Who’s your columnist #6

Your comment must be posted no later than 30 minutes before the Tuesday March 3 class.

You must include the URL of the column so that your classmates can read the column, too.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Pictured above: Woody Paige of the Denver Post. Kevin Healy is following the long-time Denver sports columnist and ESPN guest. Paige was one of the first sports columnists to understand the importance of working across multiple media platforms.



18 Responses to “Who’s your columnist #6”

  1.   bmurphy6 Says:

    Brendan Murphy
    Communication 371-001
    Sports Reporting/Klein
    February 24, 2009

    Who is you columnist #6?

    I have chosen to follow AP Basketball Writer, Brian Mahoney. I discovered Mahoney because of my interest in reading about New York Knicks' guard Nate Robinson's 41-point performance on Tuesday night. Robinson has been playing spectacular since the NBA All Star Break. He defeated defending Slam Dunk Champion, Dwight Howard, and has been on an offense terror in the second half of the season. However, this article by Mahoney particularly stood about because it highlights a key defensive play from Robinson in the midst of a offensive showcase. Mahoney incorporates entertaining quotes from fellow players and adds personality into the article. In addition, his descriptive analysis of the game offers a solid background for readers who did not watch the game. See the link below:

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AimcX0Ee7AyAYHxyGZqe4iu8vLYF?gid=2009022318&prov;=ap

  2.   Sara Ronken Says:

    Harper’s column this week seemed to read more like an article than an actual opinion piece. He added a lot of colorful language, but remained relatively unbiased throughout, simply allowing the numbers to make the argument for him. The topic was Mets player David Wright and his apparent downfall from last season. Harper provided all the necessary background on the player and used that to counteract what Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies said, that Wright was a “choker.”

    Another aspect of Harper’s writing that I’ve been noticing is that he tends to form longer sentences and paragraphs. However, when he wants to make a key point, he will typically put it in 10 words or less and in a one-line paragraph. This style has an interesting effect, because even though it goes against the journalistic norm, it serves to emphasize his key points to an even higher degree.

    His latest column can be found at: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/columnists/harper/?page=0

  3.   Christopher Brooks Says:

    In Gary Parrish’s weekly “Friday Look Ahead,” he previews the bests of the week.

    He begins his column with:

    “Blake Griffin and Nolan Smith both suffered concussions in the past week.

    Who said basketball isn’t a contact sport?”

    He mentions the Kansas versus Missouri game as the game to fly to see in person. Two top-25 powerhouses meeting at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in the Jayhawks and Tigers.

    It would be worth to fly if you are a Kansas fan. Kansas wooped up on Mizzou earlier this afternoon 90-65. (I was happy watching it from the confines of my own home.)

    Parrish was spot on with his game worth driving to. Marquette met Louisville in a battle of two top-10 teams in Kentucky. It was a phenomenal game, as the Cardinals defeated Marquette 62-58.

    These are just two examples of what he wrote about on Friday. Parrish is funny, as usual, but has a very intellectual way of looking at the games. He has the stats, knows the teams, and loves the sport.

    Championship week begins next week, so Parrish will have plenty to write about. Also, expect some UNC/Duke stories from Parrish.

    Hopefully he will give some love to the CAA and other non-BCS conference tournaments.

    Here is the link to Parrish’s column: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11435022

  4.   Evan Says:

    Continuing his running coverage of the tumultuous relations with egotastic former baseball star Manny Ramirez and his team of last year the Dodgers, my columnist, Bill Plaschke, is left shaking his head at Ramirez’s reasons for ignoring a win-win situation for him.

    “He’s lost his dignity. He’s lost his perspective. He’s lost his marbles,” Plaschke says, after explaining that Ramirez rejected a $25 million contract outright to rejoin the team for one year – probably the last straw for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who’s finally beginning to understand that Ramirez is a lost cause.

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-plaschke-lakers27-2009feb27,0,6307729.column

  5.   Diana Friedman Says:

    Diana Friedman

    Tom Boswell continues to impress me with his versatility. Generally, he infuses a lot of opinion, politics, etc in his writing. This past week, however, was much more straightforward.

    The first part of the article reads like a straight news story. He is just reporting the facts. This proves that columnists must retain those basic skills of reporting. Some stories still call for this style.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022604013.html

  6.   Grant Paulsen Says:

    Tom Verducci wrote another terrific column this week.

    His topic was the forgotten players of the steroid era. The point Verducci made is that because of the bloated forearms and infalted numbers in baseball over the past 15-years, there are a bunch of guys with great numbers who will never get their recognition.

    Verducci cited players with great numbers – even some guys who will end up in the 500 home run club – and then called attention to the fact that they get no national attention or recognition as Hall of Fame players, because their numbers, while great, aren’t good enough in an era riddled with home runs, needles, and steroids.

    The way that Verducci made his point was to give the story a face. What I mean by that, is that Verducci did what Alan Goldenbach told us to do. He gave his angle of the story somebody that people could relate to or use as an example. That face was Carlos Delgado. Here is what Verducci said about Delgado.

    “Delgado will become only the 11th player in baseball history with 500 home runs, 500 doubles and 1,500 RBIs. It is a club with no back door. The others: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Griffey, Ramirez, Palmeiro and Bonds. And yet Delgado never is talked about as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is rarely discussed as a Hall of Famer at all.”

    I really enjoyed the story. As always, Verducci made me think. That’s all I want a columnist to do, and that’s why I picked SI’s finest baseball writer.

    Read the story here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tom_verducci/02/24/carlos.delgado/index.html

  7.   Eric Vitoff Says:

    In what Deadspin.com calls “one of the best columns he’s ever written,” Bill Simmons writes about the NBA’s current financial woes. He says that during All-Star weekend in Phoenix, the economy/money/financial fears was all that anybody was talking about.

    Simmons says that aside from Amare Stoudemire, Raef LaFrentz’s expiring contract was the #1 asset that created buzz around All-Star weekend. He also warns of what he believes is a pretty much inevitable 2011 lockout and the likelihood of several teams relocating,

    In normal Simmons fashion, the column is very long. His paragraphs are long too, as usual.

  8.   Andrew Says:

    In my article for the week, Cotsonika discusses the trade of Jon Kitna to the Cowboys for Anthony Henry.

    It was yet another trade in which the Lions got an absolute steal from the Cowboys.

    Cotsonika also discussed the other happenings in the Lions organization in the past few days, including a failed trade attempt for Jay Cutler and some free agent signings.

    He was able to report quite a bit of information in a small amount of space.

    http://www.freep.com/article/20090301/SPORTS01/903010418/1049/SPORTS01/Lions+deal+QB+Kitna+to+Cowboys++push+for+Cutler+fails

  9.   Colin Fitzgerald Says:

    Colin Fitzgerald
    Communication 371-001
    Sports Reporting

    This week I am covering Sally Jenkins column, as Len Shapiro didn’t write one. Sally wrote about Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams. Many people have been talking about getting a new coach lately, and as Sally points out, that will be very difficult due to the level of popularity acheived by WIlliams. At a game near valentine’s day many fans wore shirts that read “We (heart) our coach”. Williams has a love and passion for the sport that few coaches can claim. In the downside of his carrer, Sally says that the school owes him a few years of grace, and the opportunity to rebuild another contender.

  10.   Ben Libby Says:

    Ben Libby
    Communication 371-001
    Columnist # 6
    March 3, 2009

    In Bob Ryan’s latest piece he provides us with his view on Jim Calhoun’s current situation. It’s interesting to note that Ryan doesn’t dwell much upon Calhoun, but rather focusing on everychanging public view on college sports.

    For instance, Ryan awakens the reader with his take on the subject of college coaches being the highest-paid employees on campus, “the fact is that ship left the dock a long time ago.”

    Ryan continues down a trail of explaining to Boston sports fans that college sports attention is not even close in comparison with powerhouses like Michigan, Ohio State and so on. Ryan notes that in a city like Boston, people care more about “Papi’s wrist, Garnett’s leg, or Brady’s knee.”

    I’ve always been angered by this same topic Ryan brings up because being an avid sports fan the only thing missing in Boston is a dominant college sports program.

    A program that consistently brings success to a city in need and that is why Ryan tells people to lay off Calhoun, becuase he continues to win and simply put, that’s all that matters in sports today.

    In a definitive ending, Ryan drives it home to readers with a “That’s the real world of college sports, and UConn is very much involved. By choice.”

    http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2009/03/03/calhoun_cashes_in_on_success/?page=1

  11.   Colby Prout Says:

    Colby Prout
    Comm 371
    cprout@gmu.edu
    March 3 2009

    http://www.ringtv.com/blog/389/weekend_review_marquezs_night/

    This week Mr. Rosenthal covers the weekend in review (given that is the time when all the fights happen. A weekend of intriguing fights, including Juan Manuel Marquez v Juan Diaz and Tarver/Dawkins II.
    He comes up with his own categories and then lists the fighter this weekend who tops that list. Examples: Most Amazing Chin, Most Forbidding, Most Puzzling Decision.
    The winner for the Most Insulting category is Juan Manuel Marquez. In a pre-fight interview he predicted he would win because he was tougher than hi opponent who was only “half-Mexican” while he was full blooded mexican.
    “Marquez said in pre-fight interviews that he had an advantage because the Mexican-American Diaz was ’50 percent Mexican’ and he was ‘100 per cent Mexican.'”

  12.   Fox Parker Says:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701791.html?sub=AR

    In Mike Wise’s column this week he addressed the Redskins’ signing of Albert Haynesworth for 100 million dollars.

    Wise’s article starts off with a reference to Dr.Evil in the Austin Powers trilogy. This is great because the first thing I thought of when I heard about Haynesworth’s contract was the very same thing.

    I am the next Mike Wise!

    However, Wise articulated his comparison much better then I did.

    Wise rips Snyder pretty hard for signing “someone else’s superstar” to a ridiculously large contract. Wise uses images of Snyder’s extravagant lifestyle to highlight Snyder’s obsessive need to catch the big free agent fish.

    Wise also showed Snyder’s fiscal irresponsibility in such a tight economic time by pointing out that this spending spree took place after more than 24 employees where laid off less then a month ago.

    At the end of the article Wise does commend Snyder for his willingness to do anything to make his team a winner. But Wise also points out that Snyder’s money spending “addiction” has proven hard to break.

    An interesting note: this story was split into three pages shorter as opposed to the longer two page system the Post normally employs and I think it work much better. It was faster and easier to read.

  13.   Mike Foss Says:

    Rick Reilly writes about his experience with Jake, a 13-year-old who lost his father to liver failure. Jake, along with one of his late father’s friend flew to Denver to see the Broncos, a trip Jake and his dad had wanted to take.
    Reilly met the two in Denver and took them to dinner at John Elway’s restaurant. While at dinner, Elway met Jake, invited him view the Broncos game from his suite and dinner after.
    It was an experience that Reilly describes as life altering for Jake. He also notes how Elway embraces his status as a role model when so many athletes shy away from the responsibility.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3930609

  14.   Http://Jje-Boutique.Com/?Q=Node/72589 Says:

    Nice blog here! Also your web site loads up very fast!
    What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
    I wish my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol

    My site; http://Jje-Boutique.Com/?Q=Node/72589

  15.   water heater installation Orlando Says:

    Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote
    the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home
    a bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful
    blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

    Also visit my page; water heater installation Orlando

  16.   backyard covered patio ideas Riverside Ca Says:

    Hi, yup this paragraph is truly fastidious and I have learned lot of things
    from it about blogging. thanks.

    Feel free to visit my web blog … backyard covered patio ideas Riverside Ca

  17.   pool fence installer Says:

    Hey there, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.

    When I look at your website in Opera, it looks fine but when opening in Internet
    Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
    Other then that, superb blog!

    My homepage :: pool fence installer

  18.   used luxury cars Says:

    Hi there! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for the excellent info you’ve got right here on this post.
    I will be coming back to your site for more soon.

Leave a Reply