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.