April 27, 2011
By Jeff Ponder
Newspapers are not the only ones with things to say about the local sports team.
With the decline of the print industry and the increase of personal online blogs, the sports media has seen a shift in the writing format; it has gone from informing to entertaining. What draws people in to sports blogs in the first place?
“I think people go to sports blogs because fans are looking for opinions on things rather than facts or stats,” said Ann Warner, a St. Louis Blues writer for aeryssports.com. “It’s been a good thing to get more of a fan voice out there.”
Warner, who writes a regular column at Aerys Sports entitled, “You’re My Boys, Blues”, even admits that she never went to school for journalism. She contacted Aerys Sports, a professional sports blogging website that showcases an all-female writing staff, after a friend suggested the site to her. She did have her own personal blog, but she decided to join the staff and voice her opinion about her favorite team to a broader audience.
“A lot of sports bloggers are fans, obviously because we wouldn’t be writing if we weren’t, but we add a more personal touch and a lot of times for news, people will go to sports blogs rather than mainstream media.”
Susan Crosby, a fellow blogger who follows the Los Angeles Kings on rinkroyalty.com, shares the same sentiment. Like Warner, Crosby was a fan of the game and came into contact with people that made her a well-known blogger.
“[Being a fan is] part of what makes my writing different and I wouldn’t enjoy it as much if I wasn’t,” Crosby said. “I try to inject more biased opinion and I also try to do it in a professional way that it will not offend the team that I am writing about. Everything I say is an honest feeling that I have.
“I’m authentic. I am who I am.”
At the start of the NHL and NBA seasons, Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis made his feelings about bloggers public. In his personal blog, titled “Ted’s Take,” Leonsis embraced the blogging community in his own words.
“Bloggers deserve our respect and our gratitude,” Leonsis said. “They work hard. They generate pixels. Pixels generate interest and higher rankings on Google and other search engines. Higher rankings generate more click through. More click through means more relevance with today’s citizens. And it is good business, too!”
Recently, Crosby saw the NHL open up their doors to bloggers first-hand. After writing a story about her beloved Kings, Crosby went through her usual motions and posted the story on Twitter. She woke up the next day to a surprise that she never thought could happen.
“The NHL retweeted the article,” Crosby said. “The Canadian press picked up the article. The article ends up getting 1,000 hits on the site over two days. I was in complete shock.”
To bloggers, this is a sign that professional sports leagues may start to be a little more open to the idea of having bloggers in their press box.
Warner had a similar instance recently, when she and numerous other sports bloggers were invited to Busch Stadium, the home of the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals. The bloggers toured the facility and even had a question and answer session with Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak.
The fight for sports bloggers getting recognition still lies with the mainstream media.
“I think there are a lot of purists out there in the sports media that don’t exactly respect sports bloggers,” Warner said. “I think they kind of look at us as geeks who sit in their mom’s basement. It’s frustrating because it’s not true.”
Despite the negativity given by mainstream media, the sports bloggers just keep writing. But why?
“Doing what I do is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done in my life.”
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Top Cop Healing After Grim Event
March 16, 2011
By Jeff Ponder
When Police Officer Joseph Haman woke up on May 27, 2010, he didn’t know that the events of that day would change the rest of his life.
Haman, an Iraq War Veteran and a member of the St. Louis police force, was shot eight times when making a routine traffic stop at Natural Bridge Road and Grand Avenue at 8:07 am. After dropping his partner off at the police station to get some paperwork finished, Haman conducted what he thought would be a routine pull-over.
“I was talking to one of the passengers and he wasn’t giving me any information,” Haman said. “I asked him to step out of the car and he pulled a pistol out and shot me. He shot me twice in the chest at that point, and I returned fire and we got into a gun battle and he ended up shooting me eight times total.
“I was shot twice in the chest, once in the right leg under my knee, once in my left forearm, twice in the upper part of my back and once in the lower part of my back that hit my pelvis. That one took out my insides and I had to lose three feet of intestine. I was also shot in the side [of the back].”
Haman, who was luckily wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, said that he did not lose consciousness and was able to control the scene after the suspect had fled.
“I was able to give the description of the guy to the dispatcher when he was running away and where he went. Some civilians came to help me out and I stayed awake until the ambulance came and took me to the hospital.”
Haman added that he has had 11 surgeries since the incident. He said that the most important surgery came shortly after the incident, when the doctors at SLU Hospital “removed and repaired” the three feet of intestine that was damaged.
This is not the first time that Haman has been under fire. While in Iraq, an enemy grenade exploded near him and his squad that resulted in shrapnel damaging his right tricep.
Haman, who dearly misses playing pick-up hockey with his fellow policemen on Tuesday mornings, says that the way that he lives his life on a day-to-day basis has changed since that tragic day.
“I’m a lot more cautious now,” Haman said, “I don’t go anywhere without my pistol on me. I’m more aware of my surroundings and I don’t like going to crowded places.”
Before the shooting, Haman had only been a member of the St. Louis police force for about 18 months. Despite his inexperience, the 26-year old Haman was honored as one of the Fifth District’s Officers of the Year in 2009. His attitude and dedication to his work may be what won him that honor.
“I am excited to get back to work. As soon as I’m cleared I’ll be back out there.”
It seems it will take more than bullets to stop Officer Joseph Haman.
By Jeff Ponder
When Police Officer Joseph Haman woke up on May 27, 2010, he didn’t know that the events of that day would change the rest of his life.
Haman, an Iraq War Veteran and a member of the St. Louis police force, was shot eight times when making a routine traffic stop at Natural Bridge Road and Grand Avenue at 8:07 am. After dropping his partner off at the police station to get some paperwork finished, Haman conducted what he thought would be a routine pull-over.
“I was talking to one of the passengers and he wasn’t giving me any information,” Haman said. “I asked him to step out of the car and he pulled a pistol out and shot me. He shot me twice in the chest at that point, and I returned fire and we got into a gun battle and he ended up shooting me eight times total.
“I was shot twice in the chest, once in the right leg under my knee, once in my left forearm, twice in the upper part of my back and once in the lower part of my back that hit my pelvis. That one took out my insides and I had to lose three feet of intestine. I was also shot in the side [of the back].”
Haman, who was luckily wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, said that he did not lose consciousness and was able to control the scene after the suspect had fled.
“I was able to give the description of the guy to the dispatcher when he was running away and where he went. Some civilians came to help me out and I stayed awake until the ambulance came and took me to the hospital.”
Haman added that he has had 11 surgeries since the incident. He said that the most important surgery came shortly after the incident, when the doctors at SLU Hospital “removed and repaired” the three feet of intestine that was damaged.
This is not the first time that Haman has been under fire. While in Iraq, an enemy grenade exploded near him and his squad that resulted in shrapnel damaging his right tricep.
Haman, who dearly misses playing pick-up hockey with his fellow policemen on Tuesday mornings, says that the way that he lives his life on a day-to-day basis has changed since that tragic day.
“I’m a lot more cautious now,” Haman said, “I don’t go anywhere without my pistol on me. I’m more aware of my surroundings and I don’t like going to crowded places.”
Before the shooting, Haman had only been a member of the St. Louis police force for about 18 months. Despite his inexperience, the 26-year old Haman was honored as one of the Fifth District’s Officers of the Year in 2009. His attitude and dedication to his work may be what won him that honor.
“I am excited to get back to work. As soon as I’m cleared I’ll be back out there.”
It seems it will take more than bullets to stop Officer Joseph Haman.
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