Angelos Final

For my final, I chose an article from the New York Times that was one of the most interesting advances I've seen in hockey. There was no way that I was not going to use this for my blog.

A small town in Northeastern Alberta, Canada has opened the first full sized rink with a synthetic surface. How is it supposed to be called ICE hockey, without the ice?! However, it sounds so cool that I couldn't help but be intrigued. A rink with real ice is extremely expensive, not only to make but also to maintain.

The community of Fort Chipewyan before the rink opened only had a three month long hockey season because of weather conditions. And it was only accessible by a 100 mile road made of ice, and during the summer, by boat. And the price of flooding a rink and freezing it, proved to be too pricey for the town.

I love ice skating, and although I was initially skeptical about the idea of a synthetic surface, after reading the article, it almost sounds beneficial to players. The article says that if proper mechanics aren't practiced, it is nearly impossible to skate. So if parents want their children to learn to skate well, and correctly, this would be a great way to get them started.

Something that I thought was really awesome is that real skates can be used on the synthetic surface. And it saves time during clean-up because instead of having to zamboni, all that needs to be done is vacuuming. But something that isn't helpful is that skates need to be sharpened more often, which can get a little pricey.

I really liked this article because it was extremely informative and there were a lot of quotes. The lead also grabbed me which, of course, is a must in journalism.

Another thing that I find very interesting about the information in this article is that through the quotes and content, it was made clear that it's a little bit more tiring to skate on. And I think that if teams were to use synthetic surfaces during practices, the teams would be a lot more fit, bringing more agility, speed and strength to the game.

But I would only want to see these surfaces in practice. To me, hockey just would not be hockey without the ice. I don't even like roller hockey. It would also slow down the game and make it less exciting because the synthetic surface isn't as fluid (pardon the pun) as real ice.

Although the article was in the sports section, this to me is more of a news article, because of the content. The content was mostly covering the advances made by Fort Chipewyan and the pros and cons of the synthetic surfaces. And not so much the sport itself.

Overall, I though this was a great article that flowed well and was extremely informative. It grabs you with the first sentence and keeps you interested throughout and also contains quotes from NHL players, coaches and businessmen involved with the synthetic surface industry. I really loved this article. Take a look!

"Who Needs Ice? Synthetic Surface Extends Season" Brett Zarda- The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/sports/hockey/13ice.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=hockey

Banner Final

For my final blog I chose to write about an article from PE.com covering the game between the LA Kings and the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 11th. I was interested in this article because the Kings had been on a three game winning streak, and the Wild broke it during overtime, causing themselves to have two consecutive wins after a five game slump .

In the first two weeks of Nov. LA had another recording breaking winning streak with six wins in a row. Which was taken away by the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 15th. The San Jose is my favorite team so I was very intrigued by their breaking of this streak. So of course, when LA came back two weeks later to start a new winning force, I had to follow it.

This article is a coverage of the game and what I liked most about it is that there was a full chart of the stats at the bottom including penalties. Another thing that I really appreciated was that it was posted the night of the game, almost immediately following, that is something that I am hopeful about in the future, covering games is one of my favorite things to do in journalism.

Something I didn't like was the lead, I feel that one of my strong points in my writing is my ability to write leads. That is how I always find my angle, I write my lead first. And the lead of this article is very plain and doesn't make the reader want to continue to the end.

Perhaps I'm being a little overly critical, but I thought that some of the information wasn't relevant. Although it was a synopsis of the game, some of the information just wasn't needed and made the article a little wordy.

But, to keep my critique balanced, I really appreciated the fact that the writer used hockey lingo. It makes me feel good when I can read something that not everyone would understand and completely get it. However if someone who didn't know hockey was reading it, they would be slightly lost.

Something I thought was funny, it must be the editing pet peeves, is that it was an article on PE.com but it was provided by the Associated Press and they didn't even follow AP style! Maybe it's a little different when it's something that goes on the web instantly, BUT the writer should know a little bit more.

There was one quote, from LA's goalie Jonathon Quick, saying that he feels responsible for the loss. But I wasn't sure if the writer got it themselves or if it was another source, and if it was, there were no attributions. And it was also placed in an awkward spot in the article.

The content of the article was very informative despite its inconsistencies and I was excited to read about the game considering that I was unable to watch it for myself. Overall I liked the article despite my many issues with it. It also makes me happy that an inland empire publication takes the time to not only cover big issues in hockey, but also posts game coverage.

"Overtime goal ends LA's streak" PE.com

http://www.pe.com/sports/hockey/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_kings_12.3fafa79.html