Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting | 
The Dodgers fall in Ramirez’s return to L.A., but his supporters show their love.
By BRYAN ROY
The Orange County Register
[The back story: Talk about deadline: I had four minutes after sprinting up the Dodger Stadium escalator to transcribe, plug in quotes and finalize stats]
LOS ANGELES – Just as expected, his last step to regaining relative normalcy was far from normal.
Manny Ramirez, 71 days since his last at-bat in Dodger Stadium, received a standing ovation to begin Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
Having failed a drug test for a performance-enhancing substance, Ramirez’s 50-game suspension and admission to baseball’s mortal fault somehow didn’t dissipate his natural appeal to fans.
So in his long-awaited formal welcome back, as expected, fans renewed their mutual appreciation of Ramirez with open arms and dreadlocks.
As if it ever left.
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
By Bryan Roy
Arizona Daily Wildcat
[The back story: This was the final product after 72 hours of nonstop online updates. A late afternoon press conference gave us just hours to dissect the medical jargon. It won first place in Breaking News Reporting in the Society of Professional Journalism Regional 11 Awards.]
When the desert dust finally settled on his historic coaching legacy, Lute Olson closed out a 24-season tenure in Tucson with resiliency, passion and one final kick.
But prior to Tuesday, the final chapter of Olson’s uncharacteristic past year remained cloudy – up until his doctor announced the 74-year-old suffered a small stroke that occurred sometime during that year-long span.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Steven D. Knope said a blood clot likely traveled from Olson’s heart to his brain – the stroke occurred in his frontal lobe – and caused a year’s worth of severe depression and uncharacteristic behavior and decision making.
The MRI exam conducted Monday revealed the stroke, which Knope believes to be the missing link in Olson’s recent personality changes.
And with that comes closure in Olson’s legacy at Arizona.
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
Everyone’s worried about money, including those buying Lute’s successor
By Bryan Roy
Arizona Daily Wildcat
[The back story: This is an enterprise story about how much financial impact Lute Olson's successor would bear on the entire athletics department.]
As the U.S. government spent an unprecedented $787 billion on an economic stimulus package in an effort to relieve the current recession on Wall Street, UA athletics director Jim Livengood looks to stimulate his own athletic department by hiring a big-name men’s basketball coach in the next month.
Despite the false perception that sports are immune to economic troubles, the UA athletics department is still feeling the effects of America’s current recession.
The money-making program Lute Olson built for 25 years has endured difficulties parallel to America’s plunging economic situation over the past year. Olson, who abruptly retired in October, left the basketball program in its second consecutive season with an interim head coach – both Kevin O’Neill and Russ Pennell were promoted assistants.
The 74-year-old Hall-of-Famer’s contract made Olson the state’s highest-paid employer with an $737,790 annual base salary at the time of his retirement. That would be considered a bargain in today’s big-business college basketball culture.
As the program heads toward a crucial crossroad, Livengood wants long-term stability with a permanent successor who can turn heads around the college basketball realm and boost the program’s image nationally.
But buying out an established coach’s contract and agreeing to a new lucrative contract comes at the most difficult economic time in almost 80 years. “I don’t know that we’re recession-proof at all,” Livengood said. “Whether it’s capital fundraising or fundraising based on our day-to-day operating expenses, most of that comes from people that could have investments in the stock market … I look at the stock market more times a day than I’d like to share.”
Although McKale Center sold out for men’s basketball games this season, Livengood still feels the reeling economy through a ripple effect, as private donations and corporate sponsorships tighten excess spending.
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
Arizona faces second consecutive season of adjustments with interim head coach
By Bryan Roy
Arizona Daily Wildcat
[The back story: This is the Basketball Guide's cover story, rewritten a dozen times after the Lute Olson saga unfolded over the course of the preseason.]
UA interim head coach Russ Pennell addresses the media on Wednesday in McKale Center. Pennell said he had no plans in changing Lute Olson's run-and-gun offense and zone defense.
Phyllis Goodman spent the past 24 years watching her fresh-faced children develop and graduate under their ageless father – a man committed to offering guidance and support regardless of the circumstances.
She looked on from section 16 of McKale Center in high spirits and energy throughout the ups and downs of their family.
Children, as ever Wildcat roster since 1983.
Father, as in Lute Olson.
The iconic Arizona basketball super fan, now 75, stands alone as McKale Center’s most recognizable active figure throughout the program’s storied history.
Goodman’s heart and passion began long before the rich basketball tradition in Tucson. Standing proud with her classic cardinal “U of A” sweatshirt and signature blue Arizona wool-woven hat, the fiery Goodman has arrived early and never missed a minute of action – jumping, cheering, dancing and singing “Bear Down” season after season.
But in today’s uncharted era, as these Wildcats embark on a journey without their legendary Hall of Fame head coach, the phrase “Bear Down” couldn’t be more meaningful to Goodman.
The program’s father is gone for good after a second consecutive dramatic departure.
“I knew all along there had to be something wrong – this was not coach Olson,” a teary-eyed Goodman said, who has attended games since before McKale Center’s erection in 1973. “Nobody ever said a bad word about him, so something was very wrong.”
Indeed, the past two years of Olson’s legacy confused fans like Goodman. But the dust has settled and the reality of life without Lute now adorns today’s new era of basketball.
The long-term health of Olson’s program remains unknown – it’s something that UA athletic director Jim Livengood persistently looks to maintain while players and assistants adjust without Olson.
This time, for good.
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
By Bryan Roy
Arizona Daily Wildcat
[The back story: After following around the Lopez twins in New York months prior, Robin returned to Tucson for the Suns fall camp. He still didn't remember who I was.]
Hours away from their life-altering evening, Stanford’s Brook and Robin Lopez mingled outside on a humid summer afternoon in New York City.
Hundreds of fans surrounded the makeshift outdoor stage, where the Lopez twins promoted Wrigley’s chewing gum as the “Double Mint Twins” with their goofy, fun-loving personalities.
After shooting hoops with kids, the twin 7-footers signed autographs and answered questions about growing up and playing college basketball as twins. One pre-teenager even asked who gets more women.
Together, they laughed and embraced the fan interaction candidly, despite the eclipsing presence of an intimidating shadow: Madison Square Garden. Brook and Robin stood hours away from the 2008 NBA Draft on the courtyard of America’s basketball Mecca.
As projected first-round draft selections, both knew time together was limited after spending their entire lifetimes playing alongside each other in Fresno, Calif., for high school and at Stanford for college.
The New Jersey Nets selected Brook 10th overall, and at his ensuing press conference, the question was asked about not playing with Robin. But unlike previous interviews leading up to the Draft, where the lighthearted Brook often joked that Robin “sucked,” or “wasn’t good enough for the NBA,” Brook came to a realization.
“I don’t know. I don’t know. It will be strange,” Brook said in a rare case of seriousness. “I don’t know when the last time was. But you know, you pretty much knew it was going to happen, so I’ve been getting ready for that and here it is. I’ll tell you after a year of playing without him.”
Five spots later, NBA commissioner David Stern announced on the stage of the Washington Mutual Theatre that the Phoenix Suns selected Robin 15th overall, solidifying the inevitable.
Now, four months after a nerve-racking draft day, both Lopez twins have returned to the courts for their first NBA training camp – almost 2,500 miles apart.
“You know our generation – we have Facebook, MySpace, we’re texting all the time,” Robin said Tuesday at Suns training camp in McKale Center. “So (keeping in touch) hasn’t really been that big of an issue (with Brook).”
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
Saturday, July 19, 2008
By BRYAN ROY
[The back story: One of the most emotional stories I've had to cover, watching these disabled kids live their dream on the ballpark I also grew up dreaming about. It appeared on A1 of the Sunday Republican]
BOSTON – Chris E. Kindness dug his heels into the Fenway Park batter’s box he holds sacred, and awaited a pitch from Boston Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan.
The 12-year-old approached the plate having already earned the nickname, “Power House,” for hitting a ball so hard that the stitches unthreaded earlier this season.
Now he stood on the same soil as his powerful hero, David Ortiz, with hopes of clearing the Green Monster. His father, Christopher J. Kindness, could only stand in the shadows and absorb the atmosphere with a sense of awe.
“Unbelievable,” Christopher Kindness said. “I can’t believe coming through the tunnels, and I can feel the chills. Coming out and just feeling the stadium underneath your feet – it’s something you know you’ll never be able to do again the rest of your life.
“Words can’t describe it for us,” the dad added.
Chris Kindness may never be featured in Sports Illustrated for his baseball career, but for one special summer afternoon, the Chicopee boy lived a front-cover dream by taking part in the CVS Caremark All Kids Can Baseball Camp. The afternoon camp on July 12 gave Chris and 14 other Western Massachusetts kids with disabilities, along with their families, a chance to swing for a home run in on-field batting practice, too. None of the balls cleared the fence, but just being there brought together a Major League Baseball dream.
The Sunshine Challenger Eagles, of Chicopee, a team composed of children with physical and developmental disabilities, was one of seven teams selected from across New England to participate. The CVS Caremark All Kids Baseball Camps focus on helping children with disabilities to learn, play and succeed in life.
“One of our kids just came up to me, and he said, ‘Thank you so much for the best surprise of my life,’” said Eagles coach Kathy A. Dupuis, of Chicopee. “(Billy M. Bredenbeck) is one that doesn’t normally like surprises. They’re still in a state of shock, but they’re just still very excited.”
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Bryan Roy's experience in Reporting |
By: Bryan Roy
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: Sports
[The back story: The drive to New York City began at 7 a.m. I returned to Springfield, Mass., at 2 a.m. It was worth it.]
NEW YORK – Jerryd Bayless always handled basketball at Arizona with an all-business approach, focused on ultimately reaching the professional level.
Formal wear became Bayless’ signature pregame attire during his one-year tenure in Tucson, consistently dressing to maintain the professional affect – even off the court as a college athlete with a dream.
But although Bayless captured that goals on June 26 – he was selected as a lottery pick in the guard-heavy 2008 NBA Draft – the former one-and-done UA guard still has unfinished business.
“When (Bayless) steps on the court, it’s all about business,” said UA forward Jordan Hill. “I know he’s ready for the NBA. He’s gonna go out there and handle his business.”
The Phoenix native landed in Portland after originally earning the 11th overall selection in Madison Square Garden. Bayless, sent to Portland as part of a five-player deal, spent the months prior as a unanimous top-five pick in mock drafts.
Not until days before the draft did speculation begin around his slipping stock, potentially dropping outside the top-10 to compensate the rising interest in former UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who was selected fourth overall.
With his drop to 11th, Bayless became re-motivated to prove wrong those 10 teams that passed him up.
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