Braves Coverage

The Atlanta Braves are 11-6 so far in pre-season. Their first game of the regular season will be on April 5th versus the Cubs. With the season starting up soon, MLB coverage across the nation has picked up quite a bit. (still shadowed by March Madness of course)

Most of the local coverage I found on the Braves was in a paper based in Georgia called the Ledger-Enquirer, part of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  

On March 16th, former Braves pitcher John Smoltz declared that he will be working on TBS and Braves’ games on Peachtree TV in Atlanta as an announcer. Also, he’ll announce games on the MLB Network starting on April 5.

I came across two stories about the same thing, one on a national level, published by an AP writer, and then on from the AJC Ledger-Enquirer.

The first sentence of the AP story:

John Smoltz is embarking on a career as an analyst for Turner Broadcasting and the MLB Network, although he’s not quite ready to say he’s thrown his final major league pitch.

First sentence of the AJC story:

For his 22nd season in Major League Baseball, John Smoltz is headed to the Braves' broadcast booth -- but that doesn't mean he's retired from the game.

The national article by AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum was more about his career and what he has done to lead him to this point in his life. He was quoted saying, “When I walk from the game, there won’t be a tear, a regret, there won’t be any of that.”

The local story published at AJC focused more on how excited he is to come to the Braves and how it’s a great opportunity for him because he is where he belongs. "It's the best of both worlds," Smoltz told the AJC. "I"m thrilled. I couldn't even mastermind such a great opportunity."

Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers ended in a tie, 4 – 4. The recap story published on ESPN was long and detailed. It included the stats and play-by-plays, and discussed players from both teams. 

The recap story on AJC was short and not very specific. It lacked quotes and human interest, and if you wanted to know more you would have to go search for more information on a national level!

Then there are some local stories that didn’t even make their way into the national light. On March 17th there was a story in the Ledger-Enquirer titled Atlanta Braves offering plenty of "value" seats this season. 

The article explains to Braves fans all the deals they can snag at the stadium. It tells readers when Ultimate Kid Days are, and what exactly you can get in The Chevron Family Value Plan and how much they cost. And another article on AJV titled Put on your dancing shoes for Salsa Fest Atlanta is about the first annual Salsa Fest at Turner Field coming up on March 28th. 

It seems that the local coverage was more concerned with the small stories, and didn’t try to tackle the bigger game stories. Perhaps the smaller publications just leave that up to the national level coverage, and don’t bother trying. The local papers hook people in with the local flavor. They included small-scale stories that basically only apply to the people in the area, or fans. The local papers also know that sports fans don’t just stick to one outlet for sports, and they aren’t trying to out-shine ESPN. The small publications have a niche and they fill it perfectly by not trying to stretch to thin.

(Photos Courtesy MLB.com)

Emerson College Feature Athlete: Lauren Zaniboni

Over her past two years at Emerson College, dual sport athlete Lauren Zaniboni has earned a variety of awards and honors for her achievements both on and off the volleyball and basketball court. 
In both sports, each focused on some type of net, Zaniboni is versatile and taller than most opponents. Standing at 6'2" the junior from San Diego, California transferred from Division I North Carolina State University to Emerson as a sophomore. She immediately began making a name for herself, winning a number of "Rookie of the Week" titles in both her volleyball season and then in her basketball season as well. 


Focusing on her basketball career at Emerson, Zaniboni was recently named to the ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-District team for both her athletic and academic success. The award listed Zaniboni as a selection to the third team in District I, an area that includes New England, New York and parts of Canada.


So what exactly makes Lauren Zaniboni worthy of this award?

Zaniboni, a Dean’s List student, is the Lions’ second leading scorer and top rebounder. In 2009-2010 she scored in double figures in both points and rebounds nine times in the team’s 20 games. Zaniboni was ranked 4th in the league for scoring, with 374 points, averaging 14.4 points per game. The 6'2'' center also is 5th in rebounds (9.8), 2nd in field goal percentage (.506), 3rd in blocked shots (1.9), 14th in offensive rebounds (2.8), and 2nd in defensive rebounds (7.1).


Kristen Parnell, Emerson Director of athletics, was not surprised to learn that Zaniboni had been honored.


"Lauren is a model Division III player at balancing both academics and sports," said Parnell. "It's accolades like this that improve not only the team but also up the talent level through all sports."


Women's Basketball Head Coach William Gould explains that athletes like Zaniboni help shape the reputation of Emerson College's sports programs.

"I think Emerson has always been known for their academic prowess," Coach said. "But with Lauren winning awards like this we are now proving ourselves as a pretty damn good school when it comes to athletics as well."


And this wasn't even Zaniboni's first national recognition. Last fall she was honored with the same award for her contribution to the Emerson volleyball team, as she led the team to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship.


Last year Zaniboni was also named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in 2008-2009, and was a first team all-conference selection. By earning the Academic All-District selection in volleyball in the fall of 2009, Zaniboni became the first Emerson College student-athlete to receive the honor in multiple sports.


But Zaniboni doesn't harp on the awards she receives, which makes her that much more deserving. She says her main focus is just to enjoy every second she has the opportunity to play college sports.
She said, "Not everyone gets the chance to play college sports and be a part of a team. I just love being part of a team and seeing our collective hard work pay off. There's nothing better." 


Being from sunny California, life on the East coast is a bit different, but Zaniboni says she doesn't mind. 


"I knew what I was getting myself into when I came to Boston. I don't mind the cold at all."


But there is one thing she misses about California. She explained, "I miss the frozen yogurt from Yogurtland. Strawberry 'fro-yo' is my favorite. I could go for some right now."

Next year will be Zaniboni's last year playing college sports, and although she appreciates being recognized for her hard work, she plays for the team comradery and her love for the games. 

Talking with Friars Coach Keno Davis

The month of February has not been the best for the Friars.

Providence College men's basketball head coach Keno Davis sat down with John Rooke to discuss what the Friars have to do to turn around their 8 game losing streak and how he plans to build the team to be strong enough to compete in the NCAA tournament. 

On February 2nd, the Friars took on currently ranked number 1 Syracuse. PC was only down by three at halftime, but Syracuse opened the second half with a 27-7 Syracuse run and the Friars couldn't get closer than 14 points for the rest of the game.

Davis tried to pin point just what let the game slip away. Perhaps it was that Syracuse went 32 for 38 from the free throw line, while Providence shot a low 11 for 22. 

Davis claimed that Dominque Jones is possibly the best player in the Big East, and although PC did a great job of locking up his three point shots, Jones still found a way to the free throw line 16 times, and really hurt the Friars. 

Davis explained the importance of a go-to guy for big games in the Big East, especially in Providence's most recent loss to USF on February 27th. 

He said, "What South Florida has and why they've been able to have some level of success this year is that they have a pro, and when you know who your go-to guy is ... how many games come down to the last 2 or 3 minutes? Quite a few. And so in the last three minutes, they're going to him, there's no question. When the last three minutes come for us, we don't have a go-to guy right now."

The Friar's have their final two regular season games coming up against Pittsburgh and then Seton Hall, but Davis has his focus on the long term as well. 

He shared his concerns with recruiting and finding the right student-athletes to come to Providence College. He said "Once we get to the NCAA tournament it can't be a one year shot and then we are back to trying to rebuild... we have to build it on a good base so we're able to compete each and every year."

But Davis doesn't look for role players. He wants well rounded players to fit different positions. "I'm looking for players that are versatile, I don't want a one dimensional player... I don't want a specialist."

So hopefully over the course of the next few games, someone on the Providence team will be able to step up and out of their role, and act as the much needed go-to player in their upcoming games before the season comes to an end. 

(Photos from Friars.com)