Coverage of Women's Sports

The way I see it, the coverage of women's sports gets better as you get more local. I'm not saying that's 100 percent true, or the way it should be, I'm just saying that's how I see it.

Working with the local western Massachusetts papers, I have seen some great coverage on high school girls sports and took part in it myself. I've done recaps and features for girls tennis, softball and soccer, and even put together a "Hampshire Gazzette All-Stars" team for local tennis. If you read that paper every day you have a pretty darn good sense of what is going on with those local teams and you really get to know the athletes.

I feel like the only women's college sports I am exposed to is the March Madness tournament, and even that is usually greatly overshadowed by the men's bracket. However, Brittney Griner has been changing that a bit. Her dominant presence alone has drawn me a little closer to women's college hoops, because I'm always looking to see what impressive feat she will accomplish next.

On the professional level, I'm not really exposed at all to what is going on, and that may be to some fault of my own. But it's also not seen much in the national eye. I see WNBA games on local sports networks occasionally and tune in to hear my boy Mike Gorman, the best play-by-play basketball guy there is in my opinion, do the Connecticut Sun games. But once again, that's a sort of local, New England factor. Very rarely will you see a WNBA game aired nationally, or a highlight package on Sportscenter. Even in the playoffs it's tough to catch most of the games, but at least you'll see highlights when it gets closer to the finals, and the finals are certainly aired (at weird times though, I feel).

One thing in women's sports I do think gets good coverage is the Women's World Cup. Those games are super exciting to watch and are aired pretty frequently. But besides that, I think locality has a lot to do with how well women's sports are covered.

All-Star Weekend Review and Grades

Even though this isn't a full season we, the NBA audience, still received a full slate of events at All-Star Weekend in Orlando. There were ups, there were downs, there was dancing, there music and although I think he's great, there was too damn much Kevin Hart. If you didn't get a chance to see everything, this is the post for you, and if you did see everything, let's relive the weekend together, shall we?

FRIDAY NIGHT

Celebrity Game
The celebrity game was actually kind of entertaining this year. Despite there being a huge blowout, no Justin Beiber and Kevin Hart dominating the spotlight the entire time, the C-List was shining and there were a lot of pluses to this game. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and ESPN personality Doug Gottlieb showed some actual impressive and entertaining basketball skill.

Gottlieb played at Oklahoma State and Notre Dame as well as the Russian Basketball Super League, so you knew he was going to be a ringer. He even administered a full court press on Ne-Yo! And we saw what Duncan can do in last year's game, but this year the two blew up and really caught my eye with some flashy moves and great team play. Kevin Hart was pretty funny, and when he got tossed from the game after throwing his shoe he locked up the MVP award right there. I was also happy to see that Michael Rappaport was not playing this year, because he annoys me, but was upset when they had him in the broadcast booth for what seemed like an eternity.

Grade: B

Rising Stars Challenge
As you probably know, this was not your older brother's Rookies v. Sophomores Rising Star challenge. The NBA decided to borrow an idea from the NHL and add a new twist to the event with Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley drafted from a pool of all the first and second year players who would participate in the event. Team Chuck really surprised me. Coming in everyone I was watching with was talking about how Team Shaq had all the big names and talent, but let me put this is CAPS so the point is well taken, KYRIE IRVING IS LEGIT. Didn't miss from beyond the arc. Perfect 8-for-8.

As far as the entertaiment factor goes, Ricky Rubio was my MVP. Some of his passes were just a beauty to watch, and he had one Cousy-esque fake that sent me into a man-crush fit. And he dribbled through my boy Boogie Cousins' legs before throwing a lob to Mr. Lob City himself Blake Griffin, who provided some huge slams both Friday and Sunday night (but none Saturday night, I'll get to that). John Wall also had some highlight dunks and passes that are worth noting. Watch all these highlights here. Love the new draft format. Improvements are being made to this game and I like it.

Grade: B+

Linsanity 2: The Return of Melo

The second week that would be the sequel (weekuel?) in the Jeremy Lin saga certainly did not lack the drama that his audience saw in the first week, and it also included many of the same themes. There were big numbers, racist headlines, infinite hype and speculation. But in Linsanity 2, there were two new plot twists: the introduction of losing and the return of the Knicks' best player, Carmelo Anthony (played by Carmelo Anthony).

When the Knicks suffered their first loss (to the New Orleans Hornets of all teams), ESPN used the offensive headline, "Chink in the Armor" to get the point across that Jeremy Lin is indeed human. What that headline wasn't, was humorous, and I can't think of a more straightforward, obvious and useless inclusion of race possible in a headline. How any one (1) human, especially one who works at ESPN and has seen all of the backlash from racist comments about Lin, could think that that headline wouldn't stir controversy and get him fired, is a total mystery to me. Just shameless, offensive thought process.

But Linsanity 2 also included lots of drama on the court as well, the main point of conflict coming in the Knicks' 100-92 loss to the New Jersey Nets (what's with them losing to bad teams?). This game was Carmelo's triumphant return, and speculation had been growing in the previous days that Lin and Anthony would not be able to co-exist. The Knicks did lose that game, and Lin and Anthony had a bad communication late in the fourth resulting in a key turnover, but for most of the game they seemed to work well together. So while people may have blown off the handle about the two main characters losing in their first game together, I think the real story of that loss was our hero's defensive liabilities.

Deron Williams torched Lin most of the game resulting in 38 points for D-Will and Lin fouling out. But this wasn't the first time we saw this out of Lin. Jose Calderon had his way with Lin six days previous (11-17 FG, 29 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) and John Wall dropped 29 on him in his second start. I don't think Lin's cooperation with the Knicks' superstar is going to be anything he needs to concentrate on too much, but he is certainly going to have to work on his one-on-one defense (and his decision making and ball control; gotta limit those turnovers).

What will we see in the third installment of this Linsanity movie franchise? Who knows. Things may cool down a bit for now, (although with All-Star weekend coming up he will be getting tons of attention) but they will certinaly be "heating" up when the Knicks take their talents to South Beach tonight. What we do know, is that people will still be flocking to theaters, bars and TV sets to see the Linsanity saga continue, and if they stop, the Knicks can always bring in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to save the franchise.

New Thoughts on Concussions

After watching some pretty heart wrenching media pieces on concussions and the results they can lead to last week, I definitely have a more intensified view towards how cautious we should be about them happening, and also how they are treated after the injury. Concussions, and really all head injuries, are something that should be taken extremely seriously, and monitored heavily, in all sports, not just the ones heavy on contact.

The main thing that stuck out for me, as well as most of my other classmates since we talked about this a lot, was the second impact syndrome. I had never even heard of this condition and it seems like the most dangerous aspect of this entire issue, especially since younger folk are particularly susceptible. Since the injury is so serious and can turn fatal fairly rapidly and leaves most people who live through it disabled, it becomes infinitely important to take precaution in preventing putting athletes in a situation where it could happen.

The problem is, these things are often difficult to detect. The second impact could happen days, weeks or even months after the first one. This makes it very hard to detect if the athlete is still suffering from symptoms. In the case of the video we watched where the kid died, the kid said he was okay, the mother gave him the okay to play, his doctor gave him the okay to play, and clearly the coaches and players thought he was good to go. So how do we prevent SIS when it's hard to detect when the athlete is at risk? That becomes the question.

Clearly more must be learned about lingering symptoms and how we can the diagnose leftover effects of a concussion even months after the initial incident. It's such a fleeting thing and the slightest mistake could mean life or death. But like any issue, the main question is, 'where do you draw the line?' In this case, the line would be where we start over-preparing and taking too much precaution, if there is such a line in this case with the consequences being so severe.

When an athlete suffers a concussion do you sit them out all season? All year? When does it become safe to bring someone back. Is it ever? One of the concussion victims we saw who was left disabled said, "I could have sat out a season, and now I'll sit out the rest of my life." That is what is at stake here, but what if a player really is okay and they miss out on a prime chance to prove themselves to scouts, coaches, etc. which could lead to a future scholarship or lucrative career? How do we go about playing those who need to and sitting those who are at risk when we aren't always sure who falls under which category. That question almost comes down to a life vs. money issue.

Well, I've gone on for longer than I needed to. I'll have to just think these questions through. Until next time.

Superbowl XLVI commercials

We all love Superbowl commercials. Sure, that may be a gross generalization, and it's probably untrue, but how else can you start a blog post to get people excited about ads? Maybe the real question is, how do companies get people excited about ads?

One factor working for them on Superbowl Sunday is the mystic that surround Superbowl commercials. Since more people will be watching television during that time than any other, companies tend to trot out their best stuff when they are shelling out the most bucks to have it seen. For these economic reasons, companies have to make sure they are getting their message across to the correct audience when all that money is on the line. So who are these commercials speaking to? What message are they trying to send?

For this past Superbowl we can get NBC out of the way. With their ad time they are sending a clear message. "We're awesome. We're giving you this great game. Your welcome. Now watch our shows!" As for the rest of the commercials, I found that they seemed to be targeting various audiences, which would make sense since everyone is watching.

With everyone watching (more than any program ever), it does make sense for companies to try to reach as wide of a demographic as they can (and apparently EVERYBODY loves dogs). Which is why this year, like many, a large number of ads made attempts at humor (Acura with Seinfeld) or unnecessary theatrics (Samsung's ad featuring The Darkness, my favorite of the night since they are my favorite band) sometimes to the point where the ad has nothing to do with the product, which is a risk. Either your joke misses and nobody gets your message, or the joke hits, and people still don't get the message but are talking about the ad because they love it. Even if the joke hits you are at risk of people identifying the ad as "the one with Seinfeld" or "the one with The Darkness, oh, and did you see Brian Urlacher in there?!" which eliminates the involvement of your company, which is the opposite of the goal.

Basically, I think the idea with Superbowl commercials is to appeal to as many different people as possible, and hope that people identify the ad with your brand and not just the content.

Cybernation

Guess who's back... back again. JJ's back... Amundson.

That's right. I've been released from my Internet hibernation, A.K.A. cybernation. A lot has happened since my last blog post. The last time my beautiful word choice graced the fine site known as theprobasketballtalk.com instead of a dusty old local newspaper I was spitting straight truth about how the Mavericks wanted the title more than the Heat did. Man, it's great to be right all the time. The Mavs won it all, and since I drew Dallas when we decided who would cover which teams on the blog throughout the playoffs, this clearly means that I am not only the best blogger on this site, but also the greatest basketball blogger who ever lived.

Self-praise and championships aside, the NBA season has officially ended, but there is still a lot to be excited about when it comes to the NBA. That is, if there is an NBA next season. Did anyone else hear that the owners want the players to start signing non-guaranteed contracts like in the NFL? If that's what the players and owners are hung up on, I don't expect to see professional basketball in the United States ever again, because the players would never let that happen.

The draft is right around the corner and Jacob, new guy Josh and some other bozo will be in attendance. Apparently, we aren't credible enough to get media access at the event, so we'll be paying spectators just like the rest of you peons. Unacceptable. That combined with the event being in Newark, NJ, I already feel dirty. If you want to see me though we'll be around the arena with our video camera filming some fan reaction. I'll be the one interviewing people and getting on their nerves so look forward to that. Hopefully we'll get on TV, too. I'll be the one screaming at the top of my lungs in joyous excitement when the Celtics trade up to snag Chandler Parsons of Florida with the 29th pick.

Other steals:
Derrick Williams: I don't expect this to happen, but there have been rumblings that Williams could slip because of his desire to possibly play the small forward position and teams being turned off by his lack of a set position. When will people learn? They're just basketball players! If they're good they will play well regardless of position.
Kawhi Leonard: San Diego State had some other nice players, but this kid still basically turned a nothing school into a legit ranked powerhouse last season. I'm liking the Kings at No. 7 to pick up this fine hooper but I think Cleveland would be dumb to pass on him at No. 4. Another "tweener" that could be a huge payoff for the squad that selects him.
Kenneth Faried: Being from Newark, NJ, this banger could end up being the Ronny Turiaf (he kind of plays and looks like him too) of this years draft who shows up to get his hat from David Stern uninvited. Like many people I chose Morehead State to win a couple games in the NCAA Tournament because of the hilarious name, but then I caught a glimpse of this kid play and latched on as a real fan. I've seen few guys go after rebounds like he does and he's another guy that will drop because he lacks height at power forward, but will be successful regardless due to ability and desire.
David Lighty: Mocks have him going late second round but the former Buckeye can flat out shoot. Name one team that doesn't need more outside shooting. Trick question, you always need more shooting. He'll have a nice career regardless of how far he slips.
Greg Smith: He's from Fresno St. and I've never seen him play, but I have a friend by this name so I'll have a close eye on him.

(Notice I didn't mention my boy Jimmer. I still have no idea how his game will translate to the pros.)

That's it. Follow me on Twitter.

And that's the bottom line, because I said so. See you at the draft!

Rocco Carzo Stays Positive Through Slump

After netting six goals and dishing out six assists last season in his rookie effort, earning him UMass hockey team Rookie of the Year honors, Rocco Carzo has yet to put the puck in the net this year in NCAA play, and head coach Don Cahoon decided to bench the sophomore centerman for the Mass Attack's last two games against Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell, both part of a three game win streak.

“Coach [Cahoon] thought I haven't been playing up to where I should be playing,” Carzo said. “He told me, 'just watch it over, get your fire back and then start scoring again when you come back.'”

Carzo downplays the benchings, and admits that he is responsible for his own play and that Cahoon made the right decision.

“It's just a fact that I haven't been working hard,” Carzo said. I [needed] the wake up call and I'll move on from it.”

Carzo expects to play Saturday when UMass heads out for an away game against the University of Maine, and is more excited for his team's recent success than he is disappointed with his own personal struggles. Carzo maintains a positive attitude despite the fact that it would appear he is suffering from a syndrome famously known as the sophomore slump.

The sophomore slump is a phenomenon that describes a lackluster effort in the second year or installment of someone or something's career or existence. It is often used to describe athletes who's second season doesn't quite add up to their rookie effort, but was initially utilized as a term for students who became increasingly lazy in their sophomore year leading to results under the expectations they had set for themselves in their freshman year.

In this case, Carzo is an athlete and a student, but his sophomore slump has been taking place on the ice. Despite this lack of scoring, Carzo continues to look on the bright side of things.

"I'm getting shots, I'm getting chances and I'm getting a lot of minutes so I think I'll pick it up
and start producing more," Carzo said before the benching.

Carzo was able to net a goal in a scrimmage against the Swedish Under-20 National Team Saturday, Nov. 6th when he out-hustled one of his adversaries to a puck and put it in an open net, but scrimmages are just that, they are not official bouts. He was not satisfied.

"It was nothing special," Carzo said after the 5-1 University of Massachusetts victory in the scrimmage. "It was just an empty net goal."

Carzo won't lie to you and say his lack of scoring thus far isn't at all discouraging, but he is a little more worried about his team's season struggles than his own personal scoring droughts.

"I'd rather win games than score," Carzo said during the Mass Attack's opening nine game streak of winless games.

In a game on Saturday, Nov. 13th against the University of New Hampshire, UMass was still in search of its first win at the time and led 3-2 in the third period, but UNH tied the game with 41.8 seconds left in the third period to force a 3-3 tie.

"We had them down 3-2," said Carzo. "We out played them, we out battled them, but it just didn't happen."

You can see the frustration in Carzo’s body language and voice when he speaks of losses, but his attitude towards the team never changes.

The Minutemen are now 3-6-3 and have shown some signs of life as of late winning three straight, but Carzo knows that they still have a lot of work to do to recover from their slow start. He sees that the Mass Attack is a team filled with inexperienced players and tries to focus on the
bright spots in their squad.

"We've got maybe seven or eight guys in the lineup that are first year players," Carzo said. "But they've been solid. We just have to keep competing."

Carzo is a small town kid from Media, Penn. He was the second of four children in his family, all of the siblings being sisters.

“It was just me and my dad on our own in that house with four other girls,” Carzo said. “It was tough.”

Being the only male in the litter didn’t just mean having to deal with three sisters, but Carzo also had to carry on a long stretching family name. He is the fourth Rocco in the Carzo lineage.

“It’s an honor,” Carzo said. “I’m going to pass it on, obviously. The first boy is going to be Rocco.”
Carzo played just about every sport as a kid, and stuck with soccer, basketball and baseball up until the eighth grade when he decided he needed to pick one sport and stick with it.

“I chose hockey, obviously.”

He made the right choice. In Carzo’s freshman year of high school he was by far the youngest player on his high school hockey team and led the team in scoring. In his sophomore year of high school he played United States Hockey League (USHL) Junior-A hockey in Philadelphia, was the
youngest player in the league and was a top 20 scorer there.

“That’s when team’s started calling me and I knew I could take this somewhere.”
During his junior year he was still skating in the USHL in Philadelphia until one Friday night he got a call from the Des Moines Buccaneers in Iowa that shook up his life a bit.

“They said they had just traded for me,” Carzo said. “So I packed up all my stuff and left on Monday. It happened really fast.”

Carzo continued to stay positive in this situation as well. He recalls Des Moines as a fairly easy adjustment since it was a pretty big city, but the city’s surroundings sort of threw him for a loop. Carzo speaks of miles and miles of corn fields traveling from town to town, or as he put it, “a whole lot of nothing.”

“It really is a culture shock,” Carzo said. “But [the experience] got me a scholarship [to UMass]. I wouldn’t have gotten it without that.”

UMass wasn’t the only school that came calling for Carzo’s services, but when he went to visit the campus as a junior in high school he had a pretty good idea of where he was going.

“I got to meet Coach [Cahoon] and all the guys,” Carzo said. “They were just very welcoming and had everything planned out for me. I just felt like this was the best fit for me.”

Again, Carzo made the right decision, as he very much enjoys his life at UMass.

“It’s real real fun to play at the Mullins [Center],” Carzo said.

[Watch Rocco give a tour of the UMass hockey practice rink.]

When Carzo isn’t playing hockey or doing schoolwork, he likes to spend time lounging around and playing video games with his roommates and teammates sophomore forward Eddie Olczyk, red shirt freshman Anthony Raiola and sophomore defenseman Darren Rowe.

Carzo is a Business major, and plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and open up a business someday if he can’t continue his hockey career past college, but he isn’t ready to give up on that dream just yet.

Carzo has competed at two NHL team rookie camps including the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks.

“The Flyers camp was great because they had all of their draft picks and minor league guys,” Carzo said. “You get to see how you compare with other guys in the nation and you get to compete with some guys in the pros.”

Carzo says that the camps are mainly to get your name out there and gain some experience playing against to talent, but he has gained some contact with professional teams.

“I think every hockey player wants to get to the pros,” Carzo said. “I stay in contact with some teams but it’s nothing special. Just talking with them.”

Carzo’s sophomore slump has yet to be overcome thus far, but as he keeps his positive attitude and continues to make good decisions, he may just break out of it yet.