Best of 4 Quarters Radio 2011

Another year of 4 Quarters is in the books, and it's time again for a best-of special. On the 2011 retrospective:

--Scott, Mack, Logan, Bobby, and Drew discuss exactly how much money they would require to stay silent in prison for five years, as Barry Bonds' trainer did. Unsurprisingly, many qualifications arise and the numbers keep increasing.
--Scott and Logan discuss the ESPN documentary on Steve Bartman, first between themselves and later with MTSU broadcast journalism professor Rob Jasso.
--In a look back at some of the show's best Whodaman moments, the fellas go all the way back to January and give it up to the 12th Man in Seattle for their appreciation of Beast Mode. Also, Logan obliquely calls Scott out for rolling on his preseason Super Bowl pick.
--MTSU's loss of murdered women's basketball player Tina Stewart was a subject of lengthy reflection. Most of the fellas didn't have a lot to say, but Scott certainly did.
--An interview with former MTSU cornerback/current Jacksonville Jaguar Rod Issac gives a whole new meaning to worshiping one's team.
--In the Epic Fails, Scott gets to call out ignorance and incompetence in some of his favorite targets: the New York Yankees, the Oakland Raiders, and the misuse of a term like "thrown under the bus."

Year 3 of the show is about to kick off, so check out wmts.org for showtimes and live streaming.

4 Quarters Radio: March 4 1st Quarter

Click to Play

The first-quarter curriculum for March 4:
--After a two-week absence, 4Q's return should have been a joyous occasion, but the fellas are preoccupied in this first quarter with the death of MTSU basketball player Tina Stewart. Scott, Bobby, Logan, Drew and Mack share their thoughts and wishes for Tina's family and the MTSU athletic family, along with a great many other feelings regarding the story.

Intermission music: "Still Would Stand All Time" by Prince.

Following the music (which we've left attached for this podcast) come some messages from well-wishers at Tina's memorial vigil at Murphy Center. Thanks to Mr. Don Witherspoon, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Whiteside, Mrs. Faye Brandon, and Miss Ciana Calhoun for sharing their thoughts and grief with the community.

4 Quarters Radio: March 4 2nd Quarter

Click to Play

The second-quarter curriculum for March 4:
--Pardon the abrupt start as MTSU beat writer Adam Sparks joins the show to give his impressions of the Tina Stewart memorial.
--Adam then handicaps the chances of both the men's and women's basketball teams to go out and win their respective tournaments for Tina.
--Before the halftime show, Scott brings up the honor-code dismissal of BYU forward Brandon Davies and surveys his crew about how long they could survive under BYU's strict doctrines. The results may or may not be surprising.

Excised music: "When it's Raining Cats and Dogs" by PM Dawn.

Athletes and Death: Do They Deserve Lead Stories?

As a college student, you become very conscious of being in a sea of strangers. As a member of today's if-it-bleeds-it-leads society, you're bred to feel like anyone around you is capable of anything at any time. As a sports fan, you're bred to feel that a torn ACL is the worst thing that can happen to an athlete.

And then a story like Tina Stewart's happens.

Tina was a junior guard for Middle Tennessee State's women's basketball team, and she was murdered last night, allegedly by her freshman roommate.

The story led the news on all four Nashville TV stations, and eventually made its way to ESPN.

Even as I ponder it myself, of course the story's important to me, both as a student at MTSU and a member of the sports media. But, to those who are not interested in basketball, it may be a question of, "If she wasn't an athlete, would this be the first story I see on my 10 o'clock news?"

Maybe, maybe not. But there's no doubt that the story deserves extra traction because of who Tina Stewart was.

I make jokes on the radio all the time about athletes "pretending" to go to class. At some schools, predominantly NFL factories and places that recruit one-and-done NBA prospects, maybe that's prevalent. For the student-athletes who don't have multiple millions dangling in front of them, however, screwing around with a free education is hard to justify.

Student-athletes are supposed to be the best of us. They're the college students who have their priorities together. Between classes, homework, practices, games, travel, and workouts, they don't have too much time to get into trouble. Some manage it, anyway.

A dedicated student-athlete, however, could teach classes in time management. They can't have a part-time job. They don't usually get to play Call of Duty for six hours a night. Going out to get drunk and stupid at campus bars is difficult, both from a time standpoint and the risk of a public situation.

Our athletes are often the ones who "get it right." Priorities are in order, and when they are, results often seem effortless. Among non-athletes, a sense of envy can set in.

We know nothing about the motive that drove Tina's roommate to her tragic actions. What we do know is that a family lost a daughter, a team lost a friend, and a school lost someone that it could look up to.

People that we can look up to appear to be a rare commodity these days, so when we lose one, you're damn right it should be the lead story.