The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

Archives for July 2011

NFL Finds Key to Open Lockout to Players and Fans

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“Damn” was the only word Brooklyn Technical High School junior, Nick Dibari, could think of when asked to explain the latest National Football League lockout in one word.

There was a possibility of no refunds for ticket holders and not being able to cheer on Sunday night football. Now that the lockout ended on July 25, fans have a 2011-2012 NFL season waiting for them.

NFL players had been locked out from the league since March because of a disagreement between the players and the owners.

The tension did not quell the admiration Nick, a quarterback at Brooklyn Tech, has for New England Patriots’ Tom Brady.

“Tom Brady holds no equal,” Nick said. “Watching him play gives me the determination to succeed.”

Nick said he wanted to join his school’s football team because of the tradition it holds and wanted to take part of the American football experience. After he completed his first over regulation pass in a game against James Madison High School, which his team won, he wanted to keep bringing wins for Brooklyn Tech Football, inspired by the Patriots record of 14-2 last season.

Prior to the lockout, Suyeta Griffin, Nick’s teammate, said he wanted to work harder in his position as strong safety after watching NFL games because the players gave it their all.

The lockout made “the NFL look bad because the league looks like they are against the players,” said Kathryn Blitz, an intern for MaxPreps a website that follows all of high school sports.

The NFL office was not available for comment.

Teen Players Still Inspired Despite NFL Drama

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“Damn” was the only word Brooklyn Technical High School junior, Nick Dibari, could think of when asked to explain the latest NFL lockout in one word.


There was a possibility of no refunds for ticket holders and not being able to cheer on Sunday night football. Now that the lockout ended on July 25, 2011, fans have a 2011-2012 NFL season waiting for them.


NFL players had been locked out from the league since March because of a disagreement between the NFL Player Association and the owners. By no NFL season, it could have caused NFL employees; players, fans and future players to find other jobs, protest the lockout or even sit around watching highlights from pervious games.

 

For Dibari, it still means getting ready for his junior year of football as quarterback at Brooklyn Tech.


Even though the Jets went further than the Patriots in last year’s playoffs, Dibari, would pick Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots over Mark Sanchez, the quarterback for the New York Jets because Brady is his favorite quarterback.


During the lockout, Dibari looked up to Tom Brady for one main reason.


“Tom Brady holds no equal,” Dibari said. “Watching him play gives me the determination to succeed.”


When the lockout was in session, it caused Dibari not to have new memorable moments from his role model. But, when the first preseason game starts, Dibari says he will be watching every move Brady makes. After all, since Dibari looks up to Brady, he looks up to the Patriots.


“The Patriots offense holds no equal, so it encourages me to practice to achieve what they have achieved,” Dibari said.


Nevertheless, don’t count on that lockout to discourage Dibari from striving to want to achieve his goals.


Dibari said he wanted to join Brooklyn Tech’s football team because of the tradition it holds and wanted to take part of the American football experience. After he completed his first over regulation pass in a game against James Madison high school, which his team won, he wants to keep bringing wins for Brooklyn Tech Football because the Patriots went 14-2 last season. 


Dibari’s teammate, Strong Safety, Suyeta Griffin, a senior, says his worst moment playing was when, “I finally got to start against Jefferson and I let two touchdowns go!”

Griffin made up for it by hitting the “crap” out of the quarterback from the Grand Street high school.


Prior to the lockout, Griffin said he wanted to work harder with his football team after watching NFL games because the players gave it their all. The two football players that stands out to him the most is Strong Safety Troy Polamalu from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Inside Linebacker Patrick Willis from the San Francisco 49ers.


An intern at MaxPreps, which is a website that follows all of high school sports, Kathryn Blitz said her favorite part about watching the NFL is watching “your team when they do not have a chance of winning, then they come back and surprise you.”


In spite of that lockout, Kathryn Blitz says she is against the lockout because it “makes the NFL look bad because the
league looks like they are against the players.”


“Players are playing the game because they love it,” said Kathryn Blitz. She believes that is the main reason why football players play the game of football.


When asked whether high school players or NFL players were more affected by the lockout, she said the NFL players are the most affected because many of them did not earn salaries like Peyton Manning.


However, it is success that Kathryn believes motivates the high school football players.

Dibari and Griffin say their football team gets motivation from each other. Dibari could possible see the NFL in his future, but Griffin does not want to go into the NFL when he is older. Not because of that lockout though.


The NFL League Office was not available for comment.


Fans were unsure if there was going to be an NFL this season; people should have listen to Griffin from the beginning,


“There will be a season! You don’t just stop the NFL.”

NFL Finds the Key to Open the Lockout for Players and Fans

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“Damn” was the only word Brooklyn Technical High School junior, Nick Dibari, could think of when asked to explain the latest NFL lockout in one word.

 There was a possibility of no refunds for ticket holders and not being able to cheer on Sunday night football. Now that the lockout ended on July 25, 2011, fans have a 2011-2012 NFL season waiting for them.

 NFL players had been locked out from the league since March because of a disagreement between the NFL Player Association and the owners. By no NFL season, it could have caused NFL employees; players, fans and future players to find other jobs, protest the lockout or even sit around watching highlights from pervious games.

 For Dibari, it still means getting ready for his junior year of football as quarterback at Brooklyn Tech.

 Even though the Jets went further than the Patriots in last year’s playoffs, Dibari, would pick Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots over Mark Sanchez, the quarterback for the New York Jets because Brady is his favorite quarterback.

 During the lockout, Dibari looked up to Tom Brady for one main reason.

 â€œTom Brady holds no equal,” Dibari said. “Watching him play gives me the determination to succeed.”

When the lockout was in session, it caused Dibari not to have new memorable moments from his role model. But, when the first preseason game starts, Dibari says he will be watching every move Brady makes. After all, since Dibari looks up to Brady, he looks up to the Patriots.

 â€œThe Patriots offense holds no equal, so it encourages me to practice to achieve what they have achieved,” Dibari said.

 Nevertheless, don’t count on that lockout to discourage Dibari from striving to want to achieve his goals.

 Dibari said he wanted to join Brooklyn Tech’s football team because of the tradition it holds and wanted to take part of the American football experience. After he completed his first over regulation pass in a game against James Madison high school, which his team won, he wants to keep bringing wins for Brooklyn Tech Football because the Patriots went 14-2 last season. 

 Dibari’s teammate, Strong Safety, Suyeta Griffin, a senior, says his worst moment playing was when, “I finally got to start against Jefferson and I let two touchdowns go!”

 Griffin made up for it by hitting the “crap” out of the quarterback from the Grand Street high school.

 Prior to the lockout, Griffin said he wanted to work harder with his football team after watching NFL games because the players gave it their all. The two football players that stands out to him the most is Strong Safety Troy Polamalu from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Inside Linebacker Patrick Willis from the San Francisco 49ers.

 An intern at MaxPreps, which is a website that follows all of high school sports, Kathryn Blitz said her favorite part about watching the NFL is “your team; when they do not have a chance of winning, then they come back and surprise you.”

 In spite of that lockout, Kathryn Blitz says she is against the lockout because it “makes the NFL look bad because the league looks like they are against the players.”

 â€œPlayers are playing the game because they love it,” said Kathryn Blitz. She believes that is the main reason why football players play the game of football.

 When asked whether high school players or NFL players were more affected by the lockout, she said the NFL players are the most affected because many of them did not earn salaries like Peyton Manning.

 However, it is success that Kathryn believes motivates the high school football players.

 Dibari and Griffin say their football team gets motivation from each other. Dibari could possible see the NFL in his future, but Griffin does not want to go into the NFL when he is older. Not because of that lockout though.

 The NFL League Office was not available for comment.

 Fans were unsure if there was going to be an NFL this season; people should have listen to Griffin from the beginning,

“There will be a season! You don’t just stop the NFL.” 

Young Designers Create New From Old

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When three-year-old Kristen Nunez picked up her first pair of scissors, she had no idea that her creative mind would produce an inspiration to many teens. With only her imagination and a limited budget, she began repurposing her old clothes. By the time she graduated college 17 years later, 60 percent of her wardrobe was handmade or altered.

“I’m all about unique things,” said Nunez, who began repurposing her clothes because she was not satisfied with what she found in stores.

Just like Nunez, many teens want more style and control over their wardrobes. This has driven them to take fashion into their own hands and give new life to their not so new clothes with do it yourself projects.

“Fashion can be accessible and fun for you even if you’re just the girl next door,” said Tamaya Barnes, a 19-year-old fashion blogger who started altering her clothes at the age of 17.

Her main reasons for altering clothes are “price and pride,” but she also wants to inspire others with her blog, thegirlnextdior.tumblr.com. Barnes receives messages from people who read her blog saying that it had encouraged them to do more altering and to not be so wasteful with their money.

“I just want people to realize that you can be creative and create without breaking the break,” she said.

Barnes says that she uses the blog to post her inspirations and projects. “You won’t find high fashion editorials or rants about designers, just simply pictures for everyday inspiration,” she said.

Not all projects turn out successful. A pair of leggings she saw at the store inspired Barnes’ first DIY project. They had tie-dyed clouds on them. When she got home, she tried to achieve the same print by bleaching black leggings. She says that it had ended up looking like a Halloween costume gone wrong.

“That’s the fun with doing things yourself, sometimes you fail and sometimes it turns out amazing,” she said.

Inspiration for repurposing clothes can come from anywhere and anything. Barnes says that she always observes other people’s outfits and styles, and lately has even got ideas just by checking out online stores. “I’ll often browse a high priced website where I would never have the money to shop,” Barnes said.

There are various ways to be innovative in fashion. Barnes for example picked up an ug
ly long dress at a thrift store for three dollars once, and she turned it into her most worn piece. The dress had unusual slits and was completely unwearable, so when she got home, she chopped off the bottom, lowered the neckline and turned it into a shirt.

Nunez’ favorite piece is a studded trench coat which was inspired by one from Burberry. Another favorite project that she does often is taking guys’ t-shirts and reconstructing them to be feminine and form fitting.

Cat Morley is a craft obsessed journalist living in London. While at university studying computer art and filmmaking, she began a blog called Cut Out + Keep.

She built the blog into a community where everyone could make and share step-by-step craft tutorials after readers started sending in pictures of their own projects.

Morley says that she hopes the site encourages people to try new things and gain confidence in crafts they’ve never tried before. “There’s nothing better than receiving a compliment on something you’ve made yourself,” she said in an email interview.

Another website that encouraged teens to repurpose clothes is recycledfrockery.com, which was created by Blaze Zenn. This site however, is focused more on the ecological side of things.
She says that she has seen teens doing DIY projects since the 1970s, when she herself was a teen in school.

While attending an economy class at the University of Michigan, Zenn began to think of ways to use what she already had. This led her to shop mainly at thrift/craft stores and repurpose her clothes, which she still does to this day.

She also says that she hopes this generation of teens will produce new trends because the fashion industry “isn’t going deep enough.”

Zenn considers teens that repurpose their clothes as people that can “walk the walk, not only talking the talk.”

The popularity of altering clothes is growing and this is shown in many fashion magazine such as Teen Vogue which has even put out a DIY section on their website.

“This trend will change the way people go about not only spending their money, but how they go about expressing themselves,” Nunez said.

Good Deed, Gone Wrong.

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Recently, a friend joined me for lunch at Dunkin Donuts. While eating, a homeless man approached my friend and I, and insisted that it was our duty, as African Americans, to buy him something to eat. He said, “we were black and black people need to stick together.”
 
And so I did. Not necessarily because we shared the same skin tone, but because I was tremendously uncomfortable with his approach and how close he was to our table. My decision to buy him something was a way of removing myself from this discomfort.
At the register, I was surprised at how I mentally debated which donut he would most enjoy. Thoughts such as, “he may not like frosting,” caused me to disregard the ones that had frosting. Thoughts like, “…he may not like fillings either,” caused me to decide on a glazed donut. 
As I walked towards the seemingly starving man who sat inches away from my table, an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction for my good deed was expressed through my face. With a smile, I handed him the bag that held the glazed donut, and proceeded to sit next to my friend who gave me a nod for my considerate deed. 
No sooner did I sit down, did the homeless man howl with anger, “I said I was hungry and you buy me a DAMN donut?!” Everyone in the restaurant stood motionless as the man scolded me for buying him a donut. I was as stiff as the face of my friend, who I knew wanted so desperately to leave the restaurant.
The man demanded that I get my money back, and as his voice began to reach a demonic high, I envisioned him ending my life right then and there, in the Dunkin Donuts.
Luckily, there was a moment when the man turned around, which gave both my friend and I enough time to run out the restaurant. We continued running for several blocks, before stopping to comprehend what exactly just happened.
I apparently brought a homeless man a donut, and was nearly attacked because it wasn’t what he expected. This was beyond funny to the both of us. We both looked just as crazy as the homeless man, as we laughed on the crowded sidewalk. However, despite our laughter, we couldn’t’t help but take continuous glances over our shoulders to reassure ourselves that we some how, some way, were able to escape the hostility of a mentally distraught man.

"White Blank Page"

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My favorite song this week is “White Blank Page” by Mumford and Sons. This song is about a relationship that revolves around sex. In the opening line of the song a question is asked, “ Can you lie next to her and give her your heart as well as your body?” Throughout the song it is known that the man is actually being used instead of the woman, which is an unusual circumstance. The man gave his all to a woman and in the end got his heart broken. The thing I like most about this song, and Mumford in Sons, is the complexity of the lyrics. The lyrics are not cliche and do not give the usual, “I love you but you broke my heart,” simplistic lyrics. Their style is so intriguing and every song leaves you pondering its true definition. For example, within the second verse of the song the artist says, “ You did not think when you sent me to the grave.” This is implying that when the girl left the guy she also took his life with her. It’s a little dramatic, but very meaningful. The idea that when someone leaves you, they leave with your life and you’re left with nothing is fascinating to me. I recommend this song to anyone who enjoys listening to music that makes you think above and beyond. 

Fake Sympathy For Amy Winehouse

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Recently, London singer Amy Winehouse passed away in her home. Yes, it’s a shame that she died and she was only 27-years-old, but i don’t exactly understand why anyone is surprised. Her own PARENTS have settled with the fact that she’s dead. People on Facebook and Twitter are going crazy over the tragedy, as if she wasn’t a DRUG & ALCOHOL addict. According to the NYPost.com,

Winehouse attempted to buy ecstacy and heroin hours before her death. Amy Winehouse was out of the lime light for a while, and suddenly everyone wants to act like die hard fans of her. No sympathy is better then fake sympathy, and I don’t see why everyone is concerned out of nowhere. I’m not saying that it was good that she died, but i have NO sympathy for people who use and abuse drugs when they know what could happen to them.

Superhero Plotlines Are Not So Super

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I watched Captain America: The First Avenger this weekend, and as I predicted, it was predictable. Every line, character and subplot has already been used in the countless superhero movies that have been made in the past. Yes, it is a new actor, and yes, it is based off an entirely different comic-book, but all these movies are exactly the same. The hero is always an unfailingly honest person, the hero always gets the sassy girl, the hero always loses his best friend and the hero always wins. The problem with this repetition is that, for some reason, people always get a kick out of it.
 

Captain America: The First Avenger topped the box office of course. Unless, all the money came from people who watched the movie only to criticize it like me, I have no idea how they do so well. Yes, I understand that I sound like a total snob right now, but it is just that I am so upset how great movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Puppet King don’t get the recognition they deserve. The two movies I mentioned are beautifully crafted and filled with swells of emotion. I would consider these two movies an art! The actors give their all in these movies, and they are all wonderful to watch. They deserve to be applauded for their hard work.

My friend who watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explained what she thought. She said that it (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) was made only to make people feel sad. Yes, I agree, the ending is not a happy-go-lucky kind of ending, but that is not the point of a movie. You are not supposed to just focus on the ending, but instead the moral of the story. The point of the movie is the way it is told. The point of a movie is the little twists in the plot. The point of the movie is the way the actors hold themselves. The point of a movie is the way the colors are displayed on the screen. The point of the movie is to make you feel sad, happy or angry. A movie is suppose to make you feel for the characters, and that is exactly what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind does. These kind of movies should be the ones that top the box office, but it seems that people have a taste for movies that are unemotional and predictable.

A NFL Fantasy

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During the NFL season, there are always many things to get excited about. First, it is NFL season. Than, there is an annual Super Bowl party where everyone can make their fantasy football team!

A person who loves football should definitely get into making his or her own fantasy football team. It is so much fun for me, because I can finally put all my favorite players together and show everyone how good each player is.

My fantasy football team is called The New York Mayans. On my team I have NFL players from the Jets, Colts, Packers, Giants, Eagles, Jaguars, Texans, Falcons, Chiefs and Ravens. Of course, I don’t have any players from the Pittsburgh Steelers or the New England Patriots, because I hate those teams!

There are so many different combinations on my team that I am in love with. Mostly because there is a good chance I won’t see those certain players play together in the league. For example, Mark Sanchez, QB for the Jets, and Clay Matthews, OLB for the Green Bay Packers, will most likely never play together. These two players are probably set with their teams for a good amount of years, but they are together on my fantasy team!

After you get all your players together, you than have to join a league. I am in the Meadowlands Mayhem League, which was made by my friend’s parents. It is so much fun, because they are huge football fans and they announce the winner at their Super Bowl party. 

Publicly announcing the winners makes all of us want our team to win. But, since I cannot leave Ochocinco out, and I added rookies like JJ Watt and Casey Matthews (because of Clay), my team may not be getting so many points.  

It would be nice if my team wins, but honestly, I joined fantasy football so I could finally have a place where my favorite players can compete together. If Matt Ryan throws an interception, or Mike Vick fumbles the ball, it’s ok because I have Mark Sanchez there throwing the touchdown. Also, Braylon Edwards, from the Jets, and Greg Jennings, from the Packers, can bring lots of points to my team, because these WR knows how to make a touchdown.

So make your fantasy football team now and you will have more things to get excited about in football!