BP11

Through the words of John Singleton, the director of the 30 for 30 documentary "Marion Jones: Press Pause" he unravels the truth about how Marion Jones ruined her track career. Initially, the film brings emotions of depression to the audience as they hear sad music and see Marion Jones confess to the public about how she had lost so much because of the use of sports enhancement drugs. We see her breakdown in front of reporters and news stations as she is explaining to the public how she pleaded guilty to lying about taking these drugs to federal agents which led to a 6-month prison sentence. In prison, she is able to adapt to life although she does not have her husband or her kids by her side until she got herself landed into solitary confinement for defending herself from one of her cell mates. She was forced into a small room with little light for 23 hours a day for 50 days, and usually Jones would get to go outside, but not always. We listen to her as she explains her workout routine in this small room, and it is even more horrible as we learn her watch was taken away which allowed her to keep time. Jones had to make a calendar to keep the days right, and when she was taken out of solitary confinement she was excited to go back into prison even though that does not really make any sense. Jones is able to put this behind her and move on in life as she returned to husband to have another kid. She worked her butt of trying to improve her basketball skills which landed her a spot on a WNBA team! Marion Jones story may have ended on a good note, but there is no way that any of her past experiences will ever escape her. 

In John Singleton's 30 for 30 documentary, 

"Marion Jones: Press Pause" the audience is able to hear the truth behind a track star who lost it all. Think about this, has any other sports phenomenon who took steroids or other enhancement drug ever spent ANY time prison except for Marion Jones. Yes, she broke the hearts of many and shocked millions, but was all of this prison worthy? The answer is blatant, NO. This was an absurd punishment and there is no way to describe how unfair it was. Many critics have said that this only happened because she was the best of the best and she was African American. This is not true because when you put the facts together it does not make sense. A list of black athletes that have taken steroids are Barry Bonds who hit dingers in the MLB, Lance Armstrong a saint at bicycling, and Hulk Hogan a professional fighter.  They did not receive any jail time, but they did have their records taken away. My final opinion is that Marion Jones went to jail based on other people being jealous. She was famous for something that looks so easy, but is actually really difficult. Jones was an Olympian and let me be frank her medals should of been stripped away. I bet my life that there have been more then a handful of Olympic Gold Medalists who have never been caught. Yes, its not fair to cheat, but is fair to cheat Jones out ever running the sport she loves again?

The Norton Track Family

It was no surprise to see Norton High School running and throwing at the D4 Massachusetts State Championship for track on Wednesday, June 3rd as they have been undefeated for the past two seasons. The team was led by many strong captains and athletes and in particular an extremely good coach..How was this coach able to lead his team through so much success with his copious supply of wins?

In sports, there has been coaches that have proven people wrong, gone against all odds, and have been able to achieve great things. For most coaches it is their dream is to be most popular one out there and have their name all over the record books. For others it is all about the athletes, getting them to achieve as much as they can and succeed past their potential. The Norton Track team has a coach that can prove this point to you.

The Norton Track Team came out victorious in winning the D4 State Championship on June 3. They have gone undefeated for two seasons and have been striving to consummate the D4 state title for the past couple of the years. The team was led by Norton High School's own English teacher. The guy behind all of this team's success was Coach Kent Taylor. He has been able to improve and push his players, so they could be the winning team that they are today. Taylor has been able to constitute a team full of the competitors in Massachusetts track such as his record holding senior captains, Mike Tierney, Eric Sanford, Cam Stalters, and Adam Winiarz. He also been able to bring the potential out of many runners as a lot them racked up on Varsity points this year. The question still hasn't been answered, how was this coach able to lead his team to so much success?

Coach Taylor has been been involved with all of the running going on throughout the school year as he coached cross country,Winter track, and Spring track. It has been easy to see that this man blatantly has a love for running or just plainly loves coaching it. Why wouldn't he love coaching it if he wasn't good at it. Taylor is currently sponsored by Brooks Running, and has competed in hundreds of races over the years. He is simply a good runner and is able to share his small tricks with his runners. He is able to tell them everything they need to know not from research, but from experience. Experience is a key component in sports because you cannot expect athletes to know what to do without a little bit of coaching.

Experience is a big key to all of this success, but another big thing would be Taylor’s passion for the sport. He is so involved with tracks as he is takes care of all of the D4 scores sheets on their website. He is able to keep up with the standings from all of the team’s in his division. I asked track athletes at Norton High School about how involved Coach Taylor is for track. Freshman Julia Pali had a lot to say Coach Taylor, "He's so dedicated to the program and his love for the sport is so evident. He truly cares about the athletes and wants us to each do our best." All of their answers were, I can’t believe this guys has time to do anything else but track. He can be compared to an Olympic track coach because of how involved he is with his coaching job.

One biggest things about Coach Taylor is that he treats all of his athletes as family. EVERYONE on the team is part of his family, not just the varsity point scorers, but every single member on the team. He has been able to create emotions and unity within his team. Usually track meets would be considered boring once your event is over, but at Norton the atmosphere is full of laughter and energy. People cheer for each other and no one is the odd man out.Taylor has been able to bring something new to the face of track. The team work imputed by everyone on the team is amazing. He has created an everlasting family, a Norton Track Family.

Coach Taylor is at the apogee of his career, so who knows what is store for upcoming years. He has shown that he can easily get his hands on another TVL title, and has shown that he can put up a fight and be a top contender for the state title. If he was able to do it one year then he can do it again. Students apprehend Kent Taylor as a normal English teacher that just simply likes to run, but to his athletes he is like a father for he cares for all of them as if they were his family. 

Discussion Questions: 
1. What subject does Coach Taylor teach at Norton High School?
2. How many years has Coach Taylor gone undefeated?
3. Do you think Taylor will go undefeated next year too?
4. What company currently sponsors Taylor?
5. In your opinion, what is the key factor behind all of Coach Taylor's success?

BP 10

 In Grimsley's informative article, he provides information and facts about the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Clay Liston resulting in the quickest knock out in boxing history leaving many fans uneasy about paying $100 for such a short fight that just lasted a little under 2 minutes long; fans were left thinking that the fight was faked or fixed. Within the article the author uses all  10 tips for scholastic sports writing, and argues his bias by using key points from the rhetorical triangle. Initially, Grimsley explains how Ali was not favored to win match. Many people thought that Liston would of been crowned champion at the end of the night.Also, the author is able to show a strong emotional appeal between the fight and the fans. People watching the fight went in thinking that it was going to be a nice well fought fight, but were pulled back from this when Ali knocked Liston out so early in the match. This left the fight to be torn at by critics and people that the match was staged, and Liston said that he could of gotten up, but the referee confused him. Lastly, Grimsley is able to keep this article strong by stating the facts and how the result of this iconic fight will always be in doubt.

Left to right-Suarez, Neymar, Messi

In the article, "Barcelona's Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio sets Spanish goals record with 120" by ESPN Staff, the audience which would consist of many soccer loving people learns about how FC Barcelona's strikers have surpassed the previous record for the amount of goals scored by a club that competes in a league called La Liga. Barcelona was able to build a fantastic squad in order to do this type of damage to other teams by scoring 120 goals just from the offensive line of the team, and how they contest to being one of the best teams in La Liga history. The staff is definitely bias to Barcelona because they do not use any negative words or language against them,they only seem to praise them by providing many statistics about goals scored by the club this year and in recent years. The staff seems to address almost all of the components of the 10 tips for scholastic sports writing exceptionally well as he ties in many ideas to the main point for writing the article. The logical appeal to this article is simple and to the point. FC Barcelona is a brute force when it comes to putting the soccer ball in the back of a net from their main offensive players;Messi, Neymar and Suarez. The emotional is very uplifting and explains how these players work hard and believe in what they do and how they do it even through criticism. To end, the ethical appeal shows how three extremely talented players with different styles of play can still pull together and get a win at the end of the day.

BP9: Deflate Gate

There has a been a lot of controversy surrounding the NFL game ever since the AFC Championship game this year as the New England Patriots went on to win against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots have been accused of deflating footballs under the required PSI which has been named as the Deflate Gate. Footballs with a lower PSI then required would make for less fumbles and more catches as the football would be easier to handle. An investigation was started to get to the end of this which ended up not going in New England's favor. The team was not only fined 1 million dollars, but is being punished by having their record holding quarterback Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of the season and losing two of their draft pics for the 2016-2017 season. It is still unsure of how far these punishments will be carried out as the Patriots are appealing all of the accusations and punishments. This has split a curtain between football fans as some are left outraged by this decision while other are filled with joy as their team has a better chance of beating last years Super Bowl champion.

Tom Brady had been accused of deflating footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. This accusation may ruin Tom Brady's infamous legacy and all of his records. As a huge Patriots fan, I believe that Tom Brady is innocent. In Well's report, it said that the evidence is more probable then not. That said there is no tangible evidence that proves that Brady or someone else tampered with the footballs. Also, Brady would not willingly give over his phone to investigators, so they could see his personal messages. The press got a big kick out of this because why would Brady not give over his phone if he was innocent. Honestly, I have nothing to hide on my phone,  but I would refuse to have someone look through my phone. Cellphones contain all of your personal conversations and other personal information too. It makes total sense that Brady would turn over his phone, he has a bunch of [personal information on it that no one should see except him. Additionally, what if the phone go into the wrong hands and all of his information was available to the public. All though most football fans hate the Patriots, I hope that they will be able to see that this is just a big scandal trying to ruin the former Super Bowl Champions.


The Deflate Gate issue has been brought to a halt as Tom Brady has been suspended the first four games of the 2015-2016 NFL season, and he is not being allowed to practice with the team during this period also. This is not a justifiable punishment because four games is literally a fourth of the season plus a bye is between the fourth game. Brady is losing five weeks of practices with his team. That is a long time to go without playing with your team and watching videos of what works and what doesn't work. He is not able to resemble game like plays when he is practicing by himself.  Yes, he is able to work out and do accuracy drills, but he is going five weeks without undergoing the pressure of a game like situation. Lastly, explain to me why Brady is a getting punished for under inflating footballs while Aron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is over-inflating them. Earlier this year Rodgers admitted that he liked his footballs harder then they were allowed, and wanted to see when he could get away with it. How is this different from Brady if he deflated some footballs? The answer is that is is not, and everyone wants to just accuse the Patriots of something because they are one of the best teams in the NFL.

Instead of Tom Brady's four game suspension, the Patriots at most should only be being fined the 1 million dollars. There is not real evidence to prove that Brady lowered the PSI out of the footballs in the AFC match up against the Colts. Also, I think that the NFL should make a stronger policy to check the PSI of footballs before every game to prevent this from ever happening again. This would not be a hard ruler to enforce either. The Patriots should be able to appeal this case and have all of it go away. The Patriots proved that they could win a game with inflated footballs as they went on to win against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

BP #8

 In the documentary, "The Short Game" by Josh Greenbaum shows his audience what it takes to get to ad win the Pinehurst Tournament in North Carolina. This tournament takes all of the best golfers from around the world that are six through eight years old! The film followed eight kids who showed the potential of being very successful  the tournament, Allan, Zama, Kuang, Alexa, Jed, Augustine, Sky, and Amarie. Greenbaum starts of the documentary by taking us through the everyday life of each these young golfers. He is able to make us comprehend that these kids spend so much of their time on golf that they barley have anytime to hangout with friends. Surprising enough though, they don't seem to be affected by this or care too much about missing out on a childhood. When the tournament comes around, Greenbaum follows each golfer to see how they are doing. All of the golfers start out on a strong note, but Jed soon falls behind because he suffered from !0 over par from being late to his tee off time. This put him out of getting a trophy, but it was calculated that if he didn't get this penalty that he would of won. Throughout the second day, each golfer is staying strong with Amarie,Allan, and Sky both in the top three for their age group. By the final day, Amarie and Allan bot start off with a bogey creating a disappointing feeling as the end of the tournament nears. Amarie and Allan are able to get past the bad start, and climb the ranks to first place for their age groups.

"The Short Game", a documentary about outstanding young golfers competing at the World Championship for golf at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina blew me away. Initially, these children are so good at golf, yet they they are 6-8 years old. All of these children showed a high potential of making it to the professional league someday. Also, it was so inspiring seeing how golf is literally everything to these kids. Each one was willing to throw away their childhood in order to improve and succeed when it comes time to golf at the World Championship. Subsequently, I was stunned by how hard some of the children's parents were. Yes, some were supportive, but others were making their kids cry their eyes out. These golfers have accomplished so much at such a young age, but somehow their parents find the need to pressure them even more after a bad hit or whole. Telling your kid how to do something better is okay, but when your asking your kid what's wrong with himself or herself then that means there is something wrong with yourself.

 In Josh Greenbaum's documentary " The Short Game"(2013), he exposes how young golfers who participate in the Pinhurst World Championship are sort of missing out on a childhood. The producer first proves his statement by showing video montages of the daily life of eight young children participating in the championship. Greenbaum is able to show the audience that these golfers spend so much time on the golf that they have barley any time to enjoy their childhood. He then concludes this argument bu using different ethnicity and backgrounds of all eight golfers. Greenbaum is able to communicate to the audience that it doesn't matter what type of family you come from because you are still going to be putting in all the hard work, though in many different forms. To end, he is able to explain how the parents are perfectly okay with how their children train and prepare for this tournament. His purpose is to show how young kids who are trying to make it to the Pinehurst tournament are being treated as adults and not as children in preparation for it. Greenbaum seemed to have coaches, parents,referees, and spectators in mind as his audience because he wants these children to be treated right, and not treated as if they are expected to win the Deutchue Bank at eight years old!

BP #7

 In  Trevor Martin, Jonathan Paley, and Ross Finkel's  documentary Schooled: The Price of College Sports(2013), they persuaded their audience that the NCAA is causing college athletes to not get the education that they are paying for and going to school for, and also that these athletes should be getting paid. The producers first convinced the viewers of the film by using analogies to show the wrongdoings of the NCAA and how they are cheating college athletes out of the degree they are going to school for.
Martin's and his crew then go on by explaining how the NCAA is exploiting athletes and not paying them for all the hard work because their collegiate sport is more of a job the a hobby. They then conclude with the story of Devon Ramsay and how is a victim of the NCAA and not a convict who was forced out of football because of a revision on an essay that he completed. Martin, Paley, and Finkel's purpose was to expose the NCAA in order to give back to all of the students who were wronged by the NCAA. They seemed to have a remarkable audience because they were able to uncover the truth about the NCAA to warn and open the eyes of many on how college athletes are suffering from how the NCAA is ran.

NFL Texans running back, Arian Foster agrees to the claims this film makes

 In the documentary, Schooled: The Price of College Sports the film unravels the truth about how the NCAA organization really works. You are able to comprehend the difference of how college sports work now than how the used to be with all of the information that is perceived throughout this film. You soon learn that when division one schools say, "Education comes before sports" is a complete lie. The producers go on to show us that schools are letting athletes take paper classes causing them to not get a full understanding of what they are supposed to be learning. The film goes on to talk about how students are also receiving degrees that they didn't earn. They may be receiving degrees, but they have no idea how to apply them in the real world. Since only a small percentage of collegiate athletes make it to the professional leagues, they don't have any experience in their major they went to college for. Lastly, this film shows its audience how athletes should be getting paid because of all the hard work that they have to do in order to play on a college team. College sports are more like a job than the competitive sport that they are supposed to be.

BP#6 JJ Nelson Won't Go Home with $100,000

JJ Nelson running the 40-yard dash at the annual NFL Combine

 In the article, "JJ Nelson:Adidas never offered deal" written by sports annalist Darren Ravell from ESPN talked about how the top runner in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine never received his $100,000. It was said that the top three runners in the 40-yard dash were eligible to receive $100,000 if they wore Adidas's newest style track shoe, and signed a contract that agreed to future endorsement deals. According to JJ Neslon, he never received his $100,000 because he was never offered a contract to sign. In fact, he recalls signing a few waivers, but no contract was ever talked about or given to him. This has caused some confusion and anger as JJ Nelson went on to explain to the press that his family and friends think that he turned down the offered sum of cash.

It appears that the truth of this story is yet to unfold. From my speculations, I totally agree with Darren Ravell and how he thinks Adidas never offered him the deal in the first place. Nelson with a labeled name of being a, "late-round draft pick" would make total sense that Adidas would not offer him an endorsement deal. Adidas saw him as a nobody and what good would it do if a wide-receiver that is not that well known sponsored your product. It would potentially be a waste of money, or even a loss of money in the end. This company may not of seen a lot in Nelson, but they should of at least given him the endorsement deal to sign. Who knows, one day JJ Nelson could be the face of the NFL and on the front page of Sports Illustrated.

Blog Post #5

Zdeno Chara and Milian Lucic celebrating after Lucic's goal

 The drought is over as the Boston Bruins have put the beginning of the month behind them.  They went on to win against the Phoenix Coyotes at the TD Garden this Saturday with a score of 4-1. Fan favorites, Chara, Bergeron, Lucic, and Marchand  all went on to score a goal.

It was no surprise that the Bruins went on to win this game as they have won the past six games they have played against the Coyotes, but it was understandable of speculation of the Bruins coming home with win as they are on 0-4-2 slump in their recent away games. 

There is no doubt that this was a team-game because of the various scorers and all around team play. Chara and David Pastrnak with one assist, and Reilly Smith with two.

Right into the game, the crowd was roaring with excitement after Milan Lucic put the puck in the back of the net to create a lead of 1. For the rest of the game, the fans were up on their feet and filled with energy.

Hopefully the Bruins will stick with their great play and their winning ways as they go on to face the Calgary Flames. It appears that the Bruins have the put the rest of the season behind then, and have all intention of going for another Stanley Cup win!

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.

Hoop Dream

In the touching documentary, "Hoop Dreams" it follows two technically-gifted basketball players from Chicago, Illinois named William Gates and Arthur Agee. They both share the dream of making it into the NBA. The documentary is able to make you feel all of the emotions that these kid's go through during their high school career. Both Arthur and William start out their freshmen year at St. Josephs high school where NBA star Isiah Thomas attended. Gates is fortunate enough to get a full blown scholarship and start as a freshman on the varsity basketball team.On the other hand, Agee is not as fortunate because he is only able to get some financial aid for his tuition, and he only makes junior varsity that year. Soon enough the film is focusing on sophomore year where a lot of drama occurs. St. Joseph stops helping pay for Authors struggling family tuition, so he is forced to drop out and has to enroll in a public school called Marshall. He makes their basketball and is able to once again prove how good of a player he is. William is able to continue playing for St. Josephs where people are already saying that he was the next Isiah Thomas.Sadly, he suffers a knee injury that will haunt him for the rest of his basketball career. He is able to make a comeback, but he keeps on suffering from knee injuries every once in a while. When senior year hits, Agee and Gates are both having a really good season and just keep on getting better by the start of playoffs. St. Marks is out quickly which is a big surprise, and Arthur leads his team to be 2nd in the state. By this point in the film, both boys are suffering with their grades, and need to bring up them up in order to attend college. William mustt score an 18 on his ACT test while Arthur has to go to summer school in order to graduate and attend college. Gates decides to join  Marquette University while Agee takes the path of joining a junior college which leads to him joining Arkansas State, a division one school.

Unfortunately, Arthur and William never made it to the NBA or European leagues,but they were still able to accomplish something far greater then being the next superstar. Through the film, Agee was able to use the money he made to buy a new house and help out his struggling family. He was also able to create a foundation that helps unprivileged children realize who their real role models are. Agee is able to explain how your parents are better role models then professional athletes, He also talks to kid's about how education is important because your never know if your dreams of making it to the NBA will work out. William Gates is now a father of four and is currently making a living off of being a pastor at his local church. Although neither boy made it to the NBA, they were still able too do remarkable things on and off the court!

The Impact Sports Have on Culture.

 Racism has been a huge problem in society for many years. We have come over racism in many different ways, but one of the biggest ways was through the professional play of sports. Jackie Robinson was one of the first black players to enter the MLB and be successful during a time when  most people believed that whites were superior to colored people. Through Robinson people were able to see how blacks can achieve just as much as white people and be as successful as non-colored men and women. The change in racism has been able to in cooperate culture through sports. Culture has been affected on many cations causing people to understand that not everyone's life is the same. That some people may speak one language on the field, but when he or she goes home they might speak a completely different language to their family. Teammates have been able to accept it over the years because they have gotten the first look on how everyone is equal. They have witnessed that everyone can achieve the same goals and do the same things even if your cultures are different. Sports have impacted our culture by accepting someone not like you by understanding that all races are equal.

 Professional sports still impact our culture by shining a light on the unexpected. For example top wide-receiver Randy Moss did not grow up in the best town living in Rand, West Virginia. Through college he was still able top play the sport he loved, football, and he was a top prospect for the NFL because of how good he was. Although he was a top prospect, people never thought that he would see the day where he was drafted into the NFL based on where he grew up and how he was looked up upon as a thug. Well he blew everyone's mind when he was drafted, and worked his ways into the record books. Professional Sports have shown us that you can't judge someone by where they come from before you give them a chance which has impacted culture tremendously over the years.

 Sports have also affected our culture in some negative ways. Initially, sports create superstars and sometime superstars can get out of hand. Once a running back for the Seattle Seahawks, now a free agent, Marshawn Lynch says what ever he wants to the press. As the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl two years in a row, in his press conferences all he has been was rude. It's not good when one your top stars in your NFL franchise is not taking it serious when he talks to the public. All Lynch is doing is persuading the next NFL players that it is okay to be as cocky and rude as him.Subsequently, professional sports have helped our culture stay advanced. Although sports have caused many injuries, they have still been able to bring technological advances that have help modernize our culture. Doctors and scientists have been able to learn more about brain trauma such as concussions.


 How have sports impacted my life? The answer to that is drastically and I don't know where I would be today if sports weren't introduced into my life. I believe that there is no better feeling then letting all of my anger out by going for a jog. You have a purpose to run and with every step you let more and more anger out. Through all of my soccer teams; town, club, or high school I have made so many friends. Basically I have met all of my closest friends through soccer because we had a common interest which was going out there and getting the W. Sports have also caused me to get closer with my family. I might not like criticism from them about I how I play a sport, but at the end of the day your parents are just trying to make you a better player. On that note, it has caused me to get a lot closer to my family because of the support they show for me. They make me feel like an Olympic gold medalist as they cheer for me and my team in the crowd! Professional sports have done so much to improve our culture and who knows where would be today if it wasn't for them.

Navedo, Angel. "How Sports Transcends Culture." Bleacher Report. NYJetsFan.com,, 21 July 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/39574-how-sports-transcends-culture>.

Villains in Sports

    In the article, " Super Bowl XLIX is Between Lex Luther and The Joker," the author, John A. Tures compares the two Super Bowl teams to two different villains that are well known. Lets start with the Patriots, Tures compares them to Superman's arch enemy Lex Luther who never gets caught. That is in reference to how the Patriots have been accused of spy gating and deflating footballs. He also talks about how the Patriots did not fumble a lot compared to the season last year, so they must of done something to the footballs then too, or how they ended up getting a top running back to return to the team mid season. On the contrary, the Seahawks are compared to Batman's enemy the Joker. John Tures talks about how they are crazy by the way Marshawn Lynch talks to the media, what Lynch wheres to press conferences, how they compared their victory over the Packers to one of Martin Luther King's speeches, and how Wilson praised god for the victory.
     Now, we all know that everything John  Tures wrote was a load of bologna. Yes, the public loves to eat off of fresh information that could ruin the reputation of big team's in the NFL, but who doesn't love some gossip. Tures may be right in some aspects, but can the Patrtiots and Seahawks be personified as villains...not really.Sports do not contain villains, but they do contain teams that want to reach a common goal which is winning. Take a minute to think about if all of the Patriots accusations were switched with the Jacksonville Jaguars, nobody would blink an eye and I would not be writing this article right now. Since the Patriots are a top franchise, reporters try to make big deals to make big bucks, if the they investigate on the deflate gate issue then that story will be on every ESPN channel. If they make an article about how rude Lynch was or  how religious Wilson is then people will read it.
     In the end, there are no villains in sports or cheating teams in sports because its all a game with in itself and that game is what the media wants. The media wants to know and speculate every accusation because it is thrilling and amusing!

Deflate Gate Being Taken Too Far?

Tom Brady talks about the Deflate Gate issue during a press conference last week.

  The general argument made by the associated press in the article, "NFL: Ref checked AFC title game footballs properly," is that they talk about how the procedures of the football check will be changed for the Super Bowl. The press wrote that, " Super Bowl referee Bill Vinovich and his staff will be looking over a lot more footballs this week."The press is saying that the protocol for inspecting the footballs have to be done right so they are blown up to the right PSI. They are also stating that these referees will double check or even triple check to make sure their inspections on the footballs prevent another deflate gate controversy. One of the major moves the NFL is doing to prevent any controversy is by checking all of the 54 footballs instead of just 12 of the footballs and the NFL will also take all of the footballs into custody this Friday to be inspected even further. To end, the press obviously is in agreement with these new customs that have been proposed by the NFL and respect their decision to make stricter procedures.

  In my view, the press  and the NFL are wrong because I believe this whole entire situation has been taken a bit too far. More specifically, I believe that the Patriots may have deflated some of their footballs to a lower PSI that is needed which was wrong, but the NFL is defiantly taking more drastic measures then it is needed to prevent this from happening again. This situation did call for some altercations about how the procedure is completed, but it didn't call for a whole entire different procedure to be made up.Another example to support my cause is that both the Patriots and Colts franchises have always respected each other. After the football situation was discovered, Colt's players did not seem to show any emotion and they stated that the Patriots won the game because they were the better team. If the team that just lost the game that would of gotten them to Super Bowl, you would think they would of been furious by the deflate gate situation, but they clearly weren't. Although the press might object on how too many steps were taken to fix this problem, I maintain that this situation was made into a bigger deal then it actually was, that there is no need for the new procedure, and that the Patriots won the game and that's that. Therefore, I conclude that the deflate gate was taken too far and it could of been resolved in just a few steps and not a whole entire new procedure.

Super Bowl XLIX Bound!!

    Whose ready to watch the best football game of the year! 32 teams battled to get the chance to play in Super Bowl XLIX, but only two teams made it to Phoenix, The New England Patriots and The Seattle Seahawks. I'm not only excited  for one of the best games to played in centuries, but I'm pumped for awesome food, and the crazy emotions. I'm a beloved Patriot's fan and can't wait to see this game because Russel Wilson v.s. Tom Brady, I mean you got a legend in the making and a legend who has been throwing touchdowns since 2001. What's better then watching the game while eating your life away, well basically. Buffalo wings are a common Super Bowl tradition, and this year I will be letting myself to some savory Buffalo Wild Wings. They defiantly serve the best wings around, blowing Wendels off their feet. I'm also really excited for all of the screaming and cheering during the game. My neighbors are routing for Seattle so we bought an air horn for every time the Patriots score just to annoy them! All in all its going to be one of the best Super Bowls of all time.

Josh Leafer Talks Sports

 

    Is there really a definition for the word sports? A sport creates competition between two teams that are trying to reach a common goal. That common goal is not reached by each individual teammate doing something special, but is reached by a team effort. One teammate can not win the whole entire game, yes there might be a stand out, but you have to think who gets the ball or even the puck to that person. Something is not a sport if the score is not being kept. For example what would be the point of watching the upcoming Superbowl if there was not a score? It would just be a bunch of people playing backyard football. There must always be a winner when it comes to sports. There are many types of sports like: football, soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, track, swim, volleyball, lacrosse, and cricket. Many sports were not created in the United States of America, but many have become popular due to migration and how immigrants brought the sports with them.

 There is more to sports then just the game because sports broadcast a light in the news about statistics, injuries, and career ending choices. An excitement with in the fan base of football was created when Payton Manning broke the all time record for the most amount of touchdowns thrown, or when the champion Serena Williams brought her game to the tennis court. Statistics give a sport a meaning to play because it makes people strive for greatness on how they are going to have there name in the record books. Also, sports creates all types of emotions because if your favorite player on the team that you support gets hurt then you are lost for a little bit. Lets take it back to the 2008-2009 season week one opener when Tom Brady suffered a season ending knee injury in the first game of the season. This created so many emotions from Pats fans thinking their season was over until Matt Cassel surprised everyone with his great talent. To end, it is not a positive fact yet, but Ray Rice ruined his public personality of being a great running back because of how he beat his wife. He was once a great running back, but because of a huge mistake he may never play on an NFL team again. Whether you are hitting home runs like Big Papi, or draining threes like Lebron you are still playing a sport because both of those aspects are trying reach a common goal called winning!