October 19, 2018
Bleacher Report and Carmelo Anthony’s Crea7ive Team Up to
Introduce B/REAL Inspirational Miniseries Celebrating Real-Life Heroes with Star Athletes and Life-Changing Surprises
Looking for some uplifting stories? How about Carmelo Anthony enlisting A-list athletes to visit young sports heroes from across America? How about Chris Paul showing up in Iowa to play HORSE in a 15-year-old’s backyard?
Introducing B/REAL presented by Cricket Wireless, a groundbreaking franchise from Bleacher Report—in partnership with Carmelo Anthony—that connects real-life heroes with influential athletes to show that star power can be found in all of us. B/REAL is made up of five short films that tell the stories of some of the most inspiring young people from your newsfeed, combined with their superstar role models. Each connection continues with B/R making a donation to a local charity or college fund on behalf of each hero.
Bleacher Report teamed up with Anthony, who served as the Chair of the Board for this new thought-leadership series, and created the B/REAL Board of Trustees: Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Candace Parker and Chris Paul.
Anthony worked closely with B/R to select five real-life heroes from more than 1,000 viral videos. Then, in partnership with Anthony’s Crea7ive and producing partner Asani Swann, B/R produced five unforgettable moments as these standout athletes showed up in backyards, living rooms and schools across America to illuminate the resilience and strength these young sports fans have shown in their everyday lives.
“These stories represent what it means to persevere against all odds,” said Anthony, the Houston Rockets star who serves as B/REAL executive producer and surprises a college football team in the Season 1 finale. “At a time when we’re so divided, B/REAL’s young heroes show how sports culture can bring us all together. Bleacher Report and I just decided to give them some extra shine.”
“B/REAL is built for sharing uplifting stories that transcend sports,” said Joe Yanarella, Bleacher Report senior vice president of content and B/REAL executive producer. “The internet can make everyday people as popular as their celebrity role models, but there’s life after going viral. We wanted to offer these young fans the same platform as the All-Stars and Pro Bowlers participating in this project, while giving back in the process.”
“Cricket Wireless is proud to be a part of the B/REALseries as the presenting sponsor to help share these amazing stories with the world,” said Tiffany Baehman, chief marketing officer for Cricket Wireless.
B/REAL premieres today, simultaneously on Bleacher Report’s massive social channels and award-winning app. Each Friday at noon ET, over the next 5 weeks, B/R will drop a short film showcasing a new hero. This evening, Anthony, Parker and Paul will join the heroes at an event sponsored by Cricket Wireless at La Peer Hotel in Los Angeles, where life-changing donations will be made to push it forward for each real-life hero’s journey, as the following five individuals are inducted into the inaugural B/REAL Class of 2018:
ALEXANDRIA BUCHANAN • Honolulu, Hawaii She made history as one of the first female starting varsity QB in America. Now Alexandria is fighting for her starting job as a junior at McKinley High, fending off critics while excelling both on and off the field.
ZACK DOBSON • Knoxville, Tennessee His brother, Zaevion, died shielding friends from gunfire, leaving Zack as a largely forgotten survivor of gun violence. Three years later, Zack is a freshman wearing his brother’s number as a wide receiver with Middle Tennessee State.
BREHANNA DANIELS • Charlotte, North Carolina She broke barriers as the first black female pit-crew member in NASCAR history. Next up for this former college hooper: winning a Cup event and continuing to push the racing community into the future.
JASON SEAMAN • Noblesville, Indiana He was hailed as a national hero when he stopped a school shooting in his science class. Five months later, the teacher and football coach at Noblesville West Middle School tells his full story to B/REAL for the first time.
TRASHAUN WILLIS • Washington, Iowa He went viral for dunking with one arm, but Trashaun is a star in basketball and football while overcoming a disability—amniotic band syndrome, a condition shared with Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin.
Watch the B/REAL trailer and Part 1 now at BREAL.BLEACHERREPORT.COM
About Bleacher Report Bleacher Report is the premier digital destination for millennial sports fans creating and collaborating on the culture of sports for the next generation of fans. Its vision for making sports bigger than games has led to unmatched engagement on social media, where it consistently ranks as a top publisher on each platform. Bleacher Report also provides an industry-leading fan experience on mobile devices through Bleacher Report, the top-rated smartphone and tablet app. Find Bleacher Report at www.bleacherreport.com and on Instagram @BleacherReport. Bleacher Report is a division of Turner Sports.
About Cricket WirelessCricket brings more value with a simple, smarter, friendly wireless experience on our reliable nationwide 4G LTE network that covers more than 99% of Americans.* Our easy-to-understand and affordable service plans include monthly taxes and don’t require an annual contract. And our top-brand phones at affordable prices give our customers something to smile about. Visit cricketwireless.com to learn more or find a store near you. Stay up-to-date with the Cricket Newsroom, and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
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NASCAR, Rev Racing to Evaluate Ethnically Diverse and Female Drivers for 2019 Class
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 15, 2018) – Twelve drivers from across the United States and abroad have been invited to try out for NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program, the top driver developmental program in motorsports, at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway and Bethune-Cookman University on Oct. 22-23.
The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Combine invites promising ethnically diverse and female drivers to test their skills over a two-day period as NASCAR evaluates talent for the 2019 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development class.
In partnership with Rev Racing, NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program offers racing opportunities in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and U.S. Legend Cars International for one full season, providing selected drivers with equipment, mentoring, and competition experience. The goal is to provide top diverse talent with a path for development in order to improve participants’ chances of being identified as a prospect by NASCAR’s national series teams, sponsors and manufacturers.
Candidates for the 2019 class have competition experience throughout North America, Asia and Europe. All will vie for an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ drivers Daniel Suárez, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson, the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity driver to qualify for the NASCAR Playoffs.
“The drivers invited to this year’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Combine represent a wide range of diverse backgrounds, both in terms of heritage and driving disciplines,” said Jusan Hamilton, NASCAR senior manager of racing operations and event management. “The combine has been tremendous in helping the NASCAR industry identify and develop top diverse talent and this year is no different.”
The combine, which will serve as a key element in the selection process for setting the driver lineup for Rev Racing in 2019, will evaluate participants on their driving skill and work ethic on and off the track, as well as their marketing and media skills. Each driver will also take part in a physical fitness assessment at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. Additionally, Rev Racing and NASCAR will work with B-CU communications students for additional training and evaluation of the combine participants that will include a mock press conference and one-on-one interviews.
Since the inception of NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program, Rev Racing has earned 19 wins, 88 top-5 finishes, and 186 top-10 finishes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program driver Rubén García Jr. won the K&N Pro Series East season finale at Dover International Speedway in early October, the Mexico native’s second win of the season. García Jr. is also the current Championship points leader in the NASCAR Peak Mexico Series.
“As we embark upon our 11th year managing the Drive for Diversity program in partnership with NASCAR, we couldn’t be more excited about the evolution of our driver development program,” said Max Siegel, CEO of Rev Racing. “Through selection process and training program we look forward to selecting and developing some of NASCAR’s brightest stars.”
In addition to Garcia Jr., drivers under consideration to return to the team in 2019 are Chase Cabre, Ernie Francis Jr., Nick Sanchez and Ryan Vargas. Vargas is a two-time NASCAR Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner and has won three NASCAR Late Model races. In 2018, Francis Jr. achieved four wins in the Trans-Am Championship presented by Pirelli and currently leads the series standings. He has won the series championship for four consecutive years.
This year’s participants also include Juan Manuel González, Loris Hezemans, Perry Patino, Brooke Storer, Ryu Taggart, Gracie Trotter and Britney Zamora. Storer is the 2016 Desoto Speedway Sportman Champion, while Zamora became the first female driver to win the Northwest Super Late Model Series Championship in 2017. In 2015, Taggart earned a third-place finish out of more than 7,000 drivers in the Red Bull Kart Fight in Japan.
Rev Racing also operates the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program, which targets drivers 12 to 17 to compete in the U.S. Legend Cars International (USLCI) and serves as an entry point to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. The deadline to apply for the youth program is Oct. 31, 2018.
2018 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Combine drivers: