Robby McKittrick Sports Communications & Journalism Portfolio

Coming into the playoffs, most media pundits would agree that the Boston Celtics were an overrated #1 seed. They do not have a ton of talent, and were by no means, a dominant team in the NBA in the regular season. After losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series to the #8 seeded Chicago Bulls, the Celtics were proving these Pundits right. Although the series is now tied 2-2 after four games, the Celtics did not come into the series ready to play. In the first game, the problem was rebounding.   The Celtics got outrebounded by 20 boards, and the Celtics big men were struggling to contain Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez. In the second game, the problem was outside shooting.  The C’s shot just 10-33 from beyond the arc, which is not ideal for a team that relies on the 3-point shot. The top team in the east lost both games on their home court, and everyone started to question them. Fans and media members were saying,

The year is 1967. My dad is 6-years-old and he’s listening to the Boston Red Sox game on his transistor radio as he lays in bed. Every time his favorite player, Carl Yastrzemski, is up at the plate, my dad pays closer attention. He lives and dies on his every at-bat. When “Yaz” strikes out, my dad is “devastated.” My dad was not the only kid who paid attention to baseball back in 1967. When the Red Sox were in the World Series that year, his elementary school played the game on the PA system in the classrooms. Since 1967, the interest in baseball among young kids has decreased dramatically. Major League Baseball is trying to re-establish this interest in baseball among younger kids today. “With so many other entertainment options available, people don’t want to spend the time to watch a full baseball game on TV,” my dad, now 55, said. “They don’t want to devote the time it takes for a baseball game.” Take my 10-year-old Cousin, Alex Hoffman, for instance.

Every year in March, millions of people around the country take time out of their busy schedules to make a bracket for the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Many people, including myself, make pools with their families and friends. Money is usually on the line, and everyone is trying to make the best bracket to beat one’s family and friends. “It’s a fun distraction from my busy daily life,” my sister, Kerry McKittrick, who works for a congressman in Washington D.C, said Almost every year since my senior year in high school, I have organized a March Madness pool. I initially started the pool because my grandmother was sick with cancer, and it was a fun way to bring the family together during difficult times. “The family pool was a really fun distraction from her treatment,” my mom reflected. The pool was a hit from the start. All of my aunts, uncles, and cousins joined the league, and everyone loved the constant playful jabbing in the emails. “Your first pool w

Forty seconds remain in the 2015 Patriot League men’s basketball championship and Lafayette is up by one. Lafayette is hosting American University in Kirby Sports Center Arena. The stands are packed with Lafayette students, all geared up in white for the “whiteout” theme. The crowd has been rowdy all night long, but at this moment, they are quiet. All eyes are glued on Lafayette point guard, Nick Lindner, as he tries to put the game away for the Leopards. Lindner controls the ball on the left wing of the court. Using a screen from center Dan Trist, Lindner drives to the right side. Lindner drives right past the American help defender and finds the angle to get off his shot. With his eyes focused on the rim and while getting bumped by an American defender, Lindner scoops the ball softly off the backboard and through the net. The basket counts and the ref calls a foul on American. Lindner stares at the Lafayette student section as the crowd erupts. L