End of the Semester Thoughts

The end of the school year is near, which means that summer is almost here! Summer makes me think of baseball games, hotdogs, long days, cool nights, and lots of ice cream. This summer I have the opportunity to live with my sister in Richmond while interning in the marketing and social media department for Virginia Farm Bureau. Even though I still have over a month before I move in with my sister, I’m already planning the summer for us and on my list is attending Flying Squirrels baseball games. I really hope that Paige and I can attend a couple of these with several of our friends in the Richmond area. Some of the baseball games even have live concerts and fireworks before and after the game. Sports are really important to both my sister and I since we were little. Having the opportunity to attend games this summer will be a good distraction from work and a way to hang out with friends outside.

Writing this blog post is making me eager for summer and for exams to be over. Everything comes with time just like the changing of the seasons. I’m going to appreciate the last few weeks of my last spring semester here at Tech before summer starts. Playing cornhole, hiking, and relaxing with friends are how I plan to fill up the rest of my time at Tech this semester.

Women, men, sports, and money - This is about Gender Equality

Since the beginning of time women have been treated less than equal of men. This has carried over into the working world and the sporting world. Men and women play the same game and put in 110 percent day in and day out. However, women athletes are not paid nearly as much as male athletes.  

Monetary factors aren’t the only issue that separates men and women athletes. Commentators for each sport talk about men and women differently when announcing the sport. Is this fair to men and women? Should commentators be able to comment on females’ clothes and how she looks, but only talk about males’ athletic ability?

Over Easter weekend I was watching an LPGA golf tournament with my dad, mom, and sister; after one of the rounds they interview a young lady who had just made the cut. She was very emotional about this and had tears running down her face. After her interview the commentators talked about how emotional she was and why she was crying. They were being dramatic about this when it was not necessary.

During the same tournament, another female golfer (who was in the lead) was walking to the green and fixing her hair. She had bobby pins in her mouth and two hair ties. The commentators were joking about how much hair she had and the need for the two hairs ties and bobby pins.

Jordan Spieth recently just won the Masters. He is one of the youngest, at 21, to win a green jacket. The only comment I heard about his appearance was his hairline. His hairline is receding and it makes him look much older than his actual age. Who cares? Jordan just won the Masters and a paycheck that is bigger than most people will see in their entire life.

Female athletes are torn down more about their appearance and emotional state than male athletes. Commentators, next time you announce a female sporting event talk about their athleticism not their body, appearance, or hormonal emotional state.

Behind the Scenes of "Captain's Cassell" - Reflection of Unit 3 Assignment

Making a video about sports fandom was our Unit 3 Assignment for Sports Comm. For the assignment we had to create a video with a partner telling fans’ sports stories. Katharina and I partnered up and decided to focus our video on the student director of Cassell Guard, Chris Jennings. Chris, a senior, has been with Cassell Guard for three years and an intern in the marketing office in athletics for two years. We met last April when I was hired as an intern in the sports marketing office. Since then Chris has taught me the ropes of the marketing department and I’ve enjoyed our conversations about basketball and baseball. I wanted to tell Chris’s story because I’ve seen him prepare for each home basketball game and I know how much he puts his heart into cheering on both the women and men’s basketball teams.   

Kat and I chose to shoot in Cassell Coliseum the home of the women and men’s basketball teams at Virginia Tech. We used three different locations within Cassell: the student section, the court, and the team bench. We wanted to mix up locations throughout the video and give it a natural feel to the interview. We also used the big heads that the marketing office bought for the student section in our video. We placed different ones around Chris in each shot. I enjoyed every minute working on this project. Group projects usually involve research in the library and writing eight page papers; but this group project gave me hands on experience interviewing a fan about their love of sports.

Captain's Cassell

Chris Jennings, a senior, isn’t your typical college student. Chris is an intern with the Sports Marketing Department, an excellent student, and someone who gives back to the community through the Big Event and Relay for Life. In his free time, Chris attends Virginia Tech sporting events, cheering on the Hokies. From football to baseball, Chris enjoys watching the Hokies strive for success.

However, what makes Chris stand out the most is his role in Cassell Guard. Cassell Guard, a student run organization under the Sports Marketing Department, allows select fans to go crazy with body paint, props, and different costumes for the men and women’s basketball games at Virginia Tech. Students have to go through an audition process to prove they have the guts and talent to cheer on the Hokies through good and hard times. Chris joined Cassell Guard his sophomore year of college after the director at the time saw his enthusiasm during the games. Now in his senior year of college, Chris had the opportunity to lead Cassell Guard for his final basketball season as a student. Chris demonstrated his love for Virginia Tech basketball at every home game as he “suited up” with his captain’s hat and led the student section in chants and cheers throughout the game.

His peers in Cassell Guard, fans, and the men and women’s basketball teams will surely miss Chris’s love and dedication to Cassell Guard next season. Although the Captain won’t be jumping with the rest of the student section, his legacy and impact will not be forgotten.

Shaka Smart's journey on and off the court

Last night the basketball world was shocked to hear that VCU’s head basketball coach, Shaka Smart was leaving and taking a head coaching job at Texas. This comes somewhat as a surprise to VCU fans. Since reaching the final four in 2011, Smart had received several coaching offers from high-level schools; however he always chose to remain with his team. This year could be seen as one of the best years for VCU basketball; they had to overcome obstacles and lost 6 out of their 10 losses late in the season. VCU was able to rally back and win the Atlantic 10 tournament to win a seed in the NCAA tournament.

A friend of mine from high school attends VCU and went to the Atlantic 10 tournament in New York to watch the Rams win. Last night when news of Smart’s new job reached Twitter I found myself reading my friend’s tweets. He was upset along with the rest of the students and fans. He tweeted about an article, The shaping of Shaka, that I found extremely interesting and left me questioning why Smart decided to leave VCU. I’m a basketball fan and I love watching basketball, but I didn’t know the story behind Shaka Smart and I’m glad I read this article. The article was release around four months ago and Smart talked about his life growing up and his father walking out on him and his mother. Smart went on to play basketball at Kenyon College. After his first year his coach left the team to take a job elsewhere. In the article Smart said that he cried for days because the only father figured he had was leaving him. This is why it is more than a financial decision to change jobs. His decision not only affects his family but also his basketball family.

No one may ever know why Shaka Smart decided to leave VCU but my bet is that it wasn’t about the money. For someone who has the life story like Shaka Smart, genuine love and respect should come before money factors in deciding to leave your team.

For more information on Shaka Smart’s departure from VCU click on this link to an article from espn: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12608854/shaka-smart-new-texas-longhorns-coach