Final conclusion.

What a project! It’s been a wild ride since February and to be honest it’s not going to end. I struggled in the beginning to really look at how the media is effecting the news it delivers, but I figured it out. Like I said in the presentation I really took two things from this project. First, the media won’t report a controversy in sports unless it deals with a mega star. There is no controversy without a mega star behind it. Second, it more about what’s not being reported as opposed to what’s being reported. This project has given me really opened my eyes to what the sports media is trying to portray when it comes to gender, class and an array of other issues. Whether they are not reporting on news that is news-worthy or if they are intentionally reporting something worng the media is not always fair with what is being reported. Looking at how the media reports stories is something everyone should do. Reading between the lines isn’t easy, but it definitely is doable. So in ending my advice is the following: watch for the stars and watch for what can’t be scene. Maybe, just maybe then one can see how the media is taking the news and creating a money making machine.

You can do no wrong!!!

*McFadden can do no wrong becuase of his talent...

I know I do a lot of articles on Sportscenter, but it is the main location for a majority of sports news throughout the country. Each Sunday they do a spot called the “Sunday Conversation.” This week we heard from star college running back Darren McFadden. McFadden has all the talent in the world, but can’t seem to keep out of trouble off the field. He is entering the draft this year and is expected to go in the top 5 if not higher, but every team is having their doubts because of his troubles of the field. The interviewer was awful. He gave McFadden a free pass for all of the things he had done. McFadden might have 4 or 5 illegitimate children that he isn’t paying child support on. He has been in 3 or 4 bar fights in the past 6 months. What is the media trying to accomplish with this? If you are a quality athlete then you are free to do whatever you wish? I am not for chastising the guy, but getting details on how he has lived his live isn’t the most unfair thing I have ever heard of. I think some of the people who do these interviews get star struck and can’t ask the tough questions. I just hope the media gets a clue as to what they are portraying as good and bad.

Sportscenter April 20, 2008

Sports media focused on controversy, not sports

The article below is fantastic. It sums up everything I have been saying the whole semester. In my presentation I said I have learned two things: Controversy in sports isn’t about the controversy it’s about the star and second is it’s more about what not being reported as opposed to what’s being reported. Well from this article I have learned something new. Sportscenter, talk radio, local news broadcasts don’t want to report sports they want to report sports controversy. I wish I could find some stats on what the lead story has been for Sportscenter the past 2 years. I am betting that it has been some sort of controversy. For the past two years we never heard the news on a giant’s game. NEVER! The only time we ever saw the highlights of a giants games was when Barry Bonds did something. Then it was quickly followed by his steroids allegations. The media isn’t interested in delivering sports scores it is interested in delivering controversy that people will continue to tune into for along time. This is a sad realization for me knowing that I am just part of the money turning machine. Shame on the media.

http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/08/27/Sports/Sports.Media.Focused.On.Controversy.Not.Sports-2933676.shtml

Boycott

If my blog is media then I guess dwizzles blog is media as well and I think he has some good points. It’s something that isn’t getting a lot of attention, but it should be. The media is barely touching the surface of the controversy of the Beijing Olympics. The Olympics are usually a gathering place for the world to come together to a short period of time and enjoy each others company. Not this year. To the credit of activists these Olympics shouldn’t be celebrated because of the host nation. The Olympics are a display of human talent. China is not a proponent of allowing the human race grow on its own a use its freedoms however they would like. Dwizzle is opposed to this idea because he feels the activists are just using this as a way to get there message across. Well duh! It’s a great tool. They should be. What is happening right now in Tibet is not fun and games. It’s a real situation and for this blogger to say its ok is absurd. Not to mention the media will talk about the protests, but they will never mention the reality to them. They never go into detail about why they are protesting. On PTI the other day they laughed at the person using the fire extinguisher. I think the only way to fix this years Olympics is for the media to show what really is going on over there and then, maybe then people like dwizzle won’t be opposed to these protestors.

http://dwizzlesworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/olympic-torch-controversy-is-much-ado.html

Stay or go? Should be an option

YOU should go to school...

Kobe, KG, McGrady, Howard, Lebron. What do they have in Common? Each one went straight into the NBA out of high school and each has been very very successful while there. What about names like James Homer, Robert Rothbart, Maurice Shaw, Dorell Wright? Those names don’t sound familiar because they are high school kids who went straight to the NBA and weren’t successful. The media never talks about them. The article below gives a great look at the disadvantages of going straight to the NBA. Unfortunately the article wasn’t posted on ESPN or cbssports. It was written by a college professor. To the NBA’s credit the changed the rule so this can’t happen anymore, but they is still a lot of options for these kids not to go to college. Once again, this article gives great insight as to how themedia ony shows the success stories of the sports world. I find it interesting that people complain there isn’t enough good news in the news anymore. My advice? Read the sports section. This is a real issue in the NBA and more precautions need to be taken in order for those names above to be taken care of in the future.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_/ai_77133957

A win is a win!

The second I laid eyes on this article I had a mix of emotions, but after really thinking about this article I realized it was an unfair assessment. Danica Patrick (A girl) came onto the Indy Car scene by storm and revolutionized the sport by the mere fact that see is a girl. I know for me personally that I have taken the time watch a race until she was a part of it. She has had her struggles while on the tour, but came to work every day and put up a good fight. Well, she finally won on Sunday. A girl won an Indy car race. Time to celebrate! Well, not according to this article, which doesn’t give her credit for the win. It says other race cars lost the race. It seems to me that a win is a win in any sport. Trying to take that away from her is unfair. If this was a male rookie on the tour and this was his first win he wouldn’t be scrutinized. He go there as a columnist? The only reason I can see is that he is trying to start a controversy and get as many page views as he can.

http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/news?slug=bm-patrick042008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

More proof in the Pudding.

Who is the MVP? Lebron, KG, Chris Paul and of course Kobe are the only ones in the running according to the media. Click this site to see the "experts" picks. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=MVP-0708
Are they forgetting someone? The MVP debate has been going on since February and it is all going to come to an end in the next few weeks. Once again someone is being left out? Why? Deron Williams absolutely should be in the discussion, but of course he is in a smaller market. His stats will make my debate easier:


NAME: Deron Williams
GP: 82
MPG: 37.3
PPG: 18.8
RPG: 3.0
APG: 10.5
STPG: 1.1
BLKPG:0.3
DblDbl:52

So, didn’t miss a game. Averaged 4th in minutes. Higher point total then KG. Higher rebounds then Chris Paul. More assists then Kobe, Lebron and KG. More steals then those three as well. And third in double doubles. Some say its not about the stats. It’s about how many games they would lose if they weren’t there. Celtics played great without KG. Kobe is 3 others all stars on his team. Paul is all alone so he can win this argument, but then you would have to cut his stats argument with all the shooting he does. Lebron also has a weak cast. Why does the media give no love to Utah? Money. They refuse to give any attention to a smaller market. It’s a sad day in sports and especially Utah.

Who got the DUI?

This past week two famous NBA players are in the spot light for all the wrong reasons. First, Carmelo Anthony got cited with a DUI. This is an interesting story because it has a lot of twists and turns. In the beginning it was clearly noted he was cited for a DUI and taken to jail. Later reports were he left the scene in his own car. Yesterday Carmelo came out and apologized to his teammates…. Apologizing to the people he could have killed under the influence? No, his teammates, but one teammate in particular really does deserve an apology and this Allen Iverson. As most everyone knows Iverson hasn’t had the cleanest past, but of late he has been clean of any wrong doing. The night the story broke I had a hard time deciphering who got the DUI. Even in the story below it mentions Iverson’s name. This goes back to who is the story about and why is Allen Iverson even a part of it? I believe they do this do bring as many stars in the limelight as they possibly can. As I have learned from the previous posts, there is not such thing as a sports controversy unless it involves at superstar.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3348020

Is there something missing from this picture?

I know, I know I am doing a topic on NASCAR, but this topic is getting no news. Absolutely nothing and I feel it totally should. NASCAR was once only popular to what is stereotyped as “rednecks” is now the fastest growing sport in America. Its numbers are growing rapidly. People are catching on everywhere, but within the sport there are still a select few invited to participate. NASCAR to this day has still never had a black driver. There have been black drivers in lower circuits but never on the big stage. In the article posted below the NYT exposes NASCAR is its failed attempt to being diversity to the table. It’s funny to watch each side place blame on anyone, but themselves. In reality though everyone knows its NASCAR not stepping up to the plate to get black people involved. They say it’s due to a lack of funding? Please, last year NASCAR took in roughly a billion dollars. You show me where money is lacking. To be involved in NASCAR you have to come from a very wealthy situation and that is really sad. NASCAR and the media can shy away from this situation for as long as they want, but in the end it is only going to end up hurting their bottom line

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/sports/othersports/08nascar.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1163041616-ycVkVjK+uad6x4vEqdG8ng&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Good News Anyone?

Well, it’s Masters Thursday. A great day in the world of golfers everywhere. A lot of questions will be answered; can Tiger win a grand slam, will a dark horse arise? Well the latter came true today. Ian Poulter is leading the Masters. How many of us know who Ian Poulter is and if you do why? I am assuming you know of him because of this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcsgVOHlh_A. I am I right? Well once again on Sports Center tonight the story isn’t about him leading the Masters, it’s about his comments towards Tiger Woods. I see two problems here. First, when was the last time we heard a golf story that didn’t involve Tiger Woods? Don’t get me wrong, I like Tiger probably more then the next guy, but is golf putting too much of an emphasis on just him? I think so. If you look at the television ratings when Tiger is in the tournament and when he is not it’s night and day. What happens when golf no longer has Tiger to lean on? I see big trouble? Second, it’s really too bad that Ian Poulter has worked so hard to do something that very few people have done and all we can talk about is his mishaps (Which according to him aren’t true.) I think the media needs to start looking at the successes of sports and less on the daytime drama.

NCAA National Championship!!! of women....

I swear I went to google.com to find a picture
of Candace Parker the MVP of Tennessee and
this picture was my first option... sad.

On April 8th, 2008 on the 10 o'clock KUTV's (Channel 2) Dave Fox began his nightly news about the world of sports. Of Course it began with the Jazz, talked a little about Spring football for both Utah and BYU and wrapped with up with some baseball and hocky highlights. In the final few seconds he says, "oh and Tenneesse won the national championship." Mary Nichols is then quoted as saying, "I thought Kansas won the National Championship." AWKWARD, but brings our blog into a very interesting topic. Why does womens basketball get absolutely no love? I asked a few people around the place I worked and the answers were suprising. "It's boring." "They aren't athletic." "Who won?" In the end though a majority of them were a combination of its no fun to watch, because they the athletism just isn't there. The people in my office aren't the only ones not paying attention to college basketball. As we can see the news didn't seem to care to show highlights. ESPN didn't unitl the end of the show either. I have to agree with the consensus on this one. Womens basketball just isn't fun to watch. Why? Probably atlethism, but more importantly is that it's just not exciting. Like a majority of my previous posts mentioned; its all about numbers. and if you continutally give information people aren't interested in then people will eventually tune out.

Just an FYI

Just to reiterate what I said in my previous article I am sitting here watching my 10 o’clock sports center and sure enough I am still waiting to see the Jazz highlights…. Finally after 33 minutes and six other NBA highlights (Suns vs. Grizzlies, Denver vs. Clippers etc etc) I get to see the fourth ranked Jazz play the number one seed in the west. That’s right none of the games before the Jazz had two teams with winning records play against each other. I just don’t understand.

Now love for Utah?

This is a controversy that I have had an issue with for a long time. Last Friday, April 4th, I got the opportunity to go to the Jazz game. It was a great game. The Spurs vs. Jazz in a heated battle for playoff position. Of course the Jazz came out on top in a dominate performance. I was excited to go home and watch the highlights on television. Being a Sports center fanatic I was excited for my classic 10 0'clock "news". Plus, I am now someone who is interested in how the media is delivered. On the way home from the game I said, "I bet the game tonight isn't even in the opening 5 minutes of sports center." I was right. They lead off with Kobe and the Lakers against Seattle. SEATTLE!!! They have one of the worst records in the entire western conference! Why does Utah sports never get any respect? There sports team’s time and time again get over looked. I know television is a money game and Utah isn't the biggest market, but true fans of sports want to see the best game every night. I guess there aren’t to many true sports fans around anymore.

Did Brett Farve Die?

A few weeks back we saw Brett Favre retire from his 17 year stint in the NFL. To many he is revered as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. To another set of people he is considered the most overrated quarterback of all time. On that faithful day in March when Brett announced his retirement ESPN and many of its partners treated it like the man had passed away. For over 10 hours it was straight Brett Favre commentary. Why? Is anyone deserving of that much airtime? Did he do that much for the sport? In my opinion Brett Favre had a great first 8 years in the league, but owes a lot of that to his head coach. He does hold a lot of records in the NFL such as touchdowns and passing yards, but with those records he holds one of the lowest passing percentages and he has the interception records as well. What did Brett Favre do to deserve this media attention? Are these news stations being objective in there view of Brett Favre? I don’t think so. I think there are a lot of factors that go into it, but for more insight read the article posted.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/storycolumnist=paolantonio_sal&id=3281535&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1

Your a good target

SPORTSCENTER MARCH 30th, 2008
Every time I turn on ESPN there is some story (small or big) about steroids in baseball. The latest victim: Alex Rodriguez. Jose Canseco is on a mission to destroy the game and make some money along the way. his book mentions 3 or 4 names, but the ONLY name we ever hear about is A-Rod's. When the Mitchell report came out it mentioned 27 players who apparently used steroids. How many of those names did we hear besides Roger Clemens? Two, maybe three others? The media wants us to believe it is on a mission to "help" the game get rid of steroids, but it never points out anyone, but the big names. In my opinion this not fair to the game or the big name players. To my understanding it is ok to take steroids as long as you suck, but if you are good then you cannot take them. Don't get me wrong, I am against them all together, but if we are going to start pointing the finger it needs to be pointed at everyone not just the great players in the game.

Who Is Hanging Onto Racism? The Media or Society?

A few months ago, while broadcasting a PGA tour event, Kelly Tilghman, the Golf Channel’s main play-by-play anchor commented nonchalantly to co-anchor Nick Faldo when discussing Tiger Woods’ dominance on the Professional Golf Tour that his competitors should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley.” Tilghman stated on live television that today’s young players should “lynch Tiger Woods.”!?! Of course the media took this and ran. Every sports outlet in the world was all over this. It was a stupid comment, but did it deserve the media attention it got? Should it have been blown up like it has been? Then came this cover… Now not only sports outlets are involved, but every news outlet is covering this story. Did the media make too much of this situation or are they doing good by bring it to the forefront of the news?

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3186158

What's Wrong Here?

The site below is the national coalalition on racism in sports. It has some really intersting information so go there and look around before taking in my comments. This is also a good topic becuase it directly affects our University. We now have a hawk as our mascot as opposed to a Ute indian. Before I read the mission statement of this colaliton I have always been against the idea of banning the use of indian images and names for logos. But after doing some research I began to quickly realize how off these depictions above are. That is why I ask you. Is there anything wrong with the picture above? I beleive it dehumanizes the native american community. Can you image if there was a major league baseball team named the clevland whites? I don't think so. Its a controversial topic that absolutly needs to be looked into.

http://www.aics.org/NCRSM/index.htm

Back on the horse again.

*Thought I would start by making a plug as to why roids are bad...

As if this topic wasn't controversial enough the first time so I decided I would link the two again. Baseball and football... Only this time in a different manner. The topic this week has to do with the past two topics wrapped up into one. Late last year Shawn Merriman was found guilty of using Steroids/HGH. Then early this year Rodney Harrison was found guilty as well. When was the last time we heard of them in the steroids/HGH conversation? Now we have baseball. Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite and a slew of others. THAT IS ALL THE NEWS REPORTS ON WHEN IT COMES TO BASEBALL! Why? Is there a media bias here? Why are NFL players getting a free pass? Is it how those football players handled the situation compared to the baseball players? Once again keep your baseball and football opinions as sports to yourself. I want to hear your take on the situation above. So like I said once and I will say again, “You tell me America.” I think someone else uses that line? Who is it?

New Spin

The blog is taking on a new life. Instead of focusing just on the controversy itself we are also going to look at the media's take on the contoversy. We will be asking questions like: Why is the controversy getting so much media attention? How is it being portrayed by different media outlets? Who is impacted by the topic and what is the role of the public interest? So stay tuned and enjoy. And most importantly let your voice be heard.

Topic Number 2

Well, first I am impressed about the passion we are seeing. But its time for a new issue. This one is a serious issue. Before I begin to talk about it I want people to stick there pride in their back pocket and really be "fair and balanced..." I needed to make a fox news plug right? Anyways, the controversy of the week belongs to Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and it poses 2 questions. First, are they guilty? And second should they be guilty? If they did take them, did they take them before MLB has a rule in place? Is this situation MLB's fault or the players union? I want your honest assessment.

Angry bloggers...

The guy from England emailed me this to me to post on the blog.... He was pist about us comparing soccer and ice skating...

Now while what I have posted above is not true it could be so be careful out there. And thanks to mike and the thesyfl for letting us borrow this picture.

And were off

Alright my friends and family and some guy from I think England? We are off to an impressive start, I hope that we keep this going until we have around 500 to a 1000 hits a day. Hey I can dream can´t I? I wanted post a side note that if you want to email me a picture of yourself or something sweet do it and I will post it for all the viewers. Also, tell your friends and family about this place. It is a good place to come when you are bored at work or school. Also, anyone who is in favor of anything from Boston must have something biologically wrong. Love ya Newman, but Massacusetts can sink into the Atlantic. And Finally, I have recieved a few emails about the Belicheat topic. I don´t want emails, post them on here. Its easy, click the comments button and you are good to go. I have the feeling a question about BYU, Utah, and Utah state coming up to really light up the message boards.

Harv

Also, never judge my ability to spell...

Welcome, Welcome...

SPORTSCENTER/COLIN COWHERD on February 3rd, 2008
Welcome all to my blog. I am doing this blog to fulfill a class requirement, but I am actually looking for ward to it. I also expect people who look at the blog to participate.
Now, onto the blog itself. This blog can be used for many different things, but the majority of topics will be based upon controversy in sports. It can be any sport, anything from the great sport in the world, which is american football to... lets say soccer... See I might have already caused a conroversy. Anyways, feel free to post and reply on anything that might come up. I will be making posts every couple of days.

Now onto this weeks controversy and something I am very passionate about. That is, as I already mentioned football, and for all intensive purposes football on this blog is always known as American football. The patriots lost and now the world is right, or is it? The question of the week is: Is Bill Belichick leaving the Super Bowl just 1 second early a big deal? Personally, I haven't seen such a poor sport in all my life, but it seems to me that sports media is giving him a free pass? If anyother coach in the entire NFL had done this he would have been murdered. When Lebron James left the court 3 seconds early he got killed. Rand Moss? Killed, but from some reason when Belicheat does it no one says a word. Why does the media give him so many free passes? So... You tell me American... Or the two people that look at this.


Harv