Shoni Schimmel: A Story of Sports or Something More?

The story of Shoni Schimmel is not just a story of basketball. Sure, basketball plays a key role, but it is certainly not the whole story. It is a story of racial inequality and the setbacks of being a Native American. It is a story of overcoming obstacles and doing what others would consider impossible. It is a story of redemption for a family whose hopes and dreams rest in one young girl. In this story, human interest is definitely used as a hook for this sports story. But should it? Should journalists be allowed to toy with human emotion and curiosity in order to lure people in to a story they claim is about sports? Or is it just manipulative? I would have to say...somewhat. Maybe it is a bit manipulative, but isn't almost all journalism? Don't all journalists try to make something more of a plain matter of sports, politics, etc.? If they didn't, how could any story have meaning? In this story of Shoni Schimmel, it is implied that her style off court parallels her style on the court. The article discusses her trademark style - Ray Ban sunglasses - off court is similar to her persona on court. In the segment of the interview when she tries to reenact "the ridiculous playground shot she made against Baylor center Brittney Griner" in a recent game, she did not seem genuine at all to me. I definitely think she was playing the journalists, giving them what they want, rather than being genuine. She knows exactly what happened in the game; she's not fooling anyone. Going off of this story, I would have to say that college basketball may be about the team to some degree while it is predominantly about the individual player. Think about it: do people buy and exchange trading cards that have entire teams on them or does each card zero in on a certain player? Do sports jersey usually cover base for an entire team or have only one player's name on the back? And in Shoni's case, was the story about her performance on the team or did the camera focus in on just her, her life, her background? Does that mean, then, that the intersection of sports, gender, and race what makes this story noteworthy? Certainly. Would someone rather read the story of the average Joe playing for Louisville or the story of a girl plagued by not only her gender but also her Native American heritage who overcame her obstacles and ended up on the Louisville college basketball team? I definitely know which one I would choose.