Keeping Up With the Athletes

Lakers Kobe Bryant Source: NBC Sports

NBA players and owners have finally reached an agreement to end the 149-day lockout.

Christmas Day will mark the opening of the 2011-2012 NBA season, according to a press release from ESPN MediaZone.

There are four games scheduled for Christmas Day, which include  the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls vs. the L.A. Lakers, the Orlando Magic vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Clippers, according to the press release.

ABC and ESPN will be showcasing the Christmas Day games.

These games are thought to be compelling due to the rematch between the Mavericks and the Heat and with the Lakers deputing new coach Mike Brown, according the the press release.

NBA fans now have something more to do on Christmas than open presents, which is sit back and watch the NBA showcases on ABC and ESPN.

Athletes at Bowling Green. Source: BG Athletics

To pay or to not pay?  That is the question facing college athletics across the nation.

It has been said that there are some athletes who put in more than 40 hours of practice a week, which in comparison is like a full-time job just unpaid, according to the article in the Chicago Sun Times.

Many BGSU students believe that athletes do get paid through tuition, student fees and room and board.

Sports management major, Jenny Kelley, 19, from Livonia, Mich., said that she believes that the paycheck of tuition and room and board is high enough.

“Athletes don’t deserve to get paid simply because they are student-athletes, the key word being student,” said Kelley.

Communication major Tiffany Durham, 20, from Riga, Mich., said that she doesn’t pay much attention to sports, but she believes that there is no reason for athletes to get paid.

“College is a place to receive an education and there are scholarships available, so in a sense, if an athlete receives a scholarship that is a form of being paid,” said Durham.

Sports management student, Hanna Dixon, 20, from Westlake, Ohio, disagrees.

Dixon believes student athletes are hardworking individuals who deserve to get paid.

“I cannot believe the amount of work and dedication they put forth to represent their school,” Dixon said.

While many students on campus believe paying an athlete is wrong, there is at least one student on this campus who strongly believes that athletes deserve to get paid.

Cameron Black, 19, majoring in sports management from Kent, Ohio, thinks that Bowling Green athletes deserve to get paid because they bring revenue to the university.

“The athletes here put a lot of time and effort to represent this school,” Black said.

They should receive money outside of tuition, but not too much just enough to get by on, according to Black.

“The athletes on this campus are the individuals who truly represent the orange and brown,” Black said.

On Monday, the Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa announced that he will be retiring from  the World Series Champions the St. Louis Cardinals.

“On Monday, three days after receiving the third World Series title of his managing career ,La Russa, announced that he would like to do something different, according to the article in the New York Times.”

Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa Source: Bleachernation

“Tony leaves behind a legacy of success that will always be remembered as one of the most successful eras in Cardinals history,” the team chairman, Bill DeWitt Jr. was quoted saying in the article.

La Russa brought in 2,728 victories with his time being a manager, which is the third most victories for a manger according to the article. However, La Russa can move up to second all he needs is 35 more victories to do so.

“I’m aware of the history of the game.But I would not be happy with myself if the reason I came back was to move up one spot. That’s not why you manage,” La Russa said in the New York Times article.

According to a story by ThePostGame, one in every 45 National Football League players (2.2 percent) is arrested. However, the numbers are lower than the national average which is 4.2 percent. ThePostGame also touches on that NFL players get in 47.6 percent less trouble than the average person.

The NFL isn’t the only professional team in the spotlight for being in trouble with the law. ThePostGame also stated that athletes in the MLB and NBA have been in handcuffs as well.

CBS Minnesota stated that the Minnesota Vikings have the most arrests, while  the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans follow closely behind ranking second,third and fourth. John Taurer, the head coach from the University of St. Thomas said, “Anytime a NFL player gets arrested, you’re going to hear about that story, you aren’t going to hear about it the other times someone gets arrested.”

Even though you see the mug shots of professionals all over the media the general public gets arrested at a higher rate than professional athletes, whether it’s the NFL, MLB or NBA.

It was recently reported by ESPN that players on the Boston Red Sox would drink beer during games. Could this be the reason why they lost the wild-card game? Three players admit to such actions, but say that it wasn’t the reason why they lost the wild-card game.

The three alleged pitchers were Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and John Lackey. According to reports the three would drink on days they weren’t pitching. They would simply exit the dugout and make their way to the clubhouse, where they would fill their cups with Bud Light, then return back to the dugout where they would drink while watching the game.

A Red Sox employee reported that  “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘it’s about that time.”

Recently Beckett admitted that every once in a while they would have an occasional ninth-inning rally beer. Quickly after that he said that their drinking of beer wasn’t the reason for their losing in September. No matter what the players say people are going to hold this over the team’s head, considering they lost a nine-game lead in the wild-card chase in September. Shortly after lost of the wild-card game Manager Terry Francona walked away and general manager Theo Epstein is reportedly heading to the Cubs. So the real question is what is next for the Red Sox?

Pitcher Josh Beckett is caught in a little controversy

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Caitlin Flack and i’m currently a sophomore at Bowling Green State University. I’m majoring in Broadcast Journalism and hoping to pick up a minor in Marketing. I’m from a small town in  Southern Ohio called New Carlisle. It’s a town where everybody knows everybody. Back in New Carlisle I leave behind awesome friends, an amazing family and an annoying Chihuahua named Bell. Most of my time is dedicated to my academics and athletics. I am a member of the Women’s Cross County and Track-and-Field team. Also, I am a representative for SAAC, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for me, but until then i’m going to sit back and enjoy the time I have here at BGSU and make the best of it!