In the Media
Media Hits since June 2003

'Is it any of your business if a teammate abuses women?' That question is posed to athletes, college and pro, during interactive training sessions conducted by Mentor Violence Prevention (MVP) instructors across the country...Yupcavage met with Phillies officials and set them up with MVP, an Orlando-based organization that she calls the “absolute premier training group for athletes.”...More
Pittsburge Tribune-Review
April 13, 2008
by Scott Brown
Complete article available in PDF here



"It looked like a brawl - some of it did," says Jeff O'Brien, director of the Mentors in Violence Prevention program. "You could just see the junior girls were put into this pit and forced to kneel down...It seemed to be a level of venom that was being released that was bizarre, like they really wanted to get them."
Intelligencer (Doylestown, PA), June 3, 2003 Tuesday, Central Bucks Edition, Sports; Pg. D1-2, RITE OF PASSAGE? OR A WRONG TURN?, BY Gwen Shrift, Staff Writer. This article also appeared on the paper's Website.



"Men who batter will always minimize their behavior," said Jeff O'Brien, the director of the program Mentors in Violence Prevention. "Well, the car wasn't even moving may translate into I wasn't even going that fast…"
Herald Tribune, June 6, 2003 Friday, Columnist; PITTMAN, NOT BUCS, TO BLAME. This article also appeared on the paper's Website.



Jeff O'Brien, Director of the Mentor's in Violence Prevention program, appeared on NECN's NewsNight program and talked with Chet Curtis, Jim Braude and Chris Collins about Sammy Sosa, his corked bat and the effects it could have on baseball.
NECN, June 6, 2003 8:00pm to 9:00pm.



According to Jeff O'Brien, Director of the Mentors in Violence Prevention Program, education programs have been successful and well received by players and coaches alike.
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Journal, June 10, 2003; Volume XIII; Number 2, PERSONAL FOULS: HOW SEXUAL ASSAULT BY FOOTBALL PLAYERS IS EXPOSING UNIVERSITIES TO TITLE IX LIABILITY, BY Christopher M. Parent.
Birmingham News, June 10, 2003



MVP staff interviewed regarding topic of athletes and violence.
"There's certainly a tide of this sort of behavior we've been following the last six or seven years," said Jeff O'Brien of Sport in Society [and the NCAS]. "It's all spectator-related: people watching something and feeling some sense of entitlement to act in certain ways. Even in sports where there is accepted rowdiness, people are taking things to the next level: throwing cell phones at players, fans attacking the coach at Comiskey Park. Why wouldn't it transfer to some of these people at other sports? Things you can get arrested for o the street are standard fare at sporting events."
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), June 18, 2003 Wednesday, Sports; Columnists; SYMPATHY FOR THOSE WHO NEED QUIET FANS, BY Pat Forde.



Jeff O'Brien appeared live on this show (9:20 am EST) and talked with Greg about Kobe Bryant's current trouble with the law and about how athletes are perceived to be involved with the law in a greater frequency than the general public.
AM 1150 KNRC, July 8, 2003, Tuesday; THE GREG DOBBS MORNING SHOW



Liz Nichols, Assistant Director of the mentor's in Violence Prevention program commented on the news program about how athletes are not any more prone to violence than any other segment of our society.
KOAA-TV, July 18, 2003, Friday; NEWS FIRST


The Kobe Bryant story
Sports News Global, August 14, 2003


The Kobe Bryant story
Shem Hamishak (Israel), August 22, 2003

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