Victor Ortiz, Boxing Champ, Media Darling & All Around Nice Guy (Via Fox News Latino)

Rarely do we get to see a champion-caliber fighter born before our eyes. Victor Ortiz seeks to change that.

The Mexican-American boxer appearing in the newest season of HBO’s “24/7” in the lead-up to his Sept. 17 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and viewers are getting more than another supporting character in the seemingly never-ending sidestep between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. (Every season of the series -- save one -- has featured either Pacquiao or Mayweather.)

For the first time in the show’s 10 editions, fans are being introduced to a fighter who has the potential to headline future “24/7” series on his own.

Until now, we’ve been forced to watch a parade of past-their-primes and never-quite-made-its take on Mayweather and Pacquiao, as a bout between the two headliners was something promoters were never able to get done. With Ortiz, 24, fans have a chance to watch a star on the rise.

And Ortiz (and perhaps the producers at HBO) has done himself a tremendous service in the first two episodes of “24/7: Mayweather vs. Ortiz”.

To date, Mayweather has been shown calling his various members of “Team Mayweather” to the gym in the middle of the night, only to leave them waiting around for more than an hour before rolling in on his own time. He’s been depicted as the guy literally burning $100 bills. His one-on-ones apparently now need to include a requisite appearance by rapper 50 Cent. Maybe that’s one of the pitfalls of appearing so many times -- there’s only so much story to tell before the story simply becomes a production.

Mayweather has spent much of his five seasons of “24/7” telling the world how amazing he is. In the most recent episode, he said that “showing is better than telling.”
But the irony is, Ortiz may be doing more showing.

In the five months since Ortiz’s underdog upset of Andre Berto, Ortiz clearly isn’t just working to better himself as a fighter. He’s also emerged as a more-polished media personality, which is essential in a sport in which superstars often are as defined by their oversize personalities as their in-the-ring accomplishments.

Following the Berto bout, an elated Ortiz addressed the media, thanked everyone for coming out and was about to leave when someone suggested he might want to take questions from reporters at the news conference. He happily obliged.

The “24/7” version of Ortiz has become a media pro, even appearing on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Ortiz comes off as well-spoken and insightful. He still conveys the confidence required to be the best in any sport, especially boxing, without the kind of cockiness that alienates Mayweather to all but his ardent supporters.

At the end of the four-episode arc, the only thing that really matters is who wins next week’s bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. However, it’s safe to say Ortiz already has won over a number of new fans.

Maria Burns Ortiz is a freelance sports journalist, chair of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Sports Task Force, and a regular contributor to Fox News Latino. Follow her on Twitter: @BurnsOrtiz

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Mexican Soccer Federation calls for end to violence

The Mexican Soccer Federation called for more efforts to fight violence in the wake of an incident that forced the suspension of the Santos-Morelia match last weekend.

"It is clear that the incident that occurred on Saturday at the stadium had nothing to do with internal matters or soccer," Mexican Soccer Federation secretary-general Decio de Maria said after a meeting Monday with representatives of all the professional divisions.

The security in place at First-Division stadiums, "although it can be improved, was very effective in controlling a situation that could have turned out much more disastrously," De Maria said.

Events that happen outside a stadium "cannot be nor should they be, nor can they ever be accepted to be, the responsibility of those who organize soccer (matches), the teams," De Maria said.

The match between Santos and Morelia was suspended due to gunfire outside Corona stadium in the city of Torreon, but no one was injured in the incident.

The two teams are expected to decide in the next few days when to resume the match, which was at 0-0 when play was halted, De Maria said.

The federation does not plan to take special measures for the upcoming friendlies to be held in Mexico, such as the Under 22 match between Mexico and Chile, because team officials have confidence that the authorities will provide adequate security, De Maria said.

Credit: Fox News Latino

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Chicharito out for two weeks following concussion

Manchester United's Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández missed Wednesday night's match against the MLS All-Stars after being hospitalized overnight for a concussion.

According to a statement released by the English Premier League champions, the 23-year-old Hernández sustained a mild concussion when he took a ball off the top of his head during a training session. He is expected to miss up to two weeks.

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Latino Sports Journalists: Are There Enough in the Game? (via Fox News Latino)

This is an interesting article from Fox News Latino. Please take a few minutes and read this thought provoking piece that looks at the current state of the Latino journalist.

For seven seasons, José Romero worked the plum assignment as a beat writer covering the Seattle Seahawks for The Seattle Times. It was the early 2000s and often times when Romero looked around the press box it became starkly apparent that there were few, if any, other Latino sports reporters to whom he could relate.

“I think there were only three or four Latinos in the entire country covering the NFL on a regular basis at that time,” said Romero, 37, who left the Times about a year ago and is now freelance reporting and editing in Phoenix, Arizona. “I ascended to a level where [Latinos] are not present at all really, and it would make me wonder why there weren’t more people like us doing these types of jobs.”

It has been nearly 65 years since Jackie Robinson made history by breaking the color barrier when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. News media have heralded the cultural renaissance blacks and Latinos have had since, playing dominant roles in professional sports like baseball, basketball and football.

Yet beyond the reporters’ notepads and camera flashes, the world of sports journalism – despite gradual advancements in the hiring of minorities – remains a bastion of professional sports still dominated by white men.

“In short, the numbers are abysmal and don’t reflect the landscape in sports,” said Greg Lee, an African-American senior assistant sports editor at the Boston Globe. “Look at the percentage of players of color in the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, and it’s so disproportionate compared to the number of journalists of color.”

According to a study released recently, some 320 websites and newspapers that belong to the Associated Press Sports Editors slightly improved their racial hiring practices last year. The report showed that 97 percent of the sports editors at APSE newspapers and websites in 2010 were white, and 94 percent of sports editors overall were men.

Just 5.5 percent of sports staffs, moreover, are black men, and only 3 percent are Latino men. Latino and Asian men increased by an average of .54 percent in sports desk job categories, except as sports editors.

The most alarming trend pinpointed by the study was that the percentage of sports editors who were women or people of color fell 2.3 percentage points from 11.7 percent in 2008 (the last time the study was done) to 9.42 percent in 2010. White male sports editors, meanwhile, increased 3 percentage points.

In addition, those sports news organizations continued their failure in making any strides in gender hiring for key newsroom positions.

The biannual report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports gave those outlets a C plus, up from a C in 2008, for racial hires, and an F for gender hires in jobs including sports editor, columnist, reporter and copy editor.

“For an industry that reports on lack of diversity in other fields in sports and doesn’t shine the mirror on itself, it’s really kind of disingenuous to me,” Lee said. “We’re quick to target NFL teams for the ‘Rooney Rule’ when people of color aren’t considered for high-level coaching positions or for the lack of minority managers in Major League Baseball, but we never spotlight our own sports desks.

“Sports departments are noticeably less diverse than other parts of a newsroom,” Lee added.

ESPN formed a substantial part of the totals for sports editors and columnists both in racial and gender categories. It has two African-American sports editors, and 23 African-American men and women columnists.

Those figures represented more than 20 percent of the sports editors and half of the 41 columnists of color at newspapers with at least 250,000 circulations.

Eric Ortiz, senior editor of new media at New England Sports Network (NESN), who started his career at ESPN.com, points out that the report raises questions to what the real reasons are for the disparity.

“Are editors not hiring minorities? Is it that students aren’t being encouraged to pursue sports journalism? Or is it that they’re not being recruited or being interviewed for jobs? I think it’s a combination of all those things,” Ortiz said. “What are the ramifications?

"Well, for one, there are a lot of Latinos in baseball – pretty close to 30 percent – and it’s hard to tell their stories as a sportswriter if you can’t speak their language," he added. "But that’s just one example.”

Another cited reason for the disparity has been the steep decline in newsroom jobs. While more sports websites are coming online every year, newspapers in general have been cutting jobs or going belly-up altogether.

However, Lee believes that the main reason stems from top news editors forgetting about diversity.

“At the end of the day, editors use the economy and the cutbacks as an excuse to ignore diversity, but even when we were in good times, diversity wasn’t a priority, either,” he said.

Lee has been a student and a trainer for the Sports Journalism Institute, a nine-week training and internship program for minority and female college students interested in sports journalism careers. The institute, which has been around since 1993, has turned out nearly 250 students.

“We’re teaching them about the business so when they go into a newsroom they know not only about the rigors of being a journalist, but in dealing with challenges you face as a person of color,” Lee said.

Romero, the former Seattle Times reporter, meanwhile, has pursued freelance sports writing jobs in Arizona, and is now working part-time editor on the news desk as CBSSports.com. While he doesn’t believe being Latino has been a hindrance on his career, he has heard stories of other Latinos who have left journalism because of the lack of opportunities.

One of the things Romero did to find camaraderie in sports journalism has been to be involved with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

“That whole thing of me being part of NAHJ was to be a part of a support group of other sports journalists, because we’re all struggling, trying to make it and make a name for ourselves in this business,” Romero said. “It’s not impossible to do, but, especially as a Latino, it’s not the easiest thing in the world, either.”

CREDIT: FOX News Latino and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Manny Gonzales is a Denver-based writer and communications specialist.

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Meet Christian Lopez: The Yankee Fan Who Caught 3,000 (via Fox News Latino)

Article courtesy of Fox News Latino.

By Adrian Carrasquillo

A cool $50,000. Even $100,000 to $250,000.
Half a million dollars!

Those are some of the estimates for how much Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit – a home run – might sell for in the collectibles market. But when the ball settled into Christian Lopez's hands, he didn't have to think twice about his price.

"I was just happy I caught the ball," the Highland Mills, New York, native told Fox News Latino.
Lopez, 23, never considered trying to sell the ball in the open market. After he emerged from the scrum, he was whisked away to the bowels of Yankee Stadium, with the head of security in front of him, asking him what he wanted for the ball.

Lopez said he hadn't thought about that. He turned to his father, Raul Lopez, for guidance.
"You’re a grown man," his proud father said. "You make your own decisions."
And the young man – who has Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican and Nicaraguan roots – did just that.

He said that it would "be cool to get a jersey or something," and maybe some bats and balls.
The Yankees decided on Derek Jeter-autographed bats, balls, and jerseys. And they threw in four Champions Suite season tickets for every remaining home game this season, including the playoffs, to go along with his front row seats for Sunday's game after he caught 3,000.
"The jerseys and balls are going to be the sickest," Lopez said. "I'll frame those right away and give one to my girlfriend.

"The president gave me his card," Lopez added, referring to Yankees President Randy Levine. "I'm going to e-mail him a little later and ask them to make out one of the jerseys to my girlfriend's family so I can give it to her for her birthday next week.
"She started crying last night, her grandma was a big fan of Derek Jeter," Lopez continued. "This means a lot to her. I know how much Derek Jeter means to her family."

When Lopez was interviewed by Michael Kay live on the YES Network after he caught the ball, he said that as a Latino, Jeter means a lot to him.

"I just meant that as a minority, he's done a lot for our generation," Lopez said on Monday. "I grew up watching the guy; he's done a lot for us. As a minority he's had struggles to go through and he's overcome a lot. I look up to that in the man. He's an icon for our generation."
And for the lifelong Yankee fan, he can't pick just one memory that stands out as his favorite from the whirlwind game.

"I remember the whole day," Lopez said. "I got to watch the rest of the game from George Steinbrenner's suite. I met Reggie Jackson, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Jay-Z and Derek Jeter.
"I was like a kid in a candy shop."

CREDIT: Fox News Latino and Adrian Carrasquillo
Contact Adrian Carrasquillo at Adrian.Carrasquillo@foxnewslatino.com or on Twitter @RealAdrianC.

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