A Reflection on Class

Since this will be my final blog post for my sports reporting class, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on everything I’ve learned throughout the semester and what I will take away from the class.

To be honest, when I initially registered to take this class, it was mostly just because it fit with the rest of my schedule nicely. But I also thought it would be a good chance to learn an additional style of writing, to add sports reporting to my repertoire.

At the beginning of the semester, we focused on good writing and reviewed the basics. The first few weeks were spent learning about how to write game stories. Our first guest speakers taught us their own methods of keeping score at a game to prepare us for our first assignment: to write a high school football advance and game story. Though I was nervous about the assignment, I ended up enjoying the process and I’m glad I got the opportunity to learn the entire process.

Class continued as we learned about getting the most out of an interview and how to write feature stories. To practice these skills, we were required to write a profile on a KSU athlete. I wrote my story about softball player Bianca Durant. Later in the semester, I wrote a feature on the KSU men’s rugby club. Because I had to complete these assignments, I feel like I’m better prepared to write profiles and feature stories on athletes and teams.

Our other assignments included conducting a Q&A video interview with a player or coach not affiliated with KSU, composing a narrated photo essay, and presenting to the rest of our class the basics of covering particular beats. I interviewed soccer coach Clayton Schmitt for my video, covered indoor rock climbing for my photo essay, and explained to the class how to cover ice hockey, rowing, and triathlons.

Though this class had more assignments than most of my other classes, I’m glad it did. I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge and new skills from my experiences completing the projects. The guest speakers gave us advice that I know I will remember throughout my career. Even if I don’t pursue sports reporting in my future, I’m thankful that I chose to take this class and will be able to add sports reporting to my résumé.

KSU Club Feature: Men's Rugby

KSU men’s rugby player Ridge Meracle explains that rugby is more than just a game, it’s a brotherhood.

Kennesaw State University’s rugby club was formed in 2005 and has since been regarded as one of the Southeast’s premier clubs. The team grew quickly throughout 2006 and 2007. The following year, they finished the season with a winning record and proceeded to win the Georgia Rugby Union Championship that fall.

The ruggers also placed first in the collegiate bracket of the Battleship Rugby Tournament in Mobile, Ala. and participated in a Sweet 16’s competition. In 2009, KSU finished the season ranked 15^th in the country among Division II collegiate teams.

The club earned a spot in the South Division II playoffs in both 2009 and 2010. Just five years after its establishment, KSU rugby became a Division I program.

“There are teams that have been around for 30 years who haven't completed that,” Meracle said.

In 2011, the team made it to the Division I playoffs. They lost to Florida State in the semifinals of their conference tournament. As the club continues to grow, Meracle said that future goals include winning in the conference and attending national playoffs.

Photo courtesy ksuclubsports.com

The 2013 roster includes many skilled and talented athletes. Inside center Daniel Medina is one of those key players. Meracle describes Medina as a bruising back who loves to run people over.

Sam Stephens is the team’s captain and eight man.

“He is the anchor and the leader of the forwards,” Meracle said. “He has tremendous talent and great knowledge of the game and has been a huge help at teaching newcomers their role in the forwards.”

Spanish transient student Enrique Boente is another key player on the team. Though he has only been a part of the club for one semester so far, he has made his presence known as a staple in Kennesaw’s backline.

Jordan Basone is also a newcomer, but Meracle explained that Basone’s tackling skills make him one of the most feared players in the conference.

Kennesaw recently built an international-grade rugby pitch on campus comparable to some of the nicest fields in the country. During the season, the team practices twice a week for two hours at a time. Though they don’t have games or official practices over school breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas, players must continue to train in order to avoid injury.

“The demand physically makes it so you can't take an off day,” Meracle said. “You have to be in the gym or you will get hurt.”

Meracle’s attitude when speaking about the sport, however, makes it obvious that the team doesn’t mind spending so much time together. Meracle’s brother played for Ole Miss after he picked up the game as a Marine in Australia. Meracle fell in love and said he was hooked ever since he was invited to play in the final 10 minutes of an Ole Miss game when he was a senior in high school.

“Rugby is a brotherhood that connects people from all over. I can be anywhere in the world and if I run into a rugby player, I know I will have food to eat and a bed to sleep in,” Meracle said. “We all play this crazy game and beat the snot out of each other for 80 minutes, but it's a gentleman’s game and you respect the other team and are brothers off the field.”

College rugby continues to grow in popularity, and is one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses. Meracle explained that KSU has had a relationship with rugby even before the club was formed.

“Most people on campus don't know this, but President Papp is an old rugby player himself. He helped build rugby teams all over the country and has been all over the world for rugby,” Meracle said. “It is really cool knowing that the president of your university is a proud rugger.”

Though rugby remains a club program at Kennesaw and most colleges in the country, Meracle said he hopes it will one day be recognized as a varsity sport.

“There are a few teams like Life University down the road who do get support from the university but it's still nothing like an NCAA sport gets,” Meracle said. “I do think that once rugby is recognized by the NCAA, we will be one of the first schools to become non-club.”

Knox Bardeen: Writer for Bleacher Report

Last Friday (Nov. 1), my sports reporting class had yet another great guest speaker. This time, the speaker was Knox Bardeen.

Bardeen is a reporter for Bleacher Report and Comcast Sports South. He also works in Atlanta sports radio on 790 The Zone and recently co-wrote the book 100 Things Falcons Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die with Ray Glier.

Bardeen didn’t get his career started the traditional way by studying journalism in college. Instead, he was discovered as a fantasy baseball blogger. After about a year of blogging, Bardeen was recruited by an editor at Fanball. After a year at Fanball, he was approached by an editor at AOL’s FanHouse. From there, Bardeen was able to branch out and cover MLB, NFL, college basketball and tennis in addition to fantasy baseball and football. In 2009, he was asked to cover the Atlanta Falcons training camp and has been covering the team from Flowery Branch as CBS Sports’ Rapid Reports Correspondent ever since. His job at CBS Sports eventually landed him a position covering the entire NFC South for Bleacher Report.

Bardeen gave our class many different tips on how to be successful in the business. He told us to be very active on Twitter, to read every day, and to write every day. Bardeen encouraged each of us to take advantage of any opportunities we may have to meet other people in the business. He advised us to learn to identify storylines, to explore internships, and to know how to interview without being star-struck.

Bardeen’s biggest advice, however, was to learn how to do everything. He emphasized the importance of remaining valuable to a company by being able to complete a variety of tasks. As a sports reporter, Bardeen considers his ability to write, report on radio, report on television, operate cameras, and edit footage a great advantage for himself in his career.

I think Bardeen gave our class excellent advice. Journalism is heading in a direction of multiplatform reporting, where writers are expected to juggle multiple responsibilities. Having a wide range of skills will definitely make me more marketable as I look for a job and more valuable to employers throughout my career.

Indoor Rock Climbing

2013 Petit Le Mans

Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. hosted the 16^th Petit Le Mans, the final race of the American Le Mans Series, this past Saturday, Oct. 19. The Petit Le Mans is an auto endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta since 1998. The race continues until a maximum of 10 hours or 1,000 miles is reached.

On Saturday, early morning rain soaked the Road Atlanta track but the pavement was already in the process of drying once conditions improved and the green flag was waved at 11:30 a.m. There were numerous incidents and retirements throughout the competition, which would help to determine the final results.

Photo courtesy of motorsport.com

This year, Neel Jani, along with his co-drivers Nick Heidfeld and Nico Prost won the ALMS for the Rebellion Racing team after leading 228 of the 394 laps. Rebellion was at the front of the pack for the entire first hour before exiting to the pits for repairs after sideswiping another car.

Jani’s Toyota fought with the Muscle Milk team’s Honda driven by Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf, and Romain Dumas throughout the race, but was eventually victorious after seemingly endless laps on the 2.5-mile circuit. After a struggle for the lead, Dumas was forced to pull the team’s Honda out of the race due to overheating issues. Rebellion’s win prevented what would be Muscle Milk’s ninth consecutive win.

Jon Finer: Sports Blogger

Jon Finer, sports blogger at ksuowlhowl.com, was the guest speaker for my sports reporting class last Friday (Oct. 11). Finer is a 2012 summa cum laude graduate of Kennesaw State University with a degree in criminal justice.

 

Finer co-created and maintains “the owl howl” and uses it to bring awareness and extra attention to KSU athletics. He said his main goal is to keep people informed. Finer finds his own content, which is mostly based on recruiting. Kennesaw’s official website can’t post certain content due to compliance regulations so he focuses on recruiting information in order to fill a niche. Finer said that he emphasizes speed when it comes to getting new information to the public, and has developed his own formatting system for listing recruiting info.

Finer explained to us the main differences between blogging and journalism. Professional journalists get paid for their writing. They have certain expectations and standards, must write what they are told to write regardless of their interests, and must also complete tasks on strict deadlines. As a blogger, however, Finer does not receive pay for his writing. He chooses his own content and has no official deadlines. He described it as writing what he wants, when he wants.

Finer also gave the class some advice and things to keep in mind while blogging. He emphasized writing respectfully and discreetly, and told us to make sure we say things as nicely as possible when writing something critical or negative about a player or team. Finer also reminded us to focus on spelling and grammar. He really stressed the importance of having respect and pride for our work.

Soccer Coach Q&A

Inerviewing Clayton Schmitt. Clayton is a soccer coach at Emory University, Holy Spirit Preparatory School, and Northside Soccer Academy.