Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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“It is simply the nature of the journalism and news industry that requires one to always be prepared for change at any moment.” This is one of the best nuggets of advice my journalism professors always reminded me of when I was an undergrad at UT Austin, progressing my way toward a journalism degree from the Texas School of Journalism. The first time I heard that was three years ago when I first stepped foot inside a classroom at the Belo Center for New Media, on UT’s campus, as a sophomore. I heard it one final time as I crossed the stage with...
In the last two years, college football has made tremendous progress by changing the way a national champion is decided. For 15 years, the notorious Bowl Championship Series system had produced several flawed champions – most notably in 2007, when two-loss LSU not only had a spot in the national title game, but beat Ohio State to win it. Or how about the 2012 National Championship game between the aforementioned Tigers and the seemingly incumbent – thanks to all that SEC bias – Alabama Crimson Tide? The final score was 21-0. Alabama beat LSU i...
Here’s how I see the 2014-15 NBA season playing out. For the sake of brevity, I’ve listed only teams that I think will make the playoffs, followed by my playoff predictions. EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cleveland Heat? Might as well be. LeBron James came home and is now teamed up with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to form by far the league’s most talented starting five. They’re the favorites for now. Can they put it all together in year one? Stay tuned. 2. Washington Wizards: A very hot pick in the east this season, the Wiz are...
Two future first ballot NBA hall-of-famers – Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James – are both in favor of a shortened regular season. The NBA has played an 82-game season since 1967, when the San Diego Rockets and Seattle Supersonics joined the league as the 11th and 12th teams. Since then, the regular-season format has never changed. Now Nowitzki and James, among other players, are all for reducing the season to an amount of games in the mid-60s range – a slash of about 20 percent of the current slate. Let’s be up front though: as appealing as this...
We just don’t learn, do we? For the last five seasons, Major League Baseball’s postseason has been teaching us the same lesson over and over: talent doesn’t guarantee anything in the playoffs. This October, the biggest boys have fallen. The star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers and their Interstate-5 rivals the L.A. Angels were both eliminated quickly. Many people thought the Dodgers were a lock for at least the NLCS, but instead fell to the Cardinals in a surprising four-game series. Clayton Kershaw got pounded and nobody saw the league’s 23rd-be...
Now that October is here, so are the baseball playoffs. Here’s how I see things shaking out: Detroit Tigers (90-72) vs. Baltimore Orioles (96-66) Prediction: Tigers in 5. Of the two American League divisional series, Detroit-Baltimore seems to be the more intriguing one. The storyline of this showdown is a classic one: the Tigers’ elite pitching against an Orioles’ lineup that led the league in homers. At first glance it’s easy to give Detroit the edge since its offense is close to on par with that of Baltimore and it has a sizable advanta...
Back track to November of 2013 for a minute. Remember when Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta were considered two of the best free agent bats on the Major League Baseball market? Do you remember how much you heard ESPN and baseball insiders tell you that being guilty (allegedly – because it still hasn’t been proven by a drug test) of using performance-enhancing drugs would frighten many potentially suitable teams away from them? There was an overlying stigma that both Cruz and Peralta’s numbers would drop considerably because they were “off...
The Arizona Cardinals’ Jonathan Dwyer was arrested on allegations of aggravated assault on Wednesday. The arrest was reportedly connected to two separate incidents at his Phoenix home back in July involving his 27-year-old wife and an 17-month-old child. Police say he head-butted his wife, breaking her nose, and struck his son in the stomach with a shoe. The boy wasn’t injured. Along with former Raven Ray Rice, the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, the Panthers’ Greg Hardy and the 49ers’ Ray McDonald, Dwyer makes the fifth NFL player to be arrested...
For the last five or so years, Spain has played second fiddle to the United States as the second-best international basketball team in the world. There have been some memorable dogfights between those two countries, including a couple of championship games. For years, the Spaniards were the biggest threat to U.S. dominance – featuring the most NBA-star laden roster and the biggest matchup problems for an oft-cocky but superior American team. That all changed on Wednesday. France, playing without its top two players in San Antonio Spurs point g...
Let’s be real here for a moment. Michael Sam, who is now the first openly gay player ever to play in the National Football League, fell to the seventh round and the 249th overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft in May for a reason. Don’t let anyone try to tell you that his draft position accurately reflected his ability as a football player compared to other draftees. Sure, he’s only 6-foot, 2-inches and weighs just 261 pounds. That’s probably too small to be an effective defensive end and although he definitely has the size to be a sturdy...
The Colorado Rockies still have 30 games left to play this season. But with a dismal 53-79 record – hey, it’s still better than my Texas Rangers’ record so Rickies’ fans pat yourselves on the back – the team might start thinking about its plan of attack this offseason. Teams can begin signing free agents 10 days after the World Series concludes. The time frame between then and the start of spring training in February will be far more important to the Rockies than anything that transpired over this sorry season. The roster could be in serious fl...
The United States men’s national basketball team’s FIBA roster is getting closer to finalization and the squad will play its first exhibition game against Brazil at the United Center in Chicago on August 16. The U.S will also face off against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico with both games under the world-famous lights of Madison Square Garden in New York. There are still four cuts to go to get down to 12 players and these exhibition games will go a long way towards deciding which players will and will not be representing the Stars and...
By now almost everyone everywhere has heard about the toe-curling injury Indiana Pacers forward Paul George suffered last week at a USA basketball exhibition in Las Vegas. In the aftermath of Paul snapping the tibia and fibula in his right leg, much debate has surfaced around the sports world. Should pro basketball players be allowed to compete in international sporting events, specifically under the banner of FIBA and the International Olympic Committee? Is it a problem that the players are playing for free outside of their league? Is it a pro...
Since their inception into Major League Baseball in 1993, the Colorado Rockies have always featured one player or a pair of players who have defined the franchise. In the early to mid 90s it was Dante Bichette, who ventured to the Mile High City for the inaugural ’93 season as a 29-year-old in the prime of his career. Over his seven seasons in Colorado he totaled 201 homers and 826 RBI. After those seven seasons, his combined slash line was .310/.351/.540. Then Larry Walker and Todd Helton joined the franchise in 1995 and 1997 respectively and...
I just completed my first summer—or three weeks I should say—covering Sidney Post 17 legion baseball and I have to say it was a blast. Despite an unfortunately early exit from the district tournaments for both the junior and senior teams, getting to know the players, coaches, parents and everyone behind the program was a gratifying experience for me. I would like to take a moment to congratulate the players and coaches on fine seasons. I would also like to thank everyone involved with the program for welcoming me so warmly into the com...
After a taxing but successful run through the "dog days" that is the summer baseball season, the Sidney Post 17 senior team will finally make that all-important trek 79 miles north to Alliance for the highly-anticipated district tournament this weekend. A potential repeat as district champs and an appearance in the state tournament later this month is the culmination of everything that's happened this season, one in which the seniors finished 22-11. "Playoff baseball" as Sidney manager Mark...
The 85th edition of Major League Baseball’s All-Star game will take place Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Twins. As it does every year, the game will feature the cream of baseball’s crop and it is sure to be an entertaining three hours or more of baseball. The game obviously doesn’t count for or against any individual team’s record in the standings. The individual players’ stats in the game don’t count towards their season stats. The American and National League teams are essentially at even strength every...
Just three short weeks ago I was sitting at a computer in Austin, Texas applying for my first full time job in the news industry. I spent hours shelling out application after application to newspapers all over the nation—from Connecticut to Washington and everywhere in between. Sitting at that computer that day, I had no idea I would end up in Sidney, Nebraska. I’m what you might call a classic Texas boy—outside of an occasional vacation I hadn’t lived one day of my life beyond the borders of the Lone Star state until I arrived in Sidney...
