Chris Pisani Story

Well, so far I have had no issues with the Chris Pisani story. This weekend, the team played in Fort Wayne, Ind. I rode the bus with the team, so I was able to talk to Pisani and got an excellent interview out of him.

I was unable to interview the team trainer because once we made it to the arena, both of us were busy with our own stuff. Practice is Tuesday, so I will talk to him them during practice.

Pisani's mom is another source, and she is available any time, it's just my schedule we are working with. I hope to talk to her this Wednesday.

A problem I face is talking to people from Pisani's past. He did not keep in close contact with anyone, friends, teachers and former coaches included. He is getting back to me with someone by tomorrow so I can have a perspective different from his mother's about his past.

On Wednesday, I hope to also get footage from when he was in the wheelchair. I plan to head out to Oak Brook to the Pisani household to interview his mom and view the footage. Pisani said I can copy it, or I may bring a video recorder of my own and copy it that way.

In all, I am confident in my story. Chris Pisani has a great story.

Finally!!

What a week in sports! First, the Bears FINALLY made a bold move and traded for a QB. Don't get me wrong, Orton has been decent, but he has not been consistent. Cutler is only 25, but he has been to the Pro Bowl. When is the last time the Bears had a QB worthy of the Pro Bowl? Hmmm it has been quite some time.

Also, baseball is back! The Cubs kick off the season in a little less than an hour. I am thrilled. Life without baseball isn't really life at all. I love that games are nearly every day from now until (hopefully) October. I am looking forward to this season.

The Cubs have let me down in the past. I was rather unhappy at the end of last season, but this is a new season. Time to let the bitterness go and welcome the new team this new year.

Also, MSU is my pick for the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. Let's see if they can do it this year!

Let's go Cubs and Spartans! And thank you Angelo for showing you have it in you to make those big trades! Come on Chicago sports!

Spring Break - Not Really

Today marks my official end to spring break. I feel as though I have accomplished nothing.

I spent the first weekend of break on the road with the football team I intern with. The team played up in Madison, Wisc., so I took the team bus up to the game. The game was quite an experience, and not necessarily in a good way. That is a whole different story though.

During the week, I worked at both my part time job and had office hours at my internship. I had another football game at the end of spring break, but luckily it was a home game. The downside of the game being at home was that I had to be at the arena six hours early to help prep the field and arena.

Free time? Break time? It was nearly nonexistent. It was supposed to be my time to catch up on homework. Much to my luck, my one day with absolutely no work or office hours happened to be the day I was home alone and my cable and internet went out. I ended up spending most of the day on the phone trying to get everything fixed. It was a bit of a pain.

Now, I head to class tonight. I feel still slightly behind in most classes - definitely more in some than in others. I am hoping this first week is relatively easy. I still have a lot to do and I hope I can get it done.

Finally... almost... there...

This package has been a great learning experience, but it's also been a royal pain in the you know what.

Laura and I basically have flip-flopping schedules. She is available when I am not, and vice-versa. It has been borderline hell to get us together at the same time, in the same place, for more than a few hours at a time.

I feel like I have been slacking because I simply don't know what I am doing in this class. Prior to the class, I hadn't touched a camera other than the small camcorder my dad bought about five years ago.

Also, the only video editing I have ever done was in Reporting and Writing II last semester, and we used iMovie. Once again, this has been a great learning experience, however I'm still so far behind everyone else in the class.

I know I am dragging Laura down, and I feel bad for it. This has been one hell of a half semester so far. I've had two minor surgeries on top of working part time, having an internship requiring around 18 hours per week, and taking 15 hours worth of classes this semester. All while commuting nearly an hour and one-half each way to and from class.

I put way too much on my plate this semester. I wish I had realized it sooner. Then again, I never planned to have to get my wisdom teeth out on a Monday morning in the middle of the semester.

So, those are my thoughts and feelings thus far, the week before spring break. I am overwhelmed beyond belief. And completely and totally blunt.

So far this semester...

This semester has been my worst semester by far. I have put far too much on my plate, plus I was stopped dead in my tracks for nearly a week with my wisdom tooth surgery.

I am usually on top of everything and I know what's going on. In this class, I am pretty far behind. I was put into this class because Howard's class was full and I had to take this class to get credit and to graduate in the fall.

Don't get me wrong, I am learning a lot in this class. However, everything I am learning is everything everyone else has already learned, so it's a little overwhelming.

Plus, I work and have an internship on top of a full courseload. Throw in two random surgeries (one later on this week), and I am further behind than I would like to be. I'm normally a good student, this is just not my semester.

Online Story Telling

Race car drivers have the ability to see something and process it very quickly. When traveling around a track at high speeds, a driver has to react to avoid hitting an oil slick or debris on the track.

The New York Times site features an interactive game in which the viewer can get an idea of how fast a race car driver must react. The player sees a sequence of four arrows in a given time period and must repeat them. At one-half second, I got four out of five patterns correct. I failed miserably the three other tests of one-quarter second, .15 seconds and .1 seconds.

Our group could make some sort of interactive page to simply raise funds for the team, in which a sponsor donates an amount of money depending upon the number of clicks, or something along those lines. Another idea is to have a game where you can shoot soccer balls into a goal from various angles.

NY Times Site

Best Day of 2009

I can now say that I had an incredible day. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, was the best day of 2009 thus far. I woke up ridiculously tired and not wanting to get out of bed. I dragged my butt out of bed, got ready for the day, and left for the front office of the Chicago Slaughter Pro Indoor Football team, where I have my internship.

I began the morning by transcribing interviews of two new players recently acquired from the Chicago Rush and of head coach Steve McMichael.

Steve Arch, the man in charge of the media of the team, then came to the office and gave me another assignment. I was given information on the team's new offensive line coach Bob McMillen. I had to write a piece on him, and this piece is going to be put into the game day program that all of the fans receive at the game! Something I write will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, media personnel and the like!

Because I am going to be helping with game day media as well, I was given cell phone numbers of two former Chicago Bears players! My dream job, the reason I chose to become a sports journalism major, is to be a sideline reporter for the Bears! This may be my way in!

After leaving the office, I had to face I-90 to get to school. The only problem I encountered was the traffic back up (traffic on 90... never!) beginning at the exit I had to get off at. I found free parking, and even made it to class on time.

I am not a morning person. So for this incredible stuff to happen before noon just blows my mind. Nothing could bring me down on Feb. 12!