May 6, 2020 | The Clarion
Opinion
Page 9
LETTER to the EDITOR
Response to Clarion's
'biased' opinion section
In Zach Dickerson’s article, “Response to
feedback about the Clarion’s ‘biased’ opinion
section,’’ in the April 29 edition of the Clarion,
he states: “While opinion articles can, and
at times should, have 'facts and data,' they
are pretty much supposed to mostly rely on
'opinions and emotions.' That’s what makes
them opinion articles and not news articles.
It is very important for one to not make this
mistake.’’
I couldn’t disagree more strongly. First, it
seems circular that an opinion article should be
based on opinions. More importantly, opinions
based on emotions rather than information,
principles, and reasoning are no more worthy
of consideration than the opinion of the two
year-old kicking and screaming on the floor
of Wal-Mart because his mother wouldn't buy
him the toy he desires.
For a political example, an opinion piece
published in the Clarion in 2016 called for
the abolishment of the electoral college, with
future presidents elected strictly on the basis
of a majority vote. If the logic behind the
article was strictly emotional - anger that the
author’s candidate hadn’t won - it would serve
no useful purpose. If, on the other hand, the
author outlined why the framers had created
the electoral college, listed the reasons many
people still support it, countered those reasons
with well thought through arguments, and
described how our country could go about
getting this changed, this opinion piece would
be of great value.
I would hope that all Brevard College
students would demand an education where
they get to explore the major issues of the
day and gain the knowledge and wisdom to
form intelligent opinions, and that all Brevard
College professors would challenge them to
do just that.
Drew Baker
Professor Emeritus
Business & Organizational Leadership
Brevard College
Sports
First ever virtual NFL draft
By Margaret Correll
Layout & Design
The National Football League’s (NFL) first
ever virtual draft aired on Thursday, April 23,
2020 with the first round, round two and three
airing on April 24 and rounds four through
seven airing on April 25. Due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the draft will be completely digital.
The NFL pushed for the draft to go on, even
though there is speculation on when the football
season will start this year. As soon as everything
is safe and back to normal, the NFL will try to
proceed with its regular season.
The draft is looking a little different this year,
with no ability for on-stage celebrations and
a hug from Commissioner Roger Goodell of
the NFL. Instead, Goodell has been delivering
draft picks from his basement and trying to
make light of this strange situation the NFL is
in. Many sports enthusiasts have been craving
content since the “shut-down” and social-
distancing rules were implemented, and this
might be the cure to everyone’s cabin fever.
First round of the draft brought lots of
excitement to the online world with quarterback
Joe Burrow from Louisiana State University
being the number-one overall pick for the
Cincinnati Bengals. Burrow led the LSU
Tigers to win the 2020 College Football Playoff
National Championship against the Clemson
Tigers.
The local team of the Carolinas, the Carolina
Panthers, chose defensive tackle Derrick
Brown from Auburn University as their first-
round draft pick. Brown was the number-seven
overall pick in the first round.
The total draft picks for this season has come
to 255 players. Usually, there are 256 players
but due to the Arizona Cardinals forfeiting a
pick in the fifth-round, there was one less player
chosen for the 2020 draft.
The NFL handled the unusual situation to
the best of their ability, trying to keep the hype
up as much as possible. The social-distancing
orders have been challenging for everyone and
giving the public something positive in sports
to look forward to is an attempt to restore some
kind of normalcy to the changing times.