Author Archives: Michelle Bertran

UM men’s basketball looks ready

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

The 2014-15 University of Miami men’s basketball team seems to be very confident about its upcoming season, which started Nov. 6.

With transfer Angel Rodriguez from Kansas State University having to red-shirt last year, Deandre Burnett having to sit out as well because of a medical red-shirt (wrist injury) and Sheldon McClellan red-shirting after transferring from Texas, these three are expressing lots of excitement and anticipation for a successful season.

From hashtags on their Instagram pictures’ captions saying #TheReturn or #returnofthemac to their ambiance walking around campus, Miami basketball fans are expecting an expecting to see lots of talent and execution on the court.

Kristian Brown, junior majoring in sports management said what she expects out of this season. “I don’t know, there’s a lot of hype about Angel, Sheldon, Dre and the team as a whole,” Brown said. “That’s what’s getting me to want to go to the games; I gotta see this!”

On Instagram about two weeks ago, when the basketball team was getting ready for its first game, Rodriguez posted a picture of him and McClellan in their uniforms with the caption reading, “Yo Mac! It’s almost that time #TheReturn”

Also, as far back as 13 weeks ago, McClellan posted a picture of himself posing under the Miami sun with the caption, “Beautiful first day of the month in the 305!!! Life is good right now…. In case you ain’t heard, it’s almost that time #3monthsleft #WaitIsAlmostOver”

Who isn’t going to get pumped when seeing something like this? Fans are wondering what they are referring to when they say things like this, what wait? What exactly are we waiting for?

Chantz Mack, former Miami baseball player and senior in criminology, is interested to see what this team is all about.

“I’m hearing a lot of good things about these guys, I want to see what they’re all about,” Mack said. “I hear Dre was third in the nation in scoring in high school!”

The Miami Hurricanes will be playing Howard University at 7 p.m. in the Bank United Center on Friday, Nov. 14.

Reporter too attractive for athletes?

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

Katarina Sreckovic, a 25-year-old sports reporter, found herself in some sort of trouble with the Red Star Belgrade soccer club for distracting its players while reporting on the sideline.

“I admit it was a problem at the start, but I think they’ve got used to me now. It was tough, though, because for a while it seemed as if they might not be able to work with me at all,” Sreckovic told CEN. “I was also asked to go away a couple of times because I was a distraction on the pitch and players complained that they couldn’t concentrate.”

This is ridiculous to me because as long as Sreckovic (or any other “attractive” reporter) is doing her job, strictly reporting, being professional and not doing anything purposely to distract these athletes, then she is in good standing. Maybe The Red Star Belgrade soccer club needs to focus more on its players and making sure their heads are in the game, rather than sitting there, checking out the reporter.

Also, the fact that the players complained that they are incapable of concentrating is astounding. They must be hormonal teenagers seeing a woman for the very first time. These players either do not care about the game or are just very immature.

Sreckovic worked very hard to keep her job because, according to her, it is her “dream job.” In my opinion, she should not have to sacrifice her dream job for some men that cannot seem to control themselves.

South Florida to become 51st state?

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By MICHEL BERTRAN

City of South Miami officials have passed a resolution supporting the idea to split the state of Florida in half — drawing an east-west line near Orlando — making South Florida the 51st state of the United States.

On Oct. 7, the resolution was proposed by Vice Mayor Walter Harris at a city commission meeting and it passed with a 3-2 vote. The City of South Miami’s reasoning for this is because Tallahassee is not providing South Florida with with adequate representation of its concerns for sea-levels rising in the future.

South Florida has to deal with this environmental concern and Harris believes that nothing will get done in Tallahassee since it doesn’t really apply to them.

On SunSentinel.com he stated, “We have to be able to deal directly with this environmental concern and we can’t really get it done in Tallahassee,” Harris said. “I don’t care what people think — it’s not a matter of electing the right people.”

Mayor Philip Stoddard has actually been advocating for this for the past 15 years, but never went through with a resolution. Stoddard agreed with Harris’ statement.

“It’s very apparent that the attitude of the northern part of the state is that they would just love to saw the state in half and just let us float off into the Caribbean,” Stoddard said. “They’ve made that abundantly clear every possible opportunity and I would love to give them the opportunity to do that.”

In order for this to be approved, it would have to have an electorate approval from the entire state and a Congressional approval.

Georgia star suspended indefinitely

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

According to recent rankings, Todd Gurley was a front runner to win the Heisman trophy this year, but that’s probably out of reach for Gurley now that he violated NCAA rules.

It appears to be that Todd Gurley was charging $8 to $25 for his autograph through the company James Spence Authentication (JSA). It was over 500 items that he signed, which included more than 300 jerseys, more than 30 mini-helmets, more than 70 photos and even 10 baseballs, and nine Nike cleats.

As stated on sbnation.com, university officials found out through an e-mail that was sent to them by an autograph dealer. The e-mail read:

I have video of Todd Gurley doing a private autograph signing ***. He has been paid thousands of dollars for his stuff over the last 18 months. I personally paid him for this signing on the video. I have bought and sold game used equipment from him.

I want no compensation. Just want someone to leak this story that’s deserving. If you have any interest, give me a call or email. I attached a photo of him in my car signing a mini helmet that I just sold last week on my eBay store.

All I ask is some privacy until we can touch base.

I live on Georgia and would crucified if my name was released.

The video is about 5 minutes long but doesn’t show the money exchange.

My cell is **********

I believe this would be the lead story on sports center if ESPN got their hands on this. Hope to hear from you soon.

As of today, Georgia is no longer selling Gurley No. 3 jerseys on its official website. Gurley holds a school record of 293 all-purpose yards in their season-opener against Clemson, which they won. He also only needed 86 yards in order to pass Garrison Hearst for second place on Georgia’s all-time rushing yards list of 3,147 yards.

According to ESPN, Gurley might not be cleared by the end of the season. However, he is only a junior and could still have one more year to play.

Zuckerberg sitting on billions at age 30

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, is now the 11th richest person in America with a net worth of $34 billion, according to the Forbes magazine list. During the past two years, his net worth has more than tripled. From last year to this year only, his net worth has increased by $15 billion, which makes him the biggest dollar gainer on the Forbes list. As for the technology industry, he is the third richest American.

He recently dropped $66 million on 375 acres on land in Hawaii. Being the world’s second youngest self-made billionaire, he has been very influential and inspiring for many. In 2011, Zuckerberg was ranked first on the list of “Most Influential Jews in the World.”

Zuckerberg’s story is very impressive because Facebook’s success was not his initial goal or intention. It was a social networking site him and his friends in Harvard put together for fun in the dorms and shared it with other colleges. Before he knew it, the website took off and he became a billionaire at the age of 23.

Then as soon as others saw Facebook’s success, Zuckerberg saw himself caught up in a couple of legal disputes initiated by others who claimed involvement during the initial development of Facebook.

Zuckerberg definitely has one of the most intriguing success stories. You really never know what anything can lead you to or what anything can become.

Is the iPhone 6 Plus bendable?

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

It appears to be that iPhone 6 Plus users are complaining about their new phone being bent after keeping it in the pockets of their pants for a while, especially if you are wearing tight pants. Apple has not responded to this issue, according to CNNMoney.

People all over the world are posting pictures and comments in regard to this in the hashtag #BendGate. However, many of these images seem to be Photoshopped and last year, there were some reports of the 5s having the same problem, so this is nothing new to Apple.

Now the question is, if you have a $750 phone, why would you sit on it while it is in your pocket? Or should the phone be extremely durable (almost invincible) if that is the retail price?

I think it goes both ways. If I paid that much for a phone, I would take much better care of it and keep it in my purse, rather than in my tight jeans where it can easily slip out of my pocket (considering how big it is) or sit on it.

Meanwhile, for a phone that expensive, it shouldn’t be so sensitive to the point where one can easily bend it with one’s own two hands. But iPhone 6 Plus owners should take into consideration that this phone is made up of aluminum; a material that is rather flexible.

There was a video posted on YouTube by Unbox Therapy where it shows a man trying to bend the iPhone with his bare hands. The man on the video said that being able to bend the phone with your hands is a matter of strength, but definitely possible. In an email to CNNMoney he said, “Grab it in the middle with the glass facing out and give it everything you have, it’ll bend.”

After arrest, Kevin Olsen departs UM

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

The University of Miami’s third string quarterback Kevin Olsen started off the season rocky by being suspended from the season opener game because of a failed drug test. He is now suspended from the team and is no longer a student at the university as a result to a DUI and a stolen or fake license arrest that occurred early Monday morning. To make matters worse, this is his second DUI charge. Olsen’s first came when he was in high school.

Monday morning he was caught with six licenses. One belonged to teammate Ronald Regula, another was a fake license from Maryland, and the others were from four different states. Olsen refused to take a urine test and failed a breathalyzer test by registering a .04. He was released on a $6,000 bond that same day.

Al Golden released a statement Monday night on Olsen’s departure.

“Right now, this is about Kevin and his family and we need to respect that,’’ Golden said. “He needs this time to look at himself and move forward, and I have no doubt that with the support of his family, his brothers, his mom and dad, and obviously those of us that know him really well, there’s no question that he’s going to have the right ending.… He’s going to win in the end.’’

Olsen had an opportunity at being Miami’s starting quarterback when Ryan Williams tore his ACL this past spring. Olsen’s scholarship can now be given to someone that will make the most out of the opportunity of not only playing for “The U,” but also being a student here.

NFL handles Ray Rice scandal poorly

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By MICHELLE BERTRAN

Ray Rice, who was a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, has been banned from the National Football League because of an incident that happened in an elevator when he knocked out his then-fiancée. I would now like to address how poorly the NFL has handled this situation.

It is not certain yet, but supposedly, the video of Rice violently assaulting Janay Rice (now his wife), was given to someone in the NFL office back on April 9.

When the video was supposedly seen by this individual, not yet by the media, the NFL’s punishment to Ray Rice was only a two-game suspension. Then, as soon as the raw footage got released by TMZ on Monday,  the NFL banned Rice. Therefore, it is being speculated that the league went (or tried) to go under the table here.

In my opinion, banning Rice from the NFL is an extremely lenient punishment for what he did; he should be grateful he is not behind bars. The NFL is trying to clear the situation up and see who saw what and when, but NFL spokesman; Brian McCarthy released a statement to CNN on this speculation.

“We have no knowledge of this. We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it,” McCarthy said.

It is not a coincidence to me that, then, Rice’s punishment was only a two-game suspension when the media had not gotten hold of the video, then as soon as the media gets the video and a huge controversy arises over this is when the NFL decides to make a bigger move.

If this is the case, it will only prove that the NFL is solely about its money and has no type of ethics. The NFL sets the example for many different groups of people, even children, and the example it is setting right now is sickening.

I would argue that the NFL is in need of new leadership that will handle these kinds of situations in a proper manner and how they deserve to be treated.