Final Blog Post

Today I gave my final presentation. I basically gave a tour of my website and showed the work that Ben and I put into it. I wrapped up the presentation with explaining how the different skills went into it and what I learned about myself. I thought that the presentation went pretty well. I made sure that the class understood that I was pretty busy for the past few months with the work on this project. There are not any next steps for the project per say. The sight is finished and I did all the work I set out to do. With that being said I still write for my own blog occasionally so if I am writing something I would definitely consider putting it on the website because the website that we created for this project looks much better than my blog. So the website could definitely be continued in the future. Although it was a pain to put together I still thought that making the weekly broadcast videos was my favorite part of the work I did. Broadcasting is very fun and I prefer it over writing because I am better at expressing my opinions when I am speaking as opposed to writing. Although writing is not my favorite thing per say, I still really enjoyed writing about the top twenty-five recruiting classes. My least favorite part of the work this term was the blog posts by far. I felt that the blog posts were hindering to my project in a way because instead of writing for my project I had to write three blog posts a week. I think one blog post a week giving an update to the class is more reasonable. There is no reason to post three times a week. I was able to work through the pain of the blog posts and finish all my work on time. The advice that I would give to next year's seniors would be firstly to choose a topic that you are truly interested in. I can't speak for the people who chose topics that they were not interested in, but I had a great time doing my project so I feel that they should all find something they are very interested in. My other piece of advice would be to stay on top of things. I know it is easy to let the work slip when you are working individually, but if you stay on top of your work then it will make things easy for you in the end. I think this mentality can be used in life in general as well. The ultimate truth that I learned about my working process is that I can put my head down and get things done. I don't think anyone heard me speak very much in English class this term because once I got in the classroom I got down to business. I knew that I had my work cut out for me so I wasted no time in class. To be honest I was surprised at how I was able to stay so focussed on my project during class. I am happy to know that I can get down to work when I need to. What I learned about myself is that I still want to be a sports broadcaster and study broadcast journalism in college. When I was in middle school I realized that I would not play professional sports so from that point on I have always wanted work in the field of sports broadcasting. I knew this project was going to test whether or not sports broadcasting is something I would want to pursue. I had a great time doing the newscasts so that just reassured my passion. This was an absolutely great way to spend the term because I was able to do something I loved and work with one of my best friends. I am very thankful for this entire process.

Crunch time: Week 5 Blog 3

It is coming down to the wire and I am not swamped with work, but there is still some work to do. I just finished up my top twenty-five list yesterday which was a huge success. I am currently working on an article about the interview I did with Martin. I also finished my book, The Last Amateurs, but I still have to write an article on it and post in the recruiting section. Tonight I will post my final video episode. I already filmed most of it so I just have to do a few more garageband recordings and then put the video together. I need to complete all of these things by Wednesday as well as fine tune and tweak the website. The website looks pretty nice, but when I am finished the work it will look even better. I am looking forward to finishing this project and I am not very nervous about time.  

Progress this week: Week 5: Blog 2

This week has been pretty productive because I know that I need to get down to work if I want to complete the project. I am down to my final two articles on my top twenty-five teams. The top two teams are Duke and Kentucky. I have also made a nice amount of progress on my book and I have been writing down quotes that I want to put in my article about the book. This week I have also interviewed Martin Mann. I wanted to interview Martin because he can speak about the recruiting process from the view of an athlete. He is currently being recruited by division one basketball schools so I thought that his input would be very helpful. I think it is important to see how the process works from both the coaches' perspective and the player's perspective. Seeing it from both sides will help give a clear understanding of the process as a whole. This week of work has been solid, but still have some work ahead of me before the presentation.

Off to the races and frustration with blog: Week 5 Blog 1

This week I really do have my work cut out for me. Last night I put the finishing touches to my latest video update. I hope to make one more this week to have four videos on various topics an then the introduction video. I also need to do a ton of writing. Whether it be my top twenty-five or my feature articles on my interview or book. Over the course of this project so far I have realized what a hassle these blog posts are. I think three posts a week is a little excessive because I could be working on my articles for my project instead of writing about my progress. I think that one blog post a week giving an update on the status of your project is necessary. I do not think it is necessary to write three posts a week. I have completed all the blog posts so far, but I always wonder how much further I could be with my project if I did not have to do these blogs. I am going to try to push through and complete my project while doing all these blogs. It is going to be tough because my project contains a ton of work, but I can't make any excuses for myself because if I do then I am doomed for sure.

Upcoming Week Week 4: Blog 3

This week has to be a week full of hard work if I am going to be able to reach all my goals for the final project. This week I hope to finish reading my book and write an article highlighting the major points of the book and how it relates to recruiting. I also hope to be very close to finishing my top twenty five list. I have eight more articles to write if I want to complete that. I need to get an interview done with an athlete this week and write an article about it. I was thinking about interviewing Martin Mann because he is a basketball player that is going through the recruiting process and I think his information could be valuable. Lastly of course I need to post my last video. This would put me up to four videos and I think that is  substantial amount based on the significant amount of time it takes me to create them. I hope I can get most of these things done, but I'll see where I am at by the end of the week.

Work this week: Week 4 Blog 2

This week was a decent week of work. I focussed a lot on my articles of the top twenty-five teams and now I am at the number ten team the Virginia Cavaliers. These articles are fun to write and they are becoming more interesting because now I am getting into the really strong recruiting classes. The way I go about these articles is I watch film of the recruits for a certain team. I take notes on the players and then determine how I will rank the classes. Along with these articles I have continued reading The Last Amateurs which continues to be an interesting book. I will put up an article focussing on some of the main points and quotes of the book. By Sunday night I will put up the third episode of my video series The Finnsider. I am still determining this week's topic, but I will make it something interesting. Overall this week of work was pretty solid and hopefully I can be even more productive next week.

Solid start to the week: Week 4 Blog 1

So far this week I have already made decent progress on my project. I have now written thirteen articles on my top twenty five teams and I have been chipping away at my book The Last Amateurs by John Feinstein. The book focusses on the Patriot League which is a certain conference in NCAA Division 1 basketball. Most of you have probably not heard of the Patriot League, but it is a competitive conference. The teams in the Patriot League are different to power conferences in terms of their resources. They are not as much about the bling as bigger basketball schools are. From the perspective of coaches and players Feinstein shows us the life and thoughts of these players who play in this conference. The book often refers to the hard work of the players in that conference. So far it is a very interesting book. On my articles I am getting down to the very good recruiting classes. As I am watching the film of these players I can't help, but be amazed at their athleticism and skill. Most of the teams that I have yet to write about are the teams from all the power conferences. However Harvard has a very impressive recruiting class and they will be close to my top ten. It has been a ton of work making my rankings and writing my articles, but it is very fun.