February: Not just about Valentine's Day

byline: Monti says what is the point?

Thoughts on Friendship

Teammates are eating breakfast together

Making memories with friends at lunch

The boys

Ladies talking about who knows what

Real friends will talk in the cold

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/24/14

February: Not only about Valentine’s Day

            Did you know that it is international friendship month?  Do not sweat it, neither did anyone else that was interviewed.  It seems that not very many people know that it is international friendship month, so why is it even necessary to declare it.  The whole idea of having a month to really devote time and effort into friends is silly due to the fact that people always want to do something fun and they want to have that fun with their friends.  Fun is a priority in American culture these days more so that it has been in the past.  But people do not just sit at home and have fun by themselves all the time; they have fun with their friends.

            When I asked Mr. Montisano if he was aware that February is international friendship month, he answered saying, “Well, I have not really checked my Hallmark calendar, so I was not aware.  I did not know.”  I then followed that question with the question, is it necessary to have an international friendship month and if so, why?  Mr. Montisano answered very well and said, ‘well at first it sounds unnecessary, because we should have friendship every single day, but it is always good to be reminded of good things like that. 

            I asked Mark Montisano if he thought that he would try to make some international friends or acquaintances in the spirit of the friendship themed month and he said, he is not opposed to that idea of making some international friends if that is how things play out, but he said he will probably just do what he always does and just hang out and make plans with his friends that he has right now.  Mark Montisano said that he will make sure to tell his friends that they mean a lot to him and that he appreciates their friendship but he said humorously, that he probably will not call them all on the phone and tell them to have a happy friendship month.  

            Being a student at Avila, I walked around campus asking the same question; “Are you aware that it is international friendship month.”  Everybody looked at me like I was being weird, annoying, or they just nicely said that they did not know.  The funny part is that nobody knows or seems to care that it is international friendship month.  This is the reason why I believe it to be unnecessary.  Where did international friendship month come from anyway?

            It turns out, there is not much research or literature on the international friendship month.  Some say that international friendship month started in South American countries like Paraguay around the year of 1958. (Wikipedia).  There is not a whole lot of official literature on international friendship month.  It seems that several months have a day devoted fro friendship and doing nice or appreciative things for your friend or friends.   So why then does February have to have a whole month devoted to it and why do people not even know that it is declared international friendship month?

            In conclusion to my research about international friendship month and its relevance or the need for it, I found that there really is not a need for a whole month dedicated to friendship.  It seems that the general consensus about friendship is that most everyone does well with having friends, talking with friends, and hanging out with friends.  I also found that social media is a great contributor to having, building, and making friendship.  People have that need and want for support and to love and be loved by other people.  We seek out friends.  Friendship is not an area that the general population struggles with therefore, I find it unnecessary to devote a whole month to 

Marcus Smart Suspension: Was it enough?

 By line: Monti gets the opinion of other athletes

msn.foxsports.com

What Did You Say to Me?

espn.go.com

Marcus Smart gets T-ed Up.

collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com

Come on Ref, Did You Hear What He Called Me?

Mark Montisano's thoughts on Smart's Suspension

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/17/14

Marcus Smart Suspension: Was it enough?

            There is a lot of controversy over the Marcus Smart suspension of three games.  Is three games enough, is three games necessary, does this hurt his draft potential?  Should he have to apologize?  Should the fan who said the things to Marcus Smart to provoke him have to apologize and should he be banned from Texas Tech basketball games?  These thoughts and more are running through many sporting fan’s heads. 

            Anthony Ziccorelli, an outfielder for the Avila University baseball team said that, it probably will never be truthfully reported, what the fan said exactly, but because Marcus Smart is an athlete he is going to be held to a higher standard than the fan, even if what the fan said was nasty and hateful.  But, Anthony Ziccorelli says, there is no excuse to ever walk up into the stands and get in the face of a fan and lay hands on them.  This will hurt his draft potential, it will hurt his team because he’ll probably get suspended, he should have been ejected or kicked off of the team.  No matter what is said to a player by a fan, the athlete has to have enough self control to at least walk away.  Anthony says, I feel sorry for Marcus Smart because in the heat of the moment we all do stupid stuff that we should not do, but at the same time, I do not feel sorry for him because he is responsible for his own actions and has already thrown temper tantrums on the court this year.  You cannot be a hot head like that and lose control and common sense like that.  Marcus Smart hurt his team. 

            Mark Montisano another colligate athlete says that his jaw dropped when he saw it happen live on camera.  “I was in total shock, when I saw it happen.  He cannot lose control like that and touch a fan; no matter what was said.”  Mark Montisano is a supporter of the three game suspension because he said if athletes are allowed to push the envelope and not held to a standard of rules and code of conduct without bluffing of things like suspensions and school’s/coach’s power to kick a player off of a team, then they will push the envelope further and further and then there will be trouble all the time.  Mark Montisano says that it is better for Marcus to learn this now, before he goes to the NBA for the fact that fans there will haggle players even more harshly than the college fans do.  “If you want to be a pro athlete you have to be able to handle trash talk from the opposing players and fans.  Fans say horrible and dumb things to professional athletes at sporting event that they participate in.  If he cannot take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.”   

            In conclusion, the general consensus of athletes asked about the suspension based on the actions of Marcus Smart is that it was well deserved.  They also agree that the fan should have some kind of punishment or suspension as well from being allowed to come to home games at Texas Tech.  These athletes made it clear that being an athlete comes with a responsibility to behave oneself because there is always someone watching.

Snow-apocalypse: What happend to Monti?

What happened to Monti on his snow day?

Snow-apocalypse 

Will dad make it to work?

Taking matters into our own hands. 

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/10/14

Snow-apocalypse

            Let it snow, let it snow let it snow!  February 4^th and 5^th were snow days for most every school and university in the Missouri and Kansas area.  Specifically, Avila University canceled classes due to the massive amounts of snow.

            At my house, in Blue Springs, MO it snowed 11 inches total. The city of Blue Springs, normally does a fantastic job of clearing the roads of snow, and making it safe to be out and about, for those that need to be.  The snow that fell of Tuesday and Wednesday proved to be too much snow to handle.  The cul de sac where my house sits upon did not get cleared of snow by the snow plows until late Wednesday evening on the 5^th.  My father, Mel Montisano had to go to work on Wednesday but was literally snowed in due to the smaller car he drives to work and the amount of snow that had accumulated.  Mel found the only was to make it to work was to shovel the driveway and the cul de sac all the way to the street.  So, Mel grabbed his two sons, Mark Montisano and myself, and put us to work.

            The snow that day was a dry and light weight powdery snow.  I remember saying more than once how lucky we were that it was a powdery snow instead of a wet snow because a wet snow is heavy.

            We got the snow shoveled and taken care of and sent Mel off to work.  The rest of the day was spent working on homework and school projects. I was assigned to write a descriptive essay on a work of art that is held currently in Avila’s art Gallery.  The art work is called the “Shrine of Holda.”  It was a very attractive piece and I enjoyed writing my essay on it. 

            Overall, I believe my snow days were well spent.  I got caught up on school, I got caught up on sleep and relaxation, and I even got some exercise in shoveling all of that snow off the driveway and the cul de sac.  Snow days are well spent when you can take care of business and get some extended relaxation in as well.

           

            

Superbowl Commercials: do they measure up to the past greats?

www.adweek.com

Laurence Fishburne sings in KIA luxury commercial?

www.superbowl-commercials.org

Most boring Superbowl commercial ever

www.dailymal.co.uk

Clydesdales are always a big hit in Budweiser commercials 

www.usatoday.com

Doritos strikes again!

Which Superbowl commercial was the most well done. 

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/5/14

Super bowl Commercial criticism

            The Super bowl is watched by millions of people all over the United States and several other nations as well; not all of which are football fans, some of these viewers just enjoy the commercials.  This is with good reason because the Super Bowl is the biggest stage for TV commercials all year long.  Some critics say that this years super bowl commercials were disappointing and boring compared to the past Super Bowl’s commercials.

            The Budweiser commercials every year feature the Budweiser Clydesdales and they are always a fan favorite for their sentimental value.  Every year the commercials are well thought out, different from past commercials, and always memorable.  This year it was based on puppy love.  The owners of the land who owned the Clydesdales were giving puppies away.  This one puppy did not want to leave it’s home or it’s Clydesdale friends.  When they would give the puppy away to an owner the puppy would always escape and make it’s way back to the Clydesdales.  Then one day the owner of the puppy gave the dog away to a man and when the man was driving home the Clydesdales chased him down and set the puppy free and walked back home.  The owners of the land with the Clydesdales and the puppy decided there was no getting rid of this little pup, so they kept him. This commercial was very well done.

            The Kia luxury car commercial was fantastic.  It showed a lot of the great looking car inside and out.  The commercial also gave off the vibe of how quiet and sophisticated this car was so sophisticated that featured the famous actor Laurence Fishburne who “sang” an opra tune that was very pleasing to the ears. This was a very good commercial.

            The Doritos commercials around Super Bowl time are always funny.  Specifically the commercial with the boy who smarts off to his mother when asked to carry the groceries inside; his mother says that she guesses that means nobody wants Doritos in a taunting way.  The boy then jumps out of his chair, gets off of his phone, and flicks his little sisters hat down and it covers her eyes.  The little sister then whistles for the dog, she is then seen riding her dog like a horse over to her brother who has the bag of Doritos.  She lassos the Doritos then lassos her brother and ties his legs up like they do in the rodeo event called calf roping.  The mother comes outside and sees this and cheers for her daughter after roping up her brother (and her son). Not sure how anyone could help laughing at this commercial. This commercial was very funny.