What the Phillies? The Scoop on this Year's Draft

7th overall pick of the Philadelphia Phillies, Aaron Nola

Last Thursday the 2014 First-Year Player Draft started with two rounds that night followed by 3-10 on Friday, concluding with rounds 11-40 on Saturday. The MLB draft differs from the NFL and NBA and to an extent the NHL in the sense that the majority of first round picks don't stroll on to the stage for everyone watching to see their excitement filled faces. For most, not seeing the face of the draft pick that their team is getting puts a damper on the casual fan's desire to view the draft.  On top of that is the fact in most cases baseball players aren't bursting on to the scene immediately after they are drafted like in the NFL and NBA.  NHL prospects sometimes take longer to reach the big club too, but not as long as most MLB prospects. 

Why the MLB Draft Is Just Not Exciting

Every year around the first week of June, Major League Baseball hosts its annual First Year Player Draft. Now to many fans of sports in general, when you hear the word draft, you automatically jump to thoughts of Radio City Music Hall for the NFL Draft, or watching the ping pong balls fly during the NBA Draft Lottery. However, there is nothing the common fan can match up the MLB Draft with, and that along with many reasons, is contributing to the baseball draft becoming one of the least watched sports-related events out of all American sports.

Bradman’s Legacy Continues To Live On

This historical feature was written for Dr. Ellen Staurowsky's SMT 608 Sports Information & Media Relations class by Maty Brennan.

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I never had the honor and privilege of watching the greatest athlete the world has ever seen play the beautiful game of cricket live in person. When growing up all I heard was tales of this man, his legacy and legend was something untold, myth almost. I was fortunate enough to see photos and videos of his childhood and playing days. The man who has inspired generations, and many more generations to come with batting skills is Sir Donald George Bradman. He set many batting records, some of which still in the process became Australia’s sporting idol.

Guard the Post: Super Bowl L errr 50

Yesterday, a historic announcement was made. The National Football League will, for the first time since 1971, not have a roman numeral in the title of it's biggest game. The 50th Super Bowl will not be titled "Super Bowl L", as it should have been if they followed the same trend that they have for the last 44 games. The name of the game, which will be hosted at the brand new Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, CA in 2016, will be Super Bowl 50.

Under Further Review No. 9: Dave Zeitlin

In most cases, the fans are the ones consuming the stories about a particular player or team, not having stories written about them. The story of Philadelphia Union fans Eric and Gabe Shertz is not most cases. Dave Zeitlin's story about the two and the impact the family had on the Union, the Sons of Ben and soccer in the are is time well-spent.

Zeitlin covers the MLS and the Union for MLSsoccer.com as well as CSNPhilly.com. He took a moment to speak with the SMTSU about what it's like writing a story about fans instead of players, MLS media coverage and how the World Cup could influence the MLS.

Market Power: NBA Rookie Edition

The NBA postseason is coming to an end with the finals beginning this week. It is a rematch of last year’s thrilling finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. It’s going to be a dogfight. Even though the finals will be going on, June 26th is what many of the bottom dweller teams are looking forward to being the NBA draft. This year’s draft has a ton of talent, but does talent translate into marketability? Earlier I discussed the three players left in the playoffs I would target for marketing. Now I will take a look at three NBA soon to be rookies and why I would choose them to market my company.

Sport For Thought: Heat vs. Spurs Rematch

New year. Same teams.  Same goal. But will their be a different outcome?