Age is Just a Number.. Or is it?

So we have Dayan Viciedo, 19-years-old, hoping to play for the White Sox, and now we have 19-year-old Esmailyn Gonzalez for the Washington Nationals. But wait..he's not 19 and that's not even his name! He's actually 23-year-old Carlos Avarez Daniel Lugo. (According to Sports Illustrated). 

Fantastic! Like we need any more corruption in baseball. Lying about his age definitely devalues him as a player and sources from SI said that he couldn't run very well and only had an average arm. For not being so great, he was definitely paid well. He earned at $1.4 million signing bonus on July 2, 2006. 

Even better, the kid err well adult, was well-known and pretty darn good. In July 2006 the Nationals signed a "16-year-old" shortstop and general manager Jim Bowden compared him to Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. When he was still known as "Smiley" Gonzalez he was honored as the leagues MVP in 2008.  Kind of ridiculous for a youngin' if you ask me.

Team president Stan Kasten is clearly ticked off and said in a Mercury News article, "Im very angry. We've been defrauded. And make no mistake: This wasn't a college kid with a fake ID."

This is just another thing to add to the baseball fraud list. What happened to the game we all knew and loved?

He's how old???!!

Scrolling through the roster on The White Sox website, I notice a new infielder, born 3/10/1989..wait what? Shoot, this kid is younger than I am and is playing for the White Sox? Really? He better be good..

Dayan Viciedo is from Villa Clara, Cuba and just signed a four-year, $11 million major-league deal, guaranteeing him more money than any player under 21 signed as an international free-agent. (this is how I know) Are you kidding me? Even better, rumor has it that he'll take Joe Crede's place at 3rd. (I know the ladies are upset).  However, there is a lot of talk out in the web world how Viciedo is a baseball prodigy and MLB's next Cuban star.  Just look at this video..

I think we all get a little too excited and quick to judge when a young hot shot comes into the roster, and while I'm not suggesting that I'm not excited about him, I just think we should wait to see what this kid has. Is he really a baseball prodigy? Alexei Ramirez seems to think so.. Let's take a look..

Maybe he'll prove me wrong.. I hope so..

Who's the real journalist?

Blogging has become an entirely different world nowadays. Anyone can post their opinion about absolutely anything at anytime. While this doesn't necessarily make their writing creditable, bloggers still play an important role in the sports world. I highly disagree with the video of the guy complaining to the owners of Deadspin about blogging. It is not journalistic dishonesty yet I'm not quite sure I'd consider it journalistic at all. 

I agree with Will Leitch when he said its hard work to keep up a blog. Considering I had one with CSR and you needed to bring up important issues, back up your facts, and be serious about whatever it is you're writing about. I don't really consider it journalistic because it is my own thoughts and opinions, and sometimes me just rambling about things. With journalism, you do more research, interviews, etc. There is a lot more that goes into journalism than what goes into blogging. 

Blogging has become important to sports teams for sure, mainly because it keeps their fans updated and connected with their favorite teams. Plenty of beat writers have blogs, like Sun-Times writer Joe Cowley , who keeps readers informed about the Sox and his opinion on things, which he definitely has. They're fun to read and they definitely get people talking. 

Someday blogging might take over for online news and media, but I sure hope not. You never know what idiot is out there yanking your chain and making things up. Shoot, who says I even know what I'm talking about?

Let's Get This Write

There are tons of different ways to report about sports and other topics in journalism in general. I think print journalists kind of have it a little easier considering we have more space to tell a story and less worries bout visualizing everything with photos or video. However, I think it's a good idea to do a photo essay instead of a regular beat or profile once in awhile. Sometimes a story is better told through a visual medium.

Content can be very different depending on which way you want to take the story. For example, a while ago there was an issue with blow up dolls in the White Sox locker room. It was extremely controversial and there were two completely different biased perspectives. Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reported it just how it was. He stated the facts and didn’t take any side. However, Kara Spak took the side of well, a woman. I wrote a blog about how much I disliked her viewpoint and she told me I didn't know the difference between a column and a news story. Well, sorry but I definitely do, and I don't know if she realized it or not but she took a feminists perspective on it. She interviewed mainly women and other feminists and she didn't even see the dolls. Who you interview can definitely twist a story. I think Spak's was definitely more biased than Cowley's.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as a journalist, I have to make sure I do not appear to be biased in any of my articles and make sure I get both sides of the story.

Take A Deep Breath...And Exhale..Now Was That Worth It?

Everyone is all hyped up about Michael Phelps being caught smoking weed. Okay it is a big deal, but then again I think the media is exaggerating a bit. We talked about this issue in one of my other classes and some people brought up that he's 23, he's going to have fun, and everyone does something stupid once in awhile. Ok, point taken, but if you're in the public eye like Michael Phelps is, you shouldn't be stupid enough to let people take pictures of you. 

I honestly think people are taking this way out of hand. An article from OColly.com called 'Phelps, an American bong story,' had some good points. The writer, James F. Cooper II focused on the fact that a lot of people in the public eye have admitted to smoking weed. People such as President Obama, Whoopi Goldberg, and everyone knows, Snoop Dog. I just think athletes take it a little harder and seeing as though we have proof, people are going to freak out. I've heard stories of people saying he should get his medals taken away, and that he could face criminal charges in South Carolina. The criminal charges I can kind of understand considering they have proof, but seriously? The medal thing is just ridiculous especially since he was clean while he competed, which is why they're not going to take anything away. 

At least the late night comics are having fun with it. Last night David Letterman had the Top Ten Michael Phelps Excuses (along with Rod Blagojevich but that's a whole other story).  But seriously, can we all move on now? Give it a week, someone else will be caught doing something stupid soon.