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RIO DE JANEIRO – “For me?” I was not prepared for the question. Not after the overnight flight, seeing the first light of a new day shortly after the view from the previous flight had featured a bright red sunset. Not after the walk through the airport terminal, the discovery of the first of many …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola RIO DE JANEIRO – Mikaela Mayer first met Claressa Shields at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Spokane, Washington. Shields was still a relative unknown. It would be several months until she won a historic women’s boxing Olympic gold medal. “I came up to her, and I’m like, ‘Hey, …

INDIANAPOLIS — Sports journalism students at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will have a rare opportunity to cover the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Frank Gogola and Rebecca Harris, graduate students in the Sports Capital Journalism Program in the School of Liberal Arts’ Department of Journalism and Public Relations, will write …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program CHICAGO – There’s no concealing the fact that this is Mike Krzyzewski’s most inexperienced Olympic team. There’s no LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Chris Paul. In fact, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant are the only players on the 12-man roster with Olympic experience. That doesn’t mean …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program CHIAGO — The voice – along with the ability to effectively communicate – is one of the most powerful tools for creating change. Knicks star Carmelo Anthony knows that well and has brought his voice to the forefront on social issues this past month. Whether it …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program INDIANAPOLIS – Tennessee and UConn were on a collision course. The Volunteers started the 1994-95 season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll; the Huskies were No. 4. Before the season, ESPN had scheduled a game for Martin Luther King Day at 1 p.m. to fill …

“Nice. What a cool opportunity.” That was Syracuse senior Cornelia Fondren’s response when I introduced myself as “Frank Gogola, a graduate student from IUPUI right here in Indy” during Saturday’s open locker room session ahead of the Women’s Final Four at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. After I finished interviewing Fondren, she asked me if I knew …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program INDIANAPOLIS – They sat in front of their lockers and spoke softly. Many hung their heads while others gazed straight ahead at nothing in particular. Their eyes were still red and watery. Syracuse had just suffered one of its biggest losses of the season on a …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program INDIANAPOLIS — Before 2014, the Orange didn’t have an NCAA tournament victory to their name. They had never advanced to the Sweet 16 until 11 days ago, when they knocked off top-seeded South Carolina on March 25. The wins kept coming. They took down perennial powerhouse …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola Sports Capital Journalism Program INDIANAPOLIS – The box score will forever read “0+” minutes, but Milan native Shelby Rupp finally played in a championship game and won a title in Indiana. Rupp entered the game for the final 22 seconds of Thomas More’s second consecutive Division III national championship victory …