Author Archives: ellenchlumecky

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About ellenchlumecky

Currently a junior at Bowling Green State University pursuing a degree in Sport Management. Goal is to work for a public relations team in the NHL.

Detroit Sports Landmark to be Destroyed in 2017

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By Ellen Chlumecky

This Thursday, the city of Detroit made the final decision to demolish their beloved hockey arena: Joe Louis Arena. The plan is to demolish the home of the Detroit Red Wings and sell the land to a creditor for development as part of the agreement to settle the city’s bankruptcy case. The creditor is bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. The arena will be knocked down and will be replaced with almost nine acres of either a hotel, apartment condominiums, office spaces, or retail development.

Joe Louis Arena was opened in 1979 and has been a staple in hockey history since the doors opened. The arena is the fourth oldest NHL venue. Joe Louis Arena was one of the few arenas that was without a corporate sponsorship name. Joe Louis Arena is not only home to hockey but to basketball, professional wrestling and a myriad of concerts. Until the deal, the arena was owned by the city of Detroit. The plan as of now will be to move the arena just a couple of miles away.

The deal with Detroit will remove $7 billion of debt from Detroit’s bankruptcy problem. The lawyers, attorneys and creditor are very excited about the deal. Lawyers for the city believe that it will be one of the greatest steps in the right direction to solving the problem the city of Detroit is currently facing.

With the financial situation that Detroit is currently in, most would see the deal as a positive. However, Detroit Red Wings and fans of the arena are not too happy, especially long time fans of the Red Wings. While the update was needed, it will not take the sentimentality out of the decision. Detroit Red Wings fans are very upset about the demolition of their beloved stadium.

While removing the debt of Detroit is the top priority for the city, Red Wings fans hold heavy hearts for the demolition of their historic arena. Some fans are scared that the new arena will lose the old world feel of Joe Louis because it lacks the memories and traditions that Joe Louis held. Other fans are nervous that the new arena will follow the corporate trail and become a flashy, new arena that resembles a shopping mall rather than a hockey arena. Red Wings’ fans have many memorable, wonderful memories of great moments in Wings history with 11 cups, countless playoff seasons, several Hall of Famers, and the Original 6 tradition associated with the arena. At this point, there is really nothing anyone can do. It is now up to the Red Wings’ franchise to preserve the rich tradition.

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DaVaris Daniels is #NDNoMore

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By Ellen Chlumecky

The Notre Dame athletic department athletic department made the vote to suspend three out of the five football players involved in the academic fraud investigation who will now not be playing for Notre Dame this season. The three men who are suspended are: DaVaris Daniels, Ishaq Williams and Kendall Moore. All three have made comments about what their plans will be from here.

Ishaq Williams openly stated that he would wholeheartedly like to return to the team for the following season. Kendall Moore, already a current graduate of Notre Dame, stated on Instagram how he was disappointed about the decision but has decided he will not return to Notre Dame for next season. Moore placed a long post on his Instagram expressing his gratitude towards Notre Dame and while he is upset about the decision he will move forward.  Both expressed how they were both looking forward to the new chapter of their lives and believe their integrity remains intact as they leave Notre Dame.  While DaVaris Daniels, also already a current graduate of Notre Dame, has made it known quite profoundly how much he would love to return to Notre Dame next season.

DaVaris Daniels has taken to Twitter to make his voice heard about his desire to return to Notre Dame. Daniels tweeted a few posts on Twitter expressing his gratitude towards Notre Dame and how he has no intentions to transfer schools. His father, Phillip Daniels, has also taken to Twitter to talk about the situation. He first posted how DaVaris will be suspended for this upcoming season. The next post was about the possibility of DaVaris returning in the 2015 season and how it would be a great opportunity for DaVaris.

While it is easy for all these young men to take to social media to rant or post nasty messages about the situation, none have shown any signs of this particular behavior. They have only posted positive remarks about the wonderful education they have received, the opportunities they were given and the people who have supported them through this time.

Notre Dame holds high academic and ethical standards. The way these young men are handling the situation show that while they might not believe they are in the wrong, they have yet to blame the institution for their mistake. These players were in the wrong for what they did and should be punished for their actions, they at least showed maturity in leaving the institution without blaming anyone in the process.

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Kevin Durant Injured: Trouble in Oklahoma City?

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By Ellen Chlumecky

It was reported on Sunday that the superstar small forward of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, has a fracture in his right foot and is scheduled to miss out on the first month of the season. As ESPN News addressed, he is reported to have a broken bone at the base of the small toe. The irony of it all is that Durant does not miss games very often; missing just six games in the last five seasons. He leads the NBA in several aspects of the game: games, minutes, and points at this time. He only trails LeBron James in win shares. Many people debate that he may even dominate LeBron James in the whole game itself. However, with this recent injury, he might not be able to catch up with James by the time he returns. It does however give his teammates a chance to step up, especially Russell Westbrook.

The general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder reported that the foot fracture is the most common surgical procedure performed on NBA players in the game today. The procedure has happened so frequently that doctors are aware that there is enough examples and previous instances to predict an average recovery time. While surgery seems preeminent in his future, the general manager wants Durant to continue to go under consistent evaluation over the next few days just as a precautionary action. They have yet to have a press conference discussing the matter openly.

ESPN was one of the first news sources to report the injury. They interviewed the general manager, Sam Presti. Presti is hopeful that Durant will return in the allotted time reported. He is also discussing cutting down on Durant’s playing time because he wants to take stress off Durant. ESPN reflected the injury as a positive opportunity for Durant’s other teammates to step up into a leadership role.

Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report also reported on the injury. Both reports talked about how Durant’s injury is going to be a major detriment to the Thunder’s upcoming season. Both sources spent the majority of their articles discussing how big of a detriment the length of the injury and how other players have or have not come back from the injury. The other main point they made is how Russell Westbrook has a chance to step up but might not have what it takes.

Whether or not either news report is right about Westbrook, there is no option for Westbrook at this point. We will have to see whether or not Westbrook steps up or falls under the pressure.

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Back in Full Swing: Start of the 2014 NHL Season

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By Ellen Chlumecky

The 2014 NHL Season kicked off this Wednesday with a substantial amount of media attention from a multitude of different media outlets. While the NHL is not the number one popular sport currently in the United States, NHL teams’ public relation and marketing teams have been doing an exceptional job at getting the attention on the NHL.

Hockey is not covered much as sports such as football and basketball, however hockey is still proclaimed one of the four major sports in both North America and the United States. However, NBC Sports Network has world class coverage which includes weeknight games all week and the rivalry night during the week. NBCSN is also starting to show some college hockey games in addition to the NHL games.

In addition to local radio stations and TV stations in each of the respective teams’ areas, the NHL franchise has taken to Twitter to promote the 2014 season. All of the individual NHL teams have also taken to Twitter to promote their games and the start of the season. The NHL also decided to create a Snapchat to promote their stories and game times. They also post daily to their Instagram account, which had a countdown of the amount of days until the season started. The NHL franchise is trying to hit every corner of the media to broadcast the start of the season and to get more and more people to watch. The NHL wants all types of fans and are trying to expand their media horizons even more than ever.

While the NHL is being supported by NBCSN and other major media outlets, one of the biggest sports media outlets that tends to ignore the NHL is ESPN. While NBCSN own all national coverage rights to show NHL games, it shouldn’t stop ESPN from broadcasting stories or highlights of certain games. The reason why ESPN is not a huge supporter of the NHL is unknown, but despite this setback, the NHL seems to be doing fine without their support. It is set to be a great season for the NHL with plenty of fresh faces and a multitude of teams ready to battle for their chance to hoist the Stanley Cup. The NHL franchises should be commended on their hard work with the marketing, promotions and advertising they have been doing to promote the league further. Here’s to another great NHL season!

 

Two Sports, Two Wins, One Covered

By Ellen Chlumecky

The Bowling Green State University Falcons had an exciting Homecoming weekend with not only one, but two huge wins. The BGSU Football team won 36-35 while the BGSU Hockey team won 7-2. Both teams played exceptionally well through rocky starts and pushed through with a victory. However, the difference between the two is that football was aired by the media, but hockey was not.

The Bowling Green Football game was broadcasted on ESPN 3, and a myriad of the local TV stations such as ABC 13 in Toledo and local Bowling Green news channel. The Bowling Green hockey game was only broadcasted by the local Bowling Green news channel. Both were available on different local radio stations. One can listen to the football games on Eagle 99, WONW, WLQR, The Word 1220, K94, the Fox and the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization which is available on 88.1 WBGU FM and WFAL Falcon Radio, while the hockey team is only broadcasted on 88.1 WBGU FM and WFAL Falcon Radio.

The football game and the hockey game were also written about in several different local newspapers like the Toledo Blade and the Sentinel Tribune. However, the Toledo Blade wrote four different stories about the football game in comparison to the one story about the hockey game. While the Sentinel Tribune had equal stories for each game, the top story for their sports page was from the Bowling Green football game.

The football team has a new head coach, solid and dedicated players, and a mass amount of opportunities ahead of them. The hockey team is planning on having an excellent season this year with ten new freshmen players, powerhouse forwards, and new captains in leadership roles. Unfortunately, they have really been shown no recognition for their dedication thus far. While both the football and hockey teams practice immensely hard for wins, their recognition by the media has not been equal. They are both excellent teams, so why aren’t they being shown the same amount of recognition?

Hockey has been pushed to the side in the sports media world for an exceedingly long time. With more and more top notch hockey players entering the college hockey ranks, there should be more attention placed on these hard working athletes. The Bowling Green football and hockey teams both work day in and day out to win and be the best in their respective conferences. Football players should not receive all the media recognition especially when they’re not the only ones succeeding. Bowling Green State University has so much to be proud of with so many winning sports teams and should spread the word out about all of them, not just a select few.

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