Final Blog Post

This Friday, May 22, your Norton High Lancers Tennis Boys faced off against the Hopkinton Hillers. In this inner Tri Valley League match the Lancers received another loss at the hands of the Hillers losing 0-5 in the match. After being outplayed and over-matched the Lancers fell to 2-15 on the year as a whole. Although, the Lancers had little to celebrate in the match; they were celebrating their senior night.

Coming into the match the Lancers were over-powered as they met early resulting in an 1-4 loss in Hopkinton. The Hopkinton Hillers have had a very successful season when compared to the Lancers. Norton coach Katelyn Green stressed the importance of "setting small goals" in hopes to improve the play heading into this almost David vs Goliath match. Last match senior captain Brandon Jenkins battled Ryan Mastroieni in an epic 3 set victory in becoming the Lancers only victor of the day. Friday's match would prove to be much different as everyone received losses across the board. Norton High's No.2 doubles team battled in a close first set, but unable to pull through lost 6-7.First Alternate Liam Lenhart moving up and playing at No.3 singles on the day was able pull away with 5 games against Luke Whitehouse of the Hopkiton Hillers. 

Hopkinton 5, Norton 0: Ryan Mastroieni (H) def. Brandon Jenkins 6-0, 6-2; Chris Mastroieni (H) def. Alex Belinsky 6-0, 6-1; Luke Whitehouse (H) de.f. Liam Lenhart 6-1, 6-4; Andrew Xu-John Healiff (H) def. Robbie Douglas-Sean Murphy 6-1, 6-1; Will Nadeau-Chris Stattlefield (H) def. Derek Kalnicki-John Munger 7-6, 6-0.

The Lancers have had a rough season, but were hoping their home-court advantage would be enough to rally the troops to a victory. As, the Lancers did receive an extra audience for senior night including some of their fellow Norton High students shown here. The Lancers are saying good bye to eight senior players this season, and even went with an all senior lineup against Hopkinton. As the future of Norton Tennis remains in question with the amount of graduating seniors and lack of participation. The Lancers did seem to show a lack of hope knowing that they were heading up against a better and more experienced opponent. 

Even though the Lancers fell to the Hillers in an 0-5 defeat they showed heart as they hustled on the courts. The Lancers were outmatched and lacked in experience compared to the Hillers, but they were able to compete with their hustle on every point. Although there was celebration due to senior night, most of the lancers fought hard to give the crowd something to cheer about. As Liam Lenhart was quoted, "It was a bar fight out there, we had to fight our tails off for every point." The loss didn't stick well for Liam or any of his teammates, but he was quoted "we fought hard out their, and that's what makes us champions at heart." Seniors Sean Murphy and Robbie Douglas experienced a tough 1-6 1-6 loss. There was some disputes in the tough loss as Sean Murphy claimed he could've won the match all by himself.  The Lancers played their game and played well, but still did not have enough to beat the Hillers. Some of the results were disappointing, but moving forward they hope to improve. 

The Hopkinton Hillers played one of their best matches all year with great serve and volley play. The Hillers were able to take advantages of positioning by the lancers with excellent volleys. The general power of their serves helped them get an advantage over their opponent along with superb net play. The winners and aces that accumulated were too much to overcome and help lead the Hillers to a season sweep off the Lancers. 

Norton Tennis player Brandon Jenkins hopes to keep his tournament hopes alive as he currently sits with a 8-9 record just needing one victory to qualify for the tournament. After earlier defeating Ryan Mastroieni there was hope that he would clinch tournament berth Friday. However, with a disappointing match he fell 0-6 2-6 to Mastroieni, Jenkins faces one more opportunity to clinch berth at Ashland. Jenkins feels confident he can as unlike the Hopkinton match earlier in the year he was able to defeat Ashland's No.1 singles player, Dan Kamerin, in two quick sets. 

The Lancers are concluding their season Tuesday May 26th with an away match against the Ashland Clockers. This match is a focus point for the Lancers as they almost pulled away with a victory against them earlier in the season. 

Sean Murphy talks Tennis

Blog Post #9

Deflate-gate is a rising conflict coming up recently in the NFL involving the New England Patriots. The problem is that eleven of the twelve Patriots footballs that they supplied were below the regulated 12.5 psi requirement and for most footballs under by only a notch. The incident occurred during the AFC Conference Championship Game where the New England Patriots routed the Indianapolis Colts 45-7. The deflation of footballs is only a very minimal advantage if even an advantage. The supposed advantages are widely exaggerated and made-up. There is but only circumstantial evidence that links quarterback Thomas Patrick Brady to the deflation of footballs. The evidence presented that accuses Brady would not stand up in the court of law and is been compared to a witch hunt.

Ted Wells compiled a 243 page report accusing Tom Brady of being guilty of knowing about the deflation of footballs. The report was very faulty in logic as it demands for a brash penalty against the Patriots when there is only circumstantial evidence. Most of the evidence can be turned around and is not hard concrete evidence. The report already has bias as Ted Wells has already been known to have a dislike towards quarterback Tom Brady. After a recent interview, Ted Wells exploded in an outrage due to the fact that many people were questioning the legitimacy of the report. I believe this evidence is not enough to come to the conclusion that Brady did do the crime; I am not saying Brady did not know about it if the deflation was on purpose I am only saying if the NFL is going to make a ruling on this matter they must have hard evidence clearly linking Brady and the Patriots to purposely deflating the footballs.

The NFL issued a four game suspension to Brady a one million dollar fine and the loss of two draft picks to the New England Patriots. Roger Goodell issued the ruling and now has named himself the unbiased arbitrator in the ruling of the appeal. I disagree with the severity of this ruling as I would not take away two draft picks and issue a four game suspension off of accusations and circumstantial evidence. The deflation of footballs is not even a serious issue and is much less than all the recent issues among the NFL. I believe the Dallas Cowboys should be under much more scrutiny right now as they have signed Greg Hardy recently convicted of child abuse, domestic violence, and has had a deep criminal history before. The Cowboys also signed L’ael Collins who is involved in an ongoing murder investigation and drafted Randy Gregory who fell in the draft due to his criminal record and off the field issues. The Cowboys are also one of the teams interested in Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson. The NFL ruling on Brady when in perspective to the way they are handling domestic violence is far more harsh.

If I was in charge, I would only issue a hefty fine as of now with the evidence collected. The investigation should keep going on and if there is concrete evidence than I would make a ruling of a suspension of Brady for 2 games and a loss of a 4th round draft pick. The problem aligns with the explanation provided by physics in the Ideal Gas Law which could offer an explanation given to why the balls were deflated due to weather condition. I would continue to review this situation and see how it progresses over time.

Blog Post #8

Summary:
The Short Game by Josh Greenbaum is a sports documentary that focuses on the 7 and 8 US Golf World Championship. The film focuses on eight particular diverse entrants and their development throughout the tournament. Allan Kournikova, Zama Nxasana, Kuang Yang, Alexa Pano, Jed Dy, Amari Avery, Sky Sudberry, and Augustin Valerie were the diverse group of golfers focused on this film. The film showed the importance that golf had in their lives as it gave them many life lessons like a determined demeanor. The film does raise many questions about these kids like, "Are these kids wasting their childhood?" "How does all this pressure affect these kids later in life?" The director uses many strategies to emphasize the gravitas of this tournament with music and montages. Their may be reason to believe that their is some bias present as this golf film is produced from a person who enjoys the game of golf.



Analysis:

The director used many strategies and tools to emphasize the significance of this tournament. Montages were used to show the excitement of the championship with upbeat music the viewer was captivated by the thrill. Pathos was used throughout the film as it showed these kids, like a typical 7 or 8 year old would, acting silly and naive. It was also heartbreaking to see Jed Dy, aka the Jedi Master who also suffered from autism, be knocked out of contention with the 10-stroke penalty. The film maker made the viewer emotionally attached to these kids and to see them being filled with despair really hurt, but the viewer was jovial when the kids were excited from their success.



Rhetorical Precis:
Josh Greenbaum's sports documentary, The Short Game (2012), he shows the exploitation that golf has on children in this tournament and displays valuable life lessons they learn. The narrator first introduces the eight entrants in this golf tournament. He then shows their play through the three-day tournament. His purpose is to show some of the best young golfers in the world and show the effects that competitive golf has on kids of such a young age. His audience is parents, children and fans of golf.

Blog Post #7

In Trevor Martin's, documentary $chooled--The Price of College Sports he exposes the NCAA of unjust treatment of their athletes. The author first depicts the electric college atmosphere with fast-motion and slow-motion clips to emphasize the atmosphere. The NCAA showed unjust treatment towards their athletes as they exploit them. The NCAA make billions of dollars in revenue off of these athletes, but refuses to compensate them. The author also used sympathy towards two individuals Devon Ramsay and Kent Waldrep which showed two cases of extreme injustice. His purpose was to sway the opinion of the public into making them for college athletes getting compensation. He seems to gave the young audience in my mind as he shows the nonsensical responses by the "old white dudes" who run everything. I believe what the NCAA did was wrong and they should compensate their athletes. Previously I had held the same opinion just because of the sheer numbers in the profit the NCAA is making.

The documentary $chooled--The Price of College Sports they make the argument as to why college athletes should get paid. The Schools are generating billions of dollars off these athletes. The NCAA has many strict rules which gives the athletes little to no rights. The athlete could break a violation with out even knowing and lose eligibility to play. This is shown when Devon Ramsay was "set up" by the NCAA and lost his eligibility. This example showed that many times the NCAA doesn't care about the case they just mark it as a violation so they can make a certain quota. This documentary limits bias as it covers both sides of the argument and disproves counterarguments. This documentary is very thorough in its argument as to why college athletes should receive compensation. The NCAA a nonprofit organization has exposed its athletes multiple times. Kent Waldrep a TCU running-back was another example of the injustice of the NCAA. Waldrep was paralyzed in freak play causing him to never walk again. TCU refused to pay his medical bills and dropped his scholarship. The documentary goes into detail of how the scandal was handled and how the made up term student-athlete came into play.

The Green Generation 
This documentary will depict the turn around of Norton High's Tennis team. After the first year coach Mr. Langmead coached the team to 2-16 season. The players bounded together to come to an agreement of a coaching change. After, the firing of Mr. Langmead the team was able to reel in Katelyn Green. The team already had the core pieces bound to make a deep run in the tournament, but the coaching was just not there before. With the new coach, the expectations for this season are at an all time high. When Katelyn Green was asked what she could bring to this team she was quoted, "I don't know anything about tennis." As you can see  the new coach has a lot to bring to the table and it looks to be all on the players to bring this team to success. This year the Tennis team is facing a championship or bust scenario.

Blog Post #6 Article Summary

                          Smart's Impact Not Lost on Celtics

               Rookie point guard Marcus Smart was the feature of this ESPN article written by Chris Forsberg. Fosberg was discussing the contribution Marcus Smart has been able to give to the Celtics. As the Celtics are making the push to the playoffs they're relying on rookie guard Marcus Smart more and more. Smart is a stingy defender who has recently increased his productivity on the offensive end. But how much does Brad Stevens trust Smart? Being put into the starting Stevens has shown that he trust his rookie point guard. Ready to make an immediate impact Smart has been a huge help and continues to be as the Celtics try to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Blog post #5 News Writing

Last Night, Norton's own Adam Winarz defeated Shooter McGavin  in the 2019 Pro Golf Tour Championship in the final hole. In a miraculous finish Adam Winarz was forced to putt the ball through the viewing tower to clinch  the championship and get the famous gold jacket.

Image of Shooter McGavin after the tournament clinching putt by Winarz

Adam Winarz was battling back from a large deficit and finally overcame it by finding his happy place. The championship became an instant classic as the underdog Adam Winarz was able to defeat the highly favored Shooter McGavin.

Adam Winarz was upset that the match had been that close. At hole 17 Winarz missed a putt dropping him to a triple bogey that round. He was seen yelling at his ball, "Why don't you just go HOME? That's your HOME! Are you too good for your HOME? ANSWER ME!"

                                                                             
        Shooter McGavin was quite upset with the loud rambunctious crowd following Winarz. As he was pleading the refs to quiet the crowd he even went so far as comparing it to a rock concert. He stated "Damn you people. This is golf. Not a rock concert."

At the end of the day Adam Winarz couldn't believe he had won the gold jacket forever cementing his legacy as a golf great. He was very blithe after the tournament and shouted "Anything Is Possible" This looks to be the start of a great golf career for Winarz. On the other end, it seems as if Shooter McGavin has cemented a legacy of his own for being a notorious "choke artist".

Sports Impact on our Culture

Professional sports bring down cultural and racial barriers. In sports there is no black and white; one is not based upon their religion or nationality. Players are only based on skill and character. Often times we see disputes between nationalities put aside with sports. Sports have a special way of bringing us together as people. Many times sports have impacted history, as Jackie Robinson broke down the race barrier in baseball which help transcend society and start a movement towards the end of segregation in America. 

  Sports still play a pivotal role in society today. As these sports team are representitve of their respective cities, with teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots representing the hard working class of their cities. Sports can rally a nation together as it puts all eyes on the Olympics and the World Cup. Sometimes there are miracles in sports that give us faith and hope in life. Such as the 1980 US olympic men's hockey team defeating the seemingly unbeatable Russian team. These miracles in sports do not happen often, but when they do it is something truly spectacular. 

Sports are especially important to our youth. The first thing they teach their youth about sports is sportsmanship. Sports teach children many valuable lessons such as respect, hard work, focus, modesty, and etc. Your teamates in sports are often times your closest friends. For a young kid it can be very hard making new friends and sports are a great way to do that. Kids grow up idolizing sport figures such as Tom Brady. In Brady's case it may be considered benficial as he is a nice guy and does charity work. However, there are some sports figures like A-Rod and Mike Tyson who can lead a kid to do the wrong choices. Sometimes we hold our athletes above the.law and condone very negative behaviors. This can lead.to.many problems.as kids who grow up idolizing these men may believe it is ok do break the law. Sports has many influences on our youth and our society.