Reflection of the Class

In this class, I learned to be a little more creative with how I tell whatever story I’m writing. I still have another year at UNC, and I’m glad I’ll get that much time to keep using what I’ve learned in this class during that time.

I still have two more JMC courses to take, but this is my last writing/editing class. I absolutely feel prepared to enter today’s journalism field.

I feel like I excelled in my writing in the JMC program while also learning valuable skills such as layout, photo and video. I struggled at times with video and I realize I’m still very wordy with my writing, but those would be all that I see that I had trouble with. And neither of them are really that much of a concern to me. I still put together good work, so I’m satisfied.

TheJMC program makes it very easy to realize what will be expected of students once they graduate, and luckily there’s a fair amount of real-world application that helps with that.

If the JMC program could do anything better, I’d say to make it possible/easier for students to have more than one emphasis. Being only news-editorial can only get you so far, but if we could be easier trained in video or audio (or ads and PR if that’s what people want), it would enhance our resumes and only help us once we land a job.  

I still have another year left before I graduate, but I’ll be done with my journalism major by the end of next semester. I look forward to finishing it off and then putting it to good use when I start at my first job.

Assistant women's coach selected for international team

UNC women’s basketball assistant coach Ryan Johnson was selected earlier this week to be an assistant coach of a United States all-star team with the United States Basketball Academy later this month.

The team will play nine games in 14 days in China from April 25 through May 9 and will face the Junior National Teams from China, Australia and New Zealand. Former Colorado State and Santa Clara head coach Chris Denker will be the team’s head coach.

“I’m honored to be invited and have the opportunity to coach with Chris Denker,” Johnson told the University of Northern Colorado athletics website. “I am also looking forward to working with a great group of athletes and be able to experience coaching at an international level. I feel this a great opportunity for Northern Colorado as well.”

Johnson just completed his sixth season as an assistant on head coach Jaime White’s staff at UNC.

“This is a great recognition for both Ryan and the University,” White said. “There aren’t a lot of international opportunities and this is going to be something he never forgets.”

Ryan won’t be the only member of the Big Sky Conference to be a part of the team, though. Guard Katie Bussey, who attended Montana State University, will be on the team.

Other players include ReZina TecleMariam from the University of Portland, Talisa Rhea from the University of Seattle, Casey Garrison from Missouri State, Rebekah Gardner from UCLA, Jasmin Hollidy from the University of Oregon, Jalana Childs from Kansas State, Rachael Hackbarth from Drake and Kali Bennett from Arizona State.

State of the Beat Address

The UNC women’s basketball beat has been exciting to cover this semester because of the success the team had. 

I was fortunate enough to write a day-in-the-life story with head coach Jaime White a few weeks prior to the Big Sky tournament and write a feature on one of the team’s leaders, senior Kaisha Brown.

Both were enjoyable in their own way. 

I had never done a day-in-the-life story before, so it was a nice deviation from the path for me. The feature of Brown was also something I really enjoyed because a lot of people have a lot of good to say about her, making it a really easy story to write, and she has a great story to tell, so it all worked out well.

What made both articles even better was that I got to add information about the team’s success this season, reaching 20 wins for the third time ever and making it to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament after losing in the Big Sky Conference Championship game.

I would have liked to improve on my day-in-the-life technique, because, despite there being a lot to tell, in my mind, it came out a little dry. It was fun to experience, but I was unsure of how fun it would be to read.

The hard part about both of these stories was having so many great details or quotes and not being able to use them all. As a journalist, you can never have too many quotes, but it’s unfortunate when you have too many good ones and you have to pick and choose which ones work the best. 

Those are both minor complaints, though, as I’ve still very much enjoyed covering this beat.

The Bears, the Eagles, the field and the math

And then there were two. Well, sort of.

With Portland State’s victory over Montana Thursday, the Grizzlies took a large step back in the quest for the No. 2 seed in the women’s basketball Big SkyConference Championship next week in Pocatello, Idaho.

So, instead of Montana possibly being tied with UNC and Eastern Washington, the Bears and Eagles are now tied with one game remaining.

The University of Northern Colorado, however, now has only one team to worry about: Eastern Washington.

Luckily, the Bears have the easiest path to the second seed and a bye into the semifinals of the conference tournament.

All the Bears have to do is win Saturday at home against Portland State. Even if Eastern Washington wins its final game against Idaho State, UNC still owns the tiebreaker over the Eagles (and Montana, for that matter) should they end up with the same conference record thanks to a season sweep of the teams’ two games.

Eastern Washington would end up with the second seed if UNC loses and the Eagles defeat Idaho State. Based on recent games alone, though, UNC seemingly still has the advantage.

The Bears have won six of their last seven games, including four straight. Eastern Washington has lost three straight, the most recent coming against Idaho State by 13 points at home. Now the Eagles must face the same Bengals team in Pocatello, where ISU is 10-2 this season.

It’s likely the only way Montana gets the second seed is if Eastern Washington, UNC and Montana State all lose and the Grizzlies win at Northern Arizona, who’s struggled this season.

There are a lot of “ifs” involved there, and it’s probable UM will defeat the Lumberjacks anyway, but UNC can save everybody a lot of math problems and scoreboard-watching with a win Saturday at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

Player Introductions

The purpose of this blog is for me to gain experience blogging while learning how to cover a specific beat, which in this case is the University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team.

I'm a newspaper sports reporter, but I lack a lot of experience in blogging. I've covered City Council meetings in Greeley in a blog before, so covering a sports team should go a little better for me.

The women's basketball team is a beat that interests me a lot because basketball is my favorite sport, and the women's team, for several reasons, most of which I don't agree with, doesn't get as much attention as the men's team. The women's team is essentially the underdog at its own university, and that's what makes it so interesting to me.

I've covered the women's team off and on for the better part of three years at The Mirror, so I feel I know the team and coach pretty well. I know a lot about sports already, and that can only help me.

One thing I feel I need to get better at, regardless of what sport it is, is that I always get nervous prior to interviews. I've interviewed hundreds of people, several of them multiple times, but interviews always get me nervous. Admittedly, it's a little silly, but I improve each time. And that's the main goal.

I'll look to improve each time I post on this blog as well. I have to learn to get better at this, and sooner is better than later.