Author Archives: Savannah Malnar

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About Savannah Malnar

Savannah Malnar is a freshman in the Sport Management program at Bowling Green State University. She is aspiring to work in the National Hockey League but enjoys watching all sports and analyzing them, especially statistically.

The International Impact of the NFL

By Savannah Malnar

Soccer has always been a major sport in Europe but a different kind of football may invade that market soon enough. The NFL recently said that they are still on track with their plans to have an American football team placed in London, the capital of England, by 2022. With the upcoming Lions and Falcons game being played there this Sunday and the Cowboys and Jaguars playing there on November 9th, attention is again being drawn to the possibility of an international team.

This plan to expand the NFL internationally has been in the works since 2007, when they first started playing games overseas. NFL executive Mark Waller said in an interview with Reuters, “We’re at the midway point of that 15-year journey. I think we’re exactly on track.”

While the NFL seems exceedingly hopeful that they can relocate a team to London within the next 7 years, there are some drawbacks being highlighted by both American and English media.

The London Evening Standard projected the relationship of the NFL and the city to be very good. The Chancellor George Osborne is quoted saying that he believes bringing an NFL team to the city would “…cement London as a global sporting capital as well as a global financial and business and cultural capital.” Besides these benefits, some are concerned that the field in Wembley Stadium that is currently being used to host these games would not hold up well against the additional use; it is already used to host both soccer and rugby matches.

American media seems to be a little more hesitant about the possibility of relocation; many articles cite downsides including increased travel and time zone differences. There remains the possibility of, instead of stationing a team in London, playing roughly 8 games a year there. NFL teams selected would have to be okay with sacrificing a home game.

Despite these drawbacks, the games being in hosted in London have high attendance numbers and are gaining more popularity. The one concern I have is that if a team is relocated to London, it would not be a novelty anymore. Currently there are few games played there each season; if that became a normal event throughout the season, would the team still see the same attendance numbers of about 84,000 fans that they have?

Waller is convinced that American football is popular enough in the UK to thrive. We will see if this opinion stands true as the NFL attempts to grow its market throughout the next several seasons.

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Domestic Abuse in the NHL

By Savannah Malnar

Domestic abuse is a serious issue that has lately become a hot topic in professional sports, namely the NFL. Unfortunately cases can be found in multiple sports, most recently in the NHL. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the NHL due to him being arrested for domestic violence charges.

While the NFL has now made very strict and specific rules regarding domestic abuse (the player gets suspended for 6 games for his first violation, and the player gets a lifetime ban for a repeat offense), the NHL has no such regulations. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is aware of the new enforcements in the NFL, but does not believe any need to be implemented in the NHL due to their work in implementing educational courses and counseling for the athletes.

The case is being compared by the media to the domestic violence case against Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche goaltender. Varlamov was charged with abusing his girlfriend during the 2013-2014 season, but continued to play with the Avalanche and suffered no discipline from the league. The charges were later dropped due to “reasonable doubt.”

With the new attention being given to these cases, the media is questioning how the NHL handled Varlomov’s case last season. Ken Campbell of The Hockey News says about that case, “…the league kept its distance from the situation.” They seem to have a different attitude towards the Voynov case.

The sport media is asking the big question, “Why is this case different?”

The most obvious answer is that the climate regarding domestic abuse cases regarding athletes has drastically changed since the Ray Rice incident and the NFL’s failure to correctly respond. The NHL does not want to risk making a similar mistake; and the suspension is justified through the recently re-negotiated CBA which allows the league to suspend a player who is subject to a criminal investigation.

While the sport media has been covering this story as thoroughly as possible, the NHL themselves has only released one short statement regarding the situation, including a quote from the Kings organization regarding how concerning this event is to the team.

As this situation progresses, the NHL should act proactively to keep fans and other players updated to ensure that they are fully informed through a reliable source.

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Merging World and Sport Headlines: Sport Media Coverage of Ebola

By Savannah Malnar

Sports are so integrated into our society that when there is a significant world event, it is inevitable that said event will slip into ESPN or other sport headlines. The Ebola epidemic is no exception.

It was only a matter of time until this major headline seeped into sports. When going to ESPN’s home page, right above the major headline ticker is a small tab that says “Ebola Concerns in the NFL.” This should be no surprise, with the primary cases of the disease in America being centered in Dallas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants are scheduled to play in Dallas this Sunday, October 19th. Local news sites in both Dallas and New York are littered with headlines all telling the same story: The Giants were briefed by their medical staff about the disease and on ways to be cautious while there.

The fact is, all NFL teams have this information available to them through the league and their infectious disease partner, Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.  Despite this, it was reported by Dan Graziano of ESPN that the Cowboys themselves have barely talked about it as a team. Jason Garrett, coach of the Cowboys, was asked if addressed his team regarding the disease. He responded: “Really haven’t, to be honest with you. I don’t think it has directly affected us. So it hasn’t been something we have addressed directly with our players.”

The world media has certainly been all over the Ebola epidemic. The sport media may be soon as well. Already it seems every sport media source, local and national, has published an article regarding the Giants’ briefing on the disease.

While it is still very early to be extremely concerned, the sport media needs to be careful to present the information fairly and not over exaggerate. All the articles regarding the Giants were fair in saying the players were not concerned about going into the region where the disease was (though they may not bring children and wives along to this game, as a precaution), with Eli Manning saying, “I’m not worried about myself or the team. With what we’re doing and where we’re staying, I think we’ll be fine.”

Ebola is a fair concern in sports where traveling is a necessity, but the sport media should consider to err on the conservative side of reporting on it until it is clear whether players in any sport are in any real danger of contracting it through travel.

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A Comeback 29 Years in the Making: The Kansas City Royals Postseason Surge

By Savannah Malnar

The year was 1985, and the Kansas City Royals were World Series Champions, but hope for another title had all but disappeared for the next few decades. Up until this season, the Royals had not been seen in the postseason since that Game 7 win. That’s a drought of 29 years.

They’re back now with a vengeance, and the media is loving it. Articles about this team without the author referencing the Royal’s energy and confidence are nearly non-existent.

Everyone wants to analyze this playoff run. Ever since they took out the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game, they’ve been unstoppable. They have won all of their postseason games to date. They swept the Los Angeles Angels, a World Series favorite. They have seven home-runs in the postseason, which is the same amount they had in their final 23 games in the regular season. But why? What’s the cause?

The media seems to insist it’s because of, surprisingly, their inexperience. These “kids” are so excited to just be in the postseason that the pressure isn’t getting to them. The Royals’ designated hitter, Billy Butler, is quoted by ESPN saying: “I’ve always heard the veterans with postseason experience always have the advantage because they know what to expect. That hasn’t been the case, I can’t put my finger on why. Hey, it’s my first experience.”

One thing is for sure though; despite the cause, the Royals are becoming a media and fan favorite for this MLB postseason. The Huffington Post dedicated an article to 27 reasons the Royals are becoming America’s new favorite team, and even the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “It’s Official: The Kansas City Royals Can’t Lose.”

While this is definitely the feel-good story of the season, is it right for the media to be covering them so subjectively? Many of the articles about the Royals playoff run don’t reference their opposition. There are unanswered questions in a lot of these articles; maybe it was the Athletics’ pitching that really was the reason the Royals won the Wild Card game. There were most likely factors outside of the Royals themselves that could be contributed to their sweep of the Angels.

Whether the media is right in this or not, they are definitely creating new fans of the Royals with all of the hype. This is a postseason run that will be remembered by baseball fans all across the country, not just in Kansas City.

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NHL Player Safety Looking to Hire Flyers’ Heavy-Hitter Chris Pronger

By Savannah Malnar

It’s October, which means it’s officially the beginning of the NHL season. As with the start of any sport season, there’s excitement, debate about teams and season predictions. But what kind of beginning of a season would it be without a little controversy?

As of October 8th, the NHL doesn’t lack that. It was reported that famed Flyer goon, (or enforcer, depending what side of the hit you’re on), Chris Pronger was interviewed for a job within the NHL player safety department. The media immediately blew up, for two primary reasons.

First off, Pronger has a total of 1,916 penalty minutes in the 18 years he played in the NHL. His number of times suspended? 22 games. Two of those suspensions were for hits to the head. He isn’t the first person that would usually come to mind regarding “player safety.”

Secondly, Pronger is still under contract with the Philadelphia Flyers for three more years. Because of concussion and eye issues, he will not play in the league again, but the Flyers need to keep him on long-term injured reserve and continue paying him for salary cap reasons. His salary while on the IR will be $4 million this season and then $575,000 the next two.

The hockey media seem to be in two camps, but surprisingly the sticking point is the remaining contract, not his reputation on the ice. In fact, after the initial shock and flurry of jokes about the irony of the situation, the media agreed he would be fitting for the job. To quote Nicholas Cotsonika, Yahoo! Sports hockey writer, “If you want to build a better safe, hire a safe-cracker.”

Still, there is an apparent conflict of interest with Pronger being paid directly by the Flyers for three more years. He would have the opportunity to put voice his opinion on player safety cases for all of the teams in the NHL, including the Flyers. Would there be bias? Probably not. Would there be more controversy and maybe even lawsuits if a mistake is made? That situation isn’t out of the question.

Some of the media are calling for him to be hired, but for the NHL to not seek his advice on any cases regarding the Flyers. This seems fair. Bob McKenzie, hockey commentator on TSN, tweeted that the NHL Players Association is involved in this decision. As long as the players are in agreement, there shouldn’t be any more debate within the media.

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The Michigan Debate: Should Dave Brandon be Fired?

By Savannah Malnar

“Go Blue!”

Any college sports fan will recognize that as the signature cheer for the power-house that is University of Michigan. This Big 10 school is known for its strong athletics teams; so when students are suddenly rallying and calling for the athletic director Dave Brandon to be fired, it’s going to make the news.

Brandon is under fire from students and media alike. People are unhappy with the rising costs of tickets to sporting events, especially football. Along with ticket prices, the media and fans have actively been criticizing Brandon’s decision to hire and retain football coach, Brady Hoke. Hoke has been head coach for four years, and is 28-17; a record that may look good, but in reality is disappointing for the winningest college football team in history.

The most recent event that has spurred a media outburst was Hoke’s decision to put quarterback Shane Morris back in the game after sustaining a head injury that was later diagnosed as a “mild concussion.”

Ty Duffy, a senior writer for the sport media site The Big Lead, states that “The school’s response to the crisis has been a farce.” He predicts that Hoke will be fired following this season. But he also recognizes it would cause a lot of turmoil to fire Brandon simultaneously.

Besides Duffy, the media, both local and national, have remained extremely neutral on this debate. Every outlet you will look at has been strictly stating facts and not going any farther on the subject. I think this is the proper way for these media outlets to act, especially the national ones. This allows the fans to form their own opinions for or against both Brandon and Hoke.

One interesting aspect of this incident is both Hoke and Brandon’s resistance towards the media. In fact, Brandon told Detroit radio sports anchor Tom Leyden that he wasn’t publicly answering questions because he has “more important” things to do. This is extremely surprising. You would think that as an AD for a famous college, not a lot could be more important than attempting to explain yourself and your decisions.

The fans, the media, and most importantly, the students are waiting. Brandon is in the spotlight. How will he choose to portray his role as AD in a positive light, despite rising ticket costs and a failing football team?

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