Answers to quiz questions.....

1) St George Illawarra Dragons & Collingwood Magpies


2) Melbourne Rebels


3) Thomas Muller


4) Mark Webber & Sebastian Vettel


5) Australia, New Zealand, England, Papua New Guinea


6) 3

Hope you did well!!!!!

Games are more than just Australia's domination

                                              
                                                                 Photo Source: smh.com.au

Im sure im not the only one who throughout some stage of the Commenwealth Games looked at the medal count and thought what a joke, is anyone going to challenge Australia?  Yes it was true Australia once again made a mockery of these games by dominating almost every aspect of every event from start to finish, obviously in the clear absence of many powerhouse nations.  However, Jack Kerr's article made me realise something else, it made me realise that the games are not only a chance to see Australia continue to dominate but rather pay attention to the ability of many smaller nations raise above themselves and reach heights they never would have thought possible.

Kerr's article focuses on specific memorable performances of nations like Samoa and Tonga who achieved great success.  The article is fairly well structured with Kerr clearly elaborating on specific achievements of these athletes although it may have been best to lead the story by highlighting Samoa's amazing weightlifting feat's which inevitably saw them walk away with not only their first ever gold medal but also their second and third as opposed to making reference to this towards the article's end.  Samoa's success is definitely the most appealing aspect of the article as within the space of 3 days the nation went from last on the medal count to 11th, yet Kerr saw this success as less newsworthy than other minnow nation competitors who merely achieved personal bests. 

Kerr's use of sources are not extensive as he only seeks the opinion of Samoa's Chief de mission Shelly Birch, however her quote about the prime minister's jubilation is definitely effective in giving the reader insight into how much it means to such a small island nation.  Kerr could have added to the quality of the article by gaining a comment from any of the athletes he mentions in particularly the gold medal winning weightlifter's from Samoa. 

Despite a few deficiencies the author did produce fair online article that touches on a different and refreshing aspect of the games with a good portrayal of certain characters that are far from household names in Australia. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/14/3038514.htm?site=thedrum

Should transgender golfers be permitted to play in womens golf?

Photo Source: dailymail.co.uk

Who said this blog doesn't explore all the issues in sport?  Legally when a man undergoes a transgender operation they are considered to be a women at the conclusion of the procedure.  However, it can get a little trickier when sport is involved.  Lana Lawless has been officially banned from competing on the US tour because she was not born a woman, much of the reason no doubt attributed to the fact that officials believe she is still gaining some sort of physical advantage as seen by her incredibly long driving.  If the law recognises Ms Lawless as a female (both physically and mentally) then shouldn't the LPGA do the same?

Katie Thomas's article explores the events that led to transgender golfer Lana Lawless's decision to sue the LPGA for violation of civil rights.  The article provides quite a simple yet descriptive and informative recount of the events surrounding this saga how they have impacted the different parties directly involved. Thomas quite rightly illustrates the point of view of Miss Lawless first to correctly establish to the reader her motivation for taking such a path as a result of feeling discriminated against. 

Thomas follows this up by highlighting relevent comments from representatives from the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, former transgender tennis player Renee Richards and states that LPGA officials refused to give comment on the issue.  Thomas could have added another element to the story by gaining the perpective of a current player on the LPGA tour.  This would have been very intriguing and made the article more appealing as common question many readers would have been left wondering is whether or not fellow competitors Miss Lawless would be competing against believe she is entitled to play on the tour and if so does she gain an unfair advantage or not. 

The article is a fair piece of online journalism displaying key fact supported by insightful and relevent sources and solid a structure.  Although failure to seek comment of current or even past LPGA tour players weakens the article and takes away from much of the good work achieved throughout the story. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/sports/golf/13lawsuit.html

A Pole the next F1 champ?

Photo Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/

When we think about Formula 1 champions names such as Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton come to mind.  These drivers all come from European countries with a history of motor sport champions.  However, a new driver has marked his claim this season and he is not from England or Germany but rather Poland.  Yes, Robert Kubica is the first Polish F1 driver and judging by his impression showing this season he is not just content to make up the numbers. 

Mark Hughes's article for the BBC, specifically claims that Robert Kubica is a future F1champion, effectively supporting his claim by highlighting certain facts and making relevent comparisons between Kubica and past champions.  Hughes's article goes beyond the facets of a simple profile but rather communicates a well established opinion. 

The article is well structured with Hughes chronologically stating his reasons why he believes Kubica is such a special talent claiming that despite his car being inferior to other performers like Ferrari and given he is still relatively inexperienced he still manages to qualify on the front and second row on technical tracks.  The comparisons made between Kubica's talents of driving well with an inferior car to that of Mika Hakkinen effectively clarifies to the reader the potential he possesses and therefore strengthens Hughes claims.  Numerous questions are raised throughout the article, in particular why is a driver of Kubica's talents driving such an inferior car?  In seeking response to this question Hughes gains insight directly from the source, that being Renault technical director James Allison who claims that in recent years a aerodynamic issues have hampered the team although next season these problems should be resolved. 

The article is an exemplary piece of opinion journalism which fundamentally clarifies claims and arguments with well structured and supported reasons as well as the opinions of relevent sources.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9080455.stm

Refs under the pump

Photo Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop

Who seriously wants to be a referee at any level of sport these days?  Seriously it is a thankless job by which you are heavily slandered when you have a bad game and not complemented when you have a good game.  I for one applaud all referees for showing the courage to step to up to such a contentious position. 
Tension is however brewing in the NBA with many referees given their marching orders before the start of the new season.  Peter Vecsey's article in the New York Post claims that an increase in oncourt fines for player misconduct has led to the firing and resignation of many NBA referees particularly the league's oldest and more experienced officials.  The article is extremely informative and quite insightful however, tends to overstep the mark for an online article by initally confusing the reader with an avalanche of statistics before revealing the article's main purpose which is to reveal the referee overhaul in the NBA.  Online news reader's do not want to sift through mountains of statistics to reach the half way point of the article to know what the essence of the story is about.  Vecsey needs to initially state the fact that many referees have lost there jobs for the upcoming season then reinforce this statement with the relevent statistics. 

Vecsey's article does not portray any insight from sources.  This leaves the reader wondering and curious to the opinion of the recently fired referees, current referees players and the NBA board itself.  This particularly article which reveals the current situation in the NBA and divulges mountains of statistics demonstrating why the NBA is cracking down on oncourt discipline, needs to consolidate these claims and information with perspective from those directly involved to give more weight and credibility to the article.  Although the article reveals an interesting trend and is fairly informative it is a poorly developed and structured online article.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/nba_curtain_calls_dcSu6psa1Ln2No4a6WQNUL/0

Roc's Sports Quiz - How well do you know your sport?

1) Who won both the NRL and AFL grand finals this year 2010?

2) What is the name of the new Rugby Union franchise to join the Super Rugby competition in 2011?

3) Who won the golden boot at the 2010 Fifa World Cup?

4) Name the 2 drivers for the Formula 1 racing team Red Bull Renault?

5) Who are the 4 teams participating in the 2010 Rugby League 4 Nations tournament?

6) How many grand slam titles did Rafael Nadal win in 2010?

Answers will published in next week's post!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boyd a deserving winner of the NRL player of the year award

We are now deep into the NRL finals series with our grand finalist to be decided in the upcoming week.  It is also awards season and I must admit in the past I feel many high profile awards such as the Player's player medal have perhaps gone to the wrong or less deserving player.  However, I'm glad to see this year's winner was Darius Boyd as he was not only a consistent performer but also proved to be a match winner for his club the Dragons in situations where they needed an individual to rise to the occassion.

Brad Walter's article for the Sydney Morning Herald is a great example of how to properly interpret an event into an online news article. His online article which served as a wrap up for the annual Rugby League Player's Player of the Year Medal was not only informative but also appealing as it contained all of the necessary elements which make up a good sports article. Firstly, the structure of the article is well balanced as the essence or most important aspect of the story which is the fact that Darius Boyd was the winner of the medal, is explained in the initial 4 sentences followed by a direct quote from the recepient. This chronology of importance is maintained throughout the article with emphasis on the least prestigious award winners identified towards the end of the article.


Photo Source:  smh.com.au - Ben Rushton

Walter's uses relevent sources which add to the credibility of his article and complement the information he portrays. Often many journalist will flood the article with quotes from sources that are neither relevent nor inciteful and thus hamper the reader's understanding of the article. Walter correctly gauges medal winner Darius Boyd's perspective on winning the medal and what effect this will have on him personally in moving towards the grand final as well as displaying the opinion of Rugby League Player Association chief executive David Garnsey's view on where the medal stands from as an individual honour in the game.

Despite being quite simplistic, Walter's article demonstrates that sometimes the best approach to take when covering a specific event is to not overstate your mark and be direct in your approach keeping in mind the essential elements in writing a good online news article which are to ensure good structure and use of relevent sources in an attempt to engage and inform the reader.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/peer-group-pleasure-dragons-boyd-voted-nrl-player-of-the-year-20100914-15ayi.html

Tall the new trend

                                             Photo Source: http://www.livetennisguide.com/

Who says being lanky means we are not coordinated?  I took a walk down to my local tennis courts the other day and saw a group of boys tennis players practicing and they all looked so tall.  During their break I asked one of boys what High school do you boys go to?  The boy look at me funny and said with a smirk we are still in primary school.  I was seriously shocked they were not only all tall for their age but could also move well which is not necessarily the case with tall athletes.

Greg Bishop's article provides an intriguing insight into the emerging trend in the mens tennis game which is, big equals results.  Using specific examples of recently successful mens tennis players like Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych who are over 6 feet 4 inches tall, Bishop immediately supports his claim and captures the reader's interest by stating that both players have enjoyed success over tennis icon Roger Federer in 2010.  Bishop employs the use of fairly relevent sources, seeking insight from retired professionals now commentators Justin Gimelstob and Darren Cahill as well as the perspective of Roger Federer himself who claims that it is becoming more difficult to face these big players.  However, Bishop fails to gain a comment from the article's main men, the successful giants of the game Robin Soderling or Tomas Berdych.  A comment from either player would have provided greater insight as to why they believe the taller men of the game are now starting to achieve great success and whether they attribute it to a specific factor or not. 

Bishop employs a sound structure for an online article by declaring the essential information in the first three paragraphs of the story which included the players involved, their achievements throughout 2010 and the range of tennis surfaces these players accomplished these results on.  Bishop perhaps could have improved the structure of the article by elevating Roger Federer's comments towards the earlier stages of the story as opposed to the end.  Federer's stature in the game as a not only a legend but also a current player who these tall players are starting to have success over is of greater interest and relevance to the reader than the comments of coaches and tennis commentators. 

All in all the article is very interesting and informative in highlighting this growing trend of tall player success in mens tennis and is thus a good portayal of an online sporting article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/sports/tennis/30power.html?_r=1&scp=53&sq=&st=nyt

All Blacks arrogance is perhaps all that can stop them at the moment



Photo Source: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/



It is true the All Blacks haven't won the coverted Rugby World Cup for a fair while and have over recent years been dissapointing losing to European sides like France.  However, if their form throughout this season is anything to go by expect the Kiwis to not only lift next years world cup trophy but also dominate and humiliate its opponents in the process.  At this stage the only thing I can see that will unravel this juggernaut is themselves by getting overconfident and not being mentally prepared for the task which lay ahead. 

Chris Rattue's article quite comprehensively sums up the current blistering form and positive environment surrounding New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team.  Throughout the opinion article Rattue effectively employs the use of emotive language to reveal to the reader the honest nature of his comments, claiming that despite being a devoted critic of the team in the past he now can admit that the side is reaching amazing new heights. 

Unlike many online articles, Rattue's opinion piece is served best without the use of sources as his reasoning as to why the All Blacks are now such a force are comprehensive and convincing enough.  These noted reasons include attributing praise to coach Graham Henry for his persistance and individual player application, to the team for not being afraid to adapt to new rule changes by playing a more expansive and riskier style and displaying a level of consistency across all matches played both home and away and at altitude or at sea level. 

Rattue's article is also well balanced by as he selectively portrays the essence of the story which emphasises the amazing form displayed by the side and his attributing reasons for this at the beginning and in the body of the article.  Towards the end of the article Rattue identifies less important information such as possible hurdles for the side in the future and potential reasons why the South African team is currently struggling to cope with the power of the Kiwis. 

The article is a good piece of opinion writing as it is both honest and fair in its communication of opinion and reasoning which are essential elements in this style of writing. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10668143

Is Andy's mum really the answer?

Photo Source: news.bbc.co.uk

 

The final grand slam of the year is approching and many questions have been raised.  Can world number 1 Rafael Nadal secure his place in history and capture the last title that currently elludes him or can Andy Murray fulfill his destiny and win his first grand slam title.

The article written by Mike McGrath essentially addresses the point of view Brad Gilbert who was the former coach of Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, that at the present time Andy Murray's mother would be the best fit as his coach.  The article which is expressing a simple viewpoint achieves its goal which is to depict Gilbert's view and successfully eleaborates why he is of this opinion by including appropriate quotes which complement the story, "now when he looks over to his box he has nobody to be mad at. He can't be mad at his mum!". 

Although the story achieves this primary goal, it is however extremely narrow, in that it does not express any analysis into these comments.  The article does not explore any reaction from any other relevent parties such as Murray's last coach Miles Maclagan (who he axed in July 2010), current players who are being coached by family members or Murray and his mother Judy themselves.  The article is also missing pieces of information which would not only add to the article's credibility but also add to the reader's insight into the story.  The article explains that Gilbert coached Murray for 16 months until 2007, however there is no mention of why this association ceased and who was to blame for their parting ways.  The fact that this information is left out leaves the reader to assume that Gilbert's comment "He can't be mad at his mum!", refers to the notion that during their association together Murray often directed anger towards him.

McGrath's article is a fairly poor online piece of journalism as it diplays a very narrow point of view which requires the reader to seek further information to fully comprehend key aspects of the article and does not display alternative reactions from relevent parties on this view held by Brad Gilbert.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/tennis/3106583/Brad-Gilbert-Andy-Murrays-mother-can-be-his-coach.html

The blame game begins

                                    Photo Source: http://www.balls.ie/2010/08/18/the-rage-of-harry-kewell/

For the sake of us proud Australians, I don't think I need to mention the disaster that was our 2010 World Cup performance.  However, just when we thought it couldnt get any worse, a civil war is brewing.

Liam FitzGibbon's article quite simply addresses the recent controversy and potential legal action surrounding arguably Australia's greatest ever football player Harry Kewell and former player now football analyst Robbie Slater's comments that Kewell's recent injury drama's at the world cup led to team critisism and should be an indicator that Kewell has reached the end of his intrnational career.  The author Liam FitzGibbon concisely illustrates the history leading up to the altercation which stems from an article written by Slater two weeks earlier.  FitzGibbon effectively demonstrates the viewpoint of Harry Kewell through his manager Bernie Mandic by selectively displaying the appropriate quotes in sequence from the most important in the introduction (which highlights the Kewell camp's stance of possible legal action over the issue) to the least important towards the end of the article.  In addition to the good structure displayed, FitzGibbon also provides the reader with opinions from the relevent parties involved including Kewell's manager, Robbie Slater and the stance of Football Federation Australia (FFA).

Although the article is fairly straight forward in its portrayal of this issue, it lacks a few integral pieces of information which would further add to the credibility of the story.  Firstly, there is no indication about the near future of Harry Kewell's committment to the Australian team despite the comments made by Slater.  In addition the author makes no mention of the whether there has been any communication between Kewell and Slater following the incident also there is no mention of whether Kewell has addressed the issue with Football Federation Australia despite them mentioning they do not want to be involved.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/legal-action-not-ideal-kewells-manager-20100818-12f17.html

Intro / Is this man the answer to Liverpool's prayers?

Being a lover of all sports from football to table tennis I must say the next few months will offer up a feast to satisfy the biggest sporting appetite with Rugby League and AFL finals quickly approaching and all European football commencing.

My blog will explore the media's coverage and representation of numerous sports and sporting issues from across the globe, so follow me here over the next 10 weeks and feel free to share your comment.

                                             

                                              Photo Source: Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP
                                                http://www.guardian.co.uk/


I have a confession to make. I simply loath the reds, otherwise known as the Liverpool Football Club. However, the clubs recent financial problems and inability to challenge for titles over the last few years has made it harder for me to continue hating them and easier for me to pity them, which is kind of sad. Although news that a takeover bid is immenent may be the news you reds fans have been searching for.

The Guardian article, recently written by Tania Branighan introduces the world to Chinese national Kenneth Huang, a prospective buyer of English Premier League side Liverpool. The article is successful in achieving its primary objectives which are to familiarise the reader with who this man is, what his recent activities involve and revealing his possible ambitious intentions for English football. The simple structure employed by the author Branigan, chronologically tracks the main events in Mr Huang's life from education to his involvement with other sporting teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers. Branigan also adds to Mr Huang's identity by making contrasts between he and other foreign owners or bidders by expressing her opinion that he is not a tycoon but rather a "deal maker, backed by sovreign wealth".

Despite Branigan's good structure and use of contrast and descriptive language to portray identity and familiarise the reader with Mr Huang, there is a lack of supporting input from those who would know the man himself. Branigan uses quotes from sports bloggers and former colleagues however fails to provide insight from current colleagues or close acquaintance which would give the article more scope and credibility in depicting who this foreign character is to the reader. Branigan also fails to deliver certain key details such as why Mr Huang has demonstrated a disliking for media interviews as well as not being able to corroborate whether Mr Huang was a US citizen and his exact date of birth. Branigan cites that this information was unable to be attained as the British media company which Mr Huang hired was unable to confirm these details, perhaps contacting other sources in both China and the US may have provided greater insight into these queries.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/02/kenneth-huang-liverpool-buyout-profile