Like anyone I have a few unanswered questions about my sport of choice. Those being.
1. Why is lacrosse a predominately east coast sport?
2. Why is lacrosse equipment so much more expensive than other sports?
3. What efforts are going in to making lacrosse more accessible to other regions?
4. Why isn't professional lacrosse as big as other pro sports?
5. Why is College lacrosse more popular than the pros?
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Friday, May 6, 2016
Billion Dollar Ball 2/3
So yesterday, me and my fellow classmates met with author Gilbert Gaul. While meeting with him, we discussed his book "Billion Dollar Ball". He went in depth about just why he made this book, and the interesting things he encountered while writing and researching the topic. He told us about the hardships he had to go through just for one interview, also what he's seen at some of the big football schools he's been to. For example, he went on about a story of when he visited Oregon as we all know Oregon is one of the biggest football schools in the nation. When he arrived he told us, its hard to miss seeing a Nike swoosh on the campus. From the pavement, buildings, trash cans Nike is branded nearly everywhere on the campus. Next, what I found interesting was the matter of what these big name programs do to keep their Student-Athletes academically eligible. If you are a student you have to pass your classes in order to remain in school. With that being said all of the universities athletes are also students. Many may know the workload in college is tremendous, so just how are all these athletes remaining eligible? Well for one, if you are a top football player, or basketball player your most likely majoring in something less demanding like Sociology, or Agricultural Leadership.
Now the average person has no idea what Agricultural Leadership even is or what you can do with a degree in that. But the reason behind these athletes choices of their majors is because these majors are far less demanding. There are minimal math and English requirements for these majors and far less course work to maintain. To provide even more aid for the athletes already easy course work, a lot of these big schools have Academic Support Centers. These are multi million dollar buildings to help the athletes learn and complete their work. If you ask me it sounds like a big study hall. These buildings contain every learning tool anyone can imagine, high end computers, tutors, lounges. But here's the catch. Only student-athletes are allowed to use these facilities if you are not an athlete you are prohibited. Oregon paid 72 million dollars for their Academic Support Center, other schools are more than willing to pay high prices as well. So this little article is just a few things I was able to take away from Mr. Gaul and his book.
Now the average person has no idea what Agricultural Leadership even is or what you can do with a degree in that. But the reason behind these athletes choices of their majors is because these majors are far less demanding. There are minimal math and English requirements for these majors and far less course work to maintain. To provide even more aid for the athletes already easy course work, a lot of these big schools have Academic Support Centers. These are multi million dollar buildings to help the athletes learn and complete their work. If you ask me it sounds like a big study hall. These buildings contain every learning tool anyone can imagine, high end computers, tutors, lounges. But here's the catch. Only student-athletes are allowed to use these facilities if you are not an athlete you are prohibited. Oregon paid 72 million dollars for their Academic Support Center, other schools are more than willing to pay high prices as well. So this little article is just a few things I was able to take away from Mr. Gaul and his book.
Billion Dollar Ball 1/3
On Thursday May 5th,2016, Author Gil Gaul will be visiting my school to talk about one of his bestselling novels. "Billion Dollar Ball" is one of his novels that focuses on college sports and the revenue that is made from the player's as well as coaches performances. With this being said while Mr. Gaul is in attendance we will have many questions to fire upon him as to just why he wrote this book.
1. What motivated you to exploit Colleges and Universities for this behavior?
2.Did you ever imagine the book would blow up to be this big?
3.Who decides the coaches salary at a university and why is it acceptable for them to be paid that much?
1. What motivated you to exploit Colleges and Universities for this behavior?
2.Did you ever imagine the book would blow up to be this big?
3.Who decides the coaches salary at a university and why is it acceptable for them to be paid that much?
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
CPLAX Elite Mission Statement:
Many sports organizations have gone away from what the sport is really about. Here at CPLAX we value the game and take pride in teaching it correctly. It is always good to get a head start in sports as one can get behind in very little time. This league will benefit players from 5 all the way to 17. Fundamentals are key to a players success in any sport. The staff we acquired at CPLAX implement the fundamentals of the game into every player early on. Sure we all want to score goals and land big hits, but in order to do so you have to know the basics. It is imperative for every player no matter position to have the ability to catch, throw, and carry the ball. Without these three vital skills a young lacrosse player is dead in the water.
More importantly knowledge of the game and team chemistry is also very much needed. Each player that joins the CPLAX league will have a complete understanding of the game and know how to play every position. Too many players these days confine themselves to one specific position selling themselves short of their true potential. I've noticed from my own experience on my high school team players saying they are Attack, meaning they don't play defense, or players saying they are a D-Pole so they don't need to know how to catch and throw. This is a major problem in the game. At a moment's notice a players job can be changed in game. If a player is injured, someone will have to replace that players position and if that player doesn't know his/her job the team is in a world of trouble. With each level of the league the competitive nature will be set higher. Early on competitiveness isn't what we are asking. As an organization we hope the young kids have a will to learn and love the game of lacrosse the right way. Though as players age and get their bearings on the game the atmosphere will be changed to a winning atmosphere. As an organization we believe that we are the first step to breeding Elite lacrosse players. With that being said the parents of these players also have to be involved. Missed practices are not tolerated, one cannot miss or skip practice and expect to be thrown on the field without consequence. Every missed practice is a consequence that will be solved in practice with character building conditioning. If you want to be on the field for this organization you must commit yourself to it and give your all on and off the field. A player must have a good team mindset and not focus solely on the one on one game. W's don't come from one persons efforts they come from the whole team working together. Our goal is to breed hungry athletes ready to learn and devour opponents. Let's Eat!
More importantly knowledge of the game and team chemistry is also very much needed. Each player that joins the CPLAX league will have a complete understanding of the game and know how to play every position. Too many players these days confine themselves to one specific position selling themselves short of their true potential. I've noticed from my own experience on my high school team players saying they are Attack, meaning they don't play defense, or players saying they are a D-Pole so they don't need to know how to catch and throw. This is a major problem in the game. At a moment's notice a players job can be changed in game. If a player is injured, someone will have to replace that players position and if that player doesn't know his/her job the team is in a world of trouble. With each level of the league the competitive nature will be set higher. Early on competitiveness isn't what we are asking. As an organization we hope the young kids have a will to learn and love the game of lacrosse the right way. Though as players age and get their bearings on the game the atmosphere will be changed to a winning atmosphere. As an organization we believe that we are the first step to breeding Elite lacrosse players. With that being said the parents of these players also have to be involved. Missed practices are not tolerated, one cannot miss or skip practice and expect to be thrown on the field without consequence. Every missed practice is a consequence that will be solved in practice with character building conditioning. If you want to be on the field for this organization you must commit yourself to it and give your all on and off the field. A player must have a good team mindset and not focus solely on the one on one game. W's don't come from one persons efforts they come from the whole team working together. Our goal is to breed hungry athletes ready to learn and devour opponents. Let's Eat!
Female Reporters:
Ever since female reporters stepped into the sports media world there has been controversy. Many claim that females should not be reporters for male sports. Or the argument that women don't know enough about the sport to report on it or even now officiate. In my own personal opinion, those that view female reporters and officials this way are just plain sexist. Many women indulge in sports just like their male counterparts. So there is no reason why they cannot pursue a career in sports reporting. With this being said their are many well-renown women sports reporters. For example Doris Burke, Carolyn Manno, Rebecca Harlow these are just a few of the top female reporters. Women Sports Reporters are just as good as men in most cases, and should be respected in the same manner.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Prominent Reporter: Armen Keteyian
As many know, there are countless sports reporters around the world. All of them, waiting for their big break into the media. A prominent reporter is Armen Keteyian or 60 minutes series lead correspondent. Anything with significance in sports Keteyian has covered. For example, Keteyian was the man to interview former Duke Lacrosse coach after the Sexual Assault scandal. Keteyian was the first man on the story and was able to get inside details about the incident. He is a well rounded sports reporter as he has worked for CBS, CBS Sports, HBO, and now 60 minutes one of the most watched television programs. No wonder why he was the man to be first on the job.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Twitter Fingers
On Monday, March 7,2016 my school CHS had an assembly. This assembly was mainly focused on social media and had a few examples of how athletes have been effected by their tweets. One athlete in particular was Yuri Wright All-American corner back out of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey. He was one of the most heavily recruited defensive backs in the nation. Michigan was the first college to offer Wright a scholarship to continue his football career. Though it all fell down when Yuri Wright posted various tweets that would derail his recruitment by these big name schools. After his tweets leaked the offer from Michigan was revoked and he faced a hard time trying to clear his name. Despite this he is now playing for University of Colorado.
Similar to this, many know Curt Schilling's daughter also experienced some twitter harassment. After Curt Schilling tweeted at his daughter congratulating her on her soon to be softball start some vulgar tweets began popping up after. In response to this Curt Schilling responded to these tweets saying he has many friends in Special Forces. With this being said Curt Schilling and his forces were able to locate all who were involved to resolve the issue.
Similar to this, many know Curt Schilling's daughter also experienced some twitter harassment. After Curt Schilling tweeted at his daughter congratulating her on her soon to be softball start some vulgar tweets began popping up after. In response to this Curt Schilling responded to these tweets saying he has many friends in Special Forces. With this being said Curt Schilling and his forces were able to locate all who were involved to resolve the issue.
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