You all know that the I-95 SportsBiz staff is always looking to give the people what they want. As requested, here are your Quick Hits for the week.
The New Yorker’s sports section The Sporting Scene featured a Gladwell-esque piece looking at whether birthplace effects chances of going professional.
Dan Wetzel continues his hold on the Penn State situation, this time coming for former PSU President Graham Spanier.
Tiger Woods criticizes course conditions early in the week going into The Open Championship at Royal Lytham.
Reds prospect Billy Hamilton is really really fast.
A survey conducted by Quinnipiac University favors the renaming of Beaver Stadium in honor of Joe Paterno.
Eagles quarterback Mike Vick says he was “better at reading dogs than defenses” in an interview with USA Today.
A menacing fan (or a menacing individual who is NOT a fan) throws tacks on a road used for the Tour de France route.
A note of caution to all our readers who train for various sporting events outdoors: Look out for angry otters!
If you love basketball and you love analytics, then you have to check this out!
The Poynter Review takes a look at ESPN’s coverage of the Freeh Report.
Deadspin breaks down how the Flyers’ offer sheet to Shea Weber gives a big middle finger to the NHL CBA.
Was letting Jeremy Lin walk to Houston a good idea by the Knickerbockers? Grantland weighs in.
Troy Polamalu admits to hiding injuries to get back into games.
After some command issues, the Diamondbacks are sending their star prospect, Trevor Bauer, back to Triple A.
Jeff Caple writes a piece about The Incline at the London 2012 Olympics.
Bud Selig says that Major League Baseball is in no rush to put ads on jerseys.
How MLB teams are beginning to find diamonds in the rough as late-inning flamethrowers.
Not necessarily the caliber of a Jeff Passan piece, but this ESPN.com feature on Pittsburgh Pirates hometown hero Neil Walker does the trick.
Showing posts with label Dan Wetzel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dan Wetzel. Show all posts
Friday, July 20, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Dan Wetzel: Setting the Standard
Many in the sports
industry consider Yahoo! Sports to have the best collection of sports
journalists, so it makes perfect sense for one of their own to be leading the
way in the field. Dan Wetzel’s
investigative journalism has been earning critical acclaim for some time now,
but this year has really been Wetzel’s time to shine.
Corruption has become a niche in the sports field that Wetzel has more or less dominated. Back in 2000, he and Don Yeager wrote the book Sole Influence which documents the corruption that companies such as Nike bring into the “amateur” athletics of college and high school. The interest in corruption of college athletics seemed to continue growing when Wetzel began to take perhaps the biggest and most obvious form of college corruption, the Bowl Championship Series.
Throughout the NFL
season, Wetzel is known to take a quick break and write about the NFL. Last year, Wetzel wrote on the legal troubles
of Detroit Lions defensive lineman Nick Fairley. Whether it is the NCAA or the NFL, Wetzel has
corruption in football on complete lockdown.
Death to the BCS is the highly successful book that Wetzel wrote along with Josh Peters and Jeff Passan. The book clearly lays out not only the corrupt system and brash suits behind the system, but also an alternate system. The alternate system was a basic form of a playoff that, unless the suits were deemed mentally incompetent, would have to be put in place because it made them more money than before. It took a few years but eventually they realized what needed to be done. Whether or not the book was of any influence remains to acknowledged, but it was inherently critical in fueling the fire.
Interestingly, Wetzel was one of the very few (maybe the only national) sportswriters covering the Sandusky trial on a daily basis. We aren’t talking a simple one column summary of the day. Wetzel was going two-a-days during many of the days during the two week trial (check out his archive here to see the incredible work). Even after the verdict, Wetzel is not waiting until the sentencing to continue his stranglehold on the story nationally. He has written columns about the Paterno Papers and every detail that has come out since.
To make his work on the BCS and the Sandusky trial even more remarkable, he was working on parts of both of them simultaneously. College football agreed to a four team playoff on June 26. The Sandusky trial’s verdict came on June 22. The grumblings of college football began long before the final approval which meant that it needed to be written about multiple times per week. The Sandusky trial was a two week affair whose aftershock was written about weeks after the verdict was reached. He went back and forth each topic fluently and did not sacrifice content along the way.
The reason that Dan
Wetzel is such a great journalist is that it’s clear he does not write with
some hidden agenda. Wetzel tells the story
how it is. He doesn’t preach about how
these guys are ruining the sports they play.
He doesn’t make vast generalizations that get the media talking in
circles. Wetzel, plain and
simple, reports the news. In this day
and age of media where everything is done based on number of views or retweets
or ratings, it is refreshing that there is somebody at the top of the
journalism game that doesn’t worry about all the “popularity” stuff. Wetzel lets the stories speak for
themselves. His writing is well-crafted
yet it isn’t overbearing. Dan Wetzel is
one of the best investigative journalists in the industry as we speak. It’s time for everybody to take notice.
Tweet Follow @kevin_rossi
Corruption has become a niche in the sports field that Wetzel has more or less dominated. Back in 2000, he and Don Yeager wrote the book Sole Influence which documents the corruption that companies such as Nike bring into the “amateur” athletics of college and high school. The interest in corruption of college athletics seemed to continue growing when Wetzel began to take perhaps the biggest and most obvious form of college corruption, the Bowl Championship Series.
Death to the BCS is the highly successful book that Wetzel wrote along with Josh Peters and Jeff Passan. The book clearly lays out not only the corrupt system and brash suits behind the system, but also an alternate system. The alternate system was a basic form of a playoff that, unless the suits were deemed mentally incompetent, would have to be put in place because it made them more money than before. It took a few years but eventually they realized what needed to be done. Whether or not the book was of any influence remains to acknowledged, but it was inherently critical in fueling the fire.
Interestingly, Wetzel was one of the very few (maybe the only national) sportswriters covering the Sandusky trial on a daily basis. We aren’t talking a simple one column summary of the day. Wetzel was going two-a-days during many of the days during the two week trial (check out his archive here to see the incredible work). Even after the verdict, Wetzel is not waiting until the sentencing to continue his stranglehold on the story nationally. He has written columns about the Paterno Papers and every detail that has come out since.
To make his work on the BCS and the Sandusky trial even more remarkable, he was working on parts of both of them simultaneously. College football agreed to a four team playoff on June 26. The Sandusky trial’s verdict came on June 22. The grumblings of college football began long before the final approval which meant that it needed to be written about multiple times per week. The Sandusky trial was a two week affair whose aftershock was written about weeks after the verdict was reached. He went back and forth each topic fluently and did not sacrifice content along the way.
The reason that Dan
Wetzel is such a great journalist is that it’s clear he does not write with
some hidden agenda. Wetzel tells the story
how it is. He doesn’t preach about how
these guys are ruining the sports they play.
He doesn’t make vast generalizations that get the media talking in
circles. Wetzel, plain and
simple, reports the news. In this day
and age of media where everything is done based on number of views or retweets
or ratings, it is refreshing that there is somebody at the top of the
journalism game that doesn’t worry about all the “popularity” stuff. Wetzel lets the stories speak for
themselves. His writing is well-crafted
yet it isn’t overbearing. Dan Wetzel is
one of the best investigative journalists in the industry as we speak. It’s time for everybody to take notice.Tweet Follow @kevin_rossi
Friday, June 22, 2012
Quick Hits
Each and every Saturday morning! Must reads and interesting tidbits that you might’ve missed this week!
Mark Cuban says what many of us have always wanted to say to Skip Bayless’s face.
Jerry Sandusky is found guilty on 45 out of 48 charges against him. He faces 442 years in prison.
Eagles WR Mardy Gilyard has overcome great odds in his journey to the NFL, including a six month period in which he was homeless.
San Francisco 49ers fans purchasing seat licenses for the new Santa Clara Stadium are either making a great investment or a terrible one.
Connie Carberg, the first female scout in NFL history (Jets, 1976), has launched a new website “to create and share women-focused football content.”
The LA Kings are looking for the game six-ending puck and they think they know who took it...if you have any additional information, they’re asking that you send it their way!
Roger Clemens walks away legally not guilty, but the truth is out there.
Could social media and the instantaneous information of today stopped Sandusky before lives were ruined? The New Yorker weighs in.
Dan Wetzel continues his unparalleled coverage of the Sandusky trial.
Not content with small-school football offers, Holley Mangold (sister of Jets’ center Nick Mangold) opted for weightlifting...and now she’s participating in the Olympics.
James Varney of the Times-Picayune details the ongoings at the NFLs headquarters this week on the Saints bounty appeals.
“Frog juice” is the latest performance-enhancing drug being used in sports...horse racing.
Rick Reilly drops the legalese in a passionate post for ESPN regarding Jerry Sandusky, labeling him as the indecent coward that he is.
Steve Gleason, former Saints player and current ALS fighter, sends an inspirational message to the New Orleans Times-Picayune employees who are facing staff reductions this fall.
The Eagles plan a major refurbishment plan for the Linc.
Mark Cuban says what many of us have always wanted to say to Skip Bayless’s face.
Jerry Sandusky is found guilty on 45 out of 48 charges against him. He faces 442 years in prison.
Eagles WR Mardy Gilyard has overcome great odds in his journey to the NFL, including a six month period in which he was homeless.
San Francisco 49ers fans purchasing seat licenses for the new Santa Clara Stadium are either making a great investment or a terrible one.
Connie Carberg, the first female scout in NFL history (Jets, 1976), has launched a new website “to create and share women-focused football content.”
The LA Kings are looking for the game six-ending puck and they think they know who took it...if you have any additional information, they’re asking that you send it their way!
Roger Clemens walks away legally not guilty, but the truth is out there.
Could social media and the instantaneous information of today stopped Sandusky before lives were ruined? The New Yorker weighs in.
Dan Wetzel continues his unparalleled coverage of the Sandusky trial.
Not content with small-school football offers, Holley Mangold (sister of Jets’ center Nick Mangold) opted for weightlifting...and now she’s participating in the Olympics.
James Varney of the Times-Picayune details the ongoings at the NFLs headquarters this week on the Saints bounty appeals.
“Frog juice” is the latest performance-enhancing drug being used in sports...horse racing.
Rick Reilly drops the legalese in a passionate post for ESPN regarding Jerry Sandusky, labeling him as the indecent coward that he is.
Steve Gleason, former Saints player and current ALS fighter, sends an inspirational message to the New Orleans Times-Picayune employees who are facing staff reductions this fall.
The Eagles plan a major refurbishment plan for the Linc.
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