Sports and Healing

Sports and Healing

Sports can have a way of healing things. They serve as a constant in people's lives, the one object that will always be available for discussion, for yelling at, and for cheering for. They can distract when distraction is needed, and can give a town something to huddle around in dire times. Sports can be a source of comfort in the wake of a tragedy, for both the fans and players. And that is why the Kansas City Chiefs' decision to play on Sunday afternoon, despite the franchise-shaking murder-suicide that took place at their stadium the day before, is the right one.

It's unclear why Jovan Belcher did what he did. There was no sign of a troubled mind, no indication of unrest. Family friends described him as "friendly, a good guy... someone you wanted to be around." His agent, Joe Linta, pinned him as "charitable and humble." So when Belcher shot his girlfriend on Saturday morning, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium to kill himself in front of coaches, the tragedy struck home harder. The excess of questions left unanswered in the incident will undoubtedly make the healing process more difficult, and keep the wounds open longer. When there is no explanation for bloodshed, it feels that much more bloody. And because of this, the sentiment that the Chiefs should not play Sunday against the Panthers is one that is surely floating through not just Kansas City, but the entire country. And on the surface, that argument is the right one. The deaths that took place eclipsed the uneclipsable NFL, and in the wake of them, football seems to have no place. But that's where the argument fails.

The Chiefs have been, to put it simply, having a really, really, bad year. They have a 1 and 10 record that is every bit as ugly as it seems, and the GM and coach will almost surely be fired at the end of the year. The players were unhappy before the incident, and the fans were disappointed. But now, the added feeling of sorrow has been heaped onto that. And while time to mend may seem to be the remedy, the best move would be to play the game. The players would get a reprieve from the mourning, and find comfort in the thing they love most. Fans from across the heavy-hearted city would have both a place to comfort one another and a place to show support for a devastated team. Some things are bigger than football, but that doesn't mean football can't help.

NOTE: The Chiefs decided to play, and won 27-21. Coach Romeo Crennell: "As far as playing the game, I thought that was the best for us to do, because that's what we do. We're football players and football coaches and that's what we do, we play on Sunday."

The Sad State of the Wizards

The Sad State of Wizards Basketball



The Washington Wizards are bad. And by “bad”, I don’t mean bad in the sense of,  “Wow, that was a bad movie.” Because someone, somewhere, enjoyed watching that movie, even if just for a scene or two. No, the Wizards are tragically, deplorably, bad...

To read more, follow this link to the Sideline Scoop.

Capture the Fall

Capture the Fall

For this assignment, I needed to put together a minute long video comprised of at least ten clips, and this video was supposed to exemplify what fall means to me. So, I set out with my friend Peter, and started scoping out for shots. We got the typical leaves and nature shots, but those weren't my favorite shots. The shot of us tossing the pigskin around isn't the most artistic, but does capture a key part of my fall life, and the shot of Peter falling into the leaf pile is just classic. Since I wanted to give the video a lively feel, when I was editing, I threw in an upbeat, energetic piece of music that I found on a CC approved website. I threw a few transitions in, and the result is what you see below. Unfortunately, the video is not quite a masterpiece because I had some slight issues holding the camera steady. Enjoy "A Frandsen Fall".

Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice plus a hoops mixtape

I'm fairly satisfied with our trailer, "Multiple Choice". It details the concept of a society in which one test decides your place in the community, and if you fail, then you're sent away for a lifetime of labor. A family comprised of two brothers is split up after the elder one fails the test, and in his combination of rage and sadness, the younger brother decides to fail on purpose to break his brother out, and presumably start a rebellion.

I love some of our shots, but more than anything, we stumbled upon them. We were walking to one our group member's houses, when we noticed a pile of dirt with a gray wall behind it. A collective lightbulb flashed above our heads, and we got into costume and shot our labor scene there. Next, we needed a spot for Jesse's rousing speech, and wandered around the house for a while. Eventually, we found a small room with old looking walls, and after putting a camera on it, it looked perfect. Those are my favorite shots in the film, and they came about completely on accident.

There are, unfortunately, some slightly sketchy things about our trailer The video quality is sort of poor, because we used a flip camera, but one could argue that the low quality was in the name of creating a dismal image of the society. And in hindsight, we could have furthered the concept a little more. But I think our music saves it. The song, Prophecy by Mr. Morse, is savage. If I were grading our film, I would bump it a solid five points for the music alone. It was interesting that were able to find such a quality piece of music using vocals that was CC approved. Anyhoo, you will find our trailer below.



P.S. I swear I will get back to writing about sports next week. Unfortunately, nothing very writeable has happened in the sporting world over the past two weeks. In the meantime, enjoy this hoops mixtape.

What Just Happened: Harden Dealt

What Just Happened: Harden Dealt

The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded James Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, and Lazar Hayward to the Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, 2 first rounders and 2 second rounders. That much we know. But why? What does it mean? How will OKC compensate for the loss of facial hair? The Sideline Scoop reacts...

A National Shock

A National Shock

Heartbreak does not come about very easily in baseball. Sure, teams may lose key games, favorite players may get traded, and stars may get injured. But that is only disappointment. Heartbreak is when your team allows four runs in the last inning, after leading by as much as six. It’s when a record-setting crowd falls dead silent as the other team celebrates on the field. It’s when a team invigorates a city, only to see themselves ousted from the playoffs in the most devastating fashion possible. It’s what happened at Nationals Park on a very late Friday night.,,

To read more, visit this link to the Sideline Scoop

Same Love

Same Love



Few things make my dad's eyes water. But this video did. "Same Love", by Macklemore, is a song dedicated to the support of gay marriage, and the video chronicles the story of a man who grows up confused and angry, and struggles to accept his identity. He falls in love with another man, and they get married and grow old together, holding hands until their last breath. The video itself is masterful, and the vocals and lyrics are thoughtful and pleasant. But the most important aspect of this video is the message.

Man and man, woman and woman, man and woman, it is all the same love. There is no need for people to hate and spew dark words when a man holds hands with another man. Yet, many in today's society still reject the idea of gay love, and cannot even imagine the concept of gay marriage. Pop culture has inserted the word "gay" into our vocabulary as a synonym for lame, or stupid. High schoolers drop derogatory remarks without a second thought as to what they are actually saying. It's been subconsciously ingrained within many young minds that gay is bad. This mindless hate leads kids to despise themselves, for merely being who they are. And sadly, even if they find the immense courage to come out as gay, they may not even have the ability to get married to another person of the same sex. Barred in most states, same sex marriage has emerged as one of the most polarizing issues in our society today. But the legalization of it, as suggested in this song, is necessary. Marriage is a declaration of love and companionship, but same sex couples cannot marry unless they live in the minority of states that allow it. Shut out, they are treated as unequal members of our society. We look down on discrimination based on skin color, but turn a blind eye to people discriminated against for loving who they want to love, for holding hands with another man. For wanting to marry someone they are infatuated with. It may not be traditional, but it is not immoral, or something to be ashamed of. Legalization of gay marriage wouldn't abolish all traces of gay hate. But, as Macklemore states, "it would be a damn good start". Marriage is a union between two people that love each other. It is all the same love.