Sports Communication Class Review

     With this Sports Communication class coming to an end, I have realized I have learned a large amount about the sports industry and communication that goes into that industry. I used to think sports communication was just being a sports journalist, but I have learned that it encompasses much more. Sports communication has several different branches that spread from mass communication to print media, etc.
     After taking this class and doing this blog I have learned that writing about sports is something I have a passion about and would consider doing this for a future job, whether its working for a newspaper, website, or magazine. I have always been pretty good at writing and I have a strong passion for sports so this combination works well together. Whether or not I will pursue a job as a sports journalist or something of the matter I do not know, but I would like to thank Dr. Lee, my Sports Communication professor. Dr. Lee opened my eyes to the communications side of the sports industry and has taught me more about sports than any other professor has. With his engaging teaching style and his comical tangents this semester went by with a breeze and it was easily my favorite Sports Management course I have taken so far.

Kobe Bryant Retirement

     Arguably one of the best NBA players in the history of the game is retiring after this season. That player is Kobe Bryant, for the Los Angeles Lakers. After 20 seasons, Kobe has gathered several NBA Championships, MVP's, and many more accolades over his years in the league. Kobe Bryant is the only player to have played with the same team for 20 years for his whole career. Kobe is a legend and a role model to so many younger players in the NBA. Since he has announced his retirement players have sent out letters of congratulations, thank you's and much more. Players like Kevin Durant have have publicly spoken about how the media has thrown Kobe under the bus by saying he's had a terrible last few seasons and that he should retire.
     With this in mind, Kobe will be retiring as one of the greatest to have ever played the game with the most respect from almost every single who has player or is playing the game. We may never see someone play with the same style and swagger as Kobe Bryant so his retirement is comparable to Michael Jordan retiring. After 20 seasons Kobe Bryant will most likely end up staying at 3rd on the all time scoring list of NBA player. He amassed 5 NBA Championships, 2 Finals MVPs, a league MVP, and 17 All-Star selections, with many more accolades piled up in his trophy room. The "Mamba" is finally retiring and the NBA may never see another player like him.

Australian Rules Football

          Considering I will be studying abroad in Australia next semester I decided to take time and learn the rules of some of the popular sports over there. the most popular sport is Australian Rules Football and I will explain a few "laws" of the game and how it is played.     

            Australian Rules Football originated in Australian as far back as 1841, where there is evidence of the first few matches ever being played, although the laws (rules) of the game were unknown. The laws have evolved over time to where they stand now. Australian Rules Football is played on an oval shaped field with an oval shaped ball. The playing field has a center square that is 50m x 50m, which dictates how many midfielders can be in that area, it surrounds two-center circles, one that is three meters in diameter and the other 10 meters in diameter; the center circles dictate where the two opposing ruckmen stand during a center bounce. There are two 50m lines that are arced around the goal lines. The 50m lines are strictly used for knowing where players are at on the field. The goal lines that are on either end of the field are straight lines and 19.2m long, which house the goal posts. Outside of the goal lines there are goal squares that are 6.4m x 9m in front of each goal. The goal squares come into play because there are 2 sets of goal posts on either end of the field, the regular goal posts are 6.4m apart and usually painted white, and the behind posts are shorter than the regular posts and are on either side of the regular goal posts but they are 6.4 m away as well, but they are painted red.

          The two teams playing are allowed to have 18 players on the field at a time with 3 bench players waiting to be substituted in.  The structure of the players on the field is similar to the structure of players on a soccer field; there are six forwards, six defenders, and six midfielders that consist of two wingmen, one center, and three followers. 

          The games last four quarters that are 20 minutes each; the clock only stops on scores, the ball going out of play and whenever the umpire needs the clock to stop. Similar to rules of soccer there is usually stoppage time at the end of quarters to replace the time that was missed during injuries, or stagnant time during a game. The game as officials called umpires; there are four different types of umpires: field umpire, goal umpire, boundary umpire, and an emergency umpire. In the professional AFL games there are three field umpires, two goal umpires, four boundary umpires, and usually one or two emergency umpires to replace injured umpires.

          Australian Rules Football starts when the umpire bounces the ball while two opposing players, ruckmen, try to get the ball similar to a tip-off in basketball, but its called a center bounce. Another rule is that when moving the ball down field the players can kick the ball, punch the ball or tap the ball with an open-hand, but cannot be thrown at all. When running the ball down the field, the player with the ball must make the ball touch the ground once every 15 meters. Another form of moving the ball downfield is by kicking it to teammates. Professional AFL players can kick the oval-shaped ball as accurate as an NFL quarterback can throw it. The interesting thing when it comes to kicking is that when the kickers teammate is trying to catch it he can use the opposing players as leverage, by jumping off their back, etc. When it comes to stopping the opposing team advancing the ball downfield towards your goal you can tackle them, but it cannot be too high or too low, the hit must be between the knees and shoulders. When tackled the player must dispose of the ball cleanly to the other team.

            When it comes to scoring there are only two ways to score points and they are by kicking the ball through the four goal posts that I stated earlier. The team receives six points for kicking the ball through the two main goal posts and only one point when the ball is kicked through the main goal post and the behind post. When the ball is kicked it can touch the ground or fly through the air as it passes through the goal posts but it cannot be touched by anyone on the field before it goes into the goal and after the attacking team has kicked it.

          I think it will be useful to know some of the rules of Australian Football prior to going over there so I can catch up quicker and potentially spend time learning the rules to other games like cricket, rugby, etc.

To Play Collegiate Baseball or Not

     When it came down to deciding if I wanted to play college baseball or not I had to make some tough decisions. The decisions I had to make were whether or not I could get back to the skill I was playing at prior to my elbow surgery, and whether or not playing baseball at the collegiate level would be worth it. I loved the game of baseball and loved the idea of being a college athlete, but would it be worth busting my ass to get back to the skill level I was at prior to my elbow surgery and whether or not my grades suffer if I became a college athlete.
     Those questions played a big role in my decision to not play college baseball. I felt as if I was good enough to play Division II baseball, and had several smaller colleges that were interested, with the exception of the University of Ohio, showing an interest in me with letters asking me to come to camps and coaches emailing me and coming to school. The interest soon washed up after I told them I was going to have elbow surgery after my senior season.
     I still had some options left when it came to playing collegiate baseball, but I decided against it so I would have time to focus on my school work, social life, and a part time job. After befriending some of the athletes here at UCM I have determined I made the right decision to not play due to the simple fact of the horror stories they have told, but a part of me will always be disappointed in myself for not attempting to play collegiate baseball.

New York Attorney General Deems Daily Fantasy Sports Illegal

     The New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has now made it illegal for the daily fantasy sports companies Draftkings and FanDuel to take bets in the state of New York. Schneirderman has said that the two daily fantasy sports websites are vehicles for illegal sports betting, "Our investigation has found that, unlike traditional fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports companies are engaged in illegal gambling under New York law, causing the same kinds of social and economic harms as other forms of illegal gambling, and misleading New York consumers". FanDuel quickly replied by saying that there business is completely legal and the Attorney General was just looking for press attention.
     The reason the Attorney General deemed that the websites were illegal is because he claimed that they do not require skill to win and that makes these daily fantasy sports a form of gambling. FanDuel's response that I stated earlier says that their site required skill to pay and win in their games. 
     This is big news because daily fantasy sports has seen an increase in the number of users and a growing popularity which has increased these companies sales and made them very popular. If other states follow along with the New York Attorney General this good be very bad and could potentially end these companies.

Athletes Worth the Money?

      Have you ever stopped and thought why do athletes get paid hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game that seems of little importance to the economy and well-being of the country as a whole? How could someone make hundreds of millions of dollars without contributing much to society or the country in general, like a doctor, or an inventor, etc.
     The reason professional athletes get paid so much is because they do in fact make a difference in the economy and society. Athletes are paid an extreme amount of money because they make millions of dollars for their owners and their organizations. The sports industry in North America is worth $500 billion dollars, which puts it in the top five industries in North America. The sports industry worldwide is worth roughly $1.5 trillion dollars. This means that the sports industry accounts for millions of jobs in North America and globally, so these athletes do contribute to society but are they worth the hundreds of millions of dollars they get paid? That is a personal opinion that I will let you decide on, but just keep in mind that there are athletes out there that are making hundreds of millions of dollars while there are people savings lives and defending our country for less than $40,000 a year.

Korean Baseball

     After viewing and listening to a lecture about baseball in Korea in my Intro to Sport Management course, I have decided to look into it a little bit more. Korean Baseball is identical to Western baseball or the Major League Baseball when it comes to rules and regulations, but when it comes to fan interaction and events during the game it is completely different.
     Korean Baseball is centered around fan interaction and for people to have fun at the game. They do this by having cheerleaders, contests, and different sections for fan interactions. In the film that Dr. Lim showed in our class it was clear to see that fans were enjoying the game a lot more than it seems like fans do here in the United States. The video was centered around fan interaction and showed the cheerleaders, who were usually female with one main cheerleader being male, a beer-chugging contest, chants and songs for players, and the wide variety of concessions. One of the main differences between the Korean Baseball Organization and the MLB is the fan interaction, but another interesting difference is the allowance of fans to bring food into the stadium, as well as ordering food from restaurants to have it delivered.
     After viewing the lecture and the video I think it would be cool to experience the different type of baseball in first hand and view a Korean baseball game and interact with all of the fans.

2016 MLB Free Agency

     With the 2015 MLB season ending last weekend, with the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series, we will be seeing a lot of big name free agency signings. After every year there are many players who become free agents meaning that any team in the MLB can come in contact with that player and discuss contract terms and potentially sign them. The Kansas City Royals will be seeing some of their best players leave their team to due to free agency and the lack of willingness to spend money to keep them Royals.
     The Royals have quite a few free agents with several of them being big name players. The Free agents for the 2016 from the Royals roster will be: Alex Gordon, Alex Rios, Ben Zobrist, Jeremy Guthrie, Johnny Cueto, Franklin Morales, Ryan Madson, Chris Young, and Jonny Gomes. The big names that the Royals have already lost are right fielder-Alex Rios, left fielder-Jonny Gomes, and starting pitcher-Jeremy Guthrie. The Royals would like to resign Ben Zobrist, Alex Gordon, and Chris Young, with little interest in signing the others, but due to the lack of money, or willingness to spend it, the Royals may be only getting Chris Young back. Zobrist and Gordon will most likely fetch $100+ million dollar, multi-year contracts which will put those players on other teams in the league.

World Series Parade

     The Kansas City Royals have won the 2015 MLB World Series, and with this comes a parade through downtown Kansas City where players are able to celebrate with fas and vise versa. The parade is scheduled for Tuesday at 12:00 PM which conflicts with several of my classes at the University of Central Missouri, including the class that this blog is required for. With that in mind, I will be attending the parade and will have to miss out on some participation points in lectures to witness history in Kansas City, which sounds like a fair trade.
     I have never been able to witness anything like this especially with the Royals because the last parade they had was in 1985 after they win the World Series. This championship is huge for Kansas City and the history of the city, so that is why I will be attending the parade with friends rather than being stuck in a lecture hall, unable to even watch the parade. I have been a Royals fan all of my life, going to games when I was younger where they practically paid you to watch with cheap tickets during the seasons where the Royals had 100 losses, which happened frequently in the 2000s. I am not being selfish when I say "Kansas City needed this Championship" because Royals fans everywhere who stuck with the team in the 2000s deserve this and being able to celebrate with thousands of fans and the Royals organization during this parade will be well worth skipping a few lectures, sorry Dr. Lee, and Dr. Lim.

2015 World Series Champions

     The 2015 Major League Baseball season is over and for the first time in 30 years the Kansas City Royals are the ones hoisting the Commissioners Trophy. The Royals were seen as an underdog for almost every single game in their post season run against the Astros, Blue Jays, and Mets, but they managed to prove everyone wrong on their way to becoming World Champions.
     The series between the Mets was supposed to be a disaster for the Royals, as they were expected by many top baseball analysts to lose the series in as little as five games. This was not the case considering the Royals won the series in five games winning the series 4-1 against a very good New York Mets team. When looking at the numbers,  the Royals should've lost the series, but late-inning rallies, a few extra-inning wins, and a dominant Royals bullpen, proved to be New York's kryptonite.
     The Royals have continued to prove everyone wrong throughout the 2015 season considering many of ESPN's best analysts projected them to finish fourth in the American League Central Division. Newsflash; they won the American League Central Division, they beat the Houston Astros in the American League Divisional Series, beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series, finally beating the New York Mets in the World Series. Kansas City has risen from the dark years of losing 100 games to prove that they can compete and be World Champions.

Caleb Humphreys

     Caleb Humphreys is the fan who caught the ball on Mike Moustaks' controversial home run. The reason the home run was controversial was because it appeared that Humphreys reached over the railing and put his glove in between the ball and the wall. The hit was ruled a home run on the field and was later challenged by the Toronto Blue Jays manager, John Gibbons. The television program, Fox Sports One, that was airing the national coverage of the game, quickly cut to replay and showed several angles of the fan catching the ball that didn't look good for the Royals. Eventually the crew chief had heard from the replay official in New York and the hit was ruled a homer despite all of the camera angles that looked like Caleb Humphreys interfered with the ball.
     If the call would have been overturned, Mike Moustakas would have likely been put on second base because Jose Bautista, who was playing right field, had no play on the ball so Moustakas would not have been out. Despite the fact that Moustakas would have gotten second base, the game could've changed entirely in a bad way and even worse for Caleb Humphreys. If that were the case Humprheys would've most likely been escorted out of the stadium for interference and would've been the next Steve Bartman, had the Royals lose the game and the American League Championship Series. Bartman, a huge Chicago Cubs fan was in the first row on the 3rd base foul line for game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. The Cubs were leading the series 3-2 and had a 3-0 commanding lead in the 8th inning when a foul ball was flying close to the stands near him, Bartman reached over interfering with the ball and preventing Moisés Alou, the Cubs left fielder, from catching the ball. The Cubs went onto allow 8 runs that inning and lose 8-3, and eventually lose the NLCS the following game to the Florida Marlins. This was the worst natural instinct any sports fan has ever made and it cost Steve Bartman everything, Bartman was escorted out of the game as beer cans, food, etc. were being thrown at him. He was facing death threats, so Bartman went into hiding and has yet to come out ever since. I would hate to think Royals fans would treat someone that way, but its a possibility if Humphreys interference was actually called.

Caleb Humphreys Catches Mike Moustakas' Homerun

Steve Bartman Interferes with Foul Ball

Back to Back ALCS Championships

     Well, the Kansas City Royals have done it again and despite my prediction, they were able to beat the Toronto Blue Jays with their slightly above average pitching performances. The Royals were able to do what they do best and string hits together forcing in runs to push the Blue Jays pitching to the edge. On top of the Royals rally hitting, they also looked for their strong, talented, defense and their shutdown bullpen despite the loss of Greg Holland. Jumping off with two home wins and heading into Toronto with a commanding lead was very crucial. The Blue Jays were an incredible 53-28 at home this year, due to the simple fact that the Rogers Center is a home run hitting park and the Blue Jays are a homer hitting team. The Jays combined for a total of 123 home runs in the Rogers Center during the regular season and 109 home runs in away ball fields. This shows that if the Royals wanted to beat the Jays in Toronto, they would have to rely on their bats more than their pitching.
     The Royals did what they needed to do and outscored the Blue Jays, 38 to 26 and out hit them as well with 59 hits versus the Blue Jays 46 hits. The Royals eventually won the ALCS in six games, clinching their World Series berth at home on Friday night after a very close 4-3 win with a controversial home run by Mike Moustakas, where a fan appeared to have leaned over the railing and caught the ball. Despite the Blue Jays challenging the call on the field, it was still ruled a home run. The game wasn't over there because Jose Bautista tied the game at 3-3 with his second homer of the game. The Royals scored in the bottom of the 8th as Lorenzo Cain scored from first on a double by Eric Hosmer to make it a 4-3 game. After an hour long rain delay Wade Davis came onto the mound gave up a lead-off hit and then a walk. With runners on second and third Davis struck out two and then finished the Blue Jays off after Josh Donaldson rolled a ground ball to Mike Moustakas to end the game, clinching their back to back ALCS Championships and going to the World Series once again.

The Tides Have Turned Worse for Kansas City Chiefs

     The 2015 season started off looking bright for the Kansas City Chiefs, winning all four pre-season games and week one matchup versus the Houston Texans. The light soon faded in week two with a heartbreaking last minute fumble recovery for a touchdown to give the Denver Broncos the win. In week three we saw Aaron Rodgers do what he does best and breeze past the Chiefs for an easy win. Week four resulted in a loss to a good Cincinnati Bengals team, that is currently undefeated. Week five is where it gets embarrassing, the Chiefs lost to a 1-3 Chicago Bears team in another last-minute loss. This Sunday, week six, we saw the Chiefs lose, yet again, to the Minnesota Vikings who are now 3-2.
     The 2015 season is heading for the drain and looking more and more like the 2012 season where the Chiefs ended 2-14. I sure hope the Chiefs win some more games this season so they do not become the laughing stock of the league, like they were in 2012. It was a rough year for the Chiefs organization in 2012, they were shocked by the murder-suicide of Jovan Belcher, irritated with fans cheering the injury of Matt Cassel, and pissed at fans once again for forming a "Save Our Chiefs" organization. The fans wore black to games to protest, and even hired a plane to do flyovers above the stadium towing a banner that read "Restore Hope: Fire Pioli".
     It is clear to see that things could get nasty for the organization when the fans become irritated with a losing team, so I hope that the Chiefs can turn it around and possibly finish with a .500 season.

Johnny Cueto

     The acquisition of Johnny Cueto for the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline earlier this season had Royals fans smiling all around the metro. Cueto's Kauffman Stadium debut gave all those fans hope that he would fit right in, and be the true ace that the Royals needed all season. This changed very quickly after a handful of rough starts it almost seemed like we gave away several good minor leaguers for a guaranteed loss overtime Cueto came around in the starting rotation. This came as a surprise to many fans, players, and analysts around the league because Cueto has always been known as an ace from his 7.5 year stint with the Cincinnati Reds.

     Going into the Post Season Johnny Cueto went 4-7 with the Royals and had an ERA of 4.76 which his second highest ERA of any season since his rookie season. His rocky start with the Royals brought up the question as to whether we would end up signing him for the 2016 season. After we clinched a Post Season berth it gave Johnny Cueto some extra time to prove if he is worthy or not. With these extra games after the regular season Cueto has time to prove himself and he did just that in Game 5 of the ALDS where he threw 8 innings and gave up only 2 hits and 2 runs. He now has possibly 2 more games of the ALCS to showcase he is worthy.

Ethics Behind Charging the Mound

     With the start of the 2015 Royals regular season, we saw an unrealistic amount of hit-by-pitch's against the Royals, which led to several team brawls, none of the Royals actually charged the mound, but they sure came close to it. With this in mind I want to talk about the ethics of charging the mound.
     Charging the mound is an assault by the batter against a pitcher which is usually the result of getting hit by an intentional pitch or nearly getting hit by an intentional pitch. This assault is usually brought upon after a few other players have been hit in a game as a form of retaliation. It sounds odd, but many teams use hitting opposing team's batters as a form of protection. It's obviously not protection in the sense that they will most likely get hit later on in the game, but it sends a message that we protect each other as teammates and we aren't afraid of getting ejected for having our teammates back. This idea often extends to the point where batters charge the mound out of retaliation and frustration.
     When a batter chargers the mound he is immediately ejected due to the fact that his sole reasoning of heading to the pitchers mound is with intent to injure the pitcher that just hit him intentionally. This brings up the case of ethics when it comes to charging the mound. Batters often throw their bat or helmet in disgust before charging the mound because charging the mound with your bat would be unethical considering it is used as a weapon in many parts of the world. Although this seems like a reasonable act of ethical thinking, a few players have thrown the whole ethical thinking out the window and actually charged the pitcher with the bat still in hand, which doesn't end well. Usually, the best player on the team or the designated hitter on an American League team gets hit considering pitchers do not hit in the AL, but in the NL pitchers do hit, so they often get retaliated against in the form of a 95+ mph fastball in the middle of the back.
     The ethics of charging the mind are all dependent upon the situation of the game. For instance, the batter needs to take the situational factors into consideration before he starts assaulting the pitcher. These factors can be if he is the best player on the team, if he's pitching, whether or not the game is close, how many players have been hit, etc. It's always fun to see someone charge the mound but sometimes the ethics are thrown out the window in the heat of the moment.

Rio 2016 Olympics right around the corner, already?

     It's hard to believe that the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro are right around the corner already, it seems like the 2012 Summer Olympics in London just finished. I, personally, like the format of having the summer olympics every four years as well as having the winter olympics every four years. This allows for us to not stray too far away from showing our patriotism, but enough of a gap between olympics to where we don't become bored with seeing them on the television every year.
     One of the biggest differences for the the 2016 Rio olympics versus the 2012 London olympics is the addition of two returning sports, golf and sevens rugby as well as a sport making its olympic debut, kitesurfing. I am honestly surprised that the two returning sports were not in the 2012 games due to the fact that these sports have such a global impact. Golf is played by millions of people all over the world, this is shown by having tournaments and competitors from all over the world competing in PGA events. As for rugby, it has a global presence aw well, it even has a growing participation rate and popularity in America. Another reason this is surprising is the fact that the IOC voted rugby into the games with an 81-8 vote, as to why it wasn't in the 2012 games is beyond me. Kitesurfing, making its olympic debut has replaced windsurfing in the summer olympics, but it has seen its fair share of controversy. Many IOC members were not in favor considering the vote only nearly passed with a 19-17 vote in favor of the sport.
     With the 2016 Summer Olympics around the corner, it will be interesting to see how these returning sports impact the 2016 games as well as how many people will enjoy/view the event. As for kitesurfing, I will definitely be tuning in to see what exactly that will look like.

James Harden Mega-Deal with Adidas

     Adidas will pay James Harden $15.38 million dollars a year for the next 13 years for a total of $200 million dollars to endorse Adidas shoes by wearing them on and off the court, he will also help develop new on-court and off-court signature shoes and apparel, as well as partake in promotional tours in Europe and Asia (Long). Harden had a previous shoe endorsement deal with Nike that ended this past summer so Adidas took a shot at landing Harden by offering the $200 Million dollar endorsement deal. Harden was hesitant to sign the deal before giving Nike at least the option to match the deal, and Nike declined so he finalized the deal with Adidas.

     James Harden brings a lot to the table for Adidas. Harden is one of the most recognizable and well-known players in the NBA with his flare on and off the court. With Hardens talent in the game and style in the streets Adidas will see shoe and apparel sales increase with the amount of people wanting to buy James Harden signature shoes and clothing. Adidas has not had a very good history with basketball sales do to the fact Nike is such a powerhouse for shoes and apparel, as well as their biggest endorser to date, Derrick Rose, has struggled with injury and has missed several seasons which hurt sales substantially; so bringing on James Harden will help out Adidas drastically.

The Growing Popularity of Fantasy Football

     Fantasy football has seen a popularity burst unlike any other fantasy sports option out there. Almost every football fan out there has been sucked into the growing popularity of fantasy football and the benefits and bragging rights that come with it. Fantasy football has grown so much that many companies and workplaces around the country will have fantasy leagues for their employees, and this isn't just a male-only activity. The growing number of women entering fantasy football in the recent years is something to marvel at as well. For instance, there is a girl in my fantasy league and when I was in high school the female teachers had 3 different all-women fantasy football leagues. The growth of fantasy football is insane.

      There are a few companies that almost have the sole responsibility for the growth of fantasy football and those companies are DraftKings and FanDuel. These companies are daily fantasy sports companies that offer fantasy games for NFL, MLB, PGA, NBA, NHL, etc., but they see the most profit from NFL fantasy players. FanDuel and DraftKings bring a different format to fantasy sports, unlike Yahoo or ESPN fantasy football, they offer a week-by-week format where you get a certain amount of money to spend on players. The players prices will be varied based on their skill-level as well as their previous weeks performance, after they pick their roster they have the opportunity to play head-to-head or against more opponents. These games appeal to more people because they particularly don't have to worry about injuries or suspensions like us season-long fantasy players do. It's also appealing because there is a lot more money to win with DraftKings and FanDuel. Rather than pooling up money from everyone in your league and potentially winning $150 if everyone pitches in $20 or so for the entry fee, these companies allow for you to win up to thousands of dollars in just one week of the NFL season.

     I think fantasy football is a fun way to bring a competitive rivalry to friends and family as well as the opportunities to bring together their employees for a fun season that potentially net them a few hundred dollars. Whether it's a league full of die-hard fantasy players who eat, sleep, and breath fantasy football or its a group of co-workers starting their first league together, everyone can benefit from fantasy football. With all of this mind, it will be interesting to see what the next adaptation or innovation to fantasy sports will be and how it will effect the popularity and user rate of fantasy football.

2014 American League Wild Card Game

I was lucky enough to experience one of the best games the Kansas City Royals have every played being the 2014 American League Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics. This game was the first playoff game that the Royals played since 1985 when they went on to beat the Cardinals in the World Series. 

After the Royals clinched their Wild Card playoff berth several days before, I knew that I had to go to that game. I grew up watching unskilled Royals teams that would lose nearly 100 games a year, so I was unsure when or if I would see the Royals play in the Post Season again.

Needless to say, the $140 dollars I spent on a nosebleed ticket and $30 I spent on parking was well worth it. As we pulled into the packed parking lot at 3:30 we were overwhelmed with the feeling of Post Season madness at “The K”. When we finally entered the stadium we managed to climb up to our seats for the National Anthem, and Air Force flyover, that gave me chills.

With 40,000 fans in the stadium on their feet holding their hands over their hearts and saluting the American flag, the feeling was overwhelming. The Royals had made it to the Post Season and I was there to experience all 12 innings of the Royals 9-8 win over the Athletics that started the amazing underdog run to the World Series.