State of the Blog: 2008

State of the Blog: 2008

Inspired by President Bush’s “State of the Union” address, I now present to you the inaugural State of the Blog.

Today is a new day…well, yes and no. A “new day” began Jan. 15, 2008 when I made my debut as a sports reporter for The Daily Egyptian. It was a day that was four years in the making. It was a day that I thought would never come, but now that it’s here, I’m cherishing every moment. Even though I am only covering swimming and track (and soon tennis), it is the jumpstart I’ve needed for years.

So what does that moment have to do with the future of this blog? A lot, actually. Notice that blogging has become less frequent in the last month, mostly because if I’m too busy with newspaper stuff and school stuff to think about the Cubs or even my personal life.

Crazy, I know. But that’s going to change (among other things).

First, take note that I’m not moving the site. I’ve done that before and really don’t feel like doing it again (though maybe I should for another fresh start). OK, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll be making changes to this blog.

First, I’m changing the layout of this blog. I’ll be experimenting with color schemes, fonts, etc. I’m also going to expand the content of this blog. Granted, that was the idea in the first place…but really, let’s put this into perspective. I’ll be posting thoughts on the following: SIU athletics, life as a sports reporter, presidential candidates, Chicago sports, my favorite athletes, music, movies, hot girls, blogs I like, life as a college student, and more. The key is the “and more” part.

Actually the key is how these things will be presented. You will no longer get long, drawn out blogs (much like this one). Instead, you’ll get shorter material that gets you straight to the point. For example, check out my recent recaps of Saluki basketball. It consists of a paragraph recap of the game, three highlights, three lowlights, three “notes” (which are usually stats) and who SIU will be playing next.

I’ll be keeping it simple in 2008.

As for rants, they’ll be saved for special occasions—like when Ryan Dempster gives up five runs in the first inning of his first start and I’m ready to run him out of town. Or when some girl breaks my heart (hey, it’s happened before so it’s bound to happen in 2008). Actually, most of my recent rants have been answered by my cousin, so no need to post them here.

So what can you (the reader) look forward to in 2008? How about the following:

· Previewing the 2008 Chicago Cubs

• · SIU sports coverage (beyond basketball)
• · Politics (You know we get to pick a new leader in Nov., right?)
• · Music (Good songs, bad songs, album reviews, etc.)
• · Movies (I don’t go to the movies much, so we’ll see how that works out)
• · Other blogs (I’m going to be linking a lot more to my favorite blogs—for it is their work that is inspiring me to do this.)
• · More You Tube video (You can’t go wrong with cool videos)

And more. 2008 is gonna be special, whether you like it or not!