Luke’s Lens

A Years Recap Of My NNHS Year

 

Intro

Wow, I am near the end of my first and last year at Naperville North High School and man I will say it has been an interesting school year to say the least. Moving to the opposite side of Naperville (South Naperville) all the way to the north side (Near Lisle) is something that now at this point I’ve had around a year to process. I remember when I found out that I would be going to Naperville North. The first thing I did was shoot a text to Aidan, Aidan was one of the only people I knew at Naperville North at the time and lucky enough he was going to be my Quarterback in the upcoming fall. I obviously talked to Aidan about football at Naperville North because I love football, but I also got to chat with him just about the school in general. The following week, me and my brother Brock were up at the field running routes and catching with Aidan. This was our first introduction to Naperville North. Looking back on that moment I remember wondering if the change was going to be something I dreaded or if it was gonna be something that I was extremely happy about. Now after almost a full year I can say I’m very happy to be graduating at Naperville North, and here’s why in a recap!

 

Football Season:

Man, the football season was fun and the crazy thing is. I don’t really think any of us accomplished what we wanted to and that was a State Championship and DVC Title. Looking back on it I can honestly say I feel like our season was a disappointment. Now for most teams going 7-3 is not a disappointing season. However, I feel like for the roster and guys we had we didn’t quite live up to our billing. I felt like we were good enough to compete for a state title and we didn’t end up getting there. That doesn’t fall back on any group in particular, I just dont think things shook our way this season when it came to the wins and losses column. That’s just how highly I felt about this year’s Roster and Coaching Staff. On the more bright side though the season was fun. Bouncing back from adversity and running through Naperville Central in our rematch. (Aidan was in during the first game BTW.) The competition during practice was fun. Me, Luke and Brock doing the crane celebration that a lot of people started to imitate throughout the season. Aidan and Brock grabbing over 2 million views on a tik tok. Everything about the season was thoroughly enjoyable and even though the season wasn’t perfect it was some of the most fun I’ve had playing football. 

Winter on the North Side:

Now there is a slightly boring part to every movie and for my first year at naperville north this winter served as the boring part. Now I still had fun but this was probably the least involved i’ve been with Naperville North. In the winter I did a lot of basketball games watching with my friends from other schools and I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the year however as far as this part of the year’s connection with Naperville North it was really just school to be honest. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just the honest truth though. You have to have lows so you can enjoy the highs. 

The Spring:

Surprisingly the spring has maybe been my favorite part of the year at Naperville North and I’m going to be completely honest with you. Powder Puff football has been the main reason for that. Firstly, I just enjoy coaching Powder Puff. It’s always fun for me to be in a football environment and being able to teach and coach (in a very competitive manner, our team is taking powder puff seriously) is pretty cool. Also though Powder Puff has brought together my Original friends and my Naperville North friends. One of my best friends Tadiwa (who goes to Neuqua) has been helping Me, Aidan and Troy coach the powder puff team. Along with my friends Jordan and Armani being lightly involved as well. Overall Powder Puff has provided a nice collision between what were like the two sides of my world. The spring also has brought along track season which I have really enjoyed. Getting faster, Getting Closer with my schoolmates and just vibing has been fun. Track is very fun because it is just a very competitive sport where everyone kind of shows love to each other and Naperville North track is a great representation of that. Overall though the spring has been fun and I have really enjoyed my spring at Naperville North. 

Overall: 

Overall man, I’m happy that I’m here. I really really am. It’s been different, I don’t really know everyone like I did at Waubonsie and north has had its ups and downs. However, If I could do it all over again I absolutely would.

NNHS POWDER PUFF

It is currently April and this is the time of the year when the sun comes out and the seniors start to get a sense of bitter joy. The senior festivities will all start to roll in in a matter of days and weeks. Prom, Senior Celebration and even the long awaited graduation. However there is one senior event this sunday that is very high in my personal list of importance and that is the 2023 NNHS Powder Puff Championship. Powder Puff is a lovely game/event that I feel like everyone can and should enjoy. Whether you like football or not it’s always fun to watch a group of girls come and try their hardest to compete in a game of flag football. 

I personally am an assistant coach of the Blitz Babes which is head coached by Naperville North QB Aidan Gray. Our other assistant coaches consist of Troy Salela and Tadiwa Nyamunduru. We have a very talented roster and I personally have pretty high expectations heading into saturday. I’m just gonna say it straight up, it is championship or bust on sunday. If we don’t win it all I’m going to be disappointed. We have a plethora of good athletes that are ready to compete below is our full roster. 

 

Players:

 

Avery Pierce 

Piper Harris 

Bella Montera 

Hannah Walsh

Maggie O’neill

Clara Longenbaugh

Lily Longenbaugh

Kacie Morris

Shelby Erickson

Lindsey Kautz

 

Now this roster that I listed above has come a long way. When we initially started practice I would personally say that I was very concerned about the state of the team. We struggled when it came to actually playing. Also the team lacked some effort and listening skills. However about a week and a half ago there must have been a switch that flipped in all the girls’ heads because since then they have all been doing a great job. They do a good job of listening, they’re very motivated and it shows in their play. I think part of that switch has to do with not only motivation for Sunday’s games however the coaching staff and I also decided to schedule a scrimmage. We wanted to get a group of girls who were good, however we didn’t want to play any of the competitions that we would possibly have to see on Sunday. So we went over to some of me and my friend Tadiwas long time friends from Plainfield North and they were gracious enough to scrimmage us the Wednesday of game week in preparation for our games. I am very interested to see how the scrimmage goes. I think it will give us a huge advantage and a good idea of where we are at. Getting to see all the girls compete in a real game-like situation will be important. We will be able to make adjustments and fix some of the things that are shown to need fixing and this Plainfield North team is no joke as they happened to win their own schools Powder Puff tournament back in the fall. So Wednesday should be a good one. 

Prediction for Game Day: 

As far as Sunday goes I don’t want to get too deep into predictions. However my prediction and also my goal is that we will win. If we do happen to lose somehow, I think there will be some sort of scene caused by one of our coaches. However I don’t think that will need to happen as I think all of our team’s hard work will pay off and we will win the powder puff championship. 

When I first read the title of this poem I was very confused. The title itself “[as freedom is a breakfastfood] did not make much sense to me on its own. Even in the context of the poem I still struggle to grasp its exact meaning. However the poem as a whole does have a lot of unique things I was able to pick up on and notice. One of the first things that I noticed when reading the poem was. No capitalization and no periods. There being four stanzas is the only thing that seems to break this passage up. Outside of that it feels and reads like a bigger blob. 

As far as the detail within the text you see this theme of contrasting things being placed together throughout the whole poem. For example, “water” and “flame” to  “courage” and “fear” and even “seeing’ and “blind”. Those words serve as descriptive symbols along with many other contrasting phrases. It seems as if you have to dig really deep or even sort of “reach” for a true meaning of what Cummings is saying. Some of the phrases that come off as clearly contrasting at first seem to have a sliver of meaning that groups them together and not against each other. I tried to break down some of the phrases on their own and I’m not sure how much of a reach this is but the shoe seems to fit in some way. In the third stanza when cummings writes,  “the seeing are the blind” I kind of got this idea of cummings saying that the ones who seem to know what’s going on or even the ones that have everything in front of them seem to evidently be blind and not know anything. In the first stanza Cummings speaks to the fact that, “water most encourages flame” the idea that something such as water which is commonly used to kill a fire is portrayed as an encouragement of a flame is unique. However I think it’s unique that there are instances where water does not kill a flame. One example that comes to mind is a grease fire. In the event of a grease fire, water does indeed encourage the flame. I thought that was unique because it shows that even though the overwhelming majority of the phrases in here seem like opposites there seems to be a way in which many of them really aren’t. I just cannot figure out how some of the contrasting phrases are connected with each other. 

The other unique parts in the poem serve a unique purpose in my opinion. You can see the phrase “-long enough and just so long” Sprinkled throughout the poem. Its placement serves a unique role as it is moved around to a different spot in each stanza. It takes the fourth line in the first stanza, fifth line in the second stanza and sixth line in the 3rd stanza. A downward shift of that phrase from stanza to stanza is capped off by it being completely left out in the last stanza. Now why is that? Why is it left out of the last stanza, I’m not sure myself. 

Now I think overall there are two ways you can look at this poem and i’m truly stuck between which one is true. 

Option 1: This poem is a big blob of nonsense that EE Cummings left for us to make sense of. The beauty of the poem would be that because there is no true meaning left by cummings. All the power belongs to whoever reads the poem. It gives them some sense of “freedom’ when reading the poem. 

Option 2: There is a meaning but Cummings wrote this poem in such a unique way that its hard to grasp. 

I would prefer to go with option 2 because my heart feels empty without a true meaning behind this poem. 

So going on that, I think the poem is a huge metaphor for the idea that things just aren’t always the way that they seem. I wish I had a more specific idea on what it is about but I truly don’t have much. I know that this is a mid 1900s poem and I wonder if this has anything to do with any of the world wars or the great depression. There are no glaring indicators that point that out to me. Possibly the word “Freedom” and the connection that it has to war so if I had to go with a connection to the text, I would connect it to war but I still don’t feel very sure in doing that.

Man it’s crazy to think that we are already in the playoffs for the highschool basketball season. We are currently in the round of 32 as of the time of me writing this. (Wednesday Morning March 1st) However I am also going to cover my reaction tomorrow as well. (Thursday March 2nd)

 

Tuesday Night Recap

Last night we had a slate of games and some very interesting outcomes. For starters Whitney Young who was Michael O’brien’s Number 6 team in the state lost last night to #9 ranked Downers Grove North. I’m not sure that I can truly call this game an upset as both these teams have high level rosters. However I am very surprised to see Whitney Young lose this game. I felt like the Dolphins were bonafide state title contenders so to see them not even make it out of there sectional is slightly disappointing. On the other hand #4 ranked Joliet West faced off against Lincoln-Way East as well yesterday and they took care of business. They picked up a double digit win in which they controlled the entire game. The Fears brothers of Joliet West are the clear leaders but Justyce McNair and Matthew Moore have both seemed to be playing well recently which will need to continue to happen for Joliet West to make it down to state. They will face off with the winner of tonight’s game between Bolingbrook and Oswego East on Friday at 7 PM. 

 

Oswego East Vs Bolingbrook (Pre-Game Evaluation)

Tonight(March 1st), I will be at the Oswego East vs Bolingbrook game. I am very excited as both these teams are ranked as top 15 teams in the state. Oswego East being ranked 10th and Bolingbrook being ranked 13th. These two programs faced off last year and Bolingbrook upset Oswego East en route to a final 4 run. So the history between the two teams is just as recent as last year. Furthermore Bolingbrook handed Oswego East one of its few losses this year in a 55-53 instant classic. The winner of this game like I wrote earlier well get the opportunity to meet #4 ranked Joliet West on Friday. Now I am a Bolingbrook guy at heart. I was born in Bolingbrook and lived there for the first 10 years of my life. However I think this game is gonna go to Oswego East, it’s very hard to beat a good team twice. I will be rooting for the Raiders tonight but, as far as a prediction goes, I’m gonna roll with the Wolves. 

 

Jehvion Starwood Seals an Instant Classic (Post Game Reaction)

As a basketball fan, a lot of times when you go to games all you wish for is a close one. We got that on Wednesday night and then some. A back and forth game filled with big time shots. Bolingbrook Big man Aries Hull delivered two extremely clutch free throws with less than half a second left to send the game to Overtime. However in Overtime Oswego East guard Jehvion Starwood stepped into a deep three with 2.7 seconds left to send Oswego East to the Sectional Championship on Friday. It was sad to see Bolingbrook lose a close one especially considering I have multiple friends on that team who played their last highschool game. However on the other hand as a friend of a couple of the Oswego East players including Starwood, I was glad to see them shine in such a bright moment. It will be Oswego East vs. Joliet West Part 2 on Friday for the Sectional Championship, I can’t wait!

Video Of Jehvion Starwoods Game WInner: https://twitter.com/h00phighlights1/status/1631140518561284103?s=20 

 

Joliet West vs Oswego East Prediction.

I am here to now make my prediction for Friday Nights game but before I do that let me give you guys some auxiliary information. These two teams played in the regular season and Oswego East went on the road to knock off Joliet West. So there is revenge on the minds of the Joliet West Tigers. This game will be for the Sectional Championship and will still be at Bolingbrook High School. Now in my personal opinion Joliet West is a state title contender. I am not so sure if that’s the case for

 Oswego East however that doesn’t mean they can’t beat Joliet West again. If they want to upset the Tigers again Mekhi Lowery and Ryan Johnson will have to put together another masterclass. Along with Jehvion Starwood and Bryce Shoto holding their own against the Fears brothers. For my pick though I am going to use a similar philosophy I used for Wednesday’s game. It’s hard to beat a good team twice. So I am going to roll with Joliet West.

 

THE INTRO

No student is really covering highschool basketball in Illinois right now, I wanna change that, this is probably the best year of highschool basketball since i’ve been in highschool and I have decided that I am going to cover the rest of the season. So let’s jump right into it. 

THIS WEEKEND!

This weekend we have been blessed with probably the best slate of weekend highschool basketball games Illinois has ever seen. It starts Friday night when Camden High School (NJ), will travel from the east coast to Chicago to play the current number one team in the state, the Kenwood Broncos. Camden is a consensus top 15 team in the nation and to add to that they have two top 5 players in the nation (DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradhsaw). Wagner being Espn’s number one player in the entire country for the class of 2023. Camden definitely has the advantage talent wise however Kenwood was able to knock off MaxPreps #4 team in the nation and #1 in the state, the Simeon Wolverines en-route to a number one spot in Michael O’brien’s Super-25. Kenwood is led by point guard Dai-Dai Ames who 247’s composite has rated as a top 10 point guard in the nation himself. Safe to say we are in for a good guard matchup between Ames and Wagner. I will be in attendance on friday to wa

tch the game and I am excited myself. However, after all that if I am more excited for Saturday. Benet’s When Sides Collide tournament is saturday and they couldnt have put together a more insane line up. 7 out of the 8 teams are in Micheal O’brien Super 25 Top 10. The only exception is moline who is not in the chicago land area otherwise they would most definitely be in the top 10 as well. Also 7 of 247s top 10 players in the state of Illinois for the class of 2023 will be playing, it’s an absolutely loaded event. I will give a quick run down and prediction for each game. 

 

Game 1: #6 Rolling Meadows Vs. #7 Brother Rice

I think this is a great opener. Any other week this would be game of the week but just not this night. Two very even matched teams. When teams are so closely matched I like to side with the team that has the best player. Rolling meadows happens to have 4 star recruit Cam Christie. I’m gonna go with rolling meadows. I feel like Christie will be too much for brother rice to stop. 

 

Rolling Meadows Squeaks Past Brother Rice

 

Game 2: #3 Whitney Young Vs. #9 Joliet West

I just want to start by saying this is the matchup I’m the most excited for. Whitney Young has an amazing team that can be argued as the best in the state, led by Princeton commit Guard Dalen Davis. Joliet West touts out what many call the best backcourt in Illinois, with #1 Player in the state Jeremy Fears and his highly touted little brother Jeremiah, Joliet west has the ability to make any game interesting.  Now I can be a little biased because I played with both of the Fears brothers throughout my childhood but, I think Joliet West pulls off an upset. 

Joliet West Upsets Whitney Young

 

Game 3: #2 Simeon Vs. Moline (#4 Ranked Team in IL 4a)

I’m gonna keep this one simple. Moline has some good players (Two Iowa Commits) but I don’t think they will be able to hang with a motivated Simeon coming off a loss. I’m not sure this game will be close

 

Simeon Rolls Moline

 

Game 4: #1 Kenwood Vs #4 Benet

Now I already talked a lot about kenwood but I will quickly talk about benet. They are VERY GOOD. They do not have the talent that a school like kenwood has but they have played well and notched a win over #9 Joliet West. I think this game being at home for Benet and Kenwood playing Camden the night before will make it a coin flip game. I’m going to take Kenwood in a close one. 

Kenwood Outlasts Benet. 

 

THANKS FOR TUNING IN!!!

This semester provided not just a lot of lessons for me but also a lot of memories. Me being a new student as well as it being my senior year of high school made it so much more unique but also supper fun at the same time. I learned so many lessons that I couldn’t pick just one so here are my favorite two lessons from this first semester. 

1. How to adjust to an environment. 

My first semester at Naperville North was slightly overwhelming in some aspects and that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I really enjoyed my first semester here, but boy did I have a lot going on. The transition for me as an athlete switching teams as well as the transition for me as a student moving to a new district where I didn’t know that many people was a lot to come at me all at once. Showing up to a brand new school and playing a football game the next week was not easy. On top of that, the culture shift from Waubonsie Valley to Naperville North seemed to be a lot more dramatic than I thought it would be.  That, combined with living in a new neighborhood was just all a bunch of stuff that came at me really quickly. However, what I learned through this process taught me a lot and prepared me for when I go off to college in less than a year.  The lesson I learned is to try to have fun in everything you do. I was able to make some of the best memories and moments of my life in this first semester just because whenever I set out to do something I tried to have as much fun as possible. Now that’s not to say that there weren’t moments where it was hard to have fun. There were times where I just was not happy to be at  Naperville North and that’s no knock on Naperville North as a school. I will be the first one to tell you that the way that I was accepted by everyone here from my football teammates and coaches, to the teachers and students was remarkable. The people at this school made the transition a lot easier than it would be at most schools. However a new environment isn’t always the most exciting thing possible for a high school kid. My point in saying that is I think that mindset is very crucial. I believe that coming to school looking for a reason to be happy and coming to school looking for a reason to be sad will give you two different results on average. Whether I was happy to come to school on a certain day or not I would always look for a reason to be happy throughout the day and that’s a lesson I will carry with me not just throughout school but throughout the rest of my life.

 

1. Don’t ever get too high or too low

The second lesson I learned is similar to the first one. In the way that it also has to do with how you carry yourself. That lesson is to never get too high and also never get too low on yourself. Throughout this semester I have experienced a lot of moments where I wanted to jump on the table and scream at the top of my lungs in celebration. I had other moments where I had wanted to just go to sleep and not say a single word to anybody. However Coach Drendel really instilled in me that the most important play is always “the next one”. That’s something I apply to everything in life now. Don’t dwell on the things in the past that you can’t control, instead focus on the stuff in the future that you can control. So moving forward I now know to not stress about things in the past if there is nothing I can no longer do about it. Most people will have enough time and opportunities in the future to right their wrongs.  As a human you should always be looking forward and be prepared to right that wrong if given the opportunity.

TOP 5 RAP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

First off I just want to start by saying I can’t believe this is blog number 6 and my last blog of the semester. The whole blog cycle and comment Cycles went by really fast. This being my last blog of the semester I decided to combine two of my favorite topics to write about. Well not really topics more so ideas.  The first one being rap music and the second one being top five lists.  Today I will present to you my list of my top 5 rap albums of all time. As I almost always iterate to you all during my top five lists,  this is my list if you do not like it please feel free to make your own.

5. Young Thug – So Much Fun (19 Songs) 

I think so much fun was the perfect name for this album. It was exactly that,  it was so much fun to listen to.  For those of you who do not know who Young Thug is, he is considered by many to be one of the greatest trap artists of all time. Trap is a subgenre of rap music that is known more for its up-tempo beats with high hats and 808s. This was Young Thug’s best album when it comes to overall enjoyment of listening and quality of content.  You could tell Young Thug took his time with this album and you can genuinely tell that he had a lot of fun making this album it might not have the best lyrical content but the way it makes you feel while listening to it is enough to make it one of the greatest trap albums of all time a long with one of the greatest rap albums of all time.

Favorite Songs: Jumped Out the Window, Hot (feat. Gunna), Light It Up. 

4. Roddy Ricch – Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial (16 Songs) 

Roddy Ricchs first studio album will probably be the best album he ever makes and there’s no shame in that. Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial is one of the greatest rap albums of all time and I feel fully confident saying that. Now Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial in my opinion would also be classified as a trap album. However it’s probably one of the most eloquent trap albums of all time. What I mean by that is, the lyrical content and the production is probably the most advanced that you can get on a trap album. That’s what makes this album so special it’s a trap album that newer age rap fans could really enjoy.  However it had Sensational lyrical content and production that made it easier for more of the classical rap fans to listen to. Roddy Ricch has since dropped a couple of projects that haven’t lived up to the standard of his first studio album. However he will alwa

ys be able to hold his head high knowing what he was able to do on Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial.

Favorite Songs: Tip Toe (A Boogie wit da Hoodie

), God Eyes, Big Stepper

 

3. Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (13 Songs) 

I just want to say that I do not stand with any of the recent things that Kanye West has said or done.  However, I’m someone who tends to separate the art from the artist and Kanye West has produced some of the best rap art that I think the world has ever seen. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a perfect example of that. The 13 song album features some of Kanye West’s best friends.  From Jay-Z and Rick Ross to Pusha T and Kid Cudi,, Kanye not only had an All-Star cast of features that were great artists, they were also great friends of his. You can hear that in the music as it feels like  Kanye and the artist who starred with him did a great job messing together and making 13 beautiful tracks.  This album was also produced by Mike Dean who in my opinion is one of the greatest rap producers of all time. You could really just hear everything come together well for Kanye on this album. It is considered by many to be Kanye West’s best album as well as the greatest rap album of all time. To me it is neither. Kanye has another album that I think is just a bit better.

Favorite Songs: Gorgeous (feat. Kid Cudi & Raekwon), All of the Lights, Runaway (feat. Pusha T) 

 

2. Kanye West – Graduation (14 songs) 

Yes Kayne West claims another spot on my top five this time with his album graduation.  Graduation is another album from Kanye that I feel like everyone has somewhere near the top of their greatest album lists.  I think its qualities as a great album are very evident. It has a lot of big songs and a lot of great features most notably Lil Wayne and T-Pain. However what makes it such a great album for me and what puts it over an album Like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Is that I feel like the features on this album were just simple features. I know at first that might sound like a negative thing but it’s really a positive thing.  Kanye was able to shine more in this. It was a Kanye album at least more so than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On top of that I just feel like it was more fun and it is my personal preference.  However between the 2 Kanye albums on this list you’re truly splitting hairs. 

Favorite Songs: Homecoming (feat. Chris Martin), Champion, The Glory

 

1. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city  (13 Songs)

To me Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city is truly the greatest rap album of all time. Now this list was a list based on my personal opinions. I don’t think most people’s top 5 rap albums of all time would look exactly like mine.  I wouldn’t expect there’s too. I only chose to use albums that came out after I was born (2004). However, even if you would have gone back all the way to the start of rap music I don’t think you would be able to find a better album than Kendrick Lamar’s (GKMC).  The perfect blend of storytelling, production and brilliant rap melodies make this  album stand up above and beyond all of the rap albums that I have personally ever heard.  I’ve heard Nas’s Illmatic,  I’ve heard Biggie’s Ready to die,  I’ve heard Jay-Z’s The Blueprint series.  None of those to me are equal to the Brilliance that Kendrick Lamar displayed on this album and that is why it is good enough for my number one spot  and it should be good enough for any rap fan’s number one spot. 

Favorite Songs: Good Kid, Backseat Freestyle, Poetic Justice (Feat. Drake)

 

We are back with another top 5 list. This time it will be video games. Now I am currently not the biggest video game player but I still play from time to time and I played video Games all throughout my childhood. Now let me just say there are some games I can’t even begin to remember how to work. However some games I would say nearly changed my view o n the world with how Immaculate the game as a whole was. This is once again a personal list so if you disagree please feel free to make your own. 

 

5. Fortnite

Man, I know there are going to be some people who see Fortnite entered at Number 5 and either ask why is it on the list at all or why is it not at number 1. Fortnite is one of the most polarizing and popular games of all time. I would say that every person who has played video games has  played fortnite. The battle royale game took time out of everyone’s day just for the achievement of “victory royale” to pop up on your screen. The deal fortnite struck with multiple influencers as well as businesses makes it almost somewhat of a lock for the top 5. However, personally I never fell in love with fortnite. I am a huge fan of sports games. So small spoiler, the 4 games that will proceed this entry will all be sports games. Fortnite takes the highest non-sports game spot on my list at Number 5. 

4. Madden 16

In my personal opinion the best Madden game I ever played. You could tell from the cover and the game’s opening skit that it was going to be great. The cover of OBJ making an amazing catch captured the idea of the game. Eye catching and fun. The introduction of the specialized catches was game changing and is probably one of the best additions to Madden of all time. Looking back on it, I do not know how we played madden video games without it. Madden 16 was so good that I have continued to buy madden every year since. I did not buy Madden yearly until following me playing Madden 16 and that’s why it is good enough for number 4 on my list. 

3. FIFA 14

Now I don’t know if this is based on nostalgia due to it being the first FIFA game that I played, but for me FIFA 14 is by far the greatest FIFA video game of all time. I had this game on my XBOX as well as on my tablet. It was that good. It was very rare for me to pay for a game on my tablet but FIFA 14 was good enough to get me to do that. The various game modes really set it over the top. I believe it was the last FIFA to have a penalty shootout mode. Little fun things  like that made it such an easy game to enjoy. FIFA 14 comfortably sits at 3 on my list. 

2. NBA 2k16

A Spike Lee Joint. 2k16 is the greatest 2k Video Game of all time. I don’t really care how people feel about it. What sets 2k16 apart from all the other NBA 2ks or further more video games in general is how good the MyCareer storyline was. Now MyCareer is a solo player choose your own adventure type game that has a story intertwined with it. Now this particular story for NBA 2k16 was written by Spike Lee. Oscar winning screenwriter Spike Lee and man did he write a great story line. I know people personally who cried at the end of the 2k16 story mode. It was well written. So MyCarrer which is one of the most important parts of the game being so successful makes it good enough for Number 2 on my list.

1.NCAA 14

My Favorite Video game of all time. NCAA 14, it was the last NCAA video game before it got discontinued due to college players not being able to make money. However while it was up and running NCAA football was one of the best video game franchises of All time. NCAA football consistently sold over half a million copies on a yearly basis. When you played NCAA football you could feel the college environment. I loved the NCAA Football video games so much I cried real tears upon finding out its discontinuation. That’s how good the series was and the 2013-2014 season installment was the best one and that’s why it is #1 on my list.

 

Now I already understand how controversial of a topic this is gonna be. The coronavirus pandemic was a very dangerous and undesirable time for many people. However, I want to take a look and break down some of the ways for me at least that the coronavirus pandemic was able to provide me with some good memories and fun times.

 

The Daily Schedule

During COVID I feel like everyone got to live their own free daily schedule. For me it consisted of an early morning wake up and workout. Followed by a nice breakfast and plethora of video games. After that was a nice 5-6Pm lift and then after that would be dinner and then a night long slate of face time and video games. These times were pretty fun because it felt like I was always doing what I wanted to do. The lack of school was perfect and gave me the opportunity to still learn and grow. I just learned and grew in ways I wanted to. 

The Music 

Man will I tell you, the music we got during the coronavirus pandemic was pretty special. Two of the most highly anticipated rap albums of our generation. Lil Uzi Verts “Eternal Atake” and Playboi Cartis “Whole Lotta Red”  were finally released during the coronavirus pandemic. After YEARS of fake release dates and anticipation. Lil Uzi Verts “Eternal Atake” was released a year and a half after its expected release date and Playboi Cartis “Whole Lotta Red” released a whole 2 years after its expected arrival. These were albums that were waited on for so long so for them to actually drop during COVID was surreal for many.

 

 

The Quality Over Quantity Aspect of Hangouts.

During the coronavirus pandemic it was far more rare to hang out with your friends. Being around a bunch of people all the time just was not worth the risk of catching a dangerous disease. So I was one of those people who did spend much of the pandemic physically remote from others. However the moments that I do have from going out and hanging with people during the pandemic are all some of the better hangouts and experiences I’ve ever had. I feel like hangouts and link ups had this sense of rarity that it never has had before and never will have again. It was almost like people made it their mission that every chance they got to hang out with people they were going to make the most of it. 

 

The Random Events 

During the Covid-19 pandemic due to a lot of things being shut down like most sports, movie theaters and other ways of entertainment. There had to be ways to fill these gaps and some of the ways that these gaps were filled were amazing. The popularization of IG live shows. Tory Lanez Quarantine Radio I feel like started the trend of IG live shows as Tory Lanez set what at the time was a record for most people on an Instagram live. Stuff like that along with celebrity boxing matches and random nationally televised shows like the Last Dance that everyone had to talk about made this time that a lot of people dreaded for the most part feel really special at times.

 

Being Locked in the house was not the coolest thing in the world for everybody but it was a unique experience that I personally got to have a decent amount of fun with. Something that honestly I wouldn’t change a thing about even if I could.

Fast Food Top 5 Power Rankings

 

Fast Food is so common especially among people my age. The quickness in which it is typically made and the tasty flavors it can provide make it such a good deal. Really good food, really fast. Normally at a reasonable price. Today I am going to give my Power rankings for fast food. Let me reiterate these are power rankings and these are a personal opinion based off of what I think.

 

5. Five Guys (https://www.fiveguys.com/ )

Starting off our list at number 5 we have Five Guys. Now Five Guys is a super quality restaurant that recently has been super high quality and out here a lot of me and my friends have been going to Five Guys. Their burgers are just better quality than places like McDonalds and Wendys. However they have

just more options than most places with quality burgers. Five Guys does hotdogs very very well and are known for having some of the best fries in all of fast food. So when you put all of those things together it’s not very surprising that Five Guys makes the top 5, but why not higher? There is one simple answer for that PRICING. Five Guys is so expensive that you can go find a comparable burger for a lower price. NOT A BETTER BURGER, but you can find a more reasonably priced one. That’s why it is number 5 on my list.

 

Go-to Order: Bacon Cheeseburger w/ Fries and Lemonade 

 

4. Panda Express (https://www.pandaexpress.com/ )

Panda Express comes in at number 4 on my list. It has a complete monopoly over the Chinese fast food realm. They truly do not have any competition and I don’t think they will ever have competition because they play their role as a chine

se fast food chain so well. Their food isn’t as good as your normal chinese restaurant. However, being able to grab Chinese food efficiently without having to put in an order makes it good enough to come in at Number 4 on my list.

 

Go-to Order: Double Entree (Orange Chicken and Beijing Beef w/ noodles)

 

3. Raising Canes (https://www.raisingcanes.com/ )

Raising Canes used to be in my opinion the MOST OVERRATED RESTAURANT. However I eventually came around to the chicken tender spot. Their chicken is very good, which is kinda what you would expect from a place that only sells chicken tenders and sides. However, what makes them elite is their Texas Toast and Canes Sauce. Those two things along with Canes chicken are in my

 opinion all the best in the fast food world at what they do. They are in my opinion overpriced but because they are in my opinion some of the best chicken tenders you can find, it’s good enough for Number 3 on my list.

 

Go-to Order: Caniac Combo (Swap Coleslaw for extra bread)

 

2. Chipotle (https://www.chipotle.com/ )

Some of the freshest fast food you can go grab. Chipotle is so high quality tasting and a decently healthy option which gives it some bonus points. It also has a form of domination over fast food mexican. Yes there is Taco Bell, however chipotle is so far ahead of taco bell that it doesn’t really matter. Like does taco bell even put toppings on their food, I do not know and honestly I can care less because chipotle is going to beat them everyday of the week. Chipotle could’ve been number one but I have met a couple of people who don’t like chipotle and the spot at number one I think everyone in America likes. 

Go-to Order: Steak Bowl.

 

Honorable Mentions:

McDonalds – A classic fast food place everyone knows. McDonalds is just very basic.

Jimmy Johns- Best Fast food Deli Sandwich. However, we are talking about sandwiches. 

Dominos- Best fast food pizza. But what makes it faster than regular pizza outside of price

 

The #1 SPOT GOES TO: Chick-Fil-A (https://www.chick-fil-a.com/ )

MY PLEASURE. DO I NEED TO SAY MORE? I think not chickfila is number one on my list. 

 

Go-to order: Spicy Chicken Meal.