Tag Archives: Sports and sports journalism

Lebron James or Michael Jordan?

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By MYLES VALENTINE

For every professional basketball connoisseur out there in the sports world, there’s always going to be the dreadful question.

Who is the best ever?

I believe the real question here is, who would you rather have on your team? LeBron James or Michael Jordan?

First off there is no right or statistically correct answer to this question. When it comes to Jordan-James statistics, they duel back and forth, like Tom and Jerry. Jordan scores more. James rebounds and passes better. They shoot about the same, block shots about the same and are both fantastic defenders.

I know I said there’s no statistically correct answer, we must keep in mind that LeBron James just passed Jordan as NBA all-time playoff scorer. During the just-ended Eastern Conference finals, it was a three-point shot that gave James 29 points for the game and 5,989 points for his postseason career. That total continued to rise all the way to 5,995 points. Jordan’s mark of 5,987 points stood for 19 years. James is now in the NBA championship game for the seventh consecutive year.

Yes, Jordan needed fewer games than James (179 to 212). But James also reached his point total with fewer field goal attempts (yet more free throw attempts) than Jordan.

Michael Jordan still leads James in several significant categories, including championship rings (six to three), MVP awards (five to four) and regular-season scoring titles (10 to one).

It should be fair to say that Michael Jordan and LeBron James are the two greatest players. They both dominate the game but they both did it in very different ways. I think it comes down to this Michael Jordan was great for his time. But LeBron James is the new and best thing since the iPhone.

Miami Open home has uncertain future

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By ALISON GOEBEL

The Miami Open is a major attraction for the professional tennis world and, especially, it takes place in one of Miami’s most appealing regions, Key Biscayne.

This year, the open was held from March 20 to April 2.

The 12-day tournament had athletes such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Venus Williams, but some missed out this year due to injuries including Serena Williams and Andy Murray.

Federer and Nadal ended up competing for the win of the tournament for a chance to win $7 million. Federer came out on top.

The Miami Open itself draws in huge amounts of tourist action, including my family and I.

The venue was so packed, you could hardly get in and out on a good day, but this means lots of money for the area and lots of money that goes to other local attractions due to the high volume of people that attend the Miami Open.

This may be the reason behind the rumors of the venue possibly being moved to places like China and let other March tournaments that draw larger crowds in like the ones in California.

It began with a stalled plan to upgrade the complex, which caused the tournament to decline in prestige and raise uncertainty about its future.

But, the Miami Open still draws most of the world’s top players, along with more than 300,000 spectators each year. But the future of the event has been in question since a 2015 appeals court decision that prevents improvements to the Key Biscayne facility.

There has been little investment in the property since, causing growing complaints from sponsors and players that the facilities have slipped behind Indian Wells in California and other events.

Problems begin arising such as complaints about locker rooms, bathrooms, crowded grounds and the temporary second stadium.

For 31 years the tournament has been held on Key Biscayne, a picturesque island across Biscayne Bay from downtown Miami. There is talk of it possibly moving to Hard Rock Stadium.

For now, it is here to stay unless something is decided otherwise.

As far as news reporting goes, I had absolutely no idea that this was even an issue and that there was talk about the Miami Open not happening again in the future.

When I looked up “Miami Open News,” the only thing that came was “Nadal vs. Federer Once Again” and their match. That was it. Not even who won the women’s match. Only the men’s. I had to scroll down very very far to find this story.

Once I searched to read about the Miami Open in jeopardy, nothing came up. I had to look up Miami Open moving to even get a couple of articles.

Only local papers were taking care of the issue or so it seemed. The initial story where I found out this information on Fox was one of the only ones that was covered by a sports news site.

All in all, there were only less than 10 newspapers that covered the story, which I don’t think is very good.

Marlins-Mets game creates headaches

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By LUIS GONZALEZ

It was a long night on the diamond and in newsrooms, too, last night.

The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins 9-8 in a 16-inning bout.

Miami scored their eight runs in five innings, bringing the score to 8-7 going into the sixth. The offensive onslaught between the two National League East teams slowed down as only the Mets scored two runs in the next 10 innings.

Coverage of a game that ran until around one in the morning was troublesome who were not sitting in the stands.

Newspapers, such as The Miami Herald, have to run on strict deadlines for their print publications. Last night’s game hurt many newspaper traditionalists.

On the front page of the sports section in The Herald lays a story of Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria’s plan to erect a statue of the late Jose Fernandez outside of Marlins Park. What is missing for the reader that walks to their driveway grabbing their plastic bag-covered newspaper in the morning, is an article from the game of their baseball team’s favorite game.

Frustrated, readers may perceive this as a lack of effort or a mistake from the newspaper and look down upon their subscribed publication. But it is not their fault.

To their credit, the lead story on the sports tab on The Herald’s website is the article about the game from the beat writer, Andre Fernandez.

There are extraneous situations that occur in sports that simply do not meet publication’s deadline for print. The Miami Herald did not want what happened to the Boston Globe during the Super Bowl coverage and run an edition of a newspaper with the wrong information and that was the smart move.

NBA competition changes for worse

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By JIHAD SHATARA

Eleven years ago, 2006, was a great year for basketball. The NBA playoffs came around and almost every team in the 16-team bracket had a legit shot at winning a title.

Young stars like Dwyane Wade, Lebron James and Tayshaun Prince were split apart. Seasoned veterans like Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki were all on separate teams fighting for the NBA crown.

There was no “Big 3” that came together via free agency. The teams featured in the playoffs were not teams who constantly tanked either. It was great basketball to watch. The Heat were a No. 2 seed when they won the East. The Mavericks were fourth seed in the West.

Nowadays, we are lucky to see a No. 2 seed even compete in the conference finals. In 2007, an eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors upset the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks. There was parity in a once fun league.

The worst part is the news media chooses to make this acceptable. The news media have made it seem like this is the new norm. Glorifying teams like Philadelphia for tanking and playing the lottery. Or praising the Cavs for luring Lebron back with shiny players like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

Fast forward to present day. The league is filled with 18 to 19 year old kids who are not ready to be in a man’s league. Imagine being a 19-year-old guarding Lebron James. I am sure it is not too pleasant. The NBA was once a fun league that had diversity. It was fun to watch knowing that anyone could win a seven-game series. Hopefully we see that day where teams do not tank to try and win. Hopefully the league will be as fun as that 2006 season.

WNBA draft selects next pros

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By ERYKAH DAVENPORT

The 2017 WNBA draft landed a remarkable number of professional athletes on April 13.

Kelsey Plum went first in the WNBA draft Thursday. Then, South Carolina took over. Plum was taken No. 1 by the San Antonio Stars. Plum finished her college career with an NCAA-record 3,527 points.

“I’ve been dreaming about it for so long,” Plum said. “I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity and will make the most of it.”

Nearly every known sports news outlet has covered a story about Washington guard Kelsey Plum. For example ESPN, USA Today, Seattle Times and many more immediately began writing detailed interest stories about the elite guard.

Throughout the time leading up to the day of the WNBA draft a ton of predictions have been made by many websites such as “Doc Sports” and “ODDSHARK.” These predictions along with social media outlets has put a ton of stress and pressure on the student-athletes seeking an opportunity to play professionally.

As the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks are coming off a National Championship, they also had three elite athletes enter the WNBA draft this year. One Lady Gamecock, Alaina Coates, recently had surgery regarding an ankle injury got drafted in the first round as the second overall pick.

After sitting out last season due to the NCAA transfer rules, Allisha Gray was drafted as the 4th overall pick in the first round. Lastly, Kaela Davis topped it off for the Gamecocks as the 10th overall pick in the first round.

One of our very own Lady Canes, Adrienne Motley was drafted as the 32nd overall pick in the third round. The Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel, The ACC, and Daily Press all covered Motley. Local news media outlets are looking to do interviews and reach out to her to gain more detailed feedback about Motley’s reactions and feeling to being drafted to the Indiana Fever.

It’s time for Lavar Ball to be quiet

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By JOSH WHITE

If you’re a college basketball fan, you saw the tremendous skill set of freshman Lonzo Ball this season at UCLA.

Ball was one of the best players in the nation and has already declared for the 2017 NBA draft and is currently projected to be a top three pick.

However, it isn’t Lonzo who is making headlines for his play on the court.

His father Lavar is taking the spotlight from his son and running with it.

Day after day, Lavar is on talk show after talk show, makes appearances on ESPN and other sports outlets just talking up a storm making preposterous claims.

The news media keep gobbling it up like it were turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

News media outlets love having Lavar Ball talk on their shows because he brings a controversial opinion, which generates viewers. However, enough is enough. I understand it is a business, but this is bad journalism.

Ball doesn’t bring any relevant sports topics to the forefront. He just makes claims about how his sons are the greatest in the world and that he could beat Michael Jordan 1-on-1.

Anyone’s dad would say their son is the best, why do you need to put an arrogant man on the air?

It baffles me that media outlets would rather have that man on the air or as the lead stories rather than an top line analyst grade talent. Putting Lavar Ball on the air cuts into the content sports fans are looking to see.

Lavar it is time for you to be quiet and let your son play ball.

MLB tries international branding

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By JIHAD SHATARA

There is nothing better than the sound of the crack of the bat and a bag of peanuts being opened.

The sounds of opening day bring joy to many ears and has become not only a country wide phenomena, but a global one as well. What is different from back then to now though? It really is a simple answer: the coverage by the news media.

Events like the World Baseball Classic bring so much national attention to the sport and other countries love it. Although the event is held in the United States, it involves countries that predominantly play baseball.

ESPN and the MLB, along with their own network, have done a fantastic job of coverage as far as international baseball has gone. They have shown tremendous love to players like Ichiro and they help not only the player brand themselves but the sport.

Lady Gamecocks win NCAA title

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By ERYKAH DAVENPORT

One of the big stories in sports this week is the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks winning their first national basketball championship. After losing a prime piece to their team, 6-foot-4 Alaina Coates, the Lady Gamecocks were not expected to make such a run in the NCAA tournament.

The Portland Press Herald covered South Carolina’s history-making debut. The article mentioned how Dawn Staley, SC’s head coach, had never earned a national championship while playing for four years for Virginia. She also coached the Gamecocks to the national semifinals two years ago before losing to Notre Dame.

“You have to give tribute to the former players,” Staley said in the story. “Go back to my Temple days, they believed in our vision. We took that vision to South Carolina, and that vision was we’ll be national champions. If you stick with us and if you’re disciplined, if you believe, all these players believed in that. Happy our words came true to them.”

USA Today also published coverage on the record-breaking team. The article discussed how Mississippi State had all the momentum on its side after a shocking win over UConn on Friday night that ended the Huskies’ record 111-game winning streak. MSU was expected to pull off another upset, however, the Bulldogs fell short.

NCAA.com explained how this women’s basketball team has built its reputation on defense. The stellar defensive effort propelled the team past a nine-point halftime deficit in the Final Four.

“So, we were fortunate to be down nine,” Staley said. “But I just wanted to get our kids to the locker room at halftime because I knew, no matter how many points we were down, we could utilize our speed to get back into play — whether that’s trapping in the half court, whether that’s picking up full court, whether that’s coming off ball screens, setting our players up in positions where they could be effective.”

ESPN also covered this story in which Staley described her emotions the night she was crowned a national champion versus the emotion she felt in 1992 after losing her senior year in the semi-finals.

“I was exhausted, because I wanted it so much,” Staley said. “I put so much work and energy into being a national champion that the emotion was just to cry. To let it out. And 25 years later, no tears. Just going to enjoy it.”

Dallas hosts NCAA Women’s Final Four

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By ERYKAH DAVENPORT

As March Madness is gradually coming to an end, this first week of April will mark the day one out of the final four teams remaining will be crowned national champions.

Four elite teams have managed propel pass very talented teams in search of winning the NCAA women’s basketball championship. The championship tournament is being held in Dallas. Dallas is home to one of the top WNBA teams, the Dallas Wings, and many of the players will be in attendance to check the immense talent present.

The four teams remaining are South Carolina, Stanford, Connecticut and Mississippi State. With final four match-ups taking off soon, a variety of news media outlets are making their predictions known in regards to how things will turn out. In a story published by USA Today, each of the four teams received coverage in regards to why they may win it all.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are back in the Final Four for the second time in three years. Led by two time SEC player of the year, the Gamecocks are a solid team. Accompanied by a ton of athleticism from Kaela Davis and Allisha Gray, this versatile team has every bit of reason as to why they are a special contender.

Being eliminated in the Sweet 16 in the previous year, Stanford has proven this postseason to be a gritty team. They defeated Notre Dame by one point in the Elite Eight. With the exclusion of drastically elite scorers, the Cardinals are well-balanced and have several talented perimeter shooters, including senior guard Karlie Samuelson.

The talk of the town is the matchup between the Samuelson sisters. Power forward, Katie Lou Samuelson, is averaging more than 20 points per game while shooting exceptionally well from behind the arc. The Huskies arrive in Dallas as the overwhelming favorite to win their fifth consecutive national title, while riding a 111-game winning streak.

The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs might be the only other team in Dallas that can score enough to keep up with Connecticut after averaging nearly 93 points in four NCAA tournament games. This talented team is led by guard, Morgan William, who scored 41 points in the game against No. 1 seed Baylor. This is the Bulldogs’ first trip to the Final Four, so a just an NCAA championship appearance will be record breaking for them.

The Pro Day craze out of control

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By JIHAD SHATARA

Pro day is a special event sacred to schools, coaches, scouts and most importantly, athletes.

After the NFL Combine that is held annually in Indianapolis, many teams want to see more. Players are more than happy to showcase their abilities all over again repeating the drills they just did a month ago; but why are they so eager to do these drills all over again? It is due to the high volume of news media exposure. For some players, they do not receive an invite to the combine, so this is their one and only chance to showcase their skills.

Pro day has become an event so big it is unimaginable to think that players would deny participating unless they could not walk. And the news media has allowed this to happen. The NFL Network along with ESPN sends multiple correspondents to schools all over the nation to cover these pro days. The schools holding pro day announce what scouts have representation at pro days, along with head coaches. It has become beyond crazy how much attention these days garner.

Yet, it only helps the schools and players. Potential recruits look at this as an opportunity to participate in these pro days one day. Maybe it can be them getting this attention one day.

The debacle that is the New York Knicks

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By JOSH WHITE

Carmelo Anthony has been the face of the New York Knicks since being acquired from the Denver Nuggets in 2011. However, times have changed.

Although the Knicks were never contenders to win the NBA title, they were playoff contenders. Anthony and the Knicks had been a team that battled for a bottom spot in the Eastern Conference making the playoffs in Carmelo’s first three seasons in New York.

Since then, diddly squat.

While Melo has aged and the supporting cast around him has diminished, there has been one other clear change: Phil Jackson.

Yes, the former 11-time NBA champion head coach stepped into a front office role for the first time in his career as the new president of the New York Knicks in 2014.

However, this experiment has failed. Jackson has introduced his trademark triangle offense. An offense that has worked with some of the greatest players of all-time, has been a case gone awry since he took the helm in 2014.

The Knicks had their worst year in franchise history finishing 17-65 in the 2014-15 season and haven’t looked all that much better since.

New York has already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and are on their way to another losing season.

This power struggle between Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson has been well documented by the New York news media.

A story that the journalists in the big apple have eaten up and chewed out multiple times over.

Jackson and the Knicks have made front page headlines numerous times after being one of the worst teams in the NBA something that wouldn’t happen in a market like Portland and Minnesota.

The New York news media continue to grill the Knicks and rightfully so.

I think the news outlets in the city that never sleeps is doing a good job from a journalistic standpoint because they are covering stories of a somewhat comedic franchise as it burns to the ground something that creates a lot of views from readers that generates a lot of cash for these news organizations.

From the athlete (directly) to the fans

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By LUIS GONZALEZ

The Players’ Tribune, founded by New York Yankee legend Derek Jeter, gives athletes the platform to speak directly to the fans, without input from the news media.

“My goal is for the site to ultimately transform how athletes and newsmakers share information, bring fans closer than ever to the games they love.” Jeter says on the website’s About page.

Athletes, from a wide variety of sports, have reserved the website to use for big announcements. One of the their most popular posts came from NBA Forward Kevin Durant, when he announced to sign with the Golden State Warriors during last summer’s free agency period.

Durant is one to be known for not being completely transparent with the news media and the reasoning behind using the Players’ Tribune but opened up about the press on Bill Simmons’ Podcast on the Ringer.

“I wonder like, what are your motives when you talk about this stuff?” Durant told Simmons. “What are you trying to get out of it? I know that me, I love talking about basketball. My thing is, I want the casual fan to understand what we go through because it’s not as easy as you think.”

The two later discussed how Simmons did not get angry when he and Durant got into a Twitter fight.

“You’re a real guy.” Durant told Simmons. “Some of these guys are so sensitive. Their egos are too big. But, you know, we can talk about that another time.”

The website has changed the way athletes are able to communicate with fans, in less serious ways as well.

NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal, collaborated with the Lakers’ team photographer to go through their archives and pick his favorite pictures from his time in Los Angeles.

It is interesting to note how a mistrust in the news media lead to Durant using the website as his platform to the fans.

Jeter may have wanted to change the way athletes and newsmakers share information, but his website and bad experiences between athletes and the news media members may have created a different result. The Players’ Tribune can inadvertently lead to a slimming down of the newsmakers to his equation.

Bicycles add to Friday Fun

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By ANDREA HUETE

The Miami Bike Scene is holding its monthly bicycle event this Friday at 7:15. The admission for the bicycle event is free and there is a party following the event from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Omni Park.

The tickets for the free event can be bought at eventbright. They ask that all bicycle riders sign in at 6:30 at the Miami Critical Mass – Government Center at 150 NW 1ST St.  This gives bikers a chance to socialize and prepare physically before the event. A good long distance bicycle ride needs a good stretch session beforehand!

The bike ride will be 20 miles in length and go through all types of Miami’s neighborhoods. From Overtown to Little Haiti to Wynwood and Miami Beach, you are sure to come across brand new areas you may have never seen before.

Miami-Dade County says the event will impact traffic for at least three hours., which means if you are a driver in Miami, your Friday night post-work/pre-weekend traffic just got worse.

The Miami Bike Scene holds this event to make people more aware of the lack of bike lanes within Miami-Dade County. This is not to make an inconvenience for the cars, but rather make the cars understand that more bike lanes are needed so as to not inconvenience or danger bicyclists.

If you’re on campus and ride a bike, this might be a great opportunity to meet other cyclists who share your passion as well as take your bike out for a view other than the University.

March Madness draws big numbers

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By ERYKAH DAVENPORT

March Madness is one of the leading sports stories throughout the news media currently.

News media outlets such as CBS, TNT, TBS and ESPN Sportscenter have been booming since the start of NCAA play. As brackets are busted as a result of many upset, the basketball world remains highly attentive to games played day in and day out.

On the women’s side, there has been a significant amount of tragic injuries causing some to miss the remainder of the season. Journalists and news anchors make it their priority to try to get in touch with those who have any type of inside information about injuries that may potentially hinder players from engaging in play.

Being first to the punch is ideal because as fans are tuned into games, they are dying to receive immediate follow ups and  coverage in regards to unknown or hidden information.  Once this news is released by a credible source, they in turn receive an immense amount of credit which is a vital component in the media world.

This time of the year, there is a ton of basketball played both on the men’s and women’s side. Therefore, every game cannot be aired at once. ESPN works around this by focusing on one pairing in which it thinks is a game that will attract more viewers, while still cycling through other games either during timeouts or at halftime. This coverage gives each team a chance for an adequate amount of TV time.

Currently heading into Sweet 16 play for the women as the men just started up yesterday, sports channels are responsible for a ton of coverage for the NCAA tournament. Until the first week of April, when all the brackets are finalized and a winner is known on the men and women side, this tournament is responsible for attracting lots of viewers and a ton of revenue being generated.

No spring game for Miami Hurricanes

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By ANDREA HUETE

Last year, Miami Hurricanes held two scrimmages leading up to the traditional spring football game at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

This year, the team announced that due to the renovations at Hard Rock Stadium, there will be no spring football game.

Instead, the team is having 13 open practices that are open to news media only, which means fans are out of luck.

  •        Saturday, March 25, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Tuesday, March 28, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Thursday, March 30, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Saturday, April 1, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Tuesday, April 4, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Thursday, April 6, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Tuesday, April 11, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Thursday, April 13, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Tuesday, April 18, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Thursday, April 20, 9:30 a.m.
  •        Saturday, April 22, 12 p.m.

The Hurricanes went through a similar situation last football season. The team was unsure if the first game against the FAMU Rattlers would be able to be held at Hard Rock Stadium, also due to renovations.

The renovations at Hard Rock Stadium were a $500 million project. The new stadium includes shade over most of the seating, which is great for the unpredictable Miami weather, as well as four brand new jumbotrons in each corner of the stadium. They also created a designated space for fans that Uber, which is a smart move to prevent drinking and driving.

This year marks the third phase of the renovations, which will mostly be final touches and club level upgrades.

These new renovations unfortunately mean no spring game for the Miami Hurricanes this year, however this does mean more non-sporting related events such as concerts. The renovations to the new stadium also allowed Miami to secure the 2020 Super Bowl.

From the finished renovations I was able to see last football season, the new stadium looks gorgeous and it’s much more enjoyable not having the sun on the back of your neck while cheering on your favorite team. Hopefully, this season people are able to enjoy the new multi-million dollar amenities.

Rodriguez, media clash off field

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By JOSH WHITE

On March 23, the Watsco Center field house was packed with some of the brightest minds in the sports industry.

Inside the glass doors, the 2017 University of Miami Sport Industry Conference was underway.

The event drew 305 top sports businessman and women, students aspiring to become successful in the sports industry and a middle-aged man named Alex Rodriguez.

Although Rodriguez was known for his towering home runs, boisterous attitude and PED use late in career, since his playing days, ARod has developed into a business pioneer.

Rodriguez is the CEO and founder of a company called ARod Corp.

ARod Corp. ventures in real estate, auto dealerships and high-end fitness centers in Mexico and The United States.

While there was plenty of knowledge in the room, news media coverage was lacking.

Only two news media outlets were on hand; CBS Miami Channel 4, and UMTV. After Rodriguez delivered a talk to the attendees and participated in a question-and-answer session, ARod spoke to the two TV stations.

After a short interview with UMTV, Rodriguez spoke to sports anchor Jim Berry from CBS Miami. This is where it spiraled downhill.

Rodriguez, who had recently been seen with celebrity Jennifer Lopez, was asked a question about it. Thrown off guard, Rodriguez gave a vague answer and concluded the interview.

Not only were very few outlets in attendance to cover a sports celebrity giving a local talk, but then a question that had nothing to do with the event was asked.

First off, I think more news media organizations should’ve covered the event because Alex Rodriguez is a prominent sports figure especially in the Miami community. Secondly, a very unprofessional question having nothing to do with the conference and Rodriguez’s business ventures should not have been asked.

Understanding LaVar Ball

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By LUIS GONZALEZ

Former Division II basketball player LaVar Ball speaking in hyperbole is fine, but only for his sons.

Ball, father of UCLA Basketball star Lonzo Ball, rising high school athlete LaMelo Ball, and future UCLA Bruin LiAngelo Ball, has been in the news lately for comparing Lonzo to the likes of Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson and even Michael Jordan.

The quotations, retrieved from ESPN’s Ian O’Conner, say an obviously false narrative about his sons.

When comparing Lonzo to Magic Johnson, LaVar said “Lonzo is more athletic than Magic, blocks more shots, and makes more steals. … Lonzo is Magic with a jump shot.”

“The way you compare him to Kidd is, he likes to pass and Kidd and Zo are light-skinned.” LaVar said when comparing Lonzo to legendary former New Jersey Nets Guard Jason Kidd “But [Lonzo] is taller and longer, and he’s got a better jump shot than Kidd. He’s more athletic in how he jumps and catches lobs back door.”

On the comparison of Lonzo to arguably the best player to ever play in the NBA, Lavar said.

“Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, but all three of my boys can go down as the greatest player ever. Lonzo is better than what Michael Jordan was doing in high school, and he’s better than what Michael Jordan was doing in college. … He’s only 19. He’s got to get past Jordan’s six titles and get to seven to be the greatest player ever, and I think he can do it.”

An obviously proud father has gained traction on the internet pages of many news programs and even got him a chance to argue with ESPN’s Stephen A Smith.

Understanding LaVar is easy, being a good father means believing your kids are the best in the world.

LaVar however, knows that the media will put out much of what he says. He is not a television analyst or bound to any journalistic integrity, so he can say whatever he wants.

Using the media as a marketing ploy to get your child’s name into every home before they get drafted, helps only Lonzo. Getting his name on your eye through an article or twitter makes you keep an eye on him during the NCAA tournament.

Watching Lonzo’s 14.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.6 assists a game (according to sports-reference.com) leads many to fall in love with 6-6 guard. Once they fall in love it adds fan pressure to teams to draft the Bruin earlier, adding jersey sales, making him more marketable for sponsorships.

March Madness = pressure on athletes

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By JIHAD SHATARA

That tournament in between February and April is really madness.

Every year we all fill out our brackets, choose a Final 4, and hope that our eventual champion doesn’t get knocked out in the second round. The NCAA Tournament has become a monster in itself. These 18 year old kids continue to garner more and more interest from the NBA as they want them to go pro so early.

It is actually ridiculous how much pressure these kids are faced with. For instance, schools like Kentucky, Duke and even Kansas are asking so much from kids fresh out of high school. In large part, this is due to the news media’s coverage of this tournament.

If you go on Twitter anytime there is a game during March Madness, the feed is going crazy for kids who were in high school just a year ago. ESPN, CBS, Yahoo and so many more media outlets milk the competitions.

“Get a perfect bracket and you will win a billion dollars,” they try to entice us with. When a favorite is upset by a “Cinderella” its always a nice story, but who is really happy that George Mason made the Final 4 other than George Mason fans? The news media blow it up like this large thing, but in all reality, people are upset because it costs them in the long run.

The news media are putting so pressure on young kids in college. Now, the coverage of the big dance as they call it is really phenomenal. They even have an app where you have the ability to live stream all the games. But lets take the pressure off of the kids for once. We are all here to watch and have some fun with basketball.

Hoax shows importance of sources

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By LUIS GONZALEZ

The New England Patriots woke up to an awkward breakup post by backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, except the Patriots did not trade or cut the QB.

At around 4 a.m., Garoppolo’s Instagram saying a concise goodbye to Boston. While the third-year QB has had his time this year on the trade block, it appears that his Instagram was hacked and has not been traded or released.

The post lasted around four hours on his profile and has been deleted since then. Below is a screengrab of the post from Garropolo’s Instagram (the gray box only covers the comment section).

NFL news media have been working tirelessly around the clock for the last week because of the opening of free agency.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport summed up the situation best for the aforementioned news media members.

“Spoke to someone close to Jimmy Garoppolo who had no knowledge of any trade and believes it’s a hack. Alas, it’s 5:26 am now & we’re all up,” Rapoport wrote.

He also gave an update this morning on NFL Network’s show Good Morning Football and provided some insight of the early morning flurry.

“Here is the latest from RapSheet on the Jimmy Garoppolo Instagram story,” he wrote.

The whole situation brings up the importance of maintaining multiple legitimate sources to confirm a story before it its published, especially during the free agency period.

Front office personnel from NFL teams and countless sports agents are currently participating in a dance to gain leverage over each other, to get the best deal for their party.

The dance involves leaking information to reporters in hopes of starting published rumors and put pressure on the other party to conform to their side of the bargaining table.

With the feed-the-beast mentality, it would be easy for someone looking to get some clicks on their new blog and make a name for themselves, might publish the leaked information and it may not be true.

Having multiple sources to confirm a story solidifies it, allowing it not to be subject to a rich man’s leverage war.

Rapoport, in the tweet, showed how reporting during a whirlwind time should be done. With solid confirmation and not believing the first thing that is seen.

ACC in Brooklyn a smart choice

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By JOSH WHITE

The Atlantic Coast Conference is in the midst of holding its men’s basketball tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this week. The move might seem strange for the Tobacco Road-centric league, but the league has good reason.

Besides a return to the ACC’s roots, the conference moved the event out of North Carolina as a result of House Bill 2.

HB2 is best-known for requiring visitors to schools and other government facilities to use the bathroom of the gender that appears on their birth certificates.

The ACC felt it was best to move the event out of North Carolina because of the complications politically.

I agree with the move and so do many of the head coaches and players.

First off, moving the event to a city/state that allows individuals to use the bathroom of their gender identity is right in my opinion. No one should be restricted.

Now basketball-wise, the move to a major city like Brooklyn/New York City that has so much going on builds excitement in the news media. Fans, not just of the ACC, but fans of college basketball are invested in the tournament because of its location. Located in the heart of nation’s news media capital now builds attention for the best conference in college basketball.

Lastly, many of the head coaches and players love it because it is in the mecca of basketball.

Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Jim Larrañaga praised the conference and thinks it should always be in Brooklyn because he feels that basketball was born in New York.

Syracuse’s veteran Head Coach Jim Boeheim agrees that the tournament should be held in New York or another major city because there is zero reason to hold it in Greensboro.

No matter which way you slice it up —politically, athletically, or news-media wise — the move out of Greensboro to a major city outside the state of North Carolina is a positive one.