The Final Inning

Well folks, this is it, my last post. While there currently are and will continue to be many significant issues in the sports world, unfortunately, I will no longer be contributing my opinions on those issues. But I will definitely walk away from this experience a better writer and a more enthusiastic sports fanatic.

I started out at the beginning of the year not having the slightest clue on the proper writing etiquette for a blog. I began simply by compiling all of my research and the information I found on the topic that I was talking about into what I thought was an adequate post. Little did I know, there is more to blogging than this. My readers didn’t want to hear the bare bone facts behind the latest scandal; they wanted to know my opinion on that event so that they could formulate their own opinion. And as the year went on, it became easier for me to include my opinion even though it was a substantial struggle that I had to overcome.

The skills that I gained from my blog helped me become a better writer in other areas of writing, in addition to the writing necessary for my blog. The struggle of inserting my opinion throughout the background information I provided in my blog helped me in my literary and argumentative writing in my AP Language & Composition class.

To Be or Not to Be... The Best Tennis Player of All Times (Sept. 14)

This entry that I posted in the early part of the school year, when I was still learning about the necessary writing for my blog, I decided to blog about a topic that I feel strongly about. I figured that since it meant a lot to me that would be sufficient in the amount of personal opinion I included in the post. However, I was wrong. While I include my feelings on the playing abilities of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, I mainly include the opinions of other sports commentators. This post is basically an overview of a significant debate that is already out there in the sports world, and that is not what I wanted my blog to become.

My First Professional Hockey Experience

We Say Goodbye to Chicago Cubs Legend

These two entries would have to be among my favorite throughout my blog. I feel that since they aren’t about an event in which I had to supply a lot of background information, I was able to keep the post primarily about my own experiences and feelings. That hockey game was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my life and I feel as though you could really gather that in the writing I produced for this post. I was extremely upset when I found out about the death of Ron Santo and I think this, too, is evident in my writing as I tried to convey it to my audience.

I really enjoyed writing for my blog and I think it was an extremely beneficial writing experience. The style of writing necessary for a blog is different from most other writing that we get to practice in high school. And for this I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to write to you, my audience, about the thing that has been my greatest hobby since I was just a little kid. Thank you.

Derrick Rose Could Be Running Into Issues

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6399553

With the way he has been playing in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls can't afford to lose Derrick Rose at this stage in the game. To start out the playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Rose contributed 39 points, six rebounds, and six assists on Monday to help the Bulls to a 1-0 lead. With the NBA community's eyes on him after that performance, Rose had 36 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the second game on Thursday in Indiana, again contributing to the Bulls win. In Game 3 of the series, Rose helped achieve yet another Bulls victory with 23 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Today, however, it is a slightly different story; with 9:44 left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls are struggling 62-74. In today's Game 4, the Bulls have not taken the lead once; the best they have done is tied at five a piece in the first quarter. Today, Rose has only made 10 points, four rebounds, and eight assists.

It is quite obvious that something is affecting Rose's playing today, but there are different theories to what may be causing the trouble. Rose left today's game with 1:02 remaining in the first quarter with a left ankle sprain, to return early in the second quarter. According to ESPNChicago.com, "Rose went up for a shot and turned his ankle when landing. He didn't appear to make contact with any other player."

Rose could easily have gone back in the game to be a team player even though his ankle was not in prime playing condition. This would be my guess as to why he is not producing like he had been in the previous games three games. But perhaps the pressure was too much for Rose to handle. While this reasoning seems less likely, Rose's performance has dropped in each game of the series. Fans and critics expected so much out of him after his first few outstanding games, maybe he just couldn't live up to that. Regardless of this being said, I would find it more believable that Rose is tired, he has committed his all to helping the Bulls win in the last three games and naturally, his body and mind are tired. This, along with his minor injury today, are probably paying their toll and thus causing Rose to have an average game.

Is Chicago the City of Fixed World Series?

Recently in the sports world, speculation has come about over the 1918 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. Eddie Cicotte of the 1919 Chicago White Sox stated that the infamous Black Sox got the idea to throw the 1919 World Series from the Cubs who had supposedly done so the year prior in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox.

Eddie Cicotte was a pitcher for the White Sox from 1912-1920. He was banned from the sport when he became the first of the eight players involved in the scandal to step forward and sign a confession and waiver of immunity. After doing so, Cicotte recanted his confession and was later acquitted of all charges at trial by jury. Cicotte's involvement in this allegation began during the 1920 deposition when he stated that the "ball players were talking about somebody trying to fix the National League ball players or something like that," Cicotte said in the deposition. "Well anyway there was some talk about them offering $10,000 or something to throw the Cubs in the Boston Series," he said. "Somebody made a crack about getting money, if we got into the Series, to throw the Series."

Cicotte said in a court deposition two years after the Black Sox scandal that "'the boys on the club' talked about how a Cub or a number of Cubs were offered $10,000 to throw the 1918 World Series..." Regardless of making this accusation, Cicotte failed to mention any specific players involved or any facts that could be used to prove whether or not this actually happened.

The Show Must Go On

Although players and teams are uncertain about the outcome of this lockout, the NFL seems to be making a point by still releasing the upcoming regular-season schedule. In addition to this, many teams are organizing on-field team practices and team workouts even though there is no definite date on when they will actually play against another team.

With the NFL draft about to take place in just a few weeks, teams are preparing to go out their business just like any other season, there is only one problem; there might not even be a season. Those young men that get drafted may not even get the chance to play in the year to come. But the show must go on and indeed it will.

Attendance Woes Throughout Sports

NASCAR, baseball, NCAA sports, and other sports, are all noticing sharp declines in their attendance in 2011. Is this a coincidence? I think not. But could this decline be a permanate change? And if so, what caused it?


Randy White, of the White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group, blogged in February about the decline in attendance at NASCAR races but how this is just an example of the decline in attendance at all sporting events in general. While some people attribute the 22% decline of annual attendance at races to “the declining popularity to an aging fan base and to the improved safety… i.e. racing has become less appealing as it is now perceived as less dangerous and less edgy,” the bigger issue is the fact that people are less willing to go to out-of-town games with more and more families becoming lower income households. From 1997 to 2008, the percentage of adults that went to at least one sporting event during the prior year declined by nearly 25%, showing that this issue is broader than just NASCAR racing.

According to AOL Sports, USA Today reported of the attendance woes throughout Major League Baseball. The report showed “that six teams have already had the worst single-game attendance in their stadiums’ history. It was 13,000 in Atlanta, 12,000 in Seattle, fewer than 9,000 in Pittsburgh. The Yankees and Cubs have had uncharacteristically huge expanses of empty seats. And in Cleveland, where the team has been surprisingly hot and hopeful, six games have already drawn fewer than 10,000 fans.”

Citi Field

Some seem to think that the drop in baseball attendance is due to something that relates specifically to baseball since the NBA and NFL aren’t seeing as drastic declines in attendance. Perhaps it can be tied to the fact that baseball starts when the temperature is still a little chilly to be sitting through a three hour game. But more so, could it be that the fact that the MLB season is a relatively long season compared to other sports? With 165 games to be played before anything really exciting happens (the postseason), perhaps people are waiting for the excitement to begin. With the economy being the way it has been, families have had to limit excessive spending and follow a stricter budget. So possibly, people are waiting to go to their one baseball game when the weather is nicer and the race for the divisional title is more prevalent.


These are just two examples of the attendance dilemma on our hands in the world of sports, both professional and collegiate. Some claim the decline is related to the economy, while others say it is due to the set up of the sport, and some even believe it has to do with the increase in social networks, internet and electronic communications, and time being spent on video games. It is hard to say which is the real cause of the problem, but it is an unfortunate problem that I hope will disappear over time.

Barry Bonds Wrap-Up

After countless weeks, large sums of money, and a slew of emotions being tossed around, the Barry Bonds trial has come to a dramatic end. Although the outcome does not state for a fact that Bonds used steroids, he is still now considered a convicted felon.

On Wednesday, after many days of deliberation, the jury found Bonds guilty of obstruction of justice. They said that in his trial nearly 7 years ago, when being questioned, he failed to answer the question about receiving drugs in a 'yes' or 'no' manner. As for the charges suggesting that Bonds made false statements to the grand jury in his Dec. 2003 case, Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial. Bonds will not be able to be charged with making false statements about receiving steroids and human growth hormones under oath with double jeopardy playing a role in the trial.

According to ESPN,

Amber, a 19-year-old blonde woman who was the youngest juror, said the final votes were 8-4 to acquit Bonds of lying about steroids and 9-3 to acquit him on lying about HGH use. The panel voted 11-1 to convict him of getting an injection from someone other than his doctor, with one woman holding out, she said.
Jurors decided to convict Bonds on the obstruction count on Tuesday; on Wednesday they decided they could not come to unanimous decisions on the rest.

In my opinion, this whole fiasco sends the message to athletes and fans alike, that people with the appropriate amount of money, an endless supply of resources, and the fame that is associated with their name can make any big problem seem like nothing more than a misdemeanor. Bonds broke the most basic MLB rule there is, any use of steroids is against the leagues policies. Yet with all the evidence that was provided to show that he had used them knowingly, he got off with lying under oath. He is receiving absolutely no punishment for the actual usage of steroids; and why is this? Merely because he is the current record holder for the most homeruns; it is absurd.

Are We Safe at Sporting Events?

After Thursday's season opener between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Giants, a Giants fan was beaten in the parking lot of the Dodgers' stadium. Upon being taken to the hospital, the man was put into a medically induced coma. When something like this happens, we have to consider what can be done to prevent reactions like this at sporting events (being that this was not the first time that something like this happened)? Will this man ever be able to go to or enjoy a baseball game again? Should rivalries like this one have warning labels with them?

When addressing the first question, I just want to clarify that I don't think that fans should be told not to show their support at rivalry team's stadiums like some sports analysts are saying. When I go to another stadium to watch a Cubs game, I want to show my support even more than I do at home just because there are fewer Cubs fans in attendance. While I understand where the analysts are coming from, in a means of protection, I don't think warning fans not to wear their jerseys and caps to away games will fix this problem. Sports have always been a big part of peoples lives and when their team loses, they react irrationally. I am definitely not justifying what happened on Saturday but I am saying that it is a difficult thing to avoid, besides the addition of security.

If, and hopefully when, this man comes out of his coma, is he going to feel comfortable going to a baseball game again? If he does go to another game, he is going to be looking over his shoulder every second, thinking that someone is trying to approach him. If it had been me, I would have been sticking up for my team, thinking that I was among other sports fans and not among attackers.