Putnam Pitches a Gem but One Hit is Enough For the Beavers

The NCAA men's baseball super regionals and College World Series is my favorite time of the year. Watching college baseball is one of the purest forms of a sport where everyone plays everyday (I just found out Barry Bonds doesn't play on Sundays) and the players leave everything they have on the field and sacrifice their bodies for a shot at the promise land, Omaha.

The game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Michigan Wolverines was a pitcher's duel for the ages.

Zach Putnam was threw 8 and 2/3 no-hit baseball but it just goes to show you it's ultimately not how many hits you get but how many runs you put across the plate.

For the first 8 innings Zach Putnam was untouchable. He had it all working. A fastball with wicked movement, a splitter where the bottom drops out, and change up in case you fouled off the first two.

In the ninth, Putnam allowed a walk to Scott Santchi and pinch runner Braden Wells came into the game to run. Wells advanced to second on a Lonnie Lechelt sacrifice bunt. Putnam then struck out Chris Hopkins. With two outs, Joey Wong stepped up to the plate with two out in the eighth and Putnam trying to get out of the jam unscaved. Wong cooly delivered and plated Wells from second base on a base hit into left field. Oregon State's only hit of the game. The no hit bid was over. Putnam was pulled after 8 and 2/3 no hit ball.

Oregon State pitcher Jorge Reyes was no slouch either, he allowed three scattered hits and no runs in seven innings of work then gave way to Joe Patterson who worked 1 and 1/3 innings and then turned the ball over to OSU closer Eddie Kunz for the final 2 outs in the ninth.

In the Michigan half of the ninth they were unable to tie up the score and went quietly as Kunz took care of the Wolverines as OSU took the first game of the best of three super regional.

A New Look at a Growing Sport

Final News Story:

The “Iceman” Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, no, these aren’t new villians in the Marvel Comic books. These men fight for the UFC and beat people up for a living.The fights aren’t staged and rehearsed and it’s no holds barred. Recently, the UFC gained a national spotlight by taking the cover of Sports Illustrated.

There has been an explosion in the past two years of mixed martial arts fighting. Mixed martial arts are a combination of kickboxing and grappling. With the emergence of other fight leagues like the IFL (International Fight League) and Pride Fighting League in addition to the ubiquitous UFC, mixed martial arts have become a sport for the masses. The differences in the leagues are that in the UFC the fighters can use grappling or wrestling type moves as opposed to pride fighting which is more of a boxing match where kicking is allowed. The UFC also uses small gloves that provide little cushion upon impact so basically it is a bare-knuckle, street brawl. The Pride Fighting uses 10 oz gloves (as opposed to the 12 or 16 oz gloves used in sparring) and Pride Fighters are usually proficient in Muay Tuai or Kempo Karate.

Muay Tuai kickboxing is part of mixed martial arts and is sometimes called “dirty” boxing because you can kick as well as punch. The Philadelphia MMA is led by Brad Daddis who has been fighting Muay Tuai since the age of 15 and fights with the Militech Fight Camp. Daddis trains his fighters to be tough and relentless in their fighting style.

Recently I attended what is known in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) as a “smoker”. A smoker is more or less an exhibition fight. Fighters will use smokers to tune up for tournaments or other competitions.

The smokers consist of three two minute rounds. During the fight headgear, 16 oz. gloves and shinpads are used as well as a stomach pad to prevent unnecessary injury.

Nathan Nadeau, a student of the LeBow School of Business, trains at the Philadelphia MMA academy and recently had his first fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGRfr5kJ3e4.

Nadeau is entering his ninth month of training and is a level blue belt at the academy. Through his hard work and dedication he has progressed through the ranks fairly rapidly.

At the smoker, Nadeau faced an opponent from the Cherry Hill, NJ academy of MMA and was victorious in a decision after three rounds.

In the onset of the fight both fighters came from their respective corners and circled around sizing each other up.

The first round was a flurry of jabs and knees with a few kicks. Being that this was an amateur fight the punches and kicks lacked a certain crispness but the excitement of a fight was still there. Both fighters landed a few shots respectively but no one ran away with the fight.

In the second round, the Cherry Hill fighter began to tire near the end of the round and Nadeau took advantage and landed a few well placed knees. The fighters locked up a few times and needed to be broken up by the referee. The fight was starting pick up as the fighters became more comfortable in the ring. Near the end of the second round Nadeau began landing more knees and was controlling the tempo of the fight.

The third round and final round began with the ring of the bell and from the onset Nadeau showed more tenacity and heart than the other fighter. In the final round both fighters appeared exhausted but Tosti appeared to be more so than Nadeau. This was the round that proved Nadeau to be the winner over Tosti. Both fighters showed dedication and heart towards a growing sport but in the end there has to be a winner and loser in a fight and Nadeau was declared the winner by decision in the three round bout.

MMA is a sport that I was unfamiliar with but have since grown to like. The competition, tenacity and athleticism make in unlike any sport out there today and as it gains popularity it will continue to gain the admiration of its fans.

The Indian Walk; A New Ritual

Athletes are naturally superstitious.

Players will do crazy things to ride their hot streak and to get out of their slump which conjures up images of Nuke LaLoosh but we won't go there.

In my senior year of high school my baseball team made it to the semi-final game of the Western Mass tournament. My pitching coach came up to me prior to the game and asked me if I wanted to do the "Indian Walk". Naturally I was curious about it and asked what it was. He told me the story of when he pitching in the minors and he was out for a night on the town and had a little too much fun and lost his shoes.

He walked back to the hotel it started to snow which was unusual for april. He ended up walking all the way back in the snow and he was pitching that day. After his walk, he pitched one of the best games of his life. A 3-hit shut out. He attributed his success to his walk earlier that day and his teammates dubbed it the "Indian Walk".

I'm not sure how much of this story I believe but before the game that day we raked the dirt in front of our dugout so it was nice and smooth and a younger member of the team took his shoes off and walked across the dirt which was supposed to bring us luck. We made our own "Indian Walk"

In the end, we ended up losing that game so I don't know how much luck it actually brought us but I was part of a new found tradition that is done every year before a playoff game. So in a way we became part of something bigger than the game that will last for a long while.

Rugby: That Other Very Violent Sport People Watch Religiously

By: Joel Brennan

To the unknowledgeable viewer, the sport of rugby looks like an extremely violent car crash. The game is contested by two 15-player teams squaring off on a field, called a pitch, which measures a maximum 70 meters by 100 meters, in two 40-minute halves. Scoring in each match can be like baseball, either feast or famine, where teams can score at will or fight to score once.

A try, the equivalent of a touchdown in football, is equaled to five points, with the conversion kick worth two. To score a try, a player must successfully cross the in-goal line and place the ball on the ground. If the ball does not touch the ground, a try cannot be score. Unlike an extra point attempt, the conversion kick does not occur in the center of the pitch, but rather 15 meters from the in-goal line and the point on the pitch where the try was scored. For example, if a try was scored in the corner of the in-goal, the player will attempt the conversion kick 15 meters back and next to the sideline.

The third way of scoring is off of a penalty kick. This can be an uncontested drop kick or a kick off of a tee, but it either case, a successful kick results in three points.

The last way of scoring is a drop kick which is worth three points, similarly to a field goal. To successfully score a drop kick, a player must be running with the ball, drop it in front of them, and then kick it through the narrow up-rights. The up-rights are 5.6 meters wide, with the crossbar three meters high, and are positioned at the front of the in-goal.

With members of my family who have played the sport, I felt that this project gave me the opportunity to witness physicality of the game firsthand and learn about the sport that they each chose to play.

Joe and Bill Hughes are members of the Valley Forge Rugby Club (VFRC), which combines students from Spring-Ford, Phoenixville, and Owen J. Roberts High Schools. Joe is a senior at Spring-Ford, and is also a senior leader on the team. He plays a position known as outside center, which is the football equivalent of a wide receiver. The outside center is usually the fastest player on the team, has good hands, and can make plays in the open field. He waits along the outer perimeter, of the action, looking for a pass and a chance to break a long run. Bill, the shorter of the brothers, but larger in stature, is among the pack of players that fight for the ball in the center of the pitch. He plays flanker, primarily, which is like a mid-fielder in soccer. They attack when necessary, but are responsible for preventing the other team crossing the half-way line (midfield).

In a recent match between the VFRC and Bishop Shanahan, the two sides opened the match with some sloppy play, but the boys from Valley Forge would gather their composure to pull out a closely fought 10-5 win.

With more than 10 minutes gone, Valley Forge strung together a dozen passes and marched down the pitch. Flanker Eric Perry dove from five meters out to score the try and the first points. The subsequent conversion kick sailed wide left and the score remained 5-0. VFRC Head Coach Michael Badger said, “I was impressed by the team’s cohesiveness and ability to score on that drive.”

Later in the first half, Valley Forge was trying to start another long drive when a bad pass led to a Shanahan try. Chris Pettine scooped up the ball and ran in from 13 meters out. Another failed conversion kick, this one off of the upright, led to the tied score, 5-5.

With the teams trading possession, the remaining ten minutes passed with little ball movements by both squads. At the end of the first half, the teams parted the field with the score still tied. An exhausted Joe Hughes said at the end of the half, “We should be winning right now, but they’ve played some great defense.”

The second half started off the same way the first ended, as a defensive struggle. Long runs by Hughes, Brennan Conway, and Quintus Smith led to possible scoring chances, but the Bishop Shanahan defense tighten up and stopped the long drives. However, the drives did lead to poor field position for Shanahan.

After one such drive, Shanahan was putting together a nice drive when Pettine was the recipient of a hard hit by Bill Hughes. The hit caused a loose ball that was quickly recovered by Michael Kelly of Valley Forge. “I think that was the hardest I’ve ever hit anyone,” said Hughes. On the ensuing possession, the other Hughes brother broke a long run down the left sideline for the second try, with 2:17 remaining in the match. The location of the conversion kick made it nearly impossible for a right-footed kicker to make, thus it was no surprise when the kick was missed.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Shanahan attempted one last drive, but came up short as Conway intercepted a pass. The change of possession ended regulation time and the boys from Valley Forge prevailed with the final score 10-5.

The Man of the Match award went to Brennan Conway for his defensive leadership. “This was a tough match and I’m just happy we pull it out,” Conway said after the match. Badger said he was happy with his team’s second half performance. “The front line guys helped make things happen. Bill came through with the game changing play. Overall it was a solid performance,” said Badger.

The win elevates Valley Forge to 5-2 and into a three way tie with Bishop Shanahan and Unionville. All three are a game back of Downingtown, who sit at 6-1.

Missed Opportunity Story

Gina Carrano

Paper No. 3

Missed opportunity story

On Sunday, October 1, 2006, before a packed house in the Bronx, the New York Yankees trailed the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5-7 in the ninth inning. It was the final game of the regular season. The Blue Jays had long since been eliminated from postseason contention and the Yankees had already clinched home field advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs. But what might have seemed like a meaningless game was transformed into an event to remember for Yankee fans when Bernie Williams, the team’s longtime center fielder and designated hitter, came to the plate with two out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth.

As soon as Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium, announced, “Now pinch hitting: Bernie Williams,” the Stadium practically shook. Loud cheers reverberated throughout the stands as the fans chanted, “Ber-nie! Ber-nie!” As Williams smoked a double down the right field line, the applause and ovations from the stands grew almost deafening. These were the same cries of encouragement and support that Williams had been hearing for 16 seasons, and the fans realized they were witnessing a special moment—it would probably be the last time they’d see Williams, who had spent his entire career with the Yankees, playing in a game.

Just over nine months later, the fans’ October suspicions appear to have been correct. The Yankees are about a third of the way into their 2007 season, and for the first time in what seems like forever to some, they’re playing without fan favorite Williams.

Williams, who burst onto the Yankee scene as a soft-spoken but graceful and talented outfielder in 1991, was as much a fixture at Yankee Stadium as staples like hot dogs, beer and Monument Park. Throughout his tenure in the Bronx, he helped lead the team to four World Series championships and also garnered numerous individual honors such as the 1996 American League Championship Series MVP, the 1998 AL batting title (.339), and four Gold Gloves at the center field position (1997-2000.)

When he was a rookie in 1991, Williams fought hard to even become an everyday player with the Yankees, as he had to battle veteran players like All-Star Roberto Kelly for playing time in the outfield. But the Yankees liked his athletic prowess, quiet confidence and ability as a switch hitter, so eventually he became a permanent fixture with the team. Back then, however, little did anyone know that Williams would become arguably the most popular Yankee of a generation.

As the years went by, the other faces in the Yankee outfield changed. But Bernie was the constant, the ones the fans loved and came to see. At the beginning of every game, as he trotted out to take his place in the field, the “Bleacher Creatures”—a long-standing nickname for Yankee fans who sat in the bleachers behind center field—would serenade him by chanting his name, showing their love and appreciation for all he did to help the team.

But like the cliché says, all good things must come to an end, and Williams’ time in baseball was no exception. Eventually, his fielding skills, which were once considered among the best of any outfielder’s in the league, started to decline, and Williams begun to ponder retirement in 2005, the last season of a seven-year deal he’d signed with the Yankees in 1998. But although his glove wasn’t what it had once been, Williams knew his bat had not gone silent yet. In the 2005-06 offseason, he and the Yankees found the perfect solution to best maximize his skills: the designated hitter position. Williams signed a one-year deal with the plan that he’d act exclusively as the DH. In order to do so, he took a pay cut of over 11 million dollars, and even willingly relinquished his old CF position to Johnny Damon, a former member of the rival Boston Red Sox, but it didn’t matter to Bernie; he just wanted to play baseball, and was only interested in doing so with the Yankees, the only team he had ever known.

In 2006, Williams got more playing time than was expected. He played many games in the designated hitter spot as planned, but due to serious injuries sustained by everyday right and left fielders Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, he even got into 91 games as an outfielder. Williams’ final 2006 numbers indicated that his bat indeed still had a lot of life in it; in 420 at-bats, he hit .281 with 12 home runs and 61 RBI. He was particularly effective against left-handed pitching, batting .323 and slugging .549 from the right side of the plate.

But by the end of the 2006 season, whispers throughout the New York media indicated that despite Williams’ successful year with the bat, there would be no spot for the popular veteran on the team next year. The Yankees planned to use the defensively proficient youngster Melky Cabrera as the utility outfielder to back up regulars Matsui, Damon and Bobby Abreu, and manager Joe Torre said that it was crucial to Cabrera’s continued development to get him as many at-bats as possible in 2007. Between the crowded outfield and the injury-proneness of Jason Giambi, which required the Yankees to make him the everyday DH and use a righty/lefty platoon at first base, this left Williams without a roster spot.

Many fans couldn’t imagine the Yankees without their beloved Bernie. But in February 2007, the news broke that they very well might have to do so. Rather than finding a spot on the roster for the 38-year-old free agent Williams, the Yankees offered him a minor-league contract, wherein he’d have to come to spring training and compete with other players for a regular season roster spot.

Williams didn’t give the Yankees a response to their offer right away, but by the time spring exhibition games started on March 1, and there was still no sign of the popular player in Florida, his absence spoke louder than any words could. So began the end of a long and successful chapter in Yankee lore.

Williams was missed sorely at Spring Training by his teammates, many of whom sympathized with his position, and all of whom were saddened to see his tenure in Yankee pinstripes come to an end.

“As a 16-year veteran, it’s tough to come to spring trying to earn a job,” said catcher Jorge Posada. “To be here and be fighting for a job, it’s really tough to swallow when it comes to Bernie Williams.”

First baseman Andy Phillips eloquently expressed what Williams had meant to both him and the team, saying, “I have the utmost respect for Bernie…You hate to see anything come to an end at any time for a guy like that, because he’s been such a special guy for this place. I want the best for him because he’s been great to me.”

Relief pitcher Mariano Rivera conveyed his feelings on the situation very succinctly. “As a player, as a teammate, I want him to be here,” he said.

Williams, a musician who is often described as sensitive and pensive, sounded magnanimous when he talked about his situation to reporters from the New York Daily News. “I have to do what’s best for me and my family,” he said. “It’s just part of the game. [The Yankees] have a responsibility to make a decision for the benefit of the club. That’s what makes this game interesting.”

There were initially murmurings throughout baseball about Williams working out at home and staying in shape should the Yankees need him later in the season because of injury to one of their regular outfielders, but with the All-Star break only a little over a month away, all thoughts of a triumphant Williams return appear to be dead now.

Much has been made in the media about the state of Williams’ relationship and negotiations with the Yankees, but very little has been written about how it feels for Williams, who has been wearing the classic pinstripes longer than anyone else on the team, to enter this state of flux, transition and uncertainty in his life.

Changes in Sports Journalism

Gina Carrano
Mini-project No. 10

If I ruled the world, there are numerous changes I would make in the way sports and journalism intersect. The first and biggest one would be to eliminate biased fan commentary that often passes as journalism. In both print and broadcast media, there are many sports reporters that blindly root for their home team or favorite team rather than providing unbiased game commentary. This is particularly prevalent in baseball reporting. The Chicago White Sox’ TV broadcasters, for example, regularly refer to the White Sox as “the good guys” and the opposing team as “the bad guys” while calling games. That is one of the more extreme examples, but bias at all levels is present in reporting from media outfits of all types.

Broadcasters and writers often let their personal feelings about a team or a player get in the way of their reporting. New York Yankees commentator Michael Kay is a perfect example of this kind of bias. For unknown reasons, Kay seems to have a beef of some sort with Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina, so whenever The Moose pitches, the bias in Kay’s commentary is so extreme that it often renders the entire broadcast unlistenable. Bias like this even takes place on national networks like ESPN. Take baseball broadcaster Joe Morgan, for example. In my opinion, Morgan resents the Yankees because their late ‘90’s championship dynasty was longer and more impressive than that of the 1975 and ‘76 “Big Red Machine” World Series winning teams on which Morgan played. These resentments often compromise the accuracy and fairness of his game coverage. I have also noticed that Morgan seems to be unreasonably hard on some of baseball’s more controversial and outspoken managers, such as Ozzie Guillen, Tony LaRussa and Lou Piniella.

ESPN’s bias and preferential treatment extends to other sports, too—for instance, NFL commentator Michael Irvin. This former Cowboys player and current Cowboys apologist provided coverage of Tiki Barber’s retirement that was ridiculously one-sided and totally skewed against Tiki and the Giants. Because of this biased “journalism,” a casual fan watching ESPN would never even have heard Tiki’s side of the story as to why he was retiring.

I understand that most journalists have followed, and in many cases played the sport they cover for many years, so it’s only natural that they’d have slanted opinions or allegiances, but I don’t think these things have any place in journalism. This bias, or homerism as some call it, distorts game coverage and insults the reader or listener’s intelligence. I believe journalists should respect the sport they cover enough to just let it be what it is and allow the viewer to make his or her own decisions about what is happening, rather than deciding for the viewer that a certain call was correct, a certain play was dirty, and so on. If editors and producers demanded integrity and fairness in reporting, sports journalism would be better off for it.

The second thing I’d change is more specific—not only does it involve only one sport, baseball, but it involves only one player, Alex Rodriguez. Quite simply, I think sports journalists’ compulsions to report exhaustively on everything Alex says or does on and off the field have grown out of control. Both the New York media and ESPN are guilty of this, and at times throughout the past year or so, their constantly taking A-Rod’s moral inventory has reached levels of near-lunacy. If I had a dollar for every time Mike Vaccaro (in the NY Post) or John Kruk (on ESPN) let a really exciting aspect of a game go unmentioned so they could instead repeatedly harp on the fact that A-Rod struck out three times or left two men on base, I’d be rich.

This constant coverage of all things A-Rod is ridiculous because it’s the same thing over and over, and no one wants to hear it. That’s what’s most ironic about the whole thing—for the life of me, I cannot figure out whom, exactly, these stories are supposed to satisfy. Yankee fans don’t like them because most of the press he gets is negative and distracting, and Yankee haters don’t like them because while they might enjoy seeing A-Rod get bad publicity, they get sick of hearing about him all the time. I even get sick of hearing about him and I’m a fan of his, so I can’t even imagine how annoying it is for those who don’t like him. The media needs to tone its obsessive reporting on Alex down a notch, and if they spent some of their time reporting interesting stories on less well-known players instead, sports journalism would be better and more vibrant for it.

Speaking of the paltry amount of press coverage granted to players who are less well-known than the A-Rods, Pujolses and Bondses of the world brings me to the third and final change I’d make in the world of sports journalism. I would not only increase the level of media attention that less-known players get, but I’d also alter the types of stories that are most commonly covered by sports journalists.

First, I’d make sure the big-name players got a little less coverage and some of the more “underground” players got more. Sports reporters may think that fans only want to read about the big names, but how do they know unless they try? Until they actually print a story about someone like, say, Giants punter Jeff Feagles, how do they know that people would rather read yet another human interest feature detailing Eli and Peyton Manning’s family relationships?

There are many athletes who have backstories that are interesting, inspirational or both. St. Louis Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein is a perfect example of this. Eckstein fought—and beat—very serious health problems to get where he is today, and where he is today is a two-time World Series champion. His story is an inspiration to anyone who has ever been told they couldn’t be the best because they weren’t the biggest, strongest or fastest. I love watching him on the field, I revel in the heart and hustle he brings to any team he is on, and I’d love to learn more about his life off the field, but because he’s not as high-profile as a Derek Jeter or a Jose Reyes, he is hardly ever written about.

The same is true of the game-related issues that sports journalists choose to cover—they always go for the loudest, most high-profile storylines. I notice that in baseball, there are always way more stories about hitting than pitching and defense. I know that to the masses, reading about Ryan Howard hitting a mammoth game-tying home run will always be more exciting than reading about Jamie Moyer inducing an inning-ending double play. And I accept that, even though I might not agree. But just because most people care more about offense doesn’t mean there should be no room for stories about defense—how about an espn.com article about Omar Vizquel’s glove instead of an all-too-common one about Barry Bonds’ bat? Pitching and defense are important elements of what makes baseball the great game it is, and sports journalism would be much more exciting and diverse if there was equal coverage granted to all facets of the game.

So, there you have it—the three changes I’d make in the way the worlds of sports and journalism intersect. Sorry my rants were a bit lengthy, but once I get started on complaining about people like Joe Morgan, it is hard to stop.

Child's Play

Gina Carrano
Mini-project #9

When I set about looking for a child who plays a sport to interview for this mini-project, the first thing I came to realize is how few children on teams I know nowadays. I am one of the youngest of my many cousins, so I didn't have any younger cousins to speak to and although a few of my older cousins are married with kids by now, none of their children are old enough to play competitive sports yet. So I talked to 16-year-old Katie Westerduin, a high school junior and softball pitcher in Glen Rock, N.J. Although Katie is in high school now, she has been playing softball since she was in second grade, and also played basketball and soccer in elementary and middle school. Based on her years of experience in competitive sports, she was able to offer a unique perspective on how her views of sports and of competing have changed in the time she's been playing.

Of the three sports Katie has played in her life, softball is not only her favorite but also the one she's played for longest. She started when she was about seven, playing casual games with her friends after school and in the park, and loved it so much that only a short while later, she was playing in her town rec league every year. She also played basketball and soccer at the rec center, but she always did those things with the mind that they were just for fun, whereas softball was something she wanted to keep playing into the foreseeable future. And she did, eventually quitting the soccer and basketball but staying with softball, playing on the rec center teams all the way through junior high, including the travel team from sixth grade until eighth.

Softball has been a part of Katie's life for years, but her interest in the sport is entirely voluntary. Though she does come from a family that is both athletic and active with sports and teams around town, her parents always let her make her own decisions when it came to sports, never encouraging her to "choose" one sport over another and always supporting her love of dodgeball.

Today, now that she is on her high school's team, Katie's commitment to the sport is even greater, but, she says, "it is still fun." In her freshman and sophomore years, she moved up through her high school's junior varsity team, and in her 10th grade year her chance to join varsity halfway through the season as a backup pitcher came. She never looked back, getting and keeping the full-time pitching job at the start of her junior year, and playing first base for the rare game in which she doesn't pitch.

Although softball is something Katie enjoys immensely, it is time-consuming as well. The team practices every day and she often puts in her own work at home in addition to that, and they also play between 3 and 4 games a week. Katie also takes weekly pitching and hitting lessons. This is something she does of her own volition, not on the suggestion of parents or coaches, and although she does do it in part to improve her game, she also honestly enjoys learning new techniques--that they help her team win games is an added bonus.

Softball is something Katie will always love, but when asked about whether she plans to keep playing the sport after high school, she says that she will probably not do so competitively. She doesn't think she will join her college team, but she will keep playing ball for fun and maybe even continue to take hitting and pitching lessons when she is home on breaks. She loves the competition and thrill of winning that comes along with playing on a school team, and she will mis that, she says, but in the end that is not her primary motivation for playing softball. Instead, she plays because she loves the mechanics of the game, loves to pitch--and as long as she can do that, be it in an organized team competition or in a pickup game, she will always be a softball player at heart.

Where The Girls Aren't

Gina Carrano
Mini-project #6

Throughout the years, a lot of my elementary school days have been long forgotten, but I will always remember the day in fourth grade when my gym teacher introduced us to dodgeball. She showed us how to play with a few quick drills, and I was absolutely enthralled when I realized dodgeball was a game that I could win basically by having a good arm and being able to catch a ball rather than having it hit me. Throwing and catching were my sole athletic skills, but I never fared very well with baseball due to not being a very good hitter. I was a very competitive kid, however, and always wanted to win--finally, here was a game I felt I could be the best at.

When my gym teacher got our class into our first game, the other girls hung back and seemed reluctant but I couldn't wait to try it out. As I had suspected I would, I loved playing it and ended up being pretty decent at it, almost always managing to duck the ball when it came my way and firing the ball in with accuracy to hit even the fastest runners in my class. It also probably helped that I was a girl and small for my age, so no one really seemed to figure me for a dodgeball threat, and I was able to use this naiveté to my advantage to execute sneak attacks on unassuming targets on the other side of the court.

We only played dodgeball in gym class for a few more weeks before moving onto another sport; however, like most games played in elementary school gyms, this one eventually moved out to the playground at recess. And like any other sport, as soon as it moved outside the friendly confines of gym class the rules grew more lax and the competitive atmosphere grew thicker.

The playground dodgeball games were all organized by the boys, and none of the girls except me were interested in playing. Especially since the "friendly dodgeball" we were required to play in class could now become a little bit more aggressive, the boys thought it was "their" sport and the girls mostly stayed out of it. I was the only girl who ever asked to play and I got denied multiple times. At the time, I didn't really understand this. I knew that girls and boys weren't athletic equals from watching professional sports on TV and watching the girls soccer team my dad coached. But what boggled me was that when we had played dodgeball in class, I was always the first girl picked. If I played the game well in class, why did they think I wouldn't play just as well at recess? If they wanted me on their team then, why not now?

I asked them as much and they basically told me in so many words that sports were different in class than they were out on the playground with a group of guys. I forget exactly what they said, but it was basically that the games were going to be too aggressive for a girl, in fourth-grade vernacular. I was discouraged and hurt, but I was also kind of shy and didn't press the matter any further at that time.

As far as how I felt about it though, it didn't change my view of sports because I think I already knew that boys and girls weren't athletic equals. This I had gleaned at a young age from watching the difference between a game played by the girls soccer team my dad coached, and a pickup game played by my dad and his friends. I knew that guys took and gave more hard knocks than girls did when they were playing. But I also truly believed that even though I may not be as strong as them, I could hang in with them or even beat them when it came to dodgeball. And being excluded didn't change my level of interest in dodgeball or my desire to play; if anything, it only made me want to play more to prove to them I could do it.

Eventually, I did prove myself somewhat. Whenever we played dodgeball in gym from that point on, I always went out of my way to step up and play as well as I possibly could. Once the boys saw that I could really play and that I wouldn't cry or anything if I got hit hard by a ball, they eventually relented and let me play in their recess games sometimes. Even all these years later, I still enjoy playing dodgeball and talk my friends or my cousins into getting a friendly game together every so often (this has become easier to do since the popularity of the movie Dodgeball with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. ) And even all these years later, I still go out of my way to play as hard as possible and try to beat the boys.

A Second Chance

Gina Carrano
Mini-project #6

The sports-related story I reviewed was "Back In The Game," written by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports on May 12, 2007. The article discussed the recent improbable and inspiring comeback of the Cincinnati Reds' Josh Hamilton, a talented outfielder and former first-round draft pick whose potential had never come to fruition because of drug addiction.

In 1999, Hamilton was drafted first overall, out of high school, by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Like any first overall pick, he was considered to be an impact player with extraordinary all-around athleticism and a very high ceiling. But he would not play in the majors until Opening Day 2007. While he was working his way through the minors after being drafted, he violated Major League Baseball's drug policy and was ultimately suspended from baseball in February 2004 for violating the league's joint treatment and prevention program (according to mlb.com.)

Hamilton was out of the game until June 2006, when he convinced MLB to let him return to play in a low level of Tampa Bay's minor league system. He played 15 games in the New York-Penn League in 2006, was later acquired by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft. The Reds obtained him in an offseason trade, and it was in Cincinnati that Hamilton got the opportunity he'd dreamed of for so long, the one he thought his addiction might rob him of--he'd finally made it to the big club.

And as soon as he got there, he started making up for lost time. He clubbed long home runs, ran the bases well, and nailed down opposing base runners from the outfield with his strong, accurate throwing arm. The offensive tear he was on to begin the season has slowed down some, and he is currently batting .264 with 8 home runs, 18 RBI, 20 runs scored and 3 stolen bases, but it's apparent that he still has the skills to be a very good all-around player.

More impressive than even the gaudiest stats, however, is Hamilton's resurgence, which is the main topic of the Tim Brown article. His comeback is truly against all odds, and it's a feel-good story for a baseball season otherwise mired in beanballs, strange umpire calls and steroid controversies. It makes baseball seem refreshing again, like a sport where anything can happen--including Josh Hamilton, who was once thought to never amount to anything in the majors as a result of his addiction, having his name tossed around as a candidate for National League Rookie of the Year. The article quoted Hamilton's reaction to this news: he laughed and said, "I'm sorry. Rookie of the what?"

The article also discusses the gratitude Hamilton feels for his second chance. He is grateful to be sober and doing what he loves. "It's getting out of bed every morning and knowing I didn't do anything last night to mess up today," Hamilton was quoted as saying in the article.

I chose to review this article because I think Hamilton's comeback is an interesting and inspirational human-interest story, and I wanted to investigate how it was covered by sports journalists. I thought Brown's coverage of it was pretty fair and thorough. I particularly liked his use of quotes from Hamilton, each one was somewhat colorful and not at all dull or canned and illustrated Brown's points well. He also included interesting details about Hamilton's family coming to see him at games. Overall, the story was a good balance of compassionate details and baseball talk; Brown also discussed Hamilton's stats and the strong points and weak points of his game, as well as providing a great quote by Reds reliever Mike Stanton about how impressed he was with Hamilton's bat speed.

The only area in which I thought the article needed improvement was details about the history of how Hamilton got where he is today. It talked about how he was first overall draft pick, didn't play for years due to suspension, and then finally began his path back to the majors last year, but it didn't mention when or why he got suspended, nor did it talk much about how exactly he found his way back. I was curious about these details, but had to find them out from Hamilton's mlb.com player bio instead of reading them in the article.

Although the Reds are a small-market team, I'm glad Hamilton's story is getting lots of national press conference nonetheless. Hopefully his comeback serves to remind many that life is full of second chances--I know that's what I get from it, and I will be rooting for a happy ending to Hamilton's new beginning.

"This is Spiral Tap"

How To Efficiently Throw A Spiral With A Football
By: Joel Brennan

The art of throwing a football in a nice spiral depends solely on the throwing form of the individual. There are many tiny steps that will need to be followed and understood to fully comprehend the mechanics. As a former high school quarterback, I was shown the proper technique to accomplish this feat.

The first part of this task is being aware of your surroundings. It’s best to stand at least ten feet away from your target and make sure you are in an open area, as it may take time to perfect the process and there is always the possibility of an errant pass.

(Note: To make this easy to follow, I will describe each step as though a right-handed person is throwing the ball. If you are left-handed, simply swap ‘left’ where each ‘right’ appears, and vice versa for each ‘left’ that appears.)

Step one is getting yourself into an optimal throwing position. This means standing perpendicular to your target with your feet shoulder length apart and your left leg closest to the target.

An essential piece of information is how to properly grip the football. Personally, I place my last two fingers on the laces, my middle finger next to the laces, my index finger around the tip, or the nose of the ball, and my thumb on the bottom of the ball, mirroring my index finger. You can make adjustments to this set-up, except the index finger and thumb. Make sure you are comfortable with the fingering before continuing.

The following steps are listed as individual mechanical movements, but it will become important to progress through these in one fluid motion.

Using your other hand as support, raise your arm to shoulder height and position the ball approximately three inches from your ear. As you begin your throwing motion, take a small step forward with your left leg; make sure your foot is pointed at your target. As you do this, rotate your hips counter-clockwise. In addition to this, you will need to take your left hand off of the ball and use it as a guide, pointed at the target and parallel to the ground. Now, move the ball slightly above your head, forming a 90-degree angle with your elbow. When you are ready to throw, rotate your arm forward, releasing the ball at its highest point. After you release the ball, continue the throwing motion by bring your right hand down to your left hip.

Once again, these steps are broken down mechanically and may seem awkward at first.
However, to perfect the throw, you will need to practice these steps until it becomes natural and comfortable. After practicing this process, you can increase more velocity to your throws and you will notice a tighter spiral.

Minority Report

By: Joel Brennan

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black major league baseball player. Today, black athletes only comprise 8.5% of Major League Baseball (MLB), according to a study conducted at the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. This number has been on a steady decline since the highpoint of 25% in 1975.

With the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s debut occurring a few months, sports journalists/communist took the opportunity to tell of a memorable moment they had of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodger. Some took the time to look at the impact Robinson had on the game. Even fewer column inches were used to look at the staggering numbers presented in the Racial and Gender Report Card (UCF’s study).

Current players feel that the league itself is at fault for not properly marketing their black stars like Ryan Howard or Dontrelle Willis. Veteran outfielder Kenny Lofton, currently playing for the Texas Rangers, said, "I think Major League Baseball doesn't hype the sport like they do in the NBA or NFL and African-Americans love the hype. You see how the NBA and NFL does it. That's all kids talk about in the neighborhood because of how they're being hyped." Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter agrees with Lofton saying, “"They don't market the game the same as the NFL or NBA."

Few journalists could offer an opinion or thought as to why the black population is down in America’s pastime. However, Chris Isidore of CNNMoney.com offered the possibility of it being an economical decision made by teams to not invest the time and money in scouting and developing young black baseball players. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Garrett Anderson also feels that economics plays a part in the problem. “"Baseball can't compete with basketball or football when you're talking about inner-city kids," said Anderson. Hunter compares it an elitist sport saying, “Baseball is almost like a country club - it costs money to get in."

MLB has taken steps to recruit inner-city athletes, but economics remains an issue. Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) was started 18 years ago in South Central Los Angeles. Currently, RBI is an international program that has as many as 120,000 people participating in it. However, RBI board member Darrell Miller has expressed similar thoughts as Hunter and Anderson saying that black athletes are "kind of economically priced out of the game." This being due to their parents not being able to afford all of the necessary equipment needed to play.

Miller also points out those inner-city players are unable to afford the instruction they need to completely understand the game. By the time they reach high school they are unable to compete with those who have had the proper instruction. "They either choose another sport or drop baseball because they're competing against kids who have been playing their whole lives,” Miller said.

At the college level economics also has become an influencing factor in decreased participation. In 2003-04, only 6 percent of Division-I baseball players were black, compared with an overall representation of nearly 25 percent in all sports. At the College World Series, that same season, only 11 of the 200 participating players (5.5%) were black.

Starting in 1992, the NCAA limited scholarships to 11.7 per baseball team at the Division-I level. In doing so, they made full scholarships a rarity, thus forcing many players to pay their own way. Also, the limitations have forced universities to eliminate freshman and JV teams.

"You add all that together and you have a perfect little recipe for the inner-city athlete choosing another sport over baseball," Miller said.

In an article written by Elliott James of The Hilltop, a student newspaper at Howard University, several students expressed similar sentiments about the decline in participation.

“I think one of the major factors leading to the decrease when it comes to baseball is the lack of support for inner-city programs,” said Myron Aldridge, a junior mechanical engineering major who formerly played the sport in high school. “A lot of the inner-city leagues have been cut because there isn’t enough money.”

Current Detroit Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield, notoriously outspoken on many topics, spoke on the topic to GQ magazine. In the interview, he offers another theory to the decline, claiming that African-Americans are harder to control than
Latin players.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.
"Major League Baseball is very much aware of the numbers and takes the issue very seriously," MLB spokesman Rich Levin said. "We've been making great efforts to re-introduce the game to the inner city. It's going to take a lot of work. We've begun to see some results, but we realize it's going to take continued efforts.”
"It's a big subject for the 8 percent of us that are here (in the majors). Oh yeah, it's a big subject," Hunter said. "That's why I finally said, 'Let's stop talking about it. Let's do something. Let's get our faces out there so kids know who we are and where we are.'"

Levin also said, “We are the sport of Jackie Robinson and for a period after that the best African-American athletes were playing baseball. Obviously, that is no longer the case and we need to change that."

In addition to the lack of black players in the sport, there is also a lack of black coaches, executives, and owners. Currently, there is no team with a black majority owner, only one General Manager (Ken Williams of the Chicago White Sox), and only two black managers (Willie Randolph of the New York Mets and Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers). Despite all of this, MLB received a B+ in the category of diversity from the Report Card. This is primarily due to the 28.7% and 2.5% of Hispanic and Asian players, respectively, in the league. The percentage of Hispanic players has nearly doubled since 1990.