From USA Today Review by Connor Massei in SRM 334 (section 3) The article from USA Today.com explains that NFL General Managers and Coaches are focusing more on draft prospect involvement on social media than ever before. This focus is greatly due to the highly publicized Manti Te’o hoax, in which one of the NFL’s highest rated prospects was involved in a false relationship with an imaginary girlfriend. Te’o communicated with whom he believed to be his girlfriend strictly through phone calls and the social networks, namely twitter. NFL organizations, more often than ever before, have personnel that monitor prospects tendencies on twitter and Facebook. These tendencies and posts are closely analyzed and sometimes play an effect on players draft stocks. Personally, Te’o now has more pressure to perform on pre-draft interviews due to his involvement in the hoax and poor judgment that could be seen on social media.
This article helps its audience to understand that NFL GMs and Coaches care more about prospects than their physical talents shown on the field. It is important to them that their players show character, and an efficient way to get to know a prospect indirectly is through monitoring of their twitter and Facebook pages. I think it is interesting how much of an impact the tendencies of prospects on social networks can affect their draft stock, or even prevent them from being drafted at all. This new practice by NFL organizations is just one more dimension for NFL hopefuls to be aware of throughout college and during the pre-draft process. The article is relevant to this course because as we have discussed in class, the social media plays an important role in sports these days. The fact that NFL teams monitor player’s twitters and Facebook pages demonstrates the ability for social media to potentially spark, dampen, or even ruin the career of potential professional athletes. Sports media greatly utilizes social networks, and this article is a prime example of why they are so often used. --- Review by Michael Civiello in SRM 334 (section 3)
In summary, this article goes over how the so called “hoax” of Manti Te’o is now making NFL teams and their executives re-evaluate their own ways on how they will evaluate college prospects prior to the NFL draft. It has quotes from two NFL general managers: Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings and John Schneider of the Seattle Seahawks. Spielman is quoted as calling the evaluated players “social media players” nowadays. He talks about how teams are now digging more in depth into players’ social media pages. John Schneider of the Seahawks said the team has a security staff assigned to monitor social media pages of potential prospects the team is scouting.
Spielman and head coach Greg Schiano of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers both emphasized the importance of the interview process that teams get with players at the combine. They both said that the fifteen minutes they get with prospects, especially a player such as Te’o, will be very crucial in determining the player’s football smarts but also their character.
Social media is so relevant in today’s world, especially with the national media outlets. Many players do not have private pages and that makes them susceptible to getting looked at by teams that will monitor their pages. These players definitely have to be more careful because posting inappropriate tweets or pictures can cost players lots of money because they fall far down draft boards and potentially undrafted. It is dream to many of the prospects to play in the NFL and its sometimes unthinkable that something as small as a post on twitter can potentially ruin that dream.
From Sports Illustrated Review by Anne Comber in SRM 334 (section 1) On February 14, 2013, South Africa’s media exploded when news of their double-amputee, heroic sprinter was charged with premeditated murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. This terrible tragedy was exposed to the public immediately after news reporters found out the story. South Africa’s citizens went into shock as their global inspiration stood in the courtroom awaiting bail.
With little defense the news was even more shocking when the media released details of the incident that took place in Pistorius’s heavily guarded mansion. His house was thoroughly inspected and there was no evidence of a burglar breaking an entry. Pistorius told police he mistook his 29-year-old girlfriend for an intruder and shot his 9-mm firearm to protect himself. South Africa is known for violent crimes, especially house robberies and this sparks a rising issue of gun ownership. Pistorius shot through the bathroom door four times, striking Steenkamp in the head with one of the shots. Steenkamp had allegedly locked herself in the bathroom and blood spatter patterns showed she was carried or ran down stairs still alive. There are my unanswered questions regarding the incident and sooner or later the truth with come out.
The Media portrays Pistorius as a hero one minute and villain the next. This is relevant to this course because it shows how the media turns a well-known, inspirational athlete into a murder without all the facts. Many athletes have done things they are not so proud of but because of the media they are remembered for their faults instead of their achievements. --- Review by Wade Martin in SRM 334 (section 1) Oscar Pistorius, an Olympic runner, is accused of killing his girlfriend and model Reeva Steenkamp. He believed there was a break in at his home and shot through a bathroom door mistaking Steenkamp for a robber. There are many questions about what really happened but all the facts are still not known. Pistorius was recently granted bail and will be free until trial. Pistorius is known as one the greatest runners and inspirational stories in the world. He just recently became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics and became the media’s hero to all of South Africa. Pistorius's life was all changed in one night. He went from one of Time’s magazines most influential people to murderer in a matter of hours. Pistorius is a great example of how the media can build a person up to get a great story and bring the person back down just as fast.
Pistorius may be guilty but in a country where violence is a major issue, there is a chance it really was an accident. In the past, Pistorius may not have been automatically seen him as a murderer but instead as heartbroken man who made a mistake. The evolution of media has created writers looking for readers anyway they can get it, even if the story is not fully developed. One columnist used Pistorius’s misfortune to go from relatively unknown local reporter to a reporter with a couple hundred thousand twitter followers. He gained this following just by live tweeting from the bail hearing. It has come to a point where a reader can get up to the second updates on the case just by following a South African reporter.
This story is relevant because of social media. Pistorius is not only on trial with the South African government but every human being around the world with a smart phone. It is also relevant because media has changed over the years from covering only what they felt they had too, to know doing whatever is necessary to get readers and attention.
From CNN Review by Danielle Colassard in SRM 334 (section 2) Caroline Pla is an 11-year-old girl who has been playing football for the Catholic Youth Organization since she was in Kindergarten. For the past two years, she has been dominating the league and knocking down her opponents. Out of 2,500 participants within in 46 football programs, she is the only girl playing for CYO. Unfortunately she stopped playing last season because the Archdiocese started enforcing the “no girls policy.” Her coach Chip Ross said she is more than capable of holding her own on the football field, as she had been doing it since she was five years old. He thinks she should be able to play because it “calls out players that can hang or not hang” and she can. Caroline’s story was kept under wraps until the season ended. Once the season ended and she was kicked out of the league, the story hit major news sources.
The media grasped onto this story, and she had many articles written about her, as well as interview requests. Huffington Post, Forbes, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, Yahoo Sports, and other Philadelphia area blogs wrote about this story. According to http://www.philly.com, she has become a “media darling” and has done interviews with Ellen Degeneres and Headline News. People find this situation to be infuriating because she should be able to play this sport. She knows she is not going professional, but she should be allowed to play in the CYO especially because she can hold her own. The media is showing the CYO that she is a strong girl and can hold her own by knocking down boys. This story shows that girls can do almost everything boys can do. Just because she’s a girl playing a “boy’s sport,” doesn’t mean she should not be in the league. --- Review by Chelsea Weber in SRM 334 (section 2)
Our current event is on a young 11 year old girl, Catherine Pla, who has been playing football for 6 years and recently found out she would be banned from the team. Catherine Pla was inspired to play football after watching her older brother play, and eventually began her football career when she was five in the Pop Warner league. She then signed up to play tackle football with the Catholic Youth Organization in fifth grade. During her second season of playing with the CYO, Pla was told that she would no longer be able to play, because according to the CYO handbook, football is a full-contact sport, which meant no girls allowed. Caroline’s family and friends, disturbed by the rule, decided to start a online petition to encourage the CYO to change its boys-only rule. This story has caught the attention of many, including TV talk show host Ellen Degeneres. Right now, Catherine is waiting for a final decision on the rule that will be made in March.
After reading this article, I believe that in this world we should be past determining who gets to play what sport according to gender. Catherine Pla has every right to fight for her right to play tackle football with the CYO. People need to stand up against this type of discrimination, and I think the media is a perfect way to get voices heard and stories out to the public. This story relates to our sports media class because the media is getting Catherine’s voice heard and that of thousands of others supporting her. People like Ellen Degeneres are encouraging her millions of followers to sign Pla’s petition and hopefully get the CYO to change its rule, but also get many other sport organizations that are still implementing boys-only rules to change their ways and let there be gender equality in sports.
