Tag: sports

Journalism Competition!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Last Friday, 8 out of 10 students from our journalism class went to Cal Lutheran University (where I’m going to college!!!) to attend the TCJEA event which is a very competitive and large journalism competition. There were 15 schools at the event in total and we were the smallest school there hands down. Many other schools had around 20 or even 30 writers with them to compete in all different categories. It was intimidating, yes, but the experience was so awesome that it hardly mattered how small our group was.

We had writers enter almost every category available, including photography, sports writing, feature writing, news writing, and editorial writing. I was in the feature category, and we had such an interesting speaker named Cyrus Nowrasteh wrote and produced a many films including a mini-series titled “The Path to 9/11”. We listened to his story about the controversy over his series and the attempted sabotage of his career by people trying to cover up their mistakes. Then, we had about an hour to write an article on him and submit to be scored against all other works in that category.

Now, Mr. Alvarez is the best journalism teacher I could ever ask for. He has taught me so much – I was a terrible writer when I first stepped into his classroom. Regardless of his immense encouragement and preparation, I was still not confident that I could compete with others in programs much bigger and more well-known than our little “On The Hill” paper. But I was sure that we were a small but mighty force and had a great change of winning awards.

There were so many awards handed out. Each category had 1st through 3rd places and 2 honorable mentions. There were also awards for online newspapers, print newspapers, and overall best team called “sweepstakes”.

In the feature category, there were over 30 students that wrote an article for submission. My fellow feature writer Emmy Addison took a 2nd place in the feature category, and I received an honorable mention! I couldn’t believe it. I was recognized as a top 5 writer in my category. I was ecstatic. Another writer Jack Marcus also received 2nd place in the news writing category. Our online publication of the newspaper took 4th place overall, with is astounding considering it had only been officially up and running for less than a month. Overall in the competition, we placed 4th, receiving an honorable mention in the sweepstakes category.

It is just amazing to me how such a small group of students was able to go to that competition and practically dominate. We really proved to the other schools that even though we may not seem like much, we have an amazing, dedicated, and hardworking group of writers. I am so proud to be a part of this team, and the event was more amazing than I could have imagined. Congrats, journalism class!

Athletes Vs. Technicalities

frog3Leave a comment

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Sports were not always so complicated. Sports use to be simple, the best man/woman would win. Now-a-days virtually every sport is bogged down with rules and technicalities.

Just several weeks ago a technicality “controversy” made headlines. a female golfer by the name of  Caroline Inglis lost a title. The reason for losing her title, failing to fill out her scorecard correctly. She wrote a 68 on her card instead of the correct score of 69. Although she would have won without altering her score she was disqualified and forfeited the championship.

I find this extremely unfair to the athletes. An athlete should win if they are the best not lose because of arbitrary rules.
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The Importance of Competition

therightliberalLeave a comment

It is often said that I am too competitive, and this may very well be the case. However, I make the argument, time and time again, about the importance of competition.

You see, competition is what drives us to greatness. Intrinsic motivation, though powerful, hardly ever has the motivating power of external motivation. This is evolutionary, and has served us well.

Think of all the great thing that have come about due to competition; space travel, new building techniques and all the technology that has come from war.

Competition fuels us, pushing us to work harder and faster. This is how we advance, how we build.

Many people think of competition only regarding sporting events and such, but I know that I am personally motivated by competition in the classroom. I want to be the best in whatever I do.

And there is the key: being the best.

I feel that too many people do not push themselves, they simply sit back and let the world push them around.

I know this is inevitable, that some people will be more motivated by others. Yet I also feel that we have culturally shifted to allow for many more people to act passively while a smaller group controls them.

This “movement” may very well have to do why things are changing so quickly with things like the Occupy Movement and such.

So lets stand up and get motivated, because winning is just so fun.

Lacrosse

rangerthecat1 Comment

Out of my 4 years at the Ojai Valley School, I have played lacrosse for 3. At first, it wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but it has grown on me and I have truly began to love it.

I’m not an extremely athletic person, and when I first played lacrosse, it was hard for me to keep up with some of the drills and especially hard for me to play a game without becoming exhausted. But I started to love the game and build my skills. It became so much fun for me, and when it ended, I was already looking ahead and couldn’t wait for next year’s season.

The next year, unfortunately, we didn’t have enough girls to make a team. It was really upsetting at first, but we still practiced as a team and scrimmaged against each other, which gave me an opportunity to improve my skills a lot, along with some of my other team mates. I thought it would be a great way to really prepare myself for this year’s season.

But of course, as it always seems to happen, another issue arose, and after weeks of practices, followed by a small complication in numbers, we were unable to have a lacrosse team again this year. It really puts me off to know we physically had the number of girls that we needed, and that we had already scheduled all of our games with other schools.

I was extremely excited the first day of practice, knowing it was my senior year and that the team could really make this year a good one for the ladies lacrosse. We had a bunch of new players along with some returning, experienced players that would really be able to lead the team. As captain, I was determined to teach the girls to love the game like I once learned to. By the 2nd week, a lot of them were improving a great amount and I could tell that they were really enjoying themselves out there on the field.

There’s nothing that we can do to revive our team now. All of our games have been cancelled, and since it has, we have broken up as a team and filtered into other sports commitments. It really disappoints me to know that we could have had a really solid team and been tough competition if we had practiced hard and kept the team together. But unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to have to finish out my senior year on weak note, all of my effort for lacrosse being wasted away. That’s just life, I guess, but I really do wish there was something I could do to change this reality.

So long, lacrosse. It’s been a blast while it’s lasted.

BMX

r3t5nom1 Comment

I will never be able to understand fully how these athletes are able to do the things they do on a bicycle. While watching videos of BMX riders I learned that they possess key elements that allow them to do the things they do. They have balance:

They can fly:

They can flip:

And they can fall:

Fall really hard:

So in conclusion I think that this is a tough sport to be a part of and for those who are involved in it I salute you.

I love watching the crazy things that these guys can do on a bike, it simply amazes me every single time. I wish that I was as good as these guys and girls at a sport.

What Tim Tebow and the GOP Candidates Have in Common

therightliberal6 Comments

The reason I first made this connection is because I hate both of them. Let me start out explaining why I hate Tebow because I think people know why I hate the GOP Candidates.

Tim Tebow is a great athlete, there is no hiding from that. And like many athletes, Tim Tebow is religious. But what makes Tebow stand out is his proselytizing that he constantly does.

From his Super Bowl anti-abortion commercial to his constant kneeling, Tebow makes it his goal for everyone to know that he loves God.  It is so obnoxious for him to constantly thank God and Jesus for his successes. He can thank them in his head, he doesn’t need to say it out loud.

Yes, I am both an atheist and a liberal so I am predisposed to dislike these characters. But there are many Christians who hate Tebow and just as many republicans that can’t stand their candidates.

So what do these two have in common besides me hating them? They both are putting on a show.

I’m sure Tebow loves god but he wants the attention for his devotion. The GOP candidates (mainly Romney) are making it seem like they have beliefs far more radical than in actuality, just to gain votes.

Now I realize that in our society we have a tendency to act differently to impress others, it’s part of our nature.

But it is stupid that so many people fall for the obvious ploys of these actors. I guess the reason I hate both of them is because they make me realize how ignorant many of my fellow Americans are.

It disgusts me that so many people listen to words without thinking about the meaning behind them. TIM TEBOW WANTS TO CONVERT YOU! THAT IS HIS GOAL! THE GOP WANTS YOUR VOTES!

Do not believe they are good and righteous people just because they tell you they are. Listen to me, I am the Pope. See what I did there? (I’m not the Pope).

Stop being gullible and ignorant. Stop living up to the stereotypes that the rest of the world make about us. Be smart.

Unfit Not Lazy

Yourcupatea2 Comments

lazy

Being unfit should be some sort of disorder. Being unfit is not being lazy, it’s just not being capable of doing much exercise. Yes I admit I struggle sufficiently when doing a lot of exercise. This is not because I struggle to walk from the grocery store to my car or because I struggle to even step in the shower. It is because I struggle when doing sports.

This sounds stupid for someone who is so young but I admit I am extremely unfit. I’ve always done exercise and kept moving but still, I sometimes experience slight asthmatic symptoms when walking up to the cafeteria and in situations alike.

My Dad likes to comment that I never do exercise and that I’m extremely lazy. This is because evenings for me consist of food, homework, shower and bed at best. I literally have no time to myself and once my workday is done it is time to rest. I am not fat or lazy and, although others may like to argue differently, I do my best to exercise.

Being unfit just comes to some as a second nature; I guess it’s just one of my bad traits. The best I can do is to try my best to scare it off and if not work against it because after all you can’t let anything hold you back.

Trying Something New

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Stepping out of my comfort zone is not an easy thing for me to do.
Generally, I don’t like to try new things, especially if I have to commit to them for a long time.

To be honest, I’m afraid of being bad at things that I try.

But this year, I promised myself that I would take new and appealing opportunities that came my way.

So, on a whim, I decided to join the soccer team.

It’s funny when I think about it, it really is. I am sort of clumsy, and I am the slowest runner you will ever meet. I also have no stamina what so ever. I knew I would end up making a fool of myself, but then I decided I didn’t care one bit if I did or not. I mean, how bad could I be?

The answer is, not too bad actually. Although I am very slow and have never played a day in my life before, it turns out I don’t suck as much as I thought I would. I was the manager/helper in past years of soccer, so I already know most of the rules and how the games work.

I know it’s not going to be easy by any means, but I’m so excited for this season. And honestly, I just wish I had joined sooner. Our first game is the week we get back from Thanksgiving break, and I can’t wait!

GO SPUDS! 🙂

Red Neck Sunday Activities

bedghost1 Comment

Redneck culture has become fascinating over the years.
Redneck
Rednecks over the years have evolved and adapted in these new technological times and have made advances as a culture. They sometimes take the weird and converted to something weirder. It’s an ability that makes their culture so unique and wonderfully funny to watch. seems now they can turn anything into F.U.N time.
(mature language may be heard in the following videos)


Who needs fancy Yachts.

0:52 Looked like it Hurt.

I personally love watching these interesting fellas in their native environment.

What is a team?

rangerthecatLeave a comment

As I stood in silence, holding the ball waiting for the whistle to be blown so I could serve the ball, I had a thought. Or , I guess you could say I had a question.

What is a team?

The dictionary definition of “team” is: A group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport.

Of course, I already knew that; but being on a team is much more than just being a group. My idea of a team is being unified, supporting each other, and trying your hardest for the benefit of those around you.

That is what I think of when I think of being a team.

A team captain‘s job – my job – is to make sure than each player is doing just that; making an effort to be unified, support others, and try their hardest.

When these things do not happen, I have no option but to accept the reality, move on, and try to do a better job next time so we act as a real team.

Even though we had a few setbacks within the team aspect of things, I’ve never been more proud to be with that group of girls out there on the court at Orcutt Middle School‘s gymnasium, battling the Orcutt High School Spartans.

Although they had much higher skill levels than us, each true team member put their heart into the game and it was the best we have every played as a team.

Even though we were not victorious, the varsity volleyball girls really learned how to be a team that day, which is all I could have asked for.