Sports

At $51 billion the 2014 winter olympics held in Sochi, Russia clock in as the most expensive winter olympics in history.

Putin’s obsession of building an impressive olympics in Russia goes back to his political platform of building a strong Russia in 1999. This could be seen in his bid olympic bid of 12 billion–which surpassed those of South Korea and Austria, winning him the olympics.

Compared to the most recent winter olympics in Vancouver in 2010, Vancouver spent 8.7 billion total for it’s games. When you compare it to Beijing 2008, China hosted 204 more events for 11 billion dollars less.

Russia is spending around 520 million per event compared to China’s 132 billion. The high price tag is due to corruption and environmental factors that made the Sochi region hard to build on.

The site for the olympic park is not only on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also prone to flooding and has underground streams that make for a bad building ground.

In December 2009 a storm surged and hit Sochi’s new cargo port and had to be rebuilt, just like many of the projects all over the city further bringing up the total.

Corruption also plays a major factor in Sochi’s price tag. Allegations of many of the contracts going to Putin’s personal colleagues are widespread and construction firms have been caught inflating the prices of projects and pocketing whatever they don’t spend.

This lack oversight and strong governmental pressure to make this olympics a memorable one created a culture of wasteful spending that has Russia winning a shameful 50 billion dollar gold medal for most spent in the history of the games.

Yaffa, Joshua. “The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin’s 2014 Winter Olympics.” Bloomberg Businessweek, 2 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.

A-Roid: The Fall of a Legend- Sports Talk with the Straight Shuter

by Jesse Shuter

Staff Writer

 

Photo courtesy of http://www.silive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/02/more_details_of_alex_rodriguez.html

 

 

The Controversy surrounding ex-star baseball player Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez of the New York Yankees has been one of the most talked about issues in all of sports.

 

The controversy began a while ago when Alex Rodriguez was first rumored to be using steroids along with other form of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Last time Rodriguez was caught, he admitted to it and many people forgave him for it. This past summer, of 2013, Rodriguez was yet again discovered taking many kinds of PEDs, when an alleged nutrition clinic in Coral Gables, Florida called Biogenesis of America came out with a list of professional baseball players using their PEDs.

 

Every other player thus far has taken their suspension without much issue. At least not much issue compared to Rodriguez. Rodriguez is now planning to challenge the suspension for the second time to try and get it taken away.

 

Rodriguez first tried to appeal the suspension by taking it to arbitration. His suspension was shorted from the original 211 games to 162 games and the postseason if the Yankees go to the playoffs. While Rodriguez technically “won” by getting the suspension shortened, it was clearly a win for the MLB since the suspension was not overturned, and it was only shorted by 50 games.

 

Now Rodriguez is still unhappy with the unpaid suspension and is looking to get it completely taken away. He is taking his case to federal court.

 

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Anthony Bosch founder and head of Biogenesis of America not only admitted to having given drugs to Rodriguez himself, but admitted to getting a bribe from Rodriguez to not tell anyone about the PEDs. When Bosch turned it down, he claimed that he received death threats from a man who was revealed to be a known accomplice of Rodriguez.

 

When asking the question “Is Rodriguez using illegal substances?”, all signs point to yes. However I would like to raise a point that no one seems believe to be true, is Alex Rodriguez telling the truth?

The 1% Chance

 

At this point there is probably a 99% chance that Alex Rodriguez is lying and that his career should be over and his name ripped from the record books.

 

That being said, there is always a chance that Rodriguez is the one telling the truth and the MLB is working with Bosch to make an example of someone expendable so as to scare other baseball players away from using drugs.

 

The most important key to this story is that Alex Rodriguez never tested positive for PEDs. This entire suspension is based solely on a testimony by Anthony Bosch. That is why Rodriguez is so adamant that he is innocent. This is the first time that the MLB is punishing a player only based on what someone says that they are doing, not because of them taking a drug test and failing.

 

Let’s take a look at what Rodriguez must be feeling in a scenario where he is telling the truth.

 

Before the Scandal:

-He was on pace to be a hall of fame baseball player.

-He was one of the most beloved and respected players in the game

-He was making approximately a whopping 30,000,000 per year.

-He was the owner of two records, he was the youngest player to hit both 500 and 600 home runs.

 

After the Scandal:

-He will most likely not go to the hall of fame.

-He has lost all respect and love from fans and peers.

-He lost his contract for as long as the suspension continue, and his career is most likely over after his current contract.

-He will still own the records officially but people will no longer unofficially think of him as a record setter.

 

If this were a man that were telling the truth, would that be fair? And consider this, now that the MLB is punishing player without a drug test, are any star players safe from accusations and by extensions suspensions?

 

 

 

Inside the NFL Draft:

With the football season over we are going to take a look into the NFL Draft. You’ve heard of Mel Kiper and Todd McShay but here is Jesse Shuter’s Mock Draft 1.0. This week is pick 1-5.

 

1. Houston Texans- Jadeveon Clowney DE

If I were a head coach, this is what I would do. You already have J.J. Watt, so now you could have the best pass rush in football, and then pull a Indianapolis Colts and get Jameis Winston next year. This is especially true since in my opinion their are no high caliber quarterbacks in the draft.

2. St. Louis Rams (From Washington Redskins)- Jake Matthews OT

The Rams are a team on the rise and Matthews would be a great compliment to Jake Long.

 

3. Jacksonville Jaguars- Johnny Manziel QB

Manziel may not be their answer at quarterback, but I’ll tell you what, they need someone. Manziel is a hit or miss option talent wise, but even if it doesn’t work out, he will definitely bring some fans to the games.

 

4. Cleveland Browns- Teddy Bridgewater/Blake Bortles QB

I don’t know who the coach is going to be, so I don’t know what system they are going to run. Both of these guys have the potential to be great, but they are different so it is up to the unnamed coach.

 

5. Oakland Raiders- Anthony Barr OLB/DE

This team need A LOT, but Barr is a very solid, possibly star defensive player and he could be just the place to start on a road back on track for the Raiders.

 

 

 

 

A Year in Review- Sports Talk with the Straight Shuter

by Jesse Shuter

Staff Writer

 

Courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com /sports/football/hernandez- custory-home-handcuffs -article-1.1382767

 

2013 was a great year everywhere, even in the world of sports. There are so many eventful things that have happened that it would be impossible to name them all. For this article we are going to look at my top ten events from 2013 and then the top ten things to look for in 2014.

 

 

10. The Blackout in the 2013 Super Bowl astounds the teams, and completely changes the direction of the game. Some say that it helped the Baltimore Raven in their comeback and victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

9. The Red Sox win the World Series and prove that Boston is still strong after the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

8. Eagles comeback from a large deficit against the Detroit Lions. The crazy part is that it was in a blizzard. It is now known as the Snow Bowl.

7. Clayton Kershaw wins the Cy Young award for the second time, and Miguel Cabrera wins AL MVP for the second straight time.

6. Giant PED scandal where a biogenesis clinic admits to giving PEDs to certain baseball players. The most notable players caught are: Ryan Braun; Nelson Cruz; Everth Cabrera; Johnny Peralta; Antonio Bastardo; and Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod). A-Rod is currently trying to appeal to the courts so he is not suspended, and his career is not ended.

5. Auburn stuns undefeated Alabama in the Iron Bowl. They won on a returned kick with zero seconds left. Here’s the catch, the kick was not a usual kickoff, Alabama was kicking a field goal so that they could win the game, but it was short. The awaiting player from Auburn caught it short of the field goal post and ran it back to win the game.

4. A bomb goes off at the Boston Marathon stunning all of America. The initial reaction was terrorist attack, but it turned out to be local americans.

3. Peyton Manning breaks the record for most passing yards and touchdowns in one season. It is known as possibly the best season by a quarterback in history.

2. Aaron Hernandez is arrested for murder of his friend, shocking people everywhere. None were more surprised then his teammates and coaches over on the New England Patriots.

1. Lance Armstrong admits to using performance enhancing drugs in his races. Armstrong was a hero to many after doing the impossible and overcoming his cancer and then becoming possibly the biker ever.

 

Lets take a look at the tops ten things to look for in 2014.

1. The World Cup
2. The Winter Olympics
3. The Super Bowl Champion
4. How is the Alex Rodriguez case decided
5. How is the Aaron Hernandez case decided
6. NFL Coach of the year, Guru Bill Belichick or Rookie Coach Chip Kelly
7. The Super Bowl in the Snow, how does the cold weather Super Bowl work out?
8. How does the new playoff setup in College Football work out?
9. How does the new replay system for umpires in baseball work out?
10. Who is hired to replace all the fired coaches in the NFL?

 

It’s been a great year, and let’s all look forward to another great year in the world of sports.

Caution: Choking Hazard- Sports Talk with the Straight Shuter

by Jesse Shuter

Staff Writer

 

This Photo is courtesy of http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/uploaded_images/ capt.sea12501070450.aptopix _cowboys_seahawks_football_sea125-741604.jpg

 

Tony Romo is king of the choke artists. Everyone knows that, for as long as I can remember, I have been hearing that Tony Romo is terrible in December, and that he is a terrible quarterback. But the question is, is he worth it? Is Tony Romo worth having as your quarterback, even if he can’t play in December?

 

Clearly, the Dallas Cowboys think that the answer to this question is yes, since they just re-signed Romo to a big deal, despite is wintertime woes. Many people respected that decision, claiming that if you consider the other quarterback options at that time, Romo is leaps and bounds ahead of the other options. However, even though Romo has had a good year, if you look at his quarterback rating (QBR), through the end of November, so not including December, he averages 57.1, which would rank him 18th in the NFL. Meanwhile Josh McCown and Nick Foles, who started the year as backup quarterbacks, have QBRs of 85.7 and 69.1.

 

McCown with 85.7 ranks first in the league, while Foles with 69.1 ranks sixth. Even Matt Cassel, who was shunned by the Chiefs, his ex-team, and was a free agent for anyone to sign has a QBR of 61.0 putting him in 13th in the league and ahead of Romo. This means that if the Cowboys signed Cassel in the offseason, instead of re-signing Romo, they would have a better quarterback. The most shocking thing to keep in mind is that, I did not include the month of December in Romo’s QBR, therefore this is from when Romo was still “a top QB”.

 

What I think to be the more important reason for Romo’s label as choke artist is his late game bad decisions, more than his December performance. In Romo’s career, entering the fourth quarter with the game either tied, or his team winning, Romo has seven interceptions. SEVEN! In the history of the NFL, no other quarterback has five.

 

Without a doubt Tony Romo has proven himself to be a choker. So now for the question. Is Tony Romo worth having even with his struggles? The answer, no. Romo is very expensive, and obviously he is not necessarily worth it either. One of the luxuries that an NFL team has is that it can cut it’s players at any time. So I think that if the cowboys cannot get to the playoffs this year, it is time to cut ties with Tony Romo. There are other options in the draft (Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, Brett Hundley, etc.) and in free agency (Jay Cutler, Michael Vick, Josh McCown, Matt Cassel, etc.) or even trade (Kirk Cousins) so they don’t have to look far for a replacement.

 

The Take Away:

Because of Tony Romo’s struggles, the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers after a huge lead in the first half of the game. Meanwhile their rivals the Philadelphia Eagles were beaten by the Minnesota Vikings. Therefore, if the Cowboys had won, then they would be in first place in the division, and be going to the playoffs. However since they didn’t, the Eagles are still very much alive and have a good shot of returning to the playoffs.

 

Some people say that the Cowboys still have a good shot at beating the Eagles week 17, which would send them to the playoffs. Don’t expect this to happen because Tony Romo never fails……..to fail.

 

Shuter’s Sleeper Pick:

Ryan Mathews (RB), San Diego Chargers

 

For the first time since his injury, Mathews has proven to me that he can handle a real workload and do a good job with it. This week he is playing the Oakland Raiders. These are the same Raiders that just got slaughtered by Jamaal Charles. So not only is their run defense TERRIBLE, but after the chargers go up by a good two to three touchdowns, I can see the chargers running off the clock, and Mathews will do the bulk of that running. Also look out for Danny Woodhead, he could see quite a few carries too.