Hunter Returns Home

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By Kate Roth

Throughout his 16 years in Major League Baseball, Torii Hunter has become a household name not only for his play, but for his character. Hunter has always been a fan favorite no matter where he goes and even makes it hard on the opposing teams’ fans to cheer against him. He’s just a likable guy, period.

One of the things that made Hunter such a popular player with the fans and the media is his loyalty to his first true baseball home, Minnesota. Minnesota is where Hunter and his baseball career took off back in 1999 before leaving the franchise in 2007 to play for Los Angeles Angels and then the Detroit Tigers in 2012. Even when Hunter was playing for these two teams he would still speak very highly of the Twins organization and the great fans as the media would gather around him on every trip back to Minnesota.

The love between Hunter and the Twins organization and fans was not a one way street either. Often while watching Torii play back in Minnesota you would see fans holding up signs saying “Come Home Torii” or “We love Hunter” to show that they still had love and respect for their former player.

Well now Twin fans do not have to wish for Hunter to come any longer because he is back. After a disappointing end to the season with the Tigers last season Hunter turned to free agency and settled on a one year deal with the Twins to return back home.

As we all know, baseball is not one of the most heavily covered sports in the media especially at this time of the year with the NFL, NBA, and college football and basketball seasons in full go so it was great to see this story grab some of the headlines.

Last year during the MLB season we saw the media grab a hold of the Derek Jeter retiring story and take off with it. I think Torii Hunter returning home could end up to be another great story like that. People are tired of seeing all of the negativity in sports media especially over this past year, so a story like this could boost everyone’s spirits and give recognition to a player that I believe truly deserves it.

The road will not be easy for Hunter as he returns home to a team that has struggled greatly throughout the past four seasons, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is up for the challenge.

Hunter will join veteran Joe Mauer as the faces of the franchise and together help to guide the young players that make up the Minnesota Twins roster.

This team will be quite a bit different from the teams that Hunter has been playing on for the past seven years, but truly I believe that this is where he belongs. When I hear the name Torii Hunter I instantly picture him in his Minnesota Twins uniform playing in front of crowd that has grown up loving him and saw him grow into the all-star he has become today.

The first game that he takes the field in Minnesota in the 2015 season is building up to be something quite special not only for the Twins organization, but for the world of baseball as a whole.

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Media Weighs in on Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterback Position

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By Nick Muhl

Late in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland Browns game Sunday versus the Buffalo Bills, starting Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer was benched for the rookie Johnny Manziel. The highly awaited move by Browns head coach Mike Pettine was loudly cheered for as Mr. “Money” Manziel stepped on the field. Manziel did lead the Browns on their single touchdown-scoring drive of the day, capped off by a Johnny Manziel rushing touchdown. Following the 26-10 loss, the Browns coach did not make a decision on who the starting quarterback would be the next week for the Browns versus the Indianapolis Colts.

In his past three games, Hoyer has thrown one touchdown and six interceptions. The Browns have lost two of their   last three games. Despite his slow streak in the past three games, Hoyer still has the Browns at a 7-5 record and facing their best chance to win the AFC North and capture a playoff spot in many seasons. However Hoyer still faces losing his starting position to the former Texas A&M heisman trophy winner.

Hoyer had this to say about his starting position on Monday in a post-practice interview, “You don’t get to 7-5 in the NFL just lucking into it,” Hoyer said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and I think I’ve proven that I’ve gotten us to this point. I feel like I can carry us through the next four games.”

The Cleveland Browns traded up in the first round of this past year’s draft to select Johnny Manziel with the intention of him one day being the starting quarterback for the franchise. However, is the time now? Up until this point Pettine has remained firm in his position that the veteran Hoyer gives the Browns the best chance to win.

There is no denying Johnny Manziel’s popularity, following the NFL draft Manziel remained the number one NFL selling jersey for many months. His level of popularity has already put pressure by the media on the Browns franchise to answer the question, when will Johnny become the starting quarterback for the Browns?

After benching Hoyer this past Sunday, the media pressure has reached an all-time high. According to Washington Post writer Mark Maske, there is no turning back now for the Cleveland Browns franchise,

“The Browns invested plenty of hope in Manziel when they drafted him, and now it should be time to find out whether he can deliver. It’s the way of the NFL. Once a team turns to its young, would-be franchise quarterback, it generally stays with him until he demonstrates whether or not he can play. It would be extremely difficult to go back to Hoyer now.”

The Washington Post wasn’t the only paper to publish articles urging that now is the time for Johnny Manziel to be given the job. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Tribune, ESPN blog writers and many more all weighed in this week on the largest new story in the NFL at the moment. An overwhelming majority appealing to Pettine to give the headline grabbing rookie a chance this week against Andrew Luck.

The Browns franchise has faced many obstacles in its search for its first Super Bowl and a franchise quarterback. Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, and Colt McCoy are just a few high draft picks the Browns have used over the past 15 seasons in hopes of finding a franchise quarterback who could lead them to victory and capture an AFC North title. It remains to be seen if Manziel will be given the chance this week against Indianapolis. 

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The Old vs. the New: Hoyer or Manziel?

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By Ellen Chlumecky

After a two-day debate on which quarterback for the Browns would be playing on Sunday, coach Mike Pettine finally made his decision today. Pettine announced that Brian Hoyer will continue his 13th straight game as the quarterback against the Indianapolis Colts. While the decision was tough, it seems like the majority of Browns’ fans still aren’t pleased. Who would think that there would be so much controversy over who the starting quarterback would be for the Cleveland Browns?

Cleveland Browns fans, that’s who. As soon as Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft. So many fans thought Manziel was going to be used immediately when he joined the team. The majority of Browns’ fans worshiped the ground Manziel walked on and were highly upset when Pettine picked Hoyer over Manziel for this Sunday.

Everyone seemed to have their own opinion. Some people agree and some people think that Pettine made a huge mistake. Sports writer Pat McManamon said that the Browns are making the logical move by choosing Hoyer over Manziel. He believes that this is just a chance for Hoyer to show Pettine he made the right decision. While write Field Yates, another ESPN writer, believes that the Browns would have been better off picking Manziel to start over Hoyer.

While Pettine has explained his reasoning, he is receiving the heat for this decision from all the Manziel fans out there. However at the end of the day, Pettine has expressed on several occasions that as a rookie, Manziel still is quite unpredictable. While they are still monitoring his progress, he is still a question mark in whether or not he’ll start. Throwing a rookie in a playoff push would give any intelligent coach hesitance. However, still contrary to the coach’s opinion, Manziel fans are pushing for him relentlessly.

Since the Browns are finally in a playoff push, fans are freaking out. While Manziel may seem like the all star, Hoyer is a veteran who has been part of their success and shown their ability to bounce back. Pettine was not swayed by the fans’ complaints. Pettine knows that Manziel has the talent but it is not where it needs to be right now. While the Browns’ fans are going to complain till the cows come home about every move not involving Manziel, Pettine is going to stand firm with his decision on Hoyer. It shouldn’t make or break the team because they do not have a quarterback-centric offense. But at the end of the day when it comes to a decision about Manziel, everything has to be a big production.

 

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The Power of the Unit: How this statement will be tested for Ohio State

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By Kaleb Page

For the Ohio State football team the past few days have seen more adversity thrown their way than most teams might experience in an entire season. If you look at any photos, press releases, etc. the mantra for this team is “Power of the Unit.” A mantra that holds that everyone on the team makes the unit not just one single player, also that in order to be a success it is how strong of a bond the team has. This mantra is surely at its toughest test as we make it to the end of the college football season.

Saturday was something that everyone in the state of Ohio and Michigan would say is “The Game.” The rivalry was like most years of the game full of intense moments and a hard-fought match up despite the records. Despite the end result, with Ohio State pulling away late to win 42-28; the win felt empty.

In the fourth quarter J.T. Barrett was running a play he had run hundreds of times during the season. A read option play where he could hand it off or take off and in this case Barrett took off up the field. As he was tackled his leg fell under a Michigan player and then more fell on top. As the pile got up; Barrett did not. After being carted off the field it was discovered that Barrett wouldn’t be back for the rest of the season with a broken ankle, thus ultimately throwing another plot twist in already what was a season full of twists for the buckeyes.

Even though this could affect what Ohio State does for the college playoff and will be a test on how well the coaches can get the team to play despite a loss on the field, there was event prior to “The Game” that makes the one above pale in comparison.

Early Wednesday morning a walk on defensive lineman and wrestler at Ohio State went missing. Kosta Karageorge was known by teammates to be a funny, kind and a gentle giant. As a senior he was supposed to be honored at the final home game of the season against Michigan. Unfortunately for all the hopes and wishes to be found safely in time to be back with the team, Karageorge would not be there Saturday. This story ended with the ultimate sadness that Karageorge was found early Sunday morning dead of what was concluded to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

This heart-break and sadness will test this team in not just the way of losing someone to play. It will test how true this team is in its togetherness and ability to be there for one another. Urban Meyer said this week, “I can just say, this is an extremely close team that does a lot of things together and cares about each other.” If this statement is as true as Meyer says, then this team should be able to rally around each other in this tough time losing not only a teammate but a close friend forever. Something they will have to do relatively quickly for a big test yet ahead of them.

This Saturday night is the Big Ten Championship game between this Ohio State team and the Wisconsin Badgers. If Ohio State plans on making it out of Indianapolis with a win and the shot at being in the first edition of the college football playoff, then they better be as strong a team as they say.

One thing is for sure when it comes to this team in particular, they have all the reason to not show up Saturday. Whether it is because they have lost their second quarterback of the season, the pressure of doubters saying how can they even be in the playoff discussion or for the fact they lost more than a teammate but a friend forever over the holidays; this team has all the reason to fold in.

Hopefully they do play to their mantra of the “Power of the Unit” and show what it truly means to be a close-knit team willing and able to persevere through anything as long as they are together.

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College Football Playoff Committee Faces Massive Media Scruntity

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By Nick Muhl

This year’s NCAA college football season marks the first year of the new college football playoff. The four teams are to be selected by the college football playoff committee, which is made up of 11 individuals (originally was 12, Archie Manning stood down due to medical reasons) all coming from different backgrounds. Some of the committee includes members from the college athletic community like Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich and former NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt. Others were questionably chosen because of their noted fandom of the sport, like former Secretary of State Condelezza Rice.

The criteria the committee will analyze during their decision in picking the final four teams is as follows: Wins, Head-to-Head results, conference championships, strength of schedule, common opponents, and injuries to key players. The final criteria listed, injuries to key players, may present the committee with one of the toughest decisions it has ever faced.

While the criteria for the each committee member to consider is listed, the amount each criteria applies to the to voter’s decision is entirely up to them. The process for the committee will be completely subjective, meaning some members may hold a season-ending injury such as Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback J.T Barrett as more damaging to the Buckeyes than another committee members.

Jason Kirk, writer for SB Nation, published an article on October 28th, titled 9 Potential Problems with the college football playoff committee. Long before Ohio State Quarterback J.T Barrett went down to a broken ankle, Kirk predicted that the criteria for “key injuries” could be troublesome for the college football playoff committee to analyze and explain its level of importance.

“The committee will consider “other relevant factors such as key injuries that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.” That “postseason performance” part hasn’t been explained much, but it sounds troublesome.”

Kirk also cites the hypocrisy of the criteria itself. For instance, there is no criteria for factoring in Ohio State’s win over a Cincinnati team with a then healthy starting quarterback. Cincinnati now looks like a week non conference win for the Buckeyes, considering the Bearcats season deteriorated after losing starting quarterback Gunner Keil.

By no means am I a Buckeye supporter, in fact as a Michigan Wolverine fan I would somewhat enjoy to watch Buckeye fans cringe as they miss out on the first college football playoff. However, one has to wonder if the committee would factor in a season-ending injury to Jameis Winston, quarterback for the Florida Seminoles. The Seminoles have gone undefeated in a power five conference, but only have one team left on their schedule that they defeated – Louisville, who remains ranked. Compared to the Buckeyes, who do have one loss, strength of schedule should play a significant factor in the eyes of Buckeye fans. The same goes for TCU, and even Baylor, who despite defeating TCU trails them in the college football playoff standings. What if Horned Frogs quarterback Trevone Boykin, currently in the top 5 of the Heisman watch list, was to go down this week in practice? How about Baylor Bears quarterback Bryce Petty who left their game early due to concussion symptoms while Baylor barely hung on to a victory over Texas Tech?

A college football playoff that was created to lower the criticism of who is named the national champion of college football, now has the NCAA facing possibly the most postseason scrutiny ever. With conference championships remaining, the committee has very little football left before they make their final decision. One has to question why the NCAA gave the voters the subjective choice on how to order their criteria by importance. Now the Ohio State Buckeyes and Baylor Bears, who were already possibly facing the outside looking in to begin with, may be punished and kept out of the playoffs due to their quarterbacks injuries.

No matter what the final decision is, the NCAA can look forward to the many questions it will receive from the media and fans regarding how they came about choosing the final four teams.

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Number of Cuban Defectors in MLB Continues to Grow

By Matt Rogers

Throughout the history of Major League Baseball, Latino players have played a large role in the success and popularity of the league. The number of Latino players has risen greatly in recent years because of the level of talent of the players. Usually, scouts for MLB teams can go into Latino countries, like the  Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. The one Latino country that American scouts have not had much luck with is the island of Cuba.

Players that come from Cuba to play in Major League Baseball have to illegally defect from their country in order to do so. Ways that some of these players have reportedly defected are to stray away from the team during international team play in foreign countries and by boat to the port of Miami, Florida. If these people are caught by the Cuban Coast Guard, they are usually jailed for large numbers of years. This makes it difficult for these players to come to the United States to play because they are forbidden by the Cuban government to play in the United States, unless they are traveling with the Cuban national team.

Defection has become more prevalent for Cuban players in recent years because of the money that they can make in the Major Leagues as opposed to the amount they are paid to play in Cuba. The players often leave behind their families to come to the United States because they live and play in such poor conditions in Cuba. This was portrayed in a recent ESPN 30 for 30 film, Brothers in Exile, which told the story about brothers Livan and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Both of the brothers played pivotal roles on two championship MLB teams in the late 1990’s.

Some of the more prominent players that have defected from the island of Cuba to play in the Major Leagues are Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez (who topped Puig in the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year voting), Jose Abreu, and most recently, Yasmany Tomas. All of these players, with the exception of Fernandez, signed contracts north of $40 million, before ever playing in a Major League or Minor League game.

In the future, given the popularity of baseball on the island of Cuba, the number of Cuban defectors coming to the MLB should continue to rise. The talent of Cuban defectors that sign contracts with Major League team is spectacular. So, too, are the stories of triumph that each of them offers.

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First Umpire Comes Out As Being Gay

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By Alex O’Connor

This Monday, umpire Dale Scott became the first MLB umpire to come out as gay. He is not only the first in his sport to come out while active, but within all four major sports (MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL). Scott has been an umpire at the Major League level for 29 seasons. He has also been with his partner for 28 years. The news was released through a photo of Scott with partner Michael Rausch in Reference magazine. The photo submitted was of the two on a plane attending the opening MLB series in Japan this past year. In addition, this magazine only has roughly 45,000 subscribers and might be a hint that he was letting the outside world know in a very reserved manner that he was gay.

The news was first reported by Outsports, which is a California-based media company that focuses on sport figures who decide to come out as gay. Outsports also tracks the influence of gay sport figures in all sports across the world. With an interview with Outsports regarding his reasons for coming out, Scott noted that “I didn’t want to be making some coming out story, some banner headline, because that’s not how I operate.” What I am taking from this quote is that Scott knew the recent process of athletes coming out as pioneers for the sport (Michael Sam, Jason Collins) and the flurry of media attention that has been focused on them. Most notably with Michael Sam, he had not even played a regular season snap and was getting as much focus within the media as someone like Johnny Manziel. Even though Scott is not a player, the argument can be made that he would receiving as much media attention as the players above due to him being the first of his profession. Scott is the first umpire in all four major sports, Sam was the first NFL player and Collins was the first NBA player.

The significance of Scott coming out is that his actions may be the motivation that other non-athletes in the sport industry need to come out. Though this may not be the case, it is something that the media needs to adjust to. However, Scott gave very little room for sport media exploitation in his circumstance. Due to Scott’s limited media involvement, he has respectfully kept his story from expanding into a larger role in the sport media spectrum.

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No Championship No Job for Bo Pelini

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By Kate Roth

Throughout this college football season we have seen many teams fall short of their expectations in turn putting their coaches on the chopping block. We expected to see coaches like Will Muschamp of Florida and Brady Hoke of Michigan get the boot at the end of the season, but this past Sunday’s headlines held the name of coach that many of did not expect to see, that name being Bo Pelini of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Pelini and his team were still in celebration mode after wrapping up the regular season on Friday with a 37-34 overtime win over rival Iowa to give the team 9 wins on the season and a chance to make it to a great bowl game. So I think it is safe to say that the announcement on Sunday that he would no longer be the Head Coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers came as a shock to all of Husker Nation.

Pelini started as head coach of the Huskers in 2007 and has recorded at least 9 wins in every season with the team and an overall record of 66-27. He also took to the team to 3 league championship games, but never came away champion. This seemed to be the main argument the University came out with when being questioned on their decision to fire such a successful coach.

The University of Nebraska Football Team has a great tradition of winning big games, not just regular games throughout the season, but championship games. The Athletic Department at the University seems to feel as though they have given Pelini enough time to deliver a championship with the team he has built and see his 9 or more win seasons as unsuccessful when they come without a championship.

As I stated before this news seemed to come as a shock to Husker Nation, including present and past players who took to twitter to voice their opinions on the matter and support Coach Bo and the rest of the coaching staff.

Will Compton, a former Husker now Washington Redskin in the NFL tweeted, “Can’t thank the coaching staff enough for the personal growth in my life. Their character, values, and leadership made a difference in us all. Can’t wait to continue to support them and watch them have success elsewhere.”

Another tweet came from Husker starting cornerback and team captain Josh Mitchell who said, “Have nothing but love for this man, thank you for everything Coach Bo.” Mitchell then attached photo of himself and Coach Pelini in an embrace and later changed it to his profile picture on the social media site.

These are just a couple of the countless tweets that were sent out from the Husker football community after the announcement. The players wanted to make it clear that they believe in Coach Bo and show that he has become more than just a coach to them over their years at the University.

It has been proven time and time again that the Nebraska crowd is not easy to please. They want success and they want it now. Unfortunately for Coach Pelini, 9 wins of more a season just didn’t satisfy the Athletic Department as long as they came with no Championship Trophy.

Although this is a tough time for Bo and the rest of his coaching staff it is clear to see through the success he has had through the years and the support his players have shown for him that he is not only a great coach, but a great leader. I think it’s safe to say it won’t be long before he is hired by a new Athletic Department and we will be hearing his name in the headlines again.

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Cleveland’s Quarterback Dilemma

By Savannah Malnar

Johnny “Money” Manziel may have been the most hyped rookie coming to play in the NFL this season. The college star was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, and immediately there was speculation as to if he would start over last year’s starter Brian Hoyer. Despite the rumors, Manziel only saw the field once (on a trick play to catch a pass from Hoyer) until last Sunday. The Browns were down 20-3 to the Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland coach Mike Pettine had enough of Hoyer and gave Manziel the field with about 12 minutes left in the game. Manziel promptly drove the Browns down the field and ran in a 10-yard, marking the first rushing touchdown for Cleveland in four years.

The Browns still ended up falling to the Bills 26-10, but that didn’t stop the rush of people again calling for Manziel to start for the remainder of the year. Cleveland fans seemed to all be on the same side; the team should no longer be Hoyer’s.

Local and national media humanized the event a little more, highlighting Hoyer’s disappointment in being pulled. Hoyer spoke with reporters post-game, and the most common quote in each media account of the event is, “So I think you guys know from before, I’m never going to just hang my head and feel sorry for myself. We have four games left and whatever coach decides to do, I’ll be here to support this team and obviously I feel like this is my team and this is my job so we’ll see what happens moving forward.” Hoyer still believes the starting position should be his, especially after the strong start the team showcased early in the season.

One Browns beat writer, Mary Kay Cabot, focused on Manziel instead. Her article discussed his gratitude for the chance to play and also his humility and acknowledgement that he couldn’t have performed as well without the veterans on the Browns offense. Manziel felt lucky that his one fumble got overturned as an incomplete pass despite his opinion that his arm had not moved forward yet.

Cabot and most other sports writers seem to be under the same impression: Manziel is going to get his chance to start soon, if not in Week 14.

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Massive Blowout

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By Kia Tyus

Many people believe the whole point of playing a team sport is to not only win but win by as much as possible. Many competitive athletes love to completely dominate a team. In the case of Savannah State vs. Louisville this was exactly the case.

The players and the fans were probably amped up about the blowout win. But, not Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. Instead, Pitino early on in the game decided to come up with ways to not beat Savannah State by so much.

The question you should ask yourself is, when competing in a game should you hold back from destroying a team? Personally, I have mixed feelings about what Pitino did in the game. I understand that when your team is blowing out another team, it is important to reserve those players energy. It also lessens the chance of an injury.

But, is it fair to tell the players who rarely see playing time to hold back? No, I agree with the Jeff Eisenberg, the author of an article on the subject. When you put your backup players in the game, I feel as though they should get the same chance to pad their stats. It is their turn to have a feeling of accomplishing something.

Eisenberg also touched on Pitino’s post game press conference that was in fact a risky one. Pitino pitied Savannah State, stating, “I don’t like to see any team struggle like that. I really don’t.” Pitino furthered his comments by saying, “We tried everything” Referring how he was trying to not beat up on Savannah State so much.

Pitino ended his press conference making a statement, “You get nothing out of this, you just feel bad for the other team.” As a former athlete, I feel no matter how bad you get beat, I would never want a team to feel sorry for me. Clearly, Louisville was a better team being ranked in the nation. Savannah State is a struggling Division 1 school playing in a poor conference. No one should have been that surprised by this score.

Eisenberg began to compare Louisville blowout to their in-state rivals Kentucky; who blew out Montana State 86-28. Of course, Pitino refused to comment.

Eisenberg wrote a great article that made you think about what if you were in Pitino’s situation and how you would handle it. I feel as though Eisenberg gave great statics on each team such and the score, record, and even went as far as making a point of how this isn’t even Savannah State’s worst point differential in the shot clock era. In fact, in 2008, Savannah State scored a measly four points in the first half.

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