BP #10

     Will Grimsley, author of 'It was lightning and thunder,' wrote an article on the fiftieth anniversary continuing to display the controversy between Sonny Liston and Ali's title match. Muhammad Ali's victory over Sonny Liston became a huge debate when Liston claimed he never heard the count after getting knocked within the first minute. Liston got back up thinking the fight was still going on. The referee, Joe Walcott, had to break up the fight because Ali had already won. 

     In the informative and debating article, Will Grimsley addresses the idea that this match was a big controversy and many fans of boxing were disappointed and felt that it was rigged. Grimsley's audience seems to be a boxing fan base and people interested in the debate. He included multiple quotes from many different people involved in the dispute. He also asked questions throughout the article to really involve the reader.

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     In "Pedroia power not enough for Sox," by Al Schoch, the May 27th game against the Twins is highlighted. He explains that although Dustin Pedroia played an outstanding game, giving the Sox a two run lead to start, Boston fell to Minnesota 6-4. The author gave quotes from players and coaches to give readers different aspects of the game. Schoch also provides statistics between The Sox and the Twins' previous games. Overall, he provided readers with a very detailed overlook of he game between the two teams.   

 

BP #9

     The New England Patriots are being accused of cheating in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7, but their glory was short-lived when they were soon being investigated about tampering the game balls. Accusations say they allegedly deflated the majority of the game balls to give themselves an advantage in the game. Many football fans are just blowing it off saying they don't even care about the situation and they just want to stop hearing about it. Others find it preposterous that they're being accused of this and some don't find it surprising at all. Deflate gate is being blown way out of proportion by the media.

     The Patriots are a team and a decision this big wouldn't have been made only by their QB, Tom Brady. Others would've been aware of what was going on and would've at least had an idea about it. The Wells Report has inaccurate facts and there are also multiple scenarios as of to why you cannot blame just one person for this. Initially, the referees should've checked the footballs if they believed there was an foul play going on and they didn't. Additionally, anybody planning on cheating would have to literally have a plan.. you don't CHEAT on accident. More than one person wouldn't been plotting on the event this was on purpose. Subsequently, there was also a big toss up as to whether or not the deflation could have been due to the air pressure from the cold air. On numerous occasions, while deflate gate has been going on, speculators have been jumping to conclusions without actually knowing what happened to the eleven game balls. 

     The punishment the Patriots suffer is losing two draft picks, being fined one million dollars, and losing their star QB, Tom Brady, for the first four games of the season. Brady will be on the bench for the first quarter of the season, unpaid. The punishment, towards Brady, is highly excessive. Tom Brady, if guilty, clearly did not do this on his own, therefore he should not be singled out as one the way he was. They are a team and they should go down as a team, the QB who holds the team shouldn't have to sit suspended when he was not the only one who partook in this. Strategically, Tom Brady is key in the Patriots line up and who knows how New England may suffer without him. It isn't utterly surprising that Tom Brady was who they targeted and suspended for four games without any outstanding evidence. 

     The number one solution for Deflate Gate at this point is to just drop it. What's done is done and whether or not they actually deflated the footballs, everybody will have their own opinions. The Patriots should just suffer the consequences with their heads held high and give this season their all and prove that they can still be extremely hard to beat in any fair game. Even if New England was found innocent, people would still assume they did it..no matter what you can't change one's opinion.