Quick Interview with Ohio University Student

I interviewed Ohio University Student Alex Rice on Wednesday, April 28. I thought it was relevant considering the recent arrest of Ohio guard Armon Bassett.

I apologize for the poor quality of the video, the file seems to have exported incorrectly.

Also, I will admit right now that this is not the correct type of "journalistic production" that one might see on television or on a news website, but this interview was conducted solely for material to test out my skills on Final Cut Pro, so please excuse the amateur editing.

In the future, if I have more video content to post, you can expect the highest quality. 

BREAKING NEWS: Armon Bassett Arrested

According to an Athens Police news release, Ohio guard Armon Bassett was arrested for assault last night at Courtside Pizza and Bar on Court Street.  

The police report states the victim, a doorman at the establishment, suffered a broken nose due to the incident.  

There has been no other information released at this time.  

Bassett is preparing to enter the NBA draft, and must decide whether or not to return to Ohio University for his senior season by May 8th.  

The programs leading scorer from 2009-10 averaged 17.1 points per game, and garnered national acclaim for his 32 point performance against Georgetown in the NCAA tournament in March.

Columbus vs. Real Salt Lake, April 24, 2010

I apologize for the tardiness in this post, but this week has been rather busy, writing papers and doing interviews and such.  

This past weekend, I finally experienced a Columbus Crew game from the comforts of the Nordecke (pronounced Nor-deck-uh).  It was an experience to behold. 

Despite torrential downpours throughout the night and leaving more soaked than a wet blanket at a party (I'm talking to YOU, "guy-who-ruined-Highfest-with-your-feeble-attempts-at-starting-a-fire"), the atmosphere was electric and worthy of an entire blog post from yours truly.  

The amount of pride and excitement that the supporters sections show for the Crew is outstanding, and I wish that more people would realize how amazing the world's game actually is.  

It took me a few tries to get all of the songs right, but when I finally nailed them, I sang them loud and proud, and was enveloped with passion for "Guilleeeeeermo" and "Paduuulllaaaa" (Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Gino Padula, respectively).  

The game itself was mediocre at best, only because the Crew played sloppily in the second half and nearly let Real Salt Lake steal a draw long past the 80th minute mark.  But it was the superb keeping of Will Hesmer that kept the Crew from losing this one at home.  Schelotto put the Crew ahead in the first half off a penalty kick, but his play mirrored that of the team during the second half.  Mediocre at best, with the majority of his crosses finding the defender rather than his streaking teammates.  

However, the Crew pulled through, and I have become hooked on the Nordecke.  The Crew play at home May 5th, and I may just make the midweek drive to Columbus to support the city's finest team.  

For more information on the Crew, visit thecrew.com, or mlsnet.com for more information on Major League Soccer.

A New Experience

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned many things about the atmosphere at Crew games, and how "hooliganism" is becoming OK in American soccer.  

Today, I am about to experience this for the first time.  I will return tomorrow with a more detailed look at this experience, and how it affects the fan who cannot participate in this every time.  

It should be a good post, I'll see you all on Sunday afternoon!

BREAKING NEWS: Armon Bassett Declares for NBA Draft

According to John Groce, Ohio guard Armon Bassett will declare for the NBA draft, but has not hired an agent.  

In his press conference, Groce said that since he did not hire an agent, he is eligible to return to Ohio University and play for the Bobcats next year if he withdraws from the draft by May 8.

What does this mean for Bobcat fans?  It means that it's either the NBA or NCAA for Bassett, who is unlikely to take a gig in Europe, considering he decided not to hire an agent.  That's good news for the Attack U nation.  

This gives Armon time to talk to the NBA draft committee to see what his chances of being drafted are, and apply for Ohio University again in the instance he decides to return for his senior season.  

If he returns for his senior year, Ohio would return its top scorer from the Mid-American Conference and NCAA tournaments.  

If he doesn't return, it opens up a second scholarship for John Groce, as Asown Sayles has decided to graduate and leave the university following spring quarter.  

Visit Bobcat Attack, the official fan board for Ohio athletics to discuss today's press conference events.  

Let's Play Clean Boys

Yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first six games of the 2010 season for violating the NFL Player Conduct policy.  There are currently sexual assault allegations against the PIttsburgh Steelers quarterback, a result of a night of partying in a Georgia town.   

Is this right?  Can a player truly be suspended for close to half of his season on PENDING allegations?

The definitive answer is YES, because sports in today's culture is so micromanaged, and so public, that you have to avoid negative publicity at all costs if you are the league in question.  

Not only are these athletes being scrutinized by the watchful eyes of the media, but also their adoring fans.  3-year-old's who someday wish to be just like Tiger, or just like "Big Ben" are seeing first hand what it means NOT to be a good role model.  

Sports is a business now (despite the feeling I have deep in my heart that they are always pure, and that players play "For the love of the game"), and commissioners are acting accordingly, making sure the negative publicity doesn't take away from the quality of the product.  

A recent article by USA Today reveals that the crime rate by NFL players has significantly dropped since Goodell implemented the policy in April 2007.  

Baseball is suffering the same ordeal, only not with player conduct.  Rather, MLB is still dealing with steroid allegations and positive tests, years after the first instances of steroid use by popular players were made public in 2005.

This "60 Minutes" story, which first aired in 2005, hints at the hypocrisy in MLB, and how much work still needs to be done to clean up the league, even five years later. 

The NBA?  They have suffered as well, but not as much recently.  "The Malace at the Palace," an infamous brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers took the media by storm, which led to the coining of the phrase "The Thug League."  

Kobe Bryant was the center of a sexual affair scandal in 2003, bringing more negative publicity to the league.  

Most recently, Tiger Woods has been the king of "Sports Icons Who Dramatically Fall From Their Pedestal."  His sexual affairs, and his confession to sex addiction rocked the sports world, and even made enormous waves in the global media.

Some question why we should care what these athletes do in their free time.  They ask why we cannot just take what we get on the field, and leave our love for these athletes at that.  

I will pose this question:  Why do sports have such a large influence on us as humans that we spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year watching them, buying clothes with logos of our favorite teams, and playing them?  

For something as important as sports, we have to hold those who play them at its highest level to a certain degree of morality.  

Play the games fair, teach our kids valuable lessons, and make the world a better place. 

Crazy for the Cavs

Today was an interesting day at work, because I had told myself that despite being ridiculously busy, I would at least have the night off to watch sports and what not (I work at Chipotle, and its the only Chipotle within a 40 mile radius of Athens, so needless to say, its a busy place).

However, as I was sitting there eating breakfast, I had an epiphany of sorts.  I realized, "Hey, the Cavs are on today at 3, so we probably won't be busy the last hour I work...hmmmm."

It was a stretch, but I was going to assume that since an Ohio team was in the playoffs, and are tabbed to win the NBA Championship this year, that everyone was going to watch the Cavs game.  

The first three hours wore on, the line of people waiting to get their burrito stretched out to the sidewalk, and I could hardly think straight anymore.  

Then, the unthinkable happened.  Once the helped the last person in line, there was no one behind them.  I looked at the clock.  

Just like clockwork (Pun DEFINITELY intended), everyone had gone home, to the bar, or to their buddies house to watch the Cavs, because it was 3 o'clock!  

What does this mean?  It means that Ohio sports fans are yearning for greatness so much that they will stop whatever they're doing to watch their teams.  And you know what, there is nothing wrong with that.  It speaks volumes of our ability to commit to the long term.  And that makes us valuable assets, and reliable people.  You can always count on us to support our teams, and never back down.  

I made reference to this attitude in a post about being a fan of a mid-major college, and it has shown itself once again amongst the subjects of the effervescent King James.

King James, it's time to take your people to the promised land.