Are Rivalries Good for Baseball?

If you ask me, rivalries are excellent for baseball. Fans and players love that kind of tension going into a game. It makes it more fun, entertaining, and makes the players play at a higher level then usual. You cant let the other team have bragging rights for the year or till the next time they play in the regular season. Its one of the worse things a team can allow to the other. Newspapers, magazines, radios, and TV stations will talk about it for the whole week. Players, coaches, owners, and fans hate having to listen to it.
One of the biggest rivalries is between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. When these 2 teams meet up, its always a great game. Players go at with each other. Fans go at it and sometimes the coaches will even go at it. It makes a game that people find lazy and boring that much more exciting to watch and they even enjoy it. Other rivalries like the Cubs and Brewers, Braves and Mets, Yankees and Mets, and Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs all make the baseball season that much more enjoyable.

The Yanks and Red Sox have been dueling it out ever since the famous trade these 2 made that sent Babe Ruth to the Yanks some think its from the 1904 pennant race. The Sox and Yanks have given us the pennant races of '48 and '49, Aaron Boone's unlikely walkoff, and Boston's impossible comeback in the 2004 ALCS. And as with any good blood feud, there's been plenty of on-field violence, including Pedro Martinez's judo-toss of Don Zimmer and any number of brawls involving Carlton Fisk.This is one of the most heated rivalries in all of baseball which makes me, a Yankee fan that much more excited for spring training to get and eventually the regular season. Its America's past time, how cant you enjoy the sport of baseball?

2 Football Leagues and their Differences

Why is American Football sometimes confused with Euopean Football? They don't use the same balls. They have different rules. They look nothing a like but yet people still get the 2 confused. The difference is just simply by definition. Football is a sport where the hands are used to control the ball during the game. Where Euopean Football or what we know it as, Soccer is controled by the feet and only the goalie can use his or her hands to stop the ball from going into the net.

American Football

• played with a ball that is shaped like a lemon
• when the ball carrier is tackled it is considered a down
• the play starts again in a formation where one team has the ball and the other defends.
• Unlike in soccer, you are allowed to tackle or bring the player with the ball to the ground
• Yellow flags are thrown by the refs in american football for penalties such as holding, facemask tackle, unsportsman like, clipping, and offsides on the offsense or defense

European Football

• A football match has two halves of 45 minutes each
• A referee and two linesmen supervise the game
• A player can use any part of his body except the hands and arms
• yellow and red cards are given out by the refs depending on how severe the penalty is. If youre awarded a red card, youre thrown out of the game and suspended for the next one

European football was created before American football was in the turn of the 21st century. American football has only been around since 1869 when the Rutgers played Princeton, 2 college teams now a days.

The Baseball Season From 2012....

Was the baseball season from 2012 full of more cinderella stories or was it a typical season with the same teams winning the division crowns? Was it just a fluke that the Washington Nationals and Baltimore O's made the playoffs and almost won their divisions or is this a sign that both teams are now contenders and should be looked at as a threat? The O's snuck into the playoffs as a wild card team but they seemed to have some luck by their side by winning 16 straight extra-inning affairs. The Nationals on the other hand were in first place for most of the year while riding on a picture who could only pitch 160 innings during the season before being shut down because of a past Tommy John surgery(Stephen Strausburg). They also were riding on a 18 year outfielder who ended up winning rookie of year for the national league (Bryce Harper).

However i believe that the O's did have some luck in winning 16 straight extra-inning games that helped them get into the post season. Winning that many extra inning games is very difficult because eventually you run out of a bullpen that can keep you going. So who do you turn to after the bullpen is shot? Well for the O's they turned to a first basemen who hasnt pitched since college ball and he came in and won the game for them. Clearly that night they had some angle looking down on them.
I dont beleive the critics out in the world that say they had one lucky season

I do think the Nationals earned their spot into the playoffs but just didnt have enough experience to make it any further then the first round. Should they have shut down there ace and let him pitch in the playoffs? I say yes only because he wasnt showing a slowing down near the end like everyone thought he would but im also not a doctor, im just a fan who wanted to see a team make a great story for me to tell my kids when im older. 

Overall the 2012 baseball season was one to remember. Baseball had its first triple crown winner in 45 year with Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. 2012 was just another season with its up and downs but it certainly did have its exciting moments with history being made. Lets just hope baseball will continue to be this exciting for the future years to come.

 

The Story Behind the Beloved ESPN

The Entertainment and Sports Programing Network or what most people know it by, the ESPN channel was founded by a guy named Bill Rasmussen, along with his son Scott Rasmussen, and an Aetna Insurance agent, Ed Eagan.  Bill, who was one of those guys who absolutely loved sports and always tried to be around them, was fired from his position as the communications manager for the Hartford Whalers in 1978. This was where Bill ended meeting Eagan who displayed an interest in building a career in television. Eagan shortly approached Bill with the idea of creating a monthly cable show covering Connecticut sports and was curious to see if the Whalers Company would be interested in being the main feature on the show. After being jobless for a few months Bill came up with the idea to start a cable network that would cover the whole state of Connecticut. With both of them having very little cable television knowledge, they knew it was going to be a difficult challenge to get this idea to actually work. It also would become very difficult because of low percentage of families receiving cable at there home. The rate was only at 20% for families who had a cable TV in their living room.

In the summer of 1978, Bill, Ed and his associate Bob Beyus, who owned a video production company, began to look for support from other cable operators and potential investors for the sports channel which they had come to name ESP(Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). They began to pitch their idea on June 26. They ended up inviting 12 representatives from local cable operators, only 5 accepted the offer. In spite of these initial difficulties, the ESP Network was incorporated on July 14, 1978 for a fee around $91. Eventually more and more cable companies would become highly interested in the ESP Network and end up signing them to a TV contract. Even though they would not be hitting the air for about 6 months, in 1979 when the NCAA basketball tournament kicked off there was an audience of about 24.1 million people watching from there living rooms due to a match up between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson the tournament is regarded as having an instrumental part in ESPN's eventual success due to the fact many viewers called their cable operators complaining they wanted "that channel that has all the basketball".

Over time there have been thousands and thousands like when the Connecticut mens and womens basketball teams both won the NCAA titles for basketball. Still to this date, they are the only school to run the table and win both titles. Now ESPN can be seen in HD where you can see and hear almost everything that happens during any kind of sporting event. March 20, 2001 was the first time when ESPN introduced the idea of everything being in HD for almost every sporting event that occurred on that day. Then on January 5 in 2010 they introduced the idea of sporting events in 3D. Not exactly something I would want to watch in 3D but to some people its the best thing that has happened to sports.

 
 

Whats new in the sports world?

If you follow any kid of sports today, then you'll know what I'm talking about when I ask "Why is Mark Sanchez still the JETS quarterback?'' Well finally Rex Ryan (JETS coach) has decided to change things around and put in back up Greg McElroy for this weekends game against the San Diego Chargers. The JETS no longer have a chance to make the playoffs so it makes sense for the switch. But why did it take so long for the change to finally occur? Why did Tim Tebow never get a chance? Since they cant make the playoffs now, a lot of these questions will probably be asked.

However in a news conference when Rex announced that the change will be 100%, he quoted that "In dealing with it, I told Mark, 'I think we need to make a change,' and he respected my decision. That's not easy, that's for sure". Rex Ryan also refused to cite his reason for bypassing Tebow who has starting experience and playoff experience. He even won a playoff game last year against the always difficult Pittsburgh Steelers. You would think it would be an easy decsion on Ryan's part with the way the JETS last game ended. Sanchez played horribly in the last game against the Titans, throwing four interceptions. In fact, the Jets' last three possessions ended with a Sanchez turnover inside the Tennessee 26-yard line two interceptions and a fumbled snap in the shotgun. He leads the league with 24 turnovers an NFL-high 50 over the past two seasons.

So what happens if the JETS win there next 2 games with a rookie quarterback? Does that mean Sanchez will be out? Will Tebow really want a trade? What if happens if they continue to lose though? Will Ryan be out and someone new in? There are so many questions that need to be answered but will they ever be answered?


 http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8759414/mark-sanchez-new-york-jets-benched-greg-mcelroy-start

The Path to a Well Founded Sports Article

1) Know the Context- know players and coaches names, know the standings, know some stats about the teams and individual players. Also be up to date with some of the rules about the sport your writing about, some history about the teams and if so their rivalry, the league standings, and some calls or mistakes that were made during the game.

2) Give the major play by play- even though there are hundreds of plays and moments that happen during any sports games, you wont be able to report about all of them. So as a reporter your job is to report about the beginning, middle, and end. However you shouldn't forget about the major events that happened in the game. Like turning points, big plays, big mistakes,and momentum-builders. Keep the readers interested and get them to believe that they were there.

3)  Use quotes in your article from either coaches or some of the players that you think will be able to give you good, valuable information. Make sure to ask good questions and collect the good info they give you.

4) Dont forget to check your facts either. Make sure to have many of the players that were involved in the game so that the article isnt focued just on one person. Always double check your stuff and have someone read it over for you.

5) Have a strong lead (opening statement)- You want to start your sports article out with a strong lead, one that encapsulates the available information on "who, what, where, when, why and how." Get the readers attention. Make them want to read your article so they dont just skim through it.

6) Write clearly and concisely- You know that some sports articles can be what you might call "literary non-fiction:"  lengthy, poetic, filled with metaphor and digressions into back story. If your particular assignment requires that kind of writing, go for it. But if you read the daily sports section of your city paper, you will also notice that most of the articles reporting on the sporting events of the past day are concisely written. Use language that people will understand and not be confused about. Make it easy to understand and easy to read.

In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication, you won't be able to do this. - Wilson Minzer




This article was based on the information from this source.
http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a4594-how-to-write-a-sports-article.html

The 1920's

The 1920's, also known as the Golden age, also the decade between the end of WW1 and the start of the great depression. But also the 20's was the Age of the Spectators as new and bigger stadiums and gymnasiums were being built and the radio became the popular way of news travel. For the first time ever, large populations of Americans began to pay actual money to watch people compete in athletic contest. The 20's was when baseball stole the hearts of spectators and became the "national pastime." Still to this day baseball is considered a ''national pastime". The New York Yankees right fielder was making heads spin by hitting more home runs than any player had ever hit, exciting fans, and becoming the most famous athlete in the United States. Yes, George Hurman "Babe" Ruth was the man of the roaring 20's who made these heads spin. Babe Ruth was one of the greatest hitters of his time. Even the greatest hitter of his time had the fear of striking out but he beleived “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”

Then in August of 1954 sports journalism in America was changed forever by the birth of Sports Illustrated magazine. The first cover page of Sports Illustrated was a picture of Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Matthews taking one of his enviable home run swings. The first 5 years of the magazine were to grow the magazine towards the middle-class consumer and sports spectator and covered just about any sport it could cover. Over time the magazine started to write about football and basketball instead of just baseball. Now the magazine writes about any professional sport and also college sports and sometimes a little to do with high school.

Today sport journalist revels in the fact that one out of every five Americans is a steady customer at the local bowling alley, one out of twenty plays golf or tennis. And, when they are not playing the sport, they are most certainly watching, making the need for reporting bigger than it ever has been. For sport's biggest bills, television more often than not picks up the tab, and sports of all sorts bring out the best of TV, the imagination of its reporters, and the skills of its engineers.



The majority of this piece was written by information taken from this source
http://www.helium.com/items/1060127-a-brief-history-of-sports-journalism