Maria Burns Ortiz

After the Jets upset over the Patriots, my editor at Fox News Latino asked me for a Mark Sanchez piece. I wanted to do something that was going to be different from all the other AFC Championship lead-up pieces that were going to be done on the quarterback.

I suggested doing a piece on how Mark Sanchez has become not only a successful NFL quarterback, but also embraced his role as Latino role model and how the two went hand-in-hand. I jokingly dubbed it “Rise of the Sanchize.” The editors liked the idea and loved the title — so much so that they made it the headline.

See: Rise of the Sanchize

It ran as the main story on the front page of the Fox News Latino and ran on FoxNews.com.

A few years back, I came across some numbers that surprised and stuck with me. It was a breakdown of the major sports leagues and what percentage of their fans were Hispanic — the NBA was the clear winner over the NHL, NFL and MLB.

Since then, the NBA has gone on to launch the éne-bé-a campaign and really made a push for the Latino audience. And still, there seems to be this perception, both among mainstream media and even within the Hispanic community, that the only major sports Latinos love are baseball, boxing and soccer.

With Christmas Day featuring the most anticipated matchups of the year, I took a look at league’s under-the-radar popularity within the Hispanic demographic and at how the NBA is working to stay ahead of the curve.

See: Opinion: Latinos Love the NBA? Don’t be that Amazed!

Moments after FIFA announced Qatar would host the 2022 Word Cup, Fox News Latino contacted me about writing a column. I was more than happy to contribute a piece.

I was able to jump on the conference call with U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, and the quotes added another dimension to the piece. (Fortunately, I happened to have the conference call information on hand from being on the Go USA Bid media release list.)

For the piece, I decided to focus on what it was that people really wanted to know. The column, as I summed it when I tweeted the link, answers the burning questions: Why Qatar? Where’s Qatar?

See: FIFA’s Qatar Decision is No Shock

This column was also significant as it marks my transition from a freelancer to an official “regular contributor.”

The piece I did on Antonio Margarito in the leadup to his bout with Manny Pacquiao was well received, both by the editors at Fox News Latino and in terms of traffic, and I was asked to come up with another boxing story. Following Sergio Martínez second-round knock out of Paul Williams just days before, I thought Martínez would be a great peg.

Reflecting on Martínez’s assertion that he wanted to be the best world’s pound-for-pound fighter, I got to thinking that it’s unlikely he will get that chance to prove himself as the sport’s top fighter due to the unlikely-to-be-soon-settled Mayweather-Pacquiao debate.

See: Latino Boxers Blocked by Pound-for-Pound Impasse

The piece was the most read story on Fox News Latino for two straight days.

When Fox News Latino approached me about doing an op-ed, it was going to be a one-shot deal. However, after the Ines Sainz column ran, the site’s editors were really pleased with the piece, both in how it turned out and in the traffic it generated.

I was then approached about doing a second column, ideally on boxing. It was perfect timing considering the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout.

I wanted to take a slightly different angle on the story given all the coverage that the fight’s already received. I opted to look at not just the idea that Margarito was seeking to redeem himself after his tampered hand wraps scandal, but to also just delve into how hard redemption/rebuilding your public image is for an athlete.

See: Win or Lose vs. Pacquiao, Margarito is Out to Salvage Reputation

The editors were happy with my story, and going forward, I will be contributing sports columns on a regular basis.