ESPN The Magazine, December 21, 2015 Edition
Forward- Seven Weeks of Crazy in the Big D
This story recaps the roller coaster, and dreadful season of the 2015–16 Dallas Cowboys and what “could have been.” Dallas had sky high hopes coming into this season following a controversial playoff loss in Green Bay last January. Starting quarterback, Tony Romo, suffered a broken collar bone in Week 3 in Philadelphia, which led to Dallas’ whirlwind of backup quarterbacks in Romo’s absence. This piece highlights the struggles of replacements Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassell, and an interesting portion in the story really caught my attention.
Weeden and Cassell have a combined 1–9 record in relief of the injured Romo, and a chunk of the blame goes to backup quarterbacks not seeing much action in the preseason and practices. Due to regulations the NFL has to follow in regards to practice time, the first-teamers need all the work and reps they can get, and repetition and recognition of live defensive schemes is vital at the quarterback position. With the majority of the reps going to Romo during crucial and limited 11 on 11 practice time, how are the backup quarterbacks seeing what Romo is seeing? The answer, virtual reality.
Not only is this a brilliant idea, but it is what the Cowboys actually throw on the heads of their backups. This system is pretty breath-taking when really digesting where technology is headed, especially in the world of sports. If a Dallas sports beat writer were to access this device and get a chance to see what the backup quarterbacks are seeing in the eyes of Romo live in his practice progressions, a great story can be written. That story can include the opinions and thoughts of Weeden and Cassell, and if they think it is helping or hurting their performance. Some negatives to this system, obviously, the players were much rather be on the field going through the motions and help them mentally and physically prepare themselves for the moment the starter goes down (which has happened… twice). Also, if a journalist were to gain access to this footage, you would have to worry about this potentially being a form of cheating. This non-Cowboy player is seeing the offense formations in first-person, and you’d have to be cautious that this person is not relaying these schemes to insiders of the opposition. A bit of an extreme example, but forms of spying have occurred before (Spygate of the New England Patriots).
PUT MALCOLM BUTLER IN THE GAME
This story by Kevin Van Valkenburg takes us through a timeline of the improbable story of New England Patriots super bowl hero, Malcolm Butler. The author had a unique way of presenting this piece by breaking down in section in scenes. Scene I, Scene II, Scene III, and so on… He took us through the feats and struggles Butler had to overcome on his path to NFL stardom. Though, the main focus was emphasizing the fact that Butler’s miracle interception during New England’s jaw-dropping Super Bowl 49 victory over the Seattle Seahawks last February was, in fact, practiced. Butler instinctually gambled by cutting Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette’s route because he practiced doing this prior to America’s biggest game. Drone footage of Butler working on this defensive play during practice would be awesome in an online piece for a journalist. To defend your story with quotes from Patriots coaches and players is one thing, but when a reader actually has video evidence of a player practicing what would be one of the greatest defensive plays in Super Bowl history, takes it to a whole new level.
THE NBA- AND ITS FUTURE- BELONGS TO STEPHEN CURRY
The Golden State Warriors took home their first NBA Championship in 40 years last June, taking down LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. This feature highlights the Warriors erupting superstar, Stephen Curry, and how his exciting style of play mesmerizes every sports fan on the planet. During Golden State’s season opener, the historic ring celebration is a major attraction for viewers on television, and extremely special to witness in the arena. The raising of the championship banner is known to stick in people’s memories for a lifetime. Virtual reality came to play during this ceremony, and smartphone users were able to experience this event in their own bed and living rooms. I did participate in this virtual reality experience, and was very impressed. If a link to the online version of this story were to be included, it would be beneficial for trafficking because Curry is one of the NBA’s biggest stars, and those who did not hear about this VR project during the ceremony will have the chance to recapture that moment, and spread this story onto their friends and family. One disadvantage of this sports VR experiment is that it takes away from the real emotions of the ceremony. Yes, you are able to look around and witness the crowd go wild, physically you are not there. This affects fans of the Warriors in the Bay Area more than anyone because if a fan planned on attending this game but ticket prices seemed to be too high, one can hear about the VR stint, and settle with leaning on that experience instead of attending the event live. Depending on how you view this situation, it can also be considered an advantage. What if fans wanted to attend the game, and tickets were sold out? A virtual reality tour would be the next best option.
IT’S NOT JUST WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE, IT’S HOW AUTHENTIC YOU ARE
This feature on Ronda Rousey takes us through the rise of her stardom and bone crushing dominance in the rising sport of Women’s UFC, and the fall of her confidence after a major upset of Holly Holm. This story brings the reader into the gym where countless hours of hard work Rousey put in for preparation of her upcoming fight. Author, Ramona Shelburne, would talk about how intense her sessions would be by trying twice a day, every day. Rousey pushed herself to the max to make sure she was mentally ready for this brawl, and her trainer, Edmond Taverdyan, believes this was a factor of why Rousey lost this fight. Rousey wore herself down, and admitted she did not feel 100% as she stepped foot in the octagon. Her feet did not feel like they were underneath her. Shortly into the fight, Holm knocked Rousey out cold and to the canvas with a leg kick to the jaw. Aside from the outcome of this major upset, recording Rousey’s excessive workload through wearables would’ve been pretty neat in this piece. If Rousey were asked to wear a Fitbit on her wrist, which is capable of recording heart rate throughout the day, this would show the reader how much wear and tear she would put herself through, especially during her training hours. Fitbits have the ability to construct bar and line graphs of heart rate, and display specific times during the day the heart peaks, and times where it is at rest. Including this in a piece like this would definitely show the reader how committed Rousey was to her training, that eventually led to failure after an improbable defeat.
ATHLETES CONTROL THE MEDIA. JUST ASK MARSHAWN LYNCH
This piece gets into detail how athletes hold a firm grip on the media and when it comes to interviews and natural emotions expressed by these million-dollar athletes. Social media can be an athlete’s worst enemy in our modern day of sports coverage.
On countless occasions, players have tweeted themselves into thousand dollar fines and suspensions. Sports journalists wish they can get such emotional reactions and answers during press conferences rather than being alerted on their phone that so-and-so just said this on Twitter. At times, athletes dictate how the media does their job. If a reporter asks a bold question during a post-game press conference that can really tick off the athlete, he usually fires back saying the reporter has no right going that far and is being unfairly critical, almost like the athlete feels attacked. During media week prior to Super Bowl 49, Seattle Seahawks running back, Marshawn Lynch, stood at every podium with his self-branded hat and clothing, and answered virtually every question with “I’m only here so I don’t get fined.” Every… question. Not only was this disrespectful on his part, but he is insulting the integrity of these journalists and reporters. Their job is to ask the right questions, and develop their stories powered by the athlete’s responses. The fact that a player who makes millions of dollars, and has the opportunity to win a Super Bowl for his team and leave a make on his legacy forever, and refuses to answer simple questions, which is a part of his job, is simply pathetic. What he ended up doing, believe it or not, was market his brand and the accessories he was wearing during this pitiful interviews. That day, his merchandise sold out on his website. So, with all this said, an interesting technological tool that can be thrown into this story can be sensors. A reporter can track the social media usage for the known-to-be unresponsive athletes in the sporting world, and contrast this data with their poor cooperation of reporter’s questions. Depending on who is chosen to test, this data can show that certain athletes feel that expressing opinions on their own terms maybe more comforting than answer pressure questions on the spot when reporters swarm an athlete’s locker following a controversial loss.
