How I do things

Today an athlete introduced herself to me. She knows I write, but I don't know what exactly she knows I write about. She might know about this and if she does she gets to actually read my mind. Most people wish they could do that. I like making wishes come true. She told me her name and I said "I know." Some people could take that the wrong way I guess. I mean that as a compliment. I know because I've watched that athlete play. I know they are talented, I've followed their career.

I know of other athletes the way most students know of the star basketball players. Sort of surprising for most athletes I guess. That's why I do it though. I say "I know" as a way of giving them respect. I want them to know that I think what they do is as important as other athletes on other teams. If Hasheem Thabeet introduces himself to me, he doesn't have to tell me his name, because I already know. If Jane Doe from such and such team introduces herself to me I want them to know that I know that they are a great athlete and that I am aware of their accomplishments.

On to my grades...this is just a short funny stat...104 on my Sports Management test, 97 on my Sports Law test...and swimming...yes swimming is the test I did worst on. I got an 85. Not drowning was cool though.

Now on to a day in the life of me...on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I love Tuesday's!!! I get to sleep in, and then I usually go study in the natatorium between 9-11. Then I go to swimming class. After swim class I have sports in society. It's a fun class. I learn a lot, and sometimes we get to watch movies. So sometimes I swim and then watch a movie. I have a tough life. On Tuesday's I go to practice after my class gets out. I am so glad to be at practice. You have no idea, I look forward to it. I look forward to them because it's an escape and it makes me feel useful. I'm more than happy to chase down a loose ball and assist however I can.

Wednesday I like just as much. I go from weightlifting, to sports management, to sports law to the entire practice. I get to the practice field before the players get their on Wednesdays. When I have so much free time it's easy to get bored. I look forward to practice so much because I feel useful. It gives my life some structure.

everyone does this

Everyone that is a freshman adds men's basketball players as facebook friends. Everyone does it. Even I did that. I just felt like making that statement for some reason. It got a laugh in my sports in soc class.

The Company you keep

They always say you can tell something about someone based on the friends that they keep. Well we already knew Willis was awesome, but she's more awesome now. Somehow a couple of her friends always come up in our conversations. (To be fair it's more like I have a one track mind, and can either be clueless about things or an expert..and I'd rather be an expert than clueless) Anyway I've met a couple of them recently. They seem like they are good, normal people. They reflect well on Willis.

I also did well on my sports law test. I'm happy about that.

FYI

I am very proud to say that I passed my first swimming test.

Loren Sherer is amazing

I want to point out that after 10 games Loren Sherer has 16 goals for the 5th ranked Huskies. Before the season I wondered who would replace the other great person with the same sounding first name, Lauren Aird. All of last year Aird lead the team with 20 goals. I think Sherer can score more than 20.

Problems with rankings

I can't stand how rankings change from week to week so much. For example lets the #24 hosts #25 team and the #24 team wins by a field goal in overtime. To me, the next time the rankings come out, the losing team shouldn't be penalized. They proved the rankings...to actually be correct....teams are closely matched, but 24 is slightly better than 25. To me that means there is no need to change them around.

I also don't get how Rutgers is recieving a vote in a poll...if someone voted for Rutgers than they should vote two for UCONN. Rutgers lost at home in week 1 to Cincinatti 47-15. They beat a lousy team and two mediocre teams to get to three wins.

UCONN has three wins...vs Rhose Island, Ohio and at Baylor...and barely lost to a ranked North Carolina team at home...the wins...against a bad team and two mediocre...at best...teams. Played a ranked team at home and were in the game...perhaps should have one it...yet they don't recieve votes...and Rutgers does.

I hate rankings in general because they have nothing to do with individual games. They are marketing tools and for journalists. They can actually and sadly effect players when players start thinking about a team in terms of their rankings. They are not ranked so they must suck...or they are ranked so they are unbeatable. Neither of those two options are what you want your players to think of before a game.

Impossible is nothing

Impossible is nothing.

I won the student ticket lottery for men's and women's basketball...finally...finally...finally! I have always been able to buy women's basketball tickets, and I always have. I often give away my tickets because I work many games. I used to report on the women so I could give away a lot of them.

I'm just way too nice though. I could probably make so much money from selling tickets but I don't believe in it. I usually give them away if I don't use them. I just want other people to enjoy themselves at games.

By the way the new scoreboards in Gampel look really nice.

I have also heard that Jordan Branco of men's soccer is a cool guy. Nothing but good things from him.

My favorite men's soccer player is Carlos Alvarez. I wish I could get around defenders like he can.

Is there a link between these things

I have been watching my Cowboys on TV tonight. I saw a little bit last week too. I watch them miss tackle after tackle after tackle. It's pathetic. They throw their shoulders into the offensive player as hard as they can and bounce off offensive players.

I see this done by other teams too. My guess as to why....Jacked Up....Decleating someone gets so much recognition now that I think guys are trying to jack-up opponents rather than actually tackling them.

I just want to see a defense TACKLE.

I love hearing CONNECTICUT when they are talking about the NFL on Monday Night Countdown. Good job Donald Brown.

My favorite sort of goal

I love it when players who don't get a chance to play a lot play at the end of games. Typically these players are either young, hard workers and or very good students. They are also extremely talented and gifted athletes, even if they don't get lots of playing time.

I admire the players who do everything that the starters do, yet have to cheer their teammates on most of the time at games. I love it when they get to play. I love it when they succeed.

Those moments that they get to play, they treasure. I always find myself rooting for those players more than the starters. I think everyone is like that too.

A certain goal that was scored yesterday on a certain team really sticks out in my mind. It made me smile, it made me happier than any other goal scored in that game. It will be one of my favorite goals of the year. On a side note I love it when goalies score too.

If you asked me what my favorite goals were from this year I'd gladly tell you, I will start writing them down for memory's sake. However, I refuse to show any favoritism and I will not write any down here on this blog.

I made a save

At the men's soccer game today I made a save. I am very proud of myself...Well it wasn't quite a save but it was still impressive.

I was standing behind the goal (the side where you stand by the fence at Morrone) and Stephane Diop went in for a header but rather than go towards the goal it went in my direction. I put my hands out and caught the ball. I am quite proud of my goalkeeping abilities.

As far as I am concerned

As far as I am concerned it's beautiful outside when there is a ball, a field and players.

No entiendo

I thought the objective of taking a free kick was to get the ball around the wall and not try to quick through it.

Or maybe that's just what bad teams do.

Have you heard of Coach Q? A reference that only Greg M will understand.

Video

Great Michael Jordan video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAEWdYwSdpU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOu_4l3lio&NR=1

I've also been looking for some Lions highlights. I have been searching for the past month on you tube...non-stop of course...and finally found some.

The highlights of course, aren't from a month ago. Lions and Highlight can mean only one thing...Barry Sanders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvNdTSWob84&feature=related

Ok maybe Herman Moore and then Johnnie Morton...I just felt like bringing us back to those Lions stars...maybe Robert Porsche too?

I don't count Scott Mitchell as a star.

Former Giants QB Dave Brown was a star in my book...mostly because I remember that he was the quarterback for the Giants when my Cowboys went into Giants stadium on Monday Night to open the 1995 season and we won 35-0.

I find it fun talking about these players...I've gotten to the age where I can just say a former sports figures name with my friends and we'll just laugh.

Stephanie Labbe interviewing her Pitea teammates. Also watch her bribing a teammate to say that Canada is great. It is really quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpDIYzkOlQ0

I don't get it

My computer won't seem to let me post anything long and it's really frustrating. Hopefully I will be able to when I get my new laptop back from repair...which might be a while.

checked in on this

So someone won Big East Goalkeeper of the Week not that long ago. I also heard that a local newspaper was doing a better job covering their local women's college sports stars. I googled something and found what I was looking for.

I was impressed with the write up I found because it's better than what my local paper (for a city of 120,000...Stamford...not Ashburnham...which doesn't have a daily paper) which does college round ups every once in a while, and almost never talks about any awards won by our athletes in season. Usually if they do talk about them it's after the season.

So I was impressed with the article I read. I wonder if scoring a first career goal against the 8th ranked team in the country also made the paper.

What a fantastic game

The best game for UCONN on Saturday was not the football game, it was the Field Hockey game between #5 UCONN and #16 Louisville.

Allison Angulo had her first career goal and also picked up an assist.

Melissa Gonzalez had a beautiful back hand goal. It was really impressive. She was also really getting by defenders well. She plays in the midfield now, so she doesn't score as many goals as before, but she is just as important to the team.

Louisville scored two consecutive goals to force overtime.

In both overtimes UCONN and Louisville had multiple chances to put the game away. No one did score in the first over time so we went to a 2nd overtime.

Cara Silverman netted the game winning goal in the 2nd overtime.

I was so happy we won, and that the game was over because I really had to use the bathroom. As public announcer I get plenty of bottled water to drink at the game. Trust me, I drink a lot of it. The problem is that as public announcer I just can't get up and leave to use the bathroom, and I'm not a NASCAR driver so I'm not just going to go. (So that answers any questions about how they drive that long without a break)

The crowd was really into the game, and hopefully they will come back. The crowd was at the edge of their seats and they erupted after Silverman scored.

The game also culminated the end of the "10 Days of Hope" a fundraiser that was started to raise awareness about Ovarian Cancer, which is something that Cara Silverman's mom had fought. The Field Hockey teams efforts raised $1,100 for their cause.

I donated and I hope you did too.

UCONN still has several great matchups on their schedule. They have games at Princeton and home against UMass and Syracuse. Don't forget to stop by and catch a UCONN Field Hockey game. We are one of the top few teams in the country. We remain undefeated.

Duke UNC

Duke vs UNC
Notre Dame vs USC
Red Sox vs Yankees
Cowboys vs Redskins
Lakers vs Celtics
UConn vs Tennessee

These are all great rivalries in sports

We can add another one to the list

UConn Soccer vs. St. John's Soccer. When college soccer talks about rivalries, these two teams should come to the front of everyone's minds.

Postage Stamp moment

One thing that I had to do for my sports in society class was to come up with some postage stamp moments in sports history during my lifetime.

This was a very difficult task. I had to think of moments in sports that we so big, that they would go on a post stamp.

This isn't something small like a Super Bowl victory. This is a big moment, like Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

We had to come up with two moments, so I picked two.

The first was the 1999 Women's World Cup Team. Soccer is not a popular sport in America and female sports don't usually get a lot of spectators, yet that team packed the Rose Bowl with over 90,000 people to see the Final game against China. Brandi Chastain's picture is the picture that I chose for the stamp, as it is a picture that represents so much. I felt that this was an important event because so many young girls looked up to those players on that team as role models. It's evident when you read the media guides of women's college sports teams.

The other moment I chose was the death of Dale Earnhardt. (It's back to Women's Soccer and NASCAR in the same post) I felt that that was a unique moment in sports. The most popular athlete in the sport died while competing. It changed safety in NASCAR. Earnhardt was a hero to so many people in the south and rural areas. He was a working class hero. Most people in the northeast have no idea what an iconic figure Earnhardt represented to many in this country. It hit the south really bad. Life stopped for his funeral. School was canceled for some school systems. Earnhardt had passionate fans who would go as far as shaving the number three into their backs (disgusting picture in your head right now) or to paint their car black, put a three on it's side and get all of the sponsors decals right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2A0yE4GSI0&feature=related

I think Tony Dungy and the 2004 Boston Red Sox would qualify as things that could go on to a postage stamp one day. It's possible that Lance Armstrong could. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan definitely should. I think postage stamp moments are a cool subject...and if you think of any, post them.

You know I don't get it

Being a big Dallas Cowboys fan I have to deal with Giants fans running their mouths all of the time. Since when does week 2 mean anything? Same thing for Jets fans who are running their mouths about beating the Patriots. It's just week two. Teams lose. Often times losing is good because it forces the team to refocus their energy on how they can improve. Failure leads to success unless you let yourself be a failure.

Teams always come back after losses with big games the next time they face each other. I didn't get overly excited after the Cowboys beat the Giants twice in a season in 2007-08 because I knew that we would probably have to play the Giants again. We did play the Giants again and the Giants were mad they lost twice and they beat us at home.

Why can't we be friends?

I actually caught sportscenter today...finally...and I saw that men's basketball players and football players at Kansas got into three fights in the last two days.

I know that not all athletes and coaches get along with athletes and coaches on other teams. Although to be fair, most athletes get along well with each other. I do know that my roommate freshman year didn't get along with one team and almost ended up getting into a fight one time.

This stuff happens, I doubt Kansas is the only place that it has happened. I think this is a dominance thing, to see who the big men on campus really are.

From my observations, in general most athletes do get along with each other. Sometimes they make friends and start conversations freshman year with other people that wear grey nike sweatpants. Athletes also get along with each other because they have unique lives compared to the rest of college students and can use each other as a support system. They also are more likely to know each other because they run into each other so much at meetings, functions, locker room areas, gyms etc.

It's a well known fact that certain programs at certain schools don't get along. When there are several big programs competing for attention and limited resources, fights and bitterness are bound to happen.

I wish they didn't happen. A school's athletic department should never be about one team, one athlete or one coach. Yes college programs need to make money and spend more on big ticket items like men's and women's basketball and football in order to have a good program. However, the goal should be to have all programs being highly successful and highly publicized. It shouldn't be about one program. Coaches should support other programs in their athletic department.

On top of that I think that men's and women's programs of the same sport should work together to promote their game to the community. They should work together to drive attendance up for each other.

Sheerer

Loren Sherer is amazing. She has been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week four weeks in a row. She already has 13 goals. Lauren Aird had 20 all of last season. Sherer could be in for an amazing season at UCONN. Don't forget to check her out.

UCONN Field Hockey is also spectacular as a whole. Don't forget to stop by the Sherman Complex to check out a game and to also stop by the Student Union to donate money to "10 Days of Hope" to help raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research. I donated, and I hope you will too.

Speaking of donations don't forget to buy a soccer ball for the Kick 4 Nick initiative at the Men's Soccer game vs. St. Johns on Friday.

Husky Sport in the morning. I hope the kids don't pluck all the hair off of my arm again.

Circuit training

Circuit training is something that is really difficult and it's what I did in weightlifting today. Coach really got us going. We had 30 seconds of working out and 40 seconds of rest. We were supposed to do as many reps as we could. I tried really really hard. So hard that I felt like I was about to throw up at the end. We did this for about 20 minutes.

Apparently teams do this about once a week for about an hour. They workout until they see stars.

I love this video

I love this commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTuk5Uloyjg&feature=related

and this too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

and I am a T.O. fan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIsUOce_81g

What its like to interview me

So I've spoken to and interviewed a good amount of people. Now it's the other way around. Now I am going to talk about what it is like to interview me. Or what I think or hope it's like to interview me.

I get interviewed on a few rare occasions. I love it.

I love it so much that I can recall all of them...

Channel 8, ABC Affiliate of Springfield, Mass, A UCONN Faculty Newspaper, for a project of a friend of mine. The first three weren't about anything I did in particular. The last one was, so I will talk about that the most.

I was interviewed at a W-League game about US Men's Soccer vs Brazil in June by the Springfield, Mass ABC affiliate. I never saw the video of my interview. Anyway when it comes to sports I am a good interview because I know so much and can usually say something that is interesting, or tell a fact that no one knew.

Now, when the feature story is on me it's an even different thing. The only thing that is really interesting or unique about me is my love of sports. Usually that's what I am interviewed about, as was the case for my friends project.

As you can probably imagine, once I know you, I can talk and talk and talk and then talk some more. A quick interview with me is probably not possible. I will usually make it an hour. I will usually go off on tangents. I will occasionally bring people on wild rides of incoherent drivel.

However, I am a good interview. I am self-deprecating, or I atleast try to be. I give good answers. I know I do because I definetly can give people things to talk or write about. I try to teach someone something when I am being interviewed. I try to get a certain point across.

I also try to make analogies like a coach does. I do this a lot. Sometimes they are really funny. Sometimes they make no sense, but atleast it makes it entertaining.

Being entertaining and having a personality is important. No one wants to listen to a boring interview. I also try to be quotable because I know that's what writers need. I also try to give other people credit. It's never usually just about me.

Sometimes I have an agenda when I am being interviewed and I will do my best to get my point across.

If I had to describe an interview with me quickly I'd describe it as informative, entertaining, long and incoherent.

Sounds just like this post.

As a side note some people are just good at talking and coming up with quotes. There is such a thing as being a good interview. I recently interviewed someone who was a great interview. They were so easy to talk with and I was really impressed by them.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to be good with people. I was so impressed by that same person I interviewed because they went out of their way to remember my name, shake my hand and look me in the eyes. You don't forget that because that doesn't happen often enough. Doing those little things will go a long way in business and in selling things. I bought a few things just because I was so impressed with that one conversation with one person. Being able to communicate well and being able to be persuasive is important and will help guarantee success in whatever you do in life.

Two posts in a day?

About a month ago it was common that I would have about 4 posts in a day. Now I feel lucky to get one with school and activities going on. I apologize but I will double my usual daily output today.

I saw La Liga this afternoon. I saw Barcelona destroy Racing. I caught the last part of the game. I try to watch as much soccer as I can because I know that it will help me do what I do for the team I work with. (I think most people could have figured out what team I was helping, if you are clueless this ought to narrow things down a lot.)

I believe that I can learn things in strange ways at strange times. I am a big believer that you will learn a lot by meeting and interacting with people. This means that I need to go out and do something.

Anyway, I saw Lionel Messi score a great goal. He dribbled it and nailed a shot into the upper corner of the net. I had heard his name a lot and finally I figured out who he is.

I also love that ESPN and its networks are showing soccer from around the world. It's much better than most other thing that they used to put on at that time.

I like these commericials

I saw these commercials in my Sports in Society class and I think that they send some powerful messages that should be heard. I'd say that these videos are pretty self explanatory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9It24cN3_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvLCGUhoigA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjVxyWXaUdE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4yDSbPjNJI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y65qn4L2o10&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ_XSHpIbZE

A great movie that I saw in class was Heart of the Game. I would definitely recommend seeing that. It's about a Women's High School basketball team in Washington and their journey under a new head coach.

A lot of female athletes that I have spoken with want things to change when it comes to the support for female athletics. I usually don't discuss the financials with them, because I don't understand the financials. I usually speak in terms of fans and the perception of female athletics because that's what I probably understand best. I hope female athletes realize that this task is possible, over time and with a lot of work. Change is never easy, especially when most of society needs to change.

At one point I didn't understand female sports, or even cared that they existed. Then I started to watch them and I saw how hard they worked and I saw some great games and I thought to myself "This really isn't bad at all." I found myself not understanding why my impression of them were so bad. The female game has a lot of good stories, good people, college graduates/people who study, hard workers and team play. All of these things are things we look for in the men's game.

The media looks so hard to find all these things together in male athletics. The media portrays a lot of truly rotten people as angels. I read an article recently about how a male athlete has matured so much and is always going to class. I thought to myself...yeah right...where did you find those facts? Stories that we spend so much time looking for in male athletics are easily found in female athletics. On top of that female athletes are usually more than happy to talk about their accomplishments for hope that it will gain respect for their game. On top of that not only are they more than happy to talk about it, but they are actually understandable.

Don't get me wrong, their are a lot of great male athletes, and great people who are male athletes. We don't hear enough about the female ones. They are there, but the stories aren't told very well...or aren't allowed to be told because they don't get enough ratings.

I get so annoyed when I here guys talk about how female athletes aren't as good as guy athletes. It is correct that the numbers show that the world's strongest male can out bench press the world's strongest female. What is being ignored is two things. The work that it takes to be an elite female athlete is the same work that it takes to be an elite male athlete. The same obstacles that guys have to overcome to play college sports are the same obstacles that girls face...plus girls have to face prejudice by some that sports is not where they belong. On top of that college female athletes are all much much better athletes than any of the guys who consume games by watching them on television or by buying tickets to games. If you don't want to believe me than challenge a girl to a competition. They will gladly kick your ...you fill in the rest.

Emeka Okafor was a fantastic athlete at UCONN. Good person, great athlete, worked hard, studied harder. He graduated in three years and won a National Championship. Everyone in the media spoke about him. Everyone raved about him. They should have. Everyone should know who Emeka Okafor was. From my observation there are probably more well rounded people who are female athletes than male athletes. People name their children after a guy like Emeka, but can't even name one of the many female athletes like Emeka in the female athletics.

I don't know whose fault that is. It's a societal problem. The media has a lot of work to do and they are getting better at following female sports.

In order to change you need to have a positive attitude and you need to be willing to work. Knowing that there is a problem is different than solving a problem.

The work that is done now will hopefully allow female athletes in the future to play in front of the crowds that female athletes now dream of.

Round 1 done

So my first mid-terms are over with. I think it's smarter to study then write. We all know I can write a lot. I also have the second worst hand writing ever according to my teacher. A football player has it worse then I do.

Today is Willis Reed's birthday. Thought she should get her shout out now.

Now down to business. Down to what I want to talk about...without really talking about it.

Thursday, September 24th 2009 will be a fantastic day. Especially at around 9pm. A great moment will occur that day, at that time. Something that can go down into the record books.

I also dislike the number 8, but I forget why.

I do think that the color of red should be banded from campus for this entire week...No red...bad color.

Rivalries are a good thing in sports. I mean it, they help when it comes to marketing. Nobody wants to miss the rivalry game. It's easy to sell out those games. Starting a rivalry isn't a bad thing. It just makes it suck to lose.

Your the biggest Red Sox fan when the Red Sox play the Yankees. As a matter of fact the Yankees and the Red Sox would be themselves without the presence of each other. Those teams NEED to play each other. Rivalries help develop fans too. Rivalries are good, so long as it does end with assault and battery.

FYI, while I was studying for Sports Law and studying battery in sports one example came to my mind, but I forget what it was. Maybe you know. I hope I wrote it down so I can remember it.

I'm actually not a forgetful person. I just don't want to get sued.

Atleast Thursday will be a great day.

Willis

Tomorrow is an important day for Willis Reed. I also saw her today riding a skate board. I don't know if she was any good at it or not. I didn't stop to say hi because I just felt that I shouldn't bother her.

I won't say why tomorrow is an important day. I don't want any false light intrusion.

I wish I had more to say, but I have to study. I did do something really cool today, but I can't talk about it.

I'm happy....even though I am using my old, and slow laptop that will hopefully not have the screen burn out soon. It sort of looks like its about too. I hope not.

What I learned today

Today I learned in Sports Law that I could be sued for half the things that I have written.

I hope that I don't have to worry about any legal action.

I also played some soccer tonight. I shot out a lot of my aggression that I had from the fact that my new laptop died...again...this time it has to be sent in for a lot of time.

I am very happy with the answer to the Daily Campus question of the week. What an enlightened person. The answer they gave was outstanding and it's clear to me that they deserve an honorary doctorate for their answer.

Also UCONN Field Hockey is really good. Loren Sheerer won another BIG EAST player of the week award. Her third around award in a row...Pretty impressive. Ali Blankmeyer had a great game too, she scored a hat trick against Drexel...

UCONN has won three against ranked opponents this year. They look really good. Melissa Gonzalez is also so good. She may not being scoring as many goals as last year but she has been making plays happen from the midfield. She is so good.

Kick for Nick

Don't forget to bring a soccer ball for the Kick For Nick event at the soccer game on September 25th vs St. Johns. I went out and bought a ball on Monday night.

I'll be really busy today...

Went down to Hartford to play some duck duck goose as a part of Husky Sport at Clark elementary school.

Swimming class got canceled...so I atleast was able to catch up on some emails.

Class...

Then study for a test (already) and announce the field hockey game and study again.

dramatic spectacle vs play

I feel like I need to write right now. I don't know why. Sometimes I just feel like I need to.

One of the things that we talk about in sports in society is the dramatic spectacle of sports and the play of sports.

I most certainly fall into one category, and that is the dramatic spectacle part. I love to play sports. I love just playing them. But quite frankly it's not what I'm good at. I'm not only not good at playing, I can't really coach them either. (Although I do think I could find ways to motivate a team and work with varying personalities) The sport itself can "play" without me.

What I am most useful with sports is the dramatic spectacle of sports. I am much more useful for making sports more than just a game. I am someone who can make it into a big social/business event. I can help market it and get others interested in it. I can communicate the great events that happen at games with others. I can turn the game itself into something bigger than just a game.

In other words, I am someone who is really important if a sport wants to make money and be a successful product. In order to be successful you need people to market a team and communicate it's successes and strengths. You need to make your event into a spectacle. However, I am not really all that important when it comes to wins and losses because in reality there is very little I can do to improve the skills of a team or individual on the field. Since I never played at an elite level there is very little I can do to improve the "play" of sport.

Stephanie Labbe's Blog

I loved Stephanie Labbe's blog from when she was in the Olympics. It was really interesting to read and it actually got me thinking about writing. Her blog also helped get me to women's soccer games.

She is writing another blog and I encourage you to read it.

http://www.cwfootball.com/blogs/blog/id/42

O'Brian White scored his second career goal for Toronto FC recently.

how some view sports

Certain people just don't like sports. Especially certain people at college. It's funny how deep the divide can be between athletics, athletes and professors. I will run into so many people at college that could care less about sports. Most often they are philosophers, engineers and science majors. Usually communication and business majors care about sports. I don't mean to stereotype.

There are a lot of professors that despise sports. They wish sports never existed. They see them as a waste of time and a distraction from progress. These professors don't care about a big game, and hate to so much time, energy and money is given to athletics. As a matter of fact they mistakenly think that everything in a college campus is done for athletics. It's only natural for them to think like that. Their life experiences have taught them that studying, reading, and testing etc. is what gets you ahead in life. They view sports as a diversion from those things.

Many other people love sports. They view it as a social gathering. They see it as an opportunity to have school pride. They view it as a positive diversion from life's problems. They also see the good in sports. They see how it builds character and enriches the education and lives of so many. I find that business, kinesiology (obviously) and communication/journalism professors are some of the best when it comes to supporting teams and working around the schedules of athletics.

I also have found the history of sports to be fascinating. I real look back into time to see how sports interacted with other societies.

Sports have been viewed as both positive and negative diversions before.

Sports have been used to simulate warfare and keep soldiers in shape. They have been used to build character and re-enforce class and gender differences. Tennis, Horseracing Golf, Croquet for example are games that the wealthy have played for awhile. We all know that sports have not had racial and gender equality before.

It's interesting that the Puritans hated sports. It's interesting that English kings would promote sports and tell their citizens and the Puritans that it is good to play sports.

It's interesting to read about how popular sports seem to represent the values that are held in a society. For example football became popular during the Cold War because the game represented, strength, power confrontation and strategy. You can also see the personality of societies based on how they play soccer across the world.

Tough thing for me

Before I knew anyone read my blog I wouldn't have thought twice about writing some things. Now I have to think and write carefully.

I say that for a couple of reasons but one reason is probably not a reason you are thinking of.

If someone knows you are going to write about them you will act differently than if you weren't going to being written about.

interesting fact

the first NCAA sport to have a championship was Track and Field in 1921

Quick and simple

I'm happy. I'm really happy. I wonder why.

The funny thing about soccer

The funny thing about soccer to me is how long it often takes to score. You wait and you wait and you anticipate and hope for so long. It's the build up of anticipation that makes everyone erupt so loudly when your team scores. It's that build up of anticipation that makes goals so special and so celebrated. Sometimes when you watch soccer you get the sense that you aren't supposed to score.

I don't mind that. I love 2-1 baseball games that are decided by bunts and infield hits. I love NL baseball. I wonder if NL fans would be slightly more likely to be soccer fans than AL baseball fans. I doubt there would be much of a correlation but who knows.

9/11

I guess I unknowlingly didn't post anything on September 11th. I guess that could be seen as a moment of silence.

I guess I should talk about this day.

I remember being in middle school. I remember having gym first and I remember seeing planes around during gym class. For some reason I thought something unusual was going on with the planes. I don't know why I thought that. None of the planes that hit the Twin Towers flew near my school.

I remember sitting in Math class when the principal came over the loud-speakers to announce what had happened. They didn't mention a terrorist attack...they just said that two small planes hit the World Trade Center and that more information was coming. We were talking about probability at the time and I remember this kid named Eric Demaio saying "Well what are the odds that two planes hit the twin towers on the same day." We had no idea how that event would shape history.

As it turned out a former neighbor of ours died that day. As did his sister. I was neighborhood friends with their handicap son. I remember his son giving me this great gift for my birthday one year. It was a Michael Jordan jersey. I have always treasured that gift.

I also remember that sports helped heal us as a country. I remember all the NYPD and FDNY hats that the Mets wore. I remember all of the patriotism that there was and how sports took our mind off of what had just happened.

I distinctly remember that I cried (which doesn't happen all that often) at the first Mets game that I went to after the attack on 9/11. I remember seeing the police cross walk signs covered with missing people fliers. I cried, or atleast tears came to my eyes because I knew that all of those people had died. I realized that all of those families had lost someone they loved and it was a bit overwhelming to see so many missing people fliers at Shea Stadium that day.

I don't like this

I love that parents of players are good fans. I love that some field hockey parents traveled 6 hours during the work week to see a game. That's passion. That's borderline crazy, but I love it.

I do not like it when parents become referees or coaches. That is crossing a line. I heard a parent at the Penn State vs Wake Forest game yell "pass it to Katie."

I can think of nothing worse to say. Being in to the game is good, coaching and pressuring kids to make plays is not good. It's counterproductive.

People need to let the referees make the calls because like it or not they get things right most of the time. They are fair and objective people.

Kids also don't need to think that they are letting their parents down...Let the kids play, start chants and cheer on the team...but parents shouldn't yell or criticize. It does no good.

Swim class

I am very proud of myself.

I used to think I was only a slightly better swimmer than lead.

Thanks to my swim teacher in swim class, a coach here at UConn, I have begun to get better.

Not perfect. I have a lot to learn. But I can see myself getting better. I need to work on my breathing, but I atleast have learned how to swim on my back. I also have improved my freestyle swimming. I feel like I am actually moving in the water.

The hardest part for me is my posture and keeping my hips up and core tight. I also need to keep my head back on the backstroke. I need to keep my head down more when I swim the free-style.

I am just very happy that I am making progress.


Being a senior has some advantages, like having room in your schedule for swimming.

How does this work?

I laugh when I listen to recruits who are interviewed about their lives. About their choices for school. A linebacker from my high school is being recruitied by 30schools and has narrowed down his list to schools like Georgia, USC, Penn State, Tenneseee, Michigan and North Carolina...Not a bad list. I have also been informed that many schools operate in the grey area...not that that should be a surprise.

Recruits are so happy and proud to rattle off that list of schools. What I don't understand is how athletes can go from hearing "You're the greatest ever, you fit so well in to our system, our campus is perfect for you...you could be the best ever at our school" to pre-season. No one is kissing their behinds in pre-season. I'm sure they must go "but what happened to all of those nice things you said." I'm sure at one point they had to have thought to themselves "what the heck did I get myself into."

What they are told when they are recruited is probably the total opposite of what they will hear from coaches when they get to school. Once they choose their program they become an unimportant freshman. They go from being the big thing at home, with newspaper coverage, blogs, interviews etc. to college where they are just some little freshman.

I like the athletes who don't make a big deal about their recruitment because they understand that being recruited is just part of a process. These players understand that being a top recruit means nothing once they get to college.

What also gets me is how so many of the players who are listed as four and five star recruits will inevitably not do anything at the college level. Many will, but at many of the best colleges the players will just be one of 10 or 15 four or five star recruits. It's not possible for all of those players to be high impact players.

Recruiting fascinates me. I would reccomend reading "Meat Market" by Bruce Feldman. It's a great look into college football recruiting.

Sorry

Sorry I've been busy all day. I've been researching some ridiculous information which some of you may soon see.

I get made fun of

Well I get made fun of for a lot of reasons.

My friends make fun of me because I haven't seen a lot of movies...

Especially sports movies...

Hoosiers....no

Sandlot...hadn't heard of until today

Mighty Ducks...Nope...

I have seen Bull Durham, Rudy (because my teacher made us watch that in school...not a fan of Notre Dame), The Rookie, Angels in the Outfield, Friday Night Lights (Don't remember it though). I've Seen Radio and Bend it like Beckham because of my Sports Literature teacher in high school. Remember the Titans and The Express are two that I have seen. I've seen 61 too.

I actually go in to her class now to talk about my expierences. I love it because I get to talk. She loves it because the kids learn a lot.

Anyway, in general, I'm not a huge fan of sports movies. There are some exceptions but I much prefer to watch comedies. I like Robin Williams and Jim Carrey movies. I love Leslie Nielsen movies. I like comedies and sports movies don't usually make me laugh. I'd much rather watch a replay of an old game than watch a movie about a game or series of games.

I wear my soccer cleats at night

As you know I am learning the game of soccer, little by little. Although I was able to anticipate things pretty well at the last game I was at. Seriously...

That doesn't mean I didn't forget a few things...like you know...a kickoff after a goal was scored.

I'm also learning that the definition of shot in soccer is a very broad definition.

Anyway, I almost only wear my soccer cleats at night, for one simple reason. That reason is that I hope no one sees me play.

I'm not garbage.

I'm a dumpster.

I used to be a landfill so atleast I am making progress.

I almost volleyed a shot in...It went off the cross bar, which actually, quite amazingling feels sort of good. It means I got it almost right.

Back to an old subject

Someone else, the same person with a pink bicycle...decided to ride a scooter through that natatorium lobby.

I hope this doesn't become a trend.

If It wasn't for me studying in the natatorium I would have totally forgotten that scooters exist.

Don't let this slip by you

Loren Sherer and Andrea Mainero have been recognized by the Big East for their play for the past two weeks....thats hard to do...Imagine if that was a men's basketball player or football player being honored to weeks in a row for their play...

We'd be talking about the Wooden Award or the Heisman watch if that were the case.

I just found a new statistic

I have a great fact....but I can't tell you about it. Don't worry your not missing much though.

Handing out fliers

Handing out fliers can be an interesting job. I did a lot of that today. Probably about three hours worth. Sounds about right. I did about two hours on Friday. I probably handed out around 750 fliers to people on Labor Day weekend.

I don't mind doing it for several reasons. I love talking about sports...I want to get other people to games...I like getting some exercise in and its good that I have to get out of my comfort zone and go up to random people and talk to them. I talk a lot, but I am very shy until I meet you. It's not in my nature to go up to people I don't know and bother them. It's good that I have to when I hand out fliers.

There are several basic types of people you run into when you hand out fliers.

There are a small amount that just really want nothing to do with you...they turn you down before you even open your mouth. There are also some people that just hate sports and anything to do with it. They enjoy blowing me off.

There is also a group that are just so happy that you handed something to them. A few are really excited by what I tell them about.

There is another group who doesn't really care about what your pitching to them, but they are very polite and say "thank's man." They are the largest group of people.

Then you have the group of people who are quiet and then snicker at you as you walk away, as they can't believe that someone would spend time handing out fliers about whatever it is that I'm trying to sell.

I like it best when I am walking and I run into just one or two people at a time because it allows me to talk to them...If there are too many people I just hand them out without saying anything. I think the talking part is important. I wish I had even more time to talk. After I tell the basic parts I'd like to be able to fill them in on some reasons that they should show up.

It's funny how often I also see one or two people move to the other side of the street when they see me coming. They want to avoid me. It's also funny how you make eye contact with people and then they look away before I go up to talk to them.

I also think Thank You is a very underused and underrated couple of words. I try my best to thank every person who did come to something because I suggested they should. Thank You is not said enough. Sometimes thank you is enough to keep people coming back.

Personally I traveled about three hours to watch two hours of soccer this summer. The fact that the team I rooted for won, and that I got to see my friend made my drive worthwhile. It was the thank you I got from a player that made me happy that I made the drive. It would motivate me to go again.

My status

I am pretty happy right now...

Although I do have a few things that I want to work on so that I can be more helpful.

I think I've been working for about 8 hours today...none of it paid...but I guess when I add up all the time it came out to 8 hours...8 quick hours that I enjoyed...I also got to work out and get a hair cut.

Looking forward to swimming tomorrow.

I can talk about former UConn athletes

Stephanie Labbe was two points shy of being named the best player in her league for the months of June until August.

Ashley O'Brien took a shot in her last game. San Francisco is 3-1

Shauna Mussser has played for Hawaii this year. Hawaii is 1-2-1.

I am trying to think

I have been trying to think of a poll to do for a long time now, but I am struggling to think of one. We'll see what I can do!

Well guess what, I am a quick thinker.

She made my day

My friend made my day because she was reminded of me when she thought of a certain university thats not too far away and is associated with the color red.

I get so mad that university makes me turn red.

She knew how much I dislike this school and thought of me because of my dislike...(which is being nice) for the school

Doing different things

If I had to give a sports management major any advice...(this is weird because I still am one) it would be to get expierence in many different parts of sports. For example I have done a lot of things in sports that are very different. I'd say my strong points are marketing and communications because I have been working in Marketing for a couple semesters and will have taken a class in sports marketing. (I have a lot to learn too) I also have a lot of expierence in communications because I have been both a reporter and have helped out the athletic communications staff at a University. I have reported on sports and provided the information for others to report on. I also am the public announcer for UConn Field Hockey.

I also have some limited expierence in Athletic Operations/Facilties Work. I helped retrieve softball's at games, and helped run the pole vault at a Track Meet. I also cleaned up the facility and I have volunteered time to help out at a few UConn baseball games.

I have done some work in Athletic Compliance too. I've helped make sure that some athletes are taking enough credits.

I've gotten expierence at both the Division I and Division II level. I see what it's like to have a budget and what it's like not to.

I have taken part in Husky Sport and have an idea of what it is like to do community service/engagement.

I will also be learning about a new sport that is a little foriegn to me (but not foriegn to anyone in the rest of the world) and doing some new and exciting things for a team this year.

While I only have limited expierence, I believe that it is good that it is so diverse. I think the more you know about different things, the better. It's very easy to understand your job well, but I think you can make things run better if you understand not only how to do your job, but to also see how your job fits into the bigger scheme of things and how to do multiple jobs should a new opportunity arise.

I also believe that sports general managers and owners should sit in the worst seat in the house to see what it's like to be a fan. They would learn a lot from that.

I also know that I would like to work in college athletics because I like that there are always fresh faces and many different sports to watch. I also like the sense of community in college athletics. I think that's missing (With the exception of say Red Sox nation) in pro sports.

What I learned

One thing I specifically looked for when I watched soccer yesterday was how the midfielder went about winning the ball. I have come to appreciate just how important it is to do that. I know something about soccer other than scoring!

I think this is a bad thing

I turned on ESPN around noon today and I saw that they were broadcasting High School football...I don't think that is a good thing. I think it's a bad thing for high school sports to get commercialized. I remember reading about Lebron James and how he let the early attention that he got to get to his head. It's not good for high school athletes to be put on ESPN on a Sunday. I just think it's a bad thing. I don't think we want to have to hear about High School recruiting violations in 20 years. I think we hear about enough problems in college not to drive further down this road.

I also wish we did more in college to promote and market to academic acheivements of athletes. We definetly do it, but I wish we did it more. Something makes me think that a lot of people would come out and support a huge underdog, or team having a bad season, if they knew they all had 3.0's and were making the community a great place.

I also wish ESPN would take off some of the ridiculous programming that I see. Poker isn't a sport. UConn vs Syracuse Field Hockey would be a good game to put on TV. UConn vs Notre Dame Women's Soccer would be a good game to put on, UConn vs St. John's Men's Soccer would be a good game to go on...North Carolina vs UCLA or Notre Dame in women's soccer (BTW UNC won those games....7-2, 6-0...they beat Marquette 1-0) Put Stanford vs UCLA Volleyball on instead...

Poker isn't a sport. Poker is a bunch of people betting chips on cards. Bowling could be cut...I love fishing, but fishing could be cut a little bit too. Putting other sports, especially female sports on ESPN every once in a while would go a long way to boosting attendance and noteriety for those sports.

This was really pretty

I won't say much about certain things any more, but I saw some really pretty soccer today.

I have a day off tomorrow, which means I'll probably be studying.

I wasn't lying

I wasn't lying when I said I'd be so much busier now that I am back at school. This week is probably one of the busier ones I've had in a while in terms of work. I like the feeling of being busy though. I also like that I haven't really been able to watch a game yet. It makes me feel useful. I've actually worked all of the home games so far this year...that will change today as I only have one of the four home games.

Wait...you know who I am

Yes, I once again impressed an athlete because I knew who they were. It was such a big deal to them.

I had looked at the Block Party sign up sheet briefly and also remembered a few of the people who had signed up to be a member the year before.

Cara Silverman was in line and I knew that she had already signed up the year before and wouldn't need to again. She was so impressed that I knew who she was and all about field hockey. She kept wanting to know how I knew who she was. I just said "lets just say I know a little bit about field hockey".

I am the public announcer for the team.

Cara Silverman is a heck of a field hockey player too. She has started all three games this year at forward and has a couple of goals.

I'm Sheerer I didn't sink

So for the first time I said Sheer-er (Sherer) correctly the entire game tonight. I am so proud of myself. No major slip-ups.

I also swam in the Natatorium today for swim class. I did so much better than I thought I would. I was able to swim on my back. That is a huge accomplishment, believe it or not. I also decided to wear my bathing suit everywhere. I thought it was cool to say that I went to class in my swim trunk and flippy floppies.

We also argued in class about what was and wasn't a sport. I am a firm believer that if you think that golf is a sport that you must also think that NASCAR is a sport. Both have rewards, require physical skill and have rules. I'd like to elabortate but I really need to get to bed.

UConn Strength and Conditioning

I must tell you that the UConn Strength and Conditioning staff at UConn do an excellent job. They are top notch. I am in fairly decent shape, yet I am really sore from a workout in my weightlifting class yesterday. We squated without using any real weight. We also had some intense warm-ups. We never stopped moving. I like being pushed and I hope the rest of my class is too otherwise they might come to loathe the class.

Also, fun fact...the UConn athletes are not allowed to sit between reps in the varsity weightrooms.

It looked beautiful

It looked so beautiful to watch the passing before the game today in a warm up drill. It just looked so nice.

As I was walking on Morrone I thought that the goals looked so small, but I also love how the goals are made into a box...where as the goals you use for pick up games are not.

Today starts a stretch of five games in six days that I will be working. I will enjoy it. I love sharing my love of sports with others.

Today I ran music and got to watch the men's soccer game from the press box. Good deal. I wanted to get a good seat for todays game...and I did. The goal patrol and amount of fans was great...it was amazing. I hope it's always like that...for every game at Morrone.

I also must stress that athletes, fairly or unfairly, must always try to be on their best behavior. One way to ensure that no one will show up to games is to be arrogant. Confidence is important and it's a part of an athlete's training. Arrogance is not part of it. I, and most other people, have little respect for people who don't treat other people with respect.

I also played around today with soccer. I'm not good...but I did a couple of volleys...I volley-ed one just over the cross bar and actually volley-ed one into the goal.

This was so cool

As I was walking out of Gampel Pavilion today I was startled by a man walking up the stairs. He really startled me. I didn't recognize him on a quick glance. Then I quickly knew who it was. It was Geno. I thought it was so cool that Coach Auriemma rembered me from reporting. I shook his hand and felt a championship ring. I told him that I am now working on the other side of things by working with athletics. We had a short chat as we were walking outside of Gampel. I also told him that his Phillies have a lot on my Mets this year. He is a great man and I admire him greatly. This made my day.

I've atleast met all three of UConn's Hall of Fame coaches. I reported on women's basketball, I will work with Coach Nancy Stevens when I work with communications and I met Coach Calhoun while he was on campus.

Home Videos

I am reminded of a home video that was taken of one of my soccer games when I was really really little. For some reason my dad decided to film this game. I don't know why. It was surely not for recruiting to the kindergarten team. My dad hates sports. I guess I am glad he showed up.

I haven't seen this video in a while but I remember a few things.

For some background information, I was apparently good, or had potential in soccer when I was really young. However, at the time I didn't like the game. As I have mentioned before it didn't help my soccer career that Michael Jordan played baseball and basketball. I didn't like running around so much. I hated the heat and my favorite part of playing soccer at the time was taking off the shin guards because it felt so good to take them off.

I am pretty sure I was a defender. I remember saying once about soccer that I didn't want all the parents to cheer for me if I scored a goal. I don't know why I said that. Obviously I didn't have the right attitude at the time when it came to being a striker. I also didn't mind messing things up for others, so being a defender would make sense.

I think this is an example of a natural humbleness that I have because I really do remember (I would have no problem being cheered for now) not liking being cheered for... I think this also means that I knew I could have scored but chose not too. That's not good. I don't think my teammates remember me. I don't remember them, so they can't get mad that we didn't win the 1995 SYSL Little Division championship. For whatever reason not being cheered for was something unique with myself and soccer. I never felt like that in any other sport.

Anyway, I remember my dad saying something that he had no business saying. He said that "Tim has no idea what he's doing out there." I resent that when I hear it on video. I resent it becuase, while that's probably true, he has even less of an idea of what is going on than I do. My dad is the same guy who after years of explaining has finally come to understand that white pants are the home team in baseball and grey pants are the road teams.

The funny thing to me about myself and soccer is that I used to hate the sport, until I got to UConn. It was also probably the only sport that a coach ever said I had potential in.

This whole thought came to me while I was on my run around campus today. I had to write it.

Stuff from today

I have to say that you really do hear some great stories at the marketing table when athletes friends come and pick up things. It's funny how excited they are to see their roommate, or suite mate or high school teammate on a poster. There were some girls today who were disappointed that an athlete wasn't on a poster. I told them they were a year late, because last year the athlete was on the poster.

It's also a little weird to be on campus now and pass by all these people that I write or used to write about. It's even weirder because I know that some of them have read it which I guess means that they have an opinion about me. I hope I am respected.

I also got to go on Gampel and shoot today. That was so cool. I took a lay-up...because why not. Then I shot an airball...with a women's ball which is lighter than what I usually shoot with. I re-adjusted and knocked in a three. That was definitely a dream of mine. I also have to say...I was so excited that I didn't pay attention to the fact that it was in Gampel. I just focused on the hoop. Had I focused on the fact that I was on Gampel, taking a shot...I think I would have missed. I would have concentrated on...wow oh my, I'm shooting on Gampel rather than wow, let's knock down that shot. It was also sweet redemption for the half court shot I took after a women's basketball practice that went off the front rim on my first and only attempt. The shot that would have pissed off Tahirah Williams had it gone in.

The last cool thing is that my weightlifting class will allow me to workout in the vasrsity gym. I think this is really cool. I also love being able to see the UConn athletes that were honored for their hard work in the gym. I loved seeing people I know like Anthony Burris and Tyrone Faverey up there. I remember Maya Moore and Lorin Dixon and also Melissa Gonzalez being honored for their work.