Broken Sword

Well the essay is done. And these are the standards it accomplished.

2.5 and 2.6 Structural Features of Informational Materials

   Read through a couple websites and wrote my essay on Pages before posting it up on Blogger.

1.0 Writing

   Wrote an essay.

1.1/1.2 Organization and Focus

   Came up with a thesis and read up on it. Then I wrote it in an informative tone.

1.3 Research and Technology

   Came up with my thesis and researched as much as I could on it.

2.3.a. Writing Applications

   I'm not sure if the essay was over 1500 words but I tried my best. I actually wrote a lot.

1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions

    I wrote in normal English, no slang no " nothin' "

1.3 Grammar and Mechanics of Writing

   I wrote as correctly as I possibly could

The Finale

(Can't help but smile since this will probably be my final "Skool Blog" entry. I might still actually keep writing these, since they do help let some things out in a way I sometimes can't speak them. Now on to the final essay...)

American Football, or Gridiron as it's know outside the United States, is a very competitive contact sport. It involves a combination of strategy and great physical strength. There are several ways a team can score a point, by scoring a touchdown, a field goal, or a safety. All types of teams can score points, the offense, defense, or special teams. The team with the most points by the end of the game wins.

The most common way the offense can score points is by scoring a touchdown, which means carrying the ball over the opponent's end zone; this can be done in one of two ways, by passing or rushing the call.If the quarterback decides to rush the ball, the ballcarrier will usually be handed the ball to run towards the end zone. Normally a running back will be the one rushing, but a quarterback or wide receiver may also run the ball. A touchdown can also be done by passing the ball. The quarterback will throw the ball to an eligible receiver who can catch it while in the end zone. The receiver may also catch the ball before the end zone and carry it across the end zone. A touchdown will award the team 6 points, and possibly more through an extra point or two-point conversion.

Another way a team can score is by scoring a field goal; it is a goal that can be scored during regular play. They are regularly attempted during a fourth down in which the offensive team may not be able to score a touchdown. They may also be attempted during the finals moments of the 2nd or final quarter. A less common time is when the game is in overtime and the team needs to score any points to win. If it is not possible to even gain a field goal, when the ball may fall short of the uprights, then the team may choose to punt to the other team. The punt cannot score any points but it will drive the defending team back towards its own end. This may benefit the punting team greatly. A field goal is worth 3 points while a punk is not worth any.

The final way a team can score a point it by a safety. Safeties can be scored by the defense is the offending team is tackled, goes out of bounds, or fumbles (drops) the ball out of bounds on his own end zone. If the offense initially has the ball, but is intercepted by a defending player who then carries the ball or fumbles it into their own end zone, then it is a score for the offense. Safeties, though, are very rare as they are unlikely and difficult to perform. If the ball goes dead inside the end zone then it is a touchback. A touchback will not score any points though. The team last in possession will start at its 20 yard line with a first down. A Safety will award the team 2 points.

At the end of the 4th quarter, the winning team is the one who has scored the most points. It doesn't matter which of the types of points are scored as long as they have more. If it is a tie then they will go to an additional 15-minute overtime. In overtime the team to score first wins.

Joker and the Thief and the Night

Tired as hell and with a minor eye infection so I won't be able to type a lot today. Gonna write an essay tonight to just finish my standards. I have no idea how many standards it will prove but I have to do something. I have a basic idea of what to do but not really. Got a lot to do today...not just finals work.

I just noticed I never wrote down two standards that I had done.

2.0 Writing Applications

2.6.c. : I wrote about some plays, the players, referees, penalties, and a couple little examples on our website's quiz.

2.6.d. : I tried to write in a simple language...aka dumb it down a little to make it easier to understand.

Modal Soul

It's been a week since we were last in this room. Most people are so far behind since all we haven't been on a computer in a while. I did my extra credit essay and started the football one. But I won't get to that until at least Sunday. I have a couple parties this weekend and going to the beach...hopefully.

But other than that I love my new track sweater. It's way better than the one from last year. I also received two medals. 2nd place on pole vault and 3rd place on the 4x100 relay.

I Want I Want

well its past midnight and I'm finally done with my extra credit essay. I'm hoping to start the next one this weekend or by Monday. But I'll bereally busy tomorrow and I HOPE i get home by 10 or 11 pm... lets see though. I have my track banquet and I want to see the play we helped produce. I want as much extra credit as I can just to make sure I'm good on my grade. And now for more football...NOT. gotta go to sleep...

Up To Now

People say high school can be the worst and best time of your life. For me it’s been very interesting; so many things have happened this year alone. Not all of them have been the greatest things ever though. I’ve gone into the biggest of troubles this year, all while still having fun with my best friends. Yet at the end of the day, we can still laugh about our misfortunes. Some things have happened this year that I will remember for the rest of my life, other things which I wish I had never done them in the first place.

Since even before school started, I was already loving my upcoming sophomore year. Football practice started during the summer, and I was there from the beginning. I would wake up, bus it to school to arrive when practice started, train, go home to rest, and do the same thing the next day. But I made many great friends during my short time there; many of them would be part of the group I was with all year. One of those people who would eventually join our group a little later on is a special little girl who goes my the name Janet Vargas. She and I became great friends during our X-C season and after a very complicated series of events she would be my girlfriend and first love. We’ve gone through a lot, and it hasn’t been easy, but in the end it’s been worth it. These things and many others have made this year the best one so far.

It’s not to say that everything this year has thrown at me has been the greatest. One of my best and worst nights of my life was Homecoming weekend. Homecoming itself was fun but with a hint of disappointment, so we decided to go over a friend’s house to hang out. We end up having a crazy, hectic night and trying to remember it all the next morning when my best friend Norman is dying out on us with a “pain in his chest” (he’s fine now though). Another day I will never forget is January 3rd. I had just come back from my winter trip to Mexico and I was invited to a friend’s Sweet Sixteen. I can’t remember much of what happened that evening because it’s all an emotional blur. All I do know is I woke up the next morning with a hole in my room, a messed up hand, and my body aching. They weren’t my best ideas ever but they’re part of my school experience too.

Im almost half way done with high school, and it’s gone by too fast, but next year is Junior year, my most important year. Since I won’t be attending Verdugo Hills next year, I honestly don’t know how it will play out. All I do know I will be continuing my studies in a school near Santa Ana called Foothill High. I know it sounds as if it were a street away but the name is very misleading for some reason. I know I will be leaving all the people I’ve encountered in the last 10 years but I won’t be leaving everyone. I plan to visit as much as possible and come to every single one of my real school’s football games and every 22 of the month no matter what. I plan to also not take any more sports and just focus on my studies and future plans. After high school, it’s on to higher education!

I’ve grown up a lot this past year. Many great moments have occurred throughout it all, but I made many foolish decisions that I hope not to repeat. But I can still look back and laugh about them all with my best friends and make them as memorable as possible. This school year is almost over and it has turned out to be the greatest time of my life.

Acid Rain

I'm really tired right now; haven't had the best morning. I've only slept 3 1/2 hours and had to suffer through a 2 hour drive to school.

But other than that I just helped Mercedes get some standards written down today. Nothing much other than that. There's no lesson plan and I'm not really caring about today. I just wanna get home and rest. But I will start on an essay this week. I just need a few more standards and I'm pretty much done with this class. Now to focus on Ortiz, who is about to kill me over for his finals this and next week.

Any questions?

Now it's time for some feedback.

• What are some questions you might have on American football? What would you like to know about the sport?
• Since I've been writing for a while and tried to write things in an easy to understand language, what are your concerns or comments? 
  
• Is there anything you might be confused on or want to know more about or don't know anything about which you would want to?

If there's anything just post a comment and I'll try my best to answer any question...

Pac 3

Yesterday was a waste of a day. We didn't do much and I couldn't really blog anything since some people were setting up the computers. I have to start doing an essay and a good one too. But I have no idea what to write about.

But on the other hand, since I stay late to chill with friends, we watched the football team practicing on the baseball field. They're actually starting to look pretty good, but many players are still very small compared to other schools. My cousin, who's in springball, said it's actually an easier workout than last year's springball and summerball practices. There might actually be a good enough team to win at least 3-7 this year.

Another Reflection

In American Football and Canadian Football, a penalty is a punishment called against a team for a violation of the rules, called a foul. The foul, if committed by the defense, will advance the ball 5,10, or 15 yards towards the offending team's end zone. The offense may also gain a 1st down, or when close to the goal line, move the ball half the distance towards. If the offense commits the foul, the penalty might be a loss of a down or a loss of yards, or scoring an automatic safety.

When the foul is committed any time the ball is in play during any down, one or more officials will throw a bright yellow flag towards where it was committed. The play will not stop until the ball is dead (not in play anymore) under normal conditions if there were no penalties. Then the officials will assess if the fouls were committed, which ones, and who was involved. But the final decision is the referee's decision.

He will then normally go to the offended team's captain to ask if they want to accept, or decline the penalty and take the result of the play.

He will then use visual hand signals to specifically describe the foul in detail and the resulting penalty received.

The Phantom Part II

I still have no idea what to do today. After turning in 20 standards I have no idea what to do next. I'm kinda lazy so I don't really want to write an essay, and I don't have access to a Mac computer at home until tomoro so I cant really do much...not really a Windows user so there's so much I can do with it. I'll see what i can get done today though...

Not the funnest morning: running around all crazy trying to get ready after waking up late. All because of my not-so-smart smartphone never ringing my alarm.

Beyond The Next View

This weekend was pretty fun. First time going to Disneyland and learning just how much I hate the Marines and love the Air Force. Heard that football's Spring Ball starts today so I'll be training with them for a while, but I won't join the team.

Other than that there isn't much to know...We turned in our projects last Thursday to be reviewed and graded so I haven't really worked on much. Well actually I didn't do anything this weekend. Hope I got a good grade though.

Combination Style

Today is the last day being in the library and we will be turning in more standards. We have to have 10 more by today and I'm sure i don't have another 10 to complete. But i do have a couple...

I have so far:
1.2 Reading (Blog entry "Friday Night Lights")
I read on football and even though there is a meaning of American football, I have my own personal "definition" of it.

2.5 Structural Features of Informational Materials (Blog entres "On To The Next One" and Runnin' On)
I read a couple books and websites. And i expanded on those ideas and wrote my own little definitions of every position.

1.4 and 1.5 Research and Technology (Blog entries "On To The Next One" and Runnin' On)
I gave simple to read definitions and got my info from various websites. I read their info and analyzed it.

1.9 Evaluation and Revision (Blog entries "On To The Next One" and Runnin' On)
Every Blog entry I draft first and revise after I'm done writing.

2.3 b. (C., E., D. and F.) writing Applications (Blog entry "On To The Next One" and Runnin' On)
I've used information from books, interviews, hands-on personal accounts, and websites. I Have given visual aides for player positions and stayed neutral when writing to give an unbiased report. Since I have played football I can explain wit without confusing readers and used terms and vocabulary correctly.

I'm not fully done with everything but at least I have those done.

Friday Night Lights

When people hear the word football what does it make you think of? Does it make you think of their favorite football movie or favorite football team? or does it remind you of something completely different like rugby or soccer? To me it reminds me of something very funny...

When anyone around me talks about it, I remember the spring and summer practices last year. I remember the hot sun beating us while in full gear and sweating gallons of water every day. I remember the funny jokes we made about the coaches ("Run yo routes HAADDD") and going down to Taco Bell to eat something before going home every day after practice . It may be a rough contact sport but to me it had more meaning than just that. I remember being under the bright stadium lights on Friday night and just feeling this weird sensation...a feeling I can never explain.

Working Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Well these past few days have been good. Since we have been in the library, all of us have gotten some work done. This is becoming more of an independent project and to me that seems better. I can do my own work but still help out the rest without any concern for a common grade. I work better alone thats why. Ive finally gotten a couple more standards hopefully completed. We have one more day in the library left and lets see how much more work we can get done.

Runnin' On

The offense's job is for the quarterback to run or pass the ball and score a touchdown by getting the ball to the opposing team's end zone. They can either pass the ball to an eligible player or run the ball themselves. They have 4 attempts, called downs, to advance the ball at least 10 yards.

The offensive side has 5 player types: the offensive linemen, tight ends, wide receivers, running backs, and the quarterback.

The offensive line snaps the ball and protects the quarterback and backs behind the line of scrimmage. They are composed of the center who snaps the ball, 2 guards, and 2 tackles. Their main job is to block and are not regularly eligible to catch the ball.

Tight ends are a mix between blockers and receivers. They will usually line up near the tackles and block or run depending on the play.

Wide receivers are the "speedy pass-catching specialists" of the offensive team. They will try to make the catches.

For running backs there are two different players, the fullback and halfback. The fullback will normally be the stronger of the two and will usually block more. The halfback or "tailback" is one of the fastest players on the team. They will receive the rushing plays.

The final and probably most important player is the quarterback. He catches the snap and will try to get the ball to the end zone. Linemen protect him from getting tackled (called a sack) and the backs and receivers will try to catch his throws. A quarterback must have a strong and accurate throw.

This is a common offensive strategy. They are the blue.

This is to accomplish standards 1.4 and 1.5 from Research and Technology, 1.9 from Evaluation and Revision, and 2.3 b from writing Applications.

On To the Next One

Both the offensive ,defensive and special teams have different strategies and different player positions. In this blog i will focus on the defense. In a way, the defense has a disadvantage, since they do not know what the offense will do and must be prepared for anything.

The defense team is composed of 3 main groups. These are: defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backers.

Defensive linemen occupy the offensive linemen and are on the line of scrimmage. They are a group of 3-6 players who are the first line of defense against any running backs or quarterbacks.

The next set of defense are the linebackers, who line up behind the linemen and cover potential receivers or rush a quarterback. They are the immediate responders if an offensive player gets past the line of scrimmage.

The final line of defense are a group of at least 3 players called the defensive backers. They are either corners or safeties. They cover any receiver and will try to prevent any pass completions. The corners will either be strong or weak safeties depending on where the wide receivers and tight end line up.

This is a common defensive strategy. They are the red.

This is to prove standard 2.5 from Structural Features of Informational materials. I read several explanations from websites and from my personal hands-on experience and came up with my own explanation of each position. This also accomplishes 2.3 b. (D.) Writing Applications by including visual aides.

Comatose

Well Yesterday we actually go some progress done on our website savagefootballshistory.webs.com and its starting to look better. Jane, Jose, and I integrated a drop down menu, changed the template layout, and finally added some pictures to the site. Now we need to start writing down something...anything. Lets actually start writing essays so that we can bump up our grade, as in write in an English class. Hmmm what would be a good idea for an essay; something everyone is willing to do but come up with different ideas.

Lets Start From the Beginning

Football is a sport that doesn't really have a certain day in which it was created. It developed from a combination of rugby and soccer. It is very similar to modern Canadian football but with several key differences. It can be traced back to the late 1800s but there isn't really an official game that was considered the first American football game.

The game may look complicated and totally random on TV or when watched live but it's actually very coordinated. There are 22 players at any time on the field, 11 from each side. Each player has a specific job that must be accomplished But they run around and cross each other, which is why it may seem so random.

Just Here For Entertainment

Today is an awkward day; it'll be crazy I know it. We're in the library just chilling and hanging out, not really doing much. Since I've already finished 11 standards I have no idea what I should do for the next 10 or so. I don't have any idea how my mid-term grade will be.

But other than that, I'll be working on our website this weekend to add more information, an essay hopefully, and to publish the interviews from everyone. I'll be busy this weekend... I need to post some pictures, type up another quiz, expand the bibliography, create the homepage, and finish my blog entries.

68 State Wastelands

Today wasn't really busy; I didn't really do much in class. The library books were due today so a group of us went to get them renewed or turned in. After that I just hung out waiting to get a working computer :P

Other than that I've been pretty chill today. Now that the Track season is over I have nothing left to do. I won't really be practicing much anymore but I'll still try to keep in shape. Now i can focus on the CST testing this week.

Yesterday would have been 6 months :) haha just a random thought...

90/100

Last Friday I went up to Mr. Lawler to get my grade checked for the current individual class progress. My plan to get as many standards as possible is actually working. I have as of now 11 completed, 9 passed, and with 5 more being worked on. And I plan to get a good grade. Just CST testin will interfere with everything...Three days of testing and little progress made so far.

Need to publish more on the website and write up Norman's interview. Nothing more for today.

Everything 2.0 Today

Everything is 2.0 this morning. First a major update for my phone XP

but I finally recently finished reading my book for English class. Its called Coach Me Sports: Football and it is basically a book that teaches you the basics of football and gives examples of funny or important moments in football history. The book starts off giving a brief history of the game and its origins. Then goes to explain the two sides of teams and its gameplay. Then it gives a description of all the positions played, including special teams.

The book then focuses on rules and common penalties committed and the role of the officials and referees. After it explains common gameplay strategies and the game summary. Finally it ends with the key differences of professional to college football. At the end of the book are two small and simple quizzes that test one on what they have read.

This is for standard: 2.0 - Reading Comprehension (Focus on informational Materials)

Pt. 1 Accomplished

My older non-brother, Norman comes from a family of football players. His eldest brothers Raul and Eric were both players for Verdugo a couple years back, Eric being from the famous 2006-07 seasons. And Norman always saw them as his inspiration for wanting to play football. The last two years, he's played a linebacker, offensive lineman, was part of the PAT teams, and was about to play this year as a running back. This past football season his jersey number was 65 and he started a couple times. But after last years sad performance and several personal reasons, he has decided he will not be playing football next year...

I interviewed Norman as my 1st project. It wasn't too hard. :D

Now We Know What We Gotta Do

Ok well now that I've been looking through the English standards for this class, I know what projects we need to do and how to accomplish them. We will be doing three major projects that will cover most standards.

First of all, we will be interviewing a football player from the school. We'll ask them about they position, number, etc. Then Present a powerpoint on those players. After each person will create a personal prompt and compose an essay on their subject. That should give every person a lot of credit. More info on that later though...

What A Tiring Weekend

Well this weekend was pretty great. Got to see some of my favorite things ;)


Friday started awkward for me and my brother; Norman isn't a blood brother but were so close that it seems like it. He got in trouble with the bus drivers when trying to get on the late bus. it was funny and he added another story to the records...

But the weekend was great after that. I would stay up late until 2 AM and I would wake up at 7 0r 8. I got a scholarship for an all expenses paid trip to Puerto Rico this summer for my church youth group. I celebrated mommie's day by taking my mom to her favorite restaurant and later taking her to go watch Hot Tub Time Machine and Iron Man 2. There were others tiny things that made this weekend great too...

Another Forgotten Blog...

I forgot to write my friday blog this whole weekend. I wrote my Thursday one on Friday afternoon and didn't write my other one.

But there wasn't much that I did that day anyways. Well I know it was fun. Had to bust a mission to save my brother from getting in trouble with his and my mom. I was able to lie to his mom and ask my mom to lie for me. But he got saved. Shane  and his oldest brother took care of him. 

A Day of Firsts

Not gonna say much today; I dont really have much that happened yesterday...

Woke up early for no apparent reason and got to school early to bust a mission down to Subway. Ran back to make it on time and get my glasses back from Henderson (still havent gotten them back) and say goodbye to Janet. Went to watch Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps and surprisingly had a blast there.

Came back to school to catch the last few minutes of track practice. Stayed for the late bus and just hung out afterschool. had FUN...

Strobe Lightz

Finally got some work done on the website. and the rest of the group (or at least most of it) was actually cooperating o_0. Now I'm pumped up for tomorrow's field trip. Gonna go buy some Subway before school starts. Lets see if we get to class on time.

Today was great. School was normal; lunch was somehow very fun. I also traded shirts with my friend and i got stuck wearing a kids dress shirt. Worked hands on with my new favorite power drill in third period. but I left early to go support the track team at our prelims meet today.

Even the cheerleaders went to the meet (that meant you know who came too)... I didn't compete today since my events take me straight to league finals next Thursday. so I just chilled around and rooted for my team members. and i hung out with Janet some of the day. Had to leave the meet early though.

see look there is that little kids shirt I was talking about

Crazy Morning

So today started off pretty weird. Since I woke late, I had to rush out of the house. And even though we left right on time (barely) we hit a lot of traffic on our way from Santa Ana. I got breakfast before class, so it didn't matter much.

But the whole class situation is really getting annoying. The only people who even do anything are Alberto, Sharon, and I. Everyone else in our group just sits around and chats for the whole period. I'm not going to let them drop my grade, so I have to come up with something soon. Lets see what happens this week.

But at least tomorrow we will have the prelims meet at GCC. So we'll be able to go to the play on Thursday. Thankfully....

Week two...and Still Nothing

It's been a week since I started blogging and I still haven't seen much progress. We haven't really posted anything up on the website. Everything up i wrote...So for now I'll do as much work as I can and we'll see what happens. And especially this week, I'll be kind of busy after school. I have to go register for the other school I'll be going to next school year, which will take up a whole afternoon. I also have the prelims and finals race for league, so I wont be going to this week's field trip to go see the play.


Other than that, this weekend was pretty ok. Prom, sleeping over a friend's house...meeting her parents, another party, then a kickback at night...running to save someone, meeting a politician, and finally taking my mom to the mall for an early mother's day shopping spree (paid in part by me).

Yesterday Was Great

Yesterday was the...sheet. Haha

School was ok. I was busy actually doing work during first; I ran around to turn in my check for the track panorama picture. And I edited my Blogger and helped out other team members fix theirs. Second was even harder, because the teacher is making us do a lot of homework. Starting to really hate that class...

But at lunch we went to the quad to watch some of the homies and my brother shuffle and dance. But we got a nice (NOT) little hip hop show instead. After that third was pretty much nothing. I left early to go say goodbye to the track team before they left to the Van Nuys/North Hollywood meet.

After I went to go meet up my girlfriend at cheer practice to see her one last time before the weekend. Me and couple friends threw a football around for a while.

I left and went to my friend's house since we were going to go to prom. We got ready and drove down to Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific for the party. Had a blast there. Queen Mary, cruise ship, and the aquarium...

Better Late Than Never

So I Forgot to post an entry yesterday. But I was kind of busy and got home very late...

After school, I stayed late to hang out with friends while i had to wait for my little brother's open house to begin. So in the meantime, I walked all the way down to the Wash so chilled there for a bit. Then i walked back to to Mt. Gleason to take care of the kiddo. I stayed until 7 pm. and got home at almost 9 since I live in Santa Ana.

But I did catch up on football fouls and penalties. I know most of them since I played football, so it isn't very difficult to understand. Other than that I didn't do much else.

Finally Working On the Website

Today, like any other day, has been pretty ok. I'm finally seeing some progress on our website. There is now a new page the has some basic information on the NFL uniform numbering system. Reminds me of when I played football for Verdugo for a while. I used to be number 22 - a half backer (running back) during summer practice. I also connected a Facebook application to our website to help promote it.

I've been tired all day so i didn't get much else done. I still need more info and help from my other team members. If not, i wont be able to do this project. It's just too much for me and maybe 2 or 3 others to do. Sharon and Mercedes are going to begin finding pictures while Jane and the others research. Stretch and Matthew are still starting to help me out.

Lets see what tomorrow has in store for our group.

Not The Best Day

Well today wasn't the hardest day but it was still filled with things to do. Found out football came from a combination of soccer and rugby. Not only did I read up on the jersey numbering system, but we got some work done on our new website. I'm still doing most of the work but as long as I get my grade, I really dont care. Some are working and thats all that matters. Albert, Jane, Matthew Mercedes, Sharon, and I all have our Bloggers set up and are using it. Even so, this class is very chill, but enjoyable.

Other than that today wasn't filled with much action. Second is getting REALLY difficult. Ortiz is starting to get on my nerves. Third was boring like always, even more so since Morrison was absent. After school, a couple friends and I went for a picnic...at Mc. Donalds! And I had to consul my best friend since her baby cousin passed away this afternoon. Not the best day. But some things made it ok.

1st Post

Ok well this is my first ever blog. I don't really get it but it seems like it'll be fun.

Today we didnt really do much. just chill in class read our book for a while, and create a blogger. It wasn't too hard actually. Even though we haven't done it in class, I'll choose the first 10 standards that we'll be working on. I still dont want to really do a website. I know that I will be the one maintaining it. It seems like too much to ask. maybe a powerpoint, an essay, or a poster would be easier...