BY BRANDON SHRIDER

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

This quote became famous when professional basketball player, Jason Collins announced his homosexuality to the world and became the first openly gay professional team athlete.

Coincidentally, a very similar utterance was made by former University of Missouri defensive end, Michael Sam in an ESPN interview in which Sam states:

“I’m a college graduate. I’m African American. And I’m gay.”

The parallel between these two statements go beyond the text itself. These two athletes have unquestionably become pioneers for further acceptance of those who associate with the LGBT community.

However, this relation between the statements of Collins and Sam are not brought to attention by the media, instead, the media has focused their attention to the “shock” that this courageous stance by Sam has provoked.

Sure, listening to the co-defensive player of the best Division I collegiate football conference announce to the world that he is openly gay may come as a surprise, but that should not warrant the startling and overwhelming response by the media.

If we, as the media, continue to act in such a manner to a subject that we’ve tried to integrate, then the question arises: How much progress has really been made?

Thus, the indictment to the media is the overreaction to the lone action by Michael Sam as opposed to analyzing his action, its relation to history, and its impact on the future.

Certainly, ESPN was able to compile the opinions of a plethora of reporters and former players including Mel Kiper Jr., Jeff Saturday, Antonio Pierce, Herman Edwards, among many others. These “special guests” were able to provide input on his elevation or lack thereof for Sam’s NFL draft stock, how his identity will be accepted in an NFL locker room, and the media coverage that will accompany him and his team as he reaches the next level.

While these make for popular entertainment and leisure conversation, they fail to address the vital story that is, Michael Sam has a chance to innovate the way professional team sports handle and accept media attention, and how gay athletes are entirely accepted by the community of team contact sports.

Sam has a chance to innovate professional football much the same way that Jackie Robinson innovated professional baseball by metaphorically “breaking” the color barrier.
Certainly the play of Sam in between the lines will ultimately dictate the future impact that Sam will have on NFL history, but it’s the opportunity now presented to Sam that should be embraced.

And its this notion that should become the real story, and propel a coming out party for the entire LGBT community, and the acceptance of this lifestyle into professional sports.

BY KATIE ROTH

Forget Christmas in July, how about Christmas in February? At least that’s what it feels like to many college football fans as they patiently wait every year for the first Wednesday in February to see the big bold print, “National Signing Day”, line on the top of ESPN.

Over the past few years the popularity of National Signing Day has grown immensely with the help of the national sports media. It almost seems as though this day has become one of the most important days in college football, gaining more attention than many of the bowl games played at the end of the season.

Media from every sports network all over the country gather around the 5 star recruits and their families to see what school they have decided to attend to continue their football careers.
This is a huge day in these young athletes’ lives, not only for them, but for their families, coaches, and teammates as well. Gradually though, we see this becoming an even bigger day for the media and fans.

You cannot tune into any type of sports media on this day without seeing coverage of high school athletes signing papers. In fact this year ESPNU strictly showed coverage of National Signing Day the entire day.

The real question that needs to be answered here is if this coverage is actually worth it.
Fans spend the entire day glued to sports media websites and broadcasts to celebrate the signing of players who have yet to prove themselves at the collegiate level.

The analysts on ESPN put together rankings for the top recruiting classes every year based on the amount of top recruits the teams sign throughout the day. This all seems like a good way to analyze the up and coming players and their teams; until you take a look back at some of the top recruiting classes in the past few years and see that many of them really amounted to nothing.

A perfect example of this would be the Tennessee Volunteer football program. Year in and year out the program signs top recruits from all over the nation and land their recruiting class in the top 20 and many times the top 10, yet they still come up with negative results ending each season as an unranked team. You can imagine the heartbreak that the Volunteer faithful go through at the end of each season after listening to all the hype that circulates around National Signing Day and their great recruiting classes.

Fans get all caught up in the hype of National Signing Day and start to believe whatever the sports reporters are telling them. In the end, sometimes it all works out and the player may turn out to be one of the greats of the game for instance Cam Newton, a 5 star QB recruit who led his team to a National Championship in 2011 also winning the Heisman Trophy in the same year and now has begun what is looking like a promising career in the NFL.

Unfortunately though, more times than not the case is more similar to players like Dayne Crist and Garrett Gilbert. Both prospects were 5 star QB’s at the top of their recruiting classes who were hyped up by the media to be the next big star of college football and did not make it. In fact, both of these players lost their job as the starting QB before their season even ended.

Don’t get me wrong, I, like many college football fans, love to see the new recruits who are signing to play with my favorite teams. The media on National Signing Day just takes it to the next level, telling fans to watch out for so and so players to take over the game and become the best in the nation without ever really seeing them play.

The media could make this day just as special just by showing the players who they are signing to play with, then waiting until the season comes to let the players’ performance talk for themselves.

BY LOREN BRANCH

Towards the end of the February 8, 2014 match up between Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, star point guard Marcus Smart had a very unexpected and unfortunate altercation with Tech’s “super fan” Jeff Orr.

After committing a hard foul on Tech’s Jaye Crockett, Smart fell into the stands where Orr clearly said something that provoked him. He quickly got on his feet, stepped closer to the fan, they briefly exchanged words and Smart ended the conversation by shoving Orr.

Smart surprisingly was only given a technical foul and was allowed to sit on the bench for what little time was left in the game. Despite the severity of this incident, some of the media’s initial comments and coverage were definitely overreactions.

Immediately following the incident, SportsCenter flashed to a live look in of the game, which was introduced with this line; “apparently Marcus Smart just hit a fan.”

There was no reason to jump to the statement that Smart “hit” the fan because the video clearly showed that it was a push. This may have been caused by miscommunication, but regardless; there is no need to blow a negative incident out of proportion right after it occurs. Reports on such sensitive issues should be 100% accurate from start to finish based on what is known; assumptions and miscommunications should not come into play.

The biggest and most unnecessary overreactions were all the comparisons to Ron Artest. During the aftermath of the altercation, one of the announcers covering the game along with countless other members of the media, compared Smart’s actions to those of Ron Artest during the Pacers-Pistons brawl.

The ONLY reason these two incidents can be compared is because they involved a men’s basketball player in the stands getting involved with fans in a negative way. Marcus Smart did not hop up three rows and start a riot. He shoved one guy who allegedly called him a racial slur; there is a huge difference between these players and these events.

At the end of the day, I’ve noticed that the media always seems to overreact in these types of situations because they have to report and react so quickly. However, I feel like the saying “think before you act” comes into play here. Reports should be accurate based on knowledge and unnecessary comparisons that blow things out of proportion should not be made, period.

BY KIA TYUS

The announcers for the Super Bowl Half Time Report sounded like they weren’t impressed with the first half of the game, while they were discussing different plays. The announcers voices had emphasizes when they were making key points about the different topics that they were discussing.

Michael Strahan, Howie Long, and Jimmie Johnson did a great job putting the focus on both teams instead of just one.

When discussing the play of Seattle, they started off talking about the incredible Seahawks defense. They keyed out Marshawn Lynch’s sub par performance and talked about what he could do to improve in the second half. They also made a point to acknowledge the play of Russell Wilson. They talked about how he is great at making plays out of broken ones.

When discussing the Broncos, the announcers were not so kind. They first discussed how they thought the game would be closer. Then, they discussed how terrible the offensive line was and how they needed to protect Peyton Manning if they wanted to have a chance to come back. Finally, they talked about how the Broncos as a whole could come back in the game. The announcers almost sounded like a bunch of coaches but that’s probably because they all have been former coaches and players in the NFL.

The announcers also knew the history of the Super Bowl pointing out that the only other time a team had been shut out in the first half of the Super Bowl was the Indiana Colts and The Baltimore Ravens. The Colts were shut out 10-0 at the end of the first half.

During the half time show they also took a point to promote a movie and praise Bruno Mars halftime performance. This was interesting to me because they didn’t just focus on football the entire time. They also acknowledged the other activities and upcoming events that were happening.

BY STEVEN KUBITZA

It is no secret that the Super Bowl is much more than just a football game. One of the major events of the week is the annual Media Day, which took place on Tuesday.

Interviews take place all week, but the giant media horde in attendance was a focus on Tuesday.

This group of media members are not just football reporters, but may be reporters from any media outlet that could get credentials, which is not all that difficult.

For this specific telling the demographics of the media members do not matter. Merely an aside.

Anyway, going into Media Day it appeared that the focus would be on Richard Sherman. He was the big story following his comments made after his Seahawks defeated the 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

Sherman was able to defend his comments, as would be expected of a Stanford graduate. He is a very intelligent man and wrote a very eloquent piece on his comments.

Although his comments were seemingly in the past, the media likely would have made them a focus on Media Day if it were not for the actions of another player; or lack of actions.

The player I am referring to is Marshawn Lynch.

Frankly, Lynch does not like to talk to the media. Should that matter? No. But in today’s age of the constant quest for more information it is a major story.

Lynch was even threatened with a major fine if he did not talk to the media that he avoided all season. The fine and outrage for Lynch not wanting to talk to the media is almost comical.

This man is a football player, and he has made it clear that all he cares about is what happens on the field. If he does not want to answer questions about why is he isn’t answering questions, why are people getting offended. Are Lynch’s answers going to lead to some type of revelation that no one knew before? Probably not.

The majority of questions his way had to do with Skittles and Beast Mode, which are not deep questions, especially for a player of his caliber.

So if Marshawn Lynch does not want to spend more than seven minutes answering basic questions, good for him. He will continue to prove himself on the field, which is far more important to Seahawks fans than any interview.

Advice to media members getting “snubbed” by Lynch: don’t take it personally.

BY LOREN BRANCH

They say, “There is a first time for everything,” and the January 25 late night match up between Gonzaga and BYU on ESPN2 featured one of those moments. It was an experience that was not only entertaining but potentially a huge historic step for women in sport media.

I have watched very few men’s college basketball games covered by one female announcer and before this game, I had never watched a game covered by two. Because I did not recognize Kara Lawson or Beth Mowins’ faces right away, two questions popped into my head; are they the first all female crew to cover men’s sports for a major network and how great of a resume do you have to build to be a part of such a rarity in sports?

I held off researching my questions until the end of the game in order to evaluate Lawson and Mowins’ coverage.

During the game, I was not surprised to find out that they are both very good announcers. They kept the game exciting and interesting with their comments and analysis, and even did a great job of incorporating information about other college basketball teams and the NBA including comments about Carmelo Anthony’s 62-point game. I usually don’t pay attention to announcers but their coverage definitely kept my attention.

It was after the game that I grew even more impressed with Lawson and Mowins. First off, I could not find any evidence of any other all female crews covering men’s sports for a major network. This means that even if they aren’t the first, they are one of the first teams to reach such a great achievement. Their experience certainly gives them the credibility to be a part of this rare situation.
It wasn’t until I began researching Kara Lawson’s career that I realized she was a WNBA player that I had seen play multiple times. As far as broadcasting, she has been working with ESPN since 2004 and became the first woman to serve as a national broadcast analyst for an NBA game in 2007 (espnmediazone.com).

Mowins’ resume also proves her credibility, which is highlighted by the fact that she has been working in sports casting since 1991 and became the second woman to call ESPN nationally televised college football games in 2005 (espnmediazone.com). Nonetheless, if this is a first in men’s sports, these two were great selections to make it happen

BY LOREN BRANCH

Less than a year after earning a master’s degree in sport administration from BGSU, former women’s basketball player and standout student Simone Eli has found herself in a great position as a sports anchor for FOX10 news in Mobile, AL. Since accepting her “dream job” on April 30, Eli has had the opportunity to meet Nick Saban, witness one of the greatest finishes in college football history (2013 Iron Bowl), and Travel to Pasadena, CA to cover the 2014 BCS National Championship Game. This successful Falcon is living proof that with hard work and the right education, goals can be reached.

Click on the following link to read an article about Eli written by Mark Griffin of The Press (Millbury, OH): http://www.presspublications.com/from-the-press/13226-genoas-simone-eli-a-broadcasting-hit-in-mobile-ala

BY STEVEN KUBITZA

The point of the Maxwell Media Watch is to analyze how the media is covering sports. But what happens when the ability to cover said sports becomes compromised due to the chance of death that comes with the coverage.

Sochi, Russia is not a safe place for anyone, and will be even less safe when the Olympics take place there is a few weeks. Terrorist attacks have been promised, as they usually are at a major sporting event, but after what we saw take place at the Boston Marathon in the seemingly invincible United States, it is tough, and even naïve, to believe that there will be no attacks at the Olympics.

When U.S. warships are at the ready for a sporting event, it is not a good sign. Those ships are ready for the athletes, but what happens to the fans and media members that will be in Sochi if an attack takes place.

The presence of warships and military planes makes it seem slightly comforting, but if there is a major attack, it will still take time to evacuate the US athletes. It is not as easy as them being taken to the coast and loaded onto ships. It will be chaos and who will be stuck in the middle of all it while still being in charge of providing information? The journalists. Right it in the middle of it all with a camera on them, or a notepad in hand.

It brings up a question that unfortunately will not be asked: Is it worth it to send journalists to the Olympics in Sochi with all of the terror threats?

American journalists have been sent to war zones, so there is no question that they will be going somewhere where there are only threats of terrorism. I suppose it comes with the job.

All of the politics of the situation need not be discussed in this space, because all I am concerned about is the safety of the journalists. With television coverage already being our dominant form of taking in the Olympics, must we have every major news outlet send someone to cover the events? The answer is no, but it will still happen because of the never-ending quest to be on top of the media ratings.

What I ask to anyone who watches the Olympics, or any situation where a reporter is in danger is simply to respect that man or woman for what they are doing. They are putting their own life at risk so you can get coverage of an event. I repeat, their own lives are at risk so you at home can get the news. An honorable position if I have ever seen one.

BY BRANDON SHRIDER

January 23, most popular for the date of birth of John Hancock, or notable mixed martial arts fighter, Tito Ortiz — or maybe this date doesn’t carry much significance to you at all.

Actually, today marks the commencement of the 2014 winter X Games. Unfortunately, many of you were just as unaware of these birth dates as you were the X Games. Is this a problem?

Certainly, seeing as the sport media as a whole does not seem to think this event carries much significance, why should you the viewer?

About three or four days prior, I saw a small report on ESPN stating that celebrated snowboarder, Shaun White had decided to participate in the games after previously stating he would hold out. This was the first instance in which I had an encountered any discussion about the event. This held true until I saw another similar report just a day before the event, stating that Shaun White had a change of heart and had chose not to partake in the X Games.

These two stories, both centered about White instead of the X Games as a whole, help explain why the interest in the games is so miniscule. The only narrative that ESPN felt to be worthy was that of an individual as opposed to the four-day event in its entirety.

Unfortunately, the X Games preliminary events are all to be shown via ESPN’s online streaming service, ESPN3. It isn’t until 9pm on a Thursday night that you can watch a sponsored event. Even that is merely a rebroadcast placed in an undesirable and inconvenient time slot, fighting for viewership against the Miami Heat basketball game.

The promotion of this large event has been sparse and essentially nonexistent and until ESPN opts against this mindset, the X Games and extreme sports in general will remain a regrettable afterthought.