And the Emmy goes to...

First off, check out my WCHA preview over at:
http://collegehockeyweekend.blogspot.com/2010/09/wcha-preview.html where I am a blogger this season.

With College Hockey Weekend up for two Upper Midwest Emmy awards tomorrow, this marks the second time in three years that I have had my work honored by the NTA. The first was in 2008 when I won their scholarship as a college freshman for my reporting work in high school for my reporting both on my high school's news show but also for my work on a public access news show. It just reminds me of the great talent I've been given and the great quality of the projects I work on. Even if CHW gets shut out tomorrow night, I'm still proud of the crew that puts an insane amount of hours in every week to give you WCHA coverage across the Upper Midwest.

In other tidbits:

• I called the Melo/Nets deal right out of the gate, and it appears it'll soon happen.
• NHL preseason is underway, and it's great to see hockey back. Will the Hawks repeat as Stanley Cup champs? Wait for my NHL preview and see.
• If you're familiar with the ESPN program "Around the Horn" you certainly know about Denver Post columnist Woody Paige and his role as a jokester on the show. Woody comes out in yesterday's Post with what possibly could be the most moving and better columns of the year about his battle with depression in the wake of Bronco Kenny McKinley's suicide: Woody's Story
 

The Sorensen Poll will be out on Sunday. Have a good weekend!

Sorensen Poll Week #3

Bama stays #1 for another week
1. Alabama
2. Boise State
3. Ohio State
4. Oregon
5. TCU
6. Nebraska
7. Texas
8. Oklahoma
9. Arkansas
10. Florida
11. South Carolina
12. Wisconsin
13. Utah
14. Arizona
15. LSU
16. Auburn
17. Stanford
18. Miami (FL)
19. Iowa
20. Michigan
21. West Virginia
22. USC
23. Penn State
24. Michigan State
25. Air Force

Remembering Terry Fox

Canadian Terry Fox on his "Marathon of Hope" in 1980

Tomorrow millions of Canadians  will hit the ground running in honor of one Terry Fox. For those who don't know this inspiring story, Terry was a cancer patient which had taken his left leg and during his treatment he was disappointed with the amount of money that went towards fighting cancer. He was a runner and originally told friends and family that he wanted to run a marathon to raise funds. Secretly though, he had a grander plan: He wanted to run across Canada, from the Atlantic Ocean in St. John's, Newfoundland to the Pacific Ocean in Victoria, British Columbia while running a marathon (26 miles) every day.

Terry Fox left St. John's on April 12, 1980. During the first part of the run through the Maritimes (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) and Quebec Terry was disappointed with how the run was going. However, by the time he arrived in Montreal on June 22nd, a third of the way through his journey, he had raised over $200,000.

The tide turned however when he crossed into Ontario. Throughout the province, he received a police escort and was received to large crowds in both Ottawa and Toronto, all while not taking a day off during his run. The Canadian Cancer Society estimated they had collected $100,000 from Terry's run in Toronto alone, including a $25,000 check from hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr. Sadly, just outside of Thunder Bay on September 1st, Terry stopped running because of chest pain and coughing. The next day, Terry broke the tragic news: His cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs. Terry Fox had raised $1.7 million on his "Marathon of Hope".

Despite the fact that Terry did not want anyone to continue his run, the people of Canada figuratively continued his mission. A week after Terry ended his run, a telethon was broadcast across Canada and raised $10.7 million, including $1 million donations each from the province of Ontario and his home province of British Columbia that would further cancer research. Terry was also honored with many honors, including a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest honor a civilian Canadian can receive, and the Lou Marsh Award for 1980 as Canada's top sportsman. A year after Terry started his marathon, he had helped raise over $23 million.

Unfortunately, the success could not translate to help Terry's health. He was not responding well to treatments and he was hospitalized with pneumonia in June 1981. Terry fell into a coma and died on June 28, 1981. The Canadian government lowered flags to half staff, an honor unheard of for civilians while his funeral was broadcast on national television and is beloved to this day by the Canadian people for his heroism, determination, and courage.

Before Terry died, businessman Isadore Sharp contacted Terry about doing a fund raising run in Terry's name. Terry agreed with two conditions: 1) The run would be non-competitive and 2) Like his run, there would be no corporate sponsorship. This year is the 30th anniversary of the run and the Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $500 million for cancer research worldwide.

(DISCLOSURES: My aunt and cousin are running in the 30th Terry Fox Run in Waterloo, ONT tomorrow. Also, if you're interested in learning more about Terry's story visit www.terryfox.org or check out the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary entitled "Into the Wind" directed by Steve Nash and Ezra Holland premiering Sept. 28th at 8 PM ET on ESPN and repeating at 11 PM ET on ESPN2.)

Sorensen on Sports-Behind the Scenes

Since we're about 10 minutes out from taping from this week's show, I wanted to give you an idea along with some insight of how this cool little podcast is made.

1. Pick show topics
This may seem pretty easy to do, but actually, it's one of the harder things to do. You want timely material, but not too timely or as Coach Chili calls it "a fluid situation". We don't want a story to be obsolete. If that were the case, we'd be more historians than reporters!

2. Record the show
Honestly, not that hard to do. Just talk and make sure your microphones are working.

3. Convert the files so they can be published
We use a piece of software called ProSonus Capture compared to Audacity last year. Since I'm the technical one, I find Capture WAY better than Audacity at least in my opinion. The rule of thumb with Audacity is that it takes real time to convert your show (i.e. 30 minutes for a half hour show, hour for an hour, etc.). Capture is a lot better. For a show that clocks in around 50 minutes, conversion usually is 15-20 minutes so its a lot less man hours to use Capture and honestly easier, despite the fact you use two programs to convert.

4. Submit
Since we're switching back to Bethany's page, the episode is submitted to a server, where in a perfect world its uploaded in 1-2 business days so you can enjoy it.

Who are you?

I know you're out there readers, and I thank each and everyone of you. Since you do read this little blog, I want you to comment in the posts with the kind of content you want me to write about. In the world of journalism and media, I view that the consumers are your boss, and I want to know what kind of content you want to read about or if I should stay the course with what I'm doing.

All in all, it's just another brick in the wall for UK Hoops (and John Calipari)

Last week Pete Thamel of the New York Times reported that prized Kentucky recruit Enes Kanter was being paid by a professional Turkish basketball team. Now today, in this morning's Birmingham News  comes word that former Wildcat and current LA Clipper Eric Bledsoe has conflicting grades in his high school transcripts, allegedly fudged so he could be eligible to play basketball.
Bledsoe Allegations


For John Calipari, it's the same old song and dance for him; this situation sounds eerily similar to one Derrick Rose and what happened in Memphis. Yes, there was the SAT score, but Derrick's also involved grade changing that got him into Memphis. The result of that investigation cost the Tigers the 2007-08 season, in which they appeared in the National Championship game, and we can see loud and clear what can happen when a player is found ineligible by the NCAA (Looking at you, Reggie Bush).

It is in this writer's opinion that if these and the Kanter allegations are found to be true that the University of Kentucky should re-evaluate how Mr. Calipari is running their basketball program. The University of Kentucky has more at stake than possibly vacating the 2009-10 season and their Elite 8 appearance; their reputation as one of the elite basketball programs in the country is also on the line.

What the puck? Hockey's already here?

It's here. For those that don't know, I've been a reporter and a cameraman for Charter Communication's "College Hockey Weekend" the past two seasons. CHW reaches 4 million homes across the Dakotas, MN, WI, the UP of Michigan, and Northern Iowa. While I'll be still performing these duties this upcoming year for such an amazing broadcast that I have been blessed to work for these past two seasons, I'm helping to add a new role to the CHW broadcasts. Not only will I be assisting in writing the weekly Pregame show, but I'll also be a feature blogger for their new blog over at collegehockeyweekend.blogspot.com.

Now to what this new gig encompasses: CHW covers Minnesota State-Mankato hockey, and to a lesser extent, the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Conference for the uninitiated) at large. Naturally, you'll see a lot of that in my posts. However, from me you'll also get a "bigger picture" of the national Collegiate Hockey scene, such as looking at other conferences such as the CCHA, Atlantic Hockey, and Hockey East, the latest on recruits, and even the occasional trip "North of the Border" to check in on Canadian collegiate hockey and Canadian juniors.

Even if you're not a big hockey fan but you enjoy my work it's worth a visit or vice versa.