Allison's Sports Corner

It has been a little over a year since I have posted. In recent news, I have graduated from Bradley University and have began my career in sports. Truly a dream come true. While I was growing up, I remember having a whiteboard in my basement that I would update throughout the season with my ideal NHL team. My goal was the hand craft the perfect roster and send it to Stan Bowman for him to craft the Blackhawks to my perfect team. Let's just say younger me didn't conceptualize what a salary cap was, but my selected team would have won it all! To say the least, this dream didn't just take a little girl and her love for the game, but time, dedication and passion to the craft.  Pictured: My dad and I watching a Blackhawks game The Journey As I had mentioned earlier, I have loved sports from a young age. I grew my love of sport from around two weeks old, when my mom took me to my dad's high school hockey game. My dad had been a coach for around 4 years before I was born and c...

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway as the first games of each series started this weekend. We have seen a plethora of up and coming teams in the playoffs that will compete for their first Stanley Cup in years. The NFL Draft beings on Thursday, April 25th where we will see players like Caleb Williams, and Marvin Harrison Jr.'s lives change forever. College softball and baseball has continued their season with conference tournaments taking place within the next month for both sports! As you can see, there is much overlap in this time of the year, which makes for a lot of content in my sports blog! Pictured: NHL Playoff Bracket NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS The NHL is my personal favorite professional league and this season has been nothing short of exciting. As a Blackhawks fan, even though we didn't perform well, I am happy with the production with our up and coming stars. This can be said for a lot of team and I am so happy to see the turnover of teams who had dynasties in th...

With the end of the NHL regular season coming soon, the end of college basketball and hockey, the rise of baseball and softball are inevitable. Much to be said about the season of winter sports in the United States marked by successes in NCAA Women's Basketball, for the first time posting more views in the Final Four than the Men's tournament, Caitlin Clark taking the World by storm and Connor Bedard marking his mark as the highly anticipated first overall draft pick for the Blackhawks. Pictured: All 32 NHL team logos NHL FINAL STRETCH From today, there are only 5 more days of regular season NHL games. With only five days left, the Western Conference is all tied up with the Central Division sending the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and the Colorado Avalanche. On the other side of the Western Conference, the Pacific Division will send Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings. The wild card spots are solidified by the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knig...

After one of the most highly anticipated March Madness tournaments in the history of its existence, South Carolina of the Women's and UConn of the Men's were able to remain victorious throughout the tournament. In addition to that, the NHL is wrapping up the regular season and looking towards the Stanley Cup finals as the wild card team look for every point possible. The MLB season is also underway with the regular season. Pictured: Finalized Brackets (Men's & Women's) MARCH MADNESS  On the men's side of March Madness, the overall No. 1 seed in the UConn Huskies took home the NCAA title. In a back and forth game the Huskies were able to separate themselves from the Purdue Boilermakers to win back-to-back March Madness titles for the first time since Florida in 2006-07. UConn dominated the entire season having a record of 37-3, while routing Purdue 75-60. On the other side of the bracket challenge, South Carolina finished their season perfectly as they beat the I...

With the success of Caitlin Clark and the NCAA Women's tournament, there has been an emphatic push for women in sports. Whether that be from advertisements, the growth of coverage on women's sports OR the following of individuals players itself, these past 2 years have seen and exponential growth in women's sport. The coverage of women's sports has tripled  since 2019, which also includes the success of NCAA sports. Women belong in sports and they are finally being given the opportunity to prove that. There is no longer the debate of if women sports should be covered because there has been proven stats that show that if covered, there will be viewers.  As a women who has grown up watching and participating in sports, I have always looked up to male athletes because that is all that I was accustomed to and all that was shown on television. Young girls are now able to look at the television and see people that reflect them and their journey, and that is the beauty of the ...

With the continuation of March Madness and nearing the end of the NHL and NBA seasons- there seems to be a lull in sports dramatics. Taking that as a note, I have decided that I am going to talk about the Steiner Symposium that took place at the Charley Steiner School of Sports Communications and the panel on NIL and the transfer portal. Since I have been talking a lot about NCAA basketball and the growth of the portal- I felt this would be interesting and tie into my earlier posts.  CHANGING SPORTS LANDSCAPE Panelists: Janna Blais, Dr. Kenon Brown, Dr. Joshua Dickhaus, Dr. Paul Gullifor Moderator: Dr. Sitong Guo  This panel talked about the overarching themes of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and the transfer portal. Janna Blais, who is the Deputy Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator at Northwestern, talked in depth about how the ruling in NCAA v. Alston has taken away the student in student-athlete. There was much discussion on how there needs to be regulat...

With the upcoming March Madness about to begin, I want to dive into the tournament field tell you my personal picks, the biggest snubs, and the teams with the best chances of winning the entire time. Obviously all of my words mean nothing at the end of the day because March is pure Madness.  MARCH MADNESS The first thing that I would love to point out is how 3 out of the 4 number one seeds did not win their tournament. Purdue, who was looking to be a lock at the number one seed, potentially overall, lost to No. 5 Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big 10 tournament. Houston, who was ranked No. 1 & 2 a majority of the season lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship game and is still ranked No. 1. North Carolina took the No. 1 seed after losing to NC State in the ACC championship game and reaching the No. 3 spot at times during the season. UCONN, who is the reigning champions, outright won the Atlantic 10 and was given the No. 1 seed. For me, I just don't understand how if ...

A rather slow week in the sporting community, so I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight the success of the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball this season. In addition, highlighting the conference tournaments that took place for men's and women's NCAA around the nation.  MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE To start, this was a fun season of basketball to watch. I had the opportunity to attend and work every single home Bradley Men's Basketball game and night in and night out, there was always a competitive game from the Valley teams. Seeing players who are ranked among the best in the nation every night was very special.  This season the MVC as a whole jumped from the 15th best conference in the nation to 9th best (based on NET ranking). And for the first time 2021, there should be two teams from the Valley selected on Selection Sunday to dance.  This season in Arch Madness, we saw an upset in the final game for the second year in a row with the Drake Bulld...

 This was a huge weekend for college sports, with the ending of the NCAA basketball regular season and the shift into the conference tournaments, March Madness hopes are as alive as ever. Oklahoma softball losing to Louisiana (Ragin Cagun) softball to snapped a 71-game win streak. Not to be left out, but Caitlin Clark becomes the leading scorer in NCAA history (men's and women's). All of these sum up the crazy world of sports.  OKLAHOMA SOFTBALL STREAK SNAPPED The Oklahoma Sooners softball program is one of the most prolific and winningest teams in the 21st century. The Sooners have won three back-to-back-to-back national championships, while maintaining a 71-game win streak, which was broken  against Louisiana. The Sooners committed a season-high three errors in the 7-5 loss to the Ragin Cajun. The Sooners stuck to their roots on offense and outhit Louisiana 11-10. Oklahoma snaps their 71-game win streak, which was highlighted by 46 wins against PowerFive opponents, 40 ...

 In one of the most emotional homecoming's in sports history, Patrick Kane made his inevitable return to the United Center as the Blackhawks took on the Red Wings, Sunday night. The final week of the NCAA regular season is upon us and MLB spring training has started. The crossover of sporting seasons has begun and therefore, we will have a lot to discuss in following blogs!  PATRICK KANE HOMECOMING You can never say that Chicago doesn't love Patrick Kane. In his return back to the United Center, fans embraced Kaner like he never left. It was an emotional night for Blackhawks fans as they honored Chris Chelios prior to the game and during the first media timeout, shared a heartfelt tribute video . Fans remained on their feet for a 7-minute standing ovation for the man who changed the face of hockey in the city of Chicago. I brought tears to my eyes watching the recognition to my all time favorite player.  The game itself was written like poetry for a Patrick Kane homecomin...

This week was a rather slow for professional sports, however the overlap of spring and winter seasons within the NCAA has commenced. In sporting news, Caitlin Clark became the all-time leading point scorer in women's NCAA basketball, the NBA had their all-star weekend, and the return of Connor Bedard for the Chicago Blackhawks.  CAITLIN CLARK The current face of women's basketball just broke the 7 year old scoring record to etch her name into history. Caitlin Clark scored her 3,527th point of her career to pass Kelsey Plum's original record set in 2017. On the same night, Caitlin Clark broke the single game point record for Iowa basketball with 49 points. Clark is currently chasing the NCAA men's record by 98 points set by Pete Maravich in the 1970s. Caitlin Clark is changing the face of basketball for women and enabling little girls to believe that they can do anything that they set their mind to. Not only is Clark a sensational basketball player but she is changing ...

In one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, the Kansas City Chiefs took home the NFL's top honors to cap off the 2023-24 NFL season.  Now with the NFL out of the way, we are going to focus on other sports of my choosing and this weekend was the Opening Weekend for College Softball.  SUPER BOWL In a defensive battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs came out victorious. The 49ers dominated for a majority of the game, Brock Purdy threw 23-28 with 255 yds and 1 TD. Mr. Irrelevant was able to do his part for the 49ers but came up short. Christian McCaffrey also had 22 carries for 80 yards with an additional 80 yards receiving. It wasn't until the third quarter that the Chiefs were able to break through to the end zone where Mahomes was able to find former Packer receiver, Marquez Valdes-Scantling. At the end of regulation, the game was all tied up. In the end the 49ers were able to take their drive down the field for a field goal....

College basketball is gearing up as we inch closer to March Madness. With the NHL on their All-Star Break and the weekend off of the NFL for the Pro-Bowl, college hoops were able to slate their biggest match-ups.  COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 7 Duke v.  No. 3 UNC  In one of the most highly anticipated matchups in college basketball, No. 7 Duke traveled to No. 3 North Carolina in one of the most storied rivalries . This game was electric and a back and forth battle for the entire game but UNC dominated the scoreboard for almost the entire game. Armando Bacot came up big for the Tar Heels as he scored 25 points to ensure them the win. On the other side, Duke's pair of Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski kept the game close by scoring 23 and 22, respectively. With a final score of 93-84, the Tar Heels came out on top. Indiana State v. Drake In some MVC action, the Indiana State Sycamores took on the Drake Bulldogs to avenge their early season loss. Indiana State came out hot with the...

As I mentioned last week, sports are crazy and anyone can beat anyone on any given day and that is the beauty of the game. At the college level and a little closer to home, Indiana State hung on to defeat the Braves in a battle at the top of the MVC, the NHL has been inching closer to the All-Star weekend, and the NFL dwindles down to two. NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND  The NFL has now found its Super Bowl Matchup after Sunday's Conference Championships. From the AFC, the Chiefs who will return to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the past five seasons to face-off against the NFC champions in the San Francisco 49ers. This will be a wonderful matchup of defenses but also the younger generational talent of QBs Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy.  The Chiefs were able to stifle Lamar Jackson and the Ravens as they took home a 17-10 win in Baltimore, dethroning the number 1 seed. Patrick Mahomes was able to lead the Chiefs to 17 points in the first half, but the defense was...

Hello my name is Allison and this is going to be a blog recapping certain events in sports that have occurred throughout the week/weekend! There will be a focus on NCAA sports, women's sports but also the NFL, MLB and NHL as they start to gear up more.  What a CRAZY weekend in the sporting world! The NFL finished up the divisional round, Ohio State with a big upset against Caitlin Clark and the No. 2 Hawkeyes, and much more! NFL DIVISIONAL ROUNDUP: To begin this blog off, the same way most sporting shows do, with the National Football League. The divisional round started off with a Saturday game at 3:30 (CT) with the matchup of young, talented QBs. Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens were able to take home the divisional round and move on to host the AFC Conference Championship for the first time in their 27 year history. Lamar Jackson is playing at a MVP-level caliber in the most crucial games of his career, which is helping the Ravens succeed, but on the other side of the ball...