A Look Into Hammond Football’s Recent Season

By Billy Liguori

Sports Editor

Image Source: Instagram

After almost two years of modified games and practices, Hammond football has returned to normal for the 2021-2022 fall season.

Hammond football ended the regular season with a record of 1-8. They started their season on the road, with a bit of a rocky start, as they were defeated by Glenelg High School. The Bears put up a score of 14, trailing the Gladiators who scored 35.

Eager to play their next game, Hammond quickly turned it around. For game 2, the Bears were back at home, competing against Centennial High School. With great performances from starting quarterback Jordan Campbell and running back (RB) Nathaniel Lamb, Hammond was able to take down the Eagles 26-7. 

With a little over 300 rushing yards, RB Nathaniel Lamb was able to march the Bears down the field, allowing the team to outscore and outplay their opponent. Jordan Campbell was asked to elaborate on the game and  share a few words on the team. 

Continue reading →

Varsity Girls Soccer: Coach and Captains Comment on Fall Season

By Jariah Nash

Staff Writer

Image

Image Source: @HaHSWSoccer on Twitter

When it comes to soccer, Hammond’s program has a strong group of girls. With the soccer season coming to an end, it is always such a bitter-sweet moment for the team. There is no doubt that Hammond’s girls soccer played their best games this season.

The soccer team only had one win this season, but even with one win they grew as individuals and as a team. 

This season, Hammond’s soccer program had 10 seniors. The Bear Press got the opportunity to talk with some of the seniors and ask them questions about the season overall. 

Continue reading →

Hammond Cheer Team’s Fall 2021 Season: A Wrap-Up

By Lilianna DeBlasio

Features Editor

Pictured above: Varsity Hammond Cheer at Counties 2021

As Hammond’s fall sports season comes to an end, the cheerleading program is just getting started. Most people have seen the cheer team in action. Whether at Friday night football games or performing at pep rallies, they’re a crucial part of Hammond’s student spirit. But supporting football isn’t the only thing they’re capable of. Every year, our cheerleaders go to counties, a competition between all Howard County high school cheerleading teams, designed to rank each team and choose which will advance to regionals. 

Each team choreographs a 2 and a half minute routine to showcase their skills for the variety of judges. They are judged on skills such as jumps, stunts, tumbling passes, dance, and overall performance and energy. Between all of these categories, each team can score up to 130 points.

This year, on October 27th, cheer performed at Marriotts Ridge High School scoring 110.75 and earning 3rd place overall. This was extremely impressive and a huge shock to the girls and coaches. When asked what place they thought they were going to get, junior cheerleader Bella DeBlasio said “11th. Dead last. Because we had such little practice space and so many injuries, we were not expecting to be able to perform so well. Especially compared to the other teams who have had so much more time to practice and overall better conditions to prepare.”

Continue reading →

Are Video Game Microtransactions Worth It?

A little extra cash can go a long way

By Izzy Harper

Staff Writer

The Chalk Prince and the Dragon" Promotional Illustration | Genshin Impact | Know Your Meme

Image Source: epicgames.com

Many of the most popular video games on the market are free to download and play from the start. Usually there are no limits on gameplay and competitive features, like online multiplayer or exclusive mechanics and abilities. But how do the developers generate income, if needed? The solution is microtransactions.

Microtransactions are transactions within video games where you spend real cash to buy ingame items that, contextually, benefit the player’s experience. Usually players are prompted to irreversibly convert their real cash into in-game currency, and buy things in-game. 

These items usually range from limited time tools and weapons, playable characters, and fashionable clothing for your own character. Sometimes, this feature is even present in games that need to be bought to be played.

Continue reading →

Hammond’s “Bump It Up” Initiative

By Zahraa Aslam

Staff Writer

 Alternative Learning Program Coordinator, Mr. Hawkins, created an event called “Bump It Up.” This event allowed students to come to school and talk to their teachers, giving them an opportunity to communicate about ways to improve their grades.

Mr. Hawkins explains the event as, “An opportunity for a few different things. Bringing grades up…teachers are available to help students with their issues. Another thing [is that] it helps the relationship between staff and parents and gives us an opportunity to communicate with parents and talk about expectations. It also betters the relationship between student and teacher.” 

 He continued as he talked about what the first bump it up event was like: “It was intense. A lot of students were working, and teachers were helping students…everyone was busy for 3 hours. A lot of students bumped up their grade. Some teachers said it was their first opportunity to work one-on-one and meet with students.”

Continue reading →

Hammond XC: A Season Wrap-Up

By Kevin Barry

News and Managing Editor

Image Source: hahsxc on Instagram

This year’s cross country season was full of highs and some lows with an honorable finish breaking several dry spells and creating hope for the future of the team with a total of 5 meets (those being 3 invitational meets and 2 tri meets).

A tri meet is a meet between 3 teams while an invitational is a much bigger meet in between a couple dozen to even a 100 teams in some cases. Hammond secured the number one spot for one of the tri meets and had respectable placings for the very competitive invitationals. Overall the season was a huge success, paving the way for some of the younger runners and being led by a strong veteran group.

The group this year was led by some familiar faces. Some of the team’s strongest runners this year were seniors Josh Speich, Ben Johnson, and Bennet Freeman. A very strong core combined with well run practices helped the team out massively this year.

Continue reading →

Why “Radio Music” Is Problematic and How We Can Make It Better

A feature in every car has to warrant some use…

By Izzy Harper

Staff Writer

Best Android Auto head unit car stereos for 2021 - Roadshow

Image Source: cnet.com

Ever since music began to be shared over the airwaves, all of the top songs have been played for all the world to experience. It sounds good on paper, but there’s an ongoing problem in radio music selection; it relies on the fact that only songs that have received copious amounts of acclaim have been played. 

Only the ones that have gathered millions of sales and streams, with no room for lesser known artists in the spotlight. Since there are so few of these songs, they’re all played “ad nauseum” across pop music frequencies! Not to mention that songs as successful as these have been used in other media to an unending extent. 

Tastes in music are ever-changing, and more of the same songs are bound to get old. That’s why I ask for one thing when it comes to the radio: take your advertisement of “variety” seriously, and play some music by artists that aren’t already millionaires!

There are songs frequently used on popular social media sites like TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram that you would never hear on the radio, and they’ve been used thousands of times. So why refuse to play them? 

Continue reading →

Conveying the Feeling of Sports in Animation: The Legend of Korra

By Akil Brathwaite

Staff Writer

Image Source: Screen Rant

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, its sequel The Legend of Korra, and the many other in-universe stories are vast, taking inspiration from real-world aspects. Nickelodeon has created a world filled to the brim with what we as people enjoy in our lives, and sports are no different. In The Legend of Korra, the sport of “pro-bending” is shown in a couple of episodes of the four-season series, greatly conveying the feeling of sports in an animated format. But first, let’s back up and explain the world of this universe.

The Legend of Korra and its prequel stories are set in a fantasy world where people can manipulate one of the four elements, water, earth, fire, and air, but each element is manipulated differently. For water, earth, and air to be manipulated, those elements have to be around the bender. A waterbender can’t bend without any water nearby, while fire doesn’t have that disadvantage.

Firebenders harvest energy from the sun and other heat sources. Though there is only one person who can bend all four elements at the same time. That person is the Avatar, a symbol of everything good in the universe. They are meant to protect the people from the evils of the world. 

Bending is a huge part of this world and is the key focus for the plot. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the major plot is fighting the tyranny of the Fire Nation, who caused the genocide of the Air Nomads, imprisoned the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe, and tried to break down the impenetrable walls of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se.

Continue reading →

Soft Serves Are For Dairy Queen, Not Hammond

Hammond Volleyball’s Fun & Intense Season

By Joseph Lee

Backpage Editor

Image source: Jariah Nash

“All Ace! Whoosh!”

The team cheers and can soon be heard again as their words are echoed by the crowd. An “all ace” is when someone serves the ball and the opposing team can’t pass it, giving the server’s team the point. 

Hammond is playing their 5th set, the first and only time they’ve done it this season against Marriotts Ridge. This was their second game against the Mustangs, so after their first loss, it was a surprising turn of events. Even though they still lost the second game, it was close and a great moment for the team. 

Erin Peters, a senior player, commented on what happened afterward. “Even though we lost, the coach complimented us [on] how we’ve gotten so much better over the years which made it all the better.” 

Coach Corey even mentioned that, “The girls played, at that point, the best game they played all season.”

Continue reading →

The Return of the Highlight King

By Joseph Gray

Staff Writer

Nick Diaz deserves to make post-UFC 266 decisions on his own | Opinion

Image Source: ufc.com

Fighting since the early 2000’s, Nick Diaz is ranked number 171 in the Middleweight Division and has been a fan favorite for two decades. Nick Diaz was always known for his taunting, and his borderline disrespectful attitude toward his opponents. 

Fighting legends such as Anderson Silva, Nick was carving himself permanently into the world of MMA with his wild boxing-BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) style and his taunts during and before fights. Nick was never supposed to be on the mic because of his bad mouth, but Joe Rogan loved him and his foul mouth on live television. In his career, Nick saw some trouble with his use of Marijuana and failure of drug tests.

In 2015, Nick Diaz, the famous Stockton Slapper, saw his career come to a halting stop. After a fight against the legendary Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz failed a drug test. Nick had already passed a drug test before the fight, and even two after, but on the third he failed, with THC popping up in his system. 

Continue reading →