Friday Feedback
May 29, 2015 by Mike CasazzaWelcome to the Friday Feedback, which is starting to find its swing again. But spring and summers are weird around here, and the news generators we could once rely on are spinning slowly and churning out silly stuff. Take the Big 12 for example: It’s provided and proposed conversation and chaos and everything in between in recent years. The waters are still this time around, only now they don’t run too deep.
Satellite camps are fun to talk about, but there’s nothing formative to the discussion.
The Big 12 won’t mandate at least one highly visible opponent for every football team every season, and Baylor, it would seem, got the hint and is revisiting he 2016-20 schedules.
So the sights are locked on — prepare yourself — sportsmanship.
Hey, it’s where they are now, no matter how much we might scoff and how much snark we might throw their way. So now there are punitive measures in place to react to situations and hand out penalties. There’s no in-game application of this, and if we’re being honest, these are small and not unnecessary maneuvers that wouldn’t be getting nearly as much attention and reaction in other years with bigger diversions.
But court/field storming is a matter the league needed to address. I’m on #TeamFun and I think it’s part of the college experience I’ll forever champion, but that Kansas State in the winter was concerning. I don’t see why ugly chants can’t be touched and shaped by the rule book. And yesterday’s news — excessive on-site replays of controversial plays will be subject to punishment — is fine by me. You can’t tell me big screens don’t whip fans up into a frenzy and/or affect officials.
In an ordinary year with bigger fish to fry, this doesn’t make the menu. This just isn’t an ordinary year. What’s wrong with cleaning up the games? Nothing. What’s wrong, in a matter of speaking, is the Big 12 doesn’t have any other messes to clean up this time around.
Anyhow, that lack ‘o news has kept us sedated here, and my mind has wondered. When I’m not vacationing and submitting the top American time in a 5K in Brugge, I’m taking on city hall and later making a meal out of dormant fire hydrants (Update: After three weeks of the battle, we have a winner!) And I’m teaching a summer class, too, which keeps me busy in the mornings and even leads me to discoveries about myself writing, the craft and the past.
So seeing as if we have some time, can we talk about this for a moment?
Long story short, my summer class is about storytelling (media writing, to be precise). I get a mix of journalism majors, though, and invariably you can see me teaching print skills (lede writing, inverted pyramid, AP style, etc.; it’s the focus of the syllabus) while the advertising and public relations kids are thinking The heck does this have to do with my major?
It’s a good question, and this is why I spend time showing them the skill is the same across all forms of media. You have to tell a story for broadcast news, photo journalism, advertising, public relations, so on and so forth. We all do it with words, be it a script, ad copy, friendly quotes or pointy opinions. Even pictures, which have no words, tell a story, and the best ones are worth several hundred and perhaps a thousand words. If they can gasp this build-a-story technique, they’re set conceptually the rest of their way through the college of media.
So the early part of the semester is telling the students this, and one part of one day goes toward print, radio and television commercials. We look at, listen to or watch some, identify the story and continue to work in reverse until we arrive at the start. I spend some time researching, which is how and why I found that PBR ad. It’s amazing. I’ve watched it hundreds of times, which is why I haven’t been around here as much as I ought to. I can’t even blame it on the Big 12 or coaches on vacation or not having games to cover. It’s Swayze and the hair and the mannerisms. Like, why is he aggressively almost brushing up against the wall as he exits the apartment? How can I get my hair to do that? Wouldn’t this commercial work right now?
I can sit here and talk about this for a while. Or we can pore over WVU football’s scheduling philosophy, which has two major goals: No more FCS opponents and getting the band back together. “Without a doubt,” he said, “we’d love to reignite the Backyard Brawl.”
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, prioritize.
I love you, Doug! said:
I see five pretty-guaranteed wins:
– Georgia Southern
– Liberty
– Maryland
– At Kansas
– Iowa StateThat means they need three wins from the following:
– At Oklahoma
– Oklahoma State
– At Baylor
– At TCU
– Texas Tech
– Texas
– At Kansas StateOnly possibilities I see are Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and at Kansas State.
Oklahoma State’s going to be really good relative to expectations. I was shocked at the O/U of 7. I think that’s over easily. It helps WVU gets the Cowboys, and Texas Tech, at home, though.
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