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....