Author: ebg308

Graphics Principles: Upshot Election Graphics

I like to check on election projections every so often, so this assignment was a good excuse to do so. I like that Upshot aggregates a lot of polls, and early on puts Trump’s chances at winning in a different context; this one happens to be a sports one.

The graphs are well-designed, and while they take a little bit of understanding of statistics to fully graps what they illustrate, it’s not too hard. The best of the graphs is the one of the swing states that shows the paths to victory in each state for each candidate. Clinton has an overwhelming majority of ways to win, and at this rate it’s evident through the graphics that she is the clear favorite. Trump has to win all of the states listed, which is easily disseminated and fascinating information.

I also like the line graph that shows the progress of the chances of each candidate to win over the past few months up to now. Overall, this is a well done graphic that gets its message across clearly and is informative in a way that is easy to comprehend and analyze.

Mountain West Conference Breakdown

Financial CategorySubcategoryAmount
Total Revenue$13,225,615
Contributions and Grants$7,728,405
Program Service
$5,323,105
Investment$63,430
Other$56,672
Total Expenses
Grants and similar amounts paid$3,698,019
Salaries$2,633,569
Other$7,998,361
Distribution to members
Colorado State University$211,245
University of Nevada-Las Vegas$256,121
University of New Mexico$370,664
San Diego State University$683,394
Boise State University$296,110
University of Wyoming$240,003
Air Force Academy$126,779
University of Nevada$445,365
Fresno State University$546,798
Utah State University$255,407
San Jose State University$266,133
Salary of commissioner
Craig Thompson$531,803
Salary of deputy commissioner
Bret Gilliland$192,500

Story ideas

Parking: Examining the businesses in and around SunTrust Park, their right to ownership of the parking lots that surround them. Are there legal grounds for the Braves to claim that property as their own? What is the monetary value lost by these businesses by not licensing these spots instead of the Braves selling them? What did they do to try to stop this? How will this affect future business, especially with a new complex coming in?

Traffic: All along, this has been the biggest issue, and one of the biggest gripes people have with the move. How comprehensive were the studies about potential traffic problems? Was it overlooked in lieu of simply migrating to the place where the highest customer base is? Is there a way to simulate what a typical game day traffic pattern would look like?

Economic gain: Beyond the figures given by the team, is this truly the best fiscally responsible move for the team and the county? Are the economic gains great enough to overcome any loss? What are the long term projections 10-15 years down the line? How do they compare to when the Braves opened Turner Field (admittedly in a location not far from the old one).

Player reaction: We really haven’t heard too much from players on the move on a mass level, whether that’s because they’ve been advised not to or don’t want to get into it. You’d think that the move is closer to where most of them likely reside, and for some of the hometown people where they lived growing up. This is an interesting angle that probably will be more formed as the offseason approaches in the next few months.

Comparison: How does what the Braves did and are doing compare to recent stadium deals and dealings with local government? This isn’t just a local issue. What models did the franchise use if any in developing their plans for a new stadium?

Extra: Mixed use: The Braves’ new stadium is going to start what will likely be a new wave of stadium complexes, where the stadium is the centerpiece of a mixed-use development space with apartments and trendy shops and restaurants. It is a beautification of sorts. With this in mind, will it affect attendance at all, where the area is a place to go eat and shop that happens to have baseball? Or will it attract more fans? Are these people baseball fans who would go either way, or people who are attracted to the other things available that go to the game to see both the team and the developments around it?

5 stories

I don’t want to write about Ryan Lochte, but what I’m considering for my personal story is Cobb County and the Atlanta Braves.

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

Story 4

Story 5

Story 6

The Braves’ dealings with Cobb County have been well-documented, especially by Deadspin, who has been very critical of the move. I shared stories from them as well as from the AJC, who presented the more investigatory approach.

Questions:

Did the franchise truly have no regard for the county and its businesses?

Who was hired in the development process to do research about where the new stadium should be placed?

Who are behind the local businesses that the Braves took the parking away from?

Who were the power brokers in this process?

Why weren’t citizens allowed to give more input than they were?

What culpability do local politicians have in this process? Was there ever a time they fought back?

What is the economic value of the parking the Braves are claiming as their own?

How much fluidity was the plan between moving from Turner Field and Georgia State moving in? Did this affect the move or was it a cause and effect? Is there any causation?

Methods for gathering information

I keep track of my notes and things I need for a story usually on a single Google doc. This is, for me, an easy way to consolidate everything in one place. Operating on one document also is a memory exercise to where I can remember where something was on the document and remember putting it on there. I like having everything in one place and not having to go to several different places to find something. It might not be the most organized or efficient method, but it is the one that works best with the way my mind works and operates when I undertake a big project. When it’s time to write, I usually just scroll up and down on that document. It becomes a game of sorts, as I put all the puzzle pieces together where they need to go based on what I have. That is my process, and while I am definitely open to change, it’s what has worked best for me thus far.

Schooldays: Johns Creek High School

The year 2009 was actually the first year of existence for my high school — I was the first full four-year graduating class. With this in mind, I went back and found the writeup on the football team’s first ever home game. At the time, we only had a JV team as the football program was still in its development stage. It’s crazy to think that that was seven years ago.

Johns Creek won the game, getting things with the program off to a great start. The program would actually go on to have a bit of a underdog under-the-radar next few seasons, and even made the playoffs by the time I graduated.

I didn’t remember until finding this article that Johns Creek faced off against another new school in Langston Hughes. Researching this was a fun bit of introspection and brought back some great memories, when football games on Friday nights were the best part of my week and the place I felt most at home.

Lochte questions

1. Who is Ryan Lochte?
2. How does Lochte’s demeanor help explain what happened in Rio?
3. What is Lochte’s relationship with the other swimmers he was with?
4. Why did he feel the need to initally embellish his story, regardless of the extent?
5. Does Lochte have a history of this type of behavior?
6. What is Lochte’s relationship like with USA Swimming, and are there prior examples that might help illuminate this?
7. Are there other examples of the American public turning on an athlete as quickly as this?
8. What was Brazil’s role in perpetuating this story?
9. What were the problems coming into the Games in Brazil?
10. Was the incident involving Lochte seen as a way by Brazil to distract from some of the problems of the Games?
11. Lochte and Michael Phelps are often compared in the pool together — how are they different off it? Similar?
12. What has been the fallout from this story, and what other stories have emerged from the initial incident?
13. Might the fleeting nature of the Olympics aid Lochte in helping this story go away?
14. What is Dancing with the Stars?
15. Why does Lochte feel the need to stay in the spotlight by appearing on television so soon after the incident?

Surprising-Lochte

Al Roker gets into heated argument on 'Today' show over Ryan Lochte

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/24/ryan-lochte-dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-cast/89306932/

This Ryan Lochte story continues to fascinate me. It very much was an international incident, and the legs that it has and continues to have is remarkable.

There are so many facets and angles that have emerged from this story that have expanded well beyond the second day. We are now into the celebrity and outside source part of it, from Al Roker garnering praise and then admonishment from the public and his bosses respectively to Ryan Lochte now, for lack of a better word, capitalizing on his spotlight by joining Dancing With the Stars.

This was by far the biggest non-athletic story to come out of Rio, and the fact that it is still something that is being talked about and debated a week later is wild. It has down likely irreparable damage to Lochte’s reputation and but a scab on an otherwise extremely successful Olympics for USA Swimming.

Sandusky reaction

Two things stand out in my mind with the Jerry Sandusky case:

2011 was the year that I joined Twitter, and the first time that I started to pursue and examine news in a more mature and nuanced lens. This mostly had to do with my age, but I think it’s interesting, especially since this is when the story came out.

I remember a lot of people I admire and followed on Twitter at the time posting the Freeh report, and encouraging people to read it to see just how far this went and the horrible things that went on without intervention. I distinctly recall getting to about three pages into it and it just being too much for me. I still haven’t gone back to read it, but that memory sticks with me.

What is most gut-wrenching about reading the coverage is how little was done to put Sandusky to justice before he finally was. This spanned over decades, and no one really did anything. Sandusky was protected in part because he was a public figure. The reporting is comprehensive and takes me back to when I first was reading the story. It is disgusting and terrible, and reading about it again brings up those feelings again.