RGIII’s Road To Recovery

Last year Robert Griffin III tore his ACL. It was a devastating injury that was hard for all Redskins fans to hear. But now RGIII has recovered and made it back for the beginning of the 2013 season. First game though he had a bad first half acting timid under pressure and missing passes. It’s also not hard to see that he’s not running like he used to either. Last year before the injury, RGIII was one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the NFL. So my question is will RGIII comeback to be the RGIII all Redskins fans knew and grew to love?

I believe RGIII can make it back to a full recovery. I don’t think it’s going to be very soon though. Without any preseason games he came back timid. But on top of that he, in my eyes, is not fully recovered. RGIII will be back to his full capability by the middle of the season. Yes, I don’t believe he will run like he did until then. I know some people will disagree and say he’s fine now but think about it. First and second game of the season he was not doing what he did last year. He’s running but trying to avoid contact, he’s throwing but off balance. It’s the little things that make a difference of a 5 yard run and a 15 yard run or an incomplete pass and a 20 – 30 yard pass. So my look is that RGIII is not back yet and when he is. You’ll know.

~Michael Sansone

PhoneBloks A Phone Worth Keeping

Millions of electronics are thrown out because they are old or worn out and aren’t reusable. Electronic waste is rising and becoming one of the fastest growing waste streams on the planet. Now you may ask why it is growing so fast. The culprit of this disaster is most likely in your pocket. Are you surprised that your phone is the number one cause for electronic waste? You shouldn’t be. The roughly 7 billion people in the world get a new phone every 2 years. To solve this problem Dave Hakkens came up with a concept phone or an idea. It’s called PhoneBloks and uses the idea of an upgradeable phone. A Phoneblok is made of detachable bloks. There is a base that connects all the other bloks and with two simple screws it locks everything together into a solid phone. The idea is that if your phone is running slow that you can just upgrade the block effecting the speed. Also, this idea will allow you to truly customize your phone. If you like to take pictures, then get a bigger camera blok. If you want to keep it simple, then you can get a larger battery blok and a smaller camera. Finally there could be a blok store that would  sell all these different bloks. You could pick and choose from large name brands like Sony or Canon. You could even buy from small businesses that are trying to get there name on the big screens. All of the possibilities are endless with the PhoneBloks.

Personally, I believe this idea could be the next Apple IPhone or Samsung Galaxy if the right CEO’s and companies get involved. Dave Hakkens wants as many people to spread this around and create a roar to show CEO’s and companies the possibilities of PhoneBloks. You can join the Thunderclap and spread the word. On October 29th, 2013 he is going to send out the roar and encourages all to talk, tweet, post, etc. to show the world the promise of PhoneBloks. I believe that this is going to have a large impact on the electronic waste and helping the environment for the good. Join the roar and spread the word for a better phone, for you and the environment. PhoneBloks, a phone worth keeping.

~Nick Nieves

 

Fire and Water: A Damaging Duo

Superstorm Sandy ravaged up the east coast a year ago, destroying everything in its path with its wicked winds and torrential rain. One of the places it hit the hardest was New Jersey, which is famous for its boardwalks, fairs, and other tourist attractions. One such boardwalk is the Seaside Park Boardwalk, which was torn apart by the storm. It had been completely rebuilt as of five months ago, the repairs costing more than $8,000,000 dollars. However, just this week, it all came down once again!  But this time, due to fire, not water. Wiring underneath a custard cart/candy shop had been negatively impacted by Sandy’s wind and salty water, and the wires eventually became so damaged an electrical fire was started. Wind carried the fire down the boardwalk, and would’ve burned all of it, including all of the shops along it, but luckily local work crews came and created a barrier to stop the fire, and then snuffed it out with giant sand dunes. Governor Chris Christie later announced the planned $15,000,000 renovation of the boardwalk using money from donations for Sandy recovery, to repair all of the businesses and attractions along the boardwalk.

Personally, I am very glad that the town of Seaside Heights and the state of New Jersey is already talking about rebuilding this boardwalk and its businesses, because this town needs them. Think of how many people work at the stores, restaurants, and other attractions on that boardwalk. Think of how many people there lost their jobs first because of Superstorm Sandy, and then got them back, only to have them burned to the ground five months later. Think of the relief they’re experiencing, knowing they’ll be back on track again. Also, I’m actually sort of glad that this happened, because this has brought to attention the possibility of these electrical fires from damaged wires. It will have people who might have been affected by Sandy make sure everything is ok as well, because we certainly don’t want this happening again. I’ve never to New Jersey for an extended period of time myself, but I have been to a boardwalk, and they are lots of fun, so I’m happy for the people of Seaside Heights that they are getting theirs back up and running for the second, and hopefully last, time.

 ~Mark Dellostritto

Experiencing The Big E

Have you ever been to the Big E? This year the Big E is being held in West Springfield, MA from September 13th to the 29th. There are lots of different things to explore there.

This year, one of its greatest draws would be the food. There is so much to choose from and many of the Big E’s millions of visitors all have their favorites, whether its the turkey legs, the baked stuffed Maine potatoes, the French beignets, or the fair’s signature cream puffs. Also check out the Big E-Z Cafe, with lots of waistband expanding goodies of all sorts. This includes the Craz-E breakfast sandwich featuring two eggs on a glazed donut with a choice of a sausage patty, bacon, or both! (can you imagine how many calories are in that?) Another Big-E delicacy  is the Chocolate Baconana, created by chef Mary Ann Brick of the Veggie Patch.  It is a frozen banana on a stick, dipped in chocolate, and rolled in real bacon. To me, some of that doesn’t exactly sound very satisfying, but thats what the people like. So if you ever check out the Big-E, be sure to try all kinds of different foods, you never know what you might like there.. I surely don’t.

One other thing that attracts people to coming is the huge amount of entertainment provided at the Big-E. Seriously, you will never run out of stuff to do. Whether you check out one if the concerts featuring Today’s hottest singers, or experience the amazing Mardi Gras Parade, there is entertainment for all ages… or so I’ve heard. If you want to see top-name talent, then visit the Xfinity Arena near the site of the fair’s concerts. The Arena seats over 6000 people, so don’t worry about getting your tickets on time. So thats most of the entertainment at the Big-E, but if you visit, you’ll probably discover much more fun things to do there.

~Rachel Mola