STOP

Over the summer, in July, my Facebook wall was blown up with posts from over 80 people telling me to stop... that’s more than the amount of birthday wishes I received.  Why? You might ask?  Well, no one really knows why.  The three masterminds behind this, Matt Schaefer, Dan Rehac, and Matt Shields.  It all started last school year in gym class; these three people were in my class.  And out of nowhere they just started telling people to stop.  Of course, I for a reason we do not know had the target on back for being told to stop 24/7.  It became so popular to tell me to stop that Schaefer decided to make a very popular Facebook event, the "Tell Hopcia to Stop Day."  I appreciated all of the people who love me enough to tell me to stop.  This event was so big there are people who added me on this day just to tell me to stop.  Everyone was so excited for this day to come.  I'm sure that there are people in this class who did tell me to stop or still do today.  It has gotten so out of control, we still do it today.  It has almost been 6 months since this day of telling people to stop in Miss Wieand's gym class has started and every time I see the Matts or Dan we all tell each other to stop.  One time I got an anonymous letter that was stuck in my locker that told me stop in a very long letter.  I bet that this will continue to go on for a long, long time, maybe by the time I graduate people telling me to stop will end, hopefully.  Overall, when I look back at being told to stop, it's funny and something I will never forget, ever.

Drama Filled Tournament

My life has had a ton of high points, but also some low points.  Sports are basically my entire life, so I feel it is appropriate for one of my great moments in life to come from that.  Baseball is my favorite sport which is why my greatest moment in life is coming from baseball.  In this past summer I played for an elite baseball team, the A-Turf Titans as I blogged about earlier.  I had a great opportunity to meet new people and make some new friends, while playing baseball and having the chance to let people get a look at me.  We played in many tournaments but this one stuck out to me.  The New Era Cap Classic which takes place locally at schools like St. Joe's and Canisius College.  This tournament, I thought was by far my best tournament.  My team didn't make the final round which was surprising, because we won 3 out of the 4 games and should've been in.  In this tournament I made a huge contribution to my team.  We lost the first game of the tournament 1 to nothing, but the second game is where the magic happened.  We were playing a team called Coach Tony's who is a legit team in the WNY area.  I came into the game late and gave my team a spark.  I came in the 5th inning to pitch with the bases loaded and walked the first kid so that one run.  I got the next hitter out and we went in to hit.  When I got up there was a man on second base and he was the tying run.  On the first pitch a got a hit up the middle and the run scored.  I tied the game up and was the go-ahead run on 1st base.  I stole s1econd which put me in scoring position and the next hitter got a hit in the outfield and I scored.  Going into the 7th inning there was a lot of pressure on me to close it out.  With two outs, the tying run on second, their best hitter came up to the plate.  On a 0-2 pitch I threw a curveball in the dirt and struck him out.  I felt so proud of myself.  The next day my hot streak continued.  My team was getting destroyed, but a couple bounces went our way and in the 7th inning we were back in it after a huge comeback.  I came up to the plate with two outs tie game and the winning run on second base.  On the first pitch of the at-bat once again I had a base hit up the middle the winning run scored and I hit a walk-off single to win the game.  My team mobbed me and I was so excited, as were my family and friends for me.  This tournament got me out of my shell in baseball and it felt so good.  Definitely a great moment in my life.

Fun in the Sun

Of the four seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall, my favorite season is summer.  Summer is the time to usually relax, have fun, and enjoy the nice weather.  I am a competitive baseball player and baseball gets heated up in the summer.  I play over 50 games in the summertime to improve my skills and hopefully get looked at by some college coaches so I can play at the next level.  Summer is the time to relax from school, get your tans, and hang out by the poolside with your friends.  When I wasn't playing or preparing for any kind of sport, I was either enjoying my time with my family or my friends.  The 4th of July is in the summertime where you remember America and have a good time with your family.  There is always some kind of good events going on around too.  Alden has a very well ran carnival every summer for a weekend.  It attracts many people from other towns and they have their annual parade and the Taste of Alden, people come to enjoy the great food that businesses around town come to showcase.  The Taste of Alden is the opening day for the Alden Carnival.  After the carnival ends and after the 4th of July, football season comes around.  Football is very to Alden and the people expect a lot from all of the teams here.  Mid-July starts the preparation for a big football season and a month later in mid-August is when the real practice and preparation begins for the hope of successful seasons.  Overall, my favorite season is summer because of the nice weather and all of the relaxation.  My biggest hobby in life is playing sports; summer is the time where you can practice almost all sports.  I am a three sport athlete, football, basketball, and baseball.  In summer I am able to practice all three and prepare for the upcoming school season. 

Not Going Anywhere; Facebook

I have had a Facebook for almost two years now and I have no problem with it.  I think that it is a great and fun social networking site.  It is a great way to connect with your long lost high school or college friends.  You could meet new friends.  Also a new thing on Facebook is the group chats you can have as many people as you want whether it's a two person or a hundred person chat.  Facebook is the latest and so far most popular social networking website on the web today, so popular that they decided to make a movie about it.  The Social Network came out in October 2010.  The movie is about how Facebook really came about.  This kid from Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg, who is also the actual creator of Facebook, has this idea out of nowhere that he wants to start a social networking or blogging kind of website.  After a long process of legal work and it becoming globalized, Mark Zuckerberg becomes the youngest billionaire's in history.  Some negatives to this website though is, that it could turn out to be the old MySpace, as a new thing in the social networking world is twitter.  Also there is a ton of cyber-bullying that goes on in the world.  You can easily pretend to be someone you're not.  There has, already been a couple cases of this happening in the past.  There isn't much people are able to do except do not add people that you do not know or if you are going to add them, don't talk to them.  Facebook is a really fun and cool thing to do and many people are on this website 24/7, it is very popular today.  I feel that Facebook will run good and consistently for another couple years or so, it is way too big at the moment to go down anytime soon.

Possibilities of Topics

This is my second year in the newspaper club. Last year I wrote about our Varsity Golf team, Girls JV Basketball team, and our Varsity Baseball team.  Now so far my topic for the fall semester is the Varsity Football Team.  I would prefer to write about sports, because I play and have played a lot of sports.  My life is and biggest hobby is sports, I feel like I know a lot about the major and a couple non-major sports.  Now even though I'm writing about sports I feel I could relate to some clubs or any other extra-curricular activities.  I am in two clubs, the newspaper club, and Athletic Association.  I could write about those or any big events going on around the school.  For example, the homecoming events and spirit week start next week, I could write about that as well.  I could write about some of the events occurring locally or world-wide.  For example, I could do a piece on my cousin, David Shields who used to live round the area in Rochester.  He is a hockey star who was drafted in the 6th round of the 2009 NHL (National Hockey League) draft by the St. Louis Blues.  He has signed with them and is currently on their farm team the Peoria Rivermen, located in Peoria, Illinois.  Hopefully one day he will be able to play in the NHL.  As the school year moves on, more and more opportunities will be heading my way to consider writing about.  Now like I said, my fall semester is taken up by Varsity Football, but when winter rolls around I will have to choose a new topic.  Basketball possible?  Or will I have to choose a different thing once again.  Also the spring semester I hopefully once again will be able to do something around baseball.

Fabulous Freshman Year

Of all my years in school so far, I think my freshman year has been my favorite.  I felt as if it flew by and with all the excitement coming into a new school, I had fun and and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  The teachers were all nice and as were most of my peers.  I loved the block scheduling and hope we will continue it through the rest of my years in high school.  Now so far in my sophomore year, we have continued block scheduling but this year it is every other day. Seven days in, I don't think it has been a problem and it gives students a chance not to fall behind in their classes.  My freshman year, I got to be exposed and try new things.  I played JV Football, Basketball, and Baseball.  I also got moved up to Varsity Baseball for the second half of the season.  I had the chance to take part in a great football season where our team went undefeated.  I was able to be in two clubs which was the newspaper club, as well as the Athletic Association.  I wrote for The Bulldog which is the student newspaper.  I wrote about the Varsity Golf team, the JV Girls Basketball team, and the Varsity Baseball team.  I had great attendance, missing 0 days of school, but due to five tardies I was not able to receive an award.  I kept up in my schooling making honor roll all eight times.  Biology, and Integrated Algebra were my only concerns of holding me back from accomplishing honor roll, but I was able to overcome all my struggles and get the job done.  Overall, my freshman year, I feel, was the most favorite of all my schooling years so far.  Hopefully, I can keep accomplishing my goals as the rest of my years come and go.

New Year, New Challenges

I am in my sophomore year of high school and it is one of the biggest years in my 4 years here.  Last year I was able to keep up with all my classes and make honor roll all 8.  This school year I am hoping to make honor roll all four making periods.  Now with the new every other day block scheduling it may be a little more complicated, but I accept the challenge and feel I can conquer it as well.  I feel I am an above average student and should live up to, and surpass my own expectations.  School is the most important thing in my life after family even though it may not be the most fun thing to do, it has to get done so I am able to accomplish my goals after I graduate from high school and go to a quality college.   Sports is my biggest hobby, and a big part of my life, I play three sports through school, Football, Basketball, and Baseball.  Now I am already in the thick of football season and have already accomplished my goals of being a captain and the starting quarterback.  I hope my teammates and I can live up to the 18-game winning streak that is currently going on in the JV Football program.  We are already 1-0 by defeating West Seneca West and hopefully we can continue this success in the rest of our season.  Basketball isn't my strongest sport but I still have fun doing it and compete at a high level.  My goal for basketball is to have a solid season and become captain of the J.V. team as well.  Baseball is what I think my best sport and my expectations are very high for that.  Last year I was pulled up late in the season and found some playing time.  This year my goal is to be on varsity full-time.  I have big dreams and I need to try and accomplish my short term goals one by one and I feel I am ready to do so.

Busy Summer,Yet Exciting

This summer I spent most of my time in late June and all of July playing baseball in different areas in the country.  I was given the opportunity to play for a travel baseball team in the A-Turf Titans.  This is an elite program that travels around from the start of June to the last week in July to different showcases.  I was able to travel to Pittsburgh and stay right on and visit the University of Pittsburgh.  We traveled to Columbus, Ohio and in early August made a long trip down south into the Appalachian Mountains and stayed on the campus of Appalachian State and were able to play on the baseball field.  We were located in Boone, North Carolina right near the border of Tennessee and my team and I went on an adventure and went zip-lining up in the forest and it was a very fun and exciting event.  I was given the chance to play a lot more in the last couple tournaments and made the most of my opportunities and excelled in pitching.  Also I tried out for next years 18U Showcase team where you have college scouts looking at you every game and if I do well hopefully I will be able to play baseball at the next level when i graduate in two years.  August was my month to relax and enjoy summer, as well as getting ready for a big season of football.  It has been a long 3-4 weeks since the start of football and we got off to a great start by beating a AA school in West Seneca West 22-15.  I have been given the opportunity to be the starting quarterback as well as co-captain with Erik Feitshans.  I hope I can lead my team to a very good season and extend the winning-streak the JV football teams in the past few years have created, the streak is currently at 18 games.  It was a very busy but fun summer, but I am ready to get back to school and start my sophomore year and see what new opportunities I will have to be looking forward to.