Where ARE we going??

My mom has joined Facebook. The day has officially come, and to think, 5 years ago, that sentence would seem like a foreign language. But just last week, I was on the phone with her as she sat back at home in California, talking her through how to navigate her own home page. It took a couple tries on her own to finally view my profile and all my pictures from my spring break trip to Jamaica.

And so I sat there that day and thought, 'what is our world coming to?!' I mean, it's kind of cool that my mom can see my pics of a trip she paid for (and definitely didn't get to enjoy) instantly, instead of waiting for me to ship a DVD home, or attempt to retrieve them from a very long email. Facebook comes with captions and name tags and all. And thank you for that, because it's so much easier that my mother can now read every single person's name in each picture of mine and find out their basic info by clicking on them. God knows how long it takes to get through showing her pictures in person. Once she is well informed on each individual's name, then we can THEN go onto seeing the next picture. Okay, no more ranting mom...

So now that my baby boomer mother is on Facebook, and so are all her friends and my parents' friends, I think it's pretty crazy how sophisticated the world of online technology has come. Facebook. MySpace (boooo). YouTube. (check out my channel of work from WOLV-TV--our student run TV station at the University of Michigan: http://www.youtube.com/user/RissRiss8). Online newspapers (that's kindof an oxymoron). Google. Mapquest. Twitter (I'm still getting used to the idea that the 60-words-or-less updating-frenzy is the future of my media career...). Ebay! We sell things and buy things onlineee....wow.

To be honest, whether it's because I am forced to be online so much for classes (and we all know how much I dislike being forced to do things...), or it's because starting up my computer's as slow as watching a plant grow,I kind of really really dislike the internet right now.

I think it's the weather.

Stupid COLD Michigan weather makes Larissa stay inside and that really sucks because the sun and being OUTSIDE is WAY WAY WAY better.

Seasonal depression anyone???

Anywho, I'm not liking how much I will need to be online in the future of my life. Yea, it's wayy easier, as I began with. Yea, it's so interactive, it blows my mind. Yea, I couldn't survive without email or my cell phone and being able to call mom and dad everyday from way the heck out here in frigid Michigan as I trek the 20 minutes to class each day. Yea, it's all actually pretty darn sweet. But. Where's the people-to-people interaction? And seriously.(...short sentence for emphasis) I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AT THIS MOMENT. OR THINKING. And I don't really care in the next moment. Or the one after that. But Twitter and Facebook's "What are you doing now???????????" status updating frenzy is driving me nuts. I'd much rather keep it all to pictures, random messages to each other (not to the whole world about the up-to-the-minute feeling you have deep down inside), and videos.

But, that's just me. And, I understand that as soon as probably five years from now, my opinions will have to adjust because according to Sunday Morning on CBS (wow, I did not know this show was still on...I remember this from my little tike days!), the communications world is getting pretty scary, and everythingwill be oneline:

Watch CBS Videos Online


So watch it. Yea, seriously, watch it above and think about how it's kind of nice to wake up at mom and dad's house and see the newspaper on the table and have that friendly piece of Wake Up! literature where you can physically skip through whatever you don't wanna read. Yea, you can do it online the same way, but think about it---whenever you ask someone "ooh, can I see that?", don't you really mean, "will you hand that to me so I can physically touch it and look at it using my own finger strength?"??. Now, won't you miss the newspaper? I'm old fashioned. I know I will. And the baby boomers are who were the first to grow up with modern technology will probably say the same thing, and trust me, they are still pretty much pretty darn alive. But in all honesty, living on my own with my own kind (students, I mean), I don't have a newspaper subscription and my lifestyle just doesn't call for sitting down and reading the newspaper each morning. It's much easier to check the headlines of the day on my homepage at iGoogle ( I love the thing! I can have my email, the Weatttther :)--Okay, I'm really obsessed with knowing the weather---, ESPN headlines, CNN headlines, SI headlines too, NYTimes headlines and hangman all on the same page!), than to separately check my email and read through the newspaper before my day starts.

I think that's how others of my kind think too. Although I can be old fashioned in so many ways, I'm pretty sure that I was right when I argued with my 50-something newspaper editor family friend over the demise of the newspaper. He didn't believe me that this whole phenomenon was happening. But sadly, I actually am right. Sorry Mike, your job status is starting to look a little shaky :(

In summary, I'm predicting now that within 5 years, something major is going to happen with newspapers, and I think it has more to do with conducting a disappearing act than showing up online free for all to read. I just don't know how the money will transfer to the right people and how many will be willing to spend it. I think someone needs to figure this out though, or else we will all just be dwelling in status updates with no real journalism to give us up front facts.

On that note, on the one hand, it's pretty cool to get the real up-front answer/opinons of bloggers and iReporters of what the story is. But, without hard news, how are we really going to write out history? Once it is all gone---the newspapers, the objective story, the parameters of the unbiased who, what, when, where, and how--how will we know what's really the truth? Yea, we can look it up online maybe at news sites and sports sites, but I'm feeling now that the line between objective and subjective storytelling is getting very blurred. I can't trust it. And to me, that's the scariest thing because in the end, we will all just be a bunch of walking talking heads. Status updates included.

The Final Four and Detroit's Latest Savior

Once again, I spent much of my weekend at the wonderful world of Buffalo Wild Wings. It seems that for every major athletic event calling attention from television audiences, I happen to be stuck serving wing-hungry guests in a blinding venue of 43 television screens. I missed the Big Dribble event that the Local Organizing Committee put on Friday afternoon in lieu of the Final Four in Detroit, but I'm pretty sure that in the background of handing my guests at table 243 their 24 Honey BBQ wings, the local news was flashing b-roll from the event. Yet, if someone like me who was actually aware of the event didn't pay attention to it, then how would any other student on this campus know about it?

For the most part, I don't think the LOC or the city of Detroit had students like me in mind for these events. Students are not the target demographic for local news media. Neither are Buffalo Wild Wings servers who pay attention to their guests far more than the 43 TV's in their environment. Whew, I can scratch that off my "To Be Guilty For" list.

For being a sports bar server, you'd think I'd also take note of the Final Four Hershey's College All-Star game, featuring the country's best collegiate seniors of the trade. It's got a little more pizzazz than the Big Dribble, and I'm thinking these college seniors can bounce the ball a little better than 12-year-old Jeremiah from Detroit.

But, I didn't notice. I actually had no recollection that the event was even taking place this weekend, nor did I really care. My roommate noticed, but that's probably because these last weekends of her senior year have seemed quite happily empty.

Overall, I missed out on noticing the Big Dribble, the Hershey's All-Star Game, Hoop City, the Final Four Team practices, and Road to the Final Four 5k Run/Walk. Granted, I live all the way in Ann Arbor, known to be its own bubble, but in all honesty, I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not even taking it upon myself to look at local media for this weekend. The Final Four is a major national event, right here in Michigan. However, I find that people my age tend to ignore the little things that perhaps different demographics might care about far more.

Or, maybe it's just me. Maybe I just plain stink at using the media around me. At this point, I'm so Facebooked out, I don't even want to glance at whether Twitter has cancelled my account for not touching it in a month. How will I ever survive in this business?

Let's take a breather here from PR and community cares, and focus now on what we all are focusing in on Detroit for: the games. It's the competition of the year, at least, for this particular season. Now, in sports, everyone seems to have their opinion on who's going how far, who's the best, who will win, who will lose, who's overrated, blah blah blah. For me, I couldn't care less about what everyone thinks. It's allll speculation and to be blunt, nobody can tell the future! I'm a female, but I sure as heck hate gossip, especially about sports, and for that reason exactly, I tend to ignore speculation. I'm a "Give me the score" girl and with that, "throw in some heartfelt stories while you're at it". The end.

So, for purposes of this entry, I mustered up some predictions for this tonight's game I found online because again, I really stink at paying attention to media around me, and working to find out what they are saying only seems natural these days.

-Seth Davis from SI.com says that Michigan will pull an upset. Yes, they may have gotten beat by North Carolina back in December by 35 points, but that was then, and this is now. His argument? Michigan State has a much deeper team. Also, it's "their destiny." Ok. I think he means this in that because the Michigan economy is such a wreck, it only seems natural in the world of sports to have this blue-collared team muster up all they have and win it for their homebase. But still, Seth, you are just another speculater that I love to ignore.

-Dick Hubert and Jay Digger battled it out to give their take of who's going to take the National Championship on ESPN's SportsCenter last night. Hubert took UNC, saying that even though Michigan State will give a great effort, "they're gonna celebrate in Chapel Hill." His argument didn't go much deeper than that. Digger took the opposite road, giving a more respectable argument. He mentioned UNC's offense and Michigan State's potential foul trouble as an issue. He concluded thatUNC just has that better team. Oh, then Hubert gave a little more insight.

Overall, specualtion is key in major events such as these. Many would agree that much of ESPN's content consists of talking heads competing against other talking heads in an argument that will seem pretty useless once the actual event finishes. When I get the on-air opportunity to analyze big games on my own televison shows at WOLV-TV, I often find myself feeling like the hypocrite I am because seriously, do I really think I can tell the future? I usually end up tripping over my own words in the end. My anti-speculation attitude flares up, and my mind starts thinking "huh?" and my mouth starts speaking circles and my arguments start
going
down
hill.
Which is exactly why I stick to the news and feature stories.

Who knows, maybe they will one day invent an award for whoever speculates most accurately. But wait, isn't that what brackets are? Isn't that why March Madness is so popular? Because everyone and anyone can speculate the outcome?

I'm pretty sure that many of your bracket choices have already been upset, I know mine did (and I thought girls who knew nothing of college basketball were supposed to win these brackets...).

We'll just have to see if the Davis and the talking heads called it right. Be sure to catch it at 9:21pm. The Michigan economy will thank you.

The John Beilein Radio Show

On Monday evening, I sat through an hour of the best class excursion of college. All it took was free pizza and sitting through a live radio broadcast. Seems a little tough to pull off for a class of about 30 college students, but for Michigan students, the opportunity is available each Monday night at Pizza House.

And that is why I love my school. And why I love being a Sport Management Student.

The John Beilein Radio Show, hosted by Dough Karsch (who, besides yours truly, worked in the Sports Department as an intern at ABC12-WJRT in Flint), is an opportunity to fill all you Michigan Basketball fans in on everything you need to know beyond...er...great program records.

For a guy who is used to the Michigan Athletics atmosphere, Karsch did a great job of bringing out the best of Beilein. From my experience in interviewing him, Beilein will give you the facts if you ask for them topped with a humorous touch at best. Karsch had his questions prepared and the rundown memorized. He asked complex questions that should satisfy the people who want complex answers and simple ones for those who don't.
Sometimes, in our celebrity obsessed and gossip ridden society, all we want to know is what our favorite people like to do in their spare time. Well, we found out that John Beilein doesn't watch many movies in his, but that was good enough because we saw (or heard in some cases) that he's actually human. Seeing coaches on TV and on the sidelines from a fan's perspective is hard because it isn't easy to relate with somebody who only talks business all the time. This radio show gives the fan a whole hour of getting to know him and his thoughts on the team without a practice to run to or the temptation to escape the wrath of the media hounds.

As a sports reporter myself for WOLV-TV, I find that interviewing people is far more enjoyable when you are able to have a discussion with them instead of a race against others to dig for the best story. On Monday, Doug Karsch had an hour long discussion with Beilein. It was comfortable, it was fluid, it was informative and from an audience perspective, it was refreshing. It seemed as if the two had been doing this for longer than two seasons. Beilein seemed reserved enough to fit the bill of a high-profile basketball coach, but gave enough for the fan to want.

Except--one thing. How come I did not know about this? Perhaps it is because whenever I am scouting MGoBlue.com, I am looking for something specific and ignore the chatter on the side bars (that's my own fault for having a too narrow focus sometimes), but in any case, as a student and fan of Michigan Athletics, shouldn't I be aware that I can go see our high-profile coach broadcast live to the public about a team I love? Maybe it's because--get this--this show is a radio broadcast. Maybe it's also just me, but my generation fails to factor in the radio as a daily consumption. I don't own a radio so maybe it is just me. But us 18-22 year-olds just happen to love our iPods and internet and TV so much that the radio is almost dead in our minds. Sure, when we are in our cars we listen to it, but who drives cars on this parking-nightmare of a campus?

I made the mistake of trying to point this out to the man who was funding my favorite class excursion of college. He was the one who was laying his job on the line and spending his Monday night with a bunch of college students to get this coach on the radio waves for fans to enjoy. However, it somehow didn't seem to come across very constructively to him...and he seemed a little annoyed with my comments....In any case, my point was that this radio show needed to be brought to my attention so that if I ever am near a radio on a Monday night at 7pm (which I never am but that's not the point), I will think back to whatever markteing scheme I saw one day walking down the street, and remember to tune into the show. Or, simply decide to go to Pizza House on a Monday night because it might be a fun study break excursion. (Reminder: I am a second semester Senior who only takes two classes. I am never really in need of a study break because yea, I really don't study a whole lot. Just being a little honest here for the general point to be made.)

So, *drumline*... Here are the recomendations for the Michigan Athletic Department to follow in order to get more butts in the Pizza House seats:

1. Advertise this better. If even I didn't know about it before this class excursion (I tend to pay way too much attention to Michigan Athletics), then why didn't I know about it? Okay, wait...a thought here. I was abroad last winter. Maybe because I skipped out on the first season of this show, I was blind to all the original advertising of the show and by the time the athletic department decided it didn't need as much advertising, I finally was aware of what was going on in this country. So, maybe for all the others who were gone like me, this could be an issue, so the solution is to....KEEP advertising?

2. Give out free give-a-ways. Bribe students to come to the show. Free stuff or any advertisement with the word "FREE" on it hanging around campus will automatically catch the eye of those who are too broke to even worry about paying off student loans while living in the dangerous job market looming ahead.

3. Make Doug Karsch more of a celebrity. Everyone loves celebrities. Once they become famous for something, even something dumb enough to earn a Darwin award, they bring on attention and if Doug can get more popular, then anything he does or he talks about or features on his show will automatically become more popular too. I know I know...he's working on it that status.

...and finally, number 4. (because I hate odd numbers, I would like to end on this one) Win these last few games, Michigan.

Sure, this last one was a cheap shot. But in reality, a winning team is a popular team and because Michigan fans can be sooooo bandwagonish sometimes (and this REALLY kills me coming from a Notre Dame family who just LOOOVES their school so much because God forgives and they should forgive Charlie Weiss and Ty Willingham and Bob Davie for all their mistakes with the football team because that's what God does), anything that will bring back the basketball pride at Michigan will help any cause the team is trying for.

Overall, Pizza House is a great venue for the show. Everyone who is sane loves pizza and gathering for anything sports-related along with the Itallian delicacy shouldn't have a problem garnering attention as long as the fans can count on a consistant broadcast to follow.

Just remember what I said about "FREE" and about giving-a-ways and the fact that college students really like pizza....really.

Got the hint?

The Daytona 500 of 2009

I will begin this entry with an honest confession: up until I saw the ticker on FOX, I had no idea which race was going on Sunday afternoon--the Indy 500, or was it the Daytona 500? Ok ok...don't hurt me. That was a dumb thought, but it shows just how much non-NASCAR fans know about the "sport".

And so, as pattern shows, I was filling up waters and sodas for the non-smoking section of Buffalo Wild Wings Ann Arbor when I began looking out for the broadcast of "the Great American Race." The race was scheduled at 1pm, but as I looked up at one of our 43 TV's within the restaurant, all I saw was pre-race, pre-race, pre-race. What seemed like hours later, I glanced at the 44th TV in the kitchen and saw country-singer Keith Urban rocking the stage for the pre-race entertainment.

Now this is something to mention. Keith Urban. Why pick him?
Because:

1) (obvious) He puts on a GREAT concert.
2) He's a country singer and because a majority (but not everyone) who attends NASCAR events can appreciate a country song, he is very appropriate...besides the fact his long-highlighted locks and adorable Australian face is attractive to all those wanted female fans...
and 3) Looking at country music culture today, you will notice that it has gotten more mainstream and more popular amongst former country music haters (ok, you can include me in this latter category). So, this is a good idea NASCAR marketers *clap clap clap* because you've found a way to grab those pop-country music lovers, otherwise known as "the-bandwagon-fans-fallen-prey-to-country-music's-ploy-to-take-over-America-via-music-that-sounds-like-pop-but-will-later-be-remembered-as-country", and fans of musicans such as Keith Urban to be your cross-over crowd. Those who never noticed NASCAR's coolness before will noticed Keith Urban on your pre-race stage and say, "Wow. If NASCAR is cool enough to get someone at their event that I actually enjoy listening to, then maybe they are cool enough for me to catch on to this NASCAR craze!"

This all went through my mind as I was shoveling ice into a plastic cup we call a "dining glass" at BDubs and filling it up with coca-cola . Simultaneously, I watched my blond co-worker jump around carelessly, while turning up the volume to the 44th television, and say aloud, "I LOVE this song!" She is NASCAR's target. She has no idea what event is going on or even cares, but I applaud NASCAR's marketers of the Daytona 500 because they potentially have a new fan in Ann Arbor's BDubs.

And so ladies and gents, this is one thing I really liked about the coverage: their pre-race entertainment. It was their last chance to grab virgin viewers before the event even started and they did it! They made blondie and me actually want to see what happened next.

However, NASCAR could have began the actual race a little earlier. It would've helped my life to not have had to pay attention for so long, waiting with longing to see the darn thing start already. I like Keith Urban and all, but really, was this about the race, or was this turning into a Superbowl-wannabee broadcast??

Next up, let's talk about Matt Kenseth, the lucky man of the day. He was a winner that just plain needed to win for his own sanity. If he's happy with his job, then he will smile more and darnit, I believe in the power of a smile. It can make someone's day! Also, he made an emotional decision to stay in the race despite the rain warnings and cautions and he even had the worst starting position of any racer in Daytona 500 history, yet he came back and won! I really like emotional decision-makers in sport. Otherwise, athletes wouldn't be so fun to watch.

On the other end of the spectrum, I found myself annoyed with Dale Earnhardt Jr.. When somebody messes up the chances of 10 other cars (not that he probably meant to do it) and then proceeds to continue driving, well, he just deserves to get 20th place. Earnhardt Jr. made enough mistakes Sunday and his chances were blown early on, so Dale, just take one for the team and all those guys who didn't even place because of you and sit humble with place # 2-0.

Finally, let's talk about this race in general. I find it so intriguing that so many people show up to an event where they merely sit and watch inanimate objects drive in circles all day. Everyone tells me that track is such a boring sport to watch because, "who lkes watching people run in circles all day??" Well Mr. Know-all-sports-and-track-is-not-one-of-them, at least these people show facial expressions while they are running...cars just..crash...and stuff.

On the other hand, I don't understand the intrigue or desire of sitting there inhaling the smells of the environment. I can't stand sucking in cigarette smoke during an entire shift at the restaurant, let alone imagine the tar, gasoline and exhaust I would be inhaling into my lungs while at such a long race. They must have to pass out Advil in the goody bags for the fans in attendance to make up for the headaches of the smells.

I really hope I am never assigned a NASCAR beat in my future sport media career....

The First Football Game I Let the Buffalo Take My Freedom Away From

It's my first post here in Bloggerland, at least the first one I'm doing that is not related to my other life, WOLV-TV. Thank gosh.

Anywho, that annual holiday, yes, it's basically a holiday here in the States, occurred this past Sunday, February 1st, which is also my:

mom's
sister's
uncle's (mama's a twin)
cousin's

birthday. I got the opportunity to spend the grand ol' day working at Buffalo Wild Wings and thus, found myself catching all the commercials between picking up knawed-off chicken bones and handing my guests (as my boss insists on calling them) their measly checks of just water and one serving of wings.

Let me emphasize again my word usage of having the opportunity to serve my guests on Superbowl Sunday the drink-of-the-day-in-the-non-smoking-section-of-BDubs of "just water please" and that massive amount of food they all decided to eat that day, yes, one serving of 6 traditional Honey BBQ wings each.

Okay, now that we established where I spent my Superbowl Sunday, let's count down which three commercials brought out the most buzz by my guests (and I mean buzz I can remember from that oh-so-glorious night of work due to my slavery to wings and long food order waits).

First, I couldn't believe how many times I looked up at one of our 43 television screens and saw the Doritos logo. However, this commercial surely deserved my attention. It got that of my guests plenty, and afterward, I realized why they were laughing so much.



Let's recap:

irrational humor + shocking snowglobe throwing + groin injury = so much laughter from 80% of the BDub's crowd that day (ie. males).


Second up--(yes, I'll admit it)--was one I was waiting for thanks to Professor Sasser's preview of all the Superbowl ads to look forward to in Marketing class last Thursday. I'm not much of a kid person and am the last one anyone would ask to babysit, but these talking babies, especially that singing one, man--he's cute--made me think I heard my dad laughing all the way out in California:



I think it's because these babies are intelligent and typically, I am not up for all the explaining about why things are the way they are with kids. Thanks E-Trade for making me think I may actually enjoy having kids :)

Finally, this was the commercial I felt buzz for before the game, but didn't actually notice when they had played it (remember, I was too busy filling up waters). It's the Miller High Life one second ad:



Ahhh....it just really lets my short attention span revel in satisfaction every time I watch it. Heck, let's watch all of them!!



Okay, now that we've rediscovered the high points of the 43rd Superbowl, let's go over the 3 commercials that created no buzz whatsoever on Sunday...meaning...I was able to actually have a discussion with my guests.

First up, this one was too much of a Pixar movie for the attention spans in attendance that day. Creative, very much so. Necessary, not too much.



Next up, I commend Kellog's for trying to be heroic on such a big day. In all honesty, bravo for not recognizing that this ad alone would send everyone to the buffet table because duh, it's the SUPERBOWL and no one feels the need to be nice on this day. It's called the "testosterone-driven-I-am-here-to-not-think-too-much-at-all" Bowl.



Finally, I just don't get it. But I guess it's funny. I had to watch this a few times to truly understand it and although I consider myself smart (most times), I don't think it should take 3 times to truly understand the gist of it all. Or, maybe it's just me.



Alright, end of this de-virginizing process. Until next time....