T. Kriens

The Future of Newspapers

2009-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

The Future of Newspapers

Full Story

Susan Smith Interview

Amy Poppinga Interview

2009-12-17T11:52:00.001-08:00

SDSU Mascot Challenge

2009-12-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

SDSU Mascot

Full Story on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI-slG8BiAM

Full Justin Sell

Full Justin Swanson

2009-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Radio Show

Hobo Day Parade 2009

2009-11-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

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

It has been said that Hobo Day (South Dakota State's homecoming) is the largest one day gathering in the state of South Dakota (the Sturgis Rally is a week) and the centerpiece of the day (besides the football game) is the annual Hobo Day Parade. Some might say that the centerpiece of the parade and the most recognizable image is the Bum Mobile, the 1912 Model T.

The year of the Bummobile (1912) is significant because it marks the celebration of the first Hobo Day. The Bummobile has been the lead entry in every Hobo Day parade since 1938, with the exception of 1942, when Hobo Day and classes were cancelled so students could help with the World War II effort.

The Bummobile was donated in 1938 by Frank Weigel, a farmer from Flandreau, S.D. The Model T has shepherded homecoming grand poobas, parade grand marshals and even a U.S. president.

The parade is ended by the Grand Pooba riding through on the historic Bum Mobile. For seven decades, the Bummobile has led the Hobo Day Parade past the Campanile along Medary Avenue. Otherwise, with the exception of a select number of summer parades, the 1912 Ford Model T remains tucked away in an off-campus garage.

Darryl Orback helped refurbish the Bum Mobile for the 2009 Hobo Day Parade. In recent years, the Bummobile has started on fire; a tire has fallen off and the brakes have given out. The car had to be pushed through the parade route in 2006. That prompted the Hobo Day Committee to launch an effort to repair and restore the Bummobile.

The University Program Council committed $1,000 to start the fund, but private gifts were needed to complete the project, estimated at $20,000. Various alumni and friends of the University have donated their time and money in the past to make sure that the Bummobile was up and running, but this is the first effort to provide a comprehensive overhaul for the nearly 100 year old Model T.

The grandson of Frank Weigel, Dave Weigel, who donated the Bum Mobile in 1938.

When I first started this assignment I didn't plan on the Bum Mobile being a big part of it. But the first two people that I interviewed ended up being Frank Weigel and Darryl Orback. I was lucky enough to get talk to these two for a few minutes and the story behind the Bum Mobile ended up being a important part of the parade story.

SDSU Marketing Push Story 1

2009-11-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Wonder what head football coach John Stiegelmeier though of the game on Saturday? Who is the funniest member of the woman’s soccer team? What does the SDSU mascot do in his spare time? You can get answers to these questions and many more by watching the half-hour Jackrabbit Insider every Sunday night on KSFY after the 10 p.m. news.

The show has interviews with coaches, feature pieces on student athletes, along with information on select places throughout the campus.

“It’s an opportunity for us to promote both South Dakota State University as a school and also the athletic department,” said the show’s host Tyler Merriam. “It’s a chance to expose the university and the athletic department to an audience that perhaps has not been aware of some of the things that are available to them.”

Part of the brains behind the show was new athletic director Justin Sell who brought the concept with him from his previous job at Northern Iowa.

“It’s an opportunity to gain exposure for our entire athletic program,” Sell said. “To have the opportunity to get a half-hour time slot on a major TV station out of Sioux Falls was too good to pass up and it is a great chance to market and promote our university.”

Beyond promoting the university and the athletic department, the Jackrabbit Insider will give casual fans an introduction to what SDSU has to offer, while diehards get the chance to be more informed.

“We know that the hardcore SDSU fans will watch the show and they will get more out of it,” said Merriam. “At the same time, we know that there are people who may not be aware of some things. That why you want to be on a station like KSFY, because you find people who are not die hards and hopefully we can make them fans. We want to reach out an expose our product to a lot of people.”

“For the diehard fan it gives them an extra reason to know why they support it so passionately,” said Sell. “It’s not all about wins and losses with our die-hard fans and I love that. For that person who hasn’t been exposed to SDSU athletics or to our campus or may be new to the state, the show gives them an opportunity to see what a great, quality athletic program we have. If you want to come see a high level of sports being played, South Dakota State University, to me, is the thing in the entire state of South Dakota.”

A major focus of the show is the profiles on the student-athletes and getting to know what they are like outside of the field of play. Merriam, who will return this fall for his second year of radio play-by-play for the woman’s basketball team as well adding color commentary for football, says that’s his favorite part of the show.

“To me, that is such a huge part of the show because I think that it’s easier for people to be more intense and dedicated fans when they know the personal stories behind athletes. It’s easier for people to identify with these athletes and see them as more than just a person shooting a basketball or swinging a bat or throwing a football. That enriches not only the student athlete experience, but I think fans get a better idea as well. Just being able to showcase our student athletes and personalize them is what we are striving for and what I enjoy about it.”

In the past, SDSU has had coaches shows for individual sports like football, men’s and woman’s basketball and volleyball. The Jackrabbit Insider, which is archived and can be watch on GoJacks.com, will allow some of the less covered sports to get in on the act.

“I think that is the real big part of this is that it enables us not to just focus on specific sport, but to get everybody some exposure,” Merriam said. “With the ability to do that, we think that it enriches our athletic department as a whole.”

With the show only being a month old, fans can expect the content to change and evolve over time.

“We are going to try and add a little humor to it,” said Sell. “We have been talking about doing some ESPN-like ads with the Jackrabbit. The beauty is that we control that content so we have an opportunity as the year goes on to explore new and interesting ideas every week.”

“I think it is going to be one of those things that has the potential to continue to grow. We are finding right now that they amount of time allotted is almost not enough, because we have so much content. How we refined that and utilize that to provide maximum exposure for all of our program is going to be the biggest challenge, but I think what you will find is a more refined product.”

In only a handful of episodes, viewers have had the chance to see a wide variety of stories such as a feature on the game day experience at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, the woman’s basketball team help paint a house and the Jackrabbit campaign for votes for the Capital One Mascot Challenge.

“When people get to see our student-athletes and coaches and see what quality people they are, they fall in love with our program.” Sell said. “That’s the part I like the best.“

The print story that I wrote gave a little different view on the marketing aspect compared to the video story. The print story is about the TV show, another aspect that wasn't covered in the video. I think that this all has to do with the Division I transition, the larger budgets, more coverage, etc. Everything is bigger and better than it was five years ago, for the most part, when the transition started. Getting to see what goes on day-to-day, first hand is a great experience that I hope to continue in the future.

2008 SDSU Spring Football Game

2008-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

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A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 19-Afterword, Pages 531-634

2008-05-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

If I had to compare golf to one other sport, it would have to be NASCAR. While these two sports may be very different at first glance, the history of these two orgainzations are very similar. The big problem is with the racial aspect of both NASCAR and the PGA Tour. While NASCAR has never had any black driver that's has been successfull, the PGA Tour has had a very non diversified group as well. Before the emergence of Tiger Woods, only a handful of African-American plaers have made any sort of an impact in terms of winning PGA tournaments. With NASCAR's roots in the south, it's obvious to see why there is a racial aspect to the sport. Meanwhile, the PGA is a country club sport with very few blacks available to join or even attempt to join with some clubs excluding blacks from memberships, as well as Jewish people and women.

Not all of the similarities are negative. The recent boom in popularity in both sports have vaulted them to the #4 and #5 spots in the major American sports scene. NASCAR is trying to get away from the southern stereotypes by expanding their fan base to big cities such as Chicago, L.A., and soon New York City. On the other hand, the PGA Tour has been turned around by one person, Tiger Woods. The prize money has tripled in the time since Tiger started. Overall, I give the book an 8.5 out of 10.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 16-18, Pages 435-530

2008-05-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

One thing that I have found interesting while reading this section is the gambling aspect of the game with the players. For example, before the British Open Championship, a foursome of players thought that they would get together a make a practice round more intersting. They did this by putting $1,000 each for the player that could finish the entire 18 hole round without a single bogey, one over par (+1). This would be unheard of in any other sport. I could think of NBA players possibly putting some money on pick-up games, but that's about it. The NFL is against gambling, but the sports would not be as popular without the point spreads. Even though the NFL trys to push itself away from the Vegas sports books it still allows their primary partner in television, ESPN, and other networks to show the point spreads on their scroll on the bottom of the screen and when the experts make their picks for the upcoming week.

Major League Baseball has a zero tolerance policy on gambling. If MLB was as strict on steroids and other performance enhancing drugs as they are on gambling, then the sports image wouldn't have gone through the ringer the past couple of years. Unlike with steroids, if a person associated with MLB, expecially an on field member, is caught gambling they are banned for life. Even if you are Pete Rose and supposedly bet on your team to win, you still get the boot from the sport. Their should be no excuse of gambling anyway considering that it's listed on a sign in every Major League and Minor League clubhouse.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 12-15, Pages 314-434

2008-05-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Golf, like with all sports, has seen a fair amount of changes over the years. With new clubs that are stronger and made from metal instead of wood, the distances that a player hits the ball has greatly increased. A player that was one of the top ten hitters in driving distance at the start of his career would likely be one ofthe lighter hitters if they are still on tour today.

Another major change is the way the players look. Today, the guys and the girls are more fit than they were even 10 years ago. Many of the players start working out so that they can play better, longer and have much more stamina while traveling across the country each week playing anywhere between 36 and 90 holes of golf. The first golfer to take serious the training that needed to become a better golfer would probably be Tiger Woods. When other players saw what Tiger was doing off the golf course and the results he was receiving on it, it was only natural to think that players would pick up on this and hit the gym more themselves. This reminds me of the way that the NFL has changed over the years. Before, it used to be that players had the spring and summer to rest. Now, the spring and summer are used for building yhour body up and getting the extra edge when training camp rolled around in late July. Training camp used to be the place where the player got in shape for the season. Today, if you don't come to camp ready to play from day one and slacked off all summer, then you'll probably find yourself seeing a lot less playing time during the season.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 9-11, Pages 212-313

2008-05-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have found out that most of the players written about in the book had a good family life when they were children. A lot of the time you hear about living in a poor community and how they only way out is to succeed in their chosen sport to make the big money. The fact is that golf is a rich mans sport. It's not life basketball where you can put a hoop up at home and play by yourself. To play golf, you need the hundred dollar clubs, the balls, clothes and golf course membership. That's why it is weird reading about someone who made $1.165 million one year finishing 53rd on the money list back in the mid '90s and then fall the next year to $320,000. I would just like to make the difference off of the two years and be happy with that.

That doesn't tell the whole story. A player that finds himself having a breakout year will get invited to these unofficial big money tournament overseas or in a make for T.V. event competing against a handful of other top players for hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, the next year the player may not finish as well as he did the year before because all of the extra golf played and the extra attention that they are getting. If a sponser comes up to a player and offers a player $5,000 a week to wear a hat with their logo on it, it would be impossible to turn them down. The real problem is when a golf club maker asks you to switch to their clubs for double the money you were making using the other guys clubs. Players cash in on this possible once in a lifetime opportunity and switch clubs without even thinking. Most of the time that player will struggle with the new clubs, so the money that's being gained off the golf course through sponser is being lost on it with new, unfamilar equipment.

Vikings select S Tyrell Johnson

2008-04-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Wasn't to sure about this pick at first since I wanted a QB or WR that was still available. However, after studying the pick more and with Darren Sharper probably retiring in the next 2 years I am happy with it.

Johnson Highlight video
http://www.youtube.com/v/Z-g0WS8yQxE&hl

http://www.nfl.com/videos;jsessionid=E7261F5F131C89B3CB70CD669B260BA6?videoId=09000d5d808000f4

They say he might be the best safety in the draft and is a great tackler in the open field, which is exactly what the Vikings need. Wasn't to sure of the pick at first, but now I am loving it.

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog #3

2008-04-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

With Ellis going to the Saints, the Ravens are now on the clock. They would have loved to get QB Matt Ryan, but he is already off the board. Jacksonville just traded up to #8 in place of the Ravens. Possibly DE Derrick Harvey from Flordia. There was speculation that Jacksonville was interested in giving up their frist round pick to the Dolphins for Jason Taylor, but I like this decision better then going after the 30+ year old Taylor.

After a slow, predictable start, things are starting to pick up with back-to-back trades.

With the draft starting 3 hours later and them moving the 3rd round until tomorrow may have somthing to do with my low level of excitement. The Vikings only have one first day pick, 2nd round pick #47, so they won't be picking until late tonight around 8-9p.m. If QB Brian Brohm is there, I hope Minnesota picks him. If Brohm left Louisville last year, he may have been a top 10 pick. He is likely to fall out of the first round in 2008. The Ravens trading down with Jacksonville to the mid 20's might pickup the next QB whether it be Brohm, Joe Flacco from I-AA Delaware, or Chad Henne from Michigan.

Jaguars pick Harvey at #8, which Mel Kiper feels is a reach and so do I. In mock drafts, I saw Harvey maybe droping to the Vikings when they had their 17th pick early, but likely going 13-14.

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog #2

2008-04-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Jets pick is in and they drafted Gholston. The only six players in the green room are now gone. We won't be seeing any Brady Quinn or Aaron Rodgers situation where they had to stay in the back from 4-6 hours.

The Patriots lucked out getting the 49ers 1st round pick this year due to a trade last year. I guess they draft Sedrick Ellis from USC although I am not that confident.

Darren McFadden could be the Adrian Peterson of this years draft. I don't think that he will due to going to the Black Hole that is the Oakland Raiders franchise. Having a rookie RB and basically a rookie in second year QB JaMarcus Russell can't be a good thing.

A thing that makes the draft fun are the trades and speculation about what teams want to trade down and what teams want to trade up to get the player that they want.

The Saints just traded up to get the #7 pick from the Pats. I am pretty confident that it will be Ellis now to New Orleans. The Pats will now get multiple picks and stockload even more talent to the best team in the NFL this decade.

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog

2008-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Watching the NFL Draft has always been something that I look forward to each year. But this year, even before the Vikings traded away their first round pick and two thirds to K.C., I wasn't as excited for this draft as I have been in the past. For weeks, no one knew who the top 5-10 picks were going to be. Everyone knew who was going to get picked, but unsure what team they would go to. Then on Tuesday, it was announced that Jake Long, OT from Michigan,signed with the Miami Dolphins to become the #1 pick. This set into motion the Rams picking DE Chris Long from Virginia, the Falcons picking QB Matt Ryan from Boston College, the Raiders selecting RB Darren McFadden from Arkansas. After weeks of not knowing, we basically knew the first five picks in the draft before they were officially announced. That left the Chiefs at #5 to pick DT Glenn Dorsey from LSU.

As I am writing this the Jets are on the clock. I would guess that they would pick Vernon Gholston, DE from Ohio State.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 5-8, Pages 116-211

2008-04-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

The way that the PGA Tour makes the majority of their money is through sponsorship, especially the naming rights to their tournaments. Buick has to be the biggest sponser because they had their name put on four different tour stops; the Buick Invitational in San Diego, the Buick Classic in Westchester, The Buick Open in Blanc, Mich., and finally the Buick Southern Open in Columbus, Georgia.

I think that the PGA is very smart for doing this and making money anyway they can. The only downfall to the whole thing is that with sponsership changing almost on a yearly basis it takes away some of the tradtion of having an event with the same name year in and year out. To the normal golf fan I would think it would be hard to know where the tournament stops at each week by just looking at the name of the tournament because it always seems to be changing with a higher bidder coming in every year and putter their name on the tournament.

A big reason that companies pay the extra money to have their name part of the title of the tournament is that the companies name has to be said on television everytime someone is refering to the tournement. For example, if AT&T is a major sponser of a tournament like the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but doesn't fork over enough money for naming rights for the tournament, then their name might not get mentioned at all and the only exposure that they will get will be mainly with T.V. commericials. However, if AT&T pays enough for the naming rights, then when refering to the tournament an announcer has to say "The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am" so that all of the viewers know who's paying the big money. The way of making money is a lot like NASCAR. Each week the cars are plastered with decals of sponsers from the major one on the hood to the small ones on the rear fender. The names that the sponsers put on the race sometimes can get a little out of hand in how long and ridiculous they are.

Video Blog

2008-04-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

With the recent flip video making it so easy to produce a news story, I found this video blog of Al Tompkins and how he uses his equipment to post videos in his blogs. I think that this flip video is great because it makes it so easy to post video in pretty good quality for the web. The price is reasonable too. A Mass Comm. student who would use this camera for class instead of checking out the bigger, more expensive cameras, would see just how convenient and easy it is to use. This would be perfect for The Collegian to use next year as they are going to be adding video to the website.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Pages 1-115

2008-04-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

With the Masters wrapping up today, I decided that it would be nice to read John Feinstein's book "A Good Walk Spoiled".

The format of the book is similar to another Feinstein book that I have read, "A March to Madness". In "A March to Madness", it chronicles a season in one of the toughest conferences in college basketball, the Atlantic Coast Conference, during the 1997-98 season. The chapters switch from each of the nine coaches in the league and their pursuit to get into the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year for a chance to paly for the National Championship.

In "A Good Walk Spoiled", Feinstein follows a selcet group of golfers and brings some insight into what life is really like on the PGA tour. Some of the players are established and have won majr titles, while others are struggling to make a living on the tour and trying do well in Qualifying school. Q school is a grueling six day event in which golfers compete to win a spot on the tour for the rest of the year. To earn a spot on the tour, a golfer has to either finish in the top 125 of the money ist, win a tournament (2 year exemption), or win one of the four major tournamets (10 year exemption), the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, or PGA Championship.

The book begins talking about the Ryder Cup, an event between the U.S. and Europe every two years. hile golf is an individual sport, the Ryder Cup team is made up of a team of 12 players who competein pairs or one-on-one matchups against the other team. This book is interesting because it is before Tiger Woods started his dominance and golf became more popular. I don't know some of the players so I won't know the outcome of the tournaments like I do in other sports boos that I have read.

Wellness Center Video

2008-04-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

I had some trouble with the one guys shirt and eyes being green, so it is transparent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahm9chhYOvI

MLB Opening Day 2008

2008-03-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Opening Day in baseball marks the first day of spring for many. This year is no different as spring is definentely in the air with 4-8 inches of snow.

The thing that kills me year after year is how the Minnesota Twins are so underated at the beginning of each year and this season is no different. Sports Illustrated (a publictation that has the Dolphins and the Panthers, both non playoff teams, playing the Super Bowl two years ago) predicted that the Twins would finish in 5th place in the AL Central, even behind the Kansas City Royals. A team that has finished last in the division in four straight years. One year in which they didn't finish last, 2002, they ended up with the worst record in franchise history, 62-100. Somehow, I see the Twins winning more games then this juggernaut from KC.

Finishing with their first losing record since 2000, the critics are down on the Twins since they lost Johan Sanatna to the Mets and Torii Hunter to the Angels. While I believe each is on the decline, especially Hunter, I don't think these losses are as great as they seem.

My favorite player, Francisco Liriano, is back after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. I think that Liriano is better the Santana. His 2005 season was the best that I have seen from a pitcher. A 12-3 record, with 144 strikeouts, a 2.16 ERA in only 121 innings. His 16 starts is less then half a full season. a 25 win season would have been possible if he has started the season with the team. When Santana was 23 years old, he was still fighting for a spot in the starting rotation by pitching long relief from the bullpen and making the occasional spot start.

Santana's 2007 season was the worst of his career. Ignoring the fact that he went a career worst 15-13 (the terrible Minnesota offense take some of the blame here) since becoming a full time starter in 2004. Others career lows came in runs allowed, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, innings pitched and homeruns given up lead the entire majors.

Liriano is starting the season in the minors where he will pitch a game for Fort Myers in A ball and start a game for AAA Rochester before replacing whoever underachieves during the first two weeks of the season. He will come in and pitch about 6 2/3 innings giving up a run or two with about eight strikeouts as he his pulled because of his pitch count. I'll revist this prediction in two weeks.

Staying in the spirit of bold predictions ala Davidson, I predict that "The Franchise" will have more wins and a lower ERA then Santana. The Twins will also not finish in last, but in 3rd with around 85 wins as Cleveland and Detroit battle it out for the AL Central crown.

NCAA Tournament

2008-03-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

My favorite few days of the year ended last night with the field for the Final Four set to do battle next Saturday and Monday at the Alamadome in San Antonio.

Millions of people fill out a bracket each year whether they are college basketball fans or not. This year has been my best in the 10 years that I have been filling out a bracket. Right now I am in the 93.5th percentile on ESPN.com with a record of 45-15, or good enough for 206,606th place. Out of the millions and millions that entered brackets, I would say that I did ok. Until Memphis' win over Texas on Sunday I was in the 99th percentile and ranked 66,000th.

Nearly every year, I picked my favorite team, North Carolina, to cut down the nets during the first Monday in April. Even though they are still on track to do just that, my favorite moment of the tournament is Davidson's run to within a 3-pointer of the Final Four.

I had been on the Davidson wagon nearly the entire year. I had been telling my roomate for months that he has got to take notice and take the Wildcats to pull off an upset of two. When the brackets came out a couple of Sunday's ago and I saw a Davidson/Gonzaga first round match up, I could have been happier. A second round game against Georgetown would be very tough and I doubted whether or not my dark horse could pull of the big upset that I was sure that they would. When it came time to put pen to paper, I pull the trigger. I picked Davidson to defeat G'Town and knock off the Big East champions to go to the Sweet 16. As bold as the pick was, I still thought they could do more. When a potential Wisconsin matchup in the round of 16 came up, I really considered picking Davidson again. I even liked their chances against the Badgers more then I did then aganist the Hoyas. This time however, I didn't pull the trigger. Instead, I went with the safe pick and Wisconsin, even though I hate the state (Green Bay Packers). When I look back I this tournament, my fondest memory may be UNC winning another National Championship. But, my biggest regret will be not picking Davidson to win one more round.

WNIT Article that didn't make the paper.

2008-03-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

The excitement that last year’s WNIT caused is about to begin again next week on the SDSU campus.

With the announcement of the WNIT bracket being made on Monday March 17th, the Jacks will soon find out who there opponent will be, if they will receive a first round bye and if Frost Arena will host sellout crowds of rabid Jackrabbit fans for the second March in a row.

Associate athletic director Rob Peterson put in the bid for SDSU to host a tournament game. The bid goes to Triple Crown Sports, the company that owns the WNIT. Peterson said that his bid to host a game this year is “comparable” to last years bid. “This may be a team’s only opportunity to experience post season so we try and dress it up and make it more then a normal basketball game. We can’t buy games like other schools that guarantee the WNIT money. We have to compare what our expenses are versus what our profits could be,” said Peterson.

Even though at least one of this year’s games will being during spring break, Peterson doesn’t think that it will affect attendance. “I think that we are still going to have pretty good attendance on the student side regardless. There’s enough fans in the community that will show up that will make up for those that won’t show.”

The crowds for the two WNIT home games last season against Illinois State and Indiana drew crowds of 5,719 and 6,053, the most since the transition to Division I. The combined attendance of both games would have made Frost Arena the eighth largest city in South Dakota based on population.

According to an article in last years Argus Leader, SDSU made $17,000 off of the two WNIT home games

The Frost Arena crowds were some of the loudest ever heard in school history. Peterson said that the students and the public really stepped up and met what our dreams were. Watching how excited all the students and everyone else in attendance were during the game will be a lasting memory.

New York Governor???????

2008-03-11T21:10:00.001-07:00

How does something like the prostitution ring that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer even happen in the first place.

A few days after the story broke and a day after I originally posted this, he has resigned. What I love about it is that only minutes after CNN.com had the story posted, someone has already updated Spitzer's page on wikipedia.org

It's dumb enough to get caught up in this type of thing if you are an average Joe on the street. With the media's overbarring coverage of politicians personal lives at an all-time high, what did Spitzer think would happen? That he would never get caught in the state that has a city that is the biggest media market in the world?

The possibility that he possibly used public money to pay for his "expenditures" is unbelievable. If he was going to do what he did, using his own money might have been a saver way to not get caught instead of taking money out of the public fund.

Hacker News Site

2008-03-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

When I first went to this Hacker News site, I thought that it would be all about the newest ways to hack into different programs and illegal stuff like that. After visiting it, I don't know what the site is about.

With that said, I would just like to sound off on illegal downloading and burning of music, videos, DVD's, etc. If companies are worried about thing like this, then why are blank tapes/burnable DVD's even made available to the masses. With these out on the market, you are just asking for trouble. I just find the entire illegal downloading argument silly. Will a company with millions in profits every quarter really feel the hit if a few hundred or thousand people listen or watch something that wasn't paid for?

Hockey at Yankee Stadium

2008-03-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

For a game that has fallen off of the American sports scene, the NHL has finally come up with an idea that works. The first regular season outdoor NHL game in the U.S. on Jan. 1st against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres was attended by 71,000 fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills. The game, shown on NBC, produced the highest TV ratings for the NHL in nearly 11 years.

Holding a game or two outdoors each season is a sure fire money making and headline getter for the NHL. During the crowded football schedule of Jan. 1st bowl games, I watched more of a hockey game then I have in years. The fact that it was snowing out made the spectacle even more appealing and the game more fun to watch. Given the time that the game aired, during 12 straight hours of college football, makes the ratings that it got even more impressive. A game in Yankee Stadium, possibly the last sporting event ever held there, with the New York Rangers and another original six team in prime time outdoor. I would tune in for that.

I just doesn't seem right that the last event held in YANKEE Stadium might not be a NEW YORK YANKEES baseball game.

College hockey teams have tried outdoor games in the past and they have been highly successful and profitable. 74,000 fans for a Michigan at Michigan State game in 2001 made this the highest attended hockey game in history. Ohio State vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in 2006 was attended by 40,000.

The NBA is even getting in the mix as they are holding an outdoor preseason game between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets Oct, 11th at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

For a sport that gets next to zero national coverage and airs some games on stations that nobody gets, Versus, the NHL needs to keep this outdoor games trend a yearly tradition.

Ken Burns Effect

2008-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

It's Finally Here!!!

2008-03-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

After many years of waiting for this day, it have finally come. Brett Favre has retired. It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to see the day come when Favre announces that he has played in his last NFL game. And what a way to go out. Knowing that his last NFL pass was an interception against the Giants in the NFC Championships game that led to the game winning field goal that crushed Green Bay's hope of having a magical run to one more Super Bowl make a bad day go by a little faster and easier.

The only thing that I could compare this to is if the Vikings someday win the Super Bowl. Flipping through the stations and seeing the Sports Illustrated commercial for the special commemorative t-shirt, hat and special edition issue of a Vikings Super Bowl win would be so great that I want that, along with the Super Bowl win, played on a continuous loop at my funeral.

If anyone was bored yesterday, they could have played an interesting drinking game. Flip through the channels on T.V. and anytime you saw or heard about Favre, take a shot. If you wanted to stay conscious or alive by the time noon rolled around, I would recommend staying away from ESPN or ESPN 2.

I heard the news as it broke at 8:37 CST on ESPN 2 on Mike and Mike in the Morning as they scrabbled to decide if they should take their regular commercial break or stay on the air to break the news. I stayed away from T.V. as much as possible as I knew the Favre loving was just about to begin. Thinking I was safe, I went to Larson's to eat supper. One side had SportsCenter on so I stayed away from that. The national nightly network news was safer. It was not. Everywhere I turned I saw Favre and no doubt will continue to hear everyone get their last praises in before it's too late.

Lower 3rd

2008-03-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

USB Boxer

2008-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

All I can say after see this story is that we have come a long way from the old rockem sockem robots. I really don't know why anyone would buy this product. You would have to be easily amused to get long lasting enjoyment out of the USB Boxer.

AJ Show Preview

2008-03-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Cubs owner: Naming rights for Wrigley Field on the table

2008-02-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Is anything for sale nowadays? The owner of the Chicago Cubs says that he will not hesitate to sell the naming rights of Wrigley Field, the home of the Cubs since 1916. In a day where arena and stadium naming rights change as often as the seasons of the year, a select few venues have somehow escaped the corporated naming rights disease.

The newest stadium to be built is the Dallas Cowboys new 100,000 seat, retractable roof stadium that will be completed in a couple years. This new stadium, which total cost is around $1 billion, has more parking spots, 30,000, then Wrigley had seats during it first 13 years of operation.

Given the choice to visit the two, I would pick Wrigley for its history, uniqueness, and small town feel surrounded by a large city.

How much more money do these owner need that $20 million over five years is worth putting a name on a stadium like Wrigley that people will continue to call Wrigley no matter what corporate name gets tagged to it?

Across town, the White Sox changed their stadium name to U.S. Cellular Field, but everyone calls and knows it as (New) Comisky Park. Anyone remember what the Houston Astros called their stadium when it first opened? Enron Field. Think they regret that decision?

Guitar Hero

2008-02-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

If there is a game that I can not stand, it is Guitar Hero. Or maybe it's just the people that play it. The guy across the hall from me last year played it for a week straight for eight hours a day, skipping all his classes. I haven't had the pleasure of being awoken at 2 in the morning by the riff of a plastic electronic guitar in a few months now, so I am hopeful that this phase in American pop culture is over.

Jacks in the WNIT

2008-02-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

After a Western Illinois loss Monday, the Jacks have clinched a return birth to the WNIT. Now the speculation can begin; will the Jacks get the first round bye they deserve, or will they have to play a first round game. It's a double edge sword because if the Jacks get a first round bye they have better chance of winning the tournament. As we all know, we play to win the game.

If they don't get a bye, they will likely host the game and will have an amazing sellout crowd. I have been to a sold out Minnesota Twins game and a sold out Sioux Falls Storm playoff game where the everyone stood up the entire game, but I have never seen, felt, or heard anything like the two WNIT games last season at Frost. Student lining up at 10 in the morning for a 7 p.m. game. Just crazy stuff. If SDSU were to host five or six home games with sell out crowds or 5,500-6,000, it would be something unprecedented in the state of South Dakota. Only a handful of WNIT outdraw the Jacks, which is sad. A new Division I program with about 11,500 students averages better attendance than schools three-times their size.

The bad part is that if we don't get a bye, we will have to play two games over spring break. It would be interesting to see the student turnout for a WNIT game over spring break.

Final thought: I feel sorry for Centenary on Saturday night.

And the best tap water goes to ... L.A.?

2008-02-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

When I was looking for something to blog about, I came across this article that said that Los Angeles has the tastiest water in the country.

A few years ago, my family went on a vacation to the west coast. When we got to the Southern California area, we did not drink the water that was in the hotel room. It was cloudy, dirty and had things floating around in it. It may seem like a stereotype to say "Don't drink the water in Mexico", but it's the truth.

It does make sense for the second largest city in the U.S. to have some of the cleanest drinking water since there are so many people and businesses to service.

The video that you see of the L.A. skyline with a permanent, cloudy smog doesn't scream clean drinking water to me. Maybe L.A. could share some of their clean, tasty water with their friends to the north and south.

New Jackrabbit Logo

2008-02-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Spygate

2008-02-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

How smart is NFL Commissionor Roger Goodell? Smart enough to know when the right time is to schedule a meeting to talk about the illegal video taping that the New England Patriots were involoved in?

Sen. Arlen Spector wrote a letter to Goodell asking why the tapes were destroyed and why the penalty was given before the evidenct was even looked at?

Goodell said that he would happily meet with Spector. It just happened to be the same day that the baseball steroid hearings would take place. On any other sports day, this meeting might lead off SportsCenter. However, most people probably didn't even know that the meeting took place.

After meeting with Goodell, Spector is not satisfied with the answers that he recieved so he will investigate further.

The Roger Clemens in this case is New England coach Bill Bilichick who is dening that the destroyed video tapes helped him that much outside of halftime adjustments. The role of Brian McNamee is being played by former Patroits video assistant Matt Walsh, who says that he has video of the Pats illegally taping teams.

I think that this may be more serious then the recent steroids in baseball story. The steroids story is old news and hundreds of players throughout the last three decades have used some sort of substance. Why is a cortizone shot or any other substance that helps a player get on the field when he otherwise wouldn't be able to legal and steroids and HGH are not? Taken in moderation, steroids and HGH can have positive effects. I would bet the too many shots of cortizone (I know too many pain pills can be habit forming) would have ill effects just as too much of anything, steroids, HGH, food, alcohol, etc., is not good for your body. Everything in moderation.

The Patriots are the only team known to have cheated by video taping their opponents signals during the game. In baseball, every team had at least one player who was getting an "unfair" advantage. Remember, when most of these player took steroids, they were not aganist the rules of baseball and no drug testing policy was in place.

Congress and Steriods

2008-02-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to find out that Congress has solved all of the country's problems that they can now delve into the world of sports. With another Congressional hearing yesterday on steriods in baseball, all eyes in the sports world was turned to Washington D.C.

After Mitchell Report on steriod in baseball came out in December, the only player mentioned in the report that has denied use is Roger Clemens. After numerous athletes have denied use and later found out to be lying, it is hard to believe what Clemens is saying. He has never wavered from his original position of innocence, but pitchers in their late 30's and early 40's do not have the type of seasons that Clemens have had.

One moment in the hearings that I thought was comical was one board member berating Clemens' former trainer Brain McNamee for lying. He goes through a long list of answers that McNamee answered falsely years before he told the truth to the Mitchell Report. THIS IS A CONGRESSMAN ACCUSING SOMEONE OF LYING! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

It comes out today that the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Henry Waxman, regrets that the hearings ever took place.

If you watched the hearings, you could clearly see a line drawn down party lines. Democrats were harder on Clemens and Republicans were harder on McNamee. It was almost embarrassing listening to one woman member from New York gush over Clemens thanking him for all that he has done for New York while he was there with the Yankees.

Was anything accomplished by having this hearing? Nothing has changed since before the hearing took place to now that they are over.

There are rumours that President Bush would give Clemens a pardon even before a possible perjury charge could be filed. Bush even called Clemens and told him to "to stay strong and keep your head up high. I think that it would be fitting for Bush to pardon Clemens on his way out of the Oval Office to put a nice bow on the corrupt and catastrophe that has been the last eight years in American history. Bush even mentioned fighting against steroid in a past State of the Union speech. Makes you wonder if Barry Bonds would be so fortunate to receive a pardon if he would ever be convicted of the same crime.

If it wasn't for Jose Canseco's biography a few years ago, we probably never would have had the first Congressional hearings on baseball three years ago. Admitted juicer Canseco has done more to expose the drug culture than anyone. There were always whispers, but Canseco turned the volume up so that everyone could hear them.

What started as Commissioner Bud Selig's attempt to clean up baseball and uncover past transgressions that he turned a blind eye to is now a lead story on the national nightly news and is overshadowing the start of spring training. This saga will not be ending anytime soon.

Chromakey

2008-02-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Assignment #2 Transitions

2008-02-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

MySpace/Facebook

2008-02-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

MySpace reported increase traffic for the January and average time spent on the site is the highest it has been since August 2007. Meanwhile, Facebook saw a decline in unique visitors over the same period.

Personally, I perfer Facebook since it is simplier and I don't need anything like an unofficial, personal website that MySpace offers. Tons of celebrities and rock bands have MySpace pages since they are free and don't really cost anything like an official website would.

What I don't understand is why high school and college students would post pictures of themselves drinking underage. Some employers are now checking these sites of future employees. What positive can come from that?

Assignment 1

2008-02-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

2008 Election

2008-02-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

When candidates for the 2008 Presidential election started to announce their candidancy, it was one of the largest fields ever seen. Almost a dozen candidates for each party started out and now we are down to three. With John McCain having the Republican nomination pretty much sown up, more attention will be placed on the Democratic side. With Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama in a virtual tie in delegates, primaries and caucuses that occur late in the election process will now place an important role. And if the election is still not decided by then, which is likely, superdelegates will decide who the Democratic nominee will be. Most people have never heard of superdelegates because they have not played a big, crucial part in deciding a parties nominee.

My question is why do we decide big, national elections by delegate count instead of popular vote. This method already cost someone the Presidency in 2000 and it could do the same to either Clinton or Obama in 2008. In what other election does popular vote not count. At the local, county and state level, all elections are decided by popular vote. School board elections are not decided by giving certain parts of a town more influence then others based popular or income. If the delgate/electoral college method was used in statewide South Dakota elections, Minnehaha and Pennington counties would be the only ones that would matter.

I think one reason why the system isn't changed is because it has been used for over 200 years and it is easier to figure out what state a candidate needs to win when going by the electoral vote instead of popular vote. If a candidate is so many delegates behind, it is easy to look at the map and say "Candidate A needs to win state A, B and C to win the election." If popular vote was the deciding factor, it would be less interesting to watch the election all night if one candidate had a decisive lead national wide of a few million votes. To throw in a sports analogy, it would be like counting all field goals in a basketball game during the first quarter worth one point, in the second quarter worth two, in the third quarter worth three, and during the fourth quarter worth four points. Or in a simplier analogy, the way that the CBA did quarter points.

Blackberry #1, iPhone #2

2008-02-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

The Blackberry has recently overtaken the iPhone as the number one smartphone in the U.S. market.

This just makes me wonder what will come next to replace the Blackberry and other devices like it. There always have to be something to replace what we have now. When Microsoft came up with Vista, many people disliked it because it was different, new and complicated at first. Microsoft had to come out with a new application to keep up with other companies. Was Vista better than what Microsoft previously had? It doesn't matter. A few years from now Microsoft will come up with something to replace Vista once the public is comfortable and have just figured out the Vista program.

It's amazing to think of the technological advances made in the last 20 years, let alone the last 100.

What other applications would you need that isn't already on a smartphone. I don't have one, mainly because a laptop and a simple cell phone is enough for me. If I did have an iPhone, I would maybe use a small percentage of all the functions that are available.

What will come next in televisions now that all stations will broadcast in HD starting early in 2009. While it has taken considerably longer for televsion to transition out of an analog signal, it is almost impossible to image something coming along 50-100 years from now to replace HDTV. But one thing is for certain; it will happen.

eBay buyers save big $$$

2008-01-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

Two statisticians from the University of Maryland' s Robert H. Smith School of Business analysed the auction behavior of buyers in 2003 and found that they save $7 billion that they might have otherwise payed buying the product somewhere else.

If the study was done in 2007, the projected saving would be in the area of $19 billion using linear projections.

The full article can be seen here.

Most people go to eBay for two main reason; the sell an item for more than they could get elsewhere and to buy an item for a discounted price. This may seem odd that people go to the same website for two completely differenty reasons. One group of people that the sell high, buy low philosophy does not seem odd to is college students search for textbooks.

A high end textbook can cost as much as $100 and many books cost well more than that. The return price that university book stores give students may only be 20 percent, that is if they buy your books back at all. Students that browse online auction, or discounted price sites like eBay can find buyers for their used textbooks for a price that is more then the book store will give and the buyers of the books will pay less then they would at the book stores, so each side benefits.

An interesting study to do to further look at the money involved in eBay would to see how many buyers get ripped off by sending the seller money and never getting the item that they payed for. You can rate the seller on eBay to insure that you are dealing with someone that is honest, but with so much money changing hands and millions of items to buy, people have to get ripped off along the way.

T. Kriens

The Future of Newspapers

SDSU Mascot Challenge

Hobo Day Parade 2009

SDSU Marketing Push Story 1

2008 SDSU Spring Football Game

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 19-Afterword, Pages 531-634

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 16-18, Pages 435-530

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 12-15, Pages 314-434

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 9-11, Pages 212-313

Vikings select S Tyrell Johnson

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog #3

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog #2

NFL Draft 2008: Live Blog

A Good Walk Spoiled: Chapters 5-8, Pages 116-211

Video Blog

A Good Walk Spoiled: Pages 1-115

Wellness Center Video

MLB Opening Day 2008

NCAA Tournament

WNIT Article that didn't make the paper.

New York Governor???????

Hacker News Site

Hockey at Yankee Stadium

Ken Burns Effect

It's Finally Here!!!

Lower 3rd

USB Boxer

AJ Show Preview

Cubs owner: Naming rights for Wrigley Field on the table

Guitar Hero

Jacks in the WNIT

And the best tap water goes to ... L.A.?

New Jackrabbit Logo

Spygate

Congress and Steriods

Chromakey

Assignment #2 Transitions

MySpace/Facebook

Assignment 1

2008 Election

Blackberry #1, iPhone #2

More postseason tournaments???

eBay buyers save big $$$