The Time I Met Olympic Gold Medalist Jade Carey by Jake M

I don’t know how many people can say they met an Olympic Gold Medalist, but I can. It was a really cool experience that I won’t forget. The Gold Medalist’s name is Jade Carey. She is a gymnast representing the United States and she’s from Arizona. She was a very nice person to meet. I am going to tell you my experience meeting her.

As some of you might already know, I am an employee for the Arizona Diamondbacks. During the different games, the Diamondbacks have ceremonial first pitches, and during an August home game, they had Olympic Gold Medalist Jade Carey throw out the first pitch. I was working my shift that night. During my shift, I decided to go to the spot where Jade was sitting so that I could meet her. I introduced myself and told her that I work for the team. I told her I was impressed with her cartwheel that she performed in the process of throwing out the first pitch. Then I told her she did a good job at the Olympics, and that it was cool having a Gold Medalist that is a resident of Phoenix. After that, I went back to work.

Later in the game, after I finished working, I asked if I could have a picture with her. She said yes. So my mom took a picture of me with Jade. It was a really cool experience all around. It’s a good bonus of working for the Diamondbacks because you never know who you’ll meet.

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Hook (1991)(Review)

Hello, my name is Charles and I’m here to review the movie Hook. This movie was first released on December 11, 1991.

 

This movie centers around a “What If” scenario where a grown-up Peter Pan must return to Neverland and his childhood roots in order to save his son and daughter from the evil Captain Hook.

 

The cast of characters are:

Robin Williams as Peter Banning/Peter Pan,

Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook,

Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell,

Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee,

Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy Moira Angela Darling,

Charlie Korsmo as Jack (Peter Pan’s son),

Caroline Goodall as Moira (Peter Pan’s Wife/Wendy’s Granddaughter),

Amber Scott as Maggie (Peter Pan’s daughter),

Dante Basco as Rufio and Arthur Malet as Elder Tootles.

 

The locations in this movie are:

London,

Neverland,

Pirate Town,

The Jolly Roger,

Mermaid Lagoon,

Wendy’s home in Neverland and the home of the Lost Boys.

 

In conclusion, I learned from watching this movie the importance of preserving our imagination. I also learned from this movie that the value of living as well as living said life would be and is in fact “an awfully big adventure.”

 

Zack Greinke: Depression and Social Anxiety

By Jake M.

Zack Greinke is my favorite member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s pitched 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and three with Arizona (2016-present). His career accomplishments include being a five-time all-star, 2013 silver slugger, 2009 CY Young Award winner, four-time Gold Glove winner, two-time MLB leader in ERA, and 44th on the all-time career strikeouts list (2,435). He’s a workhorse and considers himself a student of the game. He’s also been diagnosed with Depression and Social Anxiety Disorder.

Zack Greinke’s struggle with depression caused him to miss portions of the 2005 and 2006 seasons and at one point during that stretch considered quitting baseball. He was also defined as socially awkward by fellow team members of the Kansas City Royals, whom he played for from 2004-2010. As recently as March 2018 Zack Greinke had to answer reporters questions about his low velocity numbers. He expressed in an interview that “I always get nervous prior to the start of every season and that it’s just something I have to deal with and my biggest concern is that I won’t be ready for the start of the season.” – USA Today March 8, 2018.

Zack Greinke’s ability to persevere through tough times and continue on to have a decent career should serve as inspiration to other people who struggle with various forms of Bipolar, Depression or Anxiety.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/03/zack-greinke-spring-training-arizona-diamondbacks-velocity-performance-mlb.

Jackie Robinson Day

By Jake M.

Jackie Robinson is a  Hall of Fame baseball player who is best known by fans for breaking the color barrier in baseball. He played his entire MLB career for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now located in Los Angeles) after he spent time playing for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League. Every year Major League Baseball celebrates the anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s Major League debut on April 15th 1947. This tradition began in 2004 when MLB Commissioner Bud Selig (retired January 24th 2015) signed the proclamation declaring April 15th as Jackie Robinson Day. Back on April 15th 1997 the number 42 was retired by all 28 teams (the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays became the 29th and 30th MLB franchises and began playing in 1998 when they retired his number as part of the MLB mandate).

Part of what made him so great is all he wanted to do was play the best baseball he could. He was a humble man who didn’t want to be an idol just another ballplayer, as told by his wife Rachel, and historians. His life was characterized well in the movie 42 that was released in 2013. Chadwick Boseman played the role of Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford portrayed Branch Rickey, who was the Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time when he recruited Jackie at the recommendation of the team’s General Manager who was scouting different players currently playing in the Negro League. The other major part of his legacy was he always took the high road. He was booed every time he stepped onto home plate and he even received death threats. His ability to take the high road came from Branch Rickey who had to encourage Jackie to not respond to aggravated fans. Branch Rickey was right when he advised Jackie to just let his performance on the field shape public opinion. Because of Jackie’s bravery, baseball has become the most diverse sport in America.

A New Job at the Ballpark – By Jose

My new job is working at Chase field inside the Doubleheader restaurant. I am a prep cook. My job is to make sure food is prepared before it is cooked. I have an important job. I like my job because I am a hard worker who is strong willed and ready to learn. My boss’s name is Richard. I like him. He is always friendly and helpful when I am lost and don’t know what to do. My coworkers are nice. When I go to work, I always find the first thing to do so my boss doesn’t have to stop what he is doing to help me. This is because he wants me to learn it first so I can do the rest on my own.

My hours are long, usually from 11 in the morning to 9 o’clock at night. It is not the usual workload I‘m used to, but it is what it is. I plan to be there in one week for my next assignment. The ballpark is a big place. I can get lost if I don’t pay attention to my surroundings and I go quickly to my required station.

One thing I will say about work is how nice a view I get from the work area on the other side of the counter. I wrap hot dogs in bacon, squeeze mayonnaise into containers, wash dishes and mainly do all things in that particular area. In the morning, we all go to the underpass beneath 7th st. and Jefferson. We wait for the levy to call our name and we go inside. It is nice because it is the only break we get.

At Seeds I learn important social and job skills for work. I have learned about being friendly to other people and asking them how their day is, not ignoring them; This is an important lesson. I also learned to be an active participant by paraphrasing back to others when they are trying to show me something. And, I know that sometimes you have to keep listening so that you get it the first time.

I have already run into a few offenses at work where I could have been fired, but my boss was very kind and merciful towards me. He once told me “I won’t give up on you, you don’t give up on me”. I try very hard to always stay focused even if the job is very easy. I don’t want to lose my job because I messed up. I know that they have been very nice to me and I want to work hard for them, too. Getting to see the stadium and get in for free means I can see more of the building and have access to areas the fans do not get access to. I am very proud of that. I earned a special privilege by working at the stadium. The privilege being, My job allows me to be a public servant and serve 40,000 hungry fans a day. I would like to keep working here as long as I remember my social skills where I am an active participant and listen carefully to my instructions, remembering the rules always clock in, no stealing! And, I need to get the job done and stay on task the entire time by focusing on how to do everything right and not mess up so I do not get fired. All in all, I have gained friendship in working here which means I will always learn the way we treat others at work by following the rules and staying on task. Thank you.

Jessica Mendoza: The First Female Baseball Commentator For ESPN

 

By Jake M.

Jessica Mendoza being interviewed on Sports Center.

Entertainment Sports Program Networks Program (ESPN) is an American sports network that is a broadcast provider to 81 percent of American households. It was founded in 1979 as a stand alone network. It is now a part of the Disney umbrella company along with all of it’s sister networks including ABC (also known as the Family of Networks) and its slogan is the Worldwide Leader in Sports. It is a progressive company especially by their history of hiring women. ESPN’s early employment of women included sideline reporting, locker room and commentators of women sports. Over the years the network began assigning women to host television shows on the ESPN networks and later with the inclusion of female commentators for male dominated sports like baseball.

Jessica Mendoza is the epitome of ESPN’s progressive business policy. She is a Stanford graduate where she played college softball and she later went on to win gold in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a member of the US Olympic softball team. She’s one of the top softball athletes of all time along with U of A alum and former Olympian Jennie Finch.

Little League Softball World Series Q@A with Jessica Mendoza and Jennie Finch.

Mrs. Mendoza was a commentator for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College Softball World Series before beginning her climb up the ladder in her broadcasting career for ESPN back in 2014. She is a co-host of Baseball Tonight an evening sports talk show with Karl Ravech and Tim Kurkjian, and in 2015 earned a permanent position as a co-commentator for Sunday Night Baseball telecast with Aaron Boone and Dan Shulman. Jessica Mendoza also became ESPN’s first female commentator for the World Series.

Sunday Night Baseball. Dan Shulman, Jessica Mendoza, Aaron Boone (from left to right)

I love baseball and I’m extremely excited to see the game being diversified. As a lifelong fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks (D-Backs), I see Jody Jackson host the D-Backs postgame show  on Fox Sports Arizona many times and I got to meet her at a game once when we had tickets right behind the broadcast booth. Jessica Mendoza is the ESPN equivalent to Jody Jackson and it’s pretty cool to see her on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight after spending years watching the show.

Jody Jackson with Todd Walsh during the Christmas holiday

We see women like Jessica Mendoza setting a trend that it’s cool to be a woman in the sports industry which is still very much of a male dominating industry. I think more girls in this country would be less afraid to be interested in sports especially baseball if they knew about Mrs. Mendoza’s incredible example. It’s time to close the gender gap in Baseball.

Arizona D-Backs vs New York Yankees Baseball Game

Hi my name is Emma. I am writing a story about the baseball game I went to few weeks ago. The two baseball teams who played were the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The game took place at Chase Field in Phoenix at 6:40 pm. I went to the baseball game with my Dad and we sat really close to the field between second base and third base. We drove to the baseball game and the New York Yankees won. When the Diamondbacks lost, I pretended to be disappointed, but after my Dad dropped me off at my apartment, I started to cheer because my number one favorite team the New York Yankees won the game.

I love watching and playing baseball with my dad. I almost caught a flying ball, but someone shoved me down and my Dad told me to be tough. I had fun at the game with my Dad. While we were watching the game, my Dad and I were eating pizza, peanuts, and cracker jacks. I got a new Arizona Diamondbacks hat so my Dad will be happy that I’m a D-backs fan instead of a New York Yankees fan. There was a lot of New York Yankees fans at the game. I have two favorite baseball players on the Diamondbacks team which is Jake Lamb and Paul “Goldy” Goldschmidt. My favorite part of the game was that I almost caught a flying ball by one of the D-backs player. When Paul Goldschmidt was up next to bat, I said “Here comes Goldy”.