Who’s your columnist/blogger/Tweeter #6
Your comment must be posted by 30 minutes before the Tuesday March 17 class. You must include the URL of the column or blog item so that others can read it, too. I’d suggest that you do this sooner than later and not let it lag into or past Spring Break. Let me know if you have any questions.
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
This week Bill Plaschke wrote about Canadas win over the United States in hockey. The game came down to the Americans bring the game to a tie in the last 24 seconds of the third period. The Canadians preceded to squeeze out a victory in overtime.
The thing I continually notice about Plaschke’s writing is the flow to it. He uses quotes brilliantly to punctuate his points and then he varies other paragraph lengths accordingly to keep you not only reading but, entertained throughout the entire article.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-olympics-plaschke1-2010mar01,0,3420739.column
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:04 pm
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/
Tonight Chad Jennings posted about the Yankees sorting out their outfield alignment. Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson played left field today and both did well.
I was happy to see they posted to audio clips. The first one was of Joe Girardi talking about the pitchers, outfielders and the No. 2 spot in his lineup. The second clip was of Granderson talking about his first game and how he wanted to see more left-handed pitchers before making further adjustments.
March 5th, 2010 at 2:17 am
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast
Tim Graham has been blogging a lot recently because of all the tenders that the Jets put on their restricted free agents, eight of 11.
He also blogged about some big movies happening like the Jets trading a third draft pick for Antonio Cromartie, who paired with Revis, can be great for my Jets.
On other teams, he talked about all the tenders and provided some video clips for some posts. He mentioned Chad Pennington rumored to be resigning with the Dolphins and some analysis on up and comers in the draft.
March 5th, 2010 at 9:50 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100303
This week Bill Simmons wrote about Tiger Woods and his potential comeback. He compared it to Muhammad Ali’s comeback in 1970. He thinks Tiger’s comeback will be tougher.
March 5th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/grant_wahl/03/03/dutch.usa/index.html
Grant Wahl covered the U.S.’ 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in Amsterdam Wednesday.
Defender Jonathan Bornstein had a horror night at left back by being responsible for conceding both Dutch goals, one by penalty and the other by deflecting a shot into his own goal. The U.S. is thin at the left back position, so Bornstein could still be selected for the World Cup squad.
Wahl points out that Oguchi Onyewu will be fit and will retake his regular spot at center back. That would push Carlos Bocanegra out to left back. This shows how badly the U.S. struggles without their best players, unlike other national teams in Europe, South America and Africa.
March 6th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/the-netherlands-vs-u-s/
Jack Bell reported on the United State’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands on Wednesday. This particular blog caught my attention because Bell had stopped writing for a little in order to allow the U.S. Women’s team to report their daily adventures and results in Portugal.
This game was so important because it was the final international game before the American’s team roster is selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. also made their first appearance in their new jerseys, courtesy of Nike.
The Netherlands is ranked number three in the world according to FIFA, while the United States comes in at number 14.
I say bring on the World Cup. It should be extremely interesting, and most definitely entertaining.
March 14th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003541.html?sub=AR
This week Sally Jenkins talks about the Georgetown men’s basketball team and their pending fate in the next round of March Madness against WVU… which, for the record, it is now a fact, as of last night, that they lost 60-58.
Her opening paragraph summarizes her entire column this week:
“At times, Georgetown’s soft gray uniforms can seem like cloaks of invisibility. The Hoyas have a tendency to evaporate before your eyes; they are a team of baffling lapses and strange vanishings. If they don’t find a way to be more fully present, they’re liable to disappear from the Big East tournament in the next round.”
…Well, I guess she was right.
In this blog though, I’m not going to elaborate on how Jenkins analyzed the Hoyas and their habit of hot and cold performances.
Instead, I’d like to highlight how her column on Georgetown was well-constructed, detailed and thoughtful. She does an exceptional job addressing both the strengths and weaknesses of the team while she brings home her main argument; Georgetown better bring their A-game to their next game of the tournament or they’re done.
After seeing the results of the game myself last night, I guess Jenkin’s assessment of the Hoyas was right on.
PS Capricia– WOOOOOOOOOO WORLD CUP THIS SUMMER!!!! 🙂
March 14th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/03/07/grapefruit_juice_seems_a_little_bland/
This week Dan Shaugnessy took a look into spring training in Florida and how there hasn’t been much buzz around the Red Sox this pre-season.
I particularly noticed Shaugnessy’s use of paragraphing. He uses short paragraphs in the beginning of his article to get his point across.
He says the reason there seems to be less excitment about the Sox this season is because their lack of colorful players. There is no Manny Ramirez or Kevin Millar. Rather there are more reliable and “robotic” players.
Shaugnessy closes with an interesting and valid statement about this year’s team, “In 2010, the Red Sox are nothing more than a well-run, sellout-every-game franchise with a legitimate chance to make it to the playoffs and the World Series. Guess that’ll have to be enough.”
March 14th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
NBA Insider: Carter, Nelson behind Magic’s hot streak : By Jeff Zillgitt
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2010-03-14-insider-magic_N.htm
I get really excited when I read Jeff’s blogs about NBA basketball. The reason I chose to write about his blogs was because of his enthusiasm for the game and the style of his writing. I read this blog post 9 minutes after it was posted and honestly, I regret waiting.
The title of this post is misleading. Obviously Vince Carter & Jameer Nelson’s points per game are heating up if the Magic are on a hot streak. The hot streak of those players is the only thing the article talks about.
I was hoping to read about some interesting new coaching change that Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was making that was sparking the team. I am looking forward to the next post Jeff, don’t let me down!
March 15th, 2010 at 2:44 am
I don’t know how to edit what I previously put in, but I would like to correct my incorrect United State’s to United States.
And also, thanks Kimmy!
March 15th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/03/lombardi_projects_clausen_to_s.html#comments
This week Dan Steinberg writes an article on some NFL experts projecting the Redskins drafting Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen at No.4.
Michael Lombardi of NFL Network predicts that Clausen would be the ideal fit the Redskins and Coach Mike Shanahan
Steinberg then states that the fan reaction won’t be too pleased with the draft pick.
March 15th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&page=wojciechowski/100308&sportCat=nfl
This week Gene Wojciechowski wrote an article regarding the Chicago Bears and how they have been actively pursuing several key free agents to help improve their team.
The Chicago Bears recently signed defensive end Julius Peppers for six years and $91.5 million dollars. $42 million of this money is guaranteed to him.
However, Wojciechowski argues that even with Peppers at their disposal, the Bears are still only the third-best team in the NFC North. He argues that they aren’t on the same level as the Green Bay Packers or the Minnesota Vikings. I would have to agree.
March 15th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/12/985158/ubs-cold-start-leads-to-finish.html
My columnist wrote about UB’s loss to Miami (Ohio). It was an interesting story with a good explination of the why and how.
He gave a good recap of the game, and the defecit that UB continuiously endured.
He even said that the UB players got “schooled.” I haven’t really heard a columnist write that way. But he is pretty commical about his thoughts.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
http://lavar.dcsportshub.net/
This week LaVar Arrington examined the Manny Pacquiao fight and the colorful commentary that went along with it.
He also talks about his radio show being shown on CNN. The show appeared on CNN after comments about Natalie Randolph becoming the head football coach at Coolidge High School in Washington, DC.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:11 am
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/03/11/very_few_had_a_swing_like_his/
In his column on March 11, 2010, Bob Ryan wrote about the phenomenal Nomar Garciaparra.
After seven years of playing for the Boston Red Sox, Nomar retired in 2006. He may be retired, but his legend will stick forever.
He was regarded as one of the best shortstops in baseball, had a hit like no other, and a powerful run.
As Ryan said, “Very few had a swing like his.”
March 16th, 2010 at 10:42 am
http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2010/03/14/madness-is-upon-us-please-leave-as-is/
Jay Mariotti’s column this past week took to task the ‘suits’ at the NCAA for even considering expanding the field from 65 teams to possibly 96 in future years. Mariotti doesn’t understand why in all of the wisdom, the NCAA would want to opt out of a $6 BILLION deal to have these games broadcast year after year.
The article also takes the NCAA selection committee and chairman Dan Guerrero to task for some of the selections that they made for the tournament, one in relation would be Duke getting the #3 overall seed of the top 4 teams over Syracuse.
March 16th, 2010 at 11:01 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4936940
In this column Rick Reilly writes about Kelly Kulick, who is a female professional bowler. Kulick won the Tour of Champions event this year and in the championship match against the best bowler in the world won by 70 pins.
The thing is that she did this competing against a field of men. Kulick was giving an exemption to play in this tournament which is know as the most prestigious of all PBA tournaments.
Reilly writes about how this victory didn’t receive any attention. He says that this is one of the most important victories in female sports. In the times of Michelle Wie and Danica Patrick, Kulick stepped up and showed that a women could not only compete with men but hand it to them too.
March 16th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/03/15/johnny-damon-detroit/
This week Joe Posnanski updated his player of the week blog and focused on Detroit’s Johnny Damon. Some of the statistics Joe figured out where pretty obvious, like number of players on bases usually determines who wins. But other stats like Fewer Grounded Into Double Plays equaled 884 wins, 673 losses, .568 winning percentage which much more surprising to me.
But he did not just focus on Damon’s statistics, rather Damon character. Joe said that Damon would always come up to him after a game or practice and talk to him, and even referenced him in his press conferences, and it was this kind of character that Joe admired in Damon.
March 16th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
This week, Abbott wrote about heroes of teams Denver and Houston.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/14325/plenty-of-heroes-in-houston-vs-denver
He used bullets to give emphasis to his main point and it really organized his story well. As I read, I felt like I was watching the game because of the words he used and his imagery.
March 16th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
The big topic this week for Matt Mosley is What the Redskins will do in the draft.
Mosley talks about the Redskins replacing injured Chris Samuels with Oklahoma State left tackle Russell Okung. He also brings up the biggest questions so far, Will the Redskins replace Campbell.
This is a questions everyone wants to know. Is Campbell bad? Does the line make Campbell look bad? Mike Shanahan has been spending time watching Notre Damn Quarter Back Jimmy Clausen.
The question still remains!
March 18th, 2010 at 11:35 am
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/03/04/grant.hill/index.html
In this article written March 3, 2010, Ian Thomsen spotlights NBA small forward Grant Hill. He is 37 years old still doing well in the NBA after overcoming mutiple injuries and surgeries.