After I completed my undergrad in journalism, I earned a Master's in Sport Management at UMass. While I truly enjoyed my experiences in broadcast, sports was always the reason I wanted to pursue that career. I figured out that I wanted to consider a more professional environment for my career in sports and that is the reason I decided to go to UMass, a very prestigious school for this discipline. Check out the program. (The school just finalized a deal to house the Mark McCormack Collection!)
My goal since attending UMass has been to work for a MLB team or the Major League Baseball. I hope to realize that goal soon!
While I was in the program, I worked on several graduate level projects. I worked in a team of other graduate students to develop a sponsorship activation strategy for an international beverage company and we pitched it to the sports and lifestyle marketing firm that manages that brand. We pitched one activation strategy for the Ryder Cup, with whom the brand had already established a relationship, and one strategy outside of sports.
Some other things I did in the program include working as the teaching assistant for the facilities management undergrad course and work on SoccerFest. It is a grassroots soccer tournament hosted by the Sport Management program and organized entirely by students. We marketed the event, made sponsorship deals and managed all the activities over the course of the day.
As I have mentioned, I have not found the job I have been looking for since I completed the program in 2008. However, I have done whatever I can to continue to gain experience. I currently coach a sixth grade basketball team and work with managing leagues at a local community center. (My team just lost a heartbreaker in the final four, but I pride myself on how much we improved over the course of the season.) I also rode my bike in Pelotonia, a grassroots bike ride in Columbus, Ohio that raises funds for the James Cancer Center at Ohio State University. I continue to write for Rotowire and I also manage events for Ohio University alumni in Columbus.
I currently work for Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) in a position completely unrelated to sports. That is not a knock on OCCH because the organization does some very good work for people in Ohio and surrounding states who need affordable housing options and I am honored to work there. The important thing is that I continue to work as hard as I can to find the right career fit while making ends meet and having a positive impact on everything I do. When it comes to most of the things I listed above, I want to make it clear that I work but I also am fulfilled in the meaningful work that I do.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Journalism Experience
Let me cast aside any doubt and say I love to write about sports - baseball, in particular.
Begin a writer for a newspaper always sounded interesting to me, so I went to school for journalism at Ohio University. It has a fine journalism school and I focused on news writing and editing for about a quarter. Then I gave broadcast a shot and I decided to stick with it.
There is tremendous opportunity at OU because the campus is in Southeast Ohio, which often finds itself as an underserved area in a no man's land between two television markets. For students, it is a chance to do work that matters and the University hosts a public television station, WOUB. I had the opportunity to work in radio and television for nearly four years.
Everyone wants to be in TV right when they walk through the door, but they soon find they must work their way up through radio. After I finished training, I got my first gig on the air - at around 6:30am. That meant getting to the station by 5am. I mispronounced Gallipolis. Soon I began to cover stories for our live news program and before I knew it I was a sports and news anchor. Yes, I even covered a story on some cows that escaped from a truck. My best experience was going up to Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) to interview Nick Swisher and Jay Payton. Each player was with the Athletics and were born in my viewing area. For those of you who don't know, Swisher is a funny guy.
I also co-hosted an hour-long sports talk show with my good friend Andrew Braverman. Braves and I built the rundown, booked guests and talked about sports both locally and nationally. We usually had plenty to rant about, as Andrew was a life-long Cubs and Bears fan, while I was a life-long Reds and Browns fan. On the local level, the Ohio Bobcats basketball team gave us plenty of thrillers, none more so than the time Leon Williams tipped this one in. Yes, the O-Zone did storm the court.
The experience that every sports broadcast student enjoys most is Gridiron Glory, a live program that covers high school football on Friday nights. How many college kids would give up Friday nights to do something like this? More than you would think, because we had up to 50 people working on it. I was a reporter for three years, then a producer for my last year. We were recognized with a Regional Emmy Award for Outstanding Students Production in my final year after submitting a show that went live from three different locations. In my four years, I built rundowns, wrote stories, shot video, edited highlights and reported on air.
While I have not had a full-time career in journalism since then, I now write for a fantasy sports website, Rotowire. I edit player profiles to keep them updated with news and write a weekly column for the website. More on all that in a later post.
Begin a writer for a newspaper always sounded interesting to me, so I went to school for journalism at Ohio University. It has a fine journalism school and I focused on news writing and editing for about a quarter. Then I gave broadcast a shot and I decided to stick with it.
There is tremendous opportunity at OU because the campus is in Southeast Ohio, which often finds itself as an underserved area in a no man's land between two television markets. For students, it is a chance to do work that matters and the University hosts a public television station, WOUB. I had the opportunity to work in radio and television for nearly four years.
Everyone wants to be in TV right when they walk through the door, but they soon find they must work their way up through radio. After I finished training, I got my first gig on the air - at around 6:30am. That meant getting to the station by 5am. I mispronounced Gallipolis. Soon I began to cover stories for our live news program and before I knew it I was a sports and news anchor. Yes, I even covered a story on some cows that escaped from a truck. My best experience was going up to Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) to interview Nick Swisher and Jay Payton. Each player was with the Athletics and were born in my viewing area. For those of you who don't know, Swisher is a funny guy.
I also co-hosted an hour-long sports talk show with my good friend Andrew Braverman. Braves and I built the rundown, booked guests and talked about sports both locally and nationally. We usually had plenty to rant about, as Andrew was a life-long Cubs and Bears fan, while I was a life-long Reds and Browns fan. On the local level, the Ohio Bobcats basketball team gave us plenty of thrillers, none more so than the time Leon Williams tipped this one in. Yes, the O-Zone did storm the court.
The experience that every sports broadcast student enjoys most is Gridiron Glory, a live program that covers high school football on Friday nights. How many college kids would give up Friday nights to do something like this? More than you would think, because we had up to 50 people working on it. I was a reporter for three years, then a producer for my last year. We were recognized with a Regional Emmy Award for Outstanding Students Production in my final year after submitting a show that went live from three different locations. In my four years, I built rundowns, wrote stories, shot video, edited highlights and reported on air.
While I have not had a full-time career in journalism since then, I now write for a fantasy sports website, Rotowire. I edit player profiles to keep them updated with news and write a weekly column for the website. More on all that in a later post.
AL East Preview
Predicted Finish:
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays
These predictions should not differ too much from many of those you will see by baseball experts. The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry will dominate the headlines once again, but I think the Yankees and Rays will decline. Baltimore hopes to see its youth movement pay off, while the Blue Jays are in an all out rebuilding mode.
1. Red Sox - The new Red Sox lineup is downright scary, every bit as much as the Yankees. Health was the main concern in 2010, with Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis out for much of the season. With the additions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, Boston's Nos. 1-6 hitters are the best in the business. The rotation is headlined by Jon Lester, but there are some concerns for varying reasons with other pitchers. Is Josh Beckett healthy? What was up with John Lackey? Can Dice-K put it together for a full season? The bullpen saw several upgrades and should be productive. By the end of the season, I bet the Red Sox win the division decisively.
2. Yankees - Their hitting needs no introduction and should be good enough to keep the team in contention, but we could see declines from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. The bigger question concerns pitching, as in where is it? C.C. Sabathia is a legit ace. Behind him is Phil Hughes, who many analysts believe was a "lucky" pitcher in 2010. A shaky A.J. Burnett is the No. 3 and he was such a disaster last year the Yankees would have done anything to avoid using him in the playoffs. Behind him, you are looking at potential comebacks by Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. That is just depressing.
3. Rays - No doubt the loss of Carl Crawford will sting, but the team is good enough that it would only be a mild surprise to see the Rays get a playoff spot. There are some holes on the roster, from players who have not contributed before in Sean Rodriguez and Dan Johnson, to aging veteran signees such as Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. What holds this team together is its deep pitching. Led by David Price and finishing with top prospect Jeremy Hellickson, it seems like there is no end to the organizational depth for the Rays.
4. Orioles - Book me now for saying this Orioles team will not be that bad. It could even be a good team if the young rotation takes a step forward. The lineup looks competitive and veteran experiments on Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee have a better chance of working out than disasters like Garrett Atkins and Miguel Tejada. Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz should do fine in the rotation. The future of the deep depends on the development of Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton. This team needs those two to hang with the division heavyweights in order to compete.
5. Blue Jays - The team is in an all out rebuilding mode having rid themselves of the nasty Vernon Wells and Alex Rios contracts. However, it does not seem to be particularly loaded with prospects and the remaining veterans are not exactly impact players. Jose Bautista would need to repeat and huge rebounds are necessary from Adam Lind and Aaron Hill for the team to have any shot. The rotation is in decent shape with Ricky Romero followed by up-and-comers Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil. Keep Morrow's name in mind. You will be hearing his name a lot this season.
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays
These predictions should not differ too much from many of those you will see by baseball experts. The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry will dominate the headlines once again, but I think the Yankees and Rays will decline. Baltimore hopes to see its youth movement pay off, while the Blue Jays are in an all out rebuilding mode.
1. Red Sox - The new Red Sox lineup is downright scary, every bit as much as the Yankees. Health was the main concern in 2010, with Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis out for much of the season. With the additions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, Boston's Nos. 1-6 hitters are the best in the business. The rotation is headlined by Jon Lester, but there are some concerns for varying reasons with other pitchers. Is Josh Beckett healthy? What was up with John Lackey? Can Dice-K put it together for a full season? The bullpen saw several upgrades and should be productive. By the end of the season, I bet the Red Sox win the division decisively.
2. Yankees - Their hitting needs no introduction and should be good enough to keep the team in contention, but we could see declines from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. The bigger question concerns pitching, as in where is it? C.C. Sabathia is a legit ace. Behind him is Phil Hughes, who many analysts believe was a "lucky" pitcher in 2010. A shaky A.J. Burnett is the No. 3 and he was such a disaster last year the Yankees would have done anything to avoid using him in the playoffs. Behind him, you are looking at potential comebacks by Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. That is just depressing.
3. Rays - No doubt the loss of Carl Crawford will sting, but the team is good enough that it would only be a mild surprise to see the Rays get a playoff spot. There are some holes on the roster, from players who have not contributed before in Sean Rodriguez and Dan Johnson, to aging veteran signees such as Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. What holds this team together is its deep pitching. Led by David Price and finishing with top prospect Jeremy Hellickson, it seems like there is no end to the organizational depth for the Rays.
4. Orioles - Book me now for saying this Orioles team will not be that bad. It could even be a good team if the young rotation takes a step forward. The lineup looks competitive and veteran experiments on Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee have a better chance of working out than disasters like Garrett Atkins and Miguel Tejada. Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz should do fine in the rotation. The future of the deep depends on the development of Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton. This team needs those two to hang with the division heavyweights in order to compete.
5. Blue Jays - The team is in an all out rebuilding mode having rid themselves of the nasty Vernon Wells and Alex Rios contracts. However, it does not seem to be particularly loaded with prospects and the remaining veterans are not exactly impact players. Jose Bautista would need to repeat and huge rebounds are necessary from Adam Lind and Aaron Hill for the team to have any shot. The rotation is in decent shape with Ricky Romero followed by up-and-comers Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil. Keep Morrow's name in mind. You will be hearing his name a lot this season.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
You Mean Learn How to Hit?
MLB.com posted this story today. As Reds fans who watched Dunn man left field in Cincinnati for several years, we often joked that a move to the American League where he could play his "natural position" would be in order some day. Now with the Chicago White Sox, that day is here. But isn't it just a smack in the face for a player to see this headline?
Initial Reactions
I would like to post the reactions of friends and colleagues as I continue to work on this. Here are the first couple:
This came in an unprompted email from a friend of mine who wanted to make sure I knew about the job:
"this is all you..." he said as he provided a link.
From another friend:
"Good luck!!!!!!! I know that this would be your dream job and you would be great at it!"
Sure, these are a bit superficial and I have no doubt there are thousands of people wishing someone luck in pursuing this. I hope to get some meaningful statements over the next few days from people who know how passionate and talented I would be at this job. We will see what trickles in.
This came in an unprompted email from a friend of mine who wanted to make sure I knew about the job:
"this is all you..." he said as he provided a link.
From another friend:
"Good luck!!!!!!! I know that this would be your dream job and you would be great at it!"
Sure, these are a bit superficial and I have no doubt there are thousands of people wishing someone luck in pursuing this. I hope to get some meaningful statements over the next few days from people who know how passionate and talented I would be at this job. We will see what trickles in.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Love Those Warcats
In my last post, I briefly mentioned the Warcats. That is a sixth grade basketball team I coach. Since I don't currently have a full-time job in sports, I began coaching last year.
This is my first season as a head coach. We lost our first five games, then finished the regular season with two wins. Unfortunately, our record does not do us justice as we lost three tight games. Despite the 2-5 record, we were only outscored by eight points on the season (and that includes one player scoring in the wrong hoop!). We played a team with a 5-2 record in the first round of the playoffs and won on Saturday. On to the final four!
This is a picture of my team and you can see me over a player's shoulder standing on the sideline.
Each week, I write a "press release" that I send to parents. Most of them seem to appreciate it and they say they read them with the sixth graders. For me it is just an excuse to tie my writing skills into what I do and I feel like the parents really appreciate me going an extra step or two. Here is this week's post:
Westerville, OH -- The road to the Rike Center and the championship game will require two wins and the Warcats are halfway there.
Despite a 36-33 loss to the Tar Heels in the regular season, the Warcats won in convincing fashion Saturday with a 36-27 win in the first round of the tournament.
After losing Solomon to an injury just a few minutes into the game, the Warcats (3-5) remained strong and led by as many as eight in the first half. A pesky Tar Heels (5-3) press collapsed the lead, but the Warcats rebounded late in the second quarter and never trailed again.
Mitchell led the most balanced Warcat scoring effort of the season with 12 points. Hunter had a season high six points, while Solomon returned in the fourth quarter to score five points including a highlight reel basket. Nathan continued his improved play with four points and three rebounds. Brandon also had four points. Clayton chipped in his his first basket of the season and Austen had three points and the Warcats' only two assists of the game. Josh did not score, but the offense continually ran through him.
The Warcats continued to improve in transition. Nearly everyone was in on the rebounding effort and ball handlers frequently found the open man.
"That was our most complete team effort of the season," coach Anthony said. "I love looking at the scoresheet and seeing marks on nearly every player for both scoring and rebounding, as opposed to having a ton of marks for just one or two players and blank spots for the rest of the team. It is no coincidence at all that the games we have won are the games in which everyone is making a solid contribution."
"Why not us? Why not now?" an impressed Westerville recreation manager Eric Dicke said after the game.
Indeed, the word is out on the Warcats. The coach of the top seeded Blue Bombers told one Warcat parent he does not want to face the Warcats in the playoffs. The undefeated Blue Bombers had their closest call in the regular season against the Warcats, a one point win.
"We played a good game (against the Tar Heels)," coach Matt said. "But we need to play a great game against And1. We need to have a focused practice, continue to share the ball and improve our help defense. Help defense is the key to victory Saturday."
And1 (7-1) is the only thing standing in the way of a championship appearance for the Warcats. That team defeated the Warcats 33-19 in the season opener, but everyone seems to know this is a different Warcat team than the one that showed up in early January.
Practice returns to Robert Frost Elementary on Friday night and the game is Saturday morning at 9:15.
--30--
This is my first season as a head coach. We lost our first five games, then finished the regular season with two wins. Unfortunately, our record does not do us justice as we lost three tight games. Despite the 2-5 record, we were only outscored by eight points on the season (and that includes one player scoring in the wrong hoop!). We played a team with a 5-2 record in the first round of the playoffs and won on Saturday. On to the final four!
This is a picture of my team and you can see me over a player's shoulder standing on the sideline.
Each week, I write a "press release" that I send to parents. Most of them seem to appreciate it and they say they read them with the sixth graders. For me it is just an excuse to tie my writing skills into what I do and I feel like the parents really appreciate me going an extra step or two. Here is this week's post:
Westerville, OH -- The road to the Rike Center and the championship game will require two wins and the Warcats are halfway there.
Despite a 36-33 loss to the Tar Heels in the regular season, the Warcats won in convincing fashion Saturday with a 36-27 win in the first round of the tournament.
After losing Solomon to an injury just a few minutes into the game, the Warcats (3-5) remained strong and led by as many as eight in the first half. A pesky Tar Heels (5-3) press collapsed the lead, but the Warcats rebounded late in the second quarter and never trailed again.
Mitchell led the most balanced Warcat scoring effort of the season with 12 points. Hunter had a season high six points, while Solomon returned in the fourth quarter to score five points including a highlight reel basket. Nathan continued his improved play with four points and three rebounds. Brandon also had four points. Clayton chipped in his his first basket of the season and Austen had three points and the Warcats' only two assists of the game. Josh did not score, but the offense continually ran through him.
The Warcats continued to improve in transition. Nearly everyone was in on the rebounding effort and ball handlers frequently found the open man.
"That was our most complete team effort of the season," coach Anthony said. "I love looking at the scoresheet and seeing marks on nearly every player for both scoring and rebounding, as opposed to having a ton of marks for just one or two players and blank spots for the rest of the team. It is no coincidence at all that the games we have won are the games in which everyone is making a solid contribution."
"Why not us? Why not now?" an impressed Westerville recreation manager Eric Dicke said after the game.
Indeed, the word is out on the Warcats. The coach of the top seeded Blue Bombers told one Warcat parent he does not want to face the Warcats in the playoffs. The undefeated Blue Bombers had their closest call in the regular season against the Warcats, a one point win.
"We played a good game (against the Tar Heels)," coach Matt said. "But we need to play a great game against And1. We need to have a focused practice, continue to share the ball and improve our help defense. Help defense is the key to victory Saturday."
And1 (7-1) is the only thing standing in the way of a championship appearance for the Warcats. That team defeated the Warcats 33-19 in the season opener, but everyone seems to know this is a different Warcat team than the one that showed up in early January.
Practice returns to Robert Frost Elementary on Friday night and the game is Saturday morning at 9:15.
--30--
Stats Geek From an Early Age
There is no doubt MLB is looking for a baseball nut and I am well aware there are countless millions of baseball nuts out there. One might ask what sets me apart. The answer is that I am just a bit nuttier than most other baseball fans and I have been that way for as long as I remember.
When I was a kid my favorite subject was math. I loved it until right around the time we hit the quadratic formula. Now I know the real reason I like math is I like it when numbers tell me something. In work and school settings, I have never minded being the one that breaks down the numbers because it helps me tell a story.
Looking at box scores in the morning paper was always a highlight to my morning. As soon as I discovered what those numbers meant, I began to read the paper every day at breakfast before school.
I'm sure I wasn't the only kid who did that, but I took it a step further. When I played by myself, I would head over to my next door neighbor's yard (dad's garden always got in the way in my yard) and I pretended I was all the players in the game. I tossed the ball and hit, then ran around the base paths. (These games usually ended with a Cincinnati Reds victory.) After each at bat I recorded the result of the "play" into a notebook and I have no doubt I filled a few of these with mock box scores of the games that went on inside my head.
I did the same thing with video games long before the season mode captured stats. Then I wrote a quick summary of the game. Here is one of the box scores from a Game Gear game at the end of a fine season.
Yes, you're darn right that Ron Gant and Barry Larkin have averages well above .400, Bret Boone has 24 triples on the season and John Smiley just moved to 13-0. If anyone can get a hold of my Game Gear and the Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball game, you can use my password to take over a season headed to the playoffs.
When I was a kid my favorite subject was math. I loved it until right around the time we hit the quadratic formula. Now I know the real reason I like math is I like it when numbers tell me something. In work and school settings, I have never minded being the one that breaks down the numbers because it helps me tell a story.
Looking at box scores in the morning paper was always a highlight to my morning. As soon as I discovered what those numbers meant, I began to read the paper every day at breakfast before school.
I'm sure I wasn't the only kid who did that, but I took it a step further. When I played by myself, I would head over to my next door neighbor's yard (dad's garden always got in the way in my yard) and I pretended I was all the players in the game. I tossed the ball and hit, then ran around the base paths. (These games usually ended with a Cincinnati Reds victory.) After each at bat I recorded the result of the "play" into a notebook and I have no doubt I filled a few of these with mock box scores of the games that went on inside my head.
I did the same thing with video games long before the season mode captured stats. Then I wrote a quick summary of the game. Here is one of the box scores from a Game Gear game at the end of a fine season.
Yes, you're darn right that Ron Gant and Barry Larkin have averages well above .400, Bret Boone has 24 triples on the season and John Smiley just moved to 13-0. If anyone can get a hold of my Game Gear and the Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball game, you can use my password to take over a season headed to the playoffs.
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