Getting to Know You: Superstars on Twitter

How fortunate are most people today?
Incredibly.
How "creepy" are most people today?
Incredibly.
How dependent on the media are most people today?
Incredibly.

At first, I avoided Twitter like the plague, but in today's world, it's almost 100% necessary for beat writers and other media enthusiasts to get quick information through this micro-blogging tool. Over the past ten years, we younger folk have been most fortunate in having breakthrough media such as the Internet to give us what we need when we need it. Now, many fans and athletes are capable to gain this information as well as give their opinions on what they think--not to mention what they're doing as they "tweet" their respective opinion. It's gotten so bad that athletes have been fined over this privilege, going to the point where they are "tweeting" during playtime.

(For example - A Main Offender: Who else but Chad Ochocinco?)



...Don't you give me that look. I'll slap you silly, you dancing queen.



But there is one thing I've noticed and have concluded over the past several months: What did sports writers and fans do "back then" when the Internet didn't even exist? Do we realize how lucky we are to find out the things we're able to find out now? I bet if you could use a time machine to go back to the disco days, you'd want to get out of there within a few hours because you wanted to check the Yankees/Rays score or find out the status of Packers' RB Ryan Grant. The only way you could find out stuff like that back in the 1970's were either through the television, radio, or [a real dinosaur medium] the newspaper. Oh, I just got shivers even typing that. How did they live!! Easy. They didn't submit their souls to this kind of luxury. This doesn't mean that we're soulless people today because of social networking like Twitter, but it seems like we've lost that boundary of personal issues and the true skill of hunting for news about your favorite team or player that exists across the country.

For example, I've been a die-hard Phillies fan since I was really little [Haters, just hate, okay?] and I love to read about their farm system and the numerous stats the big league guys have compared to the other teams in the league. Without the Internet and the wonderful guys on Twitter like Jayson Stark, I would be in the dark about all of that stuff. If the Internet (or social networking) didn't exist, I'd be paying about a dollar or two each day to read the newspaper articles on my team and watch the game highlights and interviews on TV. I would have a massive barrier between the "big guys" and myself. Today, I would be able to search stats on websites, message writers like Stark on Twitter (maybe get a response! ha ha) about an opinion that I have, and I can even watch cable-televised games on my purple Dell laptop. Could I have done that 40 years ago? Absolutely not. This is the kind of stuff that Walt Disney imagined in his Carousel of Progress and could never really experience himself.

Another point I wanted to bring up was how easy it is nowadays to contact professional athletes and other assorted figures in a sport. Today, it's easy to ask Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon what his favorite side dish is at dinnertime. Twenty years ago...maybe not. But to be honest, he might think you're a freak if you really did ask him that whether it was face-to-face or on Twitter. I'll admit, I would get really giddy if someone of such a high caliber ever got back to me on a question I asked him or her, but if something like that ever happens, you actually get to see how "human" the person is. Many years ago, you never really knew what kind of person the athlete or official was like unless if you saw a televised interview or read something that they said in the newspaper. Today, even though what they say is in writing [where you might have a hard time establishing any emotion], you get a sneak peek of the type of person they are or how they live.

We are so much closer than ever to our idols and our inspirations than we really think. They love us enough that they're talking about their lives for all of us to see. Sure, it could be a bit much at times, but they still want us to know about what they think and how you will react to it. It's something scary. We're all being interconnected, and the ones we see as being Superman aren't exactly so "super" anymore.
In case if you were wondering, I'm not going to break out into the Barney song about how we're all one big family and what have you. That would just be sad.

--AZ

Sid! The Pirates Need You!!

For example...



--AZ

Nyjer Morgan vs. Gaby Sanchez for the WWE Title

Dude. That clothesline. My mind was blown.



You can almost hear the original ECW theme in the background. It was that extreme.

If you really want to know my real opinion about it, hear me out. This Nyjer Morgan guy should be suspended. What he did just goes to show how big of a hothead he really is.
That is all I have to say about that.
[Other than the fact that he should get a one-night contract and just raise hell on WWE or something. That would spice things up.]

--AZ

Florida: A Baseball State of Mind?

More Sophia Petrillo action! Woohoo!

Picture it: Pro Player Stadium Dolphin Stadium Dolphins Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium, 2003.

It was October in the state of Florida, and although it was cold where the opposing games in New York were played at that time, it was nice and warm where the Marlins played during the 2003 World Series. Since the Fish played in a football arena, attendance tipped the scales during each postseason game at an astounding 65,000+ each time. A Cinderella [Wild Card] team, the Marlins had their ups and downs during postseason, but rallied each time to finally take down the New York Yankees in six games.



Let's fast forward: Tropicana Field, 2008.

After about ten years filled with embarassment and losing seasons, the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays made a stunning run. Frankly, nobody saw it coming. After an amazing season, the Rays went from worst to first and played in their first Fall Classic. Each of their home game attendances danced around the 40,000 mark, and the cowbell and mohawk were immortalized during that postseason. Despite losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in 5 games, fan hopes remained high, and the team has remained strong in the standings ever since.



Here we are in 2010. The Marlins haven't been in the postseason since their World Series win in '03, and the Rays are still in heavy contention in the AL East. However, something is a little different...

"Where is everybody?"

The cases for each team vary in particular aspects, and lately it has become a hot topic, especially in Tampa Bay's department. The Rays are one of the best teams in baseball, but why have they only had attendance marks of about 11,000 lately? Wow, people, you're putting the cart before the horse here. Shouldn't we all be thinking outside of the box? What financial state is our country in right now? Exactly--it's not doing so hot. Let's also mention this: Tropicana Field is well...kind of old and falling apart. (Just like me! Whee!) There's no big attraction to it like there is at ballparks like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park or Camden Yards (the only reason why the place is still open, in my opinion). The way I see it, it resembles a pinball machine where the ball bounces around in the dome and hits assorted players and fans like they're bumpers and lights. When the ball hits certain catwalks and beams up at the dome, it determine whether the ball is "out of play" or a "ground rule double" or what have you. To this day I've been waiting for a multiball at that ballpark, and unfortunately for me it hasn't happened yet.
I digress.
The point I'm trying to reach is that the attendance will eventually inch back up again. Let's be honest, my friends. It's September now, the AL East is a tight race between the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox, and it's almost definite that the Rays will see postseason; this will result in a surge in ticket sales and more cowbells. Wouldn't it also make sense that more people will be vacationing in this area during this time period too? Hello! Bigger income--coming your way!
In conclusion with the Rays: Joe Maddon, why are you so worried? You obviously have never heard of this particular saying, especially when your team is doing so well. Heed my words: DON'T PANIC.

Alright, now let's talk about this same issue with the Florida (soon to be "Miami") Marlins. Like I've mentioned previously, the Marlins haven't been in the October picture since their win in 2003, and since then their attendance has been dwindling. I'm telling you--for those who don't follow this team at all--the organization has been pulling out all of the stops. They have "Mermaids" now. You're welcome for the photo, men. They even do that "bring your dog to the ballpark" night and if your dog doesn't like company around, then God help you. The organization is hoping that with the new stadium opening in 2012 (which is when the team will be referred to as the "Miami Marlins"), the attendance will surge again. From an eyeball's perspective, this isn't as bad as it truly looks. First of all, they play in a football stadium. There are a lot of seats there. Sure, it would be a godsend for baseball-heavy cities like New York, LA, Boston, or Philadelphia, but in a small state that has a great deal of attractions like their [oil-free] beaches and Disney World, their seating chart needs to be downsized in order to accomodate for people's possible lack-of-interest in baseball in that general. Will the organization be sorry if the Marlins make a huge jump next year in the standings, resulting in a big rush in ticket sales? Maybe. You never really know. Just because the state of Florida is big enough for two NFL teams (the Dolphins and the Bucs) doesn't necessarily mean it's big enough and popular enough for two MLB teams. You have to either fix your business strategy or just do away with the team altogether. You know what? Scratch that last one. We can't afford to lose teams that cheaply. Shoot, I still feel bad for Montreal.

In conclusion, there shouldn't be any worry at this point for the Marlins and the Rays. Of course, they're still relatively young baseball teams (the Marlins were founded in 1993 and the [Devil] Rays were founded in 1998) and there's still a lot of work to be done as far as management and promotion goes. Their postseason runs did give them a boost when it was most necessary, but now they have to feed off of the embers that remain and get the fans back in the seats. Do they need to take drastic action to make this happen? No, but they can at least look a little friendlier to them and promote the team efficiently regardless of their records this season and in previous seasons. Like I said before, don't panic. There will definitely be something that will fall into someone's lap at a given opportunity.
Let's sing along! Always look on the briiiight side of life! (Whistles)

--AZ

Aroldis Chapman-ia

IT'S RUNNIN' WILD.

For those of you who are wondering, yes, I'm going to watch his first Major League pitch tomorrow night. Get pumped, fans.



--AZ

Concussions – Destruction of the Past, Present, and Future

For those of you who were wondering, this is my final “project” before my fall semester begins and I will not be as productive as I have been over the past three months. I hope that this entry stirs your interest as much as it has mine. As I have written previously, I had played organized sports for about fifteen years, and it’s been a huge drive as to what I want to do in the future. However, I noticed that there has been a lot of controversy in organized sports over the past several years, especially when it comes to student-athletes and injury. Today, I’m going to talk about a fresh subject: the brain. I’m also going to talk about the bad things that can be done to the brain, and the future effects that may become of these bad things.
The brain: the center of our nervous system; a center that holds billions and billions of neurons and makes countless synaptic connections each and every day. Our brain is required to make movements, make decisions, and make our difficult lives livable each day. What do you think would happen if something happened to these three-pound ridges of muscle? Would you realize it yourself? Some people might, some other people may not, depending on the severity of the massive effect casted upon the brain. The effects could be from drugs or alcohol, or the main subject of my entry—blunt force or whiplash. While increasing knowledge creates ridges in the brain, negative effects severely age the brain and make it deteriorate, robbing the individual of memories, motor skills, and figuratively, their “minds.”
Due to the extreme increase in competitive injuries and judgments in caring for them, bad results are coming to light, and they are coming to light in individuals as young as preteen years. High school student-athletes are often misdiagnosed, rushed in recovery, and are more susceptible to further brain injury and more concussions. Not only are student-athletes in danger, but professional athletes are also at risk for long-term damage, and we will mention cases for this later on in the entry. When it comes to sports-related concussions, lack of awareness and safety for the young and old is turning into a threat for their futures, as well as the futures of the loved ones around them.
When the brain experiences a concussion, it literally moves around inside your head after a huge blow when it clearly should not. Symptoms may include confusion, clumsiness, slurred speech, fatigue, nausea, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light and sound, among others (WebMD.com). As a person who has once suffered a mild concussion before, I can tell you that it is definitely one of the worst experiences you could ever have. You seriously have no idea what’s going on, and since everyone thought I was alright (I had a soccer ball kicked at my head and it knocked me for a loop) after taking a ball to the head, I kept on playing. When concussions occur in cases such as young children or student-athletes, nobody really knows how to treat someone after experiencing a brain injury unless if they are, well, a doctor. Some make the big mistake in carrying on normal activity the next day as if nothing had ever happened. In reality, the brain is still confused and will take longer to recover unless if the individual rests for a few days. Going to class and doing other activities is not the best idea for someone who has just suffered a brain injury. Nevertheless, life should continue normally after a full recovery, which usually takes up to a week in younger individuals.
However, concussions can often become more common if one is not careful. In heavy contact sports such as soccer, football, and basketball, athletes may often be rushed to recovery due to the high competitive atmosphere in the game itself. Coaches and other higher officials may see the symptoms as “fake” or just “excuses” to not continue play. This lapse in judgment proves to be poisonous for the person in question, as it could determine their mental and emotional status not just now, but in the near future as well. Not just this, but many of the athletes do not fully understand the consequences of constant brain injury and eventual “recovery” from the constant trauma.
Here’s a photo of a healthy brain, and next to it is a photo of a damaged brain.

The right side looks all scabbed-looking, right? Imagine that all over your brain, making it misshaped and decayed. This discoloration represents broken functions, broken memories, and broken emotions.
While watching the news a few months ago, I finally realized how bad this ongoing issue can be. The video packaged presented a college student who had showed signs of mental deficiency and has showed signs of a decrease in reaction time. She was the victim of several concussions that she sustained while playing sports in high school and also in college. After many hits, she can no longer play sports, and her brain and well-being will never be the same. Another young man who played football in high school had also suffered a concussion while practicing, but players and coaches thought nothing of it and believed that the young man was faking his injury. After suffering three concussions in total, he no longer plays sports, but is now studying neuroscience and the long-term effects of concussions (June 1, 2010). To see intelligence and talent be extinguished by misjudgment and malpractice is a complete disgrace and incredibly painful to watch, especially if you have a friend or loved one going through this experience.
The long-term effects of multiple concussions and the views of the brain after years of trauma are absolutely staggering. Over the past several years, brains of dead professional athletes (most of them ex-NFL players) have been viewed and studied in order to study the effects of numerous brain injury. The effects, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), can cause mental and emotional disorders and can even present symptoms and long-term deterioration characterized by Lou Gehrig’s disease. To support this claim, a source from the Associated Press states: “Dr. Ann McKee [Boston University] said she found toxic proteins in the spinal cords of three athletes who had suffered head injuries and were later diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS. Those same proteins have been found in the brains of athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease linked to head injuries that causes cognitive decline, abnormal behavior and dementia” (August 17, 2010). These individuals’ lives are ultimately compared to a massive implosion just waiting to happen. Remember that Rachel Leigh Cook PSA from the 90’s? That’s basically what happens when someone falls apart like this. It’s as if a poison is spreading not just through one person, but to loved ones as well.
Concussions are a very dangerous thing, and they could very easily corrupt someone’s future in their prospective careers. However, with proper treatment, further injury could be avoided and more successful recoveries could be achieved. Seeing a person robbed of emotion, mental capacity, and movements can be very painful to witness. It’s a shame that we’re not made of steel, isn’t it? Retired athletes have gone to the verge of insanity and suicide in their older ages (as in their forties and fifties, literally) because their brains are no longer capable of self-control, and for what? For fame? For their coaches and the team? One thing I’ve learned in the past few months is to be a little selfish sometimes; to not always put others’ needs before your own well-being. In an era of competition, selfishness is thrown on the back burner. The things you do for love and fame, right? It shouldn’t always be like that. We need to learn about what can happen to our bodies when we aren’t careful and what the consequences can be. Safety first.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
--AZ

AZ's Slant on Sunday - 8/15-8/22

Hoot hoot hoot hoot hoot hoot (<--Link for epic background music) Hello, and welcome to the first series of AZ's Slant on Sunday. This won't be a weekly thing--it'll be more bi-weekly than anything--since I have other things in life that come before this blog. In short, this will be more of a thing where I can recap stuff that I can't really go into detail about and might be a little fun to poke at while I have the chance to. These points will be short and sweet--just like ...no, not me. I'm fun-sized. Not short. Without any further ado, this is AZ's FIRST Slant on Sunday!
(Events not in any particular order)

NFL HIGHLIGHTS
Brett Favre Makes [Another] Comeback - See previous blog entry on my opinion of it all.

Who Wins at the New Meadowlands? - The Giants win, and Manning pulls it off in blading fashion. I don't like football but I thought the game was actually pretty fun to watch.
[But in retrospect, something else really had my attention that night, and it isn't considered a legitimate sport--coughcoughSummerSlamcoughcoughRandyOrtoncoughcoughBryanDanielsoncoughcoughcough]

Tebow and Roethelisberger Show Promising QB Starts - Too bad one of them isn't starting in that position in the first couple of weeks of the regular season. Oops.

NBA HIGHLIGHTS
Team USA vs. The World - The USA is obviously winning. Big shocker.

Jayson Williams' Misdemeanor Sentence is... - [drum roll] One additional year in the slammer! (crowd cheers) Now you have more of a dark, damp place where you will be met with a flashy orange jumpsuit, more exercise equipment that you can shake a tailfeather at, and many sweaty, friendly jailbirds awaiting your welcome! The actual retail value is more absolute stupidity on your part!
(Side Note: If you don't like the theme I put for this, shame on you. Bob Barker is boss.)

NHL HIGHLIGHTS
Absolutely nothing. No bull.

MLB HIGHLIGHTS
K-Rod Chronicles - Okay, so first he takes a swipe at his father-in-law near the Mets clubhouse, and then he gets escorted out of the building by police, next he gets suspended by the Mets organization for two games, then has to be subjected to counseling, and then notices a problem in his thumb ligament--where he has to get surgery on it and miss the rest of the season. Did I mention that he's currently on the DQ salary list too? I would keep shoveling for you, K-Rod, but you've already made enough of a hee-haw out of yourself. You just made the New York Mets sound like a really, really bad soap opera that needs to get canceled because it's so bad.

Lou Piniella Steps Down...for Good - I'll probably be writing a small, humorous poem about this jolly man. But for now, in short, Godspeed, Big Lou.

The Rocket is Imploding - He's making a bigger hee-haw of himself than K-Rod. Need I explain why? Okay--Clemens clearly took performance enhancing drugs during his tenure in MLB and keeps digging himself in a hole about the whole thing. Why don't we all point fingers at people, Rog? Prolonging the full admittance of your stupidity is really doing you in, man.

SOCCER HIGHLIGHTS
There are some, but I don't think American readers really care. I'll try again soon enough.

ASSORTED SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
GOLF
Controversy Lurks in the 2010 PGA Championship - I know jack squat about professional golfers, but there was a lot of commotion about the disqualification of Dustin Johnson during the final putts in the tournament. For the first time, I didn't have to hear about Tiger Woods being amazing and Phil Mickelson doing it all for his ill wife. I was pretty shocked. I sort of know certain shots and calls made during the game (Thank you, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour) and hearing what happened to this poor guy was absolutely ridiculous. Golf fans, I feel bad for you since the golf gods excreted on your sport a little bit this past week.

TENNIS
Serena Sits Out on US Open - After a glass incident and some surgery, she won't be able to hold her title as the favorite of this year's US Open. Hey, what doesn't kill her will make her stronger, right? Although this also means she won't be defending the doubles title with Venus in the near future, this is probably a blessing in disguise for her in some way. Sure, she's upset she can't do it, but maybe something else will open up for her in the coming months.


And that, my friends, is the conclusion of the first Slant on Sunday. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. If it isn't great, let me know, and I'll try and fix things up or just delete the post altogether. If it's good, again, let me know and I'll see what else I can do to spice this mini-column up.

--AZ