by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 26, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
As Coach Carpenter, one of my main responsibilities is “coaching up” the freshman players. The first day we were on the field with them, Coach Webb huddled up the skill players and asked, “Who here is a quarterback?” No one raised their hand. He kind of snickered to himself and said, “All right, well, who here would call themselves a quarterback.” Finally two guys raised their hands. Ian and Josh. In eighth grade the year before, Josh was the starting quarterback and Ian was the backup. Coach Winfree and I went through fundamentals with them — quick catch and throw, three step drops, basic follow throughs on release and how to grip the ball — basic things just to get those kids warmed up. After so much fundamental work, we went to work with the wide receiver groups. We had them throw slants, hitches and seams — simple routes that will be incorporated in their growth. Holy cow were we impressed with them. They were young with a lot of talent, but Coach Winfree called them “coachable.” I thought that was the perfect way to describe them. The act of being coachable is very important. If you aren’t coachable we can’t help you. Coachability is the willingness to be corrected and to act on that correction. It’s humility. It’s being able to realize that you need the guidance of others to be better. In a way, I have had to be coachable the past two months as well — primarily because of how raw of a coach I am. I’ve sat to the side watching these coaches coach up...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 21, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb’s Madi Talbert came up just short in the Olympic Trials for the 300m steeplechase on Monday, July 4th. Talbert was named as one of the 35 best runners in the country and competed for a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Talbert qualified for the trials by running a personal best 9:50.57 in the 2015 NCAA Division I East Region Prelims, which was the fourth best time in the nation from the East Region and West Region Prelims combined. At the Olympic Trials, she came in 29th with a time of 10:09.76. The top 14 qualified for the Olympic games. “It’s been a crazy experience!” Talbert said. Just a few weeks prior, Talbert competed in Eugene, Oregon, during the National Championship rounds where she qualified for the Olympic Trials shortly after, therefore she had little time to prepare and rest. “I’ve run all the races that I want to run,” Talbert said. “Pros and collegiate athletes have very different schedules, so it was very hard to be racing at that level as a collegiate athlete at the end of my season,” she noted. “By then, you’ve been racing for months and months and months, while professionals have been racing for only a few months. So I was at my peak physically, and it was very hard to maintain my endurance. It was kind of overwhelming.” Nevertheless, Talbert added that competing in the Olympic Trials was an incredible opportunity. “The Olympic Trials was a completely amazing experience. I was envious of the high school athletes because they hadn’t had nationals yet,...
by Erin Franklin | Jul 20, 2016 | News Slider
Nearly a week after the recent terror attack in Nice, France, the French people are still reeling from the loss of 84 people after a man drove a truck through a crowd of spectators celebrating Bastille Day. The chair of the English and Foreign Languages department, Dr. Kimberly Reed, was traveling in France the day of the terrorist attack. Although she was visiting Brittany, France, which is many hours away from Nice, Dr. Reed said the horror of the attack echoed all across the country. “After the initial shock, I think there was a sort of stunned disbelief that this had happened for the third time in about 18 months (the Charlie Hebdo attack early last year, and then the Paris attacks last November),” Reed said. Reed had spent Bastille Day at a celebration in memory of a friend who died of ALS a few years ago, so she did not find out about the terrorism until very late that night, but she, along with friends she was visiting, were sickened when they heard the news. “When I went to my friend’s house the next morning, she and her family had just found out about the attacks. They were, of course, horrified and upset.” Reed continued, noting that even though she was many miles away from Nice, people in Brittany and all over the country were mourning. “I think most French people, regardless of the area they’re from, were very upset by this. They do have a strong sense of national identity, by and large, and so I think they see this as an attack on them all.” France’s president, François Hollande, extended the state of emergency in...
by Rebekah Stogner | Jul 18, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
The controversy and backlash surrounding the female “Ghostbusters” reboot has been in the air since the first trailer dropped in March. After months of angry comments, extreme dislikes and waiting, we finally have the answer to the question, “Is the film actually any good?” In my opinion, yes. I actually think it improves on the original. Physicist Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) reunites with childhood friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), and they team up with Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) to investigate paranormal activity in New York City. Of course, many doubters and the mayor of the city are against them, until a large device that amplifies the paranormal unleashes an apocalypse of ghosts. As a huge fan of all four of the leading ladies, I was hyped about this movie since it was announced, and I was not disappointed. While certainly paying homage to the original with its many Easter eggs and cameos, “Ghostbusters” was able to stand on its own as a film with its own unique plot and characters. While Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones were all fantastic, Kate McKinnon absolutely stole the show with her quirky, adorable, mad scientist characteristics. Almost everything she did was laugh-out-loud funny. I laughed out loud throughout most of the film, whereas I only chuckled a few times watching the original “Ghostbusters.” The secretary character was much more interesting in this version, and there were more ghosts to bust. Best of all, the bonds between the characters were much stronger. These ladies (and Chris Hemsworth) just work so well together, and it’s nice to see...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 16, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb athletics continues to succeed off the field as well as on the field. Men’s & women’s golf and softball both received the NCAA Public Recognition award for accomplishments in the classroom this past week. This award comes a season after Kristin Ryman’s softball squad was named National Champions in the classroom for their cumulative GPA (3.65) by the National Fast Pitch Association. Lipscomb Softball’s All-American second baseman (2014-2016) Baylee Williams just completed her collegiate career. Williams was part of the National Championship team for GPA and acknowledges how important her time in the classroom was. “Academics to an athlete is very important because sports are temporary and academics is what is ultimately going to determine how life is after college,” Williams said. “It’s important to have a good balance between the two, but academic focus will get you further in life.” The three teams were honored for finishing in the top 10 percent in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sports during the 2014-15 academic year. All three teams posted scores of 1,000. “”We are very proud of our golf and softball athletes who continue to excel academically, as well as on the field or course,” Dr. Lin Garner, associate athletics director for academics and senior woman administrator, said in a statement. “Kudos also to their coaches who invest so much time in and attention to academics.” The APR is meant to hold NCAA institutions accountable for their academic progress and graduation, which has become a major focal point in recruiting. Teams must earn an APR of 930 to compete in Championships. Visit the NCAA APR’s website for a...
by Erin Franklin | Jul 13, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
2013 Journalism and New Media graduate Brynn Elliot Watkins is a lady with many hats. After graduating from Lipscomb, Watkins moved from Music City to pursue a fashion career in the Big Apple. She now is doing wardrobe styling for films and editorials, as well as running her lifestyle site, Being Elliott. She also is doing fashion consulting for brands, interior design projects and personal styling. “There’s never a dull moment,” Watkins noted. In addition to her fashion and lifestyle career, Watkins also does some film work “on the side.” Watkins recently collaborated with her husband, Aaron Craig, a filmmaker by trade, who started We Are Films. On a whim, the couple decided to submit their film that they shot on her family farm for inclusion in the Cannes Film Festival — and they got in. Watkins said finding out that they were going to be attending Cannes was an awesome and surreal experience. “We were thrilled for sure,” Watkins said. “Cannes has always been a dream, and we are so glad we were able to attend. God provided the opportunity, and I was thankful for that!” The short film is titled “Speak of the Lights. The story line centers on “a young boy who goes missing after a mysterious light appears. The town bands together to find out what happened.” “It was a very small cast and crew, but we all had an awesome time working together,” Watkins said. Watkins said she and Craig had always wanted to collaborate as a couple and thought this was a great opportunity for both of them. “We both did a little...
