Student Work – Sports Media on Steroids

What Life is like for MiLB Players
By Preston Pagel
Is it possible to make less than minimum wage? Did you ever think that a McDonald’s Cashier could earn more than a minor league baseball player? Well for some minor league player’s that is a reality.

According to the Cedar Rapids Kernels play by play radio announcer, Morgan Hawk, most minor leaguers salaries are slim to none.

“The signing bonus for many players is between $20,000 and $30,000 and their [monthly] stipend typically runs between $1,100-$1,200. However, minor leaguers don’t get paid for the month that they report to spring training.”

USA TODAY reports that “Most earn between $3,000 and $7,500 for a five-month season. As a point of comparison, fast food workers typically earn between $15,000 and $18,000 a year, or about two or three times what minor league players make.”

The report goes on to explain how minor leaguers make less than the federal poverty level, which is $11,490 for a single person and $23,550 for a family of four.
Both Hawk and USA TODAY note that some minor leaguers, particularly those with families, must take in another job during the offseason to make enough money for the year.
A part-time job for Cedar Rapids pitcher, Clark Beeker, is a necessity if he wants to live a comfortable life.

“When I go back home to North Carolina during the offseason, I work a few extra jobs to earn some extra money,” he said.

However, money is not an issue for a select few number of players in the minor leagues like Cedar Rapids catcher, Ben Rortvedt, who was taken 56th overall by the Minnesota Twins.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported last year that the Minnesota Twins agreed to a contract with Rortvedt who at the time was just graduating from, Verona High School, located in Wisconsin, worth over $1,141,600, including his $900,000 signing bonus.

Rortvedt forged his commitment to Arkansas University after he was drafted by the Twins, most likely due to the signing bonus that the Twins included.

This was also the case for former Cedar Rapids pitcher Griffin Jax. Jax a graduate from the Air Force Academy signed with the Twins under a $645,600 contract in June of 2016, according to the Star Tribune. The Air Force graduate was picked in the third round, and many believe he would have been drafted even higher if it wasn’t for mandatory military service obligations.
As stated in The Gazette, Jax was told that he could work around his post-graduate, two years of mandatory service in the Air Force while he aspired to reach the major leagues.

However, due to a presidential shift in power over the last year, this deal fell through.

Clark Beeker believes that minor league baseball players must be resilient and have patience in order to have a shot at the majors.

“You have to have a lot of patience in the minors, and I always say that you can only control what you do,” Beeker said.

Cedar Rapids Manager Tommy Watkins, who was a career minor leaguer himself, understands the challenges minor leaguers face.

“When you are on this level you don’t make too much money,” Watkins said.

He believes that travel is another challenge that minor leaguers most endure, especially for the players with wives, and such.
Most minor league players, specifically single A, range between the ages of 18 and 23, according to Hawk so many of them can bond due to the similarity of their ages.
Beeker said that most of the players are quite close since they are all college graduates.

“We’ve got lots of college graduates here so we have a lot of camaraderie,” Beeker said.

Some of the minor leaguers get to experience the major leagues while they are still in the minors.

“Joe Mauer came to Cedar Rapids on a rehab assignment for a week long, which was pretty exciting,” Hawk said.

The minor league’s atmosphere is what drives many fans like Cedar Rapids native, Jean Pfiefei, to the ballpark, every day.

“The part I love most about the minor leagues is the fan interaction, and how you can get so close to the field which is something you can’t do at a major league ballpark,” Pfiefei said.
She also enjoys the minor leagues more than the majors since the ticket prices are significantly less at minor league games.

So although a majority of these minor leagues will never hit the big leagues, much less, ever live in a mansion, they seem to all agree that the minor leagues taught them different life lessons and helped set them up for the real world.

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Life from the perspective of an MiLB player

By Ben Day

The Lansing Lugnuts beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 3-1 on July 24th at Veterans Memorial Stadium. It was a beautiful day out with temperatures in the 60s, however the Kernels did not have a good day with 3 errors out in the field.

Before the game I spoke with Clark Beeker, pitcher for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. According to Clark you “You have to have a lot of patience” to be a MiLB player.

Clark grew up in North Carolina and went to Davidson College in North Carolina. After college Clark got drafted in the 33rd round. Right now he plays for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, an A level team in the Minnesota Twins farm system. I asked him what advice he would give to other pitchers. “Work fast, change speeds, throw strikes.” Pitcher Clark Beeker said.

Clark enjoys his time out on the field with his teammates, however his life isn’t that simple. Clark works very hard at baseball in hopes of making it to the majors one day. He doesn’t make very much money either. The signing bonus for most MiLB players is 20,000 to 30,000 dollars. As well his monthly stipend is 1100-1200 dollars. Many minor league players including Clark work other jobs in the offseason as well as preparing for their next season.

As for the pressure that comes along with pitching Clark said that pitching can be “nerve wracking” if scouts are watching, but says if “I’m pitching in front of 3,000, only 20 people are solely invested in how I personally do…[that] makes things a little easier.”

Clark is always grinding to become the best player possible, however if major league baseball doesn’t work out he would like to find a job that mixes business and sports. To end, life is not easy at all for Clark, but with his work ethic and dedication he is giving himself the best chance to move up in the future.

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A behind the scenes look at Veteran’s Stadium
By Jada Luckett

As fan after fan enter the Vet’s memorial Stadium:wearing a Beeker jersey while sporting an Kernels ball cap.This once empty stadium has now become packed with enthusiastic Kernels fans on gameday.

“The stadium was built on campaigning by the fans and eventually the City leaders got behind,” Broadcaster Morgan Hawk said.

In 2002 the Vet’s Memorial Stadium was built with a large cost of 18 million dollars,however,most Kernels fans with agree every penny was worth it. The stadium being able to hold a great number of 5,300 fans every gameday by the community efforts in helping to rebuild will never be forgotten.

“Great facility the Best facility,fans follow us on the road,”Pitcher Clark Beeker said.

In 1949 the first stadium was built for the Cedar Rapids Rockets that is part of a league called Central Association which does not exist anymore .Years to come this stadium became home to three MiLB teams; Cedar Rapids Raiders,Cedar Rapids Indians, and the Cedar Rapids Braves. In the 1900’s the Vet’s Memorial Stadium failed to meet the new standards of major league baseball for minor league parks. This brought on a change. On Aug.15 Cedar Rapids voters helped to provide the money needed to get the stadium renovations. The rest has become history for the players and community.

“Kernels is a great experience,”Kate Getty season ticket holder for four years said.

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Morgan Hawk takes on the Cedar Rapids Kernels
By Crystal Gallegos

In the stadium of Veteran’s Memorial, there is a sports radio broadcaster who watches over every home game and his name is Morgan Hawk. He provides play by play coverage. He is the official voice when people tune in at 1450 KMRY AM.

“(I) fell in love with the radio”, Hawk said.

Hawk attended Davis County High School. After, for college, he attended University of Iowa and studied journalism. Hawk thought he wanted to teach history, but did not enjoy it. He realized he wanted to broadcast when he had done an internship with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He was the radio broadcaster assistant during the 2008 and 2009. Sadly, Hawk was jobless for ten months until the Kernels hired him in 2011. Hawk is in charge of getting player’s stats, tweeting, advertisement and preparing interesting topics to talk about during the game.
“ (You) need a lot of patience, this will help with other jobs”, Hawk said.

Going into the field of broadcasting can be challenging. In every team, there is about 25 players and 1 broadcaster. This shows that broadcasting is a competitive business. The main key in getting hired for a job is to have experience. Experience would help build resume and make a person stand out .
“I have been doing this for seven years,” Hawk said.

Hawk has been very happy because he loves what he has been doing. He has grown to have a special place in his heart for the Kernels. Even though he loves his job, Hawk’s future goal would be to work for ESPN. Getting a job with ESPN may be difficult but can be possible when you have experience.

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Clark Beeker: On the Rise
By Ben Kinkor

Dedicated teammate. Pitcher. Hard worker. Passionate. Draftee. These are words that describe Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Clark Beeker.

“We’ve got lots of college graduates here so we have a lot of camaraderie,” Beeker said of his teammates.

Beeker, 24 years old, is a starting pitcher for the Kernels, an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Beeker is 9-3 in 17 starts this year.

“I will watch the same pitch when I am watching film of my pitching 10-12 times and visualize throwing it in a game,” he said.

Beeker is very dedicated when it comes to watching game film. He watches most or all of each of his starts due to the fact that he can not perform as much repetition as other athletes because of potential stress on his arm. This problem, along with many others in the MiLB, is something that the players always have to be aware of.

“It is hard for the guys to make money, and they are always on the road,” Manager of the Kernels Tommy Watkins said.

According to Kernels play-by-play radio broadcaster Morgan Hawk, the signing bonus for players is $20,000 to $30,000 and their monthly salary is around $1,100 to $1,200. However, this does not deter Clark from the sport. He makes due with what he is paid, and works part-time jobs in the offseason for extra money.

“Our facility is great. It’s probably the best one. We have a great fan base here,” Beeker said.

The Kernels’ stadium, Vet’s Memorial, was created in 2002 largely by citizen fundraising to help develop promising athletes such as Beeker. The stadium cost $18 million.

“It is certainly hard to talk to my family as much as I would want to because they live in North Carolina and there is the time difference. Usually I am working from 2-9 p.m., which is 3-10 p.m. there, so it makes it hard to talk by the time I am done for the day,” he said.

Beeker and the other Kernels live with host families in Cedar Rapids. Hawk said that Cedar Rapids has, “one of the best host family programs,” because of the amount of families willing to take in a player.

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An inside look at Iowa Women’s Rowing
by Crystal Gallegos
Division 1 athletes, sponsored by Nike, expensive boats, rowing machines, nutritious snacks. In most colleges, men are in the spotlight for athletics. However, not in this case. In University of Iowa, money and dedication has been put into a women’s sport. P. Sue beckwith was a proud donor that donated 6 million into the the boathouse. She is the first woman to have a building name after her.

“ We motivate each other”, Rower Paige Schlapkhol said.

Motivation is not the only thing that plays a role in a team sport, there’s gotta be trust.

“We trust each other and push”, Rower Ashley Duda said.

About 55 women are on the team. Most of the women are transfer athletes. This means that coming into college athletes switch their sport. The rowing team practice 20 hours each week. Therefore, the players have a great bond. They have study sessions, work out and hang out to eat ice cream. Rowing has created a loving environment and family bond.
“ I wish people would understand that rowing is hard,”Rower Izzy Dolba said.

Rowers put in a lot of hard work into the rowing. They don’t have an off season because they practice year round. Even though rowing season is a spring sport, rowers continue to practice. During the winter months, they practice indoor. Players use rowing machines which water speed can change. Also, they have strength and conditioning sessions. On the downside, the rowing team does not get fan support. The only support they receive are from dedicated parents.

An adversity that players face in rowing is balancing because 90% of their games are away. Rowers have to be responsible by taking action in their educational life. They need to talk to their professors and get assignments for the days they are going to miss. These players are student athletes.

“We are in the big ten and we are happy to finally compete with the big dogs”, Rower Amelia Kohen.

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Five Things You Did Not Know About the University of Iowa Women’s Rowing Team
By Ben Kinkor

Multi-million-dollar equipment. State-of-the-art training methods. NCAA Championship qualifier banners. Boats…? Why would there be boats in an athletic facility? Because it is for the Iowa women’s rowing team, one that proved they are one of the best in the nation after a great season this past spring.

1.This past spring, the team qualified for their first NCAA Championships in 16 years.

After putting in lots of hard work, including 20 hours of workouts per week at the Beckwith Boathouse, the team was one of 22 teams in the nation to compete at the National Championships. The National Championships, hosted in West Windsor, New Jersey, included 11 conference-winning automatic qualifiers and 11 other teams that were selected by a committee. They felt like all the energy and time they had put into the sport had finally paid off.

“It was very cool to finally compete with the big dogs,” rower Ashley Duda said.

2. The team has 20 boats that cost between $38,000-$54,000 each.

When traveling to a regatta, a rowing competition, the team takes apart each boat to be in use during the competition before they leave. Then, when they arrive to the site of the regatta, the coaches and players have to reassemble them all over again. The same process happens again when they travel back to Iowa City.

“Working on boats is basically glorified auto body work. We use the same methods,” Coach Andrew Carter said.

Sometimes collisions happen to the boats while on the water, and the coaches are tasked with repairing smaller damage as opposed to sending it into a shop for more major repair.

3. Beckwith Boathouse, the team’s training facility, cost $7.2 million to build.

The boathouse, which was the first building on campus to be named after a woman, includes world-class training equipment including an indoor rowing tank designed by the university hydraulics lab. It is an oval pool that uses a moving current of water to simulate rowing against or with the current. The team mostly uses the tank in the winter, when it is too cold to row outside.

“We have one of the best facilities, probably, in the world,” Carter said.

4. There is no men’s rowing program at Iowa because of Title IX.

By NCAA rule, Iowa is required to provide equal athletic opportunities for both men and women. Because of sports like football, which is only played by men, there has to be some purely-women sports at the university. Rowing is one of them, and has 72 women that participate in rowing.

“Going into college I had mainly played other sports, but then I heard about rowing and was like, ‘hey, I will try this!’,” rower Amelia Koehn said.

5. Coaches are not allowed to provide any help to their rowers once the race has started.
Once the competition has begun, the coaches can not communicate to their rowers in any form, whether it be talking, hand signals, or even just yelling words of encouragement.

“It is really just to protect the purity of the sport,” Carter said.

The rowers say that they have gotten used to it over the years. They communicate and motivate each other while rowing and get on the same page about what pace they need to be at and what their strategy may be.

“We’re harder on ourselves than the coaches are,” Koehn said.

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Football and Basketball Mainly Fund Other Collegiate Sports
By Preston Pagel
For wealthy, affluent Americans rowing is a fun, engaging sport and/or activity. However, participating in rowing is not an option for the less fortunate.
Goldman Sachs rates rowing as the third highest sport in the country where income matters and affects who participates. Their report proves that rowing is just not an option for Americans with a low Gross Domestic Product per capita.

On college campuses, however, anyone, regardless of socioeconomic background, is able to participate. However, the university and the NCAA only sponsor women’s rowing so men’s rowing is only done through clubs and/or intramurals.

Take Iowa for example. According to its women’s rowing coach, Andrew Carter, Iowa gets about 75-80 rowing athletes to come out for the team, each year. Many of these girls had never set foot into a rowboat much less looked into the sport at all until they came to campus, and would probably never have stepped foot in a rowboat ever if it wasn’t for the rowing team.

This is exactly why the NCAA sponsored sport is such a unique, and fulfilling satisfaction for many of the young women athletes. Women’s collegiate rowing also helps evenly balance the huge enrollment difference between men’s and women’s sports at Iowa, in large part due to its 99 man football roster.

Nevertheless, budgeting the rowing team is a huge challenge for campuses all over the country and is the main factor why many universities have not yet started a collegiate women’s rowing team.

According to Carter, the top boats that his team uses cost upwards of $54,000, while many of the standard boats they use cost between $38,000-$39,000.

And while the men’s basketball and football teams’ can return the investments that the University of Iowa and other universities spend on them for equipment and such through tv contracts and ticket, jersey and concession sales, rowing can not. So while the football and men’s basketball teams’ are turning a profit, rowing is losing money without a doubt, each year.
Through estimates given to us by Coach Carter, it can be estimated that the women’s rowing team boat’s alone cost roughly, a million dollars. That isn’t even considering the newly renovated facility that the rowing team stores their equipment in, which was crafted largely due to fundraising and donations from P.Sue Beckwith, a former basketball alum from Iowa, the over 40k spent on rowing machines from a famous company, or the newly built highly technologized water simulator that the girls team practices on, mainly during the winter months.

Obviously, rowing isn’t cheap.

So you may wonder where the funding and huge budget come from for the women rowers?

Well frankly, according to assistant director of athletic communications, Matt Weitzel, most of their funding comes from men’s basketball and football.

Weitzel said that depending on how far the big ten basketball team’s and/or football teams go in their respective playoffs and bowl games, the Big Ten is given a majority of the profit. The Big Ten then evenly distributes this money to each of the teams in its conference. So depending on the year and the Big Ten’s success rate, money that each school within the conference earns can fluctuate from really high to really low or vice versa.

He added that the Big Ten schools will each earn $51 million, this year, due to the tv deal the conference just signed with the tv networks, which according to Land of 10, totaled over $2.64 billion over a six-year span.

Iowa also has hosted the Olympic trials and will continue to host concerts with the goal of making a profit so that they can have more money in their athletic department budget, as well.
The money that both the basketball teams and the football teams is fungible to the other sports that don’t typically return a profit, such as, rowing, swimming, tennis. Without a strong football team and/or basketball team(s) many schools wouldn’t be able to budget the other sports that don’t return a profit so when someone asks you why schools, mainly collegiate but also high school, mainly care about football, basketball, and sometimes baseball, this is why. It funds all the over sports.

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5 things you didn’t know about the University of Iowa Women’s rowing team
By Jada Luckett
1. They have over $900,000 in boats on site
$54,000 for top boats, $38,000-$39,000 for standard. Rowing can be expensive when it comes to women’s rowing at the University of Iowa.These expenses help prepare their for competitions. “We have the most amazing equipment,” Senior Rower Izzy Dolba said.
2. 75 women are on the rowing roster.
75-80 players a year. Many people will be surprised by the amount of women on the University of Iowa rowing team. However this team serves a great balance between men and women sports overall. “No plans in expanding too men’s rowing because women’s rowing provides an gender balance,” Coach Andrew Carter said.

3. It is first Univ. of Iowa building with a woman’s name on it
Named P. Sue Beckwith, M.D., Boathouse. Sue Beckwith is an physician from Des Moines who donated $1 million in order to create the boathouse. Although,the total cost for the building turned out to be $7.2 million,Sue Beckwith donation was a big contribution in the process. Due to this donation,of a million dollars,the boathouse decided to name their facility after her making her history.

4. Many athletes make a switch to rowing from previous sports
“I think a lot of us did not even know about the boathouse before we joined,” Senior Rower Izzy Dolba said. Even though,many college newcomers don’t have Rowing in mind initially,it becomes an easy decision made by many women at University of Iowa. Was “never good at sports” but “fell in love with it [rowing],” Senior Rower Amelia Koehn said.Switching to rowing came as an new experience to most on the team,however,it came as one they wouldn’t regret.

5. The Beckwith Boathouse Facility is a state of art
The Beckwith Boathouse is an comfortable environment for the women rowing team. The boathouse equipment helps players adjust to obstacles that come like the weather. Not only do the boathouse do the boathouse helps in regards, but also comes as an enjoyable place for player to hang out. Facility is a “good environment to relax,” Senior Rower Izzy Dolba said. The Beckwith Boathouse come as an all-around good experience for players.

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From Drab to Fab: An Inside Look at the University of Iowa’s Boathouse and Women’s Rowing Team
By Grace Rozembajgier

In the summer of 2008, a devastating flood washed over eastern Iowa, consuming about $64 billion in property damage, and bringing almost everything to a halt. Everything, that is, except the University of Iowa’s plans for the P. Sue Beckwith, M.D. Boathouse.

The University of Iowa designers did not allow the flood to falter their extensive plans for the state-of-the-art boathouse, only alter them. Generous contributions from Sue Beckwith and the community funded the $7.2 million project and by September 2009, the boathouse was completed — entirely flood resistant and LEED certified for exemplary sustainability. Upon opening, Beckwith deemed the boathouse a “top-notch facility.”

Measuring in at 20,000 square feet, the boathouse is equipped out with pumps, wells, and porous concrete to ensure flood resistance. Additionally, the two-story layout permits the transportation of electric and mechanical equipment to higher ground.

The Beckwith Boathouse is not only highly innovative in safety, but “finely tuned” in athletic features, women’s rowing head coach Andrew Carter said.

The facility features a world-class indoor rowing tank allowing women to practice indoors. Powered by hydraulics, the tank circulates water at speeds up to 20 feet per second (faster than Olympic speeds) so the water looks and sounds like a river. While practicing, rowers are filmed by cameras and can analyze themselves in real time on large flat screen TVs above the tank.

Before the Boathouse, rowers practiced in a spare garage at the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories. “The rowers had thrown tarps and pads on the floor in between the boats to do their warm-ups….There were no restroom facilities, no locker room facilities. We’re not talking about the kids not having some oak-paneled lounge with big-screen TV’s. They have nothing,” Beckwith told the University of Iowa Foundation.

Now, the rowers are pampered with a spacious locker room, personalized fueling stations, Apple TV, free WiFi, and a lounge. The university also provides a full time trainer, sports psychologist, and free medical care for the athletes.

“We have them surrounded,” Carter said. “No matter where a student falls — academically, medically, athletically, socially — there’s someone there to catch them.”

For the athletes themselves, the perks of the facility are nothing compared to the joy they receive from the sport.

“The facility was more of a draw once I started rowing” senior rower Izzy Dolba said.

For the women on the team, the main draw to rowing was the sport itself. Unlike most team sports, rowing is unique in that the coaches cannot communicate with the rowers during a competition. As a result, the women share a strong bond of comradery because they rely solely on each other during a race.

“Rowing is a wonderful, difficult sport, the ultimate team sport….In basketball, you can take over and take the ball and do something. With rowing, you have to mirror everybody else and do the exact same thing that everybody else does. It’s just a tremendous sport,” Beckwith said to the University of Iowa Foundation.

In fact, the sport has performed tremendously at the University of Iowa. This past season, Iowa women’s rowing broke their team point record at the Big Ten Championship with 116 points, and was invited to the NCAA Rowing Championship for the first time since 2001. Additionally, the rowing staff was named regional staff of the year and Coach Carter was named regional coach of the year by the College Rowing Coaches Association.

“The University of Iowa rowing program is ready to make its climb in the Big Ten,” the University of Iowa Athletics stated.

With it’s incredible facility and accomplished team, the Hawkeye women’s rowing legacy will be sure to stay afloat.

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From a garage outside to a dream come true: The University of Iowa’s state of the art boat house
By Ben Day

The building is so clean it looks like it was built yesterday. The windows, floors, and walls are virtually spotless. Everything seems to be state of the art new technology. The boats look sharp as a razor’s edge but feel smooth and aerodynamically sound. The atmosphere is very calm, giving you a sense of serenity. It leaves you wondering how rowing as a sport and this building have gone so unnoticed. This is the University of Iowa’s pristine boathouse located in Iowa City, Iowa.

The University of Iowa’s boathouse is named after P. Sue Beckwith who propelled a campaign to build this incredible place. The boathouse opened in 2009 and is extremely flood resistant. The facility features about 40 rowing machines and an indoor rowing tank designed by the University Hydraulics Team. This tank simulates running currents of up to 20 feet per second and is used by the rowing team during the winter.

All the rowers love the boathouse. According to Senior rower Izzy Dolba “We have the most amazing equipment” and the facility is “[a] good environment to relax.”

The thing that amazed me most about the facility was the cost to buy a world class boathouse. According to rowing coach Andrew Carter it costs 38,000 to 39,000$ for the standard boats that are used during practice. The top tier boats cost 54,000$ and those are used for competitions. The facility housed at least 20 boats. That alone costs over 500,000$ and when you combine that with insurance on everything, the medical center, the nutrition center for the rowing team, and all the other equipment you end up with an extremely hefty price tag.

When it comes to repairing damaged boats Coach Andrew Carter told us “Working on boats is basically glorified auto body work. We use the same methods.”

The boathouse serves the University’s Women’s Rowing Team. The team includes 75-80 rowers and the coaching staff. The women practice for about 20 hours a week, combine that with their schoolwork and other activities that is not easy. Most of the team began rowing when they came to college. For many it serves as an alternative if they weren’t good at sports or not good enough to compete in college.

During our interview session with the veterans senior rower Amelia Koehn said she was “never good at sports” but “fell in love with it [rowing].”