Not your typical, young band

It is a cold and rainy Monday night in February, and students are pouring into the Georgia Theatre. Seated by the bar is a man in his forties, dressed in a suit and drinking a beer.

“I’m here to see Monsoon,” he says.

Monsoon is headlining a show on the eve of the release of its debut album, Ride A ’Rolla. Though it is comprised of two recent high school graduates and a 22 year old, Monsoon does not want to be considered a “young” band. And the crowd mixed with college students and people twice their age is a reflection of that.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Sienna Chandler, 19, and vocalist/bassist Scott Andrews, 22, met while performing in the marching band at Oconee County High School when she was a freshman and he a senior. In 2013, during Chandler’s junior year, she and Andrews would become more than former marching-band mates.

“I was asked to play a show by a guy named Jake Franzen,” Chandler says. “He asked if I had a band, and I lied and said, ‘yes.’ Then he told me there was one week until the show, so I had one week to form a band.”

A frantic Chandler emailed Andrews, asking him to join her band, and he agreed. Then she called Joey Kegel, whom she barely knew, and asked him the same.

“I met Joey through mutual friends,” says Chandler. “I didn’t know him well, but I knew he was a fantastic drummer. So I called him and said, ‘I know you don’t know me, but will you please be in a band with me?’ And he said, ‘sure thing.’”

The three of them formed an Elliott Smith tribute band for the show. They fell in love with playing together and decided to become a full-time band. They wrote a song called “Monsoon,” and the unnamed group performed the song at a house show.

“A video of our performance went up on YouTube and Facebook the next day,” says Chandler. “Everybody thought the name of the song was the name of our band, so they started calling us ‘Monsoon.’ Then it just stuck.”

Things somehow falling into place became a theme for the members of Monsoon, and them joining with their current manager, Sally Hackel, was another example.

Hackel is a fifth-year student at the University of Georgia studying marketing and music business. In fall 2014, she took an artist management class that required her to manage an artist for a group project. The artist Hackel’s group was initially assigned was unavailable, so she went out and searched for who she wanted.

“I caught Monsoon opening for Of Montreal,” says Hackel. “They were amazing, so I wanted them. All through last semester, we were planning their album release, and I just stuck along for the ride.”

Monsoon’s sound is one that cannot be placed in a single genre. Both Kegel and Andrews have a heavy metal background, while Chandler cites Japanese orchestra as her inspiration. Though several magazines have referred to them as “indie punk,” that may not be the best term to describe the trio.

“It’s hard to give us a genre,” says Kegel. “Once at a house show, someone referred to our music as ‘explosive.’ I like the explosive genre.”

Another thing magazines tend to do is refer to Monsoon as a “youngster” band, much to the dismay of its members.

“We get labeled this young, upstart band,” says Kegel. “It’s like they downplay us. By age we’re young, but we’ve been doing this a long time. We’re not kids playing around on that stage.”

Showing that they are more than their ages is important to the members of Monsoon, but so is putting on a show that will be remembered.

“I want our fans to have an experience,” says Chandler. “I want them to go to a show and afterwards tell their moms or significant others what happened. I want them to say, “I got blood all over me,’ or some other strange thing we may do at our shows. I want to give them happiness.”

Following the release of its debut album, Monsoon was named The Blue Indian’s band of the month in February and was listed as one of Yahoo Music’s “25 Singer-Songwriters Under 25 to Watch” in March. The band is also planning to have its first full tour this summer.

Now in April, on a warm Wednesday evening, the band is headed to Oxford, Mississippi for its first show outside of Georgia. The crowd is sure to be filled with college students, but chances are there will be another 40-year-old man, dressed in a suit and drinking a beer, waiting to hear Monsoon.

Live Wire’s new management brings new opportunities

Earlier this year, the mid-sized music venue formerly known as New Earth Music Hall officially became Live Wire Athens. But there is more to the story just a name change.

Daniel Robertson, Jr. previously operated Live Wire Music Hall in Savannah, Georgia until financial issues due to a decrease in tourism and the banning of the entry of people under 21 years old caused business to plummet. He then moved to Athens where he started off managing New Earth with his brothers Brendan and Andrew. Soon Robertson, whose family also runs a promotions agency called Live Wire Sounds, felt New Earth needed to be reinvented, so he bought the building, changed its name and began doing things his way.

A dispute between New Earth’s previous owner and the property’s landlord made it possible for Robertson to make his purchase. Founder Adrian Zelski was shocked to learn that landlord Mark Bell was attempting to put the property up for sale due to his objections to the current lease. The turmoil was bad for business, and Robertson and his brothers were able to step in and save the day.

Since its reopening, there have been several aesthetic improvements to the new Live Wire, including renovations to its garden area. More important than its physical changes are its changes in policies.

When attending an event at Live Wire, one may notice a slew of huge security guards walking around with flashlights. Their goal is to catch any underage attendants that may be drinking illegally. Culprits must surrender their drinks, or they will be asked to leave the facility. This is a rule that was not previously upheld at New Earth.

“We’re covering ourselves and keeping ourselves out of trouble,” Andrew says. “The best way to do that is to enforce rules that should be a part of every bar.”

In addition to its new policies, Live Wire wants to add a new variety to the music scene in Athens. While the previous New Earth focused more on electronic dance music, or EDM, Live Wire plans to diversify its crowd by adding everything from reggae to rock to funk and bluegrass.

“We’re developing an eclectic crowd and group of regulars,” Daniel says. “We want anybody that is a music aficionado, musician, townie or college student. We want all demographics to feel welcome here and to feel comfortable here.”

New Earth is not the first venue in Downtown Athens to switch hands. The music venue The Melting Point was recently purchased by the Chicago-based AJ Capital Partners and its name changed to The Foundry. The Green Room was also recently sold by owner Wilmot Greene to Bryan Gay, a restaurant and music venue owner from Valdosta, Georgia. Even Athens’ beloved Georgia Theater recently switched management though it was able to keep its name.

With so many management changes, it can be easy to question how this would affect business in Athens. According to Pamela Thompson, the executive director of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, these changes can be seen as a positive.

“New business owners and managers in downtown help add to the character of our community,” Thompson says. “Fresh, new ideas and perspectives always help during discussions of how we can improve our downtown or tackle any challenges we may face.  A diverse group downtown of long-time businesses and new businesses makes sure that downtown offers something for everyone. Downtown is constantly changing, which keeps it dynamic and exciting.”

Live Wire hopes to continue adding to that dynamic.

“Essentially, we want to help develop and add to the music scene in Athens,” Andrew says. “We had the music venue in Savannah for a while, and we wanted to bring our brand up to Athens to see how we could help the scene grow.”

Crowdfunding helps kick start Athens organizations

When you have an idea for a new project, one of the most important things to do is to find a way to fund it. You may turn to friends and family for help, but have you ever thought about asking complete strangers on the internet?

Crowdfunding has significantly increased in popularity over the past few years. Artists, musicians and aspiring entrepreneurs have turned to sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe to help get their projects off the ground. Here in Athens, Kickstarter in particular has become a welcome source of revenue for events and organizations, including the Slingshot Festival and Art Rocks Athens.

So what exactly is crowdfunding? Simply put, it is a way to raise money from large numbers of people via the internet. These various platforms give people a chance to showcase their business ideas and garner support. Once you choose your platform, you make a profile containing a brief yet compelling message about the purpose of your venture. Then you inform future donors of potential rewards they will receive if they support your business, whether it is a share of the company or access to its services. If all goes well, you will have a slew of supporters ready to see your plan in action.

Crowdfunding first peaked in popularity during the recession. As businesses began to fail, owners turned to these sites for a chance to reach people on a global scale. Since then, it has continued to be a way to bring ideas to life. Athens’ own Slingshot Festival is a success story.

Kai Riedl, the instructor and Ph.D student at the University of Georgia behind the Slingshot Festival, got the idea for its conception by taking cues from other cities like Austin, Texas. Though Athens is home to several other festivals, Riedl noticed the lack of one that showcases both local and national music. He wanted something that would combine the two and also exhibit art and technology.

Riedl turned to Kickstarter because he and his co-director Éric Marty felt it had the widest visibility and broadest reach of the sites they considered.

“I’m a musician myself, so I’ve used [crowdfunding sites] before,” Riedl says. “We didn’t have any money to start out with, but we thought the idea was strong enough to get support. It provided a way for us to reach people we know and people we don’t.”

Riedl credits their original idea and strong foundation for the success of their online campaign, but there is one added component that played a major role.

“I think an existing social network and a strong push on sites like Facebook to get the word out helped tremendously,” Marty says. “It was gave us an opportunity to connect with additional people and solicit connections.”

Kickstarter also helped launch Art Rocks Athens, a nonprofit organization dedicated to showcasing how the Athens art scene during 1975-1985 influenced its music scene and vice versa. Started by former B-52s manager Maureen McLaughlin with help from Heli Montgomery, Blair Dorminey and Leslie Michel, Arts Rocks displays collections of art and work from retired musicians from that time period.

Although Art Rocks’ fundraising was successful in the end, the organization experienced a major setback when the first campaign failed to receive the necessary amount of donations. However, McLaughlin and co. decided to reboot for a second time, and this time were able to reach their goal.

“The first time we really shot for the moon,” McLaughlin says. “Part of the problem with trying to do something like this is the idea of what we were doing is so nebulous. A lot of people couldn’t wrap their heads around it. The people who do get it endorsed it wholeheartedly. I was trying to tell a compelling story to get people interested, but it wasn’t as enthusiastically received as I thought it would be.”

Much like Riedl and his team, the Art Rocks crew realized in order to see results, they needed to promote their campaign as much as possible.

“The key thing I learned is that once you get it running, you just have to promote the hell out of it,” McLaughlin says. “You can’t just tell your friends and expect them to donate. You have to find a way to make the people care and make them feel a part of it.”

Though some may have issues with sites like Kickstarter, crowdfunding overall can be a great source.

“I think it’s really changed the whole landscape of what’s possible to fund,” Marty says. “From my perspective, it’s a fantastic way to get nonprofit and artistic projects funded that would have been difficult otherwise. It’s a game changer for small entrepreneurs.”

Microsite: Stress Fractures in Basketball

This microsite provides an overview about stress fractures in basketball, and offers insight into why they occur, how they can be prevented, and discusses various cases involving basketball players who suffered the injury. Lastly, the site provides recommendations for more resources.

 

Case study: Media Framing of Adderall Use in the NFL

Introduction

For people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Adderall can be considered a lifesaver. The drug, which contains a combination of stimulants, helps to increase the ability to pay attention, concentrate, and stay focused. It restores the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, and it can also be used to treat narcolepsy and relieve pain. With the benefits that Adderall exhibits, it can be easy to understand why athletes try to get their hands on it—whether to help them study playbooks, workout longer or even rid them of fatigue. The problem is that Adderall is banned by both collegiate and professional sports, unless prescribed by a doctor. This case study will discuss the illegal use of Adderall in the NFL specifically, how the media framed both the use and response by the NFL, and recommendations for future coverage of related cases.

Case study 2_Mariya Lewter

Case study: How the media framed Yao Ming’s career-ending stress fractures

Introduction

Since he entered the NBA in 2002, Yao Ming made a huge impact on the league. Standing at 7 feet 6 inches tall, the eight-time all-star played a major role in bridging the gap between American and Chinese basketball and making the NBA a global force. Though his contribution to the game of basketball will never be forgotten, it will also be hard to forget the many injuries that plagued his career. Yao Ming battled several lower-body injuries throughout his eight seasons with the Houston Rockets, and they ultimately cut his promising career short. In this case study, I will discuss how the media framed Yao’s career-ending stress fractures and what I recommend for future coverage of related cases.

Case study_Mariya Lewter

The Boilermaker-Turned-Bulldog

The Georgia volleyball team has just concluded its regular season with a 22-9 overall record, making this its best season since 1994. The leadership of the team’s seniors has helped this team grow and succeed all season long. One senior in particular has positively affected the Bulldogs ever since transferring to Georgia in 2011, and her name is Elena Perri.

Perri was born in Richland, Mich. where she attended Gull Lake High School. The middleblocker stands at 6-foot-2 and claims that her height is what initially got her into the sport of volleyball.

“I was basically just really tall when I was little,” she said. “There was a competitive volleyball team by my house, and I had a friend that was on the team. She asked me if I wanted to try out and join, and, ever since middle school, I’ve played and loved it.”

Perri was a three-time All-State selection in high school, and served as her team’s captain for three seasons. She earned Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region 11 honors as a senior and initially committed to Purdue University.

As a Boilermaker, Perri played in five matches and earned the Sue Jurkonis Award for strongest freshman. After her freshman year, she decided to transfer from Purdue to Georgia where she believed she would feel more comfortable and get more out of her education.

“I committed to Purdue when I was really young,” Perri said. “Then I got hurt a couple times. I got there, and it just didn’t seem like it was going to pan out for me playing-wise. I wanted to go to a school where I could still make a pretty big impact and be at a really great school. The volleyball piece and the school piece fit for me here [at Georgia].”

In her first season as a Bulldog, Perri appeared in 14 matches, including three starts. In 28 sets, she tallied 27 kills and 26 blocks. Last season, Perri started all 30 matches and tallied 132 kills, averaging 1.18 per set. She also led the team with 117 blocks, including 13 solo stops.

This season, Perri led the team in blocks with 113 and recorded 122 kills. Head coach Lizzy Stemke expressed how Perri has evolved as a played since joining the Bulldogs her sophomore year.

“Elena has always been a really consistent player,” Stemke said. “Her volleyball IQ is really high. She has really become a much more offensive player, especially here in the last couple of months. She’s always been a solid blocker, and she knows the game so well, but I think physically she’s made some really great strides in her offensive game to become a really nice all-around middle for us.”

Perri has been a force on the court since she’s been at Georgia, but one thing that stands out about her the most is her personality off the court. Since transferring, the former Boilermaker has built strong bonds that go beyond the jerseys. When asked about Perri’s effect on the other girls of the team, Stemke raved about her ability to build relationships with her teammates.

“Elena’s got a really fun personality,” she said. “She’s the kind of kid that can hang out with anybody and everybody on the team. She knows when it’s time to buckle down on the court, but she has a real relationship with every player on the team. She’s a player that brings a lot of calmness, whether it’s a joke here and there or a motivational pep talk. She carries the whole bag.”

One teammate in particular that also raved about Perri’s lovable personality is her closest friend on the team, senior outside hitter Brittany Northcutt.

“She’s an awesome person,” Northcutt said. “She’s like my best friend on the team. She’s awesome off the court and on the court. She brings fun and excitement all the time. She’s always in a good mood and happy, and it just keeps a balance between our whole team.”

Now that she has concluded her third and final season as a Bulldog, Perri spoke about what she enjoyed most about playing here.

“I’ve loved watching our team and seeing how far we’ve grown since I’ve gotten here,” she said. “This team is a veteran team, and it’s been fun this year coming back, playing with them, and seeing how much we’ve improved. We were really competitive this year, and hopefully we’ll make the [NCAA] tournament.”

Perri and the Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004 and will take on American University in the first round at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in Durham, N.C.

Profile: Why Do We Love Sports?: Catrina Rushing

If you ask a sports fan why they love sports, they will probably tell you about the moment that first grabbed their attention. It could be Michael Jordan’s flu game, the Olympics when the U.S. hockey team defeated Canada, or John Elway’s “the Drive.” For Catrina Rushing, it was a Georgia women’s basketball game when she was four years old.

“When I went to my first Lady Dogs game as a kid, I had an amazing view,” she said. “I would watch the different players, their artistry and how they did their layups. I fell in love with it, and it made me want to play, especially since there weren’t many women players in the league.”

The Lady Bulldogs have produced plenty of stars. Players like Teresa Edwards, four-time Olympic gold medal winner who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and Janet Harris, who was the first NCAA women’s basketball player to earn 2,500 points and 1,250 rebounds, have made the Bulldogs one of the best women’s college teams in the past.

For Rushing, it was former Lady Bulldog and Detroit Shock player Deanna Nolan who inspired her to pick up a basketball. The Athens, Ga. native began to play pickup games with the guys in her neighborhood, and she went out for her middle school team, playing every position except point guard. She then went on to play for her high school team, the Cedar Shoals Jaguars.

Now, Rushing’s life has come full circle as she manages the team she once grew up idolizing, the Lady Bulldogs. She  is currently a junior at The University of Georgia where she studies Sports Management and Public Relations. She names the Atlanta Dream and Miami Heat as her favorite professional teams, and her dream job is to coach the WNBA or work in Public Relations with the NBA.

Write-Through: Shacobia Barbee sparks Lady Bulldogs with double-double

After missing the season opener, Shacobia Barbee returned to action for the Georgia women’s basketball team Thursday evening in the Stegeman Coliseum with her fourth career double-double. The sophomore’s 15 points and 15 rebounds helped the Lady Bulldogs (2-0) defeat Mercer (1-2) in a 72-41 blowout.

“It felt good to be back out there with my team,” Barbee said. “With or without me, having anyone come back, the energy is there. I was excited for my first game, just doing little things like I did last year.”

Georgia was able to put the game away in the first half despite early foul trouble. With the game being tied 9-9, a layup by junior Krista Donald at 10:43 sparked a 24-2 run over the next 5:51. Georgia went into halftime with a 37-15 lead and was in control for the remainder of the game.

Behind Barbee’s hot game, the Lady Bulldogs were able to outplay Mercer on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Mercer shot a poor 23.1 percent, only making 12 field goals in the entire game, while Georgia had 29 made field goals on 38.2 percent. The Lady Bulldogs outrebounded the Bears 56-39, with 21 offensive boards and 12 second-chance points. Georgia also had 19 assists in the game versus Mercer’s eight, 12 of which came from Barbee and senior guard Khaalidah Miller, who both had six each.

After a poor defensive effort on Sunday against Presbyterian, the Lady Bulldogs were able to turn up the defensive play against the Bears. Georgia recorded 13 steals and helped force the Bears to make 22 turnovers, 13 of which came in the first half.

“We played really well all-around defensively,” junior guard Erika Ford said. “The ball pressure created a chance for our wings to get out and get deflections and steals. I thought it was really good and much improved from Sunday.

Head coach Andy Landers expressed his satisfaction with the differences in this game as opposed to Sunday’s game against Presbyterian.

“I think the best thing about the game tonight is that they had fun,” he said.

Barbee got her 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and she was just four assists shy of a triple-double. Her 15 rebounds serve as her career-high, and this double-double is now her second in a row, dating back to last season when she posted 14 points and 10 rebounds against Cal in the NCAA Tournament.

“[Shacobia was] terrific,” Landers said. “I thought she was great, I thought she was positive, and I thought she played hard.

Ford finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, scoring Georgia’s first seven points. More Lady Bulldogs in double-figures were Miller and sophomore Merritt Hempe with 13 points each. Following Barbee’s 15 rebounds, Miller and Halle Washington both chipped in with seven each, and Donald followed behind with six.

With suspended players Marjorie Butler and Tiaria Griffin expected to play after the next game, Landers spoke about how getting key players back into the lineup benefits the team.

“Everybody is important,” he said. “That’s normally the case with any team. If you have one person that doesn’t show, that doesn’t pull or carry their share of the load, [the team] looks like it did Sunday. If you have everybody on the same page pulling together, it will look like it did tonight. The best thing is that we have two more players coming back, so it’s going to look even better when we get them back.”

The Lady Bulldogs will return to action against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Stegeman Coliseum.

Deadline game story: The Wildcats fumble away their chance at victory

Turnovers resulted in missed opportunities for the Apalachee Wildcats in their 43-19 loss to the Clarke Central Gladiators on Friday night. Senior Jody Mathis led the team with 78 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, one of which was a 95-yard touchdown following his interception. However, his performance was overshadowed by the team’s lackluster play in the second half.

After going down 14-0 early in the first quarter following touchdowns by Jacqua Daniels and Cameron Johnson, Apalachee (0-4) was able to crawl back into the game after an interception by Kent Knowles. Mathis then scored two touchdowns during the remaining of the first half, but a missed extra-point attempt left the Wildcats down 14-13 at halftime.

The 14 points scored by the Gladiators was the lowest point total Apalachee has given up in a first half so far this season. However, despite a great defensive first half, the Wildcats were not able to gain control over the game.

In the second half, the Wildcats recorded five fumbles, three of which they lost. The key fumble of the game came with 9:36 left to go in the fourth quarter when Apalachee was down 28-19, forfeiting its opportunity to bring the game within one possession. From then on, the game belonged solely to the Gladiators.

According to head coach Shane Davis, fatigue played a part in the uninspiring play in second half of the game.

“We were tired early, and I knew we would be,” he said. “When it’s a physical game like that, and you’re exerting yourself over and over and over again, it definitely played a little bit of a factor for our guys tonight. We got tired, and mentally we didn’t play well down the stretch.”

When asked what the team can do to get over its turnovers, Davis explained that the best thing for the team to do is forget about them.

“If you start thinking about it and concentrating on that, then you’re not going to do your other stuff, and then you will turn the ball over,” he said. “It’s like a hitter in baseball. When you strike out, you have to go right back out there and swing again.”

Mathis expressed how this loss will have an even bigger impact on the team than the previous ones.

“It’s going to be hard [to bounce back],” he said. “It’s harder than normal because we actually had a chance this time.”

Another key factor in the game was the missed two-point conversion following the touchdown by Kyle Jackson in the fourth quarter, which also would have brought the team within one possession.

Up next, the Wildcats will be playing away against the Flowery Branch Falcons on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.