Vikings Hold the Cards

The setting: New York City, the place: Radio City Music Hall, the occasion: the 2012 NFL Draft and what we know? Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III are off the board to the Colts and Redskins respectively. They’re all the hype right now, but it may be the team sitting in the third-spot who stands to gain the most from tonight.

The Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to select third in the NFL draft. This pick can have high-value. Alabama running back Trent Richardson, is looking to go off the board at No. 4 to the Cleveland Browns. If Tampa Bay wants him at No.5 they’ll have to trade up to Minnesota’s No.3 pick. If this trade happens, Minnesota can still get LSU (Louisiana State University) corner back Morris Claiborne or USC (University of Southern California) left tackle Matt Kalil. According to the NFL Network and Charley Casserly of CBS Sports, the Buffalo Bills want to trade up for Matt Kalil.

If these reports turn into reality, then the Vikings can start stockpiling draft picks and their needs can still be met at a later draft spot. If the Bills picks, the Vikings will now pick at No.10. At No.10, the Vikings may field more phone calls from teams around the league. According to “The Fifth Down” blog of the New York Times, South Carolina corner back Stephon Gilmore, is the No.11 ranked player in this draft. The Vikings at the tenth-spot can easily swipe him away, plus take away another pick from the Bills.

The Vikings may trade down either further. According to an ESPN article, the New York Jets have contacted Trent Richardson, and they’re willing to trade up to get him. The Vikings may get contacted only if the Browns and Buccaneers don’t want to trade their draft spots. The Vikings don’t need Richardson. Why? They’ll have Adrian Peterson back in the starting role, or they hope too. Last year, Peterson had an injury plagued season, which was cemented when he tore his ACL and MCL against the Redskins last Christmas Eve.

The Vikings needs are the secondary and the offensive. Any wheelin’ and dealin’ can allow them to position themselves to cover all needs. Or, if they stay at the No. 3 spot, they’ll still be able to cover these needs. Any move they make determines how the teams behind them draft.

This year will also be a telling year for quarterback Christian Ponder, but if he doesn’t have support on either side of the ball, then his time in Minnesota may be short. How will the Vikings do in the draft? We’ll find out beginning with the first round of the NFL draft. It’ll be the precursor to how the season will turn out.

Trending Worldwide: Athletes and Twitter

From Nascar to golf, football to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), Twitter has swept the world of sports. Every week, I watch WWE’s Monday Night Raw, and during the course of the program, they throw the Twitter hash tag up, and people begin to tweet about the show. As the show progresses, they will show what from the company is trending worldwide. This is just one example of how Twitter is making an impact on sports.

Fast Forward to April 1, 2011, WWE’s biggest event, WrestleMania, celebrated its 28th anniversary in Miami. The buzz was focused around the return of one Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. The build-up could not have been bigger. The WWE gave Twitter and social media a pat on the back for the event’s success. WWE held their first-ever, live WrestleMania press conference via YouTube (another social media outlet). They sent out Twitter hash tags for fans to tweet about their favorite superstars. Next, the WWE launched a social media campaign, the reason, globalization. An article I found talked about why they wanted to reach out and be even more interactive with the fans. Not only were the superstars given a platform, but the superstars have been given a platform as well.

Throughout the semester, we have been posting our trends to the digital culture Facebook page. For me, this was an opportunity to research, to dig deep and find how articles about how athletes use Twitter, good or bad. One of the first links I posted was about Nascar driver Brad Keselowski. Keselowski used the red-flag delay during the Daytona 500 to tweet pictures to his followers. During the broadcast, the announcers on FOX talked about him doing this, and by the end of night, Keselowski had gained 100,000 new followers. His actions led to a lot of speculation and questions. Should he have been tweeting during the delay? In the NFL, you cannot tweet during a game. Should Nascar have stepped in? My answer, NO! Brad brought eyes to the race. Some people who might have not watched Nascar before turned the channel to the race, or looked up who Brad was.

One of my favorite Twitter trends came just last week. New Masters champion, Bubba Watson, made a ruckus over the weekend. The reason, he tweeted a picture of the General Lee, which was the car used in the show Dukes Of Hazzard, and Watson bought the original General earlier this year for $110,00. The picture showed the General Lee jumping over the lawn, in front of the clubhouse at Augusta National Golf Club.

Significant? When you consider the rich history of Augusta National and The Masters golf tournament, some people may speculate a consequence for the picture. My opinion, I think the picture is just out of fun, and it shows who Bubba Watson is as a person.

Another aspect to the Bubba Watson Twitter phenomena, last year, Watson lost followers due to his profession of faith as a Christian. I found an article from the Billy Graham website, and in their it explains how Watson lost followers, and how he gained followers. Also, after winning this year’s Masters tournament, Watson tweeted everyone who tweeted them. He probably spent a long time tweeting back, but he did because it is his platform to the fans.

Overall, this semester has been a fun one. I found a lot of unique trends and videos to share with the class. The power of Twitter is changing the world around us. News, announcements, friends, etc. They are all instantly tweeting and connecting with the world around them. Bubba uses Twitter to show who he is off the golf course. WWE uses it to connect with the fans, and Brad Keselowski used it to show what the Daytona International Speedway looked like after the fiery crash, but little did he know his one tweet would gain him some so many followers. I use Twitter all the time. It is fun to interact with other fans and let your voice be heard. I am a part of the Twitter sub-culture. I will leave with this, athletes, no matter where they come from, no matter their back background, they come from all walks of life, have one thing in common now, it is Twitter, #Sports.

Citizens’ Taking Over

Citizen journalism, good thing or bad thing? Take your pick. The emergence of new technology and the internet has brought along aspiring journalists. Or is it people who want to give their opinion? The gray area is hard to determine. One thing I’ve learned, citizen journalism can be helpful, but it can be a detriment.

We saw how the kids in Brazil were able to start their own citizen journalism program. It helped inspired the future students to join in. They had a platform where they could aspire to be a journalist. In that sense, citizen journalism is a good thing. The program was pushing students in the right direction to become a journalist.

The picture above can illustrate what a problem with citizen journalism is. Their is no fear, which may not be a bad thing, but it can be. If a citizen journalist isn’t careful, they may run into the ethical issues. Matt Drudge, creator of the Drudge Report, broke the story of the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton scandal (or caught word that Bill Clinton was being questioned). If the story had been false, Drudge would have faced a potential lawsuit. He would have been in violation of the libel law. Both Clinton and Lewinsky, may have sued him. The story turned out to be true.

In December 2011, CNN, a world news organization, laid off at least 50 staff members (www.wired.com). According to the report, CNN was looking in the direction of the Ireport. The problem with the direction of Ireporting and citizen journalism, the professionals are being put out of a job. It is cheaper and easier for a news outlet to have people send in videos of an event. They do not have to pay one of their reporters to go out and cover the event. They can have contributors to a blog, and it’s voluntarily. Good thing? It’s smart, but now the people who want to be a professional are having to find a new avenue to become a major writer. In that respect, people have to think outside outside the box, whether it be starting a blog, contributing to a major blog outlet or they are working harder than everyone to get their chance at writing. In the end, I believe the major news outlets will allow the cream to rise to the top.

One place where citizen journalism has flourished, disasters. The book in class talked about the tsunami of 2004, which was the first event that truly brought citizen journalism to the forefront. The 9/11 terrorist attacks had raw footage from the citizens of New York City, but it took some time for the videos to be gathered. In 2004, technology had allowed for a video to be instantly uploaded and viewed. The tsunami disaster saw videos being posted instantly. The great thing about the raw videos, first hand accounts. We are able to see what happens before any news sites are able to get there. The videos are sad. When you see a person being killed, or you see destruction looming, it really can hit hard. Should it be shown? I don’t know. It’s not for me to answer. Ultimately, it’s up to those who make the video and post it.

Not only are disasters major in citizen journalism, but politics overseas are a major story. The Egyptian revolution was started by social media, then was played out in front of the world. Saddam Hussein’s execution was supposed to be private, but someone recorded the execution, then put it online. Former Libya leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed, and then his body was shown on video and in pictures. The visuals may be hard to look at, but I think the people wanted to show he was dead. Citizen journalism did its part. They ensured the rest of the world knew what was going on in their part of the world.

Overall, citizen journalism has changed the way news is reported. You have to be extra careful if you go the citizen journalism route. Know the ethical laws, and be a good reporter. One thing the book taught us, as long as a truthful account is being presented, no one cares if both sides are being reported. They may not be a good thing, but every story has some biased to it. You just have to find a niche that comes across as impartial. My opinion, citizen journalism is on the rise, and it will make it harder for myself and others to land a job in the writing field. With hard work and dedication, the work I produce will allow myself to land a job with someone. Starting a blog would not be a bad thing either. I can find my niche and get noticed.