Bryce Harper: Drawing Attention in AZ

Mark Gonzales put together a well organized and interesting article about young Bryce Harper. Harper is a player for the Scottsdale Scorpions who is getting a lot of attention for his strong arm and great plays. I enjoyed the fact that Gonzalez left the readers in the dark about specific facts regarding Harper until the third paragraph, where he then explained Harper's physical attributes and standings. Gonzalez refers to Harper as a "taxi squad member" of the Scottsdale Scorpions. Now I am a big sports fan, but I am not sure what that means. I think it would have been helpful if Gonzalez explained what the was, so the average reader wouldn't be left wondering. The quote "When is God arriving?" by one of Harper's opponents was an extremely effective quote to add into the story, because it shows that even opponents have a lot of respect for Harper as a player. The training Harper's father gave him as a child was a smart addition to the story. It was heartwarming and useful to reiterate that Harper is an extremely good hitter, and that dates back to hitting practice with his father. It was interesting to find out that he still uses many drills from his past today. Gonzalez utilized a variety of sources and presented a well-rounded story of a young player that we may see in the big leagues very soon. It is stories like these that keep fans excited for the future and about young talent across this nation.
Kudos Gonzales.


Nationals phenom Harper draws crowds in Arizona Fall League

Follow up on new NFL Suspension Rule

Last week the Tribune posted an article explaining the new guidelines for flagrant hits and the punishments for it. In this Breaking Sports article, two of the players that were singled out and fined for their violent hits were commended on their adjusting to the rules. The article quotes the league's executive vice president of football operations, Ray Anderson, saying "We like to think we're off to a good start in terms of the new emphasis and the recognition that we are going to play aggressively but well within the rules, it's a good start." Which I found effective because it showed fans that the league is satisfied with it's changes. Anderson is also quoted saying "you could see it, he lowered the target area, blasted the opponent with his shoulder. He adapted, showing it can be done. It is appropriate to praise him for the tough play." about Merriweather's improvement in his game on Sunday. Harrison, the other player who was singled out for his hard hits was contimplating retirement because of the new rule, the article updates us on the fact that he played cleanly at his last game. I think for many fans, the idea of the new rule was a scary one, and it's articles like this one that show that it wasn't such a bad idea by the league and it will improve the safety of the players. 


NFL players respond well, played cleanly

Illini Homecoming game

In the Tribune article about the U of I homecoming game called "Hoosier's Chappell will test Illini Defense, Shannon Ryan focuses on Chappell's (Indiana's QB) top ranking in passing yards and Coach Ron Zook's opinions about the upcoming game. She also brings up that Illini is 10th in the Big Ten in scoring averages, which is something I don't think would be brought up in the DI. The article ends with a quote from Illini's QB about the necessity to score in critical situations, which veers away from the initial topic of the article. I think the article would have been more effective if she had written more about the stats of the illini defense and why it will be a challenge for them to deal with Chappell. Overall the article was written well and had effective quotes.

Tribune Article

NFL Suspension plans for Flagrant Hits

Its not everyday that the NFL changes it's rules, but it shown to be necessary with the increasing amount of concussions and injuries due to flagrant hits. The article I read doesn't have a specific author, instead it said it was written by a Tribune news service. I think that the article includes all the necessary facts, such as the reason the NFL is starting to suspend for Flagrant hits, what flagrant hits entail, and specific examples of hits in recent games that would qualify. The article made it obvious that the main goal of the new suspensions rule is to encourage players to return back to traditional tackling techniques. The article includes quotes from coaches, former players and players in the league right now, in order to illustrate multiple perspectives on the new rule, which I found very helpful and smart. The article ended with a quote from a defensive player who doesn't agree with the new rule, which I found effective, because not everyone will agree with the rule, even though it is necessary for the safety of players.

NFL confirms suspension plans for flagrant hits

Notre Dame Basketball

In the midst of a successful football season at Notre Dame, writer Brian Hamilton published an article about the ND basketball roster for the spring. It is hard to believe but some sports fans are only interested on a specific sport, be it basketball, football or tennis. That's why I think it's nice that Hamilton is writing about basketball right now, when he could write about the same thing as everyone else -football. The article is about the team and how they feel they will be a force to be reckoned with this upcoming season, even without Luke Harangody or Tory Jackson on the team. Hamilton includes effective quotes from the players about the team chemistry and plans for the season. There were some words (multiskilled, ballhandling) that I wasn't sure whether they needed a hyphen or not, but after researching a little, I think they are written correctly. Overall, I thought the article was written well and stood out on the College Sports page because it was about basketball, and a possible starting line up of 4 6'8" players for Notre Dame University. We'll see how they do! 


"Irish's mainstays gone but potential isn't" Article

Derrick Rose and John Wall

K.C. Johnson wrote an article about the Derrick Rose-John Wall matchup that kept everyone entertained at the Bulls game last night. Johnson started the article with a short statement, “If you blinked, you missed a lot.” I think it was a perfect way to open up the story because he then goes into detail about the intense competition displayed by both players on the court. Johnson wrote, “Luckily, with Rose just 22 and Wall at 20, the matchup of two of the previous three No. 1 overall picks should be around awhile.” I think that statement was worded awkwardly, and hard to understand. I had to read it 3 times before I understood all the information that was packed into the sentence. Later in the article Johnson reinforced the idea that Rose and Wall will be part of an “NBA rivalry for ages” by providing their very similar game stats. “This is going to be fun for a lot of years.” I think it would have sounded better if he wrote ‘for years to come’ instead. Johnson ends the story by writing about the performance of other Bulls players. I think it would have been more effective to use Wall’s quote ( "It's going to be a great challenge," Wall said. "All I can do is try to hold my own and … try to get his level." ) to end the story though. Overall, I am excited to follow the Rose-Wall matchup because of this article. I think Johnson did a great job of getting fans excited for the Bulls season ahead. 

"Rose-Wall matchup tease of what's to come" Article

Blackhawks!

I was very pleased with this article for the most part, it was written by Chris Kuc, on the topic of the Blackhawks ability to win a consecutive Stanely Cup. It was a crazy experience as a Chicago sports fan to witness the Stanley cup win last year and what could be more exciting than winning two years in a row. Kuc brings up great points about the multiple roadblocks standing in the way of the Hawks winning the championship again, such as salary cap and injuries. Kuc includes quotes but did have trouble with his quote punctuation towards the end of the piece, when quoting Dan Bylsma. Kuc started with a strong topic lead, and ended with a quote from a returning Hawks player, both good strategies. As a reader and fan, I enjoyed the article because it reminded me that the season is just around the corner, and even with definite adversity, the team has the desire to win, again.

"Cap makes cup repeat extra difficult" Article

"Top 10 Ten Cubs Moments"

An article by Paul Sullivan sets out to countdown the "top ten moments from a lost season." I was interested in reading the article initially because the picture attached to it was one of Lou Pinella, the now ex-Cubs manager, standing on the field at Wrigley with tears in his eyes, how cute. But I was quickly surprised by the text that followed, which began by explaining Pinella shouting profanely. I was annoyed by this because I think Sullivan should have picked a different picture then, seeing as the picture is what people look at usually when going to read an article. The lead and the picture clashed too much. Also, I wasn't sure how the lead even connected to the top 10 moments topic, if I had known the article would focus around Pinella only, I probably wouldn't have even opened it to read it. Sullivan describes the season as a "lost season" but doesn't really give background as to why he calls it that. When the list of top 10 moments began, Sullivan didn't state who decided on these moments, and if it was in his opinion, he should have written that. The top ten moments were all quite repetitive and mostly Pinella quotes. All in all, the article should have been named "Top 10 Pinella moments", not "Cubs top 10 moments..." I think Sullivan is a good writer, but he should definitely think about the extras (corresponding photo, title etc.) the next time he writes a story.

Sullivan's Article

Cutler's Injury

Vaughn McClure wrote today, Monday Oct. 4, about the concussion Cutler got at the game versus NY Giants last night. In his short , breaking news article, he included some quotes from Lovie Smith, the Bears coach, about the status of Cutler. I think it would have been more credible if he had gotten some quotes from the personal training/health staff of the Bears. Yes, Smith has dealt with injuries before, but he isn't an expert on concussions. Mclure quoted Smith saying that the staff goes "beyond the call of duty" when it come to evaluating concussions, and I think Mclure could have stated what that evaluative entails. It is scary as a fan to see that the coaches expect all of the hurt players to be back to playing by this Wednesday, when the injuries seem more serious than that. The article was a bit vague, maybe because it was a breaking news article, but I think the above details should have been included.

Bears' Smith optimistic about Cutler's Recovery