In my opinion, the biggest problem facing professional sports is commissioners. In this specific example I am more referring to the NFL ad its commissioner Roger Goodell. In my eyes he has started to ruin the game of football and the level that the league is held to. Ticket sales have been down the worst in years because of it.

In my opinion there are many things wrong with college sports in general. Yet, if I had to choose one it would be the NCAA as a whole. The NCAA these days in my opinion is only looking for self benefits from college sports even though they are a “non-profit” organization. The rules they apply towards student athletes are very unfair to the athletes end to where they are almost looked at as employees yet with no pay. Also smaller rules such as uniform restrictions where players must have there undershirts, knees and stomachs covered  yet those things hold no threat to the game. This just shows the NCAA wants every player to look the same and have no individual identity.

Southern Utah University Safety Mike Sims has been making tremendous factor this season to get wins for the thunder birds. His role this week against Idaho he will be starting at safety after seeing many snaps in this season’s first five games. Sims is considered a tall powerful DB who can play both corner and safety but made a home for safety at the end of the 2017 season. Sims clocks in at 6 feet 2 inches and weighing a solid 190 and has the speed to fly around the defense for the T-Birds. When asked what position he likes more, he replied, “I defiantly like safety more because there is more to do. I get to be a part of the run and the pass game.” As he should do to his wide frame where he can easily make play in the box as well. A part of the reason Mike even knows who Southern Utah is thanks to his older brother Alex who committed and played for the Thunderbird’s in their 2017 season as a freshman. Mike committed here and red shirted with a very talented and young freshman class. In high school he was very much underrated by recruits but still landed offers from, UNLV, Idaho and Weber State. Sims Ultimately choose Southern Utah where he is now a red shirt freshman. Sims and his family (2 other brothers) (Mother and Father) first lived in the suburbs in Wood-bridge Virginia where they grew up and played such as Football, Basketball, and Baseball. At the end of his freshman year, Mike and his family moved to the suburbs of Las Vegas where he finished his high school career at Arbor View and was recruited to play by SUU. Once Sims was here he instantly found his home loving the culture of Southern Utah football and the opportunities coach Demario Warren brings. When asked about his thoughts on Warren, Sims replied, “I really like how passionate he is about our team and his goals are the same as ours. He has faced adversity in his life as well which makes him a great mentor.” He also went on to explain how having a coach that you like playing for makes the experience way better. When first arriving here, Mike was a big corner who had potential to play as a freshman but was told his best route was to red shirt and give him a year to develop. Since then he has now been converted to safety and will be starting week seven against Idaho. When asked hi

s thoughts on starting, Sims stated, “I am excited for the opportunity and cant wait to get out there and make plays for my team and do my 1/11th. With 15 tackles on the year so far, Sims has contributed to the defense as much as possible but will finally get his shot as the starter this week. At the end of the day, he emphasizes that his main focus is simply to win games. With parents currently living in Germany, Mike and brothers Chris and Alex are the only ones living in America. When asked about his parents recent move to Germany, this is what Mike had to say, “Honestly I feel as if it was the best decision for the family but he knows they will always support him no matter what, He plans to fly out again to visit them this Christmas break. Altogether, Mike has been happy with his decision to become a T-bird and has all the tools and work ethic needed to play college football. You should expect to hear his name called out at Eccles Coliseum  for years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

m there family in America where they mostly have to care for themselves. We asked mike about his parents recent move and here what he had to say about it, ”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Sims was born in Baylor Hospital in Texas. At a young age him and his family moved to Virginia where they grew up through half of high school. His Mother was born in Russia and lived there until his early twenties where she moved to America. Growing up, Micheal had two brothers one younger and one older. They were all football players who had dreams of playing college football. After being recruited by some schools in high school, he and his older brother Alex ended up here at SUU where they are on scholarship. Mike also makes music and looks to potentially make that a career after college.

Mario Williams was born in Gardena California in 1999 where he has lived in the inner city of Los Angeles for all of his life. He grew up loving the sport of football and playing it at a young age. He lived with his mother and younger sister. Growing up Mario played Football , Basketball and Baseball but mainly stuck to his love of football throughout high school. Since then he has received a full ride scholarship to a division 1 University and is now in his redshirt freshman year.

When it comes the the question if student athletes should be paid, there have been many arguments supporting each side.In my opinion I feel as if student athletes should be paid for the work they do for the school. The way I feel this is because at some school, athletes bring in millions of dollars for their school and see none of it. The way I feel that it should be distributed is the players and teams that bring in he most revenue get the most money. This will never happen because of title nine but it is just a thought. I honestly feel that the average college athlete should see more benefits of what they do for their school.

By AJ Stanley

When it comes to the modern game of football, there have been many changes to the game including the Targeting call which was implemented in the past couple of years. This call was designed to protect players from head injuries, yet in my opinion it has done nothing but bring down the popularity of the game and make it harder for players to play at their full potential.

The reason I say this is coming from someone who has experienced this first hand is because this rule has been blown was out of proportion to the point where a defensive player has to play cautious in order to not be ejected from the game.

The rule was originally designed to protect players from helmet to helmet contact specifically a “defenseless player” which means they had no way of protecting themselves from the hit. If the call was only used for these types of plays I would be all for it but sadly this isn’t the case.

In leagues nationwide from High School, College, and Pro, this rule overused to where any big hit is reviewed for targeting whether it was in the head or not. The reason this is detrimental is because it is taking out what makes football, football. Now I’m all for safety, but when the referees are taking every big hit into consideration it is ruining the game.

As a fan of football and a player it saddens me to see the game I love come to such soft standards to where defensive players are now scared to hit somebody because they do not want to be ejected from the game. If anything that is putting the defender in a situation to get hurt where they aren’t going full speed and another opposing player is.

All around I have seen many people upset by this from fans to players. NFL stadiums are selling less and less tickets and are attracting less fans because of this rule. Players around the league including clay Matthews are stating that the rules have gotten “too soft” and should be changed. The fact of the matter is that players know what they are signing up for when they play. They should know that there is a risk when you play football. If the risk is too much then they should not play. I feel as if they shouldn’t take the game we love away from the players especially positions that make a living from big hits on defense.

Ultimately the targeting penalty is an overused way for football to become a soft sport and take what makes football, football out of the game. When people come to watch football games they come to see big hits not referees being soft.

When considering if Esports is a sport I would have to say yes. This topic is very controversial in the fact that many people believe that a sport has to have physical exertion in order to be in that category. The reason I believe it is a sport is the fact that these gaming competitions are very competitive and they treat it as if it is a job. I simply feel as if most of your time and effort is going into something that your competing for, then it should be a sport.

The Ewing theory is simply a thought that teams play better when their star player is either injured or out for a stretch of time. This theory was created by the fact that Patrick Ewing was injured in the playoffs one year and all hopes looked lost. Yet his team when on to win and go to the NBA finals. This has been a case for many other teams throughout different sports.

If I were to change one rule in football it would be the targeting rule. Although I think it should still be implemented for very obvious helmet to helmet hits that could be avoided I think it is overused in today’s game. Referees these days will call any big hit targeting simply because it was a clean solid hit that looked worse than it was. In my opinion the rules of football have gotten too soft and are taking a part of what makes the game exciting away. The targeting rule is taking away what makes football the game it is.