Research phase 1

After the journalist came in, our sports in society class has shifted into researching our personal sport... finally. We started by thinking of bold, meaningful questions that are not answered with a simple google search. Questions dealing with the popularity, safety and ethics of our sport. The questions below are a short list of topics I plan on discussing and covering. A lot dealing with comparisons of rugby to football and questions dealing with how the game works. If you personally have any questions or topics about rugby you find interesting or questionable, drop a comment below.

HOW AND WHEN WAS RUGBY INVENTED?

WHY CAN YOU ONLY PASS THE BALL BACKWARDS IN RUGBY?

HOW MUCH DOES A PROFESSIONAL RUGBY PLAYER MAKE YEARLY?

IS A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL OR A PROFESSIONAL RUGBY PLAYER MORE ATHLETIC?

WHAT IS CONSIDERED AN ILLEGAL TACKLE IN RUGBY?

HOW MANY REFS ARE NEEDED DURING A SINGLE RUGBY GAME?

IS RUGBY SIMILAR TO FOOTBALL?

HOW DO THE JERSEY NUMBERS IN RUGBY WORK?

WHY IS RUGBY'S POPULARITY SOLELY IN COUNTRIES OTHER THEN AMERICA?

WHY DOES RUGBY INVOLVE NO PAD PROTECTION?

Billion Dollar Ball - 2/3

   On May 5, Gill Gaul, a two time Pulitzer prize winning author, came to visit Cinnaminson High school. He came in to talk to us about his novel Billion Dollar Ball. The novel is focused on college football and its exponential growth in the past couple decades. The amount of people watching bowl games has doubled, and then doubled again to become a multi billion dollar enterprise. Gill Gaul did journalist work traveling interviewing and data collecting all over the country at college campuses. He had detailed experiences dealing with Oregon University, Texas football culture and the process at which the money flows through college athletic departments. Gaul traveled the campus of Oregon visiting many of the learning centers and sport facilities. He visited the athletic learning center which was a 40 million dollar investment to build. It included tutors who could assist athletes 1700 hours in a single week, studying and tutoring in hopes for them to pass their classes. There are other things though like imported Brazilian Foosball tables, Ferrari leather couches and open heated-controlled fire pits. It is questionable to say that is it a study center or a lounge? Only athletes who participate in varsity sports are allowed to use the facility at there leisure. He even went on to visit the campus's "honor student" facility. The hard working valedictorian's, perfect GPA students who are the best and brightest of students get a dusty, old building to use. It was said to be at least 70 years old and didn't even have a staircase that went to the second floor on the inside of the building; the students had to use a staircase placed outside of the building that led to the second floor. It is a clear comparison that an athletic scholarship compared to a academic contrasts greatly and is unfair. Athletes on their first day even get a mac book, and the honor students just get the opportunity to go to Oregon. These very scenarios Gaul saw all over the country with the football programs just using all of their proceeds to gaunt who has the best football program and to attract boosters. In Texas, Gaul said the rivalry and competition between schools is relentless. With rivalries starting decades in the past and teams just doing anything in their ability to beat the life out of the other teams; losing the fundamentals of football at points. This type of tension between schools is what actually attracts the attention to the programs and what makes people buy seats in the stadiums for entire seasons. The cut throat competition is what people gamble, cry, and wait for all year long. Gaul witnessed this during the 4 years he researched when writing the novel. The college football industry has exploded in a way where college coaches like Nick Saben making 650,000 in 1999 to making 7.1 million to this day. The television, social media and the history behind football is what ignites the flame in every fan to watch and cheer during every game, give seat donations up to 50,000 dollars and to let college football tumble into piles and piles of money. If Gill Gaul did not expose the wealth within college sports everyone could of continued obliviously unknowing of the billions of dollars flowing all around them. Does this arise any questions for you? What are these colleges doing with the millions and million of dollars unaccounted for? The reality is they barely do any interviews and if you to get a chance to ask the president of a college, they do not even know either.

The Oregon Athletic Learning Center.

Billion Dollar Ball - 1/3

   Gill Gaul is coming to Cinnaminson High School May 5th. He wrote the controversial novel Billion Dollar Ball, which tackles the topic of college sports and fame. Targeting football departments and coaches on college campuses making millions of dollars more then the President of the college and even the salaries of all the professors combined.
   Do you have experience playing college sports?
   What college has made the most money from the sports program?
   Are there colleges that compete at making the most money yearly from sales of tickets and so forth?
   Do certain college athletes who excel have more luxuries then other athletes?
   Does having a big stadium on campus affect how they are seen by other colleges?
   Do college coaches have the highest salaries compared to other occupations?
   If a team wins a National Championship what do they receive?
   What inspired you to reveal the scene behind college football?
   How much did you personally make from the publishing of the book?
   How long did it take to accumulate the information needed for the book?
   Did you have any trouble with colleges not wanting you to reveal their salaries?
   Can donations from boosters go directly to the athletic department of a college?

Sole Man Review

   Sole man was a ESPN 30 for 30 episode focusing on the billion dollar industry in America, which is shoes. The star, Sonny Vaccaro, was a man who saw a vision that no one else at the time understood. He took over the basketball industry with in months, making millions of dollars in the mean time. Sonny at first was paired up with Nike and had plans on just making shoes for basketball players. The only problem they ran into in the beginning was that their brand was unknown and no one would buy them. So to have a popularity explosion Sonny devised a plan that was seen as illegal and controversial, but since there were no set regulation or rules; it was completely legal. Sonny traveled the country coast to coast paying college coaches and giving bundles of shoes to teams and street players. He called this tactic, self marketing. His plan was just to pay off the coaches so that they would make the kids wear the shoes, and in return they brand name would get out there. When Nike started to become known with their different variation of Nike airs and many more to come, they had the idea to start signing athletes with their company in hopes to attract mass attention. Sonny was a mastermind for his time and his plan was perfect. He looked through all the top players in the upcoming draft and this one athlete can be seen as the start of the multi-million dollar company that Nike is today. That athlete was Michael Jordan with his signature show line, Air Jordans. This slam dunk master signed with Nike to start up his shoe contract to take his game to the professional level. The Air Jordans quickly became the hottest shoe on the market, simultaneously as Michael became the hottest player in the country. Sonny was from then on known as a king maker. He signed contracts with many athletes giving them the same deals to make them all stars, with signature lines and wealth beyond belief just for playing basketball. This sounds all great, but under the surface many people believe this was true corruption, especially when Sonny Vaccaro started his Nike summer training programs. Many to this day frown upon basketball summer programs because there is no regulation with the NCAA, deals can be struck and players can be snatched right out of others schools hands. When the atmosphere became intensely competitive, with Nike and Adidas being toe to toe, high-school students and even down to youth programs where starting to get paid. Coaches of 8th grade basketball teams making hundreds of thousands of dollars just for the coach to persuade the kids to wear this brand, and to go to this school. All of this money, billions of dollars, being moved around the basketball world all started by one man, and that is why Sonny Vaccaro is known as Soleman. He single-handedly made college basketball into the competitive atmosphere today, and made the NCAA its first millions of dollars. He is seen as a legend to the sport and for that the people who know him love him, or absolutely hate him from his success. He has worked with Nike and Adidas and has signed other super stars like Kobe. No one really knew how Sonny had so many connections, but the answer was all the money that was flowing through his hands to others. Sonny had a huge impact on many lives, forming players to champions of the game. Sonny will be remembered as the man who made shoes worth to die for.

Sonny Vaccaro with Michael Jordan in the beginning of his career.

Lauren Gardner, Female Reporter

   Gardner, a graduate of the University of Colorado, landed her first job in her hometown serving as the “In-Game Host” for the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies. For a sports reporter under 30 years old, male or female, Lauren Gardner has amassed an impressive resume. She was a former Denver Broncos cheerleader in 2008, and has covered the Lingerie Football League for MTV2; which was her first report that was a recognized event. After being picked up by CBS sports, the red-haired beauty has covered college football, tennis and most recently baseball. When she first started reporting for CBS she attracted lots of attention purely though her looks. Many people see beauty as useless tool because people would rather completely focus on the game being reported on rather then the reporter them self. Either way people started to realize she was not just reading scripts, she was educated on sports and knew what her responsibility was when reporting on a game. She enjoys reporting on college football the most just because she was a football cheerleader and she enjoyed her college years very much. She also believes that college sports are more intense of a game because they are not playing for a paycheck, but for the reputation of being the best. This being said, she respects the NFL and the athletes who participate, just believes that on a college level team winning the game has a lot more meaning for the players and not just all revolved around fame and fortune. In all, Gardner has been an excellent insight to college level sports for CBS and reports quite frequently since the duration of her time with CBS sports. To top it all off the lovely lady also has a pilots license.

Rugby w/BUCC Mission Statement

   This program is dedicated to training to be the best. We hope to groom champions from the highschool level to world class champions. We have history in our program, being already 4 time state champions with a handful of of semi final success and failure. We hope to make this rigorous experience also an environment for learning, safety, and genuine fun. Here we take winning and losing very seriously from the start since this is a U9-U19 program. There are no participation trophies gentlemen, its eat or be eaten in rugby; and by all means we train hungry men. Since we take training to maximum levels and try to push the younger children to limits they never reached before, we are considered to be one of the most intense programs in South Jersey and we show that reputation during our performance.
   Rugby is not soccer where you can mindlessly run the field, there are rules and strict fundamentals dealing with the flow of the game. Do to rugby being a complex sport we support our players to attend our cookouts, tailgates, and many other festivities before attending tournaments and games in hopes to form a full understanding and chemistry needed in the game on a professional, and what we expect on our highschool level as well. We recruit coaches with strict experience or knowledge on the game. Our staff is hand selected from many colleges like Rowan and Kutztown University, and the head coach was a world cup champion while playing with South Africa. We have the experience, and most definitely the knowledge, and that's why me attempt to drill and embed rugby into our younger players in hopes to rise them to fame and success. Since we spend so much time training our athletes, we spend great time and effort into making sure our athletes are happy and healthy. One can not be a champion at such a great sport if it is not taken serious or the will for victory is absent, so the demeanor at which we try to treat our athletes is in hopes to build self-esteem and break egos to form our boys into men.
   To have such a close relationship with our athletes it is important to communicate not just to the player, but to the family as well. We have had our athletes family's be huge help during our seasons. We need parents to be involved as well to get players and set up many thing for away games, get-togethers, and so forth. This being said, rugby has and forever will be a gentlemen sport so sportsmanship is not just supported on the sidelines, but required. How we handle ourselves on and off the field comes into play with how we are viewed, not just as oneself, but as a club. It is a key factor for our players to handle winning as well as the handle losing, by learning from their mistakes and by taking immense victory humbly. We also require dedication from our player, do not expect to show up to a few practices and be a part of the starting 15, it takes effort and determination to be this team's MVP.  With all this being said, we hope for many people interested and past players to come out and enjoy themselves. Happy rucking to all and good luck on the upcoming spring season boys!!!

Director and Head Coach

           -Ayden Bucci

Pick my 30 for 30 Campbell

   Why you have been in the sun and surrounded by crying children, I have been watching numerous documentaries that you have assigned. I've watched about a dozen of the 30 for 30 shortfilms by ESPN. Out of all of them we should watch The Billion Dollar Game, Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball, and Ali: the Mission. I chose these selective documentaries because each one showed how certain athletes or teams dramatically effected the game. Ali: The mission is about perhaps one of the most important, but least known, feats of Muhammad Ali's remarkable life. It goes into detail about all the things he did outside the ring that helped his accomplishments within the sport, Muhammad is a true legend to this day. The Billion dollar game was focused around the the Princeton Tigers in 1989 when they gave Georgetown Hoyas everything they could, in a game that would forever change March Madness. March Madness is one of the biggest events in the NBA and draws out millions of fans, very interesting to see how these two teams demonstrated the seriousness and intensity that March Madness brings to the court. Finally but not least, Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball, this shortfilm followed a pitcher that was drafted to the Mets with a 168 mph fastball. With this addition to the Mets at the time they were almost unbeatable with no one capable of standing up to the Tibetan fastball. All of these documentaries had in common that they made great accomplishments and changes to the sport they were involved in. Showing these select documentaries would be a fun and educational way to introduce topics on changes or athletes affects on our sports. Hope Disney was a blast, see you soon!

Paul Rees, the Unbiased Reporter

   Rugby has many journalist all over the world reporting on the best of the best and even the worst of the worst. There are reporters who cover tournaments like the ruby world cup, European rugby championships and many tournaments placed all over the globe. Paul Rees is a reporter I favor because he always has a unbiased viewpoint on the team or game at hand, and is full of knowledge about the actual game. He was born in Cardiff and has been a full-time writer on rugby union since 1986, first for the South Wales Echo, then Wales and Sunday, from 2001, the Guardian and the Observer, having contributed to the former on a freelance basis since 1988. He has covered every World Cup since 1991 and five Lions tours. When time allows, he also write on cricket, but mainly focuses on rugby. He reports on both the women and men leagues and has many articles informing people about the rugby league dedicated to gay players. His contributions to rugby have been seen and he is acknowledged as one of the most dedicated journalists of the sport. To this day he releases articles, his most recent being on the America USA 7's tournament that took place in the beginning of March at Las Vegas. He is planning on continuing his career until he no longer can travel all over the world. In his autobiography, which was released in 2009, he stated that rugby is not just a game but a life style. Paul Rees has had many articles about the rugby world cup that have gone viral on the web with his comments pertaining to the All Blacks. Unlike many reporters he believes the All Blacks have lost focus on the true spirit of the game and believes that it is suppose to be a purely gentlemen's game. He has declared his excitement for the upcoming Olympics with the reintroduction of rugby 7's, and fully intends to attend to report about the finalists. Paul Rees has dedicated the majority of his life to entertaining his followers and to rugby itself, in the eyes of many he is considered a legend.

Social Media's Effects on Sports and Safety

  On March 7, CHS had a presentation on technological safety and how people abuse social media. The presenter mentioned Curt Shillings and Yuri Wright and how social media affected their lives. People buy phones and new technology in hopes to instantly message, share or take photos of things they experience in their life. The mistake many people make is that they use the social sharing devices to attempt private communication. Apps like Snapchat promise the pictures and videos being shared are deleted within seconds, what people miss in the privacy agreement. The privacy agreement states the pictures and videos are not deleted but saved on digital hard-drives. In fact, your personal use of apps is not anonymous and most definitely traceable from the second you post or share. Curt Shillings proved this completely true when he was able to track down the people tweeting quite vulgar things about his daughter. He was able to obtain the personal identities of the aggressors and black balled them. One was fired from their job and another was even kicked out of college. They thought they would be safe anonymously tweeting such statements, but failed to read the privacy agreement where it clearly states that the user of the account can be traced and then subjected under the law for their actions. Yuri Wright found out the same thing when his immature tweets lost his scholarship, which was a full ride, to Michigan U. His numerous tweets talking about females and simply crude statements lost all chance at performing on a Division 1 field. He had warnings from many coaches and family members to just stay off twitter and to know that people are watching his account, but failed to stop tweeting. He thought his actions on social media would have no affect on his chance at playing football, but in the end he payed the ultimate price for now attending and playing at Colorado U. People don't realize how their actions online can so easily affect their lives in and out of the virtual world. Our upcoming generation will be the test dummies for future generations on how technology advancement and exposure at young ages can affect society. People are given technology with no safety labels or warnings on how social media or just any part of the internet can dramatically change your life by your actions when online. The key idea that people must remember is that whatever you say or do online is public and permanent.

Yuri Wright while playing in the all-american football game.

Tennessee Sexual Assault Cases

   Recently the college of Tennessee, where NFL quarterback Peyton Manning attended, has had many sexual assault cases arise. From Peyton Manning's very own court case being under review to many other athletes, like A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams, are being accused of sexually assaulting someone as recent as the 2015 season. Tennessee is known for their great football program, winning many conference and national championships in the past. The head football coach Butch Jones defends his program and the way he regulates his players on and off the field. He makes claims that seem very beneficial to the other students but has pinning allegations against him. For example, him telling a former Volunteers player that he "betrayed the team" by helping a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by two of his teammates. If this incident is proved true the coach clearly favors his players and solely cares about winning football games. His true intentions are not to control his players off the field, it is simply for them to run fast and hit hard on the actual field. If the university of Tennessee wants to see their program thrive for greater achievements they need to take control of their players and fire Butch Jones for not successfully protecting the universities very own image. The university of Tennessee has been in 51 bowl appearances and have a total of 28 bowl victories. Butch Jones will defame the university of Tennessee after the transpiring sexual assault cases are processed through court. This is another example of how rape culture has been turning into an epidemic across college universities. Athletes are raping other college students and are still being recognized, or even praised on the field. When the sexual assault cases arise after the athlete's great season, everyone assumes the victims are just trying to absorb the athletes attention. Let it be known that athletes can not be above the law and victims of sexual assault should be supported by the universities and cared for appropriately.

Sexual Allegations in Sports

   Many cases dealing with famous athletes and sexual assault are transpiring weekly. From the allegations dealing with Superbowl veteran Peyton Manning to the all-star Kobe Bryant all involve sexual assault. The many sexual assault charges going through court and the many rapists walking away as free men/ women are the circumstances creating rape culture. Rape culture is when sexual violence is commonly accepted and the victims are blamed for their own assault. Usually trials dealing with rape and famous people are settled out of court to protect self image and the actual facts of what happened. Many college universities and sport leagues cover up many rape or sexual assault cases to protect their reputation as well. 
   When Peyton Manning attended the University of Tennessee he allegedly sexually harassed a female track athlete. He claimed that it was old news, and a simple mooning to the track athlete; but was sever enough for her to immediately report the incident to the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Knoxville. The lawsuit never went through do to the relentless effort and power executed by the University of Tennessee to protect pro-athlete Peyton Manning and the University's top notch football program. If this incident was not connected to the university or a pro-athlete the victim would have already been served their fair justice and the culprit would have served consequences. But do to the rape culture of america, where people accept rape and tell others to move on, Peyton Manning suffered no actual consequence. When big names in sports get tied into lawsuits about their behavior or actions many get a slap on the wrist and continue to play and make millions of dollars yearly. There is not much anyone can do to penetrate the shield that is put around these athletes do to their money and support of big colleges and national leagues. Rape culture is shameful and people who do not find it a big deal are blatantly ignorant and should try to understand the embarrassment and burden that a victim has upon themselves. Sports are a great way to achieve greatness, but does not mean you are above the law or greater then any other person around you.

Controversial Half-Time Show

   Beyoncé performed her new hit single Formation during the halftime show at  Superbowl 50. It was a combined event with Bruno Mars who performed the same song and similar routine during last years Superbowl halftime show. Beyoncé's song outlined many controversial topics dealing with the killing of young African-american children by police enforcement, and the generally embraced black culture. So the big question is, was it proper to use the Superbowl 50 halftime show as a political statement?
   Beyoncé's message that she was trying to send was about embracing and loving your heritage and your blackness. The song did not have any lyrics about hating white people or even hinted at it. People are getting so flustered at her message because they are stating that it was racist towards white people. The fact of the matter is that what she was conveying about the killing of young African-american children and the oppression that comes with being black in certain areas of America because it is existent. Our country was formed from slavery and through the complete abuse of African-americans as slaves; most people today feel no guilt or even acknowledge what we have done to their race. In all, the message that Beyoncé was sending out was relevant, but at an improper stage and moment in time. She abused the Superbowl for the millions of views to let her message be heard, and it is what lead to her performance to being now a controversial issue. This is not the first time televised sports have been used to portray a political issue, especially dealing with the embracing of black culture to Africans around the world. In the 1968 Olympics Tommie Smith and John Carlos standing on the podium, at Gold and Bronze placement for the 200 meter dash, bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists during the national anthem. This sent millions of their fellow Americans into an outrage, while others from around the world admired their brave, courageous souls for standing up in front of the world for their cause. So Beyoncé was in the wrong for using the Superbowl as an outlet for her message, but it could be viewed as the only way to get the people's attention on the horrible things happening to the African-american community in our country. No matter the issue Beyoncé used the platform of the halftime show as a way to target police officers and issues of racial fairness, which is seen as inappropriate. Major sport events should be focused on the game at hand and not world controversies. In all, whether its football or rugby the many people directing the show should have a strict view upon the game.

Superbowl or Rugby World Cup

   The Superbowl is the biggest event in all sports in the USA. It is the final game of the NFL season, the 2015-2016 season was ended with a game against the North Carolina Panthers vs. the Denver Broncos. The Broncos had an unexpected win over the Panthers since the Panthers had one of the best season records in NFL history. Peyton Manning ended his career with a Superbowl win and the first player to win the Superbowl with two separate teams! This is was all great if you are interested in a sport nowadays mostly played for outrageous salaries.

   The Rugby World Cup is the biggest sport event in many countries, being aired in Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe and parts of Asia. It is an event for both men and women leagues played in countries all over the world. To have the event held in your country is a huge honor and brings in a great amount of revenue (reaching up to a billion dollars). How the Rugby World Cup (RWC) works is the best 20 teams in the world, men and women leagues, are seeded into separate brackets where they face off son and death style. There is a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears broadcasted during this usual 2-3 day event. The most resent champions are the New Zealand All Blacks winning the 2015 season. The All Blacks are viewed as the main predator in all of rugby worldwide, having the most dedicated fans and ruthless players. New Zealand lives, breaths, and eats rugby since their men and women's team won the RWC last year and have the overall most wins in the RWC tournaments with 50+. Rugby is a sport played to prove a country's true strength and dedication to their country, and when compared to the Superbowl truly shows how little Americans care for such a great sport. We are separated by an ocean, but it should not mean that the sport should be cut off from the view of our people. Watch this upcoming season to see the U.S.A. Eagles on their rising to the elite eight and defending the Olympic gold medal. Maybe we will be fortunate enough to have the Rugby World Cup held in our country this year.

A filled rugby stadium in Australia, housing approximately 100,000 people.

A filled football stadium in Arizona, housing approximately 70,000 people.

Introduction.

   This is the spot to find anything you want to read, see or eat rugby. Rugby is the fastest growing international sport in the 21st century. With great teams rising in the U.S. like the USA Eagles and many college D1 schools showing great potential for the future of the sport. My personal favorite teams are Argentina, All Blacks, and Harlequins. Rugby is a sport that you can expectantly find near you, like I have. About a year ago I was told about the sport from some friends and they got me to go to tryouts for the South Jersey Devils club team and ever since my first day, I have been absolutely hooked! It is a complex sport that you really need to witness in person to understand how all the components of the game come into play. I have been playing for two years and I still learn new things about the sport from experienced players.

   This blog will cover many topics happening in rugby today. Things like US college rugby, national rugby teams and the Rugby World Cup will all be covered accordingly. People always talk about the best teams, ways to stretch calls with refs and the inside and outs on the way the game is played; which are things that I'm interested in covering. Get ready for big games, big hits and unstoppable trys! The most interesting thing happening currently is the reintroduction of 7's rugby into the upcoming Olympics. The best of the best will be competing to win the gold against the defending champions, USA (GO U.S.). Good luck to all ruggers starting their spring season, should be a great leap in national rugby upcoming this year!