In Design 2

Here's my second attempt. Added infographic and made two smaller posts on the bottom rather than one long one. Changed some of the colors/placement. Let me know what you guys think (this one is made up of actual original material).

In Design 1

Hey Y'all.

Just got In Design to mess around with. Trying to make a bunch of designs and upload them hoping to get constructive criticism so I can learn how to work with it/learn good design visuals and such. So critique away.

Athlete Profile: The Life and Death of Esteban de Jesus

I came upon Esteban de Jesus when I was compiling a list of the greatest Puerto Rican boxers of all time. De Jesus didn't make the final cut, mainly because I could not find a picture to be used.

The only agency photo I could find was a picture of Roberto Duran, considered one of boxing's greatest villains, courageously holding up his dying friend, De Jesus.

I say courageously because at just 37 years of age De Jesus was dying of AIDS. And, with the AIDS epidemic still kicking off and information about the disease still minimal, Duran was not scared to call De Jesus and show him compassion when many were reluctant to even be in the same room as AIDS patients.

Esteban de Jesus had the brightest moment of his career eleven years prior, when he knocked out the then undefeated Duran in one of the greatest fights of the decade.



For most of the 1970's Esteban de Jesus was one of the best lightweight fighters in the world. Had it not been for Duran he may be considered the best of all time.

It was around that time that the mighty train began to derail. Like many boxers of his generation, and even today he found himself falling victim to another epidemic, drug addiction.

In 1981 injected himself with cocaine before getting in his car. Sometime during his drive he shot 17-year old Roberto Cintron Gonzalez in the head during a traffic dispute. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

He supposedly turned his life around once in prison, becoming a born again Christian and giving daily sermons. He was released from prison on a government pardon when it was announced he had HIV. He was released on the condition that he go directly to a clinic specializing in AIDS, a common practice at the time.

He was sent home to spend time with his family and friends, including his former nemesis Duran who hugged and kissed him upon his visit. De Jesus died one month after his pardon.

De Jesus is an epitome of the greatest and worst aspects of boxing. The same highs and lows that can lead to the drug use that destroyed his life could lead to the same friendships that surrounded him as he died in 1989.

UFC vs Boxing Saturday Night: The Winners and Losers

Saturday night offered a premier event to see which contact sport, boxing or UFC, will be the future star. FOX offered a heavily promoted premiere for UFC on broadcast television while boxing offered much of the same, relying on the name of its big star Manny Pacquiao.

It should come as a surprise then that the heavily promoted event was more satisfying for viewers, and the old outdated boxing event was more useful for promoters.

UFC did all it could. It created an amazing set and set all its wheels in motion in a greatly organized event. Everyone could foresee that having only one premiere fight was a bad idea--it called for an early knockout to ruin all logistics. And it did.

Except it didn't. The most exciting moment in any fight, however disappointing it may seem, is a first round knockout. It proved that UFC is real fighting, not guys wrestling on the floor for hours, pounding each other's faces in.

It worked. It was a light, sensational entree to the sport.

Personally I would have placed a lightweight fight at the beginning, to whet the appetite. You know the type, the one with acrobatic kicks and punches that show the real athleticism of the sport.

But this isn't sex. Length does not matter. It was a sensational part. It'll help Dana to plan future events and it got people talking about the sport. That was its goal. Viewers won, promoters won. Numbers came in showing the 18-45 male demographic showed up. That's all the UFC wanted.

Now on to that other sport and proof that length doesn't matter. There was a spectacular premiere fight. It wasn't one sided, it was close and contested with the underdog out boxing the favorite.

During the conference call prior to the fight with Juan Manuel Marquez my first fight question was, "Do you need to knock Manny Pacquiao out to win the fight?"

He was reluctant to respond, but it was clear to anyone present in the first two fights that it was true. Pacquiao also knew he needed a knockout to silence critics. Neither man delivered and Pacquiao got the benefit of the doubt for having a more aggressive style and, here is the kicker, being the fighter controlled by the promoters.

I was just added to the boxing beat late in the summer. My first fight was the fiasco between Mayweather and Ortiz. Every boxer in that card controlled by Golden Boy (if Mayweather is counted as a Golden Boy fighter as he is in this instance) won in what seemed questionable calls by the judges.

That's the problem with boxing. It's controlled by the promoters, and the promoters won. And that's all that matters. The fight may have been stolen, but how many people will show up to watch the fight again when HBO repeats it this Saturday to confirm their thoughts? Much more than if it had been a clear victory for either fighter.

The fight is being talked about, boxing is dominating national discussions. Marquez lost out, but the promoters won out.

Now Marquez-Pacquiao IV seems a genuine rematch, not just a redundant one. And more importantly Pacquiao vs Mayweather Jr. is still alive.

The only real losers Saturday night were Cain Velasquez and Juan Manuel Marquez.

The Penn State Scandal and an Unspeakable Crime

The story around former Penn State Defensive Coordinator is so horrifying, so grotesque that it tests the boundaries of human interaction.

Everyone involved in the scandal, from those witnessing to those reporting to those prosecuting, seem at a loss for words and actions. There is no appropriate way to address any of it except, perhaps, a return to the middle ages where Sandosky can be hung on the town square and we can all feel clean, safe, purged.

Adult after adult came in contact with it and failed to report it, not knowing how to react to the claims. The blame is not only on Penn State and the recognizable names, its on a society that makes these subjects so taboo.

Joe Paterno, upon being told, went home to his bosses, horrified, disgusted, and petrified and told them to take care of it.

None of them are justified in their reactions, but what comes to light is that there needs to be new education. There need to be clearer laws to avoid something like this happening again.

A crime like this cannot become so unspeakable that people cannot find a way to report it. I do think Penn State was trying to protect its ass, as were some of the schools, but to ignore the other side of it, the side that refuses to accept acts like this can occur is hurting the children involved.

This case needs to become an opportunity for adults and children to learn a way to speak about something like this without guilt, without hesitation.

Unfortunately we live in a world were this happens more than we care to imagine, now is the time to bring it to the light and reveal the many Sandusky's not associated with a big time football program and get them to justice as well.

Uruguay vs Mexico: Which dream team is for real?

Two teams have found constant success in international competitions at all age groups, nope not Argentina, not Brazil, not Spain: Uruguay and Mexico.


With a bronze and gold respectively in the Pan-Am Games, the teams continue to be two of the fastest up-and-coming teams in international football.


Here are the spots where the teams have finished in the Top 4 in the past year and a half.


Uruguay: 4th place World Cup, Runners-Up in U-20 World Cup, Copa America champions, Bronze medal in Pan-Am Games.


Mexico: Gold Cup champions, U-17 World cup Champions, U-20 World Cup third place, gold medal in Pan-Am Games.


Are these teams truly looking to become big players in international soccer, or is it just a fluke?


It’s easier to take Uruguay more seriously; they’ve done it against greater competition, and now for a more consistent length of time. Also, Mexico in at least two (with the Gold Cup being an easy third) competitions have benefited from home field advantage.


Ultimately, Uruguay is clearly the team with the most promise, although to counter they are also relying on an older generation. On the other hand Mexico can feel confident, but should not expect to be a Top 10 powerhouse just yet. It won’t be able to do that until the officials are committed to working with the clearly extensive talent pool in Mexico.

The Anonymity of Success: The USA’s delegation to the Pan-Am Games

AP recently put out a story detailing the seeming phenomena of Mexican athletes winning medals in the Pan-Am games immediately becoming national stars. Seemingly, this is because the games are being hosted in Mexico, and that is definitely a huge part of it, but it’s not the only one.

As a Mexican, I’ve grown up accustomed to following the strangest sports in which Mexicans have the rare opportunity of winning, dominating. There’s a reason the LPGA was huge in Mexico during the time of Lorena Ochoa’s reign as the top women’s golfer in the world. There’s a reason we got up in the morning to watch the 20-km walk, a reason we know the difficulty level of a 3.5. Backwards dive (3.8).

The US on the other hand has three of the top five professional sports leagues in the world (MLB, NFL, NBA, La Liga, Premiere League as final two), dominates/is highly competitive in practically every team sport except rugby and cricket.

They don’t need to find heroes; rather they try and weed through them, to see which one is really worth ‘hero’ status. There are gymnasts, American gymnasts that have not lost competitions in 5 years and the US couldn’t care less.

I can name at least ten Mexican medalists out of the 33 they had in the Pan-Am games when I started writing this. I can name two Americans off the top of my head Shawn Johnson (because I remembered her from 2008) and Elisabeth Best (because my boss made a quip about her being the ‘Best’).

Point is, with approximately two days left in competition (and despite almost being entirely absent from medal races in track) the US has twice as many gold medals as the next opponent (81-40) and twice as many medals (201, 102), yet aside from followers of niche sports like handball and water polo. Who cares?

“Yes, we won. We should win against those damned third world countries also taking up space in the Americas.”

It’s not about the US necessarily thinking it is better, or having it validated on the medal count, its actual pragmatism. For writers not dedicating themselves to the Pan-Am Games, and even those that are, do you have the time to profile all 202 winners?

Half of those? One tenth of those? Instead there’s bland score recaps, listing of winners. And no one in their right mind will be enthralled by that.

Does the national media focused on the World Series, football, and an NBA lockout care that the US now holds practically every title in shooting?

The US sent a mix of future stars and has beens to the games and dominated against some of the best athletes in the Americas. But the expectation of success, and the subsequent apathy towards it, seems to have erased the narrative from the national minds.

Who’s Jorge? Being a (co) Sports Editor at the University of Miami

Towards the end of our tenure as Sports Editors for the Ibis Yearbook at the University of Miami, my co-editor and I were asked to write a letter to the next editor of the section giving our advice, thoughts, reactions, comments, warnings, etc. Being the stellar editors that we were, we both utterly forgot about it (at least, I’m assuming he did too and if he didn’t I’m furious that he did not show me what he wrote).

Per the request of said editor, I have decided to write the letter as a blog, for future and past school editors to enjoy.

Dear Jorge,

I learned more in the year I spent as (co) Sports Editor of the Ibis Yearbook than I did in any other year during my time at the University of Miami. It’s a great hands-on experience. Just the same, it was not a breeze which is probably why it was that useful.

I think more than any other section the sports section allowed us to have a real life experience. We had to deal with red tape, breaking news, and at times a lot of creative freedom.

The most important thing you’ll need is patience and persistence. It sounds cheesy, but its true and I’m not entirely sure we had enough of it. The University of Miami is a very big, important business and as a student publication you are its last thought, especially for the athletic department.

This is not an attack. It’s understandable. We are at the bottom of a hierarchy that includes ESPN, CBS, NBC, The Miami Herald, Sun Sentinnel, etc. We are also, understandably not the most adept at knowing how to request, follow up, etc on our requests.

In my experience, the best approach is to be persistent and early with your requests. Don’t just rely on email. Call, go to the sports media office, cultivate a relationship with the SID’s.

This is not to say you will not get people that seem out to make life difficult beyond just blowing you off/not making you a priority. One SID in particular, who shall remain unnamed, did the following:

 

*Repeatedly complained, refused to provide information without being allowed to review the article in question. Or complained after the fact that the article was wrong/flawed because we specifically did not run it by him first and let him review it.

*Called my co-editor Jorge. Despite our names showing up in the bottom of all our emails, including the one he was replying to in that specific email. Minor issue really, but in the context of the email absurdly and unnecessarily rude.

*Refused, Ignored, Rejected our requests without reason, at times not acknowledging multiple requests.

Just the same, there were also SID’s that went out of their way to help. Keep those close and be thankful to them. Make it clear that you are there to help them as they help you as well.

Now, regarding the people you are working with. Things go wrong, there’s a lack of organization at times which may be common to publications relying on full time students. The publication cannot, and should not, be the priority of students.

There’s people working there that perhaps do not belong, are disrespectful, etc. This is going to happen in every job you have and honestly dealing with in on a school paper where the repercussions (losing your temper, quitting, biting your tongue) are less dire it is also a great experience. I would propose biting your tongue if you do care about the publication and speak with your actions, also if necessary and possible, go above/around their heads to get what you think is best for your section.

This is not to say this was a bad experience. I loved it and learned a lot and I am extremely thankful for getting the opportunity. I am also extremely thankful for the wonderful plaque I received at the end of the year from the staff, which I will place front and center in my office if I’m ever successful enough to have one.

Sincerely,

Ibis (co) Sports Editor

UM v FSU

UM 84—68 FSU

The orange pieces paced quickly to their seats,

Some entered with hope, some other with bribes,

The first whistle blows; the ball the first rim hits

The minutes pass, slow score—no vibes.

The teams throw punches, tit for tat;

The numbers rise, the other counters

Defensive fury as the offense falls flat,

A slow new rhythm as the half flounders.

Canes start second as the Seminoles rise

To a second half lead; then the defense again

Gains the power; FSU can’t play nice

And foul troubles compile as the canes take the gain

An 18-0 run as the arena explodes to a twenty point lead,

To protect their home undefeated: opponents take heed.