Beyond Blessed: Sam Murphy brings his best to baseball and beyond.

This is a feature profile story on former University of Nebraska Omaha pitcher Sam Murphy. The reason I produced this story was due to Murphy’s interesting background in baseball and in sports. After his collegiate career at UNO Murphy went on to pitch professionally for the Feldrich Cardinals of the Australian Baseball Federation. In his time away from the pitchers mound Murphy involved himself as social media sports intern for sporting events such as March Madness, The College World Series and the College Football National Championship Game. The result of this story was it was published in the CommUNO magazine.

https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/communo/30/#.X80-DPAruT4.twitter

OMAHA, Neb. —Sam Murphy’s life has always revolved around sports.

As a child, Murphy’s parents signed him up for whatever sport was in season.  

“Eventually, they must’ve figured out baseball was king for me,” Murphy said. 

Growing up in Lake Worth, Florida, Murphy’s family moved around the country for their jobs, giving Murphy the opportunity for adventures. 

Murphy said growing up his family took what they called a “baseball road trip” every summer to visit different Major League Baseball stadiums across the country. To date, Murphy has visited 27 of the 30 MLB stadiums. 

Murphy lettered in baseball all four years at Summit Christian High School in Florida as a pitcher and position player. He was also the public address announcer for the Summit Christian basketball teams, where Murphy said he began to have an interest in sportscasting. 

 In high school, Murphy would record himself calling games and listen to his recordings. He said the process helped him prepare for a career in sportscasting. 

  After graduating valedictorian of his class in 2012, Murphy attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Murphy said experiencing college outside of Florida and playing baseball close to family, while studying in a good broadcasting and journalism program prompted him to become a Maverick. Murphy was team captain as a left-handed pitcher and first baseman for the UNO baseball team and received multiple Summit League academic awards during his career. 

 Off the diamond, Murphy was a play-by-play announcer and anchor for Mav Radio, interned with the UNO Athletic Department, and hosted a radio show called “Murph in the Morning.”

“It was all good for my experience,” Murphy said. “The possibilities were endless.”  

Murphy graduated from UNO with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 2016, and a bachelor’s in general administration in 2017. 

  However, following his baseball career at UNO, Murphy said he wanted to play baseball and experience the world.   

 UNO head baseball coach Evan Porter encouraged Murphy to play overseas after his collegiate career. Murphy said playing baseball internationally was always on his mind and eventually an opportunity arose for him to play in Austria.  

   Murphy along with other former UNO baseball players are ambassadors for the Feldkirch Cardinals of the Austrian Baseball Federation. 

As an ambassador, Murphy coaches 7 to 16 year-olds teaching them baseball fundamentals. Murphy also participates in school projects in Austria, where teams go to local schools and cities across the country to play baseball with children. 

“Our goal is to get them excited and passionate about the game,” Murphy said.  

Murphy plays in Austria during the winter, but currently is in his first season as an outfielder and pitcher for the Rockingham Rams of the Baseball Western Australian League, where he plays during the summer. 

“When you play baseball year-round, you’re gonna have an advantage over places that can only play during certain months,” Murphy said. 

   Away from the diamond, Murphy has worked sporting events as a social media intern. Murphy’s events include March Madness, the Miami Beach Bowl, The College World Series, the Olympic Swim Trials, the College Football National Semifinals and the College Football National Championship. 

Murphy covered fan access, live music performances and press conferences from players and coaches on social media, before, during and after the games. Murphy also managed social media accounts for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League. 

Covering sporting events and managing social media accounts Murphy said, helped him learn how to be successful in the industry and express his voice in creative ways to intrigue others.

“You have to find a way to appeal to the masses, one size doesn’t fit all,” Murphy said.  

Murphy said he hopes to one day work a Super Bowl and an Olympic Games, but wants to pursue a career in sportscasting after he’s finished playing baseball. 

Although Murphy’s days are jam-packed with baseball and social media, Murphy said motivation and passion are what drives him every day.

“I’m the guy who always wants to do something,” Murphy said. “I just want to be the best I can be.”

Everlasting Love

This is a feature story I wrote for an assignment in my news writing and reporting class in college. The feature story had to about something that wasn’t alive. My grandmother Arlene Schroder has a painting given to her by her mother Frieda Neeyemer. My grandmother’s mom died of heart disease when Arlene was just 16-years-old. The painting is the only thing Arlene kept of her mothers. The story was intended for generic audiences who wanted to read a feel-good story. I wrote this story to better showcase the power of family and much good family can impact people’s lives in a positive light.

OMAHA, Neb. —A dirt path leads to a foliage of flowers on a black front gate with the moon hanging behind the clouds. The path leads to a home with a dark blue exterior with a chimney and roof made with orange bricks as light glows from the house’s six windows.

“It’s a pretty setting of God’s creation,” Arlene Schroeder said of a painting that has been in her family for over 100 years. 

The painting was made in Germany in the late 19th century for Schroeder’s grandfather Henry Neemeyer. 

Neemeyer lived in Westerstede Province in Oldenburg, Germany, until moving with his family to Columbus, Nebraska, as immigrants in 1881. 

Neemeyer, with his wife Caroline Johannes, moved to Belgrade, Nebraska, where they hung the painting over their pot-belly stove in their kitchen, Schroeder said. 

The painting was given to the Neemeyer’s daughter, Frieda Neemeyer, after her father died in 1949. 

 Frieda Neemeyer, along with her husband Arthur Suhr, raised their three children Arlene, Duane, and Lyla, on their farm in Belgrade.  

Schroeder said the painting’s foliage of flowers reminded her of the time she spent with her mother as a child on the farm.

“We were avid gardeners, we had long days planting flowers and pulling weeds in our garden,” she said. 

Schroeder’s mother died of heart disease in 1956 when Schroeder was 16 years old.

The painting felt special Schroeder said, as it was the only thing she kept of her mother’s after she died.

“It was something that belonged to my mother, and I didn’t have my mother anymore,” she said. 

Schroeder moved to Millard, Nebraska, after her mother’s death, where she met her  future husband, Richard Schroeder. 

Arlene and Richard Schroeder kept the painting hung in their house in Millard for 44 years beside their hutch in their dining room. 

Denise Annis, one of the Schroeder’s daughters, said the painting makes her think of the grandmother she never knew. 

“I know how much the painting means to my mom,” she said. “The fact that I never knew her mother makes it all the more sentimental to me.” 

Doni Gregory, the other of the Schroeder’s daughters, said the painting makes her think of the times her family spent together in the dining room of their Millard home.

“It was our gathering spot, whether it was holidays or birthdays we always laughed together and shared great memories,” she said. 

Gregory said the painting would also make her think of her mother when she dies. 

“It makes me smile the thought of seeing her again someday in heaven,” she said. 

The painting now hangs beside the same hutch in the Schroeder dining room in their new home for all their family gatherings.

Arlene Schroeder said she wrote a note on the back of the painting to whoever gets the painting next to help them understand the significance and origin of the painting.  

“Maybe it won’t have any meaning to the next person,” she said. “But it sure does to me.” 

The note reads: “I am writing this so you will know the sentimental value of this picture. This picture hung on the wall in our home when I was a little girl. I always loved how peaceful, warm and nice a place this looked,” she wrote. “Hope you cherish it like I do.” 

Blessed and Happy: Anel Guhdija

This is a feature story I wrote on my friend Anel Guhdija, who came to America with his mother and father from Bosnia in 1992 during the Bosnian War. This story was intended for people of all ages to show how people can make the best out of life even in the most difficult situations. This story I believe accomplishes giving people confidence in themselves to say to themselves regardless of the situations in life to always put your best foot forward and be always be the best you can be.

OMAHA, Neb. —As cars were lined up in a row one car stands out to a woman, a burnt orange Dodge Challenger with two black stripes lying in the middle. “Is that your car the woman exclaimed as the man driving the Challenger walked into the restaurant over to his favorite spot by the fireplace. “Why yes it is, you wanna go for a spin?” he said. 

Eating his usual tomato soup and grilled cheese with a half cup of water and sprite he couldn’t stop mentioning how he caught her attention. 

Anel Guhdija never was personable in his childhood, a moment talking to a stranger seemed a distant dream 27 years ago. 

Guhdija was born in 1992 to a stay-at-home mother in Bosnia-Herzegovina, while his father worked as a local car designer. His family lived in an apartment complex in the capital of Sarajevo with rooms plastered with bullet holes and a low quantity of water. 

In his free time, he along with his best friend Amir would go to the local park to play soccer.

“Playing with Amir helped me develop learning skills, and taught me how to be a better leader,” Anel said.    

During his schooling, he learned subjects such as the Bosnian alphabet in a building tattered due to the war in Bosnia. 

 Serbian forces in 1992, set up concentration camps to ethnically cleanse Bosnia following the country’s independence. In these camps, men, women and children were taken to be tortured, raped and murdered.   

“Our family hid and ran from building to building to avoid gunfire and being captured,” Anel said. 

In fear of his family’s life, Anel’s father Idriz Guhdija joined the Bosnian army.

Throughout the war, Idriz kept in contact with Anel and his mother. 

“It was hard on my mother and me not getting to see my dad every day. I always had thoughts of would I grow up without a father,” Anel said. 

 Families such as Anel’s, received supplies of food and water from the U.S. and Italy while his father continued fighting in the war.

 Idriz returned to Sarajevo after the war in 1995. For six years he struggled to provide for his family, until they moved to America in 2001. 

The immigration process involved filling out immigrant visas Anel said while receiving several physical checkups until their family was cleared to move to America.

During 1995 to 2001, the U.S. sent Bosnian immigrants in a series of waves. Each wave dispersed immigrants to different regions of the country, Anel’s family was moved to Omaha in the Midwest.  

The government provided their family with a low based apartment while helping Anel enroll at Westgate Elementary School.

“Trying to get used to a new country was very difficult Anel said.“Me and my parents didn’t know English, I had no friends and our apartment was horrible. I remember thinking to myself what in God’s name am I doing here.” 

Through elementary school, Anel enrolled in English Language Learners classes. ELL classes are for immigrant students and non-native English speakers wanting to learn the English language.  

“ELL classes were difficult, but a blessing, the experience as a whole opened my eyes in learning what to do with my life,” Anel said. 

After three years of ELL classes, Anel enrolled at Westside Middle School. 

“In understanding English, I became more personable, people started to gravitate towards my personality. “I started to feel like I was somebody finally,” he said. 

Anel went on to Westside High School where he continued to meet new people as a student before graduating in 2011.

Today, Anel attends Bellevue University in hopes of a career in Homeland Security while working as a store manager at Champs Sports.  

“I want to get into the government to protect our country from what is vulnerable to hackers around the world,” he said. 

 Twenty four years after the war Bosnia’s people and its economy are trying to rebuild. 

Anel said he plans to return to his home country to provide whatever people need.  

“I have gone through the experiences these people have, the war changed us as a country and anything I can do to help I will do it,” he said. 

Walking out of the restaurant after enjoying his usual meal. Anel revs his engines to his Challenger hoping the woman looks his way, she smiled and gave a wink. 

“How lucky am I to be alive,” he said breathing a sigh of relief. 

Armando Rodriguez

This is a story on United States Army member Armando Rodriguez who discusses in this story how he became part of the United States military and his experiences in Afghanistan as a soldier. I produced this story to shed light on soldiers experiences not just while at war but also coming back home. The story was able to accomplish a better understanding for readers based on feedback I received on my social platforms what soldiers face on and off the battlefield.

OMAHA, Neb. —Armando Rodriguez and first-grade students gathered around a television set with their teacher on the morning of 9/11; as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center, Rodriguez’s teacher cried at her desk. 

“The reason why I joined the military was because of that picture of her face in my mind that I really truly hope and wish nobody ever has to go through, Rodriguez said, “I feel God put me on this planet to protect people and my loved ones.” 

Rodriguez was raised in Lexington, Nebraska after his family had moved from Long Beach California. 

Rodriguez joined the military after graduating from Lexington High School in 2014, Rodriguez trained in Georgia and was later stationed in Fort Benning, Colorado. 

Additionally, Rodriguez was stationed in California, Connecticut, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2016. 

“It was a big culture shock because I came from a close family. I was 17 at that age and I was still going through puberty. It was culture shock on steroids,” Rodriguez said. 

In Afghanistan, Rodriguez would call his close friend Antonio Ramirez- Aguilera who was the father of one of Rodriguez close friends. Aguilera died of an illness in 2019 

“He would always talk to me about how he was so happy about what I was doing and respected what I did and that he would always be waiting for me when I got home, a second father,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodrguez returned to Lexington in 2017 after being deployed back to the United States. Rodriguez said he struggled with depression, sleep and being in large crowds. 

Rodriguez sought counseling after wanting to commit suicide, Rodriguez said. 

“I wanted to go overseas so bad, this is the price I have to pay for wanting something so bad,” Rodriguez said.  

Rodriguez now studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he is majoring in psychology and earning a minor in criminal justice. 

Rodriguez said he returns home to Lexington often to practice shooting at Lexington’s local shooting range in hopes of getting into the secret service after graduating next year. 

Moving to his own beat: Luke Annis shares his musical talents with Omaha and the world

This is a feature story I wrote on University of Nebraska at Omaha student Luke Annis. I produced this story because Annis has a unique background when it comes to music. He has recorded with several bands such as Bach Mai, and rock band Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal. Additionally, Annis has traveled to different places around the world including Shizuoka, Japan, Beijing, China, Siauliai, Lithuania Riga, Latvia, Seoul South Korea, and Hong Kong.  The result of this story was able to give more of Annis musical works more exposure through social media websites such as Facebook and music streaming services such as Spotify.

OMAHA, Neb. —A 10-year-old boy walks into his closet with his 8-year-old sister Sarah to pull out the thousands of pieces of legos he has stored away. The sound of legos banging together fills the room as the boy spreads the legos over the carpet floor. The boy walks over to his desk to grab a disk sealed in a light green case; the boy inserts the disk and turns up the volume to the sound of his favorite game, Revolt.

“This sounds like the game we play at Nanny and Papa’s,” Sarah said. 

“It is,” the boy said. “I finished recording the music on my synthesizer yesterday.”  

Luke Annis was born in 1996 in Omaha, Nebraska where his mother Denise and father Douglas Annis raised him and his sister Sarah Annis. 

As a child, Annis played baseball through Millard Athletics and Flag Football through the Young Men’s Christian Association. When not playing sports, Annis said, most of his time was spent playing video games or building legos. 

“I was always really keyed into the music in the video games, or if I was playing with legos I would have songs going on in my head,” he said. 

Annis would recreate the songs he would hear on his synthesizer and burn the music onto a CD to play in his room.

“When I was messing around on instruments it was just really fun to be able to figure out the stuff that I had in my head and I could make it happen,” Annis said. 

Annis went to Lifegate Christian School for elementary and middle school, where he learned to play the trombone. 

Annis said he originally wanted to play drums but had to have two years of playing the piano before starting drum lessons. 

Annis did concert band during his 5th-grade year and was promoted to play in the 7th and 8th-grade concert and jazz bands as a 6th grader. Additionally, Annis participated in school events and competed in competitions at Adventureland Amusement Park and Platteview High School for solo and concert music.

Annis enrolled at Millard North High School after LCS. Annis was involved in marching, concert and jazz band all four years at MNHS and traveled to Walt  Disney World his sophomore year to play in a parade with the MNHS band.

During his junior year, Annis made the Metro Area Youth Jazz Orchestra, where he met professor and coordinator of Jazz Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Dr. Pete Madsen. MAJO, an All-City Jazz Band run by UNO, consists of the top high school jazz players in Nebraska. 

Annis performed at UNO Jazz Band concerts and worked with guest artists Donny McCaslin and Ken Watters. 

 “I’ve been fortunate all these years where I feel like I’m of the weakest or one of the least experienced musicians, because when you’re in a situation like that it forces you to step up your game,” Annis said. 

Annis graduated from MNHS in 2014 and enrolled at UNO in the fall of 2014 to study trombone performance. 

While at UNO, Annis has traveled throughout the world and performed in cities with the UNO Jazz Band including Shizuoka, Japan, Saulkrasti, Latvia, Beijing, China, Siauliai, Lithuania, Riga, Latvia, Seoul, South Korea, and Hong Kong. 

Annis  has recorded with bands Bach Mai and rock band Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal, attended creative jazz workshops in New York City and has performed with other bands such as Moonriver Steamboat, High Up, Esencia Latina and the Marcus Lewis Big Band at the Omaha jazz club the Jewell. 

Annis teaches trombone lessons at Thompson Music for middle school and high school students and is a teacher assistant for music theory at UNO. Annis earned his bachelor’s degree in trombone performance from UNO in 2018 and will earn his master’s degree in trombone performance in May.  

“I just want to make music with people that I enjoy being around and hopefully benefit the community in some way,” Annis said. “And if I can do that I’ll be extremely happy.”