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Richard Lee has worked in journalism, government and academia. He teaches journalism at St. Bonaventure University in New York State and serves as executive director of the Jandoli Institute, a research center he established at the university in 2019.

As a journalist, Rich held a variety of jobs ranging from political reporter to rock music critic. In government, he served in several communications positions, including Deputy Director of Communications for the Governor in New Jersey.

In addition to St. Bonaventure, Rich has taught at Rutgers University and Mercer County Community College, both in New Jersey. In the summer of 2010, he served as a visiting professor at John Cabot University in Rome. Since 2017, he has taught a graduate public relations seminar in St. Bonaventure’s summer program at Oxford University’s Trinity College in Great Britain.

Rich holds a B.A. in English from Saint Bonaventure, an M.A. in Public Media Arts from Montclair State University and a Ph.D. in Media Studies from Rutgers University. He is a graduate of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J.

Jeter and Bush are in to buy the Marlins

MIAMI, Fla.–In light of the recently released news, it appears a group has reached an agreement to purchase the Miami Marlins.  Among these group members are the former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush and recently retired and future Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter.  The Miami Herald reported that the current owner, Jeffrey Loria, has agreed to sell the team after the Jeter-Bush Group won the auction bid.  According to a source from ESPN the agreed bid is for $1.3 billion.

 

Of course this is just the preliminary stages of the deal, meaning right now, it is nothing more than a verbal agreement.  A written contract still needs to be drafted and then that contract would need to be approved by the MLB.  The MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred, has reportedly stated, “We have not accepted any bid yet for the Marlins.”

 

For Bush and Jeter, the notion of owning a Major League team has been a long time in the making.   Jeter has always talked about owning a MLB franchise after retirement and Bush watched as his older brother, President George W. Bush, successfully owned and operated the Texas Rangers, so acquiring a team of his own has always been one of his goals.  Although the deal has not been finalized, Marlin fans appear to be enthusiastic about the prospect and cannot help but wonder what kind of impact these two men could have on their franchise.

Fernandez statue to be displayed in Marlins Park

MIAMI, Fla.—Last week the Marlins announced that they will be installing a bronze statue of Jose Fernandez in the plaza of Marlins Park. According to team president, David Samson, the statue of the late Fernandez is expected to stand 9 feet tall.

Many people have taken the time to voice their opinions regarding the statue being erected.  A lot of people think it is a great way to show respect to a player that never got to demonstrate his true talent because he passed so young.  Others don’t think it is right to memorialize a player who only played in the MLB for four years, playing in only 76 games.  Another reason people are against the statue is because of the way Jose died.  No one can deny that he was drinking and driving in his speed boat, in the middle of the night, with cocaine in his system, and killed not only himself, but two other people too.

Typically when teams put up statues in memory of a player, it is a player that spent several years with the organization and was one of the best to ever play.  When I think of players with statues dedicated to their careers, I think of Michael Jordan, Shaq, and Jackie Robinson.  Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball and dies 45 years before his statue was erected.  In 60 years, when a little kid is going to a Marlins game and they see the nine-foot statue a Fernandez, they are going to think that he had to be one of the best, when in reality, his career was short lived and although he had a promising future, he made choices that cut his life short.

The Marlins organization has never had a player that deserved statue recognition, so do they want their first one to be erected honoring a player who died in such a controversial fashion.

 

-Aidan Gould

People of Cleveland

 

Progressive Field

Most people spend days, weeks or even months planning their ideal road trip. They pick the perfect destination, the perfect sights to see and make perfect Instagram posts.

 

I, on the other hand, spent two hours planning mine and picked my destination out of a cup.

Let me explain.

Baseball is back in Miami

After a slow start out of the gate, the Marlins bounced back to win three of their last four.  Tonight, they have their Home Opener against the struggling Atlanta Braves; a win would definitely put momentum on their side.  Tonight’s game marks the first of a six game home stand, so hopefully they will be able to take advantage of the home field advantage and pick up a few wins.

Runs will be hard to come by tonight, as the Braves send out veteran ace Bartolo Colon, while the Marlins counter with Dan Straily.  Straily has had a rough start to the year, pitching in the Marlins loss to the Nationals.  In that loss, Straily only pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs. Hopefully Staily will be able to figure it out against the Braves and get the wins that the Marlins are going to need if the want to compete in the NL East this year, which looks to be wide open early on.