A job for a kid

Concussion's hitting the Big Screens

 When you think of the actor Will Smith, you think of his roles in The Fresh Prince of Bell- Air, Men in Black, and many others. This December the 47 year old actor will be a lead actor in a critical movie about how the NFL handles Concussions. Smith, who plays Dr. Bennett Omalu. This is a topic that will be discussed for many years to come. In a September article in the New York Times it states that the NFL has agreed to pay hundreds of million dollars. The lawsuits were brought up by 5,000 former players the article states. Former players argue that the NFL hid information about concussions. Tom Brady Quarterback for The New England Patriots recently voiced his opinion on the matter. "Of course, I mean everyone, I think it's a really hot topic. I've seen the previews and so forth, and...... concussions have been a significant issue for four or five years. I guess they're always been an issue. There's just a lot more awareness now." In the well known photo above former New York Giant and a member in  Pro Football Hall of Fame Frank Gifford who recently died in August because of the effects of CTE. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy or (CTE) is a loss of function of nerve cells. Commonly found in Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Symptoms include, Impulsive behavior, depression, short-term memory loss, and suicidal thoughts. In a recent research study done by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University illustrates that "96 percent of former players tested had evidence of the degenerative brain disease.


After watching this trailer do you think there will be a change in how we handle head injuries in sports?

Is there a corollary between the growth in social media and the public's negative perceptions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association?

 Social media sites such as blogs, Facebook, and twitter continue to grow significantly throughout the past decade. It used to be that we got our news and opinions from professional journalists working for mainstream media. These journalists were expected to follow standards of fairness and factual accuracy. They also were expected to tell us when they were reporting a news story vs. when they were sharing their own personal opinion.

                                                                                                                                    www.sportslogos.net

 There are no such journalistic requirements for those sharing information on social media sites. On the one hand this is a very exciting time in communication without social media i would not have this blogging opportunity to share my opinions with you. On the other hand most of us have been conditioned since birth to believe what we are told, or see in print. The ease of use and access to social media calls upon us to be critical thinkers. It is my observation that the ore information and interaction one has with the internet and social media the less likely one is to trust Government, big businesses or other large organizations, such as the NCAA. Current public opinion polling shows that the majority of people surveyed don't trust the NCAA. I believe this lack of trust is due to a very small percentage of athletes, coaches, and officials involved in schools.

I'd like to hear from you about these issues and thoughts you have in general on the NCAA.

History of The NFL playing on Thanksgiving Day

 This year on Thanksgiving the Detroit Lions will play The Philadelphia Eagles, The Chicago Bears will play the Green Bay Packers, and The Carolina Panthers will take on the Dallas Cowboys. When did the NFL start playing games on Thanksgiving? It all started in 1934 when Detroit Lions owner G.A. Richards had the idea for his team to play on Thanksgiving to help them get noticed. The Detroit Lions and The Chicago Bears played in the first game.The Bears coming off a World     Championship a year previous were already a historic franchise. The game was being played at The University of Detroit Stadium where a remarkable 26,000 fans packed into the stadium. The Game was being carried on NBC because Richards convinced the network to carry the game. The Chicago Bears eventually won beating the Lions 19-16. 

 Now let's fast forward it to this year's match-ups. Of course the Lions will play, they have been a staple on Thanksgiving Day ever since starting the trend.They will face The Philadelphia Eagles who have a perfect record on Thanksgiving. The Dallas Cowboys who have also been playing on Turkey Day since 1966 will face a newcomer to the dinner table The Carolina Panthers who will make their debut. Let's not forget about The Green Bay Packers and The Chicago Bears. These two teams will battle for NFC North bragging rights on Thanksgiving Day.

The Networks the games are being carried on come up with trophies to give key players in that game.  CBS has it's All-Iron Award which originated in 1998 and the last player to receive the award was Detroit Lions WR Calvin Johnson in 2014. Fox also has an award called The Fox Galloping Gobbler Award. The last player to win that was LeSean McCoy RB for The Philadelphia Eagles. NBC who was the first TV Network to carry a Thanksgiving game has an award called NBC Madden Player of The Game Award. John Madden former player, coach, and broadcaster for NBC came up with the award. The Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman won last year along with QB Russell Wilson. 

Student Section Craziness

 The Wisconsin Badgers have been playing at Camp Randall since 1917. I was in attendance for the game against Rutgers. One of my roommates is a Wisconsin native and he got us tickets in the student section. When we first arrived near the stadium we walked around taking in all the tailgating and other events going around by the stadium. We then heard the Wisconsin marching band play at an outdoor auditorium about an hour before kick-off. I was shocked to see the amount of people in attendance. It was a rainy day but that didn't stop the die hard Wisconsin Badger fans. The student section ticket process included getting a student admission ticket. Once we had the student admission ticket we exchanged it for an actual section. In this particular case we were in section O which is located in the corner of one of the end zones. The game started and nobody in the student section was seated. Instead everyone just stood onto of the metal bleachers. Throughout the game the student section started chants, and help start the wave in the stadium. The wave had to be started and restarted twice, but it did in fact make it around the stadium.

At the end of the third quarter I got to first hand witness a tradition that date's back to October 10th, 1998. The song "Jump Around" by House of Pain gets blasted through the stadium speakers and the student section, along with the whole stadium goes into a frenzy. You literally can feel the stadium shake while you are jumping. The Badgers ended up beating Rutgers 48-10. The overall experience was great and if you are a college football fan I would highly recommend going to see a game at Camp Randall. 

Saturday's at Klas Field

Saturday's spent at Klas Field from Domenic Dandrea

The Job That Goes Unnoticed

Many of us look forward to attending or watching football games, especially at the collegiate and professional levels. The fast paced action, amazing athletic skills, and physical toughness draw us into the game and keep us emotionally involved on every down. We intently watch the players, the referees, the coaches, along with the announcers, bands, cheerleaders, dance teams, and mascots. Those are all important parts of the unique experience, but have you ever given much thought about an equally important group of Certified Athletic Trainers who are patrolling the sidelines?

It is not a job for the faint hearted. It requires an extraordinary degree of level headedness in what is often a pressure cooker environment. The players are extremely competitive by nature or they wouldn’t be playing football. They want to get back out on the field to rejoin the game. They don’t want to let their teammates down. Their adrenalin is running high and they may underestimate the severity of their injury, especially when it involves a collision and a possible concussion. The coaches want their first team on the field as much as possible. The first team has prepared the most and are the ones the coaches are counting on to execute their game plan. The fans are also anxious and looking for the top players to get off the training table with their helmet on and race back into the game. 

According to The National Athletic Trainers Association the listed requirements for being an athletic trainer are long. You have to have a certified by the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification. Their job includes reviewing standards for the practice of athletic training and the education requirements.  

A college athlete's viewpoint

A Look Back in Time

  On Saturday November 24^th, 2012 I got the chance to sit in on the TV broadcasts of the Class 3A and 5A Minnesota State High School Football Prep Bowl Championship Games. I would like to tell you what it is like to be “behind the scenes” in the booth.

  It all started out a few weeks before the games, when Corbin Lacina invited me to join him in the booth.  Corbin does the color commentary for Channel 45’s Television coverage of the MSHSL Prep Bowl. I am a Senior at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, MN where I am a friend and baseball teammate of Nick Lacina. Corbin is Nick’s father and a former NFL Offensive Lineman. I first learned that Corbin was an announcer while watching last year’s Prep Bowl telecast. Through my friendship with Nick I was able to talk to Mr. Lacina about my hopes to one day become a broadcaster myself.  Corbin spoke to the Producer about me and he made arrangements to get me a media pass. I would be granted full access to the Metrodome on game day.

The day of the game I met Corbin and walked with him through the door of the press box into the experience of a life time. Corbin and I made our way down to the TV Production Truck located in the tunnel of the stadium. On our way there we caught up with Dan Terhaar, the former voice of the Minnesota Wild NHL Hockey Broadcasts.  Dan was going to be Corbin’s broadcast partner for the 3A game between Blue Earth and Rochester Lourdes High Schools. Meeting a professional broadcaster was just the beginning of what turned out to be a great day.

The three of us entered the TV Production Truck and watched the activity during the broadcast of the Class A Championship game being played between Mahnomen and Bethlehem Academy. There was a wall filled with TV Monitors that showed different camera angles. There were people sitting with headsets on who decided which camera angle would be shown to the viewers at home. There were two rows of people at control boards. The Producer of the telecast was in charge and it was his job to oversee all of the choices being made.

We then made our way down to the field and watched the end of the Class A game. Corbin pointed out the TV Anchor desk on the sidelines where two reporters were getting ready for the postgame show.  Corbin and Dan also used this time to discuss the teams for the upcoming game they were going to call.  I watched a crewman wearing a Minnesota North Stars “Dino Ciccarelli” Hockey Jersey who was on the sideline and responsible for communicating to the referees when to stop and resume play around TV Timeouts for commercial breaks.  There were cameras positioned in each end zone, plus cameras above the press box at each 30 yard  line, plus at least a couple of cameramen with handheld cameras roaming the sidelines and stands.

Once the first game ended we moved back up to the press box where Corbin and Dan each got out their pre-game notes to review before the 3A game.  They then went up to the broadcast booth above the press box and took their seats. There was a TV camera set-up in the booth to shoot a short pre-game show where Corbin and Dan talked about the key players to watch in the 3A matchup between Blue Earth and Rochester Lourdes. Then after a quick timeout they started calling the action for the opening kickoff. My blood was pumping in excitement. I was able to sit behind them throughout the game and watch as they did the broadcast.

There were five other people in the booth; a statistician sitting next to Dan, two crewmen to assist Dan and Corbin with their earpieces and headsets, and two Spotters.  The Spotters helped with the correct pronunciation of player names and also to assist Dan in identifying who made the tackle or catch by pointing at the notes and charts spread in front of him. The statistician had a laptop that he used to provide game stats while Corbin and Dan each had a TV Monitor on their desk. This enabled them to see the same thing that the home viewers were seeing. Through their headsets they could hear one another along with the directions coming from the TV Truck. During TV commercial time-outs they would relax and catch their breath until they heard through their headphones that they were on the air again.

The view from the booth was remarkable. We were looking down at the 50 yard line and I felt as though I was right in the middle of the action. The crowd was noisy below us and gave me goose bumps whenever there was a big play and the fans erupted. Blue Earth gained momentum and won that game by a big margin. Dan Terhaar’s day was now complete and he left to make room for the next game’s announcer, Kris Atteberry.

I thought the day was fantastic up to this point and it only got better from here. Atteberry does radio broadcasts for the Minnesota Twins. Once again there was a short pre-game show where Kris and Corbin discussed the keys to watch in the upcoming 5A Championship between Totino-Grace and Owatonna. By coincidence I got to see another local broadcast personality up close when Anthony LaPanta came into the booth to say hello to Kris and Corbin. Anthony’s son, AJ LaPanta, was the Quarterback for Totino-Grace. Anthony is an Assistant Coach for their team. He took his seat in the coaches’ box next to the broadcast booth and helped guide Totino-Grace to the 5A Championship.  The action was great and the telecast was smooth.  During half-time Corbin took me back down to the tunnel area where we enjoyed a nice meal that was set up for the media.

Kris and Dan are both excellent Play- by- Play announcers and Corbin does a fantastic job on the Color Commentary. Corbin also introduced me to Jim Erickson who is another great local play by play broadcaster he has worked with. They all have their own styles and I was able to learn from each of them. They were all well prepared and had done their homework before the games. I expected a sports telecast to be hectic and chaotic but everything was calm because people were ready and they knew how to work together. I saw that firsthand with Corbin being equally comfortable working with Dan or Kris. 

Everyone I met that day was friendly and the experience in game two lived up to game one. I loved every second of it. It was great to be around professionals in the booth, on the field, and in the TV Production truck for Channel 45.

I’m very grateful to Mr. Lacina for all he has done to help me. I am more excited than ever to work in sports broadcasting, and I can’t wait to be an official part of the “behind the scenes” work in the booth for games doing Play- by- Play myself in the future.  Maybe I’ll even get a chance to go on air with Corbin someday.

Fast forward to this year. I am a Junior at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN studying Communications. I one day hope to be a sports broadcaster. On that November day my passion for sports grew incredibly. 

It Was The Best of Times and The Worst of Times

Monday May 28, 2012. It’s a single elimination game in the Minnesota State High School Section 4AAA High School Baseball Tournament featuring Cretin-Derham Hall versus Roseville at Midway Stadium in Saint Paul, MN. It’s a night game with a big crowd under the lights. Roseville has their tall lefty on the mound. We won a tight one against him earlier this season, but he is dominating us tonight. High school Section playoff games only go 7 innings and we are already in the bottom of the 6th trailing 4-1. We have a rally going with men on 1st and 3rd and only one out when Coach O’Neill calls over to the dugout for me to grab a bat. I’d delivered as a pinch hitter a few times during the season and I felt confident. I lined the 2nd pitch to left for a clean single driving in Miley with our 2nd run and advancing Connelly to 3rd. Our fans exploded. During the season I would be lifted at this point for a pinch runner, but this time Coach keeps me in the game. He gives me the steal sign and I take 2nd base uncontested. Now the score is 4-2 with men on 2nd and 3rd. Dylan hits a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 and I’m able to advance to 3rd. Griffin walked next. Now we have runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Before the next pitch is thrown Griffin takes off for 2nd base. I see the catcher spring forward to throw him out and I take a hard step off 3rd towards home. It’s a trick and I fall for it! The catcher wheels around with the ball still in his hand. I’m a dead duck. Now it’s Roseville’s fans that explode while ours fall silent and look stunned. Roseville tacks on an insurance run in the top of the 7th. We fail to score in our half of the inning. The score ends up 5-3 and we are out of the playoffs.

I felt bad for the team, for myself, for Coach, and especially for the seniors. The ride home with my parents was quiet that night. They knew I wouldn’t want to talk about it right away. We pulled into the driveway and I was the first to speak. I said, “I really blew that one.” My folks told me how proud they are of me and they reminded me that I had a big hit. That’s when my dad asked, “Did Coach talk to you afterwards?” I said, “Yeah. He asked me if I was OK. I told him I was, and then he asked if I know now how to handle that play the next time and I told him I do. Coach said OK.” My dad said he can’t think of a better coach or a better thing he could say at a time like that.

I’d like to hear from you now. Have you ever experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat back to back, and did you have someone like Coach O’Neill to help pick you up afterwards?

Where were you when you first knew what you wanted to do in life?

I was seven years old. I used to tag along with my brother Lorenzo, my dad and a group of Lorenzo’s hockey teammates on Sunday afternoons. They would play touch football at the park near our home. I was too young to keep up with a group of 14 year old's who were desperately trying to prove they could beat their fathers. I had to stay on the sideline and watch, but every once in a while they would let me in for a play or two that was designed especially for me. They would throw a pass my way and everyone played along and made it look just tough enough for me to believe that I was really running for a touchdown. Then I was sent back to the sidelines. On one particular Sunday there was a particularly heated disagreement on whether one of Lorenzo’s buddies was in bounds when the ball was caught. In an attempt to settle the argument Mike Edge who was one of the dad's asked me if saw the play. I proceeded to describe step-by-step exactly how it had unfolded, where everyone was, and where the player's feet were when he made the catch. Mike said, “You are going to be the next Bob Costas!" At that moment I realized that being a play by play broadcaster was what I wanted to do in life. Fast forward 14 years and last week I was in the booth at Klas Field providing the play-by-play football webcast for Hamline University versus Minnesota Morris. 

I ask you where were you when you first knew what you wanted to do in life?