1. Rob, do you think the Saints will win the Super Bowl?
Hi Jason.  Glad to help you out with your article.  Personally, it is refreshing to see the Saints make the Super Bowl for the first time in their 43-year history.  They have for the most part been the laughingstock of the NFL, at times referred to as the “Aints” while their fans often would wear paper bags over their heads during games because the team was so embarrassing to watch.   But now that they have overcome their painful past, I believe they have a good shot at winning.  The odds are against them because they face Peyton Manning and his incredible offense.  But the Saints have an explosive offense themselves, so if their defense can contain the Colts from putting too many points on the board early, the Saints have a good shot at pulling this off.   At least if they keep it close until the fourth quarter, they will give themselves a chance.

2. How do you think (Saints quarterback) Drew Brees will do?
I do believe Drew Brees will have a good game.  He wasn’t himself in the NFC championship game against the Vikings where he was 17 of 31 for just 197 yards, but did throw three touchdowns.  Those numbers don’t seem that bad – but for Brees who has been so efficient and explosive this season, it was a down game for him.  But the main thing is he got through it and is still playing.   If he can return to his form of the regular season where he put up incredible numbers – 34 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions and 4,388 yards – he will shine on super Sunday.  He has so many weapons on offense that he should be able to sprinkle out a balanced attack that could keep the Colts guessing on defense.

3. How do you think (Colts quarterback) Peyton Manning will do?
Whenever you talk about a four-time league MVP in Peyton Manning and the best quarterback of our era, you can only expect that he will have a big game as he seeks his second Super Bowl title.   He was second in the league during the regular season in passing yards with 4,500, and threw one less touchdown than Brees – 33 – but did throw five more interceptions, with 16.   It always comes down to the offensive line, which has always been one of the best in the NFL.  If they can protect Manning and give him the time he needs, he will have his way and will pick apart the Saints secondary.  He was sacked only 10 times all season, which is hard to comprehend, so if he has the protection, he’ll be the Super Bowl MVP.

4. What do you think the score will be?
I am a little partial to the great story of the Saints making it for the first time ever and doing so just a few years after the city was devastated by Katrina.  They are the sentimental pick because of their past and the city’s rebuilding. In my mind, if they can keep it close, they have a shot to win.  I think they will keep it close, but in the end, the Colts will win 34-31. If that score comes to fruition, make sure you tell all your friends where you heard it!  But really, if that is the score, it’s going to be one exciting Super Bowl!  Good luck to you !  Enjoy the game and best to you in your future.

- Jason Lee

Nickie and I love the computer games “Age of Empires” series and “Age of Mythology.” We wanted to find out how the heck these are made. We decided to e-mail Ensemble Studios, creators of both games and many more. But to our horror we found out that they had closed down! But we found out that they had split into two new companies. We e-mailed Robot Entertainment with some questions and we got some awswers from Duncan Stanley, their Community Manager. These are the Q and A.

Q. What games have you developed? Which is your most popular game?

A. Robot Entertainment is a start up video game company, so we haven’t released any of our games yet, although our employees (or ‘Bots as we call them) have all been involved with many games over the years. Most of us were together at Ensemble Studios, now closed, that developed the Age of Empires series of games and Halo Wars. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings was Ensemble’s most popular game.

Q. Are you currently developing any games?

A. We are currently working on an unannounced game, but unfortunately we can’t talk about it yet (even to students!).

Q. Are you working on any Halloween based games?

A. We are not working on any Halloween based games, although the Halloween spirit is alive and well here at Robot!

Q. How many game testers work at Robot? What kind of skills do you need to be a game tester?

A. Currently we only have 1 person who does any testing, but when it comes to the final phases of making a game, we can have as much as 10 or more on-site testers, but everybody helps test out the game while they’re working on it too! To be a great game tester, you need to read and write very well so you can follow complex instructions, and write down what you’ve done in case you run into a bug. It also helps to be very good at problem solving and if you are very creative, so you can think of situations the programmers and designers haven’t thought of to test out.

Q. Where do you get your ideas for new games?

A. Everyone always has lots of great ideas for a new game, and we have a process where people can pitch new ideas to everyone, and a select team of people add their own and go through all of the ideas and come up with a overall plan for a new game. Then it goes to our team of designers who work on all of the specifics of the game, like levels, characters, and graphics vision and everything else. Then it’s up to the Artists and Programmers to get it all done!

Q. How long does it take to make a video game?

A. Most of the big name titles that are very popular take anywhere from 2 to 5 years from start to finish. The latest game that Robot Entertainment provides support for is Halo Wars, and that took about 3 years of development.

There’s a sports monument right outside of 826LA. In fact, it’s right on Sunset Boulevard. Echo Park’s Walk of Fame honors local sports figures, and the Good Times journalists took a stroll down the Walk and then found out more about the people being honored.

Roy Campanella by Alanis

Roy Campanella (a.k.a. “Campy”) was a human who was the catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the ’40s and ’50s. He is on the Echo Park Walk of Fame because he was a good player and played in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican Leagues before playing in the Major Leagues with Jackie Robinson. He was also in the Major League Hall of Fame and won three MVPs. He only played for the Brooklyn Dodgers because he had an automobile accident before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. We walked to Sunset Blvd., and when I heard his name, I thought about the movie The Sandlot: Heading Home.

Echo Park Plaques by Josephine

We went outside. We had some paper and crayons, and we colored some plaques in front of 826LA. One of them was for a golfer (Ralph Guldahl), one was for a runner (Jesse Owens) and one was for a baseball player (Roy Campanella). I’d never heard of Ralph Guldahl before. He played golf. He lived in Los Angeles. He’s on the Echo Park Walk of Fame because he was really good at playing golf. He won in Santa Monica in 1931. He was born in Dallas, Texas.

The plaques are called Avenue of the Athletes. That should be the name of the street. L. Andrew Castle put the plaques on Avenue of the Athletes so people would come to the shops in Echo Park. He had a camera shop. Avenue of the Athletes is on Sunset between Elysian Park Blvd. and Alvarado St. The plaques were made in 1974. There are 32 plaques on Avenue of the Athletes.

Taking a cue from Huey Lewis and the News’s best-selling album from 1983, the 826LA Good Times‘ staff of Echo Park tackles the issue of Sports in its latest edition. Our dutiful writers each took time to remember memories they have of playing sports—both good and bad. Here’s what they came up with:

• I used to be in a baseball team and got hit by the ball three times. First I was hit during a game, then I was hit during practice, and then in another game. I also tripped in practice once, and a person almost stepped on me.
• I remember when I was at my cousin’s house, and he kicked a ball in my face. I had a black eye for a week, and I was bleeding. But I didn’t go to the doctor.
• I remember when I was in school, and teams were being picked. One team chose all the good players, while the other team got all the lousy people. I was one of the lousy people. The game went badly for the lousy people.
• I found out that my school’s kickball and handball courts were slightly changing. The scary thing is my school, Dahlia Heights Elementary, never really changes. The only improvement I’ve ever noticed was the tetherball/handball court was under renovation last year. It turns out that the court’s wall paint was fading, and the kickball fence was bending. The more everything is used, the more it changes.

Unusual Sports

Good Times journalists Nickie and Marsden both know the conventional sports: baseball, football, et al. But what really caught their interest was the unconventional. The two did some research to dig up unusual sports played around the world.

• Man vs. Horse: In this sport, probably three-fourths of the time the horse will win the race.
• Wife Carrying: Hopefully it’s a short race. Do the guys ever drop the girls?
• Bog Snorkeling: The name says it all. Do you think the water is thick or smooth?
• Toe Wrestling: Again, the name says it all. It must be hard though. Feet don’t exactly move like hands.
• Fist Ball: It’s exactly like volleyball, except you don’t hit the ball the same way. It’s probably a good game for violent types.

Huey Lewis

And for our readers who are old enough to remember Huey Lewis, here’s a synth-filled blast-from-the-past track from the Sports album: “Walking on a Thin Line.”

Walking On A Thin Line (24-Bit Digitally Remastered 99) – Huey Lewis And The News

Some people think card games like poker are a sport. | Photo by gisur via flickr and a Creative Commons license.

The 826LA Good Times staff is hard at work on the upcoming issue about sports, which they found doesn’t always involve a ball or the outdoors. In fact, one of the journalists’ favorite sports is playing card games, including Speed and Poker. After a few rounds of Speed, Alanis and Josephine looked up the origins of cards, while Bianca and Miguel did some research on Poker.

Early Card History

By Alanis and Josephine

Playing cards come from 9th century China during the Tang Dynasty. There are four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The design came from Mahjong tiles. T he first deck of cards were probably printed as a Chinese dominoes deck.

***

Poker

By Bianca and Miguel

There are four variations of poker: Straight, Stud, Draw and Community. It was originally a 15th century German game called Pochspiel. In Poker, you have money to start. Every time you win, you get some chips, and you can exchange them for money. There are broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the “World Series of Poker” and the “World Poker Tour.”

My Favorite Card Game: Speed

by Bianca

I just started playing Speed, and it became my favorite card game. You play it with two, three or four people. To play, you have to put the card numbers in order. You put two cards down in the middle, then five on the sides. The rest of the cards are divided among the players. When all the players are ready, you flip over the two cards in the middle and start playing. Put the cards in number order. Or you can go backwards. If you have a joker, it’s a wild card and can be any number.

Sophie Heawood visits 826LA's journalism class.

London Times writer Sophie Heawood stopped by the Monday night journalism workshop at 826LA East on Aug. 24. We asked our kids to interrogate interview our guest, write a bio and let us know a difference or two between life in England and life in the U.S. And here’s what they found out:

Sophie Heawood is from London. She was born in 1976. She works as a journalist for The Times. She speaks five languages. The languages are English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. She likes to be in the sunlight. The difference between London and Los Angeles is that they eat difference kinds of food. From London, they eat fish and chips.
–Oscar

Sophie Heawood was born in London, England. She is a journalist and wanted to write about a new city. She is staying in LA for two months. She is 33 years old and eats Indian food. She eats fish and chips. She knows how to speak English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. She writes for the newspaper called The London Times. In England you can go to the hospital and they don’t charge, but in LA they do charge you.

She was born in London, England, in 1976. Sophie is 33 years old. She works at The London Times. She has stayed in Los Angeles for two months. She knows four languages (besides English): Spanish, Portuguese, French and German. She drinks black tea most of the time. In England, their popular dish is Fish n’ Chips. In England, all the health care is free from the NHS (National Health Service).
–Alex

We interviewed Sophie and found out that she works for The London Times. She was born on June 28, 1976. She speaks five languages and lives in London.
–Nickie

She was born in London, England, in 1976. She is a writer for The London Times.. She is 33 years old. She lives in London. She is visiting Los Angeles for only two months. She came to visit Los Angeles to write about a new city. In England, their popular food is fish n’ chips. Also in England, health care is free and called the NHS. NHS stands for National Health Service.
–Alanis

Sophie Heawood is 33. She works for The London Times. She is on vacation for two months in L.A. She really lives in London, where they have a queen instead of a president.
-Marsden

Sophie Heawood is from London, England. She was born on July 28, 1976. She writes for The London Times. She interviews famous people like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. She speaks five different languages: English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. She lives in Hollywood, and she’s staying in Los Angeles for two months.
Sophie said, “I want to write about a new city for The London Times.” She likes going for long walks, but not on sandy beaches. Sophie said. “I hate walking on sandy beaches.” She likes walking in the canyons.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LONDON AND LOS ANGELES: 
In London, the health care is free, but in Los Angeles you have to pay for the health care.
 In London, there’s a queen, but in Los Angeles there’s a president. England has a parliament and in America, there’s a House of Representatives.
–Bianca and Miguel

Look for the newest edition of the 826LA Good Times at a location near you! Try to Echo Park Time Travel Mart, Stories bookstore and cafe, or Two Boots Pizza.

We’re also laying the groundwork for our next issue. And the theme is: Sports!

A few ideas our intrepid reporters would like to cover:
baseball
basketball
volleyball
skating
BMX
cycling
soccer
football
cards
bowling
skateboarding
Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Who we might talk to:
players
Barcelona
coach
mascot
skateboarder
Lance Armstrong
referee

Tonight the students each picked topics and developed questions for possible interviews for the Movie Issue (with a heavy emphasis on Transformers 2!):

• Bianca and Josephine wrote interview questions for people with different jobs in the movies, like a best boy, set designer, boom operator.
• Marsden wrote questions to interview a voice actor from the Transformers.
• Nickie wrote questions for an interview with a Star Wars animator.
• Alanis wrote questions for an interview with Shia LaBoeuf; and
• Oscar wrote a review of the trailer for Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen.

If anyone can help hook us up with contacts for these interviews, please e-mail Julius at Julius@826la.org.