LAS CRUCES NEEDS A SKATE PARK

One city in the land of enchantment needs a skate park.  The land of enchantment is better known as the state of New Mexico.  Las Cruces, NM is the second largest city in the state of New Mexico.  93,570 residents currently reside in the second largest city in Southern New Mexico.  Las Cruces is more or less a college town in which New Mexico State University is the largest employer in the city, employing over 6,500 people (http://www.las-cruces.org/).  Unfortunately the recession has taken its toll on Las Cruces and the surrounding communities.  There are limited resources in this small border city, and the local economy seems to be at a stand still. 
I lived in Las Cruces for a total of five years while I was in college and there are many things that I will never forget about living in Las Cruces.  One thing I will not ever forget about the desert city are the summer temperatures which regularly hover over 100 degrees and winters that rarely fall below 40 degrees.  Winter snowfall and rain is minimal at best, which makes this city the perfect place for year-round outdoor activities.  Las Cruces currently has one skate park but its not centrally located, so many who would want to use it, have no access to the skate park.
Las Cruces has done a great job overall of providing recreational structures and events for the sports enthusiast.  During the previous ten years the city has constructed football fields, baseball diamonds and one skate park to name a few. However the city needs another skate park.  Las Cruces does not have the greatest public transportation system partially due to its size.  Buses run infrequently, so if you do not have a car, then it will be a challenge for you to make it to the skate park if you do not live in the area.  Many of the people who will frequent the skate park are not of legal driving age which creates a problem. 

Given the current state of the US Economy, let alone the Las Cruces Economy, I feel the city should explore applying for the Tony Hawk Foundation Skateboard Grant, in pursuit of securing additional funding to build another skate park.  I believe city should have Isaac E. Chavez - Board Chair, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, put together the grant proposal.  I believe Mr. Chavez should be able to handle such a task because he is the chairman of the advisory board which makes recommendations to city council in regards to parks and recreation.

I feel the grant will be necessary to get a skate park built in the city because, the city is struggling financially.  According to the City of Las Cruces website, 19.2 % of people live in poverty.  On top of that the average household income is $37,471 when the rest of the state is at $43,028 (http://www.las-cruces.org/).  I would recommend that the skate park be built on Espina and E. Idaho.  This area is situated near several elementary, middle schools, and a high school.  There are also many single family homes in this area, which have children who would benefit from having a nearby skate park.

References 
City of Las Cruces.  Retrieved October 16, 2011 from,  http://www.las-cruces.org/

The Future of Sport Communication

We are living in the moment, the future of sport communication is now! The face of sport communication has evolved from having little to no coverage in the early 20th century to having television networks devoted to sports coverage only.  The impetus in the evolution of sports communication over past 15 years has been the internet.  The internet has can be considered "a blessing and curse" for the sports journalist.  I make this claim because the internet provides up to the minute news stories.  If a newspaper reporter writes a story, by the next morning the paper is published, the story is old news.  This is a major challenge for print news journalist and editors.  

All sports entities now have a web presence.  Sports entities use internet communication platforms such as twitter and facebook to create awareness and release news stories about the organization.  Organizations also use the internet to provide live video streaming of sporting events.  If a sports organization does not have a web presence than they are positioning themselves to fail. 

Sports communication has evolved to the point that sports entities have created their own networks to televise their games.  Collegiate athletic conferences have entire networks devoted to televising their respective teams.  For example you have Fox Sports Net which will televises only Pac-12 sports in my region of the country.  You also have professional sports organizations that have their own networks and broadcast all their games.    

In the future sports communication is going to move towards first person accounts such as how we have twitter and CNN iReports.  With CNN iReport you have regular people reporter on an event or giving their opinion on a particular story.  I feel sports will eventually move towards a similar platform.  

YOU CAN'T LOSE WHEN YOU HAVE LUCK!!

ANDREW LUCK DOES IT AGAIN!

Palo Alto, CA--It was another impressive victory for Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal.  In front of a packed house filled 50,360 people including notable Stanford Alums, John Elway, Jim Plunkett and Tiger Woods, the Stanford Cardinal throttled PAC-12 Newcomer, Colorado Buffalos, 48 -7. 

The victory-improved #7 ranked Stanford to 5-0 and dropped Colorado to 1-5.  

The Buffalos galloped into Cardinal Stadium on Saturday evening but left slaughtered and ready to be packed for sale at the local grocery store. 

The Buffalos did not help their chances of coming away with a victory by indefinitely suspending five defensive players for violating team rules and they also were without, arguably their best offensive player, Paul Richardson.

The visiting Buffalos got off to a promising start by recovering a mishandled kick off return by Stanford.  However their good fortunes were short lived, and a few plays later Buffalos offense stalled and they forced to kick a field goal.  During the field goal attempt, Stanford’s Max Bergen bullied his way through the Colorado Buffalos line, blocked the kick and picks it up an returns it 75 yards for Stanford’s first of seven touchdowns on the evening.  Things went downhill fast from here for Colorado, but fortunately for Colorado they were able to witness the Andrew Luck show up close and personal. 

Luck was his typical self on the evening, orchestrating scoring drives of more than 70 yards on 4 separate occasions on Saturday evening. His longest scoring drive of the night was a whopping 14 play 84 yards drive that chewed up 6:41. 

Andrew Luck! What more can you say, with a last name like that, you must be something special.  Statistically speaking, Luck played his second best game as a collegiate football star.  Luck was 26-33 for 370 yards, 3 TD, and 1 INT.  Luck could have very easily eclipsed his previous personal best of 420 yards, but the coaching staff took him out of the game with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.  Head Coach David Shaw obviously was more concerned with keeping his Heisman Trophy Candidate Quarterback healthy as opposed to leaving Luck in the game so he could attempt to set himself a new personal best.  Furthermore it was a classy move and gesture of good sportsmanship by Coach Shaw.   Many coaches would have left the star player in the game but to “pad his stats” but Stanford has a classy program and chose to take the highroad, which is commendable to say the least.

The atmosphere at a college football game is very refreshing.  Amongst those in attendance are college students, whom are festive and all adorn crimson Stanford t-shirts; they also bring energy and excitement to the crowd.  The college students were chanting “Luck-Luck-Luck” every time he would throw and complete a pass.  When he threw a touchdown there was pandemonium in the stands.  Everyone is “high-fiving” each other.  It appeared as though people who could have been professors or parents were “high-fiving” the students! It was truly a beautiful sight to see.

When you are attempting to watch a game live there are a few things that can hinder the sports reporter from meeting deadlines.  The first one is that if the game goes into overtime then the reporter is going to have difficulty meeting deadlines because there is less time to craft the story.  Secondly, the reporter must be prepared.  It would be wise for the reporter to attain a press release and game notes for both teams.  Sometimes during the games it gets loud and you cannot hear the PA system from the press box. Having the game notes, press release, or current rosters can assist you when you are taking notes while watching the game.  It is likely that a sports reporter is not familiar with all of the players from the visiting team, which is why having rosters is very important for the sport reporter.  If a sports reporter chooses to use quotes from one of the players in the game, than this can be a potential problem for the reporter to not make deadline.  Often the athlete is not accessible immediately after the sporting event.  This causes the sports reporter to burn precious minutes that they could use to craft their story.

I think halftime is an opportune time for the sports reporter to begin crafting the lead for the sports story.  Specifically with college football, the games have often been decided by the end of the first half.  Working on the story during halftime will allow the sports reporter to have more time at the conclusion of the game to craft the story and not feel as rushed to put it all together at the end of the game.  If a sports reporter is not going to use quotes in their sports story, it is possible that they can have majority of their story written before the game has actually ended.

MEDIA RELEASE

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: October 2, 2011
Media Contact: Dwayne Taylor
Office Number: 510-758-0001
Cellular Number: 510-757-2000
Fax Number: 510-758-0002
Email: dtayl@raidersfootball.com
Website:  www.raiders.com


New England Patriots (2-1) vs. Oakland Raiders (2-1) 
The Raiders look to improve their season record to 3-1.


Oakland, CA, October 2, 2011-- The Oakland Raiders, led by NFL rushing leader Darren McFadden look to improve their record to 3-1 as they host Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.  Darren McFadden is currently atop the NFL rushing charts with 391 rushing yards after 3 games.  Offensively the Raiders are pleased to have 2nd year player Jacoby Ford return to the lineup after missing all of the preseason and the first 3 weeks of the season.  Ford came on strong at the end of the 2010 season and gave the fans and the organization something to look forward to during the 2011 season.

The Raiders look to have many big plays on offense this week as they have the luxury of playing rookie sensation Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford at the same time.  Moore (9 Receptions, 180 Yards, 1 Td.) has played phenomenal this season, making big plays in each of the last two games.  Head Coach Hue Jackson has been impressed with the young talent he has on his team and he looks forward to the future.

New England Patriots make long trip to the west coast after suffering a loss to the upstart Buffalo Bills.  During the week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Tom Brady threw an uncharacteristic 4 interceptions. The Raiders look to pressure Brady into having another 4 interception outing this Sunday.  The leader along the Raiders defensive line is former New England Patriot, Richard Seymour (10 tackles, 2.5 sacks).  The Raiders look for Seymour and the rest of the defensive line to harass Brady all afternoon.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month in the NFL.  All players and coaches will wear pink game accessories such as cleats, gloves, socks, wristbands, or towels.  Coaches will wear a pink pendant, hat, wristbands or shirt.  The stadium decor will have a pink theme to further promote breast cancer awareness.
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Included in the media kit:
-Oakland Raiders Stats for the first 3 weeks
-New England Patriots Stats for the first 3 weeks
-Injury report for both teams
-Series history for both teams
-Action shots
-Depth Charts
-Player and Coaches Biographies