Sports PR & Marketing at Emerson College

The purpose of this Blog is to give students a place on the web to explore, experiment and post on all manner of Sports PR, Marketing and Communication.

[athleticspr]

Social Justice Differences between the NFL and NBA

By Matthew Enriquez

Credits Ted S. Warren/Associated Press; Rich Kane/Icon Sportswire, via Associated Press

The National Football League has garnered quite a bit of flack these last couple of years. Since Colin Kaepernick began his campaign of protesting the national anthem back in 2016, the league has made it harder and harder to contribute to the social justice movements. While banning viewable protest, forcing players to stay in the locker room as opposed to being seen taking visible actions in peaceful protest, it begs the question: why is it so much harder to represent social justice movements in the NFL than in other sports?

To compare one sport to the other, the NBA, though it has a significant difference in the number of players and revenue it takes in, one could argue the fan base and politics engage with the two sports very differently.

A New York Times article “Why the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. Are So Far Apart on Social Justice Stances” by John Branch provides clarity and arguments that because the two sports engage with their players differently, the partisanship of their fans, and how their organizations have dealt with political figures effects how they interact with social justice movements.

The article states some figures: there are about 450 players in the NBA and there are over 1600 players in the NFL (about four times as many). You can remember your starting five on your home team’s basketball team, while many cannot remember even their whole home football team’s defensive line. Because there are fewer players in the NBA and a lot of them are accessible via social media, it’s easier for them to communicate with their audiences. Lebron James engages much more to his audience on social media than, for example, Tom Brady does. It is also impossible to not mention a majority of the NBA’s are black while it differs in the NFL. This absolutely shows how they can interact with social justice movements.

According to the article. The NFL makes more revenue than the NBA and has higher ratings--although the NFL’s are steadily falling. And according to public opinion research, the NFL has the least partisan split in their fanbase; the NBA’s fanbase tends to veer toward the left. This allows for NFL owners to participate more in political matters and generally choose to side with Republicans and Trump whereas a majority of NBA owners donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 according to an Open Secrets article. These interactions affect how the fan sees both entities.

Lastly, we see more and more of President Trump in sports today. When you win a national championship in American sports, historically people have gone to see the president. In the Trump presidency, more frequently this has not been in the case. In last year’s NBA finals, both teams--The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors--both agreed prior to the finals even starting that neither of them would accept the traditional White House invitation. This issue becomes more complicated considering the president rescinded his invitation to the Philadelphia Eagles at the last minute to the Superbowl Champions.

While many variables play into how each player, organization, and sport participate in social justice actions, we as consumers respond to what is presented to us. Professional athletic organizations, whether they like it or not, are social influencers. Their emblematic power can sponsor positive change or hinder it.

[athleticspr]

Why Are Professional Athletes Subscribed to Flat Earth Theory?

By Matthew Enriquez

Courtesy of Business Insider

Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. It would’ve been harder to fake the moon land in 1969 than it would’ve been to actually just get up there. 

And yet, in today’s popular culture, many celebrities have beliefs that challenge scientific facts. Through their religion or society, many have drawn to disprove facts. Particular sports figures have expressed their concerns for events such as the moon landing, like Stephen Curry has recently, stating, according to Celtics Wire, “...[Stephen]  didn’t believe humanity had landed on the moon on the Winging It podcast. After backlash, he took a step back on his conspiracy theory, expressing it was a joke and also issued an apology.”

While he has since taken it back and apologized, there are other athletes who do proudly subscribe to society’s that go against reason and challenge centuries of scientific discovery. Those people being flat-earthers. Simply put, flat-earthers believe the earth to be on just one plane rather than a sphere. Theories about how the earth is a sphere date all the way back to the ancient Greeks in the sixth-century B.C.E by mathematician Pythagoras. Since then, we’ve also come to the conclusion that the earth revolves around the sun through the heliocentric model by Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century.

While some take those findings as common knowledge, others like Kyrie Irving and teammate Jaylen Brown do not. Vice Sports, back in 2017, reported, “...when he gets around to the part where he says, ‘as of what my eyes have told me, the world may appear to be flat’—and then hearing a reporter laugh, saying ‘he's already convinced you,’ and watching Brown nod—you get a deep "yuh-yoh" feeling in your stomach…” Three hours after that interview with Jaylen Brown back in Sept. 2017, Vice Sports also reported Sammy Watkins, Rams receiver also came out as a flat-earther three hours later.

What?

Courtesy of  AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, something so ridiculous and regressive is not something professional athletes should endorse. I say this unironically but think about the children. In a political climate where our president doesn’t believe in climate change, now we have to worry about our athletes saying something a 16th century Joe Schmoe would’ve believed.

[athleticspr]

UFC Fight Night on Fox 31

By Enzo di Bonaventura

On Saturday December 15th the UFC ended its seven-year deal with FOX with the UFC on FOX 31:”Lee vs. Laquinta 2” MMA event. This took place inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was the main event of the evening. “Al laquinta and Kevin Lee went at it for five rounds in a back-and-forth affair that saw “Ragin’ Al” get his second win over “The Motown Phenom.” During the co-main event of the evening, Edson Barboza utterly pummeled Dan Hooker with a vicious series of well-rounded attacks that ultimately took down Dan or as they call him “Hangman” in the third and final round.

Al laquinta definitely showed the most improvement, having grown and matured much more as a fighter, he was able to put up a much better fight against “Ragin” who he originally lost to four years ago. Battering his face with precise strikes, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, and taking it with devastating power. When it came down to a vote laquinta scored his second unanimous decision win over Lee, proving that he is a dangerous contended within the octagon. With this win, he has now won six of his last seven bouts. The only loss was to Khabib Nurmagomedov, whom he went five rounds with in a short-notice fight. Hopefully this will give him the chance he has been waiting for at a title fight. Edson Barboza also performed extremely well that night. He was able to take Dan Hooker down to the ground during the third round, submitting him with a technical knockout. Barboza has a beautiful style to watch as he mixes up a combination of strikes with lethal leg kicks. Barboza dug into Dan by laying kick-after-kick, blow-after-blow to his body, until he eventually crumbled in pain in the third round. After having three straight losses before the fight, this is Barboza’s chance to change his luck and continue his winning streak.

Kevin Lee was devastated after the turn of events. He put up a good fight against Laquinta, but it just wasn’t enough. This loss takes a serious toll on his career path seeing as he was aiming for a chance at a title fight or even a showdown against Conor McGregor. “While a win against Al wouldn’t have put him there straight away, the loss definitely takes him out of contention.” With the amount of raw talent and perfect fighters within the league nowadays, he will have to work hard to get the chance at that opportunity again. I wouldn’t count him out just yet though, he is still very young, and has a long journey/career ahead of him.

[athleticspr]

Al-Ain Tops River Plate and Heads to FIFA Club World Cup Final

By Brian Petterman

The home team of this FIFA Club World Cup tournament in Abu Dhabi, is played by the winners of each continents top international trophy. This year’s tournament included Al-Ain, River Plate, Real Madrid, etc. 

Al-Ain’s run in the tournament was very rough. They began the playoff to the tournament losing 3-0 to Team Wellington, winner of the Oceania Football Confederation Champions League (O-League for short), but then coming back to tie the game 3-3 in regular time, and then went on to beat the New Zealand team in penalties. 

Al-Ain then won 3-0 comfortably to African champions Esperance Sportive de Tunis in the quarter finals. But then the unexpected happened, Al-Ain was able to beat South American powerhouse, River Plate, in the semifinals in a penalty shootout earlier this afternoon. After their historic Copa Libertadores run and final against Boca Juniors, another Argentinean powerhouse, River was expected to win easily against the host team, and go on to face probable rival Real Madrid. However, despite being up 2-1 and botching a penalty kick in regular time, Al-Ain tied the game and won in penalties.

Real Madrid has yet to play the semifinal against the Asian Champions League winners, Kashima Antlers. They are set to kick off tomorrow afternoon in search of their ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup final, where they will face off against the host team, Al-Ain, who’s had a very impressive run thus far. 

Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League this year in a very memorable final against underdogs Liverpool FC from England. It is Real Madrid’s 4th crowing of the epic trophy in the past 5 editions (Barcelona is the only other team to have won in the past 5 editions).

[athleticspr]

Vitor Belfort Decides to Return to the UFC in 2019

By Enzo di Bonaventura

Just two days ago the MMA legend Vitor Belfort “The Phenom” announced his return to the UFC octagon. Following his fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 224 that ended in a loss via knockout, Belfort released his intent to retire. On December 17ththough, Belfort posted on social media stating, “I still for fight left in me. I am a free agent, and we are in contact with promotions to come back in 2019. ”

At the age of 41, Belfort have competed in professional mixed martial arts since the tender age of 19. After working exclusively with Endeavor promotion his following years, Belfort has decided that he wants to test the free agent market instead. Lastly Belfort says that he isn’t returning to the sport for pay, he feels that he still has plenty of fight left in him, and wants to show what he’s got to the world. After taking care of some health issues during his time off—specifically a huge bon spur in his shoulder that he fought with during his last five fights, “The Phenom” says he’s primed and ready for another go. As of right now there are still no announcements as to who he will be fighting, but he has chosen to return to the UFC, rather than going to a league like Bellator that pays higher wages for ex-UFC fighters.

[athleticspr]

Sports Betting: Now a Thing in D.C

Photo courtesy of D.C Eaters

By Matthew Enriquez

While fantasy leagues are the craze in most sports fanatics day to day conversation (assuming they’re legal in your state), full on sports betting has been a hotly contested debate for some time. Currently, according to ESPN eight states in the United States allow for full-scale legal sports betting: Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Recently though, Washington D.C has become one of the newest additions to regions in the U.S to legalize sports betting.

Ben Nuckols from the Associated Press reported to the Washington Post that on Dec. 18 the D.C Council voted 11-2 to authorize betting on professional sports at the city’s stadiums and arenas, private businesses like restaurants and liquor stores and within the city limits on a mobile app. D.C does not currently have casinos.

Since the precedent set by the New Jersey Supreme Court, any state or jurisdiction could democratically elect to legalize sports betting. Two states--New York and Arkansas--are a little different but could potentially move toward full legalization.

Courtesy of ESPN.com

New York started toward the path of legalization in 2013 with having short-term legalization at specific locations. There has been pushback by the legislation in the state from the legislature and judicial system. Arkansas began legalizing sports through a constitutional amendment voted on Nov. 6, 2018, as reported by special ESPN writer Ryan Rodenberg. They would be expanding to four counties in the state. He continues, “The Arkansas Racing Commission will oversee licensing at the four locations, a process that could take weeks or months.”

It will be interesting to see what decisions the states will make in the future.

[athleticspr]

Mourinho Leaves Manchester, Future Uncertain

By Brian Petterman

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Mourinho’s past two and half years with England’s historically most-winningest team, Manchester United.

Even though the Portuguese manager won a Europa League trophy and an FA Cup trophy, the Manchester side is in their worst start to the Premier League since the 1990-91 season, sitting in 6th place. Much of the speculation about Mourinho’s inconsistency with the club, comes from his relationships with the players. Most notably, captain of the World Cup-winning French national team, Paul Pogba, who Manchester United signed for a record fee of $113 million. 

Mourinho has been sitting Pogba out for much of the beginning of these season, as well as sat him out much of last season. Mourinho is known for being “tough” with his players, which is what many attribute to his successful coaching career in teams such as Porto, Internazionale, Chelsea, Real Madrid, etc. 

Mourinho is known for having coached some of the best players in the world, and has had criticism for arriving at teams and sitting out their best players. Could it be an attitude thing? Could it even be about ego? All people know is Mourinho’s tumultuous career spans very victorious eras to times where people have asked for his head. However, that’s how the job goes. Fans from all over, no matter what team or sport, can attest to that feeling of when their team isn’t doing well and our first instinct is to be quick to blame someone. Whether it be the player who missed the shot, the coach who put in the player who missed the shot, or the president who contracted that coach who put in the player who missed the shot.

That’s just how the world of sports works, and will continue to work, Mourinho is the best example of a coach who was and even still is loved by millions for what he’s done for hist teams, but also left fans with a very bitter taste in their mouths for the how the last months of his span with those teams went. The question now is, who will replace Mourinho? And the other question, where will Mourinho go now?

[athleticspr]

Messi Proves He’s Still The GOAT

By Brian Petterman

Barcelona paraded against Levante side 5-0 on Sunday, with a 17-minute hattrick by Lionel Messi, as well as two assists for the Argentinean forward.

Messi hit back at those who placed him 5th in the Ballon D’or ranking, where Modric won the trophy. Fans throughout the world have been heavily criticizing the trophy and it’s lack of consistency throughout its existence, even more recently. The trophy is given to the best player of the year in the world, however the definition of who that is has shifted to who had the biggest impact on their teams, meaning who won the most trophies. This started when Ronaldo won the trophy over Messi in 2014, after Messi had a better year however didn’t win the trophies Ronaldo had (UEFA Champions League).

When Modric won the award this year, everyone automatically called it a fluke because it was a way for the judges to not choose Messi or Ronaldo. However, Messi continues to prove his dominance over every single player in the world. On Sunday he scored a hattrick and handed two assists to help Barcelona win 5-0 against Levante. What’s incredible is how people seem to forget that without Messi, Barcelona is nothing (tiny exaggeration but for the sake of the argument it works). Messi was involved in every single goal this past weekend for Barca, and continues to demonstrate how vital he is to the Catalan side.

People will say they are biased because they are Barcelona fans, because they are Argentina fans, or because they are just Messi fans. However, those who just love the sport, and try to hold no bias, will tell you that Messi has made the sport what it has become. Messi has become the face and staple of the sport and continues to be the driving force that makes this sport the biggest and best in the world, the beautiful game.

[athleticspr]

Chargers Are The Best Team In LA

By Nick Heilman

This is the second straight year Los Angeles has been home to two NFL teams. Both the Chargers and Rams reside in Los Angeles, and in the near future will share the same stadium.  Come the beginning of the 2020 season, the Rams and Chargers will play at LA Stadium in Inglewood, California. As far as this season, both teams are experiencing a great amount of success, as they have a combined record of 22-6. It wouldn’t be a shocker if the Super Bowl 53 matchup was the Rams vs Chargers. Back in Week 3 when the Rams defeated the Chargers 35-23, many crowned them the kings of Los Angeles. Not to mention, the Rams were the last undefeated team this season, with a record of 8-0. But since then, it has been the Chargers who have been dominating.

After last nights loss to the Eagles, the Rams have lost two out of their last three games. Meanwhile, the Chargers have won 10 out of their last 11 games. Both teams have a record of 11-3, however, the Chargers are tied for the best record in the AFC with Kansas City. 

Something that cannot be debated is that the Chargers have more playoff experience than the Rams. Rivers has led Chargers teams in the past to the postseason, even as far as reaching the AFC Championship game. Also, the Chargers have Antonio Gates, who was on those teams with Rivers, who has made deep playoff runs. Last season when the Rams made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, they hosted the Falcons in the Wild Card round. The Rams lost at home to the Falcons in embarrassing fashion. Atlanta managed to come in on the road and hold the Rams’ explosive offense to only 13 points. The Chargers will make the deeper playoff run. Not only because of playoff experience, but because they are more talented than the Rams, and have proven they play their best in big moments.

[athleticspr]

Time To Get Rid Of Todd Bowles

By Nick Heilman 

Following a tough loss to the Houston Texans at home this past Saturday reports have come out that Todd Bowles is almost certainly not going to return as the Jets head coach next season.  The Jets are now 4-10 and are sitting at the bottom of the AFC East. Bowles started off his Jets head coaching career very strongly after going 10-6 in his first season. Since then he hasn’t been able to coach this Jets team to more than 5 wins and this year it looks like they will finish 4-12 as they will face Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady the last two weeks of the season. Bowles is a great man and could possibly have success as a defensive coordinator elsewhere but his head coaching days are most likely over. The Jets rank 30th in total offense and 22nd in total defense which is supposed to be Bowles specialty. 

The players love Bowles but that is only half the battle. Bowles has displayed poor time management on multiple occasions and his coaching staff may have the most boring playbook in today’s NFL that has offenses like the Rams and Bears being as creative as we have ever seen in this league. The Jets also don’t have the best roster in the league and have a first-year quarterback in Sam Darnold so the lack of success this season isn’t 100% on Bowles. New York isn’t the easiest place to fail as a head coach in sports and I'm sure the fans will be reacting very positively to his firing following the season. It will be interesting to see who they go after as a replacement. Many people around the league believe former Packers head coach Mike Mcarthy might be on the Jets radar. 

[athleticspr]

PLL Announces Head Coaches For Inaugural Season

By Austin Franklin

The Players Lacrosse League, founded by Johns Hopkins standout Paul Rabil has made waves this offseason by signing some of lacrosses top talent to play in their inaugural season. In their most recent announcement they have made it clear that they are all business. Signing 6 of lacrosses biggest names to be their inaugural head coaches is not small feat. The Coaches include: Nat St. Laurent, Dom Starsia, John Paul, Chris Bates, Jim Stagnitta and Andy Towers. Headlining this list is lacrosse hall-of-famer and 4 time division 1 NCAA champion Dom Starsia. Starsia spent his career coaching at Brown University and the University of Virginia where he was nominated for an ESPY for coach of the year in 2011 after winning his fourth national title.

This coaching collection is impressive on many levels, but is important for the PLL as it legitimizes the league. Towers, Stagnita and Starsia are comparable to Bellicheck, Parcells and Lombardi in football. Men whose names are synonymous with the sport. These coaches are not only linked to lacrosse, but also intertwined with success and winning, something that the PLL certainly wants to link itself to. Rabil has done everything right in announcing information about the PLL thus far, the only question remaining is whether the on field performance will match the overall success of this off the field PR campaign. 

[athleticspr]

Full Frontal with Adam Rippon

Jacob DiTore - December 18th, 2018

Adam Rippon, who many of you may know as one of the two openly gay United States Olympic Athletes to have competed in the 2018 games in PyeongChang. He, alongside Gus Kenworthy, were both very local regarding their disapproval of Vice President Pence during the games.

Adam has always been in the media advocating for what he believes is right since he received a platform to voice his truth through athletics.

Recently, Rippon appeared in Boston protesting alongside many others during the Kavanaugh Trial.

This holiday season, Adam will be guest appearing on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. For those who are unfamiliar with the show, essentially, Samantha Bee rants about the current political system and sheds light on social issues in a comedic way. Adam, who's political ideals align with Samantha’s, will have an opportunity to share his voice on television yet again.

[athleticspr]

the Raiders 2018 season

By Jackson Ellison

The 2018 season for the Oakland Raiders definitely wasn’t great. The team got rid of Khalil Mack, the best player on the team, right before the season started and it all went downhill from there. As the season comes to a close all the Raiders can hope for now is a high draft pick so they can start moving in the right direction.

How did this happen, only two years ago the Raiders were winning and looked to have a bright future, now it’s back to the stage raider nation is very familiar with, the rebuilding process. The only difference between this rebuilding project and the others is Jon Gruden. He came in with a lot of optimism and hope, and even though this has been a rough year his outlook hasn’t changed. That’s a positive sign, as that shows this was his plan all along to blow up the team and start fresh, now many Raiders fans probably hate that idea, there’s really nothing they can do besides just waiting and see what happens.

The Raiders have acquired a lot of first-round draft picks, which if taken advantage of should help the team bring in a lot of young talent. The Raiders also had a pretty successful draft last year by selecting some key defensive players that already have started to pay off.

One aspect that rebuilding teams always struggle with his finding the franchise quarterback, the Raiders already have one in Derek Carr. Although he had some problems last year and the beginning of this year, he has really started to return to his 2016 form by taking care of the ball and has made some big plays. While some fans may not want him as the franchise quarterback, he has a big contract, and Gruden seems to really like him so he probably isn’t going anywhere.

A problem the Raiders haven’t seemed to ever figure out is how to build a great defense. Even with Khalil Mack, the Raiders haven’t had a strong defense in years, and it’s going to take a little more than a few key players to fix the entire defense. If Gruden is able to fill the holes necessary through both the draft and signing the right free agents, then the defense will gradually start to improve.

Many Raiders fans at the start of the Gruden era perhaps weren’t expecting the season that has just unfolded, and are probably very upset at the current situation, however Raiders fans are very familiar with what they have to do: be patient.

[athleticspr]

The Raiders don’t have a place to play in 2019

By Jackson Ellison

The Oakland Raiders do not currently have a place to play next season. They are currently being sued by the city of Oakland and they have run out of their lease of the Oakland-Alameda stadium.

The team will not be moving to their new stadium in Las Vegas until 2020, meaning that the Raiders are essentially without a stadium for next year.

A deal still might be reached between the Raiders and the city of Oakland that would allow the team to stay for one more year, but considering that the two sides aren’t on the best terms right now that may be difficult to accomplish.

Oakland officials and citizens aren’t happy about the Raiders leaving town, as residents will still have to pay taxes to cover the stadium improvements that were brought when the team moved back to Oakland in 1995.

If the city of Oakland and the Raiders can’t work out a deal, then there are a number of venues that the team should explore for the 2019 season.

One location is Levi’s stadium in Santa Clara, the former home of the San Francisco 49er’. The appeal of this location is it is very close to Oakland, giving the team one more year in the bay area. However, the problem with Levi’s and other locations around the bay area is that the people in charge don’t seem to welcome the idea of hosting the Raiders for one season.

Another location thought of is to have the Raiders play in San Diego. There are a lot of Raiders fans in San Diego, as demonstrated when the team played the Chargers every year. Local fans might also support the Raiders, although just for one year, to spite the Chargers. A problem that arises from this location is the distance between San Diego and Oakland. Will the whole team move down to San Diego for one year, knowing they’ll have to do the same thing the next year when they go to Vegas? If the Raiders decide to only play their games in San Diego, and practice in Oakland then that is also a major inconvenience. The distance between Oakland and San Diego is about an hour and a half flight, so having to do that every home game while also traveling for away games would become very taxing for everyone in the organization.

These are just some ideas that have been rumored as locations, as the team and the NFL are struggling to work out where exactly the Raiders will be playing next year.

[athleticspr]

Sean Avery: The Ally

Jacob DiTore - December 17th, 2018

Sean Avery was known as one of the most colorful characters on and off the ice in the early 200s when he was competing in the National Hockey League. However, through all of his scandals and controversial comments, he still maintained the ability to be true to himself and what he thought was right.

Off the rink, Avery loved fashion. This led him to getting an internship at Vogue where he also modeled. Surrounded by the fashion industry in the heart of New York City allowed him to explore communities and cultures that he had not really experienced in his athletic career.

In 2011, Avery recorded a video for the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign, in support of same-sex marriage. He also traveled to Albany, the state’s capital, to lobby politicians prior to the 2011 vote to legalize same sex marriage.

In May 2012, Avery joined the board of directors of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization, similar to the You Can Play Project, which focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports by educating those in the athletic community and empowering them to take a stand against prejudice. 

He is quoted saying, “I certainly have been surrounded by the gay community. And living in New York and when you live in L.A., you certainly have a lot of gay friends.”

Although Sean faced crtiicem for backing the LGBTQ community due to heternormativley and toxic masculinity in sports, this did not stop the straight ally from supporting what he believed to be right.

[athleticspr]

Cain Velasquez returns to the UFC Octagon to fight Francis Ngannou on February 17th

By Enzo di Bonaventura

On Dec 13th it was announced that the former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is returning to the octagon after over two years of sitting on the sidelines. The match is set for February 17th in Phoenix, and his opponent is none other then Francis Ngannou “The Predator”. Francis stands with a 12 wins to 3 losses record. Cain Velasquez having 14 wins to 2 loses might be not that scared, but he’s been out of the game for a while, and because of that, it could go either way. It’s a good matchup. Francis is also officially ranked #3 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, for the former champ Chain to come back and defeat the #3 for his first fight, he would have a direct shot at a title fight giving him a chance to get back his belt.

Cain’s last fight was at UFC 200 in July of 2016, where he fought and defeated Travis Browne via first round knockout in Las Vegas. As for Ngannou, during his last fight, he won it in the first 45 seconds by knockout against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 141 in Beijing, China. His most recent win puts “The Predator” back into action, ready to beat the former champ so that he may have his own shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt. This matchup between Cain and Francis will be interesting to say the least. Cain is known for his outstanding wrestling skills but is not afraid to have a standup brawl, whereas Francis is known for his extreme standup fighting. Two giants in one octagon, winner takes all. For Cain Velasquez this is the perfect opportunity to return to the UFC and remind the world who the champ really is.

[athleticspr]

The LGBTQ+ Pathway in Sports

Jacob DiTore - December 13th, 2018

LGBTQ acceptance is stedily growing throughout the United States and in various different countries around the globe. With this advance in sexual tolerance, certain laws and amendments are being amended, creating a reformed societal norm. The sports industry, in particular, has been making more of an attempt to be gender and sexually inclusive. This shift in the sports community dynamic has been apparent over the last century. The sports industry is now faced with an opportunity to prosper of languish depending on how the different organizations in the sporting industry choose to accept the LGBTQ community.

In the 1920, Bill Tilden won his first Wimbledon title, making him the first American to ever receive this accolade. He followed up his first grand-slam victory with two more Wimbledon titles and various different US championship awards. In 1950, three years before Tilden’s death, he was named the greatest tennis player of the half century. His athleticism and talent woo’d the tennis world; viewers focused on his play rather than being captivated by personal qualities like his sexuality. Bill Tilden was one of the first openly gay, successful, professional athletes, and although sexual decisions that he made ruined his career, his sexual orientation was not the overall epitome of his demise. Tilden’s criminal record left the population with a undesireble view of LGBTQ community and their involvement in sports.

Although Bill Tilden, and many more professional athletes like Billie Jean King, had athletic careers far before Jason Collins, it is Collins who is often credited as the first openly gay person in a major professional sport. This is true, to a certain extent. Collins was the first male to come out in any of the North American professional sport leagues; Furthermore, Jason Collins came out publicly, and with today's advances in media related technology, everyone heard about it.

Jason Collins came out after the 2013 NBA season. He exclaimed how this had been something he had been hiding for a while, and then explained why he switched from 46 to 98, which he ended his career with. The response by his peers and the nation as a whole was truly stunning. Collins was respected and accepted by fellow NBA players like Kobe Bryant, addressed for his bravery by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and NBA fans around the US showed their support by purchasing his 98 jersey.

Jason Collins coming out was seen as a huge stepping stone for LGBTQ athletes. Tolerance and acceptance were portrayed by multiple parties involved, and this really allowed a connection to form between the LGBTQ community and the sports industry. Jason Collins, and the NBA, led the way for North American sports to begin making public efforts to be inclusive to the LGBTQ community.