Newspaper Portfolio 2016 Sam Munsey 6th Period
Article One The University Titans basketball team lost 52-40 after taking on the Seminole Seminoles on Saturday night at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. It was a valiant effort by the Titans, who kept the game close all the way until the end, and managed to climb back within three points at the beginning of the fourth after being down by as much as 12 points earlier on in the contest. Despite the result, many of the University players were happy that the got the once in a lifetime chance to play in an NBA arena, specifically the Amway Center as many of them are fans of the Orlando Magic “It was an incredible opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream and play in the Amway Center, the place I have watched my favorite team play for years,” Senior Hawk Noga, a lifelong Magic fan, said. Noga led the Titans throughout the game with an outstanding performance, scoring 18 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and swatting three blocks for the Orange and White. It came about thanks to teacher Pamela Robinson, who made contact with the Magic association about playing a game in the Amway Center. The two sides worked together for nearly two and a half years to get a game together, according to head coach Octavia Jones. “I will remember how the guys walked in to the locker room for the first time and how excited they were, and seeing them walk on to the court before the game,” Jones said. Titans basketball fans were also very happy to see the team play in the Amway Center. Many of the Titans fans are Magic fans as well and it was fun for them to get to see their friends and classmates compete in the world renowned arena.
Review I chose the article about boys basketball playing at the Amway Center because I was able to go deeper in to this game, specifically the background of the game and how it came together, more than any other game all year. I was able to talk about how Hawk Noga, a senior and one of the team’s best players, was getting to live his dream by playing in this game, as well as how the game was set up by University administration and coaches. I believe the article showed importance because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the players, coaches and fans to be involved in a game of this magnitude. One thing I could have worked on in this article is adding more of the game story to the back story and going in depth in to what happened of the court during the game. I only mention Noga’s stats briefly and explain the game’s flow in one short paragraph instead of mentioning specific plays throughout the game.
Article Two Despite a hard fought attempt at a comeback in the late innings, the University Titans JV baseball team lost to the New Smyrna Beach Cudas 6-4 on Wednesday, February 17. After falling behind the Cudas early, the University boys attempted to get going in the 5th inning, but it was too little too late for the home team. The Titans were led on the mound by sophomore Timothy Reahl, who threw the first four innings for the Orange and White in his first home game as a Titan. Reagan had a great game, giving up only three runs. “It felt great to play at our field for the first time, I was little nervous at first but once the game started the nerves went away and I started to focus on playing a good game,” Reahl said. University looked to capture the momentum it had after winning both its games against Flagler Palm Coast on Saturday morning. However, the Titans ran in to some tough luck with sophomore pitchers Matthew Kashmere and Jimmy Montgomery being unable to play due to early season arm injuries. “It was tough to go down this early in the season but I should be back soon and I can’t wait to be back out there with my teammates,” Kashmere said. The Titans move on next week and look forward to a Monday matchup against Deltona on the road and then Lyman at home on Saturday the 27th. Despite the injuries and the struggles in their matchup with New Smyrna Beach, the team looks to recover in strong fashion in the next week. “I think the JV team will perform well this year and I can’t wait to see what comes of their season,” varsity second baseman Jackson Roberts said.
Review In this article, I am proud of how I am able to take this article and relate it back to the season as a whole and catch people up who may not have been paying attention to the JV baseball team.I went in to extra detail to explain how the team was already battling through injuries despite it being early in the season. This article helped bring importance to the JV baseball team, as they sometimes get overshadowed by the varsity team. I feel that by giving them the spotlight in this piece, it helps to bring more awareness to the team. One thing I could have improved upon in this article, however, is the picture, which is lacking in quality and zoomed too far out from the players. Next time, I will put a greater importance in to getting an action shot of the players and coaches or getting a better team picture where it is easier to identify individuals.
Article three The University Titans managed a close win in their homecoming game over the Oviedo Lions on Friday, October 9th, winning by a score of 21-14. Senior Qua Brown dominated the game for the Titans with a total of four interceptions for the UHS defense, even scoring a touchdown for the Titans on one of his interceptions. Cody Braden, Lorenzo Lingard and Quinell Rutledge led a balanced offensive attack from the Titans, who improved to 6-1 on the season with the much needed district win. After a both teams had a rough start in the early part of the first quarter, University broke through with a touchdown at the end of the quarter, making it 7-0. In the second quarter, Brown cashed his ticket to the endzone, making it 14-0 for the Orange and White. However, Oviedo managed a late touchdown to make the score 14-7 headed in to the half. In the third quarter, the UHS offense struggled at times to move the ball and the Lions of Oviedo added another touchdown to tie the game up headed in to a much anticipated 4th quarter. In the 4th quarter, after a couple of huge stops from a Titan defense, having been solid all night, University took a 21-14 lead with less than 5 minutes left in the game thanks to a run game that is amongst the best in the area. After two more late stops, University scored a huge homecoming win against Oviedo, making it the second year in a row the Titans have brought home a Homecoming victory. “It was really exciting for us to get this win when we are finally playing in front of a home crowd,” said junior wide receiver Ryan Kenis. The homecoming game was the only home game of the year for the “Traveling Titans”, who take on Winter Springs, Lake Mary, and Lincoln (Tallahassee) in their last three games.
Review What I am most proud of in this article is how I was able to combine many different themes of the game together in to one article. Throughout the article, I managed to explain the importance of the homecoming game, the fact that it was the team’s only home game, as well as talk through the actual game itself. This article showed importance as it was not only a normal football game, but a major piece of homecoming week and a football game that many UHS students attended. I would add a couple of pieces to the article as well as lengthen it since it looks to only be between 300-350 words. A game of this magnitude and importance could have probably used more words. I also would have gotten more student interviews about their experience at the game as well as put more in there about the home crowd and the student section’s noise throughout the course of the game.
Essay (Part 1) As I write this essay, I am living in a world of multitasking and distractions. While typing, I am listening to music on YouTube, a website and app I waste many minutes and hours on throughout the day, and I have my phone right next to me waiting for the next text message to respond to or next tweet to pop up on my timeline. In a world that not only has 24 hour news, but also has Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat available all day everyday, it can be easy to fall behind and miss the news, sports and drama that everyone is talking about the next day. The effects from this constant state of being “plugged in� to your phone, tablet or other devices can be devastating on a societal level as well as a personal level. One major effect of technology on this generation is the one that older generations tend to give as the reason that they do not use or do not believe in the same technologies that younger generations do: younger generations are beginning to lose their in person social skills. USA Today recently cited a study stating that one in four people spend more time socializing online and on social media than in person, a study which includes not only the younger generation, but older generations as well. Many kids in the younger generation will spend hours upon hours texting or snapping through their phones, but will not talk to each other when they see each other in person. But my question to our generation is what is really gained by investing so much time in to a person, only to never see them in person or never speak to them when you get the chance? Why sit behind a computer or phone screen and complain about not having any friends on social media when in reality you have many people who would like to be your friends if you would talk to them in person?
Essay (Part 2) To add on to the social effects, this rise of technology is increasingly having a larger effect on the processes of the brain. According to research by the Huffington Post, the increase in the use of technology can lead to an increase in stress and fatigue, which if drastic enough can even lead to health problems through the immune system. This is mostly caused by multitasking, and these days that can mean not just doing two, but three or even four or more things at a time. The constant multitasking over the course of the day can be overbearing, and to be honest most of the time there is simply no need for it. When time is managed properly and priorities are set in life, people should be able to get what they need to done in a day without placing the burden of multitasking over themselves constantly. If you have three hours to get homework done and watch your favorite Netflix shows, wouldn’t it make sense to get that homework done in the first hour with no distractions and then have two free hours then trying to do both and struggling to focus on either one throughout the whole three hour period? Yet due to the burden felt by some kids to stay connected and always be using technology (something I am guilty of as well), many waste hours of their time doing meaningless things online instead of going out and making themselves and society better.
Essay (Part 3) With this increase in time sitting down on the phone, tablet, computer or watching TV comes less physical activity, leading to a massive increase in obesity in this generation. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that America’s youth spend a whopping seven hours in front of a screen on a daily basis, and when you add that to the time a child spends learning at school on a daily basis, it becomes very tough for the kid to get a consistent amount of physical activity. Instead of going out and playing sports or games, the children of this generation are alright with (or would prefer to) play these sports on their phones, wasting hours upon hours playing games that do nothing to help their real life situation and provide no sense of physical activity or exercise whatsoever. The rise of video games is also having a major role in lack of physical activity amongst the younger generation. A multi-billion dollar industry, video games can take up hours of time daily as many children have grown their love of video games in to addictions.
Essay (Part 4) In the end, the effects of technology on America’s future through its younger generations is massive and potentially devastating to the physical, social and mental aspects of our lives. As children start to rely more on technology to make their life better and easier, it will one day do the opposite for them, especially the many who will suffer through obesity or increased stress levels due to these very technologies. The advantages will likely lie with children who can think using their own brain and not process information like many information filled zombies who will only be able to see an event through its hashtag on Twitter, and whose mind works like a search engine. Common sense has been thrown out the window within the minds of the youngest generation, and even though a phone or laptop can be a great tool for problem solving, Siri might not always be there to change your tire when you’ve broken down or even tie your tie on properly for a big business meeting. So really, I have been on the wrong side the whole time. Maybe the endless Twitter drama or the latest pop culture news isn’t worth losing piece of mind when it comes to your future. Maybe checking my phone every five minutes won’t help me to be more socially interactive with my friends. Maybe it has all been in front of me the whole time, I just never took my head out of that phone long enough to see it.