Erik Rico- Sports Reporter
I am a writer for the Redwood Gigantea sports section. I write mostly boys sports stories and sports that I'm familiar with just because I feel I know more about what is happening and how to cover it. I've learned that being a journalist is a bit harder than you think but once you get the hang of it, the ideas start to come easier and better. What I do is important because I try to make the best stories I can and think outside the box for the Gigantea. I'm proud of making fun sports content for the readers of the Gigantea.
Semester 1 Stories
Create a content block for each story you have published this semester. You can duplicate the blocks below for each story you have written. DELETE THIS PARAGRAPH when you are done.
Redwood Coach's Perspective on Football Season:
This story was made for the Cowhide newspaper and it was featured. This story is mainly focused on a few varsity coaches and how they felt about how the season has went. We also interviewed JV coach Leppke about his new coaching job and got good insight. One of my journalistic strengths that was on display was good use of interesting quotes and using good quotes. This shows great interviewing skills because we interviewed 3 people and got great answers for the story. It shows good reporting skills because we used our quotes to our advantage and integrated them well.
This story matters because people were informed on how the coaches have felt about this year and the last few years. It impacts the reader of the Gigantea because they get inside information into how the coaches have been and what they think. Its helps our reader community find what the coaches are thinking about their players and the team.
Redwood Boys Wrestling Paving Their Path to the CIF State Championships
This story was made in around 1 week to cover what is going on for Redwood Wrestling in the playoffs. The story is mainly focused around the winners of the EYL Championships and how they feel they performed in their matches. We interviewed 6 different wrestlers and got good insight on them and also how they felt going into the CIF State Championships. One of my journalistic strengths that was on display was getting the correct responses to questions and getting the right resources for a great story. This shows good interviewing skills because we interviewed 6 different people and got great answers. It shows good reporting skills because we got it out before the next meet and reported on an important topic.
This story matters because people were informed on how the wrestlers were feeling going into the Valley championships. It impacts the reader of the Gigantea because they now know more about the wrestlers and about their personalities and wrestling personalities. It helps our reading community find what the wreslters want out of the end of the season.
A New Season Begins for Redwood Baseball
This story was made to inform the reader that Redwood Baseball practice has started up for Fall Ball. The story's main focus was on The people that were interviewed Joey Rico, Gavin Caetano, And Israel Llernas. They were mainly asked about how they felt going into the new season and what they expected for their team and for themselves. One of my journalistic strengths that was on display was using my resources and also asking the right questions. This story shows decent interviewing skills because I only interviewed my brothers so it was pretty easy to talk to them and Chance interviewed a freshman to get his perspective on the team. It shows good reporting skills because maybe someone that was a freshman and was unsure that there was practice taking place read the story and went out to practice the next week.
This story matters because people were put on what the practices have been like so far and how the player have felt about practice so far. It impacts the reader of the Gigantea because they get to find out how the players are taking in the new season. It helps the reading community find what the season should be like and what to expect coming into the spring from our baseball team.
More than Just a Game: Fantasy Football and its Connection to students
This story was made by Lucas and I to show readers the fun that fantasy football has to offer. The story's main focus was to get the thoughts of Redwood's students on the new fantasy football season and what they think about fantasy football. They were mainly asked about what they liked most about fantasy football and what they think about the game in general. One of my journalistic strengths that was on display was using creative ways to involve quotes and commentary from the writer at the same time. This story shows strong interviewing skills because Lucas and I tried to get a diverse group of fantasy football players with some playing for 3 years and some being newcomers to the game. It shows good reporting skills because we got the story out early in the football season and tried to spread the people out that we interviewed.
This story matters because fantasy football is one of the biggest sports games for fans in the USA. I believe that Fantasy Football is one of the best ways to interact with football and its great game. It impacts the reader of the Gigantea because they get to read about what happens inside the game. It helps the reading community find out how they can have more fun watching football.
Redwood Frosh Football Standouts
This was my first story I made for the Gigantea and it was made to highlight a couple of up and coming players on the Freshman football team. The story's main focus was to show the talent of the players that may not get the same attention as the players on varsity. These 2 players ended up both being called up for playoffs and were successful. They were mainly asked about their goals for the season and their background involving the players with football. One of my journalistic strengths that was on display was incorperating quotes into the story well. This story shows decent interviewing skills because I interviewed one of them online but still got the information that I needed for the story. It shows good reporting skills because I used my wording well for my first story and tried to incorperate the right words into the story.
This story matters most to me because its my first story but it also matters because freshman football could get more attention from the story and these 2 players could be highlighted from this story. It impacts the reader of the Gigantea because they can find more out about the the younger players in the football season. It helps the reading community find out what could be coming in the future for the Rangers.
Reflection
In this area, reflect on your growth. This work should have three parts.
Where have I been?
When I signed up for journalism, I was excited because I wanted to learn more about how to write stories. I kind of expected to have lots of assignments but I found out that you can be more free and creative. You can find what you want to write about and have fun with the stories you write. I thought that we had to write ELA type stories but we can use more word play and also the stories are a lot more simple to write.
Where am I now?
I have gained much more creativity and new writing skills from journalism. I can write deeper stories and cover more of what the Gigantea needs. I can interview better and ask better questions now than at the beginning of the class. I also feel like I give much better story ideas and class ideas than at the beginning of the year.
Where am I going?
3 goals I have for next semester are to create valuable and thorough stories. I also want to get around 10 stories out and be in the "sports illustrated" magazine twice. I want our section to be close to as good as period 1 and create almost as many stories as them.