After a few weeks of searching, it would seem as though the quest for a job has concluded a success.
The last two days, an already promising lead heated up in a hurry. Yesterday morning I was told that Jerry Raehal, the publisher at the Daily Times in Rawlins Wyoming, was reaching out to the references listed on my resume after a successful phone interview the week prior (We spoke for more than an hour-and-a-half, and nearly half of it was simply shooting the breeze about the NBA. Turns out we're fans of rival teams, so this could be fun).
Just four hours after I was given the news that my references had been contacted, I was offered the position of sports reporter and editor at the Daily Times' one-man sports desk.
I discussed it with my wife, parents and brother, and all seemed in favor. This morning, I called Raehal, and told him Rawlins was the place for me.
So, that's it. In less than two months' time, myself, my wife, our cat and three dogs will be hopping on Kilpatrick turnpike to start the 912-mile journey to new life.
3/29/11
Socially Watching The Social Network
Well, that was fun.
It's a shame Michael Zuckerberg disputed the accuracy of his portrayal in "The Social Network". I'd have killed to be viewed as such a genius.
That being said, it sort of watered down the experience to learn that so much of the movie was only loosely based on actual events. It was a killer story.
I did hear a great piece of perspective from Zuckerberg himself regarding the motivation for "the facebook." He said that Hollywood can't help but dramatize a story because it can imagine so many things, but not what drives an imaginative person.
"Hollywood doesn't understand that sometimes, people just like building things," Zuckerberg said of his creation.
Hollywood, more specifically Aaron Sorkin, needed to make the genesis of Facebook about getting chicks, so to speak.
In any case, it was an interesting, if not documentary style, re-envisioning of Facebook's creation.
It's a shame Michael Zuckerberg disputed the accuracy of his portrayal in "The Social Network". I'd have killed to be viewed as such a genius.
That being said, it sort of watered down the experience to learn that so much of the movie was only loosely based on actual events. It was a killer story.
I did hear a great piece of perspective from Zuckerberg himself regarding the motivation for "the facebook." He said that Hollywood can't help but dramatize a story because it can imagine so many things, but not what drives an imaginative person.
"Hollywood doesn't understand that sometimes, people just like building things," Zuckerberg said of his creation.
Hollywood, more specifically Aaron Sorkin, needed to make the genesis of Facebook about getting chicks, so to speak.
In any case, it was an interesting, if not documentary style, re-envisioning of Facebook's creation.
3/8/11
Rattling Cages
There are simple things you learn in journalism. Important, fundamental things.
Paragraph early and often. Keep your lead under 25 words, and don't bury it. Know why it's "nine" and "10."
Then there are things that don't come from a textbook. Somewhere in the four-ish years of studying the rules and practices of good writing, editing, and interviewing, a journalist develops a certain ethical pride.
Putting intangible ideologies into practice is not the same as exercising proper journalism habits. As a staff writer, sports writer and eventually on the editing desk at The Vista, I practiced what I had been preached ad infinitum, but in Thursday's issue, I may have sailed my maiden voyage in the pot-stirring, anger-inducing fleet.
I published an editorial and a cartoon on page two of the March 3 Vista that decried UCOSA's inaccurate use of The Vista as a proponent of Proposition One, and also poked fun at UCOSA President Matt Blubaugh.
Thus far, I've yet to hear a retort or a complaint (the more likely route) from the UCOSA office, and in truth I've only been lauded for standing up to "the man."
To be fair, Blubaugh is not a bad person. He works hard, clearly knows the ins and outs of amateur politics, and seems to only make promises he can deliver.
His problem is he doesn't realize when other people know that he's trying to manipulate them. He takes liberty with facts, twists views and speaks in swift, difficult to understand bursts of words. He is an assault rifle; He works fast and efficient, which is all well and good until you're the target.
So, with most of The Vista and UCO360's staff on the fence regarding Proposition One (We would receive a small allowance of funds that weren't already reserved for athletics, after all), each and every one of us was pushed to the nay army when our names were put on a petition we didn't sign up for.
The best part: The measure failed by a meager 32 votes out of more than 2,400. UCO360's staff is in the ballpark of 40 members. Justice served.
So sure, a bridge may have been burned. But it's happened before. It will happen again. And doing so in order to shield one's ethics will always be the right decision.
Paragraph early and often. Keep your lead under 25 words, and don't bury it. Know why it's "nine" and "10."
Then there are things that don't come from a textbook. Somewhere in the four-ish years of studying the rules and practices of good writing, editing, and interviewing, a journalist develops a certain ethical pride.
Putting intangible ideologies into practice is not the same as exercising proper journalism habits. As a staff writer, sports writer and eventually on the editing desk at The Vista, I practiced what I had been preached ad infinitum, but in Thursday's issue, I may have sailed my maiden voyage in the pot-stirring, anger-inducing fleet.
I published an editorial and a cartoon on page two of the March 3 Vista that decried UCOSA's inaccurate use of The Vista as a proponent of Proposition One, and also poked fun at UCOSA President Matt Blubaugh.
Thus far, I've yet to hear a retort or a complaint (the more likely route) from the UCOSA office, and in truth I've only been lauded for standing up to "the man."
To be fair, Blubaugh is not a bad person. He works hard, clearly knows the ins and outs of amateur politics, and seems to only make promises he can deliver.
His problem is he doesn't realize when other people know that he's trying to manipulate them. He takes liberty with facts, twists views and speaks in swift, difficult to understand bursts of words. He is an assault rifle; He works fast and efficient, which is all well and good until you're the target.
So, with most of The Vista and UCO360's staff on the fence regarding Proposition One (We would receive a small allowance of funds that weren't already reserved for athletics, after all), each and every one of us was pushed to the nay army when our names were put on a petition we didn't sign up for.
The best part: The measure failed by a meager 32 votes out of more than 2,400. UCO360's staff is in the ballpark of 40 members. Justice served.
So sure, a bridge may have been burned. But it's happened before. It will happen again. And doing so in order to shield one's ethics will always be the right decision.
3/1/11
Damn, This Happens Fast
I've been at this journalism gig, either at internships or The Vista or in other mediums, for give or take three years now. That being the case, it's not every day that I experience something new.
Last week, that changed.
Thursday, February 24 was a big day for the fan of the National Basketball Association. It was the trade deadline. At two o'clock sharp, the paperwork for any and all trades that are to be made in the NBA's 2010-2011 season had to be on the commissioner's desk. Otherwise, no deal. This tends to spur a flurry of activity in a tiny time frame, with team brass swapping players like the very same glossed cards that grace their likeness in the hope of adding the final pieces needed to take their club to the promised land.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the hometown team that I cover for a Toronto-based website called Hoops Addict (I seldom mention it for fear of being accused of making a fuss), wasn't expected to be a big player in the trade market. Thunder General Manager Sam Presti is a thinking man, a strategist whose favorite virtue would seem to be patience.
Still, for the sake of knowing, I was sitting at my desk in The Vista, sifting through news just to see if the Thunder would surprise anyone.
Guess what.
At approximately 1:59:30 p.m., the news came across the wire: the Thunder had acquired defensive specialist and rebound-hawking Kendrick Perkins, the six-foot-ten, 280-pound behemoth that had for the last eight seasons patrolled the frontcourt as the Boston Celtics' starting center.
The Thunder also acquired Celtics scoring spark plug Nate Robinson, and Bobcats big man Nazr Mohammed, but for the purpose of this particular post, that's neither here nor there. Suffice it to say that the move was a big one.
Digressing to the original point, I experienced something for the first time that day. Within two minutes, I saw the trade go over the wire, received an e-mail from my Toronto editor asking me to "hammer something out about the deal", and started doing exactly that.
Twenty-five or so minutes later, I had written almost 600 words about the trades and almost immediately afterward, it was published to the masses. I love calling myself a newspaperman, but wow. Print doesn't move that fast. Especially when I write for a twice-a-week collegiate publication.
It was easily the most thrilling experience from a deadline standpoint that I have ever had, and damn, it was fun.
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