Who’s your columnist/blogger/Tweeter #5?

lavaranddukes_1Your comment must be posted by 30 minutes before the Tuesday March 2 class. You must include the URL of the column or blog item so that others can read it, too. Let me know if you have any questions.

Classmate Rob Elliott is following LaVar Arrington of WJFK radio, 106.7 The Fan. Keep in mind that we will be visiting the WJFK studios in Fairfax on Tuesday March 2 to meet with Mike Wise and producer Steve Ball, a former Comm371 student. “The Mike Wise Show” runs to 2 p.m., followed by “The LaVar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes.”



20 Responses to “Who’s your columnist/blogger/Tweeter #5?”

  1.   Paul Egeland Says:

    This week Bill Plaschke wrote about Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. They are the Canadian figure skating pair that seem to be on their way to winning a gold medal.

    I enjoy the angle that Plaschke uses when writting this story. He is tieing this story into the disappointment Canada had in hockey with their loss to America. He is saying that this is lifting the Canadians spirit after not only the loss but after the gutsy prediction made by the Canadians that they would “Own the podium” which has turned out not to be the case.

    Plasckes writting is entertaining while at the same time full of information. I enjoy not only the tempo and pace of his writting but the angles of his stories. I would have never made the connection of hockey with figure skating.

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-olympics-plaschke23-2010feb23,0,667029.column

  2.   Scott Hartman Says:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100224

    This week Bill Simmons wrote about how to fix the NBA. The NBA is losing $400 million this year, and Simmons offers some ideas to help turn the league around.

    Simmons has some fan-friendly advice for the Owners and Commissioner David Stern. Simmons blames Stern and the Owners for the mess they are in, using examples of some terrible contracts that are killing teams financial situations.

  3.   Ryan Harty Says:

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/2010-02-24-germans-winter-olympics_N.htm
    For Germans, Winter Olympics success is pinnacle for athletes by Jeff Zillgitt & Erik Brady

    The story that Jeff wrote about the German medal count helped me understand why Germany wins so many medals. I used to wonder why the U.S. was unable to compete with some of the competitive talent in event such as bobsled, luge, skeleton, and cross country skiing. This article helped me understand why.

    The German government employs most of its winter Olympic athletes because they understand that the athlete needs time to practice and train. Also Germany funds its Olympic athletes and their training. That is why the Germans are so dominant in the winter Olympics.

    It is surprising to see the Americans at the top of the medal count the past few days. Maybe if the U.S. is able to win the most medals at the Vancouver Olympics, for first time since Lake Placid in 1932, then money might start finding its way into the U.S. Winter Olympic budget.

  4.   Lijam M Says:

    in his last article Wilbon wrote about Antwaan Jamison being Traded to Cleveland. He wishes Jamison best, and he felt that it needed to happen for both the team and Jamison. He looks forward to a bright distant future for the Wizards

  5.   kimmymoss Says:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021904960.html

    First of all, may I just note that Sally Jenkins is back. Finally!

    This week Jenkins addresses –excuse me, GRILLS– Tiger Woods’s recent, painfully controlled public apology.

    Overall, Jenkins flatout says she doesn’t buy it. As she says, “To these ears, it was stilted and rehearsed to the point of insincerity.” I think I can speak on behalf of MANY people out there when I say that we agree.

    Just as she notes, his choice diction and pauses were just as insincere as the underlying apology itself. Perhaps her greatest argument comes near the tail-end of her column:

    “What’s too bad about Woods’s protective, defensive strategy is that his underlying assumption is that we can’t or won’t sympathize with the real him. So we’re left with an opaque figurine Woods, and just brief flashes of the person. I met him briefly, just once, and found him pleasant enough, though short spoken and harried, a strider unable to relax. ‘I don’t sleep,’ he said. It remains the most revealing thing I know about him.”

    Above everything else, I almost find it humorous how in my COMM399 Sports Media class last spring, we talked about Tiger Woods as a true sports icon among other greats, including Derek Jeter.

    I sure don’t see him in the same regard nowadays.

  6.   Ross Wilkers Says:

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/grant_wahl/02/24/u.s.team.notes/index.html

    On Wednesday the U.S. played a friendly against El Salvador in Tampa. This week the team will play another friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

    In this column, Grant Wahl writes about how forwards Conor Casey and Brian Ching are vying for spots on the World Cup squad. Both players are “target forwards,” who hold up the ball and maintain possession as teammates attack the goal.

    Only Jozy Altidore is a lock for selection as a forward. Wahl points out that only one target forward can play with Jozy. Casey and Ching will likely compete for one spot.

    Wahl is in Amsterdam to cover this week’s match. I am sure that we will get a better idea of what the U.S. World Cup team will look like.

  7.   yasinjama Says:

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/03/leonsis_wiz_trades_the_right_t.html#more

    This week Dan Steinberg discusses an interview on Ted Leonsis on the recent trades the Wizards had made before the trade deadline.

    Leonsis said that the trades were a good thing for the franchise. He also said that leonsis would have done the same if he owned the Wizards.

    Since its a young team and it has no playoff hopes, its easier to trade away older players and see what they can get from the young players.

    Also, Leonsis is still confident that he will own the majority of the Wizards franchise once the process is completed. Leonsis also stated that he owns 44% of the team.

  8.   Brian Glaser Says:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&page=wojciechowski/100223&sportCat=nba

    Gene Wojciechowski recently wrote about the NBA free agent market that will surface during the upcoming offseason.

    What makes this year’s free agent class remarkable, is that it features several icons that currently represent the NBA. For example, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James all have expiring contracts at the end of the season.

    While there has been much speculation as to where all of these players will end up, the focus has definitely been centered around LeBron.

    Wojciechowski’s focus of the article is centered around the possibility of a team with a lot of cap room, to go after all three of these superstars. While it may seem close to impossible for Wade, Bosh and James to end up on the same team, Wojciechowski explores the possibilities of what the NBA would be like if they did.

  9.   Sarah El-Hage Says:

    espn.go.com/blog/afceast

    This week Tim focused on the Jets with numerous entires. One that was interesting focused on how new rule that prohibited the final eight teams from signing a free agent without first losing one of their own free agents.

    There were a number of posts of Rex Ryan who gave Graham a lot of material to work with from his comments during the NFL Combine.

    In other news, the Bills are no longer interested in Terrell Owens and the Jets dropped Thomas Jones, despite being the leading rusher for the Jets lets season. Instead, a healthy Leon Washington and Shonn Green will be used as the main running backs.

  10.   Capricia Alston Says:

    http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/reflecting-on-a-u-s-win-in-portugal/

    This week is another update from Portugal, written by Women’s Professional Soccer Player, Yael Averbuch. Once again we are just given an update on the team’s performance as well as atmosphere in Portugal.

    What really popped out to me is when she states, “But it is important to not get so confident that you become complacent, and not so critical that you become discouraged.” This is a quote that every athlete should take in and truly understand because we see it all of the time. No one is bigger than their team, and many athletes do become complacent because everything is handed to them or they don’t feel that they have competition. This quote is a reality check and something that I will definitely cherish for my last season at Mason.

    I don’t want to be a professional soccer player, but that quote applies to the general work world as well. Overall, the U.S. team beat Sweden 2-0 and had the pleasure of being cheered on by several U.S. regional teams as well.

  11.   Ashleigh Bohlmann Says:

    http://yankees.lhblogs.com/

    One of the articles Chad Jennings wrote about was A-Rod’s cooperation dealing with the investigation of Dr. Tony Galea.

    Apparently Dr. Galea has treated Rodriguez before. Federal authorities contacted Rodriguez before they contacted the Yankees and asked if he would participate in this investigation.

    When the press asked if Rodriguez has been in contact with Dr. Galea, he kept his composure and said, “I can’t really get into that.”

    When the press asked when Rodriguez would meet with the investigators, he was very polite and said ““I know that you guys have to ask those questions, but I have to speak to those guys first and then you guys will know, pretty much all at the same time.”

    Rodriguez knows how to deal with the press in a nice way, I find that respectable.

  12.   Katherine Zablonski Says:

    http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/02/25/969676/dicesare-sabres-need-a-backup.html

    My blogger this week wrote about obtaining a back-up goalie for the Buffalo Sabres.

    He discuss that the Sabres have 7 games in 12 days or 8 games in 15 or 15 games in 26 days. One of the heaviest schedules, with hockey returning to its normal schedueling.

    He thinks that Miller, who was the goalie for the U.S team in the Olympics, may not be able to endure the upcoming games.

    But if you ask me, if anybody can, the MVP can. I get where my blogger is coming from. I agree may be some help, but don’t discredit him because he is coming back from the Olympics.

    He is a great goalie, and can make it. It was interesting blog to read this time. I like hearing Buffalo news, but more when it has to do with the Sabres.

    GO SABRES!

  13.   Rob Elliott Says:

    http://lavar.dcsportshub.net/

    This week on LaVar Arrington’s blog he writes in defense of the Canadian Women’s hockey team celebrating after they won the gold.

    He gave several player profiles for Penn State football players that are entering this upcoming NFL Draft. He lists players strengths and weaknesses and gives a prediction on their possible draft position.

    He also wrote an article encouraging the Washington Nationals organization to “release the cracken” and let Strasburg pitch in the major league.

  14.   Joe Russo Says:

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/ogochocinco?ref=ts

    Ochocinco didn’t have a a big professional week this week. He spent the whole week with his kids, and took them to Orlando to visit all the theme parks down there. He flew to LA a couple of days ago and tries to crash the Oscars practice party, but I don’t think he got in because he never followed up on it.

  15.   Thomas Maher Says:

    http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,12038_5977021,00.html

    This week Martin Tyler’s focus is on the team near the bottom of the table instead of the top.

    He does mention how Wayne Rooney has more goals by headers in the last 8 games then he has in his entire career.

    The most interesting fact that Tyler gives is which teams have the fewest wins in a season and not get relegated. He also shows how well a manager has done in his life to keep weaker teams in the Premier League.

  16.   brianmcclure Says:

    http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/31810-Campbells-Cuts-NHL-owes-it-to-fans-to-stay-in-Olympics.html

    This weeks article from Ken Campbell is a jab effort to keep the NHL in Olympic hockey. Using the excitement that was stirred up by this years Olympic games as an example of how people can still be interested in hockey.

  17.   Tim Blank Says:

    http://olympics.fanhouse.com/2010/02/28/canada-crosby-needed-it-america-will-survive/

    Jay Mariotti’s response to the gold medal hockey game between Team USA and Canada goes over much of the relief and joy that Canada has, having just one week ago looked like they weren’t going to be anywhere near the gold medal to the so called ‘next one’ Sidney Crosby scoring the game winning goal in overtime.

    He also talks about how many of the players right now for the US team, in particular Tournament MVP and Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller felt so bad after losing the game that they had tied late in the 3rd period, but those pleased that they have now recieved some national attention.

  18.   Christine Blake Says:

    http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/02/28/players_are_looking_out_for_no_1___or_2_or_11_or_51/

    This week Dan Shaugnessy discussed something people don’t often think about. He talked about player’s numbers.

    Recently Jacoby Ellsbury (My absolutefavorite player and how he changed his number from 46 to the number 2. Quotes from Ellsbury exhibit how he has always wanted the number 2 and asked for it every year but never got it.

    Three Sox players have changed their numbers this year which is very interesting and somewhat rare.

    I enjoyed this article a lot because as a sports fan I never thoght about the player’s numbers too often and how they felt about them and now I have a different perspective on the issue.

  19.   Andrew Duke Says:

    http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/03/01/cheating-and-cheating/

    This week Joe Posnanski wrote about cheating in baseball. Specifically about the differences between the so called “innocent era” of Willie Mays and the steroid infested game of today.

    Posnanski wrote about how even a legendary ball plater like Willie Mays used performance enhancing drugs and that the “innocent era” of baseball was not so innocent. The main difference between these era was that back then the players used amphetamines instead of steroids. Posnanski wrote, “Baseball in Willie Mays time, like baseball in every time, was rife with cheating and racism and alcoholism and small-mindedness.” Drug use has been ongoing in baseball since the beginning of the game, but today users are much more obvious with huge muscles and unnatural batting averages, but, as Posnanski says, it would be untrue to call any era of baseball “innocent” because there has always been drug use.

  20.   smkpuck Says:

    This forum is closed.

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