Who’s your columnist #10
Your comment must be posted no later than 30 minutes before the Tuesday March 31 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.
The photo at the right is of New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton, who Mike Wise mentioned on Tuesday in class. If you’re not familiar with Araton’s work, you should check it out.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Brendan Murphy
Communication 371-001
Sports Reporting/Klein
March 24, 2009
Michael Wilbon
Michael Wilbon’s article, VCU’s Grant is Good to Go, is very interesting because of George Mason’s rivalry with the Rams. VCU’s coach, Anthony Grant has build an impressive resume with the Rams and has lead them to two NCAA appearances in the last three years. Wilbon’s article discusses Grant’s potential options for coaching positions in more well-known programs. The University of Virginia is coming off their worst season in forty years. Grant is most likely going to be offered the position. However, Georgia from the SEC has expressed interest in Grant. Georgia would also be a good fit because for Grant because of the conference’s reputation.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Colin Fitzgerald
Comm 371-001
March 26, 2009
Sally Jenkins article ‘I Have the Will to Suffer’, detailed Lance Armstrongs unfortunate fall and subsequent broken collarbone. Sally’s stance is that while most people shy away from pain, Lance copes with it, tolerates it and even uses it to drive him. She says that his ability to thrive in the face of adversity is the most interesting thing about him. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forvever” Lance told her. Despite his injury Lance said he still plans to compete in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Even in the face of adversity, Armstrong’s competetive drive fuels him on toward his goals.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/25/AR2009032501895.html
March 26th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Although Harper typically limits his columns to MLB-related news, this week’s column discussed the NCAA tournament, and more specifically, the Syracuse-Arizona game. It was interesting to see how he covers a topic outside of baseball, and he did a great job. He included interviews from both teams pertaining to the game, and included statistics and numbers for the game without giving the run-of-the-mill play-by-play. He discussed the offense and defense from both sides, and included his opinions of the supposed “star” players.
His most recent column can be found at: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2009/03/22/2009-03-22_jonny_flynn_syracuse_top_arizona_state_t.html
March 30th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Communication 371-001
Sports Reporting
Steve Klein
March 30, 2009
Bob Ryan
In Ryan’s most recent piece: “Raise a glass to a vintage performance”, Ryan touches on Villanova’s run to the Final Four. With Saturday nights game between Pitt and Nova being played in Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden, Ryan provides readers with a different look into the game.
Ryan brings to light the environment surrounding the memorable game with a opening lead of:
“If a sports fan is lucky, he or she gets to see a half-dozen or so “I Was There” games in their lifetime. A TD Banknorth Garden capacity crowd of 18,871 surely got one for the résumé last night.”
Touching on the history behind that area of soil in Boston, Ryan notes how fitting it was that Nova clinched its first bid to the Final Four since its historical run 24 years ago.
I was happy Ryan wrote this piece as I was curious to know how the crowds would be in Boston with an All-Big East match-up in the finals of the East Regional.
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2009/03/29/raise_a_glass_to_a_vintage_performance/
March 30th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
In Gary Parrish’s “Tar Heels on cruise control toward national title,” he discussed his utter boredom in the first two weeks of the NCAA Tournament.
Parrish was in Greensboro and Memphis the last two weeks, which is where the UNC Tar Heels were playing.
He said he will probably be bored in Detroit as well. Why is that?
“And now I’m sure I’ll be bored in Detroit, too, because this is what happens when you opt to cover North Carolina’s Road to the Final Four. You get bored. Nothing is suspenseful or even close, because the Tar Heels are simply too good for the rest of the country when they’re healthy and focused, proof being how they spent the past two weekends healthy and focused and kicking the crap out of everybody.”
He showed the scores he saw: A 101-58 beating vs. Radford, an 84-70 win vs. LSU, a 98-77 win over the Zags and a comfortable 72-60 win in the regional final vs. Oklahoma.
He then went into why UNC will be fine in the dome, despite the Spartans playing a few hours from campus in the other semi-final.
Based on what he saw, this is what he says about the Heels as a team: “It says that this is the Tar Heels’ title to lose.”
They could lose because anyone can win, but UNC never had a problem getting to Detroit.
Will they win it all? I guess we will have to watch and see for ourselves but Parrish is convinced UNC is the future national champion.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11564449
March 31st, 2009 at 3:27 am
Grant Paulsen
Comm 371-001
Klein
March 30, 2009
Verducci
Tom Verducci’s most recent column was about Japan defending it’s title in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Verducci called it fitting that Japan was playing Korea in the finals. He pointed out that neither of the Asian countries played an American version of baseball, and suggested that maybe that was why they were the final two teams standing.
“The Asian clubs provided a showcase of thrilling baseball without that staple of American baseball,” Verducci wrote. “The home run, the hydrogenated oil of American ball.” He went on to write that, “Japan took 309 at-bats in the tournament and hit all of four home runs — and still it is the champion, maybe even because of it. And still the baseball was superb.”
Verducci’s use of statistics to support his claims helps to add credibility to what the revered columnist writes.
He then compared some of the decisions of the American and Japanese clubs to accentuate the fact that America doesn’t take the tournament as seriously as Japan does. Japan, for example, had one of it’s top pro-managers skippering it’s club. Verducci asked, “do you think the Red Sox would have loaned Terry Francona to Team USA during spring training?”
Verducci then pointed out how Japan flew a star player across the Pacific Ocean to replace an injured player on the roster. He then compared that to the idea that Team USA wouldn’t even fly Grady Sizemore from Florida to California after injuries in the later rounds.
The column was money. It can be found here.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tom_verducci/03/24/wbc.final/index.html
March 31st, 2009 at 11:01 am
This week’s article- Falcons: Private workout is time to pick apart QB
In this article, Cotsonika writes about the private workout Matthew Stafford will do for the Lions today. Cotsonika set up the article (as always, written for Lions fans) with Mike Smith, HC of the Falcons, commenting on his process with Matt Ryan a year ago.
The Falcons drafted Ryan at No. 3 last year.
By writing about what the Falcons did last year, it will give Lions fans a bit of insight into what will happen with their potential number one pick, Matt Stafford.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090330/SPORTS01/903300339/1049/SPORTS01/Falcons++Private+workout+is+time+to+pick+apart+QB
March 31st, 2009 at 11:24 am
Diana Friedman
Tom Boswell’s recent article “Arenas Quickly Shakes Off the Rust” is a colorful account of the star’s return to the NBA.
I particularly like the way he lets the audience know what happened to Arenas to put him on the sidelines in a question form. This way, he’s not just retelling facts but getting the reader involved.
The way he breaks up the answer to his rhetorical question of how long it takes is also quite effective. By separating it from his previous paragraph he leaves the reader begging for the answer, and really unsure of what that answer is.
URL:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/28/AR2009032802479.html
March 31st, 2009 at 12:02 pm
BILL SIMMONS FOR THIS WEEK
THis past week, Bill Simmons wrote a column for ESPN the Magazine about NBA stats, and the recent convention at MIT on the subject.
He suggests new statistic categories for the NBA. For example, he would like to see a category called stops. A stop would be when a defender stops an opponent from scoring on an isolation play.
Another example of a new stat that Simmons would like to see is a “Russel.” A Russel would be when a player blocks a shot directly to a teammate. Great stuff as usual.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4011524
March 31st, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Bill Plaschke’s article, “Dodgers should bring back Pedro Martinez” (if the title itself isn’t obvious enough) is an opinion sounding more like a request from a ruling king to the Dodgers management.
In it, Plaschke argues that fifteen years is much too long since L.A. had its hands on him (Plaschke is referring to a controversial 1993 trade).
The 37-year old Martinez is now a free agent after three lackluster seasons with the Mets.
Many managers and coaches in the MLB saw him pitching in the WBC for the Dominican Republic and were impressed.
Plaschke sees an opportunity to bring a big-time slugger to the Dodgers.