Rockin' in the free world

I'll be living with a cinnamon girl this weekend.

Or maybe it'll be 5 of my good buddies, stinking it up in a Suburban for the weekend. Either way it'll be a blast!

This time tomorrow I am going to be in Camden, New Jersey getting prepared to listen to one of Canada's all-time great artists, Neil Young.

Headlining Farm Aid 2006 with Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and John Mellancamp, Young is the main reason why myself, and 5 of my friends are taking the 12-hour-long road trip to New Jersey.

Only 10-minutes outside of Philadelphia, Camden is home to the Tweeter Centre where the rockin' show will take place. An amphitheatre type set-up, there is seating set up in the front, with lawn seats surrounding the outside. We'll be on the lawn.

I'm looking forward to Young playing such tunes as Powder Finger, Old Man, My,my,hey, hey, Cinnamon Girl, and Rockin' in the Free World.

Not to be out done, I'm sure the shows put on by Matthews, Mellancamp, and Nelson will be equally as entertaining and just as memorable.

So off I go, to pack, and get ready for the road trip. I will be writing a full-length feature article in the Interrobang next week about the show and I will try and post it here before publication, complete with pictures.

3rd week of work in the books

Week three is in the books.

My new job as full-time writer for the Interrobang, Fanshawe Colleges' Student newspaper, is going extremely well. This is actually my first full-time gig upon graduating from college last year, and university the year before that.

I have made the progression thus far with the Interrobang, as last year I was the part-time sports writer for the paper as I finished up my schooling in the Corporate Communication and Public Relations program.

The people at the paper must have liked my work, as they asked me to come back full-time this year as the full-time staff writer, covering not only sports but general news coverage, opinion, and entertainment.

I have kept my weekly column, Sports in Seconds, which is basically my spin on different topics in the realm of sports. This blog will be a good source to read many of my columns as I will post the majority of them on here.

Many of my other stories will be posted on here as well, mostly one's that I feel I worked very hard on, and are particularly proud of.

I'm very proud to be writing full-time, I get the sense of accomplishment each week knowing that I put everything I have into each article I write, and to see the finished product printed in the paper, I find that very satisfying.

Sports in Seconds: Tigers are taking over in Mo-Town

Aaron Hall
Interrobang

Published: Monday, September 18, 2006

It was only three years ago (2003) that the Detroit Tigers were the laughing stock of Major League Baseball (MLB), and broke the American League record of 119 losses in a single season.

But how times have changed for the men in Detroit. They have turned the entire franchise around and maintained first place in the American League (AL) Central division for the majority of the 2006 season.

Living between Detroit and Toronto my entire life, I was always pressured to root for the other local team, the Toronto Blue Jays. However even through the glory years of Toronto during the early 1990’s, I still cheered, although quietly, for Detroit and maintained the hope that they would someday muster up some amount of respectability and credibility. Well I can finally say that that day has come.

Lost amongst the continuous coverage of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, the on-going steroid scandal and the pursuit of Hank Aaron’s all-time homerun record by the quickly shrinking Barry Bonds, the Tigers are easily the feel good story of the summer for MLB.

Led by first-year manager Jim Leyland, who previously in his career led the Pittsburgh Pirates to the playoffs in 1992 and the Florida Marlins to the World Series title in 1997, the Tigers are going to have their first winning season since 1993.

Leyland said of his team, who at one point this season were 40 games above .500 and 10.5 games ahead in the AL Central division, that expectations were exceeded so far this season.

“I told everybody all along that we didn't expect to be 40 games over .500,” Leyland said in an interview for MLB.com. “We're somewhere in between. But we're a very good baseball team.”

Despite not having a legitimate superstar on their roster, besides future Hall of Famer’ Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, the Tigers have truly utilized a combined team effort towards their success.

Offensively, Detroit is led by Magglio Ordonez whose .293 batting average leads the team, and relatively unknown’s Marcus Thames, Craig Munroe, and Brandon Inge, who have 25, 24, and 23 homeruns respectively.

Detroit owns the AL’s best pitching staff of which has a major league leading 3.71 team Earned Run Average (ERA). Standing out amongst the Tigers pitchers is rookie starter Justin Verlander.

Verlander, whose 16 wins and 3.19 ERA are tops for Detroit, is the odds on favourite to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award and should also be considered for the Cy Young Award for the AL’s top pitcher overall.

So although I don’t have a binder filled with baseball cards of the 2006 version of the Tigers, and believe me I do for the lowly Tigers from about 1989 to 1992, I still feel a sense of pride for the boys from Mo-town this season.

Even if their current slide, 10 wins and 22 losses since August 7th, results in Detroit falling out of playoff contention, it has still been very enjoyable to see the Tigers actually be in the hunt for the pennant and create a long-awaited buzz around Detroit for baseball.

Sports in Seconds: Howard chasing the elusive number 61

Aaron Hall
Interrobang

Published: Monday, September 25, 2006

Last week I wrote about the feel good story of the summer in Major League Baseball (MLB) from a team perspective. This week it’s all about an individual.

Ryan Howard, the first-baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, is having a mammoth year statistically. Currently with 57 home-runs of the year, Howard is chasing former New York Yankee Roger Maris’ mark of 61 home-runs set in 1961.

Some may be wondering- “didn’t Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have a magical battle in 1998, passing Maris in the process, ending with 70 and 66 home-runs each that year?

And didn’t Barry Bonds surpass both McGwire and Sosa in 2001 with an incredible 73 homeruns to set the all-time single-season home-run record?

People would be right recalling these facts, however it is impossible not to say that the records of Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire are questionable, tainted, or bogus in the haze of allegations and accusations of steroid-use during the record-breaking years for the three aforementioned players.

You can argue that Howard’s run at 61 homeruns is the first legitimate chance at breaking the mark set by Maris, and even if Howard doesn’t reach the number this year, he has plenty of time to get there.

At 26, Howard is currently in his second full-season with Philadelphia, after winning the National League (NL) Rookie-of-the-Year award last season. Howard is now the odds of favourite to capture the NL’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2006.

Howard’s Phillies are in the thick of the NL wild card chase and sit second, only 1.5 games behind the San Diego Padres.

When looking at Howard, his physical appearance of 6’4, 252 pounds resembles that of McGwire and Sosa during their juicing prime, however with the current and strictly enforced drug policy set in place by MLB, Howard can only be considered a naturally huge man.

“The only juicing Ryan has ever done is apple and orange,” Howard’s brother Chris said in a USA Today article.

Chris is 6’5, 270 pounds, and Howard’s twin Corey is 6’6, 250 pounds, leaving Howard as the smallest of the three brothers.

Howard’s run at homerun supremacy has not gotten the coverage of the 1998 chase between McGwire and Sosa, which arguably was a very positive experience for the game of baseball.

“People can say what they want, but what McGwire and Sosa did in 1998 was good for the game,” Howard told USA Today. “Everyone loved that home-run race. It is tough now because there’s a cloud over this game. Hopefully, that storm cloud will break up one day. Baseball needs that.”

It saddens me in a way that the 1998 chase was “not real” so to speak, considering I was obsessed with both McGwire and Sosa during that time, and looked at their super-hero efforts with awe and amazement.

So although I may not be glued to the television every spare moment as I was as a teenager in 1998, checking if Howard has connected with another home-run, I can honestly say that I have the utmost respect for Howard as he is in the midst of his great athletic achievement.

I used to give that same respect to Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, however feeling almost betrayed by them, I have to say that respect has completely diminished.

Security issues raised in wake of Dawson College shootings

Aaron Hall
Interrobang

Published: Monday, September 25, 2006

Kimveer Gill’s murderous rampage at Dawson College earlier this month has raised many questions and concerns regarding security at college and university campuses across the country.

Gill’s actions not only lead to his own death, but also to the death of 18-year-old fellow student, Anastasia DeSousa. The 25-year-old student also wounded 19 others when he unleashed two loaded weapons onto fellow college students.

“Everyone is deeply saddened by this tragic event, it is something we’ll never forget,” Manager of Security Services at Fanshawe College, Ed Pimentel said.

Fanshawe Student Union President Christine Thomson said the shootings really hit home, considering a tragic event like this occurred in Canada and not the United States.

“I spoke to some other student leaders from various other colleges and we all wondered what we would do if a situation like this arose at our own college,” Thomson said.

“However, we haven’t had any specific concerns from students at Fanshawe suggesting that they do not feel safe on our campus.”

Pimentel said the mindset of his security staff has heightened in terms of awareness, and the fact that similar situations could happen at Fanshawe College remain prominent in their minds.
Fanshawe’s own security processes were reflected upon after the Dawson shootings and considerations were taken in the event of a similar situation occurring at Fanshawe, Pimentel said.

“Events like these are very difficult to prevent,” Pimentel said. “You could go to the extreme and place a security guard at each entrance or also put metal detectors everywhere, but that is not conducive to the learning environment at a college campus.”

Fanshawe has an existing emergency plan and an enhanced plan under development, which will help provide a safe and secure environment for the college community.

“Our new emergency plan sets an infrastructure that can be flexible in the case of any incident,” Pimentel said. “It will include a high-end response to all incidents and an all-hazard risk approach. It also includes protocol on how to handle an active shooter.”

Pimentel said Fanshawe Security has been in contact with London Police’s Tactical Division and have had dialogue regarding how to facilitate an event similar to the Dawson College incident.

“Police response is going to be shortened,” Pimentel said. “The police have a different approach now, and they will engage the shooter right away rather then waiting and setting up a tactical plan, which could take up to ten or fifteen minutes.”

In light of the tragic incident at Dawson College, Fanshawe Security has issued a set of strategic precautions student should in the event of a similar critical incident.

If you are in a classroom or office, stay there and immediately lock or secure all doors. Lock or close the windows, close any blinds or curtains, stay out of view of all windows, and be as quiet as possible.

Turn off all lights and audio equipment and stay out of open areas. Stay calm and keep doors and windows closed until police or security arrives to give directions.

If possible, and when safe to do so, call the Fanshawe Security Control Centre at extension 4242 (from a London Campus internal phone) or 519-452-4242. Control Centre staff will immediately contact 911 with the information that you have provided.

“The instinct for survival will kick in when put in this type of situation,” Pimentel said.

“The biggest thing is if you are out of site, you are out of mind. If you can get out of the building do so as quickly as you can, and warn people along the way not to enter. You don’t need to be a hero either, security and police are trained to handle these situations.”

Introduction

I have had plans to start a blog for about a year now, but I have finally decided to start posting some of my thoughts on this site.

I will hope to utilize this blog as a tool to help further develop my writing skills as well as share some ideas, concerns, and feelings that I have towards various subjects that I am passionate about.

Hopefully I can gather a following of interested individuals reading my postings, and also catch to eye of some people looking at hiring freelance writers.

I'm looking forward to this very much and please feel free to post comments on any of my thoughts.

Cheers.