Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.60.11
Current Song - People's Court Theme
In addition to the $100 5k set, I'm also selling the following:
Random 1992 Starter Set (3 boxes of roughly 1k cards) - $15
Complete set of 1992 Fleer (and then some) - $11
800-card Starter Set (early-to-mid 1990s) - $13
1k mixed common/rookie/star - $20
900-card mixed common/rookie/star - $18
Complete set of 1984 Topps rub-ons (tattoos) - $8
Pack of Pokemon cards - $1
Cal Ripken Jr. - 1997 Collectors Choice, The Big Show insert (rare World Headquarters edition), plus you get a tiny mugshot of Dan & Keith on the card - $60
Bo Jackson - 1987 Topps Rookie card - $3
Andy Van Slyke - 1984 Donruss Rookie card - $4
Sammy Sosa - 2002 Leaf (Beckett magazine rare gold sample card) - $5
Barry Bonds - 2005 Topps Home Run History (No. 700 in a 750+ card set) - $5
Barry Bonds - 1993 Topps Finest (the first chrome set in card history) - $15
George Brett - 1993 Topps Finest (the first chrome set in card history) - $15
Nolan Ryan - 1994 Collectors Choice silver signature - $8
David Wright - 2001 Upper Deck Pros and Propspects rookie card - $20
Mark McGwire - 1987 Press Box (a virtually unknown card) - $5 (I have a few of these)
Chris Duncan - 2003 Topps rookie card - $3
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Cards for Sale
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.50.11
Current Song - Morning Train (Sheena Easton)
I moved my baseball cards from the basement to my second-floor bedroom. My back hurts.
I haven't really collected since I started my career in high school sports, so there's a portion of them I'm looking to sell. After buying the Beckett magazine and pricing some of the cards, I've come up with at least one bunch of cards to sell for sure.
There's 5,000 cards in this large box: 3 3/4 commons, and 1 1/4 star/rookie cards. Plenty of doubles, triples, etc. Cards date as late as 1980 and early as 2006. The total mint value of all of these cards is over $1,000. However, I'm not going to sell it for that much. The asking price for this large box will be 90% off: $100.
The box is a perfect start for a young collector who's just starting out. I began collecting baseball cards when I was 4 years old. The collection kept getting bigger. After a while, I started sending cards to the players to get autographed. The "starter set," as I like to call this, is good for autograph sending (as long as you know the player's addresses).
I will warn though, you're not going to find any super-super star cards in there. No Griffeys, Pujols, Jeters, etc. From these starter cards, you can work your way up by trading or selling in order to get that star card.
The box can't clutter my room forever. I'll deliver.
Current Song - Morning Train (Sheena Easton)
I moved my baseball cards from the basement to my second-floor bedroom. My back hurts.
I haven't really collected since I started my career in high school sports, so there's a portion of them I'm looking to sell. After buying the Beckett magazine and pricing some of the cards, I've come up with at least one bunch of cards to sell for sure.
There's 5,000 cards in this large box: 3 3/4 commons, and 1 1/4 star/rookie cards. Plenty of doubles, triples, etc. Cards date as late as 1980 and early as 2006. The total mint value of all of these cards is over $1,000. However, I'm not going to sell it for that much. The asking price for this large box will be 90% off: $100.
The box is a perfect start for a young collector who's just starting out. I began collecting baseball cards when I was 4 years old. The collection kept getting bigger. After a while, I started sending cards to the players to get autographed. The "starter set," as I like to call this, is good for autograph sending (as long as you know the player's addresses).
I will warn though, you're not going to find any super-super star cards in there. No Griffeys, Pujols, Jeters, etc. From these starter cards, you can work your way up by trading or selling in order to get that star card.
The box can't clutter my room forever. I'll deliver.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Dixon East Thoughts
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.04.11
Current Song - Disco Inferno (The Trammps)
I've now worked in three Shell stations, with Route 30 being the other one. To compare the transitions from mine to that one to mine to this one is going to be different. Route 30 was very easy to transition into because much of that was run similar to mine. In fact, I would rather work there than my own store, but things may have changed since there is a new manager there now.
Let me just say that Dixon East is WAY different than my own store. We don't have diesel at our store, and they do (okay, so that's not a big problem). They count cigarettes after every shift, and we don't (big time consumer). They save their carton flaps (both of them) after stocking, and we just pitch them. They have a hot dog machine and we don't (which isn't a problem since I was very used to cleaning BP's nightly). They go through a boatload of coffee.
Procedure-wise, there's not much of a difference. The cigarettes are different. But the thing that probably scared me the most was the fact that there has been no Mystery Shopper fail in "a long, long, long time here." If I failed, I would be dead. Plus this is November, and I was reminded that this is the one for $1000. So it nulls the opinion I made last November.
Apparently, the mystery shopper bonus money goes toward getting Christmas presents. I disagree with that. I don't like HOPING the money comes from a chance. That's like going to the boat to get shopping money. It's a Bonus, which is something that is not expected. Christmas shopping for six employees shouldn't hang on whether or not someone passes the mystery shopper. There are ways to get around this.
Current Song - Disco Inferno (The Trammps)
I've now worked in three Shell stations, with Route 30 being the other one. To compare the transitions from mine to that one to mine to this one is going to be different. Route 30 was very easy to transition into because much of that was run similar to mine. In fact, I would rather work there than my own store, but things may have changed since there is a new manager there now.
Let me just say that Dixon East is WAY different than my own store. We don't have diesel at our store, and they do (okay, so that's not a big problem). They count cigarettes after every shift, and we don't (big time consumer). They save their carton flaps (both of them) after stocking, and we just pitch them. They have a hot dog machine and we don't (which isn't a problem since I was very used to cleaning BP's nightly). They go through a boatload of coffee.
Procedure-wise, there's not much of a difference. The cigarettes are different. But the thing that probably scared me the most was the fact that there has been no Mystery Shopper fail in "a long, long, long time here." If I failed, I would be dead. Plus this is November, and I was reminded that this is the one for $1000. So it nulls the opinion I made last November.
Apparently, the mystery shopper bonus money goes toward getting Christmas presents. I disagree with that. I don't like HOPING the money comes from a chance. That's like going to the boat to get shopping money. It's a Bonus, which is something that is not expected. Christmas shopping for six employees shouldn't hang on whether or not someone passes the mystery shopper. There are ways to get around this.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Dixon East
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.03.01
Current Song - Couldn't Get it Right (Climax Blues Band)
I just picked up a shift at the Shell station on Franklin Grove Road in Dixon. I'm working Tuesday from 10:30 to 5:00. There's a possible Sunday afternoon in store too. I'm only doing three days at my store next week: Friday mid, and the weekend nights at 4.
Because I picked up this extra shift, I had to make some more adjustments.
I will NOT be at the Somonauk Volleyball Regional final on Saturday afternoon. I'm going to use Saturday afternoon as time to get the Film paper put together. Hopefully I can get that settled early and start working on the Round 1 Obs piece early.
Wednesday figures to be another off day. Thursday will be spent at a Volleyball Sectional: either Eastland, Oregon or Rochelle depending on who's actually there. Friday night will have to be spent at a somewhat close football game.
Saturday afternoon will be the same as well, but I have a bad feeling there's not going to be much around. I work at 4. The best hope is for Rockford Christian to beat Oregon, and Newman to beat Sherrard - which makes a Newman home game for 1:00 usually. An Oregon-Sherrard rematch may also work, but will be cutting it close. If EPC beats Downs Tri-Valley, they'll host Morrison. If the game is in Lanark, that may also work. These are the only scanerios for Saturday.
Friday's scenarios look dim.
At least I'm getting some hours.
I hope I pass the audition!
Current Song - Couldn't Get it Right (Climax Blues Band)
I just picked up a shift at the Shell station on Franklin Grove Road in Dixon. I'm working Tuesday from 10:30 to 5:00. There's a possible Sunday afternoon in store too. I'm only doing three days at my store next week: Friday mid, and the weekend nights at 4.
Because I picked up this extra shift, I had to make some more adjustments.
I will NOT be at the Somonauk Volleyball Regional final on Saturday afternoon. I'm going to use Saturday afternoon as time to get the Film paper put together. Hopefully I can get that settled early and start working on the Round 1 Obs piece early.
Wednesday figures to be another off day. Thursday will be spent at a Volleyball Sectional: either Eastland, Oregon or Rochelle depending on who's actually there. Friday night will have to be spent at a somewhat close football game.
Saturday afternoon will be the same as well, but I have a bad feeling there's not going to be much around. I work at 4. The best hope is for Rockford Christian to beat Oregon, and Newman to beat Sherrard - which makes a Newman home game for 1:00 usually. An Oregon-Sherrard rematch may also work, but will be cutting it close. If EPC beats Downs Tri-Valley, they'll host Morrison. If the game is in Lanark, that may also work. These are the only scanerios for Saturday.
Friday's scenarios look dim.
At least I'm getting some hours.
I hope I pass the audition!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Next Great Debate
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.92.01
Current Song - Break my Stride (Matthew Wilder)
In the turn of this century, there was much talk about the expansion of football classes. It was the first hot topic discussed on Illinois high school sports message boards, I'm sure.
Then a couple of years later, there was an even greater hot topic. Many message boards even laid out rules regarding the public-private debate, which included such things as the Multiplier.
A couple of years later, another hot topic was debated. However, the class expansion wave didn't generate as much talk as the public-private debate did.
I'm predicting a pattern here. Whatever is the next great debate may be as big as public-private.
I believe Geographical Competition will be the next biggest thing to debate. Included in this are sectional complexes, and the ever-growing call for 1-32 seeding in football.
---
It's Wednesday, so that means I'm trying to plan my week.
I'm getting more money at work. At first I thought I was going to need new shoes, but they are okay at the moment. My shoes got torn up while walking along the muddy Rock Falls football sideline this past Friday. I'm aiming for 28.5 hours this week. I work tomorrow afternoon, Friday afternoon, and the weekend nights. That's another $200 to put in safe keeping. I think it'll be the richest I've ever been when I get next week's paycheck.
I'm going to write the F5 when I get home from work tomorrow afternoon. Friday afternoon will be work, and then straight to the Sterling-LP game that I'm covering. I will be in the press box for this one, that way I can try to improve my stat keeping.
Hopefully I can make it to the Somonauk VB Regional on Saturday, and cover it. I'll be passing out candy for Halloween while at work. That leaves Round 1 Observations left to do.
I'm actually going to postpone Round 1 Observations until Tuesday morning. That's because I have this all-important two-page paper to write about a film we saw in class. The film is called "Bicycle Thieves," which is an Italian film often called one of the best ever made. I'm going to spend all day Sunday and all day Monday working on it. Luckilly I found a complete print on YouTube.
That leaves a column and a blog proposal on the backburner for now. I'm going to have to cancel an appearance at the PJStar Message Board get-together. That is, unless I can rush through the F5 and have time to start the Film paper. Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. I'm also going to have to register for my Sauk classes for spring.
Current Song - Break my Stride (Matthew Wilder)
In the turn of this century, there was much talk about the expansion of football classes. It was the first hot topic discussed on Illinois high school sports message boards, I'm sure.
Then a couple of years later, there was an even greater hot topic. Many message boards even laid out rules regarding the public-private debate, which included such things as the Multiplier.
A couple of years later, another hot topic was debated. However, the class expansion wave didn't generate as much talk as the public-private debate did.
I'm predicting a pattern here. Whatever is the next great debate may be as big as public-private.
I believe Geographical Competition will be the next biggest thing to debate. Included in this are sectional complexes, and the ever-growing call for 1-32 seeding in football.
---
It's Wednesday, so that means I'm trying to plan my week.
I'm getting more money at work. At first I thought I was going to need new shoes, but they are okay at the moment. My shoes got torn up while walking along the muddy Rock Falls football sideline this past Friday. I'm aiming for 28.5 hours this week. I work tomorrow afternoon, Friday afternoon, and the weekend nights. That's another $200 to put in safe keeping. I think it'll be the richest I've ever been when I get next week's paycheck.
I'm going to write the F5 when I get home from work tomorrow afternoon. Friday afternoon will be work, and then straight to the Sterling-LP game that I'm covering. I will be in the press box for this one, that way I can try to improve my stat keeping.
Hopefully I can make it to the Somonauk VB Regional on Saturday, and cover it. I'll be passing out candy for Halloween while at work. That leaves Round 1 Observations left to do.
I'm actually going to postpone Round 1 Observations until Tuesday morning. That's because I have this all-important two-page paper to write about a film we saw in class. The film is called "Bicycle Thieves," which is an Italian film often called one of the best ever made. I'm going to spend all day Sunday and all day Monday working on it. Luckilly I found a complete print on YouTube.
That leaves a column and a blog proposal on the backburner for now. I'm going to have to cancel an appearance at the PJStar Message Board get-together. That is, unless I can rush through the F5 and have time to start the Film paper. Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. I'm also going to have to register for my Sauk classes for spring.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
More Site Talk
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.82.9002
Current Song - Don't Sleep in the Subway (Petula Clark)
When I started the site, the message board began with many NCIprep holdovers. The posters were from bits and pieces from all over the place. Many retired, except for the ones closer to Sterling. They helped bring in many new message board posters from around their area.
Many times I had tried to think of a way to get more posters on the message board. I tried flyers, and even tried mailing letters to each school. Nothing really brought people to the boards. It just had to take some time. Now, I think I've pinpointed the general area of the board's popularity.
Current Song - Don't Sleep in the Subway (Petula Clark)
When I started the site, the message board began with many NCIprep holdovers. The posters were from bits and pieces from all over the place. Many retired, except for the ones closer to Sterling. They helped bring in many new message board posters from around their area.
Many times I had tried to think of a way to get more posters on the message board. I tried flyers, and even tried mailing letters to each school. Nothing really brought people to the boards. It just had to take some time. Now, I think I've pinpointed the general area of the board's popularity.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Free days
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.12.90
Current Song - Shattered Dreams (Johnny Hates Jazz)
Now that I'm working a little more often, I find myself excited at the opportunity of getting a Free Day. A free day means no work and no classes. Today is a free day. A free day is fun until the end, where you have to plan the rest of the week until your next free day.
I have the pressure of two exams and two pieces of homework lifted from me. I've got things on the website done. Now what?
I've got to get my paycheck, make my monthly car insurance payment, and put a portion of that in my savings.
I work on Thursday night, Friday afternoon, and the weekend nights. There's nothing real good going on tonight. I'm going to Rock Falls-Rockridge on Friday night, and can't really go anywhere else until next Wednesday, and it's going to be the usual nothing. I'm also going to be at work for Pairings Night, too, which is a big disappointment.
As far as the first round of the playoffs goes, I think I'm going to find a good Friday night football game and cover a Volleyball Regional on Saturday afternoon. All that plus the usual written banter on NISB.
I wouldn't be surprised to see next week's post look just like this one.
Current Song - Shattered Dreams (Johnny Hates Jazz)
Now that I'm working a little more often, I find myself excited at the opportunity of getting a Free Day. A free day means no work and no classes. Today is a free day. A free day is fun until the end, where you have to plan the rest of the week until your next free day.
I have the pressure of two exams and two pieces of homework lifted from me. I've got things on the website done. Now what?
I've got to get my paycheck, make my monthly car insurance payment, and put a portion of that in my savings.
I work on Thursday night, Friday afternoon, and the weekend nights. There's nothing real good going on tonight. I'm going to Rock Falls-Rockridge on Friday night, and can't really go anywhere else until next Wednesday, and it's going to be the usual nothing. I'm also going to be at work for Pairings Night, too, which is a big disappointment.
As far as the first round of the playoffs goes, I think I'm going to find a good Friday night football game and cover a Volleyball Regional on Saturday afternoon. All that plus the usual written banter on NISB.
I wouldn't be surprised to see next week's post look just like this one.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Hours!
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.41.01
Current Song - Everybody Everybody (Black Box)
I got more hours at work, but it was due to a very unfortunate circumstance. One of the women there, who is really good at what she does, was let go. We're trying to fill in her hours, and I'm going to work Thursday night, Friday afternoon, and my usual weekend. The paycheck is going to double, and that should work out well for my school/insurance payments. However, I still can't believe she is gone.
With my Thursday plans (Moline-Quincy VB) cancelled, I tried to find the best Wednesday event. Turns out a volleyball game between Freeport and Rockford East was the best one, as the two teams were 1-2 seeds at their Regional tournament. The match didn't turn out to be a good one, as Freeport stomped on East. I ended up just posting a score on the message board.
Hopefully I can get out of work at a decent time to make it up to the Alden-Hebron/Rockford Christian game. If I can't get that far, then the crosstown showdown between the two Belvidere schools will do.
The coming days are going to be VERY hectic. I've got an essay to do for the film class. I've got a math test to study for, and a film mid-term as well. The football article, Friday 5 and Weekly observations piece too. Plus work. In fact, I forgot to do the Fake Polls for last week. I think I can try to see what I can get done tonight before passing out.
Current Song - Everybody Everybody (Black Box)
I got more hours at work, but it was due to a very unfortunate circumstance. One of the women there, who is really good at what she does, was let go. We're trying to fill in her hours, and I'm going to work Thursday night, Friday afternoon, and my usual weekend. The paycheck is going to double, and that should work out well for my school/insurance payments. However, I still can't believe she is gone.
With my Thursday plans (Moline-Quincy VB) cancelled, I tried to find the best Wednesday event. Turns out a volleyball game between Freeport and Rockford East was the best one, as the two teams were 1-2 seeds at their Regional tournament. The match didn't turn out to be a good one, as Freeport stomped on East. I ended up just posting a score on the message board.
Hopefully I can get out of work at a decent time to make it up to the Alden-Hebron/Rockford Christian game. If I can't get that far, then the crosstown showdown between the two Belvidere schools will do.
The coming days are going to be VERY hectic. I've got an essay to do for the film class. I've got a math test to study for, and a film mid-term as well. The football article, Friday 5 and Weekly observations piece too. Plus work. In fact, I forgot to do the Fake Polls for last week. I think I can try to see what I can get done tonight before passing out.
There's always time
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.41.01
Current Song - Easy Lover (Phil Collins/Philip Bailey)
I frequent the SportsJournalists.com message board. I usually go there for tips on how to improve myself as a high school sportswriter.
I'm not in a serious job hunt at this time, but today's tip came from a topic calling for a writer at the Quincy Herald-Whig.
It was about what to put in a portfolio.
I think most good-sized papers ask for a portfolio of five pieces. The advice was to not put all gamers in it, or even four gamers out of the five. I should put a variety of pieces in it.
I haven't inquired at a newspaper since leaving Sauk Valley Newspapers five years ago. I only flirted with openings at the BCR and QC Times, and even those were longshots. Even though I know darn well not to fill it up with gamers, it did make me think about exactly what to put together.
So what's out there? There's game stories, feature articles and columns. That's three. I figure I should get my best game story, my best feature story and my best column. I should put them together with the two ICCJA award-winning pieces (a gamer and a feature).
1. "Not So Fast" - a men's basketball gamer written for the SVCC Voyager in 2007 between Sauk and Black Hawk East. This won second place for best gamer. However, after looking at it one more time the lead looks real crappy.
2. "Young, But Determined" - a volleyball feature written for the Highland Chronicle in 2008 as a team preview. This got honorable mention in 2009.
After that, I'm real weary about putting any piece from NISB in my portfolio. So I have to look deep into the SVN vault. Hopefully spring/summer 2004 isn't too old.
3. "Oh, What a Season!: It was the stuff dreams were made of" - My 100-plus-inch feature on Rock Falls Softball's season and fourth-place finish at the Class A State Tournament in 2004. And yes, it DID run. It may have been the first wrap-around in the sports section in quite some time. The paper does this a lot now.
4. "Sterling's Chiu wins one to write home about" - A gamer of the NCIC boy's tennis meet. Exchange student Koon Chiu was a part of the winning No. 1 Doubles team. Its my best non-Rock Falls and non-softball gamer. The portfolio is supposed to be diverse, right?
The final piece in the portfolio is a column. I only wrote a handful of columns for SVN, but I shouldn't include a third piece from 2004. At the same time I hate digging through the NISB archive, but I think I have no choice.
5. "The Trial of Steve Sandholm" - Yes, THAT one. A copy of it sits somewhere in Sandholm's lawyer's file cabinet.
If there's any other suggestions, or general suggestions, feel free to let me know.
---
Another suggestion from the message board topic was to have some sort of background in design. The only layout I currently do is with a website. Of the five semesters I have worked with a college newspaper, I had design experience in two of them. It was with Quark, and I think most papers have transitioned to InDesign - which I have no experience with at all. InDesign costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. Do I really have to cough up that much just to toy with it on my own?
It's like the job interview I once had for being a pizza delivery driver (before working at gas stations). "Have you ever held cash?" Well, where do I start???
Have I ever worked with InDesign? No. But how do I start?
Current Song - Easy Lover (Phil Collins/Philip Bailey)
I frequent the SportsJournalists.com message board. I usually go there for tips on how to improve myself as a high school sportswriter.
I'm not in a serious job hunt at this time, but today's tip came from a topic calling for a writer at the Quincy Herald-Whig.
It was about what to put in a portfolio.
I think most good-sized papers ask for a portfolio of five pieces. The advice was to not put all gamers in it, or even four gamers out of the five. I should put a variety of pieces in it.
I haven't inquired at a newspaper since leaving Sauk Valley Newspapers five years ago. I only flirted with openings at the BCR and QC Times, and even those were longshots. Even though I know darn well not to fill it up with gamers, it did make me think about exactly what to put together.
So what's out there? There's game stories, feature articles and columns. That's three. I figure I should get my best game story, my best feature story and my best column. I should put them together with the two ICCJA award-winning pieces (a gamer and a feature).
1. "Not So Fast" - a men's basketball gamer written for the SVCC Voyager in 2007 between Sauk and Black Hawk East. This won second place for best gamer. However, after looking at it one more time the lead looks real crappy.
2. "Young, But Determined" - a volleyball feature written for the Highland Chronicle in 2008 as a team preview. This got honorable mention in 2009.
After that, I'm real weary about putting any piece from NISB in my portfolio. So I have to look deep into the SVN vault. Hopefully spring/summer 2004 isn't too old.
3. "Oh, What a Season!: It was the stuff dreams were made of" - My 100-plus-inch feature on Rock Falls Softball's season and fourth-place finish at the Class A State Tournament in 2004. And yes, it DID run. It may have been the first wrap-around in the sports section in quite some time. The paper does this a lot now.
4. "Sterling's Chiu wins one to write home about" - A gamer of the NCIC boy's tennis meet. Exchange student Koon Chiu was a part of the winning No. 1 Doubles team. Its my best non-Rock Falls and non-softball gamer. The portfolio is supposed to be diverse, right?
The final piece in the portfolio is a column. I only wrote a handful of columns for SVN, but I shouldn't include a third piece from 2004. At the same time I hate digging through the NISB archive, but I think I have no choice.
5. "The Trial of Steve Sandholm" - Yes, THAT one. A copy of it sits somewhere in Sandholm's lawyer's file cabinet.
If there's any other suggestions, or general suggestions, feel free to let me know.
---
Another suggestion from the message board topic was to have some sort of background in design. The only layout I currently do is with a website. Of the five semesters I have worked with a college newspaper, I had design experience in two of them. It was with Quark, and I think most papers have transitioned to InDesign - which I have no experience with at all. InDesign costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. Do I really have to cough up that much just to toy with it on my own?
It's like the job interview I once had for being a pizza delivery driver (before working at gas stations). "Have you ever held cash?" Well, where do I start???
Have I ever worked with InDesign? No. But how do I start?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Crap!
Cutter’s Log – Stardate 9002.21.01
Current Song – Get Down (Gilbert O’Sullivan)
The computer got H1N1, or something like that.
My computer was offset by a virus on Friday, which seemed to come out of nowhere. I had to take the computer down to the shop to get repaired. It’s still there as of this write. I’m working at the SVCC Computer Lab at the moment, where the internet was down for quite a while. It’s up now.
So I’m trying to find a way to access the website. I tried at my grandmother's house, but her computer is too slow. So I'm at SVCC. I have to download a plugin to my traveldrive, and from there end up downloading the site tools from the Internet onto the computer's desktop. I have to be sure to erase my things once i leave the computer. The next day I'll have to do the downloading over again.
Therefore, I had to cancel my plans to cover the Riverdale-St. Bede game on Friday night. It turned out to be a very good game as Riverdale won 23-22. I also had to cancel plans to take pictures of the Dixon VB Invite, and cover the Sterling Boys Golf Sectional, which is going on right now. I haven’t event written the Observations piece yet, or tallied up the Pick’ems yet.
I had to find out some scores the old fashioned way – by reading the newspaper. That’s how I found out Rock Falls defeated Hall. In the short time I read the weekend’s activity on the boards, I am surprised that this huge upset did not generate more talk than the ONE post. There were many posts on the expected Sterling blowout of Streator. It baffles me a bit. With the win, Rock Falls moves to 3-4 on the season. They play winless Kewanee this week, and could very well be 4-4 heading into the final week. This hasn’t happened since 2003, and I clearly remember this talk.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Sterling alum. I like the Sterling talk on there. There doesn’t need to be less of it. I just wish there were other schools and fans of these other schools that would make their voices heard as much as Sterling fans do.
I know where I’m going for Week 9!
Current Song – Get Down (Gilbert O’Sullivan)
The computer got H1N1, or something like that.
My computer was offset by a virus on Friday, which seemed to come out of nowhere. I had to take the computer down to the shop to get repaired. It’s still there as of this write. I’m working at the SVCC Computer Lab at the moment, where the internet was down for quite a while. It’s up now.
So I’m trying to find a way to access the website. I tried at my grandmother's house, but her computer is too slow. So I'm at SVCC. I have to download a plugin to my traveldrive, and from there end up downloading the site tools from the Internet onto the computer's desktop. I have to be sure to erase my things once i leave the computer. The next day I'll have to do the downloading over again.
Therefore, I had to cancel my plans to cover the Riverdale-St. Bede game on Friday night. It turned out to be a very good game as Riverdale won 23-22. I also had to cancel plans to take pictures of the Dixon VB Invite, and cover the Sterling Boys Golf Sectional, which is going on right now. I haven’t event written the Observations piece yet, or tallied up the Pick’ems yet.
I had to find out some scores the old fashioned way – by reading the newspaper. That’s how I found out Rock Falls defeated Hall. In the short time I read the weekend’s activity on the boards, I am surprised that this huge upset did not generate more talk than the ONE post. There were many posts on the expected Sterling blowout of Streator. It baffles me a bit. With the win, Rock Falls moves to 3-4 on the season. They play winless Kewanee this week, and could very well be 4-4 heading into the final week. This hasn’t happened since 2003, and I clearly remember this talk.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Sterling alum. I like the Sterling talk on there. There doesn’t need to be less of it. I just wish there were other schools and fans of these other schools that would make their voices heard as much as Sterling fans do.
I know where I’m going for Week 9!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Digital Camera on last leg
Current Song - Stardate 9002.90.01
Current Song - Grease (Frankie Valli)
I was covering the AFC-Orangeville volleyball meet tonight, and had my digital camera with me. Earlier in the year I thought it would be good to take a couple of pictures of the events I cover.
The camera is a Canon Powershot A95. I got it from my grandparents on my high school graduation. I graduated in May of 2005, so it's probably five years old. In fact, I know it's old because the flashcard that came with it is one that is not sold in stores anymore.
It worked real well when I was taking pictures for the site early on. It still works well for still images. It just can't muster any action shots anymore. The pictures keep getting blurry and the zoom sucks. It's like I need to be a few feet away in order to have a chance at a good shot. I can't really do that while I'm covering a game.
Maybe it was this double-duty thing that made the pics look bad. I'll try the camera one more time, when I head for the Dixon VB Invitational on Saturday afternoon. If it doesn't work out, then who knows what I'll be doing.
It's not a piece of junk just yet. Like I said, it does well for stand-alone shots and works well for Glory Days trips and vacations.
Current Song - Grease (Frankie Valli)
I was covering the AFC-Orangeville volleyball meet tonight, and had my digital camera with me. Earlier in the year I thought it would be good to take a couple of pictures of the events I cover.
The camera is a Canon Powershot A95. I got it from my grandparents on my high school graduation. I graduated in May of 2005, so it's probably five years old. In fact, I know it's old because the flashcard that came with it is one that is not sold in stores anymore.
It worked real well when I was taking pictures for the site early on. It still works well for still images. It just can't muster any action shots anymore. The pictures keep getting blurry and the zoom sucks. It's like I need to be a few feet away in order to have a chance at a good shot. I can't really do that while I'm covering a game.
Maybe it was this double-duty thing that made the pics look bad. I'll try the camera one more time, when I head for the Dixon VB Invitational on Saturday afternoon. If it doesn't work out, then who knows what I'll be doing.
It's not a piece of junk just yet. Like I said, it does well for stand-alone shots and works well for Glory Days trips and vacations.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Found a few?
Cutter's Log - Supplemental
I made a search for weekly newspapers from around the SV area. I found the Fulton Journal, the Carroll County Mirror-Democrat, the Carroll County Reporter and the Savanna Times-Journal. I also got a Polo paper today. I have read the Amboy and Ashton papers online.
Fulton has two high schools: Fulton and Unity. Carroll County has three: Eastland, Milledgeville and West Carroll. Polo just has Polo. Amboy just has Amboy and Ashton just has AFC.
Each will hear from me.
I made a search for weekly newspapers from around the SV area. I found the Fulton Journal, the Carroll County Mirror-Democrat, the Carroll County Reporter and the Savanna Times-Journal. I also got a Polo paper today. I have read the Amboy and Ashton papers online.
Fulton has two high schools: Fulton and Unity. Carroll County has three: Eastland, Milledgeville and West Carroll. Polo just has Polo. Amboy just has Amboy and Ashton just has AFC.
Each will hear from me.
Payday
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.70.01
Current Song - Smiling Faces (The Undisputed Truth)
Today is payday - so I'm getting my meager $120ish. I have my final college payment coming in 10 days, and hopefully I won't have to w/d anything from my savings to cover for it.
I was digging through my desk a couple of days ago and found an uncashed birthday check from April. It's still good, and it's more money that came from nowhere. If only life could work like that ... lol.
I drove to Erie to buy an Erie Review. It seems as if Riverdale sports are well-covered because an athlete from each team is writing the stories. Didn't see anything on Riverdale football, or any of Erie sports (save EP football). It's a great concept, really. However, if I were to fill in the missing blanks, it may bring a writing style/philos conflict that I don't want to occur. If anything, I would like to encourage Erie students to do the same thing as Riverdale does.
So call my aspirations for the Erie Review dead in the water, too. I'm going to try Fulton, Amboy and Ashton. I think there's also a Polo and/or Mt. Carroll paper?
Current Song - Smiling Faces (The Undisputed Truth)
Today is payday - so I'm getting my meager $120ish. I have my final college payment coming in 10 days, and hopefully I won't have to w/d anything from my savings to cover for it.
I was digging through my desk a couple of days ago and found an uncashed birthday check from April. It's still good, and it's more money that came from nowhere. If only life could work like that ... lol.
I drove to Erie to buy an Erie Review. It seems as if Riverdale sports are well-covered because an athlete from each team is writing the stories. Didn't see anything on Riverdale football, or any of Erie sports (save EP football). It's a great concept, really. However, if I were to fill in the missing blanks, it may bring a writing style/philos conflict that I don't want to occur. If anything, I would like to encourage Erie students to do the same thing as Riverdale does.
So call my aspirations for the Erie Review dead in the water, too. I'm going to try Fulton, Amboy and Ashton. I think there's also a Polo and/or Mt. Carroll paper?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Work Update
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.60.01
Current Song - I Can Dream About You (Dan Hartman)
I can pretty much call the Rt. 30 thing stuck in the water. They rehired someone, a former night worker, who is known for her flexability. She even helped out at my station a few times. This is coupled with the if-the-new-girl-doesn't-work-out backup plan.
I have thought about getting a Monday-thru-Friday (or Thursday) first-shift job somewhere. That would make Shell the part-time gig. But where could I get that first-shift thing?
Actually, the biggest question is 'am i up to it?' It would involve getting up at 6:00 a.m. and getting off sometime around 5:00. I would still have time for high school sports on Wednesday-Friday nights, that is if I'm not falling flat when I come home. Well, pizza delivery? Erie Review?
Current Song - I Can Dream About You (Dan Hartman)
I can pretty much call the Rt. 30 thing stuck in the water. They rehired someone, a former night worker, who is known for her flexability. She even helped out at my station a few times. This is coupled with the if-the-new-girl-doesn't-work-out backup plan.
I have thought about getting a Monday-thru-Friday (or Thursday) first-shift job somewhere. That would make Shell the part-time gig. But where could I get that first-shift thing?
Actually, the biggest question is 'am i up to it?' It would involve getting up at 6:00 a.m. and getting off sometime around 5:00. I would still have time for high school sports on Wednesday-Friday nights, that is if I'm not falling flat when I come home. Well, pizza delivery? Erie Review?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Silver
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.40.01
Current Song - Jack and Jill (Raydio)
I've recently become interested in finding silver coins.
So I guess that's another one minute of time wasted at the gas station. The price of silver as of this entry is $16.65/ounce. I've got $1.25 face value, which translates to a minimum asking price of $14.87. I'm going to keep the Peace Dollar I have, so the $0.25 I've actually garnered translates into $2.92.
Current Song - Jack and Jill (Raydio)
I've recently become interested in finding silver coins.
So I guess that's another one minute of time wasted at the gas station. The price of silver as of this entry is $16.65/ounce. I've got $1.25 face value, which translates to a minimum asking price of $14.87. I'm going to keep the Peace Dollar I have, so the $0.25 I've actually garnered translates into $2.92.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
At the tip of the tongue - crap I can't talk!
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.30.01
Current Song - The Best Is Yet To Come (Frank Sinatra)
I had a career-changing, if not life-changing, experience at the Sterling-Morris football game on Friday night.
In 5 of my 7 years of high school sportswriting I had been writing articles that had some sort of quoted matter in them. Only for 1/4 of these five years had I actually found the courage to strike up a conversation to get quotes. That 1/4 was when I was working at the newspaper. The rest of the time while running NISB I have just sat back and let the newspaper reporters do their thing. After all, they are on a deadline and I don't want to distrupt their train of thought.
They think I just stand there with a recorder just to get some free information. I just don't want to distrupt the writer.
However, there are a lot of times when my social ineffectiveness kicks in. It really did at this football game. I WANTED to talk, but I COULDN'T.
If I want to keep going in this career goal to be a high school sportswriter, conducting an interview is one of the things I have to excel at. I can't just sit back and tune in anymore, but at the same time I don't want to interfere with the other writers' mindset.
I need to find good games/meets that are less likely to be covered by a newspaper reporter, and cover them myself. The problem is, where? And how will this effect the following on NISB?
I've got one football game in mind for next week. Hopefully all will go well there. Hopefully laying off the real big games will help bring a more diverse audience to NISB.
Current Song - The Best Is Yet To Come (Frank Sinatra)
I had a career-changing, if not life-changing, experience at the Sterling-Morris football game on Friday night.
In 5 of my 7 years of high school sportswriting I had been writing articles that had some sort of quoted matter in them. Only for 1/4 of these five years had I actually found the courage to strike up a conversation to get quotes. That 1/4 was when I was working at the newspaper. The rest of the time while running NISB I have just sat back and let the newspaper reporters do their thing. After all, they are on a deadline and I don't want to distrupt their train of thought.
They think I just stand there with a recorder just to get some free information. I just don't want to distrupt the writer.
However, there are a lot of times when my social ineffectiveness kicks in. It really did at this football game. I WANTED to talk, but I COULDN'T.
If I want to keep going in this career goal to be a high school sportswriter, conducting an interview is one of the things I have to excel at. I can't just sit back and tune in anymore, but at the same time I don't want to interfere with the other writers' mindset.
I need to find good games/meets that are less likely to be covered by a newspaper reporter, and cover them myself. The problem is, where? And how will this effect the following on NISB?
I've got one football game in mind for next week. Hopefully all will go well there. Hopefully laying off the real big games will help bring a more diverse audience to NISB.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Even More Thoughts About NISB
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.92.90
Current Song - Whispers (unknown artist)
I've always had another writer in mind for NISB. If I were to ever afford to these freelance writers, this is something I wouldn't mind doing.
I have plans in mind, so if you want to know what I'm thinking, let me know.
Current Song - Whispers (unknown artist)
I've always had another writer in mind for NISB. If I were to ever afford to these freelance writers, this is something I wouldn't mind doing.
I have plans in mind, so if you want to know what I'm thinking, let me know.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thoughts about NISB
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.72.90
Current Song - Steppin Out (Joe Jackson)
There was only one time in NISB's history when I had my full concentration on it. That was from when I graduated high school in June 2005 until starting work at the BP station in August 2006; the entire 2005-06 school year.
Sauk was on the schedule too, but it didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would.
When I look at on the 2005-06 school year (and you can too by viewing the NISB story archive), I saw some real good teams, some real good games (Erie 80-West Carroll 78 in 2 OTs) documented the rise of some programs (Polo and Lemont football come to mind), and did Q&As on several good athletes. The next year, having squeezed work time in the mix, the stuff I wrote didn't turn out that well.
I then wrote a column, sometime after the 2007 RF Shootout, about being through with game articles. I accomplished what I could with game articles, but decided to stick to columns and feature pieces. These kind of pieces involve less travel and more time communicating via e-mail or phone.
That was January 2007. Since then I've written a bunch of non-gamer stories: Kewanee's Conference drama, "The Trial of Steve Sandholm," the IPA situation, NCIC expansion, PA prayer, and the basketball coaching wins record all come to mind. I did stick a few gamers in there when I could.
"When I can." That's the story of how I'm running NISB right now. I run it when I can. The amount of things released on the site has decreased considerably since getting a job. I left that BP station in April of 2008 and three months later found myself at the Shell station I currently work at. I was able to write the Five-part NCIC series and expand the MLB draft coverage in that small amount of time.
When I started at Shell I was named the main clerk for nights. That meant working the busy Friday and Saturday evening shifts. There went most of everything, except for writing columns on statistics on nights off. At the same time, it did help my column-writing. I feel I can crank out a column whenever I feel like it.
However, just writing columns isn't going to get me anywhere. I had a serious hours reduction at work that allowed me to fit in a few things for the site. I started writing football game articles once more. I actually got the new version of the site off the ground. The extra time was devoted toward finding out things for the Friday 5, and other bits and pieces.
One day, just this past week, I wanted to go down to Princeton to do research for a story I had in mind. The end result was the history of the Kewanee-Princeton football rivalry. I've received more kind words about that particular piece than any other one I've written for NISB. I covered the particular football game - which is kind of odd because I usually cover the top-notch games - and covering it was an interesting experience. I got to witness something historic ending, met some people that liked the site, and drove back in a thick fog.
The football game this past Friday was a tough one to cover. But it is games like these that have to be taken seriously in order to write a good gamer. I cried many tears after seeing Boylan-Guilford in last year's opener. I cried after Friday's game. I kept on thinking, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to do.
I have thought about doing this for The Review, a weekly newspaper covering SW Whiteside and Northern RI counties. I e-mailed a former editor for their parent company, and he mentioned that it won't stuff the wallet very much. I'd have to write 6-7 stories in order to make as much money as I do, on average, at Shell. That's easy, right? E-P Football, Riverdale Football, Erie VB, Riverdale VB, Erie Golf, Riverdale Golf, E-P XC, Riverdale XC, and Riverdale soccer - nothing real top notch. That's nine. However, it will take up too much space in the tiny paper, which would probably have to raise its newsstand price in order to accomodate me. I don't want that to happen.
It's going to be a backup plan, just in case something bad happens.
All of that, and the Kewanee experience, is making me lean toward coming back to writing gamers. The column well seems to have run dry. Now if I can make time for something. A non-football event would have to be on Wednesday or Thursday.
Enter in that MASH episode where everyone is dreaming. This is where the excitement ends.
Things at work have not been going so smoothly. Being down to two nights a week bites. I'm going to ask Route 30 if there's something for Wednesday and Thursday night.
Current Song - Steppin Out (Joe Jackson)
There was only one time in NISB's history when I had my full concentration on it. That was from when I graduated high school in June 2005 until starting work at the BP station in August 2006; the entire 2005-06 school year.
Sauk was on the schedule too, but it didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would.
When I look at on the 2005-06 school year (and you can too by viewing the NISB story archive), I saw some real good teams, some real good games (Erie 80-West Carroll 78 in 2 OTs) documented the rise of some programs (Polo and Lemont football come to mind), and did Q&As on several good athletes. The next year, having squeezed work time in the mix, the stuff I wrote didn't turn out that well.
I then wrote a column, sometime after the 2007 RF Shootout, about being through with game articles. I accomplished what I could with game articles, but decided to stick to columns and feature pieces. These kind of pieces involve less travel and more time communicating via e-mail or phone.
That was January 2007. Since then I've written a bunch of non-gamer stories: Kewanee's Conference drama, "The Trial of Steve Sandholm," the IPA situation, NCIC expansion, PA prayer, and the basketball coaching wins record all come to mind. I did stick a few gamers in there when I could.
"When I can." That's the story of how I'm running NISB right now. I run it when I can. The amount of things released on the site has decreased considerably since getting a job. I left that BP station in April of 2008 and three months later found myself at the Shell station I currently work at. I was able to write the Five-part NCIC series and expand the MLB draft coverage in that small amount of time.
When I started at Shell I was named the main clerk for nights. That meant working the busy Friday and Saturday evening shifts. There went most of everything, except for writing columns on statistics on nights off. At the same time, it did help my column-writing. I feel I can crank out a column whenever I feel like it.
However, just writing columns isn't going to get me anywhere. I had a serious hours reduction at work that allowed me to fit in a few things for the site. I started writing football game articles once more. I actually got the new version of the site off the ground. The extra time was devoted toward finding out things for the Friday 5, and other bits and pieces.
One day, just this past week, I wanted to go down to Princeton to do research for a story I had in mind. The end result was the history of the Kewanee-Princeton football rivalry. I've received more kind words about that particular piece than any other one I've written for NISB. I covered the particular football game - which is kind of odd because I usually cover the top-notch games - and covering it was an interesting experience. I got to witness something historic ending, met some people that liked the site, and drove back in a thick fog.
The football game this past Friday was a tough one to cover. But it is games like these that have to be taken seriously in order to write a good gamer. I cried many tears after seeing Boylan-Guilford in last year's opener. I cried after Friday's game. I kept on thinking, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to do.
I have thought about doing this for The Review, a weekly newspaper covering SW Whiteside and Northern RI counties. I e-mailed a former editor for their parent company, and he mentioned that it won't stuff the wallet very much. I'd have to write 6-7 stories in order to make as much money as I do, on average, at Shell. That's easy, right? E-P Football, Riverdale Football, Erie VB, Riverdale VB, Erie Golf, Riverdale Golf, E-P XC, Riverdale XC, and Riverdale soccer - nothing real top notch. That's nine. However, it will take up too much space in the tiny paper, which would probably have to raise its newsstand price in order to accomodate me. I don't want that to happen.
It's going to be a backup plan, just in case something bad happens.
All of that, and the Kewanee experience, is making me lean toward coming back to writing gamers. The column well seems to have run dry. Now if I can make time for something. A non-football event would have to be on Wednesday or Thursday.
Enter in that MASH episode where everyone is dreaming. This is where the excitement ends.
Things at work have not been going so smoothly. Being down to two nights a week bites. I'm going to ask Route 30 if there's something for Wednesday and Thursday night.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
When it comes to research ...
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.42.90
Current Song - Reminiscing (Little River Band)
I know what I'm doing.
This may sound strange, but I never liked doing research. It took the love of high school sports to get me to like research. I enjoyed doing research stories for the Gazette (Newman's 1985 Wrestling season, the brief history of Sauk Valley high school football, the 50th anniversary of Sterling Youth Baseball). When I left there I carried this over to NISB. Then it got me interested in Illinois High School Glory Days.
NISB began to take shape during my first years of college, where I was taking a Western Civilizations class at the time. After doing the college research papers, I began to get a feel for credible research and used it for certain NISB historical articles. My history instructor, Rich Eichman, spoke these words about research that I will never forget:
"Consider your source."
I've done quite a bit of high school sports/history research in the past few years. There are plenty of sources out there when trying to uncover when doing high school research.
Let's go into the making of my article "The History of the NCIC" -
http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com/2009spring/news/ncichistory.html
I wrote this piece because different newspapers were writing different histories of the conference. For example, one paper had the conference forming in 1942 (it was really 1929), another had Geneseo joining in 1947 (1942), another had Rock Falls as a charter member (1942). My article aimed to correct this information.
Most of what was written in the papers came as a result of looking at a past issue of recent timing, before the popularity of microfilm. The problem with referring to recent information is that the possibility of it being skewed exists. Some newspaper writers are absolutely certain that what was in their paper at one point of time is really true.
Say something happened in 1958. Which is the best source? A) A 30th Anniversary Article of the event from 1998? B) An account of the event from 1958? The answer is B. You try to find information dating back to the most recent account. It is freshest this way, and is not filled with after-the-fact information. Historical accounts often have this after-the-fact information to define it's legacy. However, in newspaper writing, one is limited to the amount of space they are alotted. Therefore, namy details about the event are left out in order to give readers a recent link (interviews). In most instances of historical accounts written before the 1980s, the research isn't as easy.
Since I'm from Sterling, I started looking through Sterling-based accounts. There's the newspaper's microfilm. There's also the high school yearbooks.
Yearbooks are the most underrated source of information. They are extremely valuable. That's because the books are made for the SPECIFIC purpose of preserving the memories, events, and life in the high school. We turn to newspapers because of trust, but the purpose of newspapers and yearbooks do not match. Which has more information about the school? The yearbook does. This is why libraries attempt to keep a collection of high school yearbooks, and safeguard them extensively. The collection at Sterling and Rock Falls libraries are behind the front desk. Sterling's first yearbooks require gloves in order to touch - I'm not kidding.
When trying to find Sterling's first year in the NCIC, I sifted through yearbooks in a quick fashion. Yearbooks are quicker to go through, and I went 1970, 1960, 1950 and so on until I hit 1920. I didn't find the NCIC in the 1920 edition, so I went 1921, 1922, 1923 and so on, knowing I'd hit it sometime before 1930. I eventually found it in 1929.
After finding Sterling's first year in the NCIC I didn't say that was the first year of the NCIC. The 1928 yearbook still mentioned the Rock River Valley. From there I did fact checking through the newspaper, but noticed that a small paragraph in the 1928 book mentioned the formation of a new conference. That had to be verified, so I did the same motions at the Dixon Library.
From there, after knowing that both Sterling and Dixon were charter members of the NCIC, every yearbook was looked at up until LP joined. I was able to get information on what conference opponents were, and when the football divisions were created. After going through other school's yearbooks, I had a good idea what the history was.
--
So it's all about which source is better. When going on a research adventure for Illinois High School Glory Days, I'm always looking through the County Histories of the late 1800s. Subsequent county histories are always sourcing the previous one.
I look at all of the published county histories to see if the dates match. There could have been a recent discovery. There was an instance where two histories of the same county had different dates for a school's establishment. Which one is it? If the most recent county history cannot prove a contradiction to the earlier one, I go with the earlier history. If a contradiction is proved, then I go with the later history. Memory is fresher in the earlier histories.
--
I did a piece on the founder of the University of Illinois football, which happened to be the founder of Sterling High School football. In the process, I was able to relook at a piece of Sterling football history that I think only I knew about.
http://www.geocities.com/northernillinoissportsbeat/aa_winter08_columns_scottwilliams
First off, the name Scott Williams, to me, was known as the founder of SHS football - and there was a Scott Williams who was the founder of U of I football. Little did I know about his connections to the Fighting Illini until stumbling upon an article while doing GD research at SVCC. This particular piece linked the U of I's Williams with a newspaper position at the Gazette. It had me thinking if the two Scott Williams's were one.
The little "unknown piece of history" I had looked at was Sterling's 1898 football season consisting of just one game. It's not documented in the official SHS athletics research. But looking at the 1924 Blue and Gold, it had an article on the first and second teams. It mentioned the first team as an afterthought because the 1899 season fared much better.
So it does take a little going back-and-forth to get something right.
--
I have nothing new to share at this time. In my Kewanee-Princeton research, I was able to find evidence of a Princeton Football game taking place in 1895 against Geneseo. This was from the 1896 Princetonia yearbook. I know someone who is doing research on the history of Geneseo Football, beginning in 1912.
Current Song - Reminiscing (Little River Band)
I know what I'm doing.
This may sound strange, but I never liked doing research. It took the love of high school sports to get me to like research. I enjoyed doing research stories for the Gazette (Newman's 1985 Wrestling season, the brief history of Sauk Valley high school football, the 50th anniversary of Sterling Youth Baseball). When I left there I carried this over to NISB. Then it got me interested in Illinois High School Glory Days.
NISB began to take shape during my first years of college, where I was taking a Western Civilizations class at the time. After doing the college research papers, I began to get a feel for credible research and used it for certain NISB historical articles. My history instructor, Rich Eichman, spoke these words about research that I will never forget:
"Consider your source."
I've done quite a bit of high school sports/history research in the past few years. There are plenty of sources out there when trying to uncover when doing high school research.
Let's go into the making of my article "The History of the NCIC" -
http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com/2009spring/news/ncichistory.html
I wrote this piece because different newspapers were writing different histories of the conference. For example, one paper had the conference forming in 1942 (it was really 1929), another had Geneseo joining in 1947 (1942), another had Rock Falls as a charter member (1942). My article aimed to correct this information.
Most of what was written in the papers came as a result of looking at a past issue of recent timing, before the popularity of microfilm. The problem with referring to recent information is that the possibility of it being skewed exists. Some newspaper writers are absolutely certain that what was in their paper at one point of time is really true.
Say something happened in 1958. Which is the best source? A) A 30th Anniversary Article of the event from 1998? B) An account of the event from 1958? The answer is B. You try to find information dating back to the most recent account. It is freshest this way, and is not filled with after-the-fact information. Historical accounts often have this after-the-fact information to define it's legacy. However, in newspaper writing, one is limited to the amount of space they are alotted. Therefore, namy details about the event are left out in order to give readers a recent link (interviews). In most instances of historical accounts written before the 1980s, the research isn't as easy.
Since I'm from Sterling, I started looking through Sterling-based accounts. There's the newspaper's microfilm. There's also the high school yearbooks.
Yearbooks are the most underrated source of information. They are extremely valuable. That's because the books are made for the SPECIFIC purpose of preserving the memories, events, and life in the high school. We turn to newspapers because of trust, but the purpose of newspapers and yearbooks do not match. Which has more information about the school? The yearbook does. This is why libraries attempt to keep a collection of high school yearbooks, and safeguard them extensively. The collection at Sterling and Rock Falls libraries are behind the front desk. Sterling's first yearbooks require gloves in order to touch - I'm not kidding.
When trying to find Sterling's first year in the NCIC, I sifted through yearbooks in a quick fashion. Yearbooks are quicker to go through, and I went 1970, 1960, 1950 and so on until I hit 1920. I didn't find the NCIC in the 1920 edition, so I went 1921, 1922, 1923 and so on, knowing I'd hit it sometime before 1930. I eventually found it in 1929.
After finding Sterling's first year in the NCIC I didn't say that was the first year of the NCIC. The 1928 yearbook still mentioned the Rock River Valley. From there I did fact checking through the newspaper, but noticed that a small paragraph in the 1928 book mentioned the formation of a new conference. That had to be verified, so I did the same motions at the Dixon Library.
From there, after knowing that both Sterling and Dixon were charter members of the NCIC, every yearbook was looked at up until LP joined. I was able to get information on what conference opponents were, and when the football divisions were created. After going through other school's yearbooks, I had a good idea what the history was.
--
So it's all about which source is better. When going on a research adventure for Illinois High School Glory Days, I'm always looking through the County Histories of the late 1800s. Subsequent county histories are always sourcing the previous one.
I look at all of the published county histories to see if the dates match. There could have been a recent discovery. There was an instance where two histories of the same county had different dates for a school's establishment. Which one is it? If the most recent county history cannot prove a contradiction to the earlier one, I go with the earlier history. If a contradiction is proved, then I go with the later history. Memory is fresher in the earlier histories.
--
I did a piece on the founder of the University of Illinois football, which happened to be the founder of Sterling High School football. In the process, I was able to relook at a piece of Sterling football history that I think only I knew about.
http://www.geocities.com/northernillinoissportsbeat/aa_winter08_columns_scottwilliams
First off, the name Scott Williams, to me, was known as the founder of SHS football - and there was a Scott Williams who was the founder of U of I football. Little did I know about his connections to the Fighting Illini until stumbling upon an article while doing GD research at SVCC. This particular piece linked the U of I's Williams with a newspaper position at the Gazette. It had me thinking if the two Scott Williams's were one.
The little "unknown piece of history" I had looked at was Sterling's 1898 football season consisting of just one game. It's not documented in the official SHS athletics research. But looking at the 1924 Blue and Gold, it had an article on the first and second teams. It mentioned the first team as an afterthought because the 1899 season fared much better.
So it does take a little going back-and-forth to get something right.
--
I have nothing new to share at this time. In my Kewanee-Princeton research, I was able to find evidence of a Princeton Football game taking place in 1895 against Geneseo. This was from the 1896 Princetonia yearbook. I know someone who is doing research on the history of Geneseo Football, beginning in 1912.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Let's Move Forward, Shall We?
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.22.90
Current Song - Mammagamma (Alan Parsons Project)
The last entry was kind of overreacting a bit. Thankfully I have five days off to try to relax. This relaxation comes in the form of going to class, seeing Friday night football, and trying to write two articles for NISB. Usually I do one: The Friday 5. I'm also trying to get a Guest Picker in line for this week's football pick'em.
I will be going to the Kewanee-Princeton game on Friday night. It'll be the last time these two get together due to the Boilermakers' departure to the Big Rivers next year. I want to try to write a historical article on the rivalry.
Class seems to be going okay at the moment. I get my first Math test back tonight.
The bike will see some much-needed riding this week, too.
Current Song - Mammagamma (Alan Parsons Project)
The last entry was kind of overreacting a bit. Thankfully I have five days off to try to relax. This relaxation comes in the form of going to class, seeing Friday night football, and trying to write two articles for NISB. Usually I do one: The Friday 5. I'm also trying to get a Guest Picker in line for this week's football pick'em.
I will be going to the Kewanee-Princeton game on Friday night. It'll be the last time these two get together due to the Boilermakers' departure to the Big Rivers next year. I want to try to write a historical article on the rivalry.
Class seems to be going okay at the moment. I get my first Math test back tonight.
The bike will see some much-needed riding this week, too.
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Search Begins
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.91.90
Current Song - Early Autumn (Stan Getz)
This is what happens after you faint when you get the kicked the crap out of.
It's hard for me to write this.
I love my customers at the gas station. Aside from my classmates from school, these are the friends I talk to these days. I come to work each night to service them. I want to be here for them. My customers are the reason why I work at the Shell station. I come in early because of them. I stay there late because of them. I skip some of my chores because of them. They bring in the dough, but I don't think of it as that. My concentration should be on them, because they take the time to come in the store to get their things. For most customers it has become THE go-to place for things.
These particular customers, for whom East End Shell is a go-to place for, I know by name. They're the ones who stay a minute or two to chat. For someone who has deep trouble communicating with people, this is something I cherish.
Working at a gas station is not what I want to do. That honor goes to sportswriting.
There have been many times where I thought about quitting. But there are a few people who somehow manage to make me stay behind the counter. Indeed, the relations I have with the customers is what makes me want to stay at Shell.
That can only go so far, however.
While customers make me happy, it is the inner workings of the workplace that fusturate me. I hate it when I get pushed around by my co-workers. They out-perform me, and now I am slow. These are the same people that work there for a paycheck. It's nothing more than a job to them. For me, being at work is the only time I can put forth a Social life. A social life is something I always wanted to regain from childhood.
When work, and co-workers, take away my mission to obtain something I always wanted, I feel even more depressed. I keep getting kicked around, and any form of retailiation just can't work because it goes too over the edge.
It's come to that point when the inner workings have become just too much for me, having overshadowed my customer relations.
I want to quit.
I don't know if I'll be able to right away, but I do know time is going to run out. I put in everything I can, but it's still not enough. I have a talent and I want that to be the thing that makes me successful.
I want to write again.
I'm eyeing a weekly newspaper out of Erie that covers Erie and Riverdale high schools. I bought their paper a couple of days ago and noticed they didn't have a sports section. I wonder if they would like one? I can most certainly do that - I did it for two college newspapers and won awards for it.
The Review would give me a chance to cover just two schools; two schools that don't necessairly stand out in anything. It's more community-based, aside from my power-based NISB.
I talked to a friend of mine who is working at a weekly in the Washington panhandle. He says he's making good money there, and is nearly double of what I make in a month. I want to take a guess and say working there would be just like getting paid at Shell, and just like commuting to and from Highland.
I took a look at a few other weeklies from around here, and they all have good sports coverage. I don't think I'm fit for a daily just yet. Working at a daily requires full attention, which is something I can't obtain until at least June 2010.
I want to give them a call and discuss my plans with them. I don't even know if it will be sucessful. But I want to give it a try.
I want to be able to do what I like doing.
Current Song - Early Autumn (Stan Getz)
This is what happens after you faint when you get the kicked the crap out of.
It's hard for me to write this.
I love my customers at the gas station. Aside from my classmates from school, these are the friends I talk to these days. I come to work each night to service them. I want to be here for them. My customers are the reason why I work at the Shell station. I come in early because of them. I stay there late because of them. I skip some of my chores because of them. They bring in the dough, but I don't think of it as that. My concentration should be on them, because they take the time to come in the store to get their things. For most customers it has become THE go-to place for things.
These particular customers, for whom East End Shell is a go-to place for, I know by name. They're the ones who stay a minute or two to chat. For someone who has deep trouble communicating with people, this is something I cherish.
Working at a gas station is not what I want to do. That honor goes to sportswriting.
There have been many times where I thought about quitting. But there are a few people who somehow manage to make me stay behind the counter. Indeed, the relations I have with the customers is what makes me want to stay at Shell.
That can only go so far, however.
While customers make me happy, it is the inner workings of the workplace that fusturate me. I hate it when I get pushed around by my co-workers. They out-perform me, and now I am slow. These are the same people that work there for a paycheck. It's nothing more than a job to them. For me, being at work is the only time I can put forth a Social life. A social life is something I always wanted to regain from childhood.
When work, and co-workers, take away my mission to obtain something I always wanted, I feel even more depressed. I keep getting kicked around, and any form of retailiation just can't work because it goes too over the edge.
It's come to that point when the inner workings have become just too much for me, having overshadowed my customer relations.
I want to quit.
I don't know if I'll be able to right away, but I do know time is going to run out. I put in everything I can, but it's still not enough. I have a talent and I want that to be the thing that makes me successful.
I want to write again.
I'm eyeing a weekly newspaper out of Erie that covers Erie and Riverdale high schools. I bought their paper a couple of days ago and noticed they didn't have a sports section. I wonder if they would like one? I can most certainly do that - I did it for two college newspapers and won awards for it.
The Review would give me a chance to cover just two schools; two schools that don't necessairly stand out in anything. It's more community-based, aside from my power-based NISB.
I talked to a friend of mine who is working at a weekly in the Washington panhandle. He says he's making good money there, and is nearly double of what I make in a month. I want to take a guess and say working there would be just like getting paid at Shell, and just like commuting to and from Highland.
I took a look at a few other weeklies from around here, and they all have good sports coverage. I don't think I'm fit for a daily just yet. Working at a daily requires full attention, which is something I can't obtain until at least June 2010.
I want to give them a call and discuss my plans with them. I don't even know if it will be sucessful. But I want to give it a try.
I want to be able to do what I like doing.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Chore adjustments
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.31.90
Current Song - I saw the light (Todd Rundgren)
For some reason I felt tired all day today, until I got home from work. I did site work when I got home, so maybe that made me awake.
While I'm getting more hours at work, my mind is killing me. I don't know how many times I had to repeat totals to customers. Or how many times I had to ask Dorothy to repeat herself. It was yet another horrible night at work. Customers were in-and-out for most of the early session, and Stan stayed for a while. Then when it died down, Bill and Dorothy showed up. Then Joe and Kay. They're pretty much taking my time until 11:00. I can get around these four, but I have to be absolutely perfect in the beginning of my shift in order to have a good night. I didn't have it.
About three months ago I made adjustments to my chorework. I had always made a list of things to do. This time I had made personal deadlines for each chore. That started out well, but began to falter.
I think I'm going to make some adjustments in chorework. I start the day making a list of cigs to stock. Since this is mostly a front job, I think I'll move it to during chit-chat time.
Clock in by 4:45. Inside trash right away. It'll push cappuchino rinsing to be done by 5:30. Fountain ice by 6:00. 5 bags of ice by 6:30. Lot or another five bags by 7:00. Rugs done by 7:30. Cigs done by 8:00.
Cooler count from 8:00 until the gang begins to arrive.
Lotto numbers entirely printed out by 9:30 (I would only do three for the gang, but didn't really print the ten for the customers). Papers stripped AND restrooms by 10:00.
Cooler, sweep and mop from 10 to 12. Lotto will be moved from 11 to 12, but still stop selling at 11.
Hopefully this will work out. There are a lot of things in the first half that may have already been done during mid.
Current Song - I saw the light (Todd Rundgren)
For some reason I felt tired all day today, until I got home from work. I did site work when I got home, so maybe that made me awake.
While I'm getting more hours at work, my mind is killing me. I don't know how many times I had to repeat totals to customers. Or how many times I had to ask Dorothy to repeat herself. It was yet another horrible night at work. Customers were in-and-out for most of the early session, and Stan stayed for a while. Then when it died down, Bill and Dorothy showed up. Then Joe and Kay. They're pretty much taking my time until 11:00. I can get around these four, but I have to be absolutely perfect in the beginning of my shift in order to have a good night. I didn't have it.
About three months ago I made adjustments to my chorework. I had always made a list of things to do. This time I had made personal deadlines for each chore. That started out well, but began to falter.
I think I'm going to make some adjustments in chorework. I start the day making a list of cigs to stock. Since this is mostly a front job, I think I'll move it to during chit-chat time.
Clock in by 4:45. Inside trash right away. It'll push cappuchino rinsing to be done by 5:30. Fountain ice by 6:00. 5 bags of ice by 6:30. Lot or another five bags by 7:00. Rugs done by 7:30. Cigs done by 8:00.
Cooler count from 8:00 until the gang begins to arrive.
Lotto numbers entirely printed out by 9:30 (I would only do three for the gang, but didn't really print the ten for the customers). Papers stripped AND restrooms by 10:00.
Cooler, sweep and mop from 10 to 12. Lotto will be moved from 11 to 12, but still stop selling at 11.
Hopefully this will work out. There are a lot of things in the first half that may have already been done during mid.
Friday, September 11, 2009
WSN - It's been a while
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.11.90
Current Song - Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)
I'm not laying around the house anymore, really.
WORK - Our assistant manager got transfered to Route 30, where she was promoted to manager. I really want the one I mentioned "in-waiting" in the previous entry to be the new second-in-command. I don't want to do it. So now we're down to a staff of five, which means I will be getting more hours at work.
I am available for work Wednesday mid or night, Thursday mid or night, Friday mid, Saturday night and Sunday night.
The Friday mids are going to be a bit painful. I wonder how far I can drive when I walk out the door at 5:30 p.m.?
I work today from 11:00 to 5:00. I'm headed for Amboy afterward. I also work Saturday and Sunday close. Next week I'm working Wednesday close, Friday mid and weekend close.
We are remodeling our countertops in the store. There was a lot of glue throughout the place, and I worked throughout the night like I was high. I think I said a cuss word to a customer. I had a real bad run at work in January. This was due to experiencing a broken jug of nail polish in a building at Highland. My mind was full of crap, and things didn't taste right.
SCHOOL - I totally dropped the ball on a math group project. I'm real shy when it comes to groups. I was the last one to sign up for a presentation. The one I chose was Paradoxes. It was a group created by someone a couple of seats next to me as the signup sheet was being passed toward me on Tuesday. We had another girl get moved to it later.
Anyway, I had set up a meeting time for Thursday morning in the library. I was feeling very ill after work on Wednesday that i had to rest for the day. It wasn't until later in the day, when I finally felt better, that I realized I had missed the meeting.
I only know one person in the group, and I didn't have a means of contact for him. I wound up using the SVCC Student E-mail system. I needed a middle inital for it to work. The address is something like "cody.c.cutter" so I ended up typing the person's first and last name like "cody.a.cutter" "cody.b.cutter" "cody.f.cutter" and so on. Hopefully he gets it.
I got a sneak peek at the Spring schedules for 2010. I need a speech class and I will also be taking an Intro to PE class (a gen ed). The PE class will be from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday morning. I would like the 2:00-3:15 speech class these same days. This makes me unavailable for Tuesday/Thursday mid and available for everything else. This may also give me some likeable days/times off.
NISB - I finally felt good enough to travel to Sycamore to take pics of a soccer match. It was on the way there I realized I had missed the Math group meeting. The Sycamore-Dixon pics are up on the website. I also found time to write the Friday 5 in quick enough time (it was posted at 12:05 a.m.).
I will be covering BV-Amboy (as mentioned) on Friday night. I will also try to test out my camera at the Newman-St. Bede game on Saturday afternoon. Hopefully the glue won't bother me.
The Guest Picker idea for the pick'em seems to be working, but it worrys me a bit.
Current Song - Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)
I'm not laying around the house anymore, really.
WORK - Our assistant manager got transfered to Route 30, where she was promoted to manager. I really want the one I mentioned "in-waiting" in the previous entry to be the new second-in-command. I don't want to do it. So now we're down to a staff of five, which means I will be getting more hours at work.
I am available for work Wednesday mid or night, Thursday mid or night, Friday mid, Saturday night and Sunday night.
The Friday mids are going to be a bit painful. I wonder how far I can drive when I walk out the door at 5:30 p.m.?
I work today from 11:00 to 5:00. I'm headed for Amboy afterward. I also work Saturday and Sunday close. Next week I'm working Wednesday close, Friday mid and weekend close.
We are remodeling our countertops in the store. There was a lot of glue throughout the place, and I worked throughout the night like I was high. I think I said a cuss word to a customer. I had a real bad run at work in January. This was due to experiencing a broken jug of nail polish in a building at Highland. My mind was full of crap, and things didn't taste right.
SCHOOL - I totally dropped the ball on a math group project. I'm real shy when it comes to groups. I was the last one to sign up for a presentation. The one I chose was Paradoxes. It was a group created by someone a couple of seats next to me as the signup sheet was being passed toward me on Tuesday. We had another girl get moved to it later.
Anyway, I had set up a meeting time for Thursday morning in the library. I was feeling very ill after work on Wednesday that i had to rest for the day. It wasn't until later in the day, when I finally felt better, that I realized I had missed the meeting.
I only know one person in the group, and I didn't have a means of contact for him. I wound up using the SVCC Student E-mail system. I needed a middle inital for it to work. The address is something like "cody.c.cutter" so I ended up typing the person's first and last name like "cody.a.cutter" "cody.b.cutter" "cody.f.cutter" and so on. Hopefully he gets it.
I got a sneak peek at the Spring schedules for 2010. I need a speech class and I will also be taking an Intro to PE class (a gen ed). The PE class will be from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday morning. I would like the 2:00-3:15 speech class these same days. This makes me unavailable for Tuesday/Thursday mid and available for everything else. This may also give me some likeable days/times off.
NISB - I finally felt good enough to travel to Sycamore to take pics of a soccer match. It was on the way there I realized I had missed the Math group meeting. The Sycamore-Dixon pics are up on the website. I also found time to write the Friday 5 in quick enough time (it was posted at 12:05 a.m.).
I will be covering BV-Amboy (as mentioned) on Friday night. I will also try to test out my camera at the Newman-St. Bede game on Saturday afternoon. Hopefully the glue won't bother me.
The Guest Picker idea for the pick'em seems to be working, but it worrys me a bit.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hey, Wait a minute!
Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.70.90
Current Song - Too Close (Next)
I get a note as I walk into work.
It starts out by saying "Day before Labor Day Cleaning!"
The girl who worked before my shift started got the same note. She did an aisle. I do an aisle. There are a few aisles, the storefront, the restrooms, the cooler, and behind the counter left to do. Apparently only these two aisles were a part of "Day before Labor Day Cleaning."
Then I get another note.
An important part of the store was not locked (there are several of these, including the store itself). I went and locked it the night before, basically because it is supposed to be locked. This note tells me to leave it as it is, unlocked.
Believe me, this thing is better off locked than unlocked. The extra time it takes to monkey around with it is worth it.
All told, never take orders from an heir-apparent to the management.
Current Song - Too Close (Next)
I get a note as I walk into work.
It starts out by saying "Day before Labor Day Cleaning!"
The girl who worked before my shift started got the same note. She did an aisle. I do an aisle. There are a few aisles, the storefront, the restrooms, the cooler, and behind the counter left to do. Apparently only these two aisles were a part of "Day before Labor Day Cleaning."
Then I get another note.
An important part of the store was not locked (there are several of these, including the store itself). I went and locked it the night before, basically because it is supposed to be locked. This note tells me to leave it as it is, unlocked.
Believe me, this thing is better off locked than unlocked. The extra time it takes to monkey around with it is worth it.
All told, never take orders from an heir-apparent to the management.
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