Rampage Jackson Interview

When first watching this interview I thought it was hilarious. I thought Rampage gave one of the funniest post game interviews I have ever seen in my life. I thought it was playful, funny, and really out there. I also thought very highly of the person giving the interview who I later found out to be Karyn Bryant. She seemed to think it was funny as well and I thought that she was very cool to understand the joke and not take it offensively.

After scrolling down a bit I noticed someone posting a comment about a Maggie Hendricks who at the time I thought to be Karyn Bryant. The comment talked about how she felt it was sexual harassment so I naturally checked it out. It turned out Maggie Hendricks was not affiliated with the situation and was simply a writer for Yahoo Sports.

I have mixed emotions on this topic. For one, I have worked with many female reporters as per interning with Comcast Sportsnet and having a show on Radio DePaul. I understand how it is a disadvantage to be a female trying to break into the sports field and know how tough it must be to often not be taken seriously. I think that it is especially brave of a woman like Karyn Bryant to work in an industry like MMA which is male dominated.

But I also have played sports and have been in a locker room. I can tell you from first hand experience that a male locker room is not the place for a woman to be in. People are naked or close to it, pulling childish pranks, and there is a high testosterone level. I want to leave it off with this question because it is what I will discuss further in my blog paper: Why is it that we do not see men in women's locker rooms but women in men's?

Keepin' Up the "PACE"

So in honor of tonight’s phenomenal Bulls win, I think it would only be appropriate to talk about D. Rose and the rest of the gang’s move into the second round of the playoffs. Maybe I’m just excited to write about this topic because I just got home from the game (with no voice left, whatsoever). Anyways, for those non-basketball fans out there, my beloved Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers tonight to clinch a spot in the second round of the NBA playoffs. They were originally up 3 games to none, with an opportunity to sweep the Pacers on Saturday but didn’t take advantage of their chance. So apparently tonight the Bulls thought it would be a good time to put these Pacers to rest once and for all, and that’s exactly what they did. I could not contain my excitement at the game, I was literally acting as if I myself was part of the Bulls squad hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer after 3-pointer. This then got me thinking…why is it so “weird” if a girl is into sports? Is this just a sexist thing that has always been part of society? Why are men thought of to be more athletic in general as well as more knowledgeable on sports topics while girls aren’t? Maybe it’s just me but I’m proud to know my sports facts, especially for my Bulls! Hopefully, the Bulls will be able to keep up the “pace” and continue on for another ring to add to the franchise’s collection!

The Conglomeration of EVERYthing

The current state of the sports world mirrors many of the issues facing popular media in general. There has been a recent gravitation towards super teams (see: Miami Heat, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Knicks), in which many superstar athletes have accepted their lack of ability to carry a full load by themselves, instead surrendering to the newly found concept of unfairly stacked teams controlling the upper portion of most league's standings. From a spectator's perspective this is both glorious and disgusting, as it makes the average game a chance for the ultimate highlight reel, while decrease any sense of parity amongst the two dozen or so teams in the leagues. This is similar to the world we live in, in which many large corporations have bought out others in an effort to dominate a particular portion of society's desires. This exists in the food market, for example McDonald's purchase of the booming Chipotle, along with Clear Channel's control over nearly every possible wavelength available on the radio. Within the music industry this happens daily as the small market independent labels are constantly being bought out (and buying into) the destructive powers of the powers that be. In some ways this has lead to a lack of individuality within these markets, as even our athletes, once portrayed as national heroes, are know acknowledging their own shortcomings in a sell out fashion. We live in a world where the exploits of these corporations are unavoidable, wherever you go there is something impacted by the Coca-Cola Corporation, or Sony, or any of the multibillion dollar companies that are able to essentially monopolize their fields. Take Google for exmaple, what started out as a search engine has blossomed into an enterprise that owns the formerly powerful AOL network along with YouTube, perhaps the most prominent website there is. The true question is what the direction will be for the future, whether or not this trend will continue until a select handful of corporations own everything possible, where the entire all star teams are derived from four teams, and what this means for individuality in general. Has our generation, evidently more focused on insane proportions of money than integrity, lost touch with the desire for the Mom n Pop? - Craig Shepherd

Look, That Big Muscular Man Who Plays Games For A Living Is Crying

In a new documentary for ESPN, Tom Brady discusses how very few people - OK, nobody - believed he would one day be a record setter, a two-time NFL MVP and a three-time Super Bowl champion, or, in other words, arguably the best quarterback of all time. What brings him to tears is the notion that 198 other players, and 6 other quarterbacks, were perceived to be better than him, because they were drafted ahead of him out of college. He thought he wouldn’t ever get the chance to prove himself. Luckily, he took advantage of every opportunity he had and became one of the most popular icons in our society today.

THAT’S WHY IT’S SO OUTRAGEOUS THAT HE WOULD DARE CRY ON TELEVISION!

“Coming up on Sportscenter: what in the world does Tom Brady have to cry about?”

Doesn’t he know the sports media is aroused by tears? Doesn’t he understand that he is a model of masculinity? This doesn’t fit that image, Tom.

What bothers me is that this story was introduced pretty much without context. This is the clip where you’re gonna see Tom Brady cry, never, this is a triumphant story of a famous underdog told from a new and creative perspective. And the thing is, this interview is one the most charming, empathic and human portrayals you can find for an athlete of his and stature who, frankly, has a lot of haters.

Only, if you watch the whole piece and not just the part where he cries, you’ll realize Tom Brady loves the haters. They inspire him.

Probably cause they made him cry that one time.

Funny thing is, this isn’t even the biggest, most scrutinized crying-in-sports story in the last six weeks. After a tough regular season loss to the Bulls, Erik Spoelstra (coach of the Miami Heat) threw his team under the bus and flat-out told the media, unprovoked, that some of his players were crying in the locker room. He later called the story “Cry-gate” in the swirl of media intrigue and ridicule.

There are several differences between this and the Tom Brady circumstance. Brady was talking about draft day, one of the most important days of any athlete's career - his did not go well.

And, Tom Brady never did this: