Teamwork on the Sidelines

There's nothing like witnessing live action between two teams unravel as your eyes are glued to the television. This in-the-moment experience brings an excitement and rush that keeps you coming back for more, game after game. However, following a fast-paced basketball game could be difficult for someone who does not regularly watch sports. On the other hand, for those of us who are avid sports fans, we tend to want more information beyond what is happening on the court. For these reasons, there are individuals referred to as commentators in the sports reporting world. The play by play announcer gives the audience who and what and the color analyst gives them how and why. In this industry, every personality duo is different but their ultimate goal is the same: to effectively communicate the game while sufficing both the knowledgeable and clueless sports fans.  Nevertheless, in order to keep the audience from hitting the mute button, they must work together to hit the mark with content and timing. In some cases, if one is slacking, the other must do their best to pick them up as sportscaster, Mike Patrick was forced to do on Saturday.



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Elmore (left) and Patrick (right)

At 4pm EST, the North Carolina men’s basketball team hosted the Boston College Eagles on ESPN with Patrick as the play by play announcer and Len Elmore as the color analyst.



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 Prior to tipoff, the duo discussed the two teams’ first outing and established a good segway into the game with the Boston College “mindset.” Then once the game began, Patrick went pass to pass giving good descriptions to make the game easy to follow. He allowed the game to breathe when it was necessary and brought the excitement level up naturally. In the beginning of the game, Boston College had the ball and was clearly unaware of the shot clock. Patrick took hold of the moment by counting down the time and setting Elmore up perfectly. With no bite, Patrick added his own explanation for the commotion as they put the ball in the hoop at the buzzer.  With every play, he gave credit where credit was due but also wasn’t afraid to point out what the team and/or player could have done differently.



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During the second half, Patrick continued to keep the audiences’ attention with the tone of his voice. The Eagles’ Reggie Jackson sunk a three and it seemed as though the shot had placed them in the lead, but the score was 41-28 North Carolina. It was instances like those that kept me tuned into the game despite the sloppiness of both teams’. When Boston College came back with minutes to go, Patrick explained every replay and often provided his input as to which way the calls would go. In contrast, Elmore waited until there were seconds left to offer his knowledge to the audience, often trying to talk over the play by play.

If Patrick had been the only announcer and only “clueless fans” were watching, this might have been perfect commentary. However, he wasn’t the only announcer and more background information was definitely needed for such a slow-paced game.  At times, Elmore would come in and do his job, but for the majority of the game he left Patrick to fend for himself. Elmore would be set up for a perfect background insert and either he would leave a long pause or Patrick would fill in the information himself. Then at the end of the game, Elmore was suddenly revived and would not stop talking. When there is a two point game and time is running out, the last thing the audience wants to hear is a bunch of statistics all at once.

As Patrick, I would have tried to fix the camaraderie at halftime. Realizing Elmore was so off would have forced me to say something. As Elmore, I would have taken advantage of the set up’s from Patrick and offered justifiable information to back up his play by play. By doing that throughout the game, there would have been no need to ramble at the end.

 

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With a final score of 48-46 North Carolina, Patrick’s enticing play by play gave me the feeling of a good game and ultimately saved this commentary performance. His terminology was understandable and he knew when to leave the game alone. Whereas Elmore lacked in all areas, Patrick’s content and timing made this rather miserable game enjoyable to watch.

Boston College and Northeastern Bring an Aggressive Faceoff to the Beanpot Title

BOSTON -

At 7:38 p.m. (EST) the puck dropped to begin the 2011 Beanpot Championship game between the defending champs, Boston College and Northeastern University in Boston's own TD Garden.

Despite past title games, both teams came out strong giving early hints of an extremely aggressive and defensive game. Four minutes into the first period, BC had a two men advantage as the Huskies Luke Eibler and Drew Ellement were sent to the box with penalties. However, BC couldn't take advantage of the power play the game remained scoreless.

After being called offsides, the Eagles Tommy Cross slides one in the net to make the score 1-0 with 10:48 left in the first period.

The Price of Success

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Football legend, Mike Ditka, once said, “Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” With many years as a player and National Football League (NFL) head coach under his belt, Mr. Ditka knows a thing or two about what solidifies success with anything in life. Growing up always involved in sports and having the difference between right and wrong embedded in my brain, I can also vie for this statement both on and off the field. My only question is, why don’t professional athletes, specifically football players, feel this way as well? Everyone comes from different upbringings, but based on where they are today, they had to understand right from wrong at some point. So, why would some athletes like, Santonio Holmes, Ben Roethlisberger, and Michael Vick, to name a few, choose to turn their heads away from those morals now? Is it their status and who they are that make them feel as if they are invisible? Or, is it because the NFL and franchises value their money over disciplining them for their actions? In the instances of Roethisberger and Vick, there seems to be a combination of the two.

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Throughout the years, misbehavior and misconduct by professional football players have seemed to become more and more common.  Yet, the discipline for those actions have become less and less. At most, they will pay a fine or receive a few games suspension, but nothing that would force the player to seriously sit back and question themselves. While I was watching the super bowl this weekend, I couldn’t help but wonder how someone accused of sexual assault twice in one year could be playing for the greatest title in football. After failing to learn his lesson the first time, Ben Roethlisberger was accused of assaulting another woman during this past off season. All charges were dropped so it was up to the NFL to punish him, and they did. Roethlisberger was suspended for the first six games of the season, but they didn't stick by it; his suspension was later reduced to four games.  From an organizations standpoint, what does this say about the Steelers? Roethlisberger is a decent player; I will give him that, but is his ability worth the organizations reputation? This has not been the only time Steelers and NFL have swept this kind of misbehavior under the rug to protect a star player. In 2006, former wide receiver Santonio Holmes was arrested with charges of domestic violence, which were dismissed with the NFL’s promise that he would receive counseling.  Then two years later, the super bowl MVP was pulled over and caught with three marijuana-filled cigars. What was his punishment? He was suspended for the New York Giants game the next day and returned to work the following day.    

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The only players forced to face their consequences are the ones that find themselves in jail, but they can only be held behind bars for so long. Once they are released, it is up to the NFL to decide whether they continue to play or not. In the case of Michael Vick, they felt he had served his punishment and allowed him back into the league. Yes, that’s right! Despite torturing and killing numerous dogs in the game of dog fighting, Vick was slapped on the wrist and offered a two-year $6.8 million contract by the Philadelphia Eagles. Not bad for someone let out of prison three months earlier. When I first heard the news I instantly thought of Donovan McNabb. How was this fair to a player who has easily maintained a clean record? He may have foiled the 2005 Super Bowl with nerves, but he had worked hard to get to that point in his career. Nevertheless, Vick’s reputation on the field granted him a second chance and soon took over McNabb’s spot. For Vick, this was a blessing but for the Eagles’, this was out of character. The image and atmosphere surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles is not one that would add dog killers to their roster. Vick is another gifted player but when will the NFL realize they are not running a high school football league? These players are grown men with big paychecks who are old enough to know what is right and what is wrong. The truth is that if this had been an average person with an average job in the same situation, there would have been no second chances. It would also would have taken them much longer than three months to find a job for not even a tenth of what Vick was paid.

The franchises and NFL will do anything for their own success and money even if it means signing a dog killer and protecting their star players from the law. Being fully aware of this fact, the players have no worry or shame in misbehaving from time to time. Not only do they have the money to buy their way out of it but they know people will be fighting for them. Basically, it all comes down to Mr. Ditka’s statement and the value of success for both the players and teams. If the Steelers had won the Super Bowl this year, could Roethlisberger honestly consider that success? On the other side of the coin, how much longer can the NFL protect these men until something extremely serious happens?

The Game in the Press Box

That very moment the referee steps to center court and tosses the ball into the air for tip-off, the clock starts and opposing teams begin their battle on the court. The events that occur between that first scramble and when the buzzer goes off could ultimately make or break a team’s season and dream for a national championship. Either way, there is a story to be told after those forty minutes of play. With an audience eager to listen, a new game quickly begins in the press box. The object of this game?  Which journalist can get their readers the best seat in the house.  

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In the competitive world of sports journalism, the goal is to make the reader feel as if they were at the game themselves. The angle and form of story is up to the journalist. Once the players have laid out the framework, it is the journalist’s job to paint a picture for the audience in the most effective way possible. The key is to take the reader into the locker room and into the minds of the athletes to provide them with the inside scoop using any surrounding drama to their advantage. Generally, those emotional aspects are portrayed in developed or “feature” game stories rather than the boring “hard” news story. The following three articles, have both their strong and weak points; however, they have one thing in common: a feature-like twist. Whether it is a big rival game, cinderella win, or a snapped losing streak, giving more than just statistics can either go a long way or take away from the game.

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Back on January 30^th, the St. John’s University men’s basketball team hosted number three Duke in non conference action and stunned the country with their first win over a top five team since 2000. With the Blue Devils 21-1 at that point, ESPN’s Kieran Darcy took advantage of the opportunity. He begins the article titled, “Heads-up effort has Johnnies sky-high” with an image of Dwight Hardy running out the clock and head coach Steve Lavin high-fiving his St. John’s team. Turning the attention to the stands, Darcy acknowledges the shock that took over the “sell-out” crowd and adds a statement from St. John’s forward, Justin Burrell, which may or may not have been needed. After four paragraphs of color, Darcy mentions the final score and transitions into the more statistical portion of the game without letting the excitement fade. The addition of interviews by both coaches and star players, Hardy and Burnell keep the attention nicely. As much of a shock this game was because of Duke’s record, Darcy played up St. John’s performance giving credit where credit was due.

John Elitis AP

A rival matchup is another perfect opening for a feature game story, and there is no better thrill than when the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies are on the same court. For Brent Zwerneman, his article published in the College Station Bureau was a beat story but a different one at that. In “Longhorns win a laugher,” he begins by capturing the Aggies disappointment in their growingly weaker team and 69-49 loss. Though he did not provide the reader with as much color as Darcy, he made up for it later in the article. Zwerneman’s interview with the Aggies coach, Mark Turgeon followed up his beginning statements about the game perfectly. For a not overly colorful and statistical game story, it worked.

Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard

With a four game losing streak, Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orangemen seemed to be the midst of a mid-season crisis when more controversy arrived prior to their game against UConn last week. An anonymous poster on a message board had falsely accused Scoop Jardine and two other teammates of point shaving. Though all accusations were put to rest after the person apologized, Jardine was clearly shaken up during the game, and Fox’s Jeff Goodman made sure to get to the bottom of it. From the beginning of his article, “Irate Syracuse Snaps Skid,” Goodman addresses Jardine’s off performance but never completely hits the highlights of the game. Even though the moral of the story was that Syracuse squeaked out the win against sixth seed UConn and Jardine was in the clear, there was more to be told.  

Just like a team on the court, a feature story requires five players: color, statistics, detail, interviews, and emotion. The team that fails to pick up one another generally loses.