any information on the article, unless you know the background. This article is also very informative on a different view of the situation than everything else coming out about the game right now. It also is very good at asking a question and answering it without a lot of extra unneeded information.

 

http://www.espnfc.us/team/united-states/660/blog/post/3227697/as-the-usa-deals-with-world-cup-failure-questions-abound-regarding-the-future

Article #2 First Draft

Coach Steve Ryan is not unaware of the football protests occurring across the country.

Coach Ryan is the head football coach at Morningside College, and when asked about what he would do if a player on his team did decide to protest he responded “I would talk to them about it and why they feel the need to protest and make a statement, I would want as a member of the team to know why you feel you need to make the statement.” His team is currently in the locker room for the anthem not giving his players a chance to protest. He stated “that is more of a timing situation” and if the team came to him wanting to be out there for the anthem he is willing to allow them to be out there.

When asked about whether the student-athlete handbook asked about whether the phrase ‘The involvement of student-athletes in any incidents which may bring dishonor to them will also dishonor their team and Morningside College. Such involvement is unacceptable and will not be tolerated’ applies to this situation he responded “I don’t believe that is the intent of the phrase, however it is broad enough that it can be applied in the situation. However I think it does go back to the mentality of being in third grade and standing for the pledge of allegiance.” He also said that he did have a meeting with his players before the year began that included a talk about possible protests, he couldn’t comment on what was said in the meeting but he does feel that he doesn’t have to worry about his players protesting this year.

While there are schools around the area, most recently Buena Vista, he said that he doesn’t believe that protesting will be an issue for the team. He said part of growing up is questioning why you do certain things and that sometimes leads to protesting. He also has said that if a player approached him before a game saying they would like to go out and protest he would not allow them to do so on a spur of the moment decision, however if the team as a whole wanted to be out for the national anthem he would allow that.

News Comment Week 7

Following the Las Vegas Massacre there is a lot of calls for gun control. After decades of fighting between the Republican Party and Democrat Party they have come to some agreement. There is a ban being put into place on bump stocks. These stocks are used to turn semi automatic rifles into automatic rifles. Prior to this new legislation there was a ban on using bump stocks but not buying/owning one, this was considered a workaround and is being stopped by this legislation.

There is a clear difference between the nytimes.com article and the CNN video. The video is very general and doesn’t go into much depth. It talks about what lead up to the decision and interviews a senator who co-sponsored the bill. The article however describes what the bump stock is and how it works, why its legal, what the legislature says, and how it changes what the current laws.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/05/politics/nra-bump-stock/index.html

Observation Exercise

I observed US Bank Stadium this weekend. This is where the Minnesota Vikings play their home games, it was built just last year and is a state of the art facility. When we arrived it was a dreary day, it had been sprinkling all day, only split by some harder rain. There were long lines and large crowds when we arrived, all were shuffling at a reasonable pace. There was a definite buzz around the stadium of excitement and anticipation. Once in the stadium there were chants arising and there was a smell of beer and food.

As the game was about to start the buzz started to pick up even more and there were many loud and thunderous chants starting. There also was a noticeable amount of people under the influence of alcohol. Throughout the game the buzz and energy were definitely slowly diminishing, in particular you can point out 3 very noticeable spots where the buzz left the air. These spots were when Dalvin Cook got injured, the lions scored their first and only touchdown of the day, and after the Vikings failed to convert on a 4th and goal. In the end the Vikings ended up losing and the fans were noticeably upset by this fact.

After the game many of the fans just sat in their seats for a few minutes after the game as it was a shocking end when Adam Thielin fumbled the ball on the games last chance for the Vikings. The fans were shocked and confused, and just sat there for a while, processing what they just saw. While leaving the game almost everyone walked up discouraged and/or disgruntled. Some people were trying to start fights with the lions fans who were extatic, some people walked with a hustle to try and leave faster, while some just shuffled along and other were stumbling from being drunk.

Alex Watters Interview

What has Morningside College done in the last 10 years for handicapped students? Alex Watters has said they made progress but they also have lost some. Alex Watters is a first year advisor for students at Morningside College, and was once a student here. He also happens to be paralyzed with limited ability in his hands and control over his legs.

Alex said in his first semester here there were 2 places on campus that were wheelchair friendly, which was first floor of Roadman Hall, where he lived, and Olsen Student Center where they put in a ramp for a handicapped entrance. Since then they have made many more buildings easier to access for the handicapped, however there are still some challenges surrounding the campus for wheelchair bound students and faculty.

One such obstacle is that Lewis Hall is not wheelchair accessible. Lewis Hall hosts the admissions department, office of the registrar, business office, and where President Reinders’ has his office. One thing that he does praise Morningside College for is that everyone is always willing to be accommodating, however he still says that just because they are accommodating it is not about them being accommodating, but the students feeling included and not a hinderance.

News Comment Week 6

This article talks about how multiple NCAA basketball coaches are being arrested and/or investigated for fraud and corruption. This is big news because some of these coaches are bi name coaches, people like Rick Pitino who is the only coach in NCAA history to win a championship with 2 different programs (Update since this article, is that he has been fired in connection with these charges). What these coaches did exactly to get these charges is that they would influence players to sign with certain shoe companies for endorsements, and to sign with certain agents or agencies to manage them in their playing career.

This article is really intriguing to me because the lede which is “our assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Southern California were charged Tuesday morning in a federal corruption investigation, and that might be only the tip of the iceberg in a three-year FBI probe that focused on coaches being paid tens of thousands of dollars to steer NBA-bound players toward sports agents, financial advisers and apparel companies.” really compels me to read more. It also has really good questions toward the bottom of the article where they were talking to a spokesman for the FBI and NCAA about the scandal.

 

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/20824193/ncaa-basketball-coaches-10-charged-fraud-corruption