Who Collected Baseball Cards As a kid?

I did!

That's right, me, the perfect blond haired, pig tailed angel in the lacy dress. I remember when I was six years old my teacher, Mr. Mendez, held charge of a baseball card collecting club. We would meet and talk about everything having to do with baseball. We would trade cards, buy new ones and organize our collections...all while chewing on that hard bubble gum that was exposed inside the plastic wrapping that covered the cards. (Which, by the way, is the best bubble gum ever - and they don't even include it anymore!)

After reading KP's blog about his Roger Clemens card, I got curious. I pulled out my dusty old baseball card album and began flipping pages. Inside I found a 1986 Roger Clemens card. It is one of the 5x3.5 cards that are larger than the average card. There he is, pitching in his Red Sox uniform. What does this card mean to me now? To be honest, about as much as it did then...

I admit, I had no clue who Roger Clemens was back in the day, I may only know him now because of the steriods. You see, my Dad is a huge Cardinals fan and no other card was as important to me as my 1989 Ozzie Smith card. It was the only one I kept for myself - all the other Ozzie Smith cards I got I immediately sent to my Dad.

I flip through the pages and remember all the good times. It is funny really, I have 12 nolan ryan cards - remember when you could get them with a pack of coke? I also have signed cards from the Idaho Falls Braves, I also have Homer the Brave's signed card that I bought off of some card place. It makes me laugh to see the things I kept...So, who was on your favorite baseball card?

Online Critique

That's KP!


I was having the hardest time trying to find a blog that I wanted to critique. I don't know what my problem was, I just wasn't into it. That is until I found KP's Blog on FOX sports blogs. Who's KP? Well, that's a mystery. What I do know though is that he is entertaining. He doesn't stick to just one sport, he seems to follow a few of them. He follows the NBA, MLB and NFL and has opinions about all of them.


I guess what stands out in this blog is his use of pictures to establish his point, he uses video too. Every blog written has a picture to liven it up. My favorite post of his was his post on what to do with his Rodger Clemens baseball card after saving it for all these years. He had listed many inventive ways to use his Clemens card now that it is basically worthless.


It was a lighthearted blog that was well organized and held a large readership. He also has a list of many links on the sidebar that are great blogs. I think that this blog holds a decent amount of humor and is well written. It is definitely a blog that I will visit again.


Check it out for yourself:

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/ksp113

Can anyone tell me how to get to Frank Mercogliano's office?

The significance of the NCAA sleeper

What do Drake, Butler, Creighton, Davidson and Kent State all have in common? They are all mid-major teams who are fighting for those limited spots in the NCAA tournament in March. They are the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth upsetting the Duke Blue Devils on a last second shot in the first round last year. They are 14th ranked Northwestern State beating the buzzer to knock off the third ranked Hawkeye’s of Iowa in 2006. And most of all, they are George Mason and their remarkable run to the final four two seasons ago.

A sleeper team is also known as a Cinderella story. What’s so remarkable about a Cinderella team that does well is that the NCAA tournament is set up for the higher seeds to succeed and advance. Any seed ranked 11 and higher have the most difficult and grueling road to the championship game. In fact, no team ranked 16th (which is the lowest seed in the tournament) has ever beaten a number one. A number 15 seed has only triumphed four percent of the time over a number two seed, while the three seeds take care of the 14th seeds 84 percent of the time.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs rid quickly their tag of a sleeping Cinderella after their planned non-conference schedule over the years and the noise that they would make in March. Because of this scenario, a door has been opened the last few seasons for at least two teams in the West Coast Conference (WCC) to reach the NCAA tournament. If one team won its conference, the only chance for another team in that same conference to go to the tournament would have to come through an at-large bid, which is an invitation to the Big Dance, instead of a right.

Every division I conference tournament winner (whose games start in less than two weeks) receives an automatic birth in the 65 team tournament. If a single team not only dominates their smaller conference (Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Atlantic Sun, etc.), but also beats a team (or teams) in the bigger conferences (i.e. ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC 10, etc.) in their non-conference schedule, they would be giving themselves a legitimate chance.

Take for example this year’s Butler Bulldogs, ranked 14th in the Associated Press poll. Butler is currently 14-2 in the Horizon standings and are 25-3 overall. Because wins against their own conference aren’t as significant, the Bulldogs played two non-conference opponents in Texas Tech and Virginia, both of which they beat. This helps their strength of schedule (SOS) and provides them with a better chance of getting into the tournament if they were to have lost a few more of their games.

These mid-major sleeper teams are never what you expect. Nobody expected George Mason to beat the University of Connecticut and advance to the final four. Nobody will expect it this year either. That’s the joy of the tournament: its’ unpredictability.

Online Critique

I read a blog post on the San Diego Union Tribune website about the success of College baseball In San Diego. Not only is the University of San Diego in the top 17 in the nation but San Diego State has made the first appearance in the polls at 22. This is the first time that the Aztecs have been in the polls since former Padre Tony Gwynn took over his alma mater as baseball coach.
I picked this blog because it hard to find any articles about college baseball unless it is about the power house teams in the nation. And two I glad to see that Tony Gwynn has finally had some success turning around a program that has struggled for so long and was playing second fiddle to another team 15 miles away with half the enrollment.
Nothing can be taken away from the University of San Diego they do have to players that played with the US olympic team this past summer but SDSU did split a wekend series with USD who was in the top 10 in nation's preseason poll.
I learned from this blog that baseball in San Diego doesn't end with the Padres I would have to alot more college baseball games as a kid if either of these two schools were even competitive now at least one school USD can have a realistic shot at a National Championship.
The one thing I would have liked to was the author of the blog Kirk Kenney got into a little more detail on the results of the series played last weekend between SDSU and USD only two score were given and that was the first two games I had to go find the other scores elsewhere.

Online Critique

Congressional Steroid Interest Inflames Sports Scene

Online Journalism Critique

Mike Celizic claims in his sports blog featured on MSNBC that testing for steroids should be executed at the high school level and that’s where Congress should get involved. After briefly recounting a few instances of congressional involvement, Celizic scolds Congress for not dragging the other sports (tennis, snowboarding, volleyball, and others) before a committee. Then he accuses congress of wanting to make headlines, and reticules Congress for not going “to the source- high school.” Celizic delves slightly into the abstinence-only sex education program to argue that teenagers don’t refrain from actions as a result of “preaching to them.”

From there, Celizic discusses the two major steroids busts, one of which was a Hollywood scandal and resulted in no jail time, and tries to relate this with the 50,000 people in American prisons for marijuana-related offenses. Stating that the nation’s drug policy ignores half a million people alcohol and tobacco related deaths each year.

Furthermore, Celizic feels that if congress wants to save our kids from steroids they should pull money from “the failure that is the war on drugs” and invest it into testing programs for high school sports. Then he discusses the war effort and the money being pumped into that at a blaring speed of $600 per second. Before some disclaimer about steroid use to improve looks and combat the signs of aging which Celizic feels is a non-issue.

He then reiterates that the pro level isn’t where the steroid problem begins and discusses how the pro leagues are improving testing, offering that there’s nothing wrong with a continual nudge. He further offers Donald Fehr’s advice as both a solution and criticism. Fehr suggested requiring drug manufacturers to attach a chemical signature to synthetic human growth hormones to make them detectable with a urine test. Celizic closes the blog with a question, “For all their alleged concern, why didn’t anybody in Congress think of that?”

Overall, I thought this was a very poorly constructed argument lacking substance and continuity of thought. Celizic is all over the place waving fingers and discussing some unrelated topics. He also uses some outrageous facts in an attempt to help his argument, but most of what he cites is so unrelated it seems desperate at best.

I think Celizic should have spent more time formulating his argument for focusing congressional attention on drug testing in high school, and less time meandering about prodding random tidbits and lashing out at Congress. His lack of both structure and methodical thought provide a weak argument, and completely fail to convince the reader of much. Sure chemical signatures seems like a great solution, but it also seems obvious if they must be added in order for the hormones to be detected in a urine sample they will likely remain available without chemical signatures for a price.

Moreover Celizic doesn’t seem to understand that a sex education program has little if any connection to steroid testing. It seems highly unlikely that steroid use is as prevalent or fashionable with teenagers as sexuality. And I’m still lost as to how the war effort relates to Celizic’s argument.

I gleaned a touch of background information and insight on steroid use, which is suspect considering Celizic doesn’t have sources for most of the information he provides. I also learned that a powerfully written and timely sports blog is difficult to find.


">Link


http://openmike.msnbc.msn.com/

Online Critique

I HATE BSU ! That should be the title of Kellis Robinett latest blog. ESPN.COM is running a survey on the greatest plays of all time.

The two choices that Kellis talks about are "The Miracle on Ice" the U.S. Hockey team defeating

the Russian hockey team or the Broncos defending Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
He urges his readers to vote for the hockey game instead of the football game. He does not have any supporting facts about why the hockey game should be picked. Reading on, he calls the Statue of Liberty play, ( copy and paste his words ) " While that game was epic for the state of Idaho and mid-major football teams everywhere, are we, as a society, really willing to crown the game’s final play as the top highlight of all time? I hope not."
No facts just personal opinion.
I'm new to blogs, other than the blog for class which we are asked to give our opinion, is a blog for a newspaper a place to air personal views. I thought it was a place to report news or sports, not to air dirty laundry.

Online Critique

I read Adam Rittenberg's "Harangody emerging as Big East's best big man" and as the big college basketball fan that I am, I'm disappointed that I didn't know more about Luke Harangody from Notre Dame. Averaging just 11.2 points and 6.2 boards a game in only 20.6 minutes, Harangody has significantly stepped up his game. The 6-foot-8 and 251 pound big man is averaging 20.2 points and 10.5 rebounds a game, tallying 16 double-doubles on the season, leading the Big East.

Notre Dame is currently ranked 17th in both polls, while holding a 21-5 record (11-3 in the much competitive Big East) overall.

Harangody was dominated in games against UConn and Georgetown because of dominating centers in Hasheem Thabeet and 7-foot-2 giant Roy Hibbert, but would soon redeem himself in a second chance, posting a career-high 32 points and matching his best with 16 rebounds. The sophomore has learned how to play with the big boys.

Most of all, I love the background of Harangody's childhood in Schererville, Indiana that Rittenberg gave. The competitive relationship that he had with his older brother (by one month) Ty was intense. The rivalry would become so fierce that their father would remove privileges. And as it always ends up, the older brother always won. "I still look back on that as where most of my competitive nature comes from," Luke said. "To beat him, I'd go all out, all the time."

Even though this was more of a "feel good" story than anything else, Rittenberg didn't mention much downfall in the games that Notre Dame failed to prove themselves in. Despite Harangody's 32 points and 16-rebound game against UConn, the Huskies took the win 84-78. Roy Hibbert and Georgetown had their way with the Irish, pouncing them 84-65.

Never the less, I enjoyed the story and will definitely be keeping a tag on him in the future, especially in the NCAA tournament this March. Because that's really when it counts.

Online Critique

Blakely Peppinger
Sports Reporting
Online Critique

I read the online blog by Bill Simmons of ESPN.com. This particular blog was called the "Basketball Blog". It included many questions from readers and fans and he responds critically to these questions. I thought this blog was not only very interesting but somewhat entertaining. Some fans had some very logical interesting comments and questions while others were kind of out there.
I enjoyed reading this blog and I didn’t read the whole thing but I read a lot of the questions. This particular columnist voices his opinion very logically but also is comical with some of his answers. He makes some very applicable answers. He knows what he is talking about and has done research into each answer. He might offend some people but he is very honest and you can’t help but agree with him most of the time. I didn’t agree with some of his opinions but I understood where he was coming from and often made arguments on both sides of the question. Here is one example that I particularly liked;
Q: Since you're the most vigilant with respect to spreading ways to improve the NBA All-Star Game, here's something they should have done this year in lieu of the celebrity game: The Hornets should have challenged the Jazz to a one-game playoff. If New Orleans won, it would claim the name "Jazz" as its own, and Utah would have to get a new name. If Utah won, then New Orleans would have to give up a lottery-protected No. 1 pick. How would that not have been must-see TV? CP3 taking on D-Will to determine not only who is the greatest young PG, but also to establish order and logic in their team names!
-- Brian, Brookline, Mass.

SG: Fantastic idea and it makes way too much sense. The real crime of the Jazz thing is the coolest team name in the entire league ("the New Orleans Jazz") suddenly became the dumbest and most inexplicable name in professional sports ("the Utah Jazz"), and nobody seems to care. What's the big deal about changing a name? If anything, it's a lucrative turn of events for the Utah franchise because it would get to come up with a new logo and new jerseys, right? So what's the problem here? They could be the Utah Snow, the Utah Salt, the Utah Blizzard, Utah Ski Lifts, the Utah Big Love. ... I mean, any name is better than the Utah Jazz! Somebody please explain to me why we can't work this out.
I would definitely keep reading this blog and refer friends to the site to read it as well. To read more of the blog go to this website: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080227

University of Utah vs. New Mexico

Did anyone hear about the University of Utah game last weekend? They played New Mexico and the final score was 72-71. In the final seconds, Utah fouled a New Mexico player with the score 71-69 for the Lobos. The player made the first free throw and missed the second bringing the score to 72-69. Utah got the rebound and ran the ball down the court. Tyler Kepke ran through the defense and in for a layup. He then proceeded to miss the layup but got his own re-bound and put it up again for the two points. The time on the clock then ran out leaving the final score 72-71. I'm guessing he was not aware of the score and/or the time remaining. Kepke never looked for the outside three to tie the game. Since then, there have been facebook groups made in recognition of the stupidity of the mistake. It makes me laugh that people now think the College of Eastern Utah transfer should not start. The mistake is clear but should that really rob a great player from his starting spot? It is a very arguable point but it is surprising at how many students have responded to the situaution. The mistake is frustrating for the team, the coaches, and the fans because it cost the program a possible win but nothing can be done about it now.

Online Critique

Phillip Campbell
Internet Critique
February 26, 2008



Tom Scott has been covering sports in Boise since the early 1970’s. Tom has probably forgotten more things about Boise State than most of us will ever know. Along the way he has covered memorable moments like the 1980 national championship and of course last years Fiesta Bowl team.

Tom has gained a reputation for being honest and just. He is not afraid to call out a player or coach when they are wrong. His daily blog can be found on the KTVB website called and it is titled the Scott Slant. The syndicated blog is picked up by the local sports radio station and is also available on numerous fan sites across the country.

The latest addition of the Scott Slant is titled RPI…RIP. Tom cunningly describes the poor production of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in basketball this season. The WAC is having one of its worst seasons in recent history. He points out the poor record of the WAC against similar conferences this year.

In his blog Tom outlined the post season chances for the top four teams in the WAC and how they are negatively affected by the conference RPI. Currently the conference is ranked twenty-one in the RPI. Tom said that because of the conferences weak RPI they will probably be sending only one team to the big dance in March.

The blog is timely because the conference participated in the annual Bracket Buster Tournament. The WAC finished with a disappointing 3-6 record against other conferences.

Tom offered his opinion on why the conference is down this year. He said that the league is not physical enough. He pointed out how Nevada was not prepared for the physical style of play from Southern Illinois and that the league needs to increase the level of physical play.

The blog then shifts to football. He gives an update on the BSU players in the combine. He even gives the readers new information on Colt Brennan from Hawaii and his progress at the combine.

Overall I think the Scott Slant is a good read. His history with the Broncos gives him the edge over most journalists. His unique perspective makes reading his blog an enjoyable experience for the sports fans of Idaho. You can access is blog anytime on the KTVB website or by clicking on the link below.
The Scott Slant http://blogs.ktvb.com/slant/2008/02/rpirip.html

Big Sky Track Championships

This weekend ISU will host the Big Sky track championships. I'm not much of a track fan, but it should be very interesting to watch. The men's team has a very good chance of winning indoor this year along with outdoor next year. Sergio Jones just tied for the 10th all time school record in the 55 yard dash. He is a freshman this year and will be very exciting to watch run in the future. I have a couple friends competing this year and they look very solid. Track isn't very exciting to watch especially in Holt, but will be exciting to see how the men do this year.

Online Critique

For my online critique I read an article from espn.com. The article was on rivalries in baseball. For those of us who watch baseball we already know about the Dodgers-Giants, or Cubs-Cardinals. There is a new rivalry erupting in baseball. The Phillies and Mets are becoming bitter with each other and 2008 looks to be promising for both teams. All it took was Carlos Beltran announcing Saturday in Port St. Lucie that his team was the team to beat. Before you knew it Phillies-Mets had instantly zoomed right to the top of the National League rivalry charts. "It's amazing how fast this has become such a great rivalry," said Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino on Sunday. "First, Jimmy makes his statement. Now Carlos is making his statement. It's becoming like, `Who's going to say something next?'" Rivalries play a big part in sports. They can bring in bigger crowds and always have more energy than a regular season game. Teams play to a higher potential because it's the one team they can't lose to. I know when I played in a rival game in high school or even in baseball at ISU, when we played a rival team the games were more intense and I played 100% harder than a normal game. I thought this was a well written article. I know baseball isn't the most exciting sport to watch so when you get a great rivalry it makes the game worth while.

Spray on tan drops the ball...again

As many of you know I am a huge Bengal fan. I admit the Bengal's are an acquired taste. In the few years that I have been following them as a fan I have probably experienced more than my fair share of disappointment. I have come to realise that heartache comes with the territory. This isn't the first time the officials have influenced the outcome and it probably won't be the last. In some ways it has become routine. Up until this season I always felt like I had an ally behind the mic. Unfortunately the guy we have now is more concerned about his appearance than doing his job. I shouldn't be surprised after all this is the same guy who openly talks about using a spray on tan. I, like many of the fans, turned the radio on after the game to listen to the coach's reaction to the blown call that played such a key role in the outcome of the game. I was shocked when the question was not asked. Spray on tan tried to justify it by saying he was protecting the coach from a fine but his job is not to protect anybody. Journalist are required to tell the whole story. There are times when they must ask the hard questions. Neglecting his job to stay on the coaches good side is cowardly and wrong!

Big Sky answer

Well does this really help?

The Big Sky Conference has suspended three officials for misapplication of rules, league commissioner Doug Fullerton announced Monday. Eric Curry, Bob Scofield and Scott Harris will be suspended one game after misapplying rules in Sunday’s men’s basketball game between Montana and Idaho State from Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. With the score tied 58-58 in the final second, a Montana player called for a timeout after securing a rebound. Television replays confirmed the timeout was recognized by the officials before the final horn. Montana had used its allotment of timeouts, and should have been called for a technical foul, awarding Idaho State two free-throw attempts with time still on the clock. After the technical foul shots, Montana should have taken possession. The officials, however, ruled that the timeout was recognized simultaneously with the final horn. Since the game was televised, the officials had the option to use replay to determine how much time remained when the timeout was recognized. The officials failed to review the play, and Montana won the game in overtime 73-62. “We give officials great flexibility to interpret plays within the rules,’’ Fullerton said. “We never allow officials to set aside a rule. We’re not sure whether the game would have ended on the free-throw line, but Idaho State should have been given that opportunity.’’ Per NCAA rule, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee does not recognize or allow protests. Does that help ISU to feel any better, it was a heart breaker. But if the team could have made some shots in the last couple of minutes the referees would not have made a difference......oh well on to the next subject we like to kick LARRY CRAIG!!!!

Big Sky Refs Blow Game for Bengals

On Sunday afternoon 40 minutes should have been enought time to settle the Bengals game vs. Montana. Unfortunately the Big Sky officials thought otherwise. On the final shot of the game a Montana player grabbed a rebound and very clearly called a timeout the ironic thing was they didn't have any left then the buzzer sounded to end regulation. The referees apartently didn't recognize the fact that the player had called the timeout which would have resulted in a technical foul and 2 free throws for the Bengals. I overheard the referee telling the Bengal radio guys that buy the time he realized what happened the horn sounded and so that justified overtime. Last I checked the refs had the ability to look at the replay to look for things like this. I just hate to see officials take games away from teams weather the played well enought to win or not. I hope the officals from Sundays game are repremanded for missing a call that was a turning point in the game.

Big Sky Refs Blow Game for Bengals

Semi-Pro revives the renegade ABA

It was a year of Afros, shaggy cuts, and go-go boots-not that most of us remember 1976- but it was also the last year of the outlaw, American Basketball Association.

The key merger between the NBA and the ABA helped shape the modern game of basketball. While the ABA is seldom mentioned today, it pioneered staples of the game including three-point shots and slam dunks. The ABA was infamous for spontaneity and unruly court conduct which drew notable crowds throughout its nine year life. In fact Utah had their very own ABA team, the Utah Stars.

The ABA has long since been absorbed into sports history, but "Semi-Pro" is digging up the past and bringing some of the lost flavor of the ABA to the big screen. Will Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, Owner, Trainer and Coach to the Flint Tropics, in this comedy. Moon stages some outlandish stunts to intice fans including a panacake handout, wrestling a bear and a live camel and firecracker night.

Moon's team name, Flint Tropics, is likely derived from the town of Flint, Mich. near Detriot where a portion of the movie was filmed. A sizeable portion of the movie was also filmed in the gym of the Los Angeles City Fire Dept. Training Center as well as in Los Angeles. It may be possible to differentiate the cities throughout the movie.

The movie is scheduled to open Friday, Feb. 29 and is rated R for language and some sexual content. Judging from the trailers, I'd imagine this is going to follow in the footsteps of most Ferrell movies. But it is nice to see the ABA getting some exposure after more than thirty years.

">Link

http://www.remembertheaba.com/

To find out more about "Semi-Pro," watch scenes and the music video "Love me Sexy" you can check out their website.

">Link

http://www.semipromovie.com/

Romancing the agate page

The Amazonian gods and UPS smiled upon me today with gifts of knowledge. While I'm sure the kind and timid UPS lady is completely unaware, she is delivering me from ignorance.

Just three pages into "Reading the Sports Page: A Guide to Understanding Sports Statistics," I am armed with new jargon. Such as, the agate page, which prior to was just a looming spread of figures that has mocked me since junior high. A mess of numbers from which I could only distill the most basic information- wins and losses.

A challenge since junior high, my friend Steven Kirby, once waved the agate page under my nose and proclaimed, "Just look at this game!" While he could hardly contain his excitement, I could hardly contain the blush of embarrassment rushing over my cheeks. My eyes feverishly searched the numbers for any tangible salvation, at best I discovered Kirby's favorite high school baseball team won and it was a close game; obviously, not the depth of observation my friend was hoping for. Thankfully, Kirby, mistook my blush and bewilderment for excitement and awe. With a sweeping "Wow Kirby, looks exciting! Tell me about the game," I lured all the information from Kirby that I could not from the gloating page of numbers.

After receiving the play-by-play and some side information, I was captivated. Those sprawling numbers expressed much more than I thought possible. So I challenged Kirby, "You didn't really expect me to get that much information from those tiny numbers, did you?" His response shocked me, everything but the smell of the field is in those numbers. My disbelief got the better of me and I challenged Kirby to recreate a game for me from the numbers in the corner, a game I was sure Kirby had not seen. Kirby overcame my challenge brilliantly, he even spackled in holes with the colorful information sports fans collect- such as, Johnson's a fast pitcher but what really shakes the batter is his towering presence on the mound.

Since then, I have always been fascinated by the collection of numbers falling across the page. Unfortunately, I have lacked the ability to decode the numbers, and while a vast number of my friends and acquaintances are profound at translating them, somehow their skill just hasn't transferred. They assure me, however, that "It's so easy!" (Condescending jerks! Shame I can't replace them with one click shopping. ;-) But thanks to Amazon and the UPS lady, I will in the future be writing stat infused sports stories that venture past my previous superficial knowledge. Wish me luck.

Huge game on Sunday

ISU can clinch a playoff birth with a win over Montana on Sunday. This game is equally important for the Griz who are trying to keep pace in the Big Sky Conference. Both teams play a physical style of basketball and the game may come down to who has the ball last. The crowd can play a huge role in a game like this so everybody that can should come to the game. Students can get in for free with their Bengal card. You can pick up your ticket on the north side of Holt Arena.

Article #2 Critique - Upsets abound, but Tiger escapes

I was reading USA Today yesterday and for some reason this article stood out to me. You can guess what it is about, but I'm going to tell you anyway. It is about Tiger's performance in the WGC-Adventure Match Play Championship. It is a short article with a catchy lead that caught my eye and peeked my interest, even though I don't care about golf.

The lead states that Tiger was the one who held onto his game and his opponents weren't having such a good day. The author, Steve DiMeglio, describes the day as cloudy and chilly and misfortune for Tiger's opponents. I don't understand what a birdie is and I don't really understand how someone plays golf except that the goal is to get the ball in the hole using a club.

Without this knowledge I don't understand the small play by play that was put in. I do think that this information is important for those who understand golf and I can tell that this was probably one of the most important moments in the game. I also think that it was great that DiMeglio kept this part to a short paragraph and followed with a quote from Tiger. This quote brings back the interest for people like me and shows the human side of Tiger. DiMeglio also ended the story with a quote from Lee Westwood that tied up the point to the article and added a slight amount of humor.

I am not sure that I would have done anything differently with this article. It is only a small article, but I don't think that it is necessary to include more information about this angle on the tournament. It is definite that Tiger is important to this story and without him the story wouldn't be as interesting. It would be about a bad luck day in golf and there wouldn't be any need to report it (unless it was really bad I guess).

A follow up story probably isn't necessary. One topic that could be used is other situation where Tiger has fought against the odds and won. Another idea is to do a story about how bad weather can affect golfing or how bad the weather has to be to postpone a tournament or championship.

Overall, I think that this article was written well and has a good angle that can hold the interest of people who are not avid golfers. The language used isn't too technical and the quotes add character to the article.

Article Critique 2

Down, but not out.

Once again the Idaho State Journal gave us the obvious, that the Bengals were fighting for their lives to have a winning season.
Kellis did a great job of giving us the losing history of the the Bengals, in the first part of the article, (as if we didn't know it already) but his lead with team having fun and being relaxed showed that the team still has their heads up and feel they do have a chance to finish with a winning season.
As I continued to read the article ( the front page ) I thought wow this is a team has no grasp of its own destiny, its all about losing, it was only when I turned the page that I saw the team does feel like it has a chance to have a winning season with the quotes of the players.
(And of course the WINNING ladies story was on the second page) I felt that in the middle of the story on the front page there could have been some positive quotes instead of the last paragraph before going to page two. Who as a reader wants to keep reading the losing history of the team, if this was suppose to be an up article then show some team spirit before you lose the readers after paragraphs of losing seasons.
The story did follow its headline and show that the team is down, but the players still feel like they still have a chance.

Article Critique 2

Jason Enes
MC 299
Article critique 2
I chose an article out of Sports Illustrated called All Eyes on Terrelle. This article is about what the number 1 high school recruit in the nation has to go through during the recruiting season.
Terrelle Pryor is a quarterback from Jeanette High School in Jeanette Pennsylvania. He was named the number one high school prospect before this past football season began. He is being recruited by Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon and what makes this article unique is that when national signing day passed earlier this month he chose to announce that he had not signed with any school.
The article also gives the reader an idea of what that is an athlete with the skills of Terrelle has to go through like dealing with recruiters and the constant phone calls and interviews from the press. It also states that he is such a celebrity in his small town of Jeanette that everyone knows him and tries to give him things to show their appreciation.
This article caught my attention because I had not ever heard of him and I wanted to see what the hype was all about. This a newsworthy story because national signing day was a few weeks back and he was the only person in the top ten high school recruits that did not sign with a school. The audience would be anyone who is interested in football and who follows the recruiting of high school athletes.
I don’t think that the article is balanced because they only give one side of the story. Everything that is mentioned is only about Pryor and how great of a player that he was but all the questions that were posed were definitely answered in great detail.
The one thing that I would do differently would be to maybe find another example of a situation such as this and give the reader an idea of how much this actually happens. I also would probably leave out the part about his family life I don’t necessarily know that it added anything to the actual story. The quotes and stats that were used were effective in showing the reader how good of an athlete that Terelle Pryor is.
If I were writing a follow up story this one would be perfect. Because once he finally signs with a school you can go and pick his brain into what his thought process was and find out what in his mind set the school he chose up better than the others.

Article Critique 2

Philip Campbell
M C 299
Article Critique 2

ESPN ran an AP article recapping the record setting performance by Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. The article lead summarizes the game with just two sentences. This is important because short attention span of today’s reader. One must make the assumption that the reader is accustomed to getting information as fast as possible.

Currently in college football there are 32 bowl games. Distinguishing one bowl game from another can be a difficult task. The writer of this article showed you why this game mattered and what was a stake.

The effort from Tulsa was flawless. The first quote of the article from the head coach of the Golden Hurricanes says it all.

"We did exactly what we set out to do, so it was an incredible win," Graham said. "I'll never forget this year. It's going to give us something to build on."

It is refreshing to hear a statement like this. It seems like coaches are never satisfied. Rather than focus on a negative angle the writer pointed out the positives of the game. It would have been easy to write a game summary about how Tulsa ran up the score instead the writer put a positive spin on the lop-sided victory.

The thing I enjoyed the most about the article was the writers attempt to put the victory into a historical perspective. An easy to read chart on bowl game blowouts accompanied the article. This allows the readers to make their own assumptions on just how big the victory truly was.

Overall I felt like this article was fun to read and gave the reader all of the pertinent information from the game. The story was thorough and a classic example of good sports reporting.

Article critique 2

For this article critique I read "Down But Not Out" by Kellis Robinett from the Idaho State Journal. It was an article about the Idaho State men's team and how after they have lost 3 straight games, they still don't feel defeated. I liked the overall idea of the article and I thought it had some great insights and comments.

I didn't think the lead into the story was special, but it was good; "The Idaho State men's basketball team didn't carry the look of a defeated squad at practice on Wednesday." The first time I read it, I read it quickly and thought that it had said that the bengals looked deafeated. It made me look more into the article and then I had to re-read the lead and realized that the article was about a positive outlook for the basketball team.

I hope the article was written on actual perceptions from watching the team practice rather than the hypothetical situation of looking on the bright side of the situation. I think it is easy to write a positive article but I hope this article was inspired by the team instead of the idea by the author.

I thought the following line was well writen; "Maybe they know something the rest of us don't. If ever there was a time for them to feel down, this would be it." The article also contained a really well placed quote from Logan Kinghorn. I think the article would have been stronger if there were more quotes in it although it would be hard to get good fitting quotes on this topic from the players. The article talks about O'Brien and it compared last year to this year and previous years under a different coaching staff. Logan commented on this by saying, ''We can't compare this year to last year or any year. If we did that, we'd already be throwing in the towel. Because then we'd be thinking this year is going to end like last year, which is something we can't do. That would mean the season is over. But it's not over. Not by a long shot.'' Knowing how this local basketball star feels about his own team gives the article the positive outlook that it started with.

Overall, I think this article is very well written. If it was written on the team's actual attitude in practice, I like the idea a lot better than a made up situation.

The Roger Clemens Effect

Two-time Triple Crown winner in 1997 and 1998, 11-time major league all-star, seven-time Cy Young Award winner, two championships with the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000, and a career 3.12 era. He is only second to Nolan Ryan for strikeouts all-time. His name is Roger Clemens and he has used steroids.

As I sat between classes in my Rendezvous suite and witnessed Roger Clemens attempt to dig himself out of hole after hole in the Congressional hearing held on Wednesday, February 13th, I began to ask myself in great displeasure, what’s happening to this great game of baseball?

After Sosa battled McGwire in a homerun juicing scandal, Palmeiro wagged his finger at Congress, and Barry Bonds’ struggle with Balco, I would be lying if I said that it hasn’t affected my interest in the game. To understand that all of these men, and quite possibly much more, have cheated not only the game of baseball, but also on its national past time, personally disgusts me.

Do these men lack such knowledge that millions of young boys are looking up to their idols in the “big leagues?” That those same boys wear what their idols wear, spit like their idols spit and would most likely do anything else their idol did. If all else failed to prevent you from using a potentially deadly substance, wouldn’t representing a positive influence to a young one shine far more than anything else?

Through the obscurity lie the viewers and fans. If we feel cheated of America’s greatest game, where do you hold sympathy for honorable players like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, who did it the right way. The Babe passed onto baseball heaven before he had to witness how the game has mischievously transformed into something fake, while “the real” homerun king Hank Aaron has been forced to witness the despicable.

My uncertainty concerning how I will ever view baseball again could easily compare with the confidence I’ve let gradually decline for the game’s loyalty itself. The truth being told has always been an ongoing message. I thought Galileo stated it best:

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”

Don’t cheat. It’s truly not worth it.

Holt being sponsered

I heard that Hold Arena was offered to be redone by Anheuser-Busch, the company who makes Budweiser and other beers. I was told they would redo Hold if they would be the main sponsor of the arena, but the city of Pocatello rejected the offer. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it sounds like it could have happened. Does anyone know anything about this?

Article Critique 2

My second article critique was a story on Joe Torre. After 12 years and 4 world series titles with the Yankees , Torre has moved to the West Coast to manage the LA Dodgers. In the article it talks about Torre calling his brother in law on two occasions to talk about his new jobs. When he first told him he was going to manage again his brother in law said, "Great, as long as it's not the Yankees or Dodgers." When Torre called again to tell of his new job his only reply was, "Oh my god." Torre completely understood the reaction. He grew up in Brooklyn, hating the Yankees and the Dodgers, resenting that they always seemed to play in the World Series. He rooted for the Giants, who were clearly third of New York's big-league teams. "I grew up a Giants' fan," Torre said. "And here I am managing the other two." The article also talked about how Torre would be the center of attention unlike in New York. He was big, but there were bigger names than his such as Rodriguez, Clemens, and Jeter. He still has a strong team with Matt Kemp and James Loney, but his name is by far the biggest on the list. Torre rejected a one-year contract for 5 million dollars, down from his $7.5 million annual salary. Instead, he signed on with the Dodgers for three more years, at less than $5 million a year. I have nothing but respect for Torre. Even though I hate the Yankees he is an amazing manager. He knows his game and will do well in LA. I enjoy watching the Dodgers play and with their new young players and Torre's experience they will have a very good team. It was a good article, and I liked how it didn't go too far into depth with Torre's success and the Yankees. I'm looking forward to seeing how the new season goes.

Training's begun, and A's are headlining

Many recent events, including the possibility of a new stadium have brought the Athletics to the forefront of baseball news.

While it will take sometime to materialize, the new stadium has added a sparkle to the eyes of Lew Wolff, the team's current owner. "We're on track as much as we can be," Wolff said, as quoted in a recent AP article. "This is the slow period as we are doing the studies. We need the environmental impact statement approved by the city, hopefully this year." The new stadium will likely be ready opening day in 2012 0r 2013.

Not only did Wolff use the stadium to garner publicity, but also took advantage of the opportunity to visit his team during spring training. Wolff will spend a few days with the team before heading to San Jose, Cali. to work on a soccer-only facility for his MLS team, the Earthquakes. Wolff will then re-join his team in Japan to play the Boston Red Sox as part of the commissioner's international outreach agenda.

While the stadium has added sparkle to Wolff's eyes, becoming a full-time starting pitcher has added a glimmer to Justin Duchscherer's less than sparkling career. Duchscherer was involved in a traffic accident in Dallas the winter prior to the 2002 baseball season. As a result of the accident, Duchscherer pitched only 14 times during his first year with the A's. In the years that followed, Duchscherer labored to overcome injuries and stigmata created by his absences on the field.

The news of Duchscherer joining the starting line-up follows the retirement announcement of A's catcher Jeremy Brown. Brown cited personal reasons as his motivation for retiring, however, speculation continues as to whether his role and resulting fame from the book "Moneyball" is involved. Brown has been regarded as a shy man and since joining the major leagues and the subsequent release of "Moneyball" he's been in the spotlight. Regardless of Brown's underlying motivations, Billy Beane, the A's GM, maintains an open door for Brown's return.

The loss of Brown as well as Dan Haren and Nick Swisher has created a stir among fans who worry that this year's team may not be able to put a season together. Beane has not escaped critism after trading two of the teams noted players, Haren and Swisher, and filling the subsequent gaps with younger less experienced players. Wolff, however, remains supportive of Beane's decision and has expressed excitement for this season's team.

While it can take years for a youthful team to put together winning seasons, a flicker of hope remains for the World Series. The impact of a younger team could be a nastalgic throwback to the A's beginnings, when Catfish Hunter took the mound and threw out some impressive stats. It is the glimmer of hope that will with any luck ignite as the season commences.

ESPN Mag strikes a blow for the little guy again, "Release the Hounds." " We offered a bunch of fans the best seats in the house-and gave 'em just three rules: Act like pros. take notes and whatever you do, NO CHEERING in the press box. ........

This article was a good read on the thoughts of common fans going to a pro event as a sports reporter. It's meant to be funny and it is: Tim Riley covered a Duke at Notre Dame , football game.  If you are not interested in the game, it wonderful to be in the information age, " This is the scene from the press box: To my right, a guy was brushing his hair. The guy in front of me was on eBay> I walked by a guy looking at girls in lingerie on his lap top. Then the guy next to me started down loading music to his Itunes. 

                

                                          Sounds like a fun fun time in the press box. I really enjoyed the article because of the humor, along with my thoughts of what I would be doing if I had the chance to cover a real hockey game..... but thats on my bucket list..................

Priorities

Why can't we find a suitable place to build a softball field for our team to play? The team is having to play in Chubbuck on a field that is not always available. The team does not even have a permanant place to practice while I have heard rumors about the building of the practice feild for the football team that is beginning soon. I think it will be a great facility for the football team but yet the softball team is practicing at 5 in the morning in Holt and having to dodge obstacles such as a track, bleachers, basketball court, high jump equipment and other things. They are unable to do very many things as they have limited space. On top of that, we are having to pay money to the NCAA for the violation of not having a home feild for our softball team. While our football team brings in more money, the softball team suffers from not even having a feild to play on while the football team is going to recieve a practice feild on top of the indoor feild they already have. I think the priorities are out of order here and we are going to end up paying enough fines to the NCAA in time rather than building a feild sooner than later.

Article Critique 2; Fire Sampson, Ignore Knightheads

For my second article critique I read a column by a Chicago Sun-Times sports writer Jay Mariotti. Mariotti is praised and bashed for his persistence in getting involved with sports icons in his area of work. Being a sports writer from Chicago, Mariotti often gives his opinions of the sports around the area. Most recently, in a February 15th article, he wrote a column on Indiana's head basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and the violation he committed concerning 577 illegal recruiting calls.

Right away Mariotti gave the reader a feel for where he was going. Calling Sampson a "con man whose ethical foundation is so corrupt that he and his staff continued to participate in more than 100 more impermissible calls while ON PROBATION at Indiana." He let it be known that this kind of behavior shouldn't be acceptable at any time. He emphasized that to do it once is one thing, but to take part in over 100 calls while being given a second chance is just ridiculous.

What I found most bizarre about this whole scenario is the timing. Indiana is currently 21-4, 10-2 and ranked 13th in the AP poll. Why would a coach jeopardize the potential success of his basketball program for a current season for countless lousy phone calls to recruit players for future seasons that you may never coach in? When you really think about it, it doesn't make sense. The risk really doesn't, or in this case, "didn't" seem worth it.

Mariotti would make points in comparing how Indiana would've been better off sticking with a head coach like Bob knight, whom he bashed as a quitter a few days earlier after departing from Texas Tech.

The column would be closed with a solution. Mariotti presented the idea of a program hiring a young, rising head coach who would avoid these types of conflicts. He stated that a man like Sampson should never be seen as a man who could coach again because of how easily he abused the trust and chances given to him. Ultimately, I feel really bad for the program at Indiana and what they had hoped to accomplish. They may still believe that their season has a chance, but it seems that this recruiting controversy has become too impeding to accomplish success.

I have always been a bigger fan of college basketball than anything. When I saw and read about Bill Belichick and the Spygate scandal, I thought of how thankful I was that those kinds of flaws aren't found in my sport. I was wrong.

I suppose I can see how Sampson got Eric Gordon to change his mind from going to Illinois.

Television

I really don't have anything to talk about, about television sports especially local. I work until 11 so I really get a chance to see the 10: 00 news or sports. 

David the gal from 8 wants to be a sports anchor. She is really into sports, loves all kinds of sports, she needs a little bit of sharping and she'd make a good anchor. She studies sports and stats the whole bit.......... 

 Went to the woman's basketball game tonight, no amount of fan support would have help them, shots won't fall, the officiating was okay........but they just fell. 

 Anyway theres my story and I'm sticking to it.................

 I think Brad had a good idea....... about teaching the kids the ropes on what to do when you got out of college.............

Television Critique

For my television critique I watched 3 or 4 different shows and compared and contrasted them. I watched Sports Center, FSN Final Score, Rome is Burning, and Around the Horn. For the most part Sports Center and Final Score are the same. They both show highlights from the day before or games earlier in the day. Sports Center covers the event longer than the other shows I think it's all a form of entertainment. People are distracted pretty easy and if you have things like top ten plays for the night people get excited and watch the show. I like Final Score better because they don't cram the highlights in your head for longer than it should be. Sports Center has a tendency to talk about the event for longer than need. I didn't really care for Rome is Burning or Around the Horn. It was a couple of guys talking trash on sports and athletes. I don't see what these guys have done so great to make them better than the athletes now. All the shows were very good about telling what's going on and informing on the events. I'll probably never watch Rome is Burning again or Around the Horn again. I like Sports Center and Final Score a lot, and I watch them both everyday. All sports broadcasting shows are the same it's a matter of entertainment that keeps the crowds watching.

New weight room at reed

ISU should invest in a better weight for the gym at Reed. Instead of trying to build a multi million dollar swimming pool they should fix up some of the junkier stuff first. I work out in the weight room almost everyday. The machines are old and the room is too small. It gets hotter than the sauna's upstairs. If they could invest a little more money to expand it or at least put a better ventilation system more people would use Reed and they could possible get more money to fix it up.

Zednik ok after skate to throat

Richard Zednik continued his remarkable recovery Tuesday, when his condition was upgraded to good and he was moved out of the intensive care unit at Buffalo General Hospital. Two days ago teammate Olli Jokinen's skate blade sliced into Zednik's neck during a play in the corner, when Jokinen was hit. The blade cut Zednik's carotid artery and stopping just shy of his jugular vein. According to the Panthers, more than 15,000 fans have left e-mail messages on the team's Web site. The team also is setting up an oversized get-well banner for fans to sign, which will be delivered to the Zedniks' home in western Broward County. On Tuesday, during a news conference, Zednik's doctor said he already had asked about when he could return to training. She recommended Zednik refrain from strenuous activity for three months, and that returning to the ice would be a possibility next season. I saw the highlight of this many times. It's probably one of the grossest things I've seen in a while. Anyone who can take a skate in the neck and come back to play is a hero in my book.

Why I love BYU

Location- There may not be a more scenic campus in the world. The mountains are always in view.

Lavell Edwards- The man is a generous. His pedigree is very impressive. When he took over at the y the programs was horrible and now they are the envy of college football.


Facilities- BYU has the finest facilities in the NCAA. Even their softball stadium is state of the art. The Marriott Center is magnificent.


Seven Peaks- I love waterslides and it's only fitting that the largest water park in Utah is located so close to greatest university in the world.


Cozmo- This cat is hilarious. I named all of my stuff animals after him when I was a kid.


Dave- He may be the greatest teacher to ever step foot onto a college campus. I know that he was born probably with incredible talent but it was BYU that helped control it. Dave should be teaching at Harvard or something or better yet BYU.

Minor league baseball

It has been fifteen long years since the gate city has had a minor league baseball team. Pocatello has a rich baseball history dating back to the early 20th century. The original stadium was located near where the city hall building is now located. The current park, located on the western edge of town, was home to legendary players and coaches like Tommy Lasorda. Unfortunately that stadium has deteriorated and would not be ideal for hosting a professional team. I have spoken with a few investors who have talked about the possibility of building a stadium on Union Pacific property in old town Pocatello. The idea has picked up momentum recently with the announcement of a new softball stadium at ISU. The idea of building a baseball facility adjacent to the new complex has been discussed.

Television Critique

I went against my norm and watched the FSN Final score which is in my opinion a rapid fire version of sports center. I did find it refreshing to just be able to get the scores and important highlights of the nights sports action. I also enjoyed the fact that i did not have watch a feature story that had nothing to do with any of the games that night and was just an obvious attempt to fill up time. I think that the ticker that the have across the bottom of the screen a big help to someone just finding the score that they may have missed and the rundown that was on the right part of the screen gives the viewer an idea on when the nhighlight the want to see is coming up.
The only downsides I found to FSN Final Score was that the spent to much time on highlights from the Westminster dog show. Now i understand that some people really care about these kind of things but I don'r believe that the highlights beling on a sports highlight show(even though sportscenter showed the same ones). They also did a very bit on the poor attendance at the Nets-Timberwolves game and played a Price is Right theme as the played the PA announcer asking people to move to the lower level because people didn't show up due to weather. I found it funny that no one showed to an NBA game I expect it at a college game but not the pros especially with what tickets cost.
The FSN Final Score is a great show for people who just want a score and a quick highlight but I don't think I would stop watching sportcenter to watch them on a nightly basis.

What is our responsibility as sports writers?

I have been thinking about the concept of responsibility that was brought up in one of our classes. It is obvious that the sports writer's job is to report what happened in the game and behind the scenes. We all agree that this is a fun job. The question is: what responsibilities come with the fun?

As in all reporting one responsibility is to report accurate information. This responsibility in sports writing applies to both the athletes and the fans. It also applies to your reputation as a sports writer. Along with reporting accurate information, it is our responsiblity to listen carefully and to double check our information. Sometimes there isn't a lot of time before the deadline to do this, how can we maneuvor around this barrier? Maybe keeping up with information and doing our homework (as Prof. always says) will help us to get past this.

Another responsibility as a sports reporter is to take care of the athletes. By this I mean that it is our ethical duty to report the truth and only the truth. I also think that it is our duty to only report the information that is pertinent to our story. In other words, I think that it goes against our ethics to report gossip (even if we know it to be true) unless it will make our story better.

I think that it is our responsibility to increase awareness and promote teams. This can help spark fan participation. I think that part of this is our job - we are a media that spreads the word and sometimes people listen. I think that we need to try as hard as we can to make it sound interesting enough for people to want to take part in. (And you can disagree with me here, this is just my personal opinion)

I think that many responsibilities go along with reporting what happens on the sidelines and behind the scenes. I think that how we handle these responsibilities will effect our relationshops with athletes and coaches. I know that it is important to have a good relationship and a level of respect with these people. Because of this, I believe that it is in our best interest to take on our responsibilities and handle them in the best way possible.

Boston's 70 Win Follow Up

The Boston Celtic's are currently 39-9 (@ Indiana tonight) in the pitiful Atlantic division of the eastern conference. The Toronto Rapters (27-23) are the closest asset, but are a distant 12 games behind the "Garnettless" Celtics. In response to some of my reader's (unless otherwise imaginary) accusations, my last point regarding the Boston Celtics wasn't if they were going to go the distance, it was simply for a majestic 70 win season.

To my displeasure, the odds have shifted slightly against me. Kevin Garnett has been out with strained abdominal muscle since late January. His impact (19.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg) will play a significant factor in Boston's final 33 games. At this point, the Celtics would have to take 30 of those last 33 contests to reach the 70 win milestone. Does it seem that unlikely?

Doc River's club has a surreal 16-0 record against western conference teams, two of the games coming against Dallas and San Antonio at home without Garnett in the lineup. Wins like those without the Farragut Career Academy graduate, Garnett, will only come with big games from Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and other supporting players.

As far as Boston winning 70 games this season, I'm sticking with my conspicuous gut and say yes, again. Garnett will soon rejoin his trio of scorers and their opponents will drop as fast as Rudy Giuliani after the Florida primary.

Oh, and the championship, yeah, San Antonio will take care of that, again.

ESPN illuminates Duke’s Depth

Melinda Christensen
Mass Comm. 299
Television Critique
7 January 2008


ESPN’s coverage of the Duke, UNC rivalry featured lively, fast-paced action spliced with more in-depth sports coverage and interviews. The broadcast opens with a highlighted play by play of the game, then breaks into a scene of the coaches, and is followed with by two sports commentators giving their synopsis of the game, and an interview with Duke University’s star player.

I enjoyed the excitement in the announcer’s voice throughout the broadcast; however, I thought his remark on Shire’s impressive three-point shot was less than desirable. Calling the shot “Shire Fire,” made me think of a blazing inferno terrorizing Hobbits, rather than a basket. The announcer made a few other rhyming remarks which made me feel that I was watching nursery rhymes, instead of a men’s basketball game; although, the point seems somewhat minute.

Beyond the rhyming, the broadcast was horribly one-sided. ESPN managed to turn a blind eye on UNC, until the very last moments of the broadcast when they briefly recognized some impressive career stats for the team’s star player of the night. Then, the commentators went on to discuss an injured player, but I couldn’t distill which team the injured player was on or if the injured player was benched for the intense rivalry of this game.

The commentators went over the standings of the two teams briefly at the very end of the sportscast. Furthermore, they made no specific mention of who the teams will now face. I think the standings should have been covered before the interview with Shire, and before the cut to the commentators.

The interview with Shire was typical. The lady asked fairly standard questions, and Shire’s responses while fluid seemed scripted. When you play a team like UNC you know you have to bring your best game or you're going to be defeated, said Shire. While this seemed to please the lady with the microphone, I found it rather unsubstantial.

Furthermore, the sportscast entirely lacked dialogue with either team’s head coach. One of the coaches, I can’t say which because the spot was so quick, had a spell of vertigo during the game. I think that could have been an interesting question for an interview, but there was no follow up. I would have also liked even brief commentary from a member of UNC’s team. I thought it was rather poor taste to completely ignore the losing team.

Overall, I enjoyed the highlighted play by play of the game. I think that’s the best way to watch a game if unable to personally attend. However, I think the fast-paced reporting needed to slow after the play by play ended and the commentary and interviews began. Again, I think the sportscast contained some minor holes, which I’m guessing the ESPN after game show probably filled in. I don’t know why I would watch twenty minutes worth of an after game show to glean tidbits of information that should have been included in the commentary wrap up after the game. Furthermore, why should I spend twenty minutes watching an after game show when the highlighted play by play took less than fifteen? And why not cover the bitter-sweet night for UNC’s star player who put up some impressive stats but failed to secure a win?

Television Critique

Zach Roddy
February 7, 2008
Television Critique


Around The Horn is a sports program on ESPN that airs weekly before Pardon The Interruption and Sportscenter. The 30 minute show consists of four sports writers in the United States that discuss current events in the sports world. The host of the show, Tony Reali, directs conversation and critiques the writer’s points of views.
Thursday, February 7th’s program consisted of Jay Mariotti, Kevin Blackistone, Bill Plaschke, and Tim Cowlishaw discussing the big deal in the NBA, 36-year-old Shaquille O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and point guard Kevin Banks. The main argument was not only Shaq’s age and durability, but how he would blend with Steve Nash and the Sun’s fast-paced offense, which many consider to be the fastest in the NBA.
The LSU graduate, Shaquille O’Neal has played on four NBA champion teams (LA Lakers 00-02, Miami Heat 06), but has been scrutinized consistently this past for his lack of effort and now has his chance once again with Phoenix.
I have never been a fan of Shaq and his sarcastic personality, but with all of the potential the western conference holds this year, this trade has made circumstances a whole lot more interesting. Pau Gasol, who was recently traded to the Lakers, has given Los Angeles a new hope in the playoffs. Though they were already on the brink of the postseason, there was skepticism of how they would fair. The pacific division in the western conference, that holds Phoenix first and the LA Lakers second, have gotten significantly stronger.
A couple of the contestant writers on the show made comments about how Shaq could have another big motivation. He is on his last stretch and winning is the majority of his existence in the NBA today. Miami’s lack of stability and 9-38 record led to O’Neal’s let-down of everything he had going for him.
The other major issue that the program discussed was the Congress case concerning the state of Roger Clemens and the steroid investigation. To be honest with you, I understand that sports programs have to cover these kinds of events in great detail, but it has become in all ways unattractive to a viewer like myself. I have become disgusted with the clouds that have flown over the game of baseball and what it represents. It seems as though every ounce of integrity and respect have been thrown out the window.

Television Critique

Phillip Campbell
M C 299
Television Critique

I watched channel six on Friday February 1. I was impressed with the depth of their coverage. They had games from all over the region. One of the advantages to being in a small market is that all of the schools have an opportunity to be on television.

Growing up in Utah the coverage was noticeably different. I lived in Logan, a city about the size of Pocatello, and my school was rarely on T.V. The only time we were covered was during the state tournaments.

Channel six calls their sports segment on Fridays the Sports Zone. Within the Sports Zone is a special segment called the Frenzy. The Frenzy provides more in depth coverage to some of the bigger games in the area.

Overall I think the stations in the area do a fair job at covering local sports. Next week during the girl’s state tournament in Boise all of the local team participating will be covered. This coverage instills a sense of pride within the communities and the region.

Television Critique

Blakely Peppinger
February 7, 2008
Television Critique


For this critique, I watched the Local news 8 sports cast on the night of February 6th. This sportscast was really frustrating for me to watch. I am from Salt Lake City and am used to a different style of a broadcast. This was the first time I have watched a local news station here in Idaho because since I’ve moved here, I’ve had cable and I wasn’t interested, and now I don’t have television. I wasn’t completely surprised at the major differences of the local channel here compared to Salt Lake but it was a lot different.
One thing that really bothered me was the coverage from one of the biggest rivalry’s in this town. The game was between Century and Highland and there were only a few video clips from the second half. The clips mostly featured good plays made by Century and I was surprised to see that the game was won by highland. I feel the comments were also favored on Century’s side, which again I didn’t understand because of the fact that Highland came out on top. If you had just listened to the comments and the video clips without hearing the final score, you would have thought without a doubt that Century had dominated Highland. I am not a fan for either school but if I had been it would have seemed like the station favored the one school over the other.
As I was watching, they showed a clip from a different game than what they were talking about in the segment. Also, at the end as they were going to commercial, they showed an irrelevant sports clip again. I’ve seen this happen before but not several times as it did on this particular night. I know it is live television, but the clips seemed to be really disorganized and sporadic.
One other thing that bothered me was that they were talking about the ISU football team and how it was national signing day yesterday. The anchor was talking about the certain players that signed with ISU and they showed the same ISU football clip three times. It was of the football team running out onto the field before the game. It was shown at the beginning of the story, in the middle and then at the end of announcing all the incoming players.
I think they covered some other games really well and some national games also. I learned a lot about how to cover local sports news and the aspects of the game that are reported. It was interesting to see what statistics are reported on a local station rather than the local newspaper or in what order. A lot less is written for each game but visuals from clips cover a lot of the missing stuff that the newspaper articles would usually write on.
If I was doing the broadcast, I would report good plays and players from both teams. I would have also covered more from the rivalry game because I think most of the town would be interested in it. I would also cover more NBA games instead of just the Utah Jazz. They are the closest team to Pocatello, but I would want to cover some other major teams as well. I would have also reported some of the local players that signed yesterday for football in out of state schools. Overall, for the resources available it was a very informative sports cast.

Assignment Question

Question, is the television critique supposed to be on an actual game or a sports report from a newscast?

Super Bowl

On Sunday I actually watched the Super Bowl. Because of the snow and the cold, my car got stuck and I ended up being stranded out of town. I actually had a great time because there was amazing food. I actually enjoyed many of the commercials and I got into the game in the fourth quarter. Even though I didn't like either of the teams, I ended up cheering for the Giants. At the end I got into it because I wanted to see the favored team lose. The perfect season would have been cool but at the same time, I didn't mind seeing the unreacheable team getting beat.

Yea Right !!!!!

I think I'm with rest of the group you went to a movie about chipmunks.....

YEA Right I think this works on rats and roaches...... Dr. Phil Good 

Sadly

Sadly, I made it to zero games last week. Partially due to the fact that I was not feeling well and mostly due to the fact that Zach stole the game!!!!!

Just kidding Zach...I'm not even kind of mad about it, I just had to throw that in there.

Anyway, I spent my weekend cleaning and baking for the relay for life kickoff party that I am in charge of this Thursday. I had the Superbowl on while I was running around my house, but I can honestly say that I was never drawn into the game. I wasn't even interested in the commercials. As I mentioned in a comment, the Life Water commercial was my favorite. I think that it's because that one was the only one that caught my attention - what can I say? I like Michael Jackson, ok?

Half time was a yawn. Watching old Tom Petty sing his folk songs. Ok, I know that they aren't folk songs...but isn't half time supposed to be up beat? I have nothing against Tom Petty normally - but he wasn't the best half time performer I had ever seen. Can they not find anyone else to perform? They could've brought Jordan Sparks out again, she had a nice voice for the anthem. Or, hey, why not have Peyton Manning perform?

Anyway, that's my analysis of the game. BOR-ING!

Article Critique

On ESPN I found an article saying Bob Knight, the head coach at Texas Tech resigned on Monday. The hot tempered coach is most memorable for his 29 seasons spent at Indiana. He transfered to Texas Tech in 2001 and is one of the most winning coaches in men's college basketball history. Knight is most famous for his "my way" style of coaching. "I've simply tried to do what I think is best," Knight said. "Regrets? Sure. Just like the song. I have regrets. I wish I could done things better at times. I wish I would have had a better answer, a better way, at times. But just like he said, I did it my way and when I look back on it, I don't think my way was all that bad"(ESPN). I'm not much of a fan when it comes to basketball. As an athlete I have nothing but respect for Bob Knight. He was an amazing coach who taught a lot of young players how to prepare for life. His teams grew strong with confidence, and after dealing with his coaching style they were able to take on anything. I wish for every sport I played I had a coach like Knight. He was tough and an asshole, but he was an amazing coach that pushed players talents to the limit. Even if you don't respect him, Bob Knight will surely be missed in college basketball for a long time.

Saturday's Game

If anyone went to the game on Saturday I reached a new point in my life. At halftime I had 20 seconds to convince the crowd why I should win a free trip on Spring break. Honestly I had a couple of drinks in me still from the pregame party and most of the stuff I said came from left field. I won the competition and have to compete again at the girls game against Weber in March. If anyone has any suggestions on what I could say to win the crowd over let me know.

My Superbowl Splur

It was once discovered long ago that the Earth is round not flat, the sky really isn't blue and cheaters never win. After 18 prestigious victories, the New England Patriots were utterly silenced following a 17-14 Superbowl loss to the New York Giants. The remarkable regular season (partial postseason) run during the 2007-08 season of 18 straight wins was put to an end when rising star Eli Manning lobbed a breathtaking 25-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left.

Tom Coughlin and his New York Giant's astonishing feat of dethroning what was thought (and almost proven) to be the dethronable will go down and history as one of the greatest upsets in Superbowl history since Namath's Jets did it to Baltimore when they were Colts in Superbowl III. Coughlin, after a prior 8-8 season in 06-07 and starting this season at 0-2, was on the verge of loosing his job. He quickly turned rags into riches, leading his Giants to six straight wins and an eventual wildcard bid in the NFC.

On the other side of the beam lay Bill Belichick and his torn-sleeved, hooded sweatshirt, briskly departing from University of Phoneix Stadium in Arizona with a second and a play remaining. His attempt in tying Chuck Noll's four Superbowls with the Pittsburg Steelers in the 70's and 80's will have to wait at least one more season, when the Patriots will almost certainly have the amazing duo of Tom Brady and Randy Moss.

But if they do, there will always be that word behind it. Spygate.

Movie Review and Super Bowl Prediction

I decided to go to a movie rather than watch the super bowl yesterday. I was surprised to see that the theater was actually open and that I wasn't the only person there. I decided to go Alvin and the Chipmunks.

The movie is loosely based on a true story about an orphan family of chipmunks that are adopted by song writer Dave Seville. Dave finds out that the chipmunks enjoy singing in English and quickly takes advantage of the situation. After signing a contract to record their albums the chipmunks embark on a world wide tour without Dave. The trio becomes exhausted from being overworked by their manager. Dave shows up to one of their concerts and helps the trio escape.

The movie is full of laughs and is a must see for children of all ages.

Here is my super bowl prediction. The Giants will most likely score first but I don't think they will get in the end zone, the pats redzone defense is too tough. New England will answer putting them up 7-3. The game will then get sloppy and neither team will be able to move the ball until the fourth quarter. The Giants will win by three on a last second field goal from Laurence Tynes. The Giants will shock the world by winning the game 18-15.

Superbowl 42 a big bust

I was a loser either way on Sunday. First cause nobody bothered to show up which means I couldn't watch the game in piece but had to keep the kids entertained and catch snippets of the game.

The only reason I wanted to watch the game in the first place was for the commercials. What a dud on that front. Maybe the commercials are funnier if your team is in the game, at least thats the way it seemed in Superbowl 40. You have everyone watching and the commercials seemed to have such little humor or creativity. Unless the Seahawks make it next year I think I'm boycotting the game. The only commercial I really enjoyed other than movie ads was for the runaway blimp-coke commercial. What you guys think?

As far as the game goes it was going to be a bust no matter who won. After watching the game I realize how much more I detest the Mannings and Fox's coverage of the superbowl. And now I have to hear talk about them all year long. Although it was kind of funny how all the experts were wrong and how badly Brady and his offensive line choked in the big one. Maybe now the Patriots will open their wallets and pay a little bit more for the hogs up front.

Had the Patriots won then the talk of perfection would have been annoying now instead the 1972 Dolphins will continue to get all the attention and that's getting old. I guess I'm just going to turn off talk radio for awhile.

And then the game was a total yawner until the last five minutes. You could've slept through the rest and not missed much.

Either way I felt yesterday was a waste of a day except I did enjoy watching Ocean's 13.

I'm sure we won't have to wait long for phil's reply as I can't imagine after the game it took long to sober up. But I'm sure he found ways to down his kegger.

Real Men Don't Wear Purple to the Jungle

That was the take home message after the Bengals and Wildcats donned claws and matched stealth Saturday night.

While the "white-out" looked more like scattered flurries, Weber fans managed to make a respectable portion of the stadium seating look as though Barney erupted. Despite my displeasure at the purple spectacle, Wildcat fans deserve some respect for supporting their team and collectively cheering. That is with the exception of the crazed, thirty-something-John Lovitz-look-a-like seated two rows behind me; who reminded me more of a cobra than a wildcat as he rocketed saliva and venom over Bengal fans. Lesson learned, from now on the student section is where you'll find me!

Although being seated near him was painful, it was alsmost worth the suffering to see his expression after Austin Kilpatrick tucked away a three-pointer with only a breath left in the shot clock. Like a fire-season sunset his vein stricken, fiery face smoldred against the purple backdrop- it was beautiful.

While a sizeable portion of the game for me was spent plotting various methods for silencing the boulstering section, it was ultimately the men who laid the Wildcat spirit to rest as the intense rivalry culminated in a four point victory for the Bengals.

Call it spite, malice, or vindication but there was a sick sense of satisfaction that filled me as I watched the depleated, purple section file sadly from their seats with disheartened expressions spread across their faces. Victory may be sweet, but that sour silence was inexplicably gratifying.

super bowl 42

Congrats New York Giants. Now I don't like either one of the teams that played in tonights game but I will give the Giants all the credit in the world for playing fantastic football. They shut down the Patriots offense like no one else could and made Tom Brady pay for every pass he tried to throw. As much as I hate to say it Eli Mannig played pretty well especially because all the so called experts gave the Giants no shot to win. It was a great game to watch and now the 72 dolphins can pop there champange history is safe for another year. Congrats Patriots on a great season and congrats Giants on slaying goliath and winning the Super bowl when no one thought you would.

Game Story One

Friday, January 25, 2008


Sacramento State University Hornets vs. Idaho State University Bengals

Tip Time: 7:05 p.m. @ Pocatello, ID

Big 2nd Half Leads To Bengal Victory Over Sacramento State

After a shaky start, Idaho State (7-12, 4-2) put together a 51 point scoring surge in the second half, making their first eight shots, while shooting 82.6 percent to sink Sacramento State (3-15, 1-7) 86-63 on Friday night at Holt Arena.

Hornets star guard Loren Leath left Bengal fans timid to begin the game as Leath connected on his first three attempts from behind the arc as Sacramento State lead by as many as seven in the first half. Leath would finish with a game-high 21 points.

Sophomore Austin Kilpatrick would answer the Hornet’s surge hitting three 3-pointers in row coming off of the bench in less than two and a half minutes midway through the first half giving the Bengals an edge, while finishing with 15 points.

Donnie Carson had 16 points and Matt Stucki had 15 points, but the big story was Logan Kinghorn on the boards, who finished with a double double in 11 points and 14 rebounds. When asked him about his effective night Kinghorn jokingly said, “The ball was following me, I was trying to get out of the way!”

Since conference play has begun for ISU, the games half continued to display their importance for the Bengals. Kinghorn said after the game, “It’s nice to get a win where you don’t have to worry about if it’s gonna come down to the final shot or final possession. It’s good to add a little insurance.”

Bengal guard Donnie Carson, who has emerged as more of a scorer since conference play began, took what the Sacramento State defense gave him. “With a team like Sacramento State you know that your going to get a bunch of good shots, you just have to make them.”

The tight-knit Big Sky conference holds currently five possible teams that could make a run in the conference tournament come March. Northern Arizona, Portland State, Weber State, Montana State and Idaho State will all have their opportunity to make plays and get wins when they need them.

The men will have an 11 o’clock practice in the morning and will be at home on Sunday to take on conference leader Northern Arizona (14-6, 6-1), who are winners of four straight big-sky conference games against Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State and Weber State.

The Lumberjacks have three players averaging double figures in forward Kyle Landry and guards Josh Wilson and Nathan Geiser. Kyle Landry is the go-to man down low averaging 17.3 points and 8.6 rebounds a contest, while Josh Wilson (11.6 pts, 5.7 assists) has the sweet stroke from the outside that could down your ball team if you pay too much attention down low.

Heart Warming story

I went to the dark side, broke down bought an ESPN Mag, I just couldn’t look at the Journal. I’m glad I did buy the magazine there were some great articles in it. The one I enjoyed reading, “ What you gotta do”.

It was a heart warming story about a father and a son. Or course, it followed the tried and true story line; of father leaves family, mother remarries takes son and moves. Son wants to move back home, reconnect with father. yada yada

Father is Billy Smith, son is Tyler Smith, who is playing for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team.

The story follows Tyler’s life journey from 9 years old, concluding when he makes it to the Vols basketball team. The story high lights the time he( Tyler) spends with his dad, how they get to reconnect. Reconnecting Tyler follow his dads thoughts and input on his career in college basket ball. Tyler's return to his dream comes about with his dad dieing. He returns to Tennessee to take care of his dad, makes the team and supports his dad until his death.

A story like this is a heart warmer, if this was a television news story it would be a kicker because it leaves the audience with a warm feeling.

I like the story because it shows that fathers and sons can reconnect, a personal experience.

ESPN MAG

WOW !I just had to join the group and get an ESPN mag. Probably , even break down and get a subscription.......