In 2007, Michael Vick had it all.
He had recently signed the richest contract in NFL history with the Atlanta Falcons, a 10 year/ $130 million deal with $37 million guaranteed. But all of that disappeared when he was arrested and found guilty on dogfighting charges, causing him to go to jail for 18 months of his life. The 18 month penalty was a much harsher penalty than what the law had called for, but Vick was used as a scapegoat.
Following his release, Vick signed as a free agent in 2009 with the Philadelphia Eagles and has since seen himself go from a near MVP candidate, to one of the most hated men in Philly. But, back in 2010, ABC News' Bob Woodruff had a chance to sit down with Vick and talk about everything that Vick had been through: his time in Atlanta, how he lost everything, and how he has found his way back.
Coupled with the piece was a written story by Jennifer Metz that goes into more detail than the two and half minute video piece that Woodruff put together that details Vick's life in more detail. By putting the two together, you get the visual side of the story, seeing Vick's life through highlights and video interviews and then the much more in-depth story of how Vick lost everything and got it all back again in the written piece.
Together, the multimedia package does a fantastic job of putting everything out there about Vick, but the one thing that really stood out to me as odd was the one-on-one interview that Woodruff had with Vick in the auditorium. I didn't really like how they had the interview side-by-side as opposed to being face-to-face. Had they been set up in front of each other, it would have forced Vick to look more directly towards Woodruff and talk TO him, rather than be next to him and talk BY him. By setting them up that way, it was almost giving Vick a chance to avoid eye contact and not make it as personal as what it could have been.
On a positive not, I liked how there were multiple video packages put together. The first one, the 2:33 package is the real story. The next video that pops up is all the interview that Woodruff has with Vick, so you're able to hear more about what Vick has to say about his life. The final video is Vick at his introductory press conference when he signed with the Eagles in 2009, giving you the full sports aspect of the story and showing him finally back from where he had gone.
Overall, this piece was well put together, nothing less than what one would expect from ABC News. Even though I wish the video could have been longer, the written story did a fantastic job capturing everything about Vick and is certainly a great piece about a person trying to get a second chance at life.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Paving His Own Path
Ever since he was a journalism major at George Mason University, Matt Lee has lived by the quote that late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs once said: "Don't be afraid. You can do it."
It was this message that got Lee out there and gave him the confidence to apply to jobs and internships as a senior in college, with very little experience in the field of journalism.
"It was like a chip on my shoulder because I wasn't doing myself any favors by going there," said Lee of his decision to go to George Mason, a school not well-known for its journalism program. "My one professor told me 'look, let them tell you no. Don't take yourself out of it before you even give it a shot.'"
In essence, Lee's journalism professor was telling him to not be afraid because he can do it.
Following his graduation from George Mason in 1998, Lee took a job at Washingtonpost.com as the online producer, working mainly the night shift. It was Lee's job to take all of the print content and put it online, but working online was not the ideal job that Lee had for himself.
"I wanted to be a beat reporter of some sorts," said Lee. "I had no idea where this was going to take me and all the old guys there were telling me that what I was doing was just a fad."
By taking an online job at Washingtonpost.com, Lee was pursuing something outside of his comfort zone. Not being afraid of the task at hand.
When Lee graduated, there were only three routes for him to take in the field of journalism: newspapers, radio, and broadcasting. But, with the invention of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other interactive social media sites, journalism was rapidly changing.
Lee excelled as the online producer and was one of the key guys in starting the first blog for Washingtonpost.com. This experience led to Lee getting a call from one of his colleagues who had a job opening at ESPN.
"I got a call from one of my old colleagues and she had a job opportunity at ESPN to work on the news desk," said Lee. "I didn't get that job, but I did get a job as the lead editor for the Insider section."
That opportunity led to Lee getting to where he is now, as the senior blog editor for ESPN.com. Four years ago, when he first took the blog editor position, Lee's staff consisted of only three or four writers.
"We hired traditional beat reporters to cover each specific NFL division and blog about them and give analysis within each division," said Lee.
Along with the NFL blogs, his small team of writers also wrote college football blogs, covering each of the major conferences.
Today, Lee's staff of writers has tripled to nine writers and their content has also expanded to to college basketball and major league baseball, on top of the NFL and college football blogs.
Lee is in his sixth year at ESPN and is a long way from that insecure college student from George Mason.
"One thing I would tell anyone pursuing journalism is to find something passionate and blog and write about it. Find something you love because this is a tough business," said Lee.
Find something you love, and, oh, don't be afraid. You can do it.
It was this message that got Lee out there and gave him the confidence to apply to jobs and internships as a senior in college, with very little experience in the field of journalism.
"It was like a chip on my shoulder because I wasn't doing myself any favors by going there," said Lee of his decision to go to George Mason, a school not well-known for its journalism program. "My one professor told me 'look, let them tell you no. Don't take yourself out of it before you even give it a shot.'"
In essence, Lee's journalism professor was telling him to not be afraid because he can do it.
Following his graduation from George Mason in 1998, Lee took a job at Washingtonpost.com as the online producer, working mainly the night shift. It was Lee's job to take all of the print content and put it online, but working online was not the ideal job that Lee had for himself.
"I wanted to be a beat reporter of some sorts," said Lee. "I had no idea where this was going to take me and all the old guys there were telling me that what I was doing was just a fad."
By taking an online job at Washingtonpost.com, Lee was pursuing something outside of his comfort zone. Not being afraid of the task at hand.
When Lee graduated, there were only three routes for him to take in the field of journalism: newspapers, radio, and broadcasting. But, with the invention of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other interactive social media sites, journalism was rapidly changing.
Lee excelled as the online producer and was one of the key guys in starting the first blog for Washingtonpost.com. This experience led to Lee getting a call from one of his colleagues who had a job opening at ESPN.
"I got a call from one of my old colleagues and she had a job opportunity at ESPN to work on the news desk," said Lee. "I didn't get that job, but I did get a job as the lead editor for the Insider section."
That opportunity led to Lee getting to where he is now, as the senior blog editor for ESPN.com. Four years ago, when he first took the blog editor position, Lee's staff consisted of only three or four writers.
"We hired traditional beat reporters to cover each specific NFL division and blog about them and give analysis within each division," said Lee.
Along with the NFL blogs, his small team of writers also wrote college football blogs, covering each of the major conferences.
Today, Lee's staff of writers has tripled to nine writers and their content has also expanded to to college basketball and major league baseball, on top of the NFL and college football blogs.
Lee is in his sixth year at ESPN and is a long way from that insecure college student from George Mason.
"One thing I would tell anyone pursuing journalism is to find something passionate and blog and write about it. Find something you love because this is a tough business," said Lee.
Find something you love, and, oh, don't be afraid. You can do it.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Concussions Changing The Way The NFL Is Played
Imagine yourself on queer street, not knowing where you are, being sensitive to light and sound, and constantly nauseous. Now try to imagine those same feelings while having them in front of 70,000+ screaming fans every Sunday.
Those are the immediate effects of a concussion and the injury that is the reason why fans and critics alike are calling for a change to the nation's most-popular league. The high-level speeds and hitting that occur in an NFL game make the sport one of the most violent in the world, but fans still love to see one of their team's favorite players light up the opposing player. Unfortunately, it is ruining the game everyone loves.
On October 7th, Washington Redskins rookie quarterback and No. 2 overall draft pick Robert Griffin III (RGIII) suffered a nasty blow to the head in the 3rd quarter in a game against the Atlanta Falcons. Upon viewing the hit and seeing RGIII's immediate reaction following the play, any sensible person could see that he was not ok. Following the game, head coach Mike Shanahan admitted that his quarterback suffered a "mild" concussion and he was not just "shaken up" as the team previously stated, meaning that Griffin would now have to go through a series of tests that the league put in place so that players who suffer head injuries won't come back too soon.
Now, the Redskins are facing potential fines from the league because of the original diagnosis of RGIII as only being "shaken up." However, in a different report and mentioned on Yahoo Sports "Shutdown Corner" blog, the Redskins' medical staff denies any claims that they downgraded Griffin's head injury and went through the correct medical steps to diagnose his injury, including asking him the quarter and score of the game, which he failed. After he failed that test, the trainers took him back into the training room and examined him further.
RGIII was drafted to be the team's prized possession and the organization's future, so it only seems fitting that the team would do anything possible to have him on the field. However, risking his future now is a dumb move, especially since he started the following weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. So much for really protecting the prized jewel.
The NFL has done everything it can to try to reduce the number of concussions in the game, by putting harsher punishments on helmet-to-helmet hits and blows to the head, but it's just the way the game is played. Sadly, the NFL community and sports world lost a legend last May when former NFL linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide. The cause of this: too many concussions over the course of his career.
Seau is one of many NFL stars that have ended their lives early because concussions led them to having mental problems following their careers.
On the same day as RGIII's concussion, Kansas City Chiefs' QB Matt Cassel also suffered a serious concussion, one that kept him out of the following week's game. Prior to the hit that knocked Cassel out of the game, his play had been poor, throwing two interceptions on 9-of-15 passing through the first three quarters. But, it was the reaction that the fans had after Cassel had been knocked out, causing him to be taken out of the game. The hometown fans cheered when he was removed from the game, causing Chiefs' offensive tackle Eric Winston to go on a rant about how embarrassed he was at the reaction the fans had when Cassel was injured.
Much like RGIII, Cassel may return in short time, but the reality of concussions can be seen in the sad stories of Seau and the other NFL stars that have committed suicide: concussions are not something to mess with and can cause a lot more long-term damage than the short-term pain they initially create.
We should only be thankful that the NFL is trying to do something to fix this.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Author Sean Glennon Talks His New Book And The Great Quarterback Debate
In author Sean Glennon’s new book, Tom Brady vs. The NFL: The Case for Football’s Greatest Quarterback, Glennon
put his own spin on the greatest quarterback of all-time debate by claiming
that Tom Brady is the best quarterback the league has ever seen.
"This book is meant to start arguments in bar rooms, on the radio, and in comment sections," said Glennon.
Brady was selected 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, has won three Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots and has become the poster-boy for elite quarterbacks in the NFL, leaving many critics and fans debating whether or not he is, or will become, the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
Glennon is one of those people. He makes that case in his book that, even though Brady is still playing in the league, he has already surpassed the likes of Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, and Joe Montana for the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
"This book almost killed me because I had to take all these stats and put them into a narrative,” said Glennon. "I wanted to be able to compare Brady to the other great quarterbacks from a perspective of knowing the game."
Glennon began writing his book roughly 18 months ago (although he isn’t exactly sure how long it actually took) while he was a columnist at the Boston Phoenix newspaper. He was approached by Triumph Publishing Co. to write a book comparing Brady and Peyton Manning. Almost a year into writing the book, Glennon realized that the real debate is not between Brady and Manning, but instead, it is about where Brady ranks among the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.
Glennon took this idea and ran with it, doing extensive research and looking up the stats of 14 retired quarterbacks and some of the game’s best active NFL quarterbacks, but wanted to come at it from the angle of being informed.
He didn’t want to bash great quarterbacks of the past just to make his point. He wanted to use his knowledge of the game to tell why each quarterback was so great, but why Brady was better. An approach that can be difficult when comparing a quarterback from today’s game to quarterbacks that played in a time when the game was completely different.
“It’s hard to compare quarterbacks today to Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw because it’s just a different style of game,” said Glennon.
Today, it seems as though Brady has surpassed nearly every quarterback on the “Greatest of All Time” list, except for the legendary Montana. When it came to this debate, it was this argument that Glennon enjoyed most while writing his book.
“The most interesting story for me was telling the story of Joe Montana, the second greatest quarterback of all time.”
Glennon knows that there will always be people out there who will back Montana and everything he accomplished. His perfect 4-0 record in the Super Bowl, his zero interceptions thrown in Super Bowl games, and all the other records and stats that he compiled during his illustrious career. But, the way Glennon sees it, Brady has already been to five Super Bowls, one more than Montana ever got to and Brady is the only quarterback in history to win his first 10 playoff games.
“This argument may be settled by the time Brady’s career is over, one way or another,” said Glennon.
Currently, Brady sits at 12th on the all-time passing yards list, one spot ahead of Joe Montana and over 30,000 yards behind Brett Favre, who has 71,838 yards passing.
"This book is meant to start arguments in bar rooms, on the radio, and in comment sections," said Glennon.
Brady was selected 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, has won three Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots and has become the poster-boy for elite quarterbacks in the NFL, leaving many critics and fans debating whether or not he is, or will become, the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
Glennon is one of those people. He makes that case in his book that, even though Brady is still playing in the league, he has already surpassed the likes of Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, and Joe Montana for the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
"This book almost killed me because I had to take all these stats and put them into a narrative,” said Glennon. "I wanted to be able to compare Brady to the other great quarterbacks from a perspective of knowing the game."
Glennon began writing his book roughly 18 months ago (although he isn’t exactly sure how long it actually took) while he was a columnist at the Boston Phoenix newspaper. He was approached by Triumph Publishing Co. to write a book comparing Brady and Peyton Manning. Almost a year into writing the book, Glennon realized that the real debate is not between Brady and Manning, but instead, it is about where Brady ranks among the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.
Glennon took this idea and ran with it, doing extensive research and looking up the stats of 14 retired quarterbacks and some of the game’s best active NFL quarterbacks, but wanted to come at it from the angle of being informed.
He didn’t want to bash great quarterbacks of the past just to make his point. He wanted to use his knowledge of the game to tell why each quarterback was so great, but why Brady was better. An approach that can be difficult when comparing a quarterback from today’s game to quarterbacks that played in a time when the game was completely different.
“It’s hard to compare quarterbacks today to Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw because it’s just a different style of game,” said Glennon.
Today, it seems as though Brady has surpassed nearly every quarterback on the “Greatest of All Time” list, except for the legendary Montana. When it came to this debate, it was this argument that Glennon enjoyed most while writing his book.
“The most interesting story for me was telling the story of Joe Montana, the second greatest quarterback of all time.”
Glennon knows that there will always be people out there who will back Montana and everything he accomplished. His perfect 4-0 record in the Super Bowl, his zero interceptions thrown in Super Bowl games, and all the other records and stats that he compiled during his illustrious career. But, the way Glennon sees it, Brady has already been to five Super Bowls, one more than Montana ever got to and Brady is the only quarterback in history to win his first 10 playoff games.
“This argument may be settled by the time Brady’s career is over, one way or another,” said Glennon.
Currently, Brady sits at 12th on the all-time passing yards list, one spot ahead of Joe Montana and over 30,000 yards behind Brett Favre, who has 71,838 yards passing.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Bloggers and the Media vs. Sports
For my sports journalism class, we had to read two pieces online that had to deal with sports bloggers and the media having struggles with major professional sports leagues.
In the first article, "Buzz Bissinger vs. Mark Cuban on Twitter," you see a professional blogger (Bissinger) and his one-sided argument with Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban. Cuban started the "Twitter war" off by calling Bissinger a coward for some of the stuff that he wrote in one of his articles about player and fan stereotypes in the NBA. Bissinger responded to Cuban with his own little rant, but when Cuban took the high road and decided to not respond back, it was Bissinger who repeatedly attacked Cuban for not backing up his claim of being a so-called coward.
Bissinger's followers got involved and also began criticizing Bissinger's pieces, in which case, he expanded his war to casual followers and attacked them for not reading his full article and reading both sides to Bissinger's claims about stereotypes in the NBA. But, before I continue any further with Bissinger, I want to get to a second piece that ties into the media and sports issue.
In the second piece we had to read, a piece from the New York Times written in 2008, the author, Tim Arango, talks about the growing tensions between major sports leagues and media members and the restrictions being put on media outlets to only being able to publish so much multimedia content per story. The piece starts off with a side-story about how Cuban (yes, him again) began banning all bloggers from being allowed into the team locker rooms because their credibility as journalists was lacking. But, the NBA said he had to let major news outlet site bloggers into the team room, so his response was to let in any blogger. Now certain leagues put restrictions on how much multimedia content news organizations can publish on a site, whether it's 30 second highlight clips, or two pictures, the leagues have control over the media.
Now, the reason I wanted to tie these two stories together before I got to my main point is because of this: a bloggers' credibility as a journalist is tarnished by what Bissinger displayed on Twitter. There is a reason for why Cuban began banning bloggers into the team locker room and it was because he didn't see them fit to cover the stories accurately. Now, I'm not saying Bissinger doesn't cover things accurately, but the way he acted on Twitter doesn't make him seem professional in the slightest. He is a blogger and is opinionated, which is what differs a blogger from a regular news reporter. But, his cursing and attacking others because they simply didn't agree with his piece shows me that he really shouldn't deserve the respect of high-ranking personnel, such as Cuban.
And it is people like him who are the reason why there are strains between leagues and the media. Leagues are tired of unprofessional media members who abuse the power that they have to display content, so they need to decide who should cover and print what and who shouldn't be allowed to cover at all.
In the first article, "Buzz Bissinger vs. Mark Cuban on Twitter," you see a professional blogger (Bissinger) and his one-sided argument with Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban. Cuban started the "Twitter war" off by calling Bissinger a coward for some of the stuff that he wrote in one of his articles about player and fan stereotypes in the NBA. Bissinger responded to Cuban with his own little rant, but when Cuban took the high road and decided to not respond back, it was Bissinger who repeatedly attacked Cuban for not backing up his claim of being a so-called coward.
Bissinger's followers got involved and also began criticizing Bissinger's pieces, in which case, he expanded his war to casual followers and attacked them for not reading his full article and reading both sides to Bissinger's claims about stereotypes in the NBA. But, before I continue any further with Bissinger, I want to get to a second piece that ties into the media and sports issue.
In the second piece we had to read, a piece from the New York Times written in 2008, the author, Tim Arango, talks about the growing tensions between major sports leagues and media members and the restrictions being put on media outlets to only being able to publish so much multimedia content per story. The piece starts off with a side-story about how Cuban (yes, him again) began banning all bloggers from being allowed into the team locker rooms because their credibility as journalists was lacking. But, the NBA said he had to let major news outlet site bloggers into the team room, so his response was to let in any blogger. Now certain leagues put restrictions on how much multimedia content news organizations can publish on a site, whether it's 30 second highlight clips, or two pictures, the leagues have control over the media.
Now, the reason I wanted to tie these two stories together before I got to my main point is because of this: a bloggers' credibility as a journalist is tarnished by what Bissinger displayed on Twitter. There is a reason for why Cuban began banning bloggers into the team locker room and it was because he didn't see them fit to cover the stories accurately. Now, I'm not saying Bissinger doesn't cover things accurately, but the way he acted on Twitter doesn't make him seem professional in the slightest. He is a blogger and is opinionated, which is what differs a blogger from a regular news reporter. But, his cursing and attacking others because they simply didn't agree with his piece shows me that he really shouldn't deserve the respect of high-ranking personnel, such as Cuban.
And it is people like him who are the reason why there are strains between leagues and the media. Leagues are tired of unprofessional media members who abuse the power that they have to display content, so they need to decide who should cover and print what and who shouldn't be allowed to cover at all.
Monday, June 25, 2012
The Championships at Wimbledon Predictions
So today marks the start of the Championships at Wimbledon, possibly the most prestigious of the four grand slam tennis events. With only a few weeks between the conclusion of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon, players have minimal time to prepare for the grass court major. Therefore, a strong history with solid results, not only on grass, but in Wimbledon is what you need to base predictions on come Wimbledon time.
On the Men's side, it's always safe to predict one of the top-four players in the world, whether it's #1 Novak Djokovic, #2 Rafael Nadal, #3 Roger Federer, or #4 Andy Murray. Coming into this year's tournament, I went out on a limb and made a bet with a friend of mine saying that this was the tournament that Murray breaks through and finally gets Great Britain its first major title since Sir Fred Perry won his last major back in 1936. Murray has shown signs of possibly breaking through in majors, only to be stopped in the finals in three tries at earning his first major.
However, this year may be different for Murray. He has teamed up with tennis legend Ivan Lendl and with Lendl's knowledge of the game and past history in the sport, many experts think that a first major title is just over the horizon for Murray. And there's no better time for that to happen than right in England.
Now on the Women's side, you'd be better off drawing a name out of hat and your odds wouldn't be ridiculous. The women's game hasn't had a clear-cut number one in what seems like forever. But, after winning the French Open a few weeks back, Maria Sharapova conquered the career grand slam and also took hold of the world number one ranking on the women's side. Her game is well-suited for Wimbledon, using her strength to hit the ball through the quick, skidding grass courts at Wimbledon and I think she is the heavy favorite coming into this year's tournament.
But, don't count out Caroline Wozniacki, who, until the French Open, was the top-ranked woman in the world and has come oh so close to winning her first major title. The only downside with Wozniacki is that she can stumble at any given time in any given round in a major and have an early exit where she doesn't even see the second week. Sharapova is the smart choice here, but don't be surprised if some unknown comes out of the blue to win on the grass courts at Wimbledon.
On the Men's side, it's always safe to predict one of the top-four players in the world, whether it's #1 Novak Djokovic, #2 Rafael Nadal, #3 Roger Federer, or #4 Andy Murray. Coming into this year's tournament, I went out on a limb and made a bet with a friend of mine saying that this was the tournament that Murray breaks through and finally gets Great Britain its first major title since Sir Fred Perry won his last major back in 1936. Murray has shown signs of possibly breaking through in majors, only to be stopped in the finals in three tries at earning his first major.
However, this year may be different for Murray. He has teamed up with tennis legend Ivan Lendl and with Lendl's knowledge of the game and past history in the sport, many experts think that a first major title is just over the horizon for Murray. And there's no better time for that to happen than right in England.
Now on the Women's side, you'd be better off drawing a name out of hat and your odds wouldn't be ridiculous. The women's game hasn't had a clear-cut number one in what seems like forever. But, after winning the French Open a few weeks back, Maria Sharapova conquered the career grand slam and also took hold of the world number one ranking on the women's side. Her game is well-suited for Wimbledon, using her strength to hit the ball through the quick, skidding grass courts at Wimbledon and I think she is the heavy favorite coming into this year's tournament.
But, don't count out Caroline Wozniacki, who, until the French Open, was the top-ranked woman in the world and has come oh so close to winning her first major title. The only downside with Wozniacki is that she can stumble at any given time in any given round in a major and have an early exit where she doesn't even see the second week. Sharapova is the smart choice here, but don't be surprised if some unknown comes out of the blue to win on the grass courts at Wimbledon.
Images courtesy of Google Images
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)