Positive Spirits for Michigan State

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By Kia Tyus

An article written by Mike Griffith of Mlive.com touched on the expectations about Michigan State.

Griffith starts the article off touching on the point that Michigan State has gone from being hopeful to win a Big Ten Championship, to it being expected from the general public that they are going to win the Big Ten Championship.

I like how Griffith used facts like how the Spartans are 5-1 and ranked 8th in the nation, and how he noted major wins against Nebraska and Purdue respectfully.

Griffith also compared two of the nations top coaches: Mark Dantonio and Nick Saban.

Griffith explained how Dantonio has a calmer approach when dealing with pressure. Griffith even goes into detail about how Dantonio is more worried about his players being happy and embracing the moment, even stating “I think it’s a good problem to have.”

Saban on the other hand had more of an aggressive approach complaining about how it pisses him off that the public puts so much pressure on his players to win, but still isn’t satisfied enough if he doesn’t win by a lot. At the end of the day, Saban is more concerned about his players fighting through a hard fought game and coming out with the win. Saban just cares about his player’s happiness.

The way the editor edited each coaches approach made Dantonio seem nice and calm and Saban seemed like a loose screw. In fact, both coaches wanted the same thing, for their players to be happy. They both went about the interviews in different tones but there is no wrong to the way they answered the question.

Both coaches are passionate about the game and most importantly, both coaches care about there players.

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NCAA Investingating Jameis Winston for Sale of Autographed Memorabilia

By Matt Rogers

Another year, another investigation and suspension by the NCAA due to the distribution of current FBS football athletes’ autographed memorabilia. This year the culprits are University of Georgia Running Back, Todd Gurley, and Florida State Quarterback, Jameis Winston. One thing that both of these players have in common is they are both two of the most recognizable names in college football and they are, or were, both prominent leading candidates to win for the 2014 Heisman Memorial Trophy.

It seems that every year in recent seasons, a star player has been either investigated or suspended for an incident that most people of the general public would not consider wrongdoing. Receiving benefit for their own autographed jerseys does not seem to be something worthy of receiving a suspension that could harm the player’s stock in the upcoming draft.

Anything Jameis Winston does, especially anything that Jameis Winston does wrong, is going to be discussed countless times on all of the national news and sports channels, especially ESPN, the most viewed sports channel on television. Since the incident broke, SportsCenter has run the story on every episode of the show, at least once, sometimes multiple times per show.

It does not help Jameis Winston’s case that he has already been in the news for all of the wrong reasons since this past summer. First it was the criminal sexual assault case stemming from a December 2012 incident. Then, it was for shoplifting crab legs from a local Tallahassee grocery store. In recent weeks, it has been for publicly yelling obscenities that resulted in a game suspension from Florida State’s game against Clemson. After mentioning all of these incidents, the investigation that Florida State University is currently conducting into the sexual assault case for a possible code of conduct violation this week is also worthy of a mention because of the attention it is receiving from the national media.

Whether Jameis Winston is actually guilty of any of these crimes is meaningless at this point. The incidents have received so much attention from the media that the public consumes that Winston has been assumed guilty of all of them in the court of public opinion. This may or may not be fair, but it is what it has come to when dealing with the multiple incidents that Winston has been involved in. The media and NCAA are solely responsible for all of the praise and criticism that the most successful players, like Winston, receive from the opinions of the public.

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Is Jameis Winston Too Much of a Distraction for Florida State?

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By Kate Roth

It seems as though the media cannot get enough of Florida State star quarterback, Jameis Winston. There is always a story talking about Winston’s talent on the field or more recently his troubles off the field. The question now is not whether or not the spotlight will be on Winston, but rather will that spotlight serve as a distraction for the FSU football program.

There have been more breaking news stories about Winston in the past two months than most players have had in their entire football careers. Just in the past three days there were numerous stories surrounding Winston, involving the alleged sexual assault case and now claims of Winston signing autographs in exchange for money.

It just seems as though this young athlete cannot catch a break. Once one story starts to die down, one or two more pop right back up in the media, putting Winston under fire again.

What most people don’t realize as they read these headlines and watch these stories is that this negative attention is not only effecting Jameis, but his coaches and teammates as well.

As much as players try to turn their heads to media and ignore the stories, it is almost impossible for them to go through their daily lives without hearing all these claims being made against the star of their team. Situations like this make it easy for a team to lose focus, and no matter how hard they try they will always be distracted by the media (positive or negative) that surrounds their team.

This can be seen by watching the highlights of the Florida State versus Syracuse game this past Saturday. Even though FSU came away with a 38-20 away victory, it was clear that this was not the team’s sharpest performance, Jameis included. Passes that usually come naturally to Winston seemed to falling short and the team’s overall performance did not live up to the expectations of being the number one team in the nation, leaving the voters no choice but to move Mississippi State into the number one spot after their incredible performance against Auburn.

Now the pressure is on for number two Florida State as the fifth ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame come to town this Saturday. Not only is this the biggest game of the year thus far for FSU, but it will be showcased as the college football game of the week on College GameDay.

If there was ever a time that a team needed to get rid of off the field distractions this would be it. Unfortunately for FSU, it does not look like the distractions are going to end any time soon, as long as Jameis Winston remains their starting quarterback.

It will be interesting to see how the team handles all of the pressure and distraction this week as they aim to stay undefeated and regain their spot as the number one team in the nation.

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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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Famous Jameis: Where is this Star Heading and the Dark Cloud Circling Florida State Football

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By Kaleb Page

Nobody can deny the talent they have seen from game to game by Jameis Winston over his short time at Florida State. On the field his precision passing, passion for the game and command of the team has those at the next level drooling at what they could get. However, the star that is Jameis Winston could be on a collision course with a fate that nobody expected when he burst on the scene.

It all started on December 7th, 2012 when a female student was allegedly a victim of sexual assault by a male the morning after going to a local night club in Tallahassee, Florida. It took 34 days for the police to identify the man who did this and it was the victim who identified who it was, not police; the man identified was Jameis Winston. Prosecutors then waited another two weeks to contact Jameis about this, and then went on to do an even bigger baffling move. Without even interviewing witnesses or getting a DNA sample from Jameis, the case was closed on February 11th, 2013. But wait there is more. After letting nine months pass, on November 14th, 2013 investigators finally took interviews and a DNA sample from Winston. Ultimately leading to a ruling by the local prosecutor to not prosecute Jameis due to lack of evidence.

This whole thing from the start reeked of fishy methods and things done not in the sake of justice and truth but rather in the best interest of the school and its athletics. This event also brought into question the character of Jameis and how could he possibly do something like that or even put himself in that situation. This event is getting more press of late due to a report issued by The New York Times on October 10th, 2014. This report had shocking evidence as to how bad the university and law enforcement handled this situation. The school and law enforcement should be ashamed of how this all was handled and is still being played out. This made me think of a big question that could be added into this situation: How far will schools go to keep their star talent on the field?

Even though that event is the most serious and needs more attention, that was just the beginning of things that left people around the country wondering: What is Jameis thinking?

The same year of the alleged sexual assault (2012), Jameis and teammates had a BB gun fight in their apartment causing damages up in the area of $4,000.  Then in April of this year, Jameis went to a local grocery store and was caught stealing crab legs. He went on to make an apology and said “he forgot.” Then in the student union of Florida State he was seen on top of a table screaming an explicit phrase that got him suspended for the entire game against Clemson.

The straw that could break the camel’s back might be on its way. Recent developments are showing that the compliance department within Florida State athletics is investigating more than 950 autographed items by Winston found on the same site as Georgia’s suspended running back Todd Gurley, who had 500 items on the site. With this being a relatively new development it will be interesting if Winston will receive the same punishment as Gurley and be suspended for the rest of the season, thus possibly ending his Florida State football career.

Will the punishment happen though? From the track record of little to nothing done to discipline Jameis for his actions, my answer to that question would be no. Now Jameis may be a good person deep down and since I don’t know him maybe I should step back on my judgment. However with that said, it is hard to look at the list of bad judgment that follows him and not make a judgment of my own about the person he is. I wish Jameis for all his talent he had on the field, had just the equal amount of talent to think before he acts.

As for the big storm cloud building by the day around not only Jameis but around Florida State athletics and Tallahassee law enforcement, only time will tell the implications of their actions. It will most certainly get worse before it is all over, and for all that Florida State has built in the past years that made them into a premiere place to be, it all could come tumbling down. The investigators and prosecutor as well could see their credibility and reputation tarnished. But this all circles back to one person: Jameis Winston. Now is the time for this star to either wake up and become something better on and off the field, or continue on this path.

It is either he goes on to shine like so many of us believed when he just began, or this star will become like so many stars before it and implode on itself, turning into a black hole full of mystery. Mystery as to what could have been of Jameis Winston.

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Kentucky Hosts NBA Style Combine for Scouts

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By Nicholas Muhl

This past Friday, Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball coach John Calipari hosted an NBA-style combine for his players to show off their skills prior to the start of next spring’s draft. The combine was attended by over 90 NBA scouts and general managers, and each team had at least one representative present.

This coming year, the Wildcats squad is home to six McDonald’s All-Americans and is coming off a runner-up performance in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The two-hour combine, which was televised live on ESPNU, included both individual and team drills , which are included in the NBA scouting combine each year.

The move by Calipari to host such an event is not surprising, considering a record six Kentucky players were taken in the 2014 NBA Draft. The Wildcats head coach has produced many high level NBA players including Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Eric Bledsoe and the list goes on. More recently, former Wildcat players Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel were all selected in the top 10 picks in recent drafts.

Unlike many of his peers, Calipari embraces the one-and-done college basketball player. With his padded resume he continues to send 18 and 19-year-old young adults into the NBA, where the average player age is around 27 years old. Calipari was quoted this past weekend acknowledging that many of his players are already considering the NBA, long before they even attend their first class on campus.

“Someone said, ‘You’ll make them think about the NBA.’ Excuse me? They all do. Even the walk-ons. It creates a base for me to build with each individual kid and what I need to do.”

This brings to light a serious issue in sports culture today. 18-21 year old young adults are still maturing as they gain new responsibilities with age. In today’s sports society, these young student-athletes are exposed to fame, fortune, massive media coverage and many other things a typical young adult does not experience at such an age.

Through social media networks like Twitter, major TV networks like ESPN, and other media outlets, student athletes who achieve even most smallest amount of success are household names by the end of the week.

It isn’t just college basketball, as this goes for football and all other major college sports. One can argue that the added attention, such as Kentucky’s combine, can only bring upon more success for the student-athlete. At the very least, they receive recognition for the great achievements and talents they posses.

However, there is an opposite side to the coin. As much as fans love their young talent and phenoms, is the media and college sports as whole bringing too much added attention to student-athletes at such an age? Young superstars like Wildcats Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis are great examples of how successful a student-athlete can be from the additional attention they received at a young age. 

Examples of Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, both who have been surrounded by media coverage since the start of their college careers, can be given as to why student-athletes at such a young age are exposed to too much early on in their bright careers.

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The Many Faces of Jonathan Papelbon

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By Alex O’Connor

Jonathan Papelbon is currently the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies. Papelbon is know for his hot-temper and more than eccentric personality. Yesterday, he was one of the featured hosts of ESPN’s College GameDay. College GameDay was held on the campus of Mississippi State University, which is Papelbon’s alma mater. However, less than a month ago on September 17th, Papelbon was pulled from a relief appearance and made a graphic gesture to Phillies fans. As a result of this gesture, he was suspended seven games which was one of the largest non-drug related suspensions of the 2014 MLB season. At the time, Papelbon was heavily scrutinized for his exchange with fans and umpire, Joe West. Though this incident happened so recently, ESPN and many college media outlets have forgotten about his large suspension and instead created positive report through his appearance on College GameDay.

The way Papelbon handled the co-anchors, fans and additional media in Starkville helped his image in a positive way. Throughout the entire day, he was immersed in school pride, whether in his dress or his constant cheering with the fans. In addition, Papelbon lit up a cigar on national television, showing that he was completely relaxed and in control of the situation. He also recited many chants with fans and was interactive with co-hosts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso. ESPN allowed this because it creates a large buzz, not only among college football fans, but baseball fans as well. This move only increased their ratings and created more buzz for their program.

Less than a month prior, Papelbon was one of Philadelphia’s least favorite athletes. Though he posted an impressive 2.04 ERA this season, the lack of success of the Phillies and this incident worked against him. He is in the final year of his contract and this may be the last memory that Phillies fans have of him. Philly.com pointed out that the Phillies organization fully supported the MLB’s decision and apologized on behalf of Papelbon. In addition to his large contract, local Philadelphia media were hinting that this might be the final straw for Papelbon and the Phillies.

Jonathan Papelbon’s behavior has gotten him in trouble in the past, and yesterday’s College GameDay appearance helped him immensely. However, the media’s neglect over his seven-game suspension has also worked into his favor. I guarantee that very few people in the crowd thought of his obscene gesture on the diamond, but rather they were focused on the way he was dressed and the many ways he was going to entertain the crowd.

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Chris Bosh Says he Hasn’t Spoken to LeBron Since his Departure from Miami

By Matt Rogers

Another day, another story about LeBron James leaving Miami for a reunion with the Cavaliers in Cleveland. This story does not have much to do with the teams, but has every thing to do with Miami and national media digging for any and every story involving LeBron’s departure from the Heat.

It was no coincidence that this story was broken just days before the Heat and Cavs clashed in a preseason game in Rio de Janiero, Brazil on Saturday. The story was derived from quotes that Chris Bosh gave to reporters when asked if he had spoken to LeBron James since his decision to leave the Heat to re-join the Cleveland Cavaliers, after leaving 4 years earlier for the warm weather, beaches and title opportunities in Miami.

Whether or not Bosh intended any ill will by his comments about James is unknown, but Bosh did say that “We will see each other on the court. That’s plenty of time to catch up.” These quotes have been run by a vast majority of all major media outlets since they were made, each putting their own twist and spin on how the quotes were to be interpreted. Most media outlets saw what Bosh said as a stab at LeBron for leaving his “close” friends, Dwyane Wade and Bosh, in Miami after 4 consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2 of which the Heat won).

Personally, I believe that the Bosh quotes are a non-story to draw interest to an otherwise meaningless NBA preseason game. The quotes should not come as a surprise to anyone because of how much media coverage LeBron’s decision received this past summer. There were stories that broke about LeBron riding back with Dwyane Wade on a plane to Miami from his skills camp in Las Vegas the day of his decision. This did not sit well with media members in Miami because this lead most to assume LeBron had decided to return to the Miami Heat, which obviously did not happen.

This definitely is not the last story to break about a possible rift between a member of the Miami Heat and LeBron James because of James’ departure from Miami and the media coverage it received and continues to receive. Anything that the media can use to conjure up a buzz about certain marquee match-ups throughout the long and drawn-out NBA season, especially anything that involves the best player in the NBA and the entire planet, LeBron James, is going to be used as much as possible.

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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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The Ray Rice Saga and Roger Goodell’s Authority

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This is the first in an ongoing series of guest posts by those in academia and in the professional world of sport. Our first guest is Dr. Sungho Cho Ph.D/J.D., a Professor of Sport Law at Bowling Green State University. 

It has been one of the most tumultuous NFL seasons due to the TMZ video that made Ray Rice, at least momentarily, a jobless athlete in spite of his stellar performance statistics and a Super Bowl ring.

When Commissioner Roger Goodell initially imposed the two-game suspension on Rice for his personal misconduct in Atlantic City during the summer, various mass media pointed out that the level of punishment was not commensurate with the reprehensible conduct. For instance, an ESPN columnist, Jane McManus wrote that “[i]t’s a joke, and a bad one.” Fans wonder how Rice was suspended a couple of games while use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or repeatedly smoking marijuana would result in much harsher penalties, i.e., automatic suspension for six-games and the entire season, respectively. After the TMZ video disclosed what really happened in the elevator, the Commissioner suspended Rice indefinitely. The case is now pending in the league grievance process. Recently, the Commissioner announced an enhanced penalty structure for personal conduct cases.

A plethora of legal questions are associated with this case. How was Rice initially suspended two games while other infractions that were seemingly not so serious (using PEDs) resulted in stiffer penalties? What about the Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy rule? Can the Commissioner and the Ravens sanction Rice twice for the same misconduct? Since most mass media obscured such issues, this entry briefly explores them in the context of the legal aspects of the incident.

While the use of recreational and performance-enhancing drugs is strictly governed by the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and the players union, personal conduct cases are subject to the Commissioner’s broad authority. Thus, the initial two game suspension might not be inconsistent with any league regulations or rules of law even though it raised, without a doubt, a set of ethical and moral questions. The case is not covered by the Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy rule because the current incident is not a criminal case. The rule only applies to a criminal case involved with state or federal government.

Although there is no double jeopardy issue here, Rice and the union’s on-going grievance claim might have regulatory grounds under Article 46 of the CBA. The provision states: “[o]ne Penalty: [t]he Commissioner and a Club will not both discipline a player for the same act or conduct. The Commissioner’s disciplinary action will preclude or supersede disciplinary action by any Club for the same act or conduct.” Rice was released by the Ravens and suspended by the league. Pursuant to the CBA, the grievance case will be heard and decided by an arbitrator. Recently, the league and union agreed to choose a neutral arbitrator for the case just like the famous New Orleans Saints bounty case. If the arbitrator construes “discipline” in the CBA provision broadly, Rice and the union’s challenge might have merits.

How about the legitimacy of the initial two-game suspension and additional (indefinite) suspension later imposed by the Commissioner? Since the CBA does not expressly prohibit double sanctions like the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does, the Commissioner was in fact allowed to impose another sanction upon the newly discovered aggravating evidence that was arguably further “detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League,” i.e., the elevator video. Thus, there will be some factual disputes down the road whether the Commissioner had knowledge about the content of the elevator video when he decided the first sanction and whether Rice provided misleading information about the case when he met with the Commissioner during the summer to plead his case. It is also notable that the Commissioner’s discipline can be challenged in the court of law (pretty hard though) if Rice or the union can demonstrate that the Commissioner’s decision was “arbitrary or capricious.”

While media have extensively covered the factual background and sociocultural issues of the case, the above-mentioned legal aspects have mostly been ignored. At least, media should have sent some reporters who could cover and explicate such legal aspects of the case in depth since it was essentially an incident associated with criminal charges.

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