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Frozen 4 coverage reveals sad trend

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In case you haven’t heard, the Wisconsin women’s college hockey team won its second consecutive NCAA title. Badgers goalie Jessie Vetter stopped 32 shots for a 3-0 victory over Minnesota in the championship game. Sadly, most sports fans did not know this. As I mentioned last month, women’s sports are merely a second thought to most sports editors ( see “Frozen Four gets frigid reception in most sports departments” under commentary on this blog ). That became even clearer this weekend when another Big Ten team (Michigan State) won the men’s college hockey title in St. Louis. CBSsportsline.com, ESPN.com and USAToday.com devoted considerably more space to the Spartans winning their second title in 21 years than they had to Wisconsin’s winning its second title in a row last month. The Badgers posted the better record (36-1-4), but Michigan State (29-11-2) scored more coverage from national media outlets. We’ll see how much space USA Today devotes in tomorrow’s editions, but bet on more th...
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Softball -- covering games

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Softball is not just baseball played with a bigger ball. There are more than a few differences. Obviously, the ball is much larger. As a result, the field dimensions are also significantly different. The outfield fences are not as deep since a larger ball does not carry as far, and the bases are 60 feet apart, thirty feet closer than for a baseball field. The game is also played much more quickly than the three-plus hour games featured in the major leagues. Softball games go two fewer innings, ending after seven in college and international competition. Plus, the game moves at a faster pace. Pitchers do not spend time worrying about runners who cannot leave a base until the ball leaves the hand of the pitcher. So pitchers can just concentrate on batters. Bunting is used much more frequently in softball. Unlike in baseball, where designated hitters and aluminum bats lead to high-scoring games and big innings, softball teams typically try to score a run at a time. Check out how often a t...
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Halberstam will be missed

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David Halberstam, one of America’s best writers, died earlier this evening in a car accident near San Francisco. He was in California working on his 22nd book, this one on NFL hall of famer Y.A. Tittle who now lives in that area. Halberstam , 73, won a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1964, when he covered the Vietnam War for the New York Times . A few years later, he quit full-time journalism to write books on a variety of topics. His 2002 book, "War in a Time of Peace," nearly earned a second Pulitzer (it was runner-up for non-fiction.) "I think that he was the nation's premier journalist," said John Seigenthaler, Tennessean chairman emeritus and a friend in an article in the Nashville Tennessean . I know Halberstam best for his sports books that includes “Teammates,” which is about several Boston Red Sox teammates driving to Florida to see Ted Williams before he died. A few weeks ago, I finished "The Education of a Coach," a book that ever...
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