FINAL - Buddy Morris: From Nothing to Something

    Buddy Morris was born in 1956. He came from a Western Pennsylvania suburb named South Park. Buddy was one of five Morris brothers. His father left the family at a young age and left his mother alone to raise five boys. Although times were rough, Buddy found a way to see the light through sports in order to make something of himself.

Buddy was a star track and field athlete at the University of Pittsburgh until 1980, in which he was hired to become the head strength and conditioning coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers. He was one of the first ever strength and conditioning coaches hired, especially being at a big university such as Pitt. Buddy stayed there until 1990, when his daughter Claire had to have a liver transplant. Buddy then worked at a sports medicine clinic in a hospital until 1997, when NFL hall of fame quarterback Dan Marino had called Buddy to see if he'd return to Pitt. Buddy's second stint at Pitt was from 1997-2001. Buddy's career was just beginning at this point and he would later return to PITT again for a third stint.

      In 2001, Buddy got a call from the Cleveland Browns, and was asked if he'd join their team to be the head strength and conditioning coach. This was Buddy's first job in the NFL. Buddy worked for them until the end of the 2004 season. During the 2004-2005 season, Buddy was unemployed. In 2006, Buddy joined the University of Buffalo, which ranked 119 out of 119 in terms of D1 football schools. So Buddy went from the NFL to the very last eligible D1 college football school. After the season, former Pitt head football coach Dave Wannstedt called Buddy and asked him to return for his third stint. Buddy turned down jobs from both the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers just so his daughter could get free tuition from Pitt because she was attending PITT's nursing school. 

    After just one season at Pitt, Wannstedt was fired as Pitt's coach which left Buddy jobless. He sat around for a year and then the year after he opened a performance center gym in the Buffalo area which did not go as planned. Finally on March 4, 2014 Buddy got the call from former Steelers' offensive coordinator and good friend Bruce Arians to take the head strength and conditioning job with the Arizona Cardinals. Buddy is in the process of completing his first season with the team and they currently lead the NFC West division in the NFL.

      Today, Buddy is considered one of the most highly regarded experts in the industry. Buddy Morris went from nothing to something. Being one of five brothers to basically a single mom and managing to make something great out of his life was not an easy thing to do. Buddy Morris has taught himself most of the things he knows today and his workouts are pretty much self-made, just like himself. In the end it just goes to show that even when you have nothing, you can still make something out of it. Buddy has battled adversity in a variety of ways. Whether it was growing up without a father figure in life, to getting fired from a job, Buddy has handled being resilient very well.

Progress on Biography Project

Biography Proposal

     For this assignment, I am choosing my uncle Buddy Morris. Buddy was born as one of five boys in the Morris household. His father left his mother when he was very young, therefore he never quite had a father figure in his life. However, he is pretty successful in life nowadays. He is the strength and conditioning coach for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
 
    Buddy went through a lot of jobs and obstacles to get where he is today. Including coaching stints with the PITT Panthers, University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Browns and now currently Arizona Cardinals. Obstacles include new coaches, which means coaches affiliated with the head coach being replaced usually get fired, so it was hard for him to find work. Today he is with one of the best NFL teams the Arizona Cardinals, who could contend for the Super Bowl this year.

   I believe this is newsworthy because the of the timing, being that the Arizona Cardinals are a relevant football team this year. In terms of significance, any one who is a fan of the Arizona Cardinals and / or football in general could find this interesting. In terms of proximity, Buddy hails from the Pittsburgh area and got his start at the University of Pittsburgh, so locally it could be considered proximity. When it comes to prominence, he's not so famous himself, but the coaches he's worked with and NFL players he's trained throughout his career are. Examples include Dan Marino, Bruce Arians, Dave Wannstedt, Darnell Dockett, Larry Fitzgerald, and Andre Ellington just to name a few. Lastly, when it comes to human interest, this story may appeal because maybe many people can relate to growing up without a father figure, lots of siblings, and trying to make something of their life. Either way, I think doing my biography project on my uncle Buddy Morris will gain a lot of interest.

Winter at the Rock: The Struggle is Real

Winter is here at Slippery Rock. Here is a brief summary of the past winter, what to expect this winter and how you can prepare for it.

Meograph Project Proposal: Winter 2014-2015

     On November 14, 2014 SRU saw it's first snowfall of the season, although it was a dusting it was still enough to get people talking. November 16th night brought us more snow, covered sidewalks and the first real taste of winter.

 With winter upon us at Slippery Rock University, I would like to do my Meograph project on winter and try and get opinions of what we can expect this winter here at SRU. I will attempt to find students who have never experienced snow and or lived in an area like this where so much snow is common and get their opinions of the weather. Also, I will include a timeline of the previous winters throughout my life, including the Blizzard of '93 AKA the "storm of the century", as well as the winter last year that lead to a few delays and a closings at SRU and many winters in between. I would like to try and get a winter forecast projection from one of the departments at SRU and or a newscast. In addition, with more snowfall expected this week and colder temperatures, I will try and capture some videos of the winter and hopefully record traffic problems and or something that happened because of the weather to make the story more interesting.

 I believe winter a very newsworthy topic for students at SRU because it will all impact our lives. The timing is perfect as we've already been hit with our first snowstorm. The significance of winter affects all students in terms of traveling, class schedules, work, life, etc. Proximity is perfect too considering SRU and anything north of Pittsburgh is known for brutal winters. In terms of prominence, if the right interview is available or the right source, the project could have prominence. In terms of human interest and emotion, most people get really angry when they hear "snow is on the way", or "temperatures below 0" so there is human interest here.

Governors Race: Election Day, November 4th, 2014

November 4th is a pivotal day every two and four years. The 2014 Pennsylvania governors race is the hot debate, especially for a small town college town. It seems as though change is coming as many students, faculty and others will turn to the polls to vote democrat Tom Wolf into office and give current governor, Republican Tom Corbett the boot. In these videos, Joe Lofton a war veteran, VFW officer and former Slippery Rock physics and chemistry professor Dave Taylor discuss why Tom Wolf is needed for Pennsylvania. On the contrary, Susan Oliver discusses why Tom Corbett needs to stay in office. Lofton and Taylor support future governor hopeful Tom Wolf because they feel that Corbett's education cuts have really hurt Pennsylvania students and teachers, citing that $1 billion dollars was cut as well as 27,000 teachers fired. Susan Oliver believes the answer is not taking more taxes from people and giving it to others, and believes that taking money from other people is wrong. Also, she believes Corbett will keep taxes low. Either way, this year's governor election will be very important to those in Pennsylvania as many are fed up with how Corbett has handled the budget and his term in office. Voting hours in Slippery Rock township run from 7AM to 8PM so voters have all day to go out and vote. Either way, this election proves to be an important one for not only Slippery Rock township members, but Pennsylvania as well.

SRU Opinions: PA Governors Race