Joe Paterno: An All American Football Marvel

Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno often refereed to as "JoePa" was an all American football legend that coached the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011. Born on December 21st, 1926 in Brooklyn New york to Florence de LaSalle Cafiero, who was a homemaker, and Angelo Lafayette Paterno, a law clerk, Joe would one day rise to fame as one of the most prolific coaches of all time. Joe attended Brown University with his tuition sully paid for and also served in the army for a short time. While attending Brown University, Joe joined the football team and played several positions including quarterback and comeback. Being of Italian ancestry, Paterno often referenced himself as a "Guy with a distinct accent."

In his career, Paterno became increasingly popular and gained immense respect amongst his awards  such as the Coach of the Year for 1994, 2005, and 2008 and his former spot under the NCAA for having the most wins. he was asked to work for numerous teams in the NFL such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, but declined those offers to stay at Penn State. His reputation in the late 2000's took a spin for the worse after decades of perseverance. 

After the child sex abuse scandal involving his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky broke in full in November of 2011, Paterno announced to the public that he would retire at the end of the current season however, officials decided to immediately fire him. Joe died on January 22, 2012 at the age of 85 just shy of two months after being fired. His reputation amongst many perspective alumni and family remained the same, but his professional brand started to tarnish after details of the case suggested that he withdrew from telling officials about Sandusky's whereabouts. Joe's Son Jay Paterno is currently running for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania seeking democratic nominations for the May 20th 2014 ballots. Above all, Joe Paterno will forever be immortalized as one of the most inspirational and talented coaches of American Football History.

Below is a video in tribute to Joe Paterno by ESPN sports.

Bryan.Womack@snhu.edu      

Social Media Tools: Whats the most effective?

In the world of technology, there are countless ways to connect with one another. The three social media tools I selected were photo sharing websites such as Facebook, Twitter and text messaging. According to  Fiegerman (2014) "Facebook's market share value is significantly worth more than even technology monopoly Amazon." Facebook annually has an estimated 1 billion users actively on and connecting with people from across the world. With social media networks and the freedom to access the world wide web, Information sent to and from sources have never been the same again. Facebook is an extremely valuable source of connectivity amongst peers etc. You can post, share and "re post" or "re-blog" other users statuses and photos all with one click of the button. Facebook will be able to reach users more effectively, primarily based on the fact that it has a huge fan base and popularity with adolescent groups.

Twitter is often sought after as a "King of News feed" According to Franklin (n.d) "A few years ago, Twitter was punchier, more interactive, easier to use and it didn't take me long to get gathered up in the excitement." Twitter has gained high acclaim in it ability to send out messages from users at rapid speeds and re-blogs. Companies, celebrities and other locals such as myself are able to connect with one another through social media websites like this and save our conversations. For example, If I wanted to attach or "Tag" superstar Beyonce Knowles-Carter to my twitter message and say hello, she could see what I posted and reply if she wanted to. Millions of people are able to view your comments and others at fast speeds while also sending replies and messages of their own. Twitter is most definitely a great social media website to use.

Last but not least, text messaging which is a feature offered on the cellphones of today. Remember when you had to use either a pager or a payphone on the street to connect with one another? well technological advancement of cellular phones have made our lives a lot easier to connect. With the touch of a screen on a smartphone, you can send messages including photos, screenshots etc. to groups of people etc. This is a clear and effective way of sending information from one person to another. who wouldn't want to leave the house if you didn't need to. the technology of today is quite different from the technology of yesterday.

In synthesis, out of the three social media tools used, I find that Facebook is the most effective and provokes the most alarming responses. Most social Media networks of today allows users to send and receive information from other social media websites. Most phones have features that allow users to send pictures etc. to social media websites. With over 1 billion active users on this social media empire, it is the most successful platform thus far.     


My Attempts are of the following:
1.    https://www.facebook.com/bryan.e.fitzhugh
2.    https://twitter.com/IamPrinceEden

Copy of a text message sent out to a friend of mines regarding a youth organization. Clear, fast and effective. this was done through ios7 software (Apple) IPhone 5S
3.

References 

Fiegerman., S. (2014). Facebook is bigger than Amazon, by Market Cap. Mashable. Retrieved from:  http://mashable.com/2014/02/14/facebook-tops-amazon-market-cap/  

Franklin., S. (n.d). The Twitter Phenomenon. The Rangers Standard. Retrieved from:   

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/fan-culture/135-the-twitter-phenomenon