Chris Matthews Challenges a Guest

I wish that more of the talking heads on cable news would do just what Chris Matthews did today (watch video). Granted, he challenged a Republican talk show host, Kevin James, that I had never heard of, but at least it’s a start.

Maybe next time he’ll challenge sitting senators or spokesmen from both sides of the aisle. I don’t think this is a partisan issue. Both sides go on T.V. and talk a lot of B.S. This was low-hanging fruit for Matthews, we’ll see where he goes from here. Let him be an example to other talking heads, don’t play the game.

Philly.com Doesn’t Get it!

I’m a Philly sports fan so I read Philly.com (the site for the Philly Inquirer and Daily News) often. The site has done a pretty good job trying to integrate multimedia and instant publishing capabilities of the net, but their new video content (especially in sports) is horrible. The site would be better served taking more time to do video stories instead of sending out an inexperienced videographer to document Eagles practices or to stick a microphone in front of a high school runner’s face.

As a graduate student studying multimedia journalism, this makes me, and should make my classmates, feel good, cause I’d kick the crap out of this content. Check out the links to these “awesome” videos.

High school runner thinks its awesome!

This is a video of a priest singing the Star Spangled Banner, but the title of the video is Singing for the Phillies, but there isn’t any reference to him being a Phillies fan or why he’s singing the banner???

This video of a military funeral is beautifully shot, which is great. The bad part, is that there is no story. Who died? How did he die? Where is the funeral? What did people think of him? Of all the funerals of military personal, why this one? There is no narration, no one speaking, no characters, nothing. It’s just two minutes of video. I know newspapers and other outlets are in a rush to put video online, but how about some stories? I mean I don’t even know when this funeral happened from watching the video. The only thing I can take away is that a military person died and it was raining. Pathetic video.

Should I look at one more?

Oh my God, I did look and I’m sorry I did because I hate to shred a news outlet that I’ve enjoyed for so long. I went to the A&E section and clicked a video titled “Atlantic City Nightlife.” Now for anyone who has ever been to AC, you know the nightlife is pretty decent if you like clubs and music venues. Well strap yourself in for this vid as you experience AC at Night! It’s crap, just a minute or so of some crappy cover band singing and some shots of bartenders and white people dancing like white people. I imagine that the AC tourist bureau is trying to destroy this video as I write this.

The point of all this is that very few people in the “media” and especially in the newspaper media have any idea how to do video well. I’ve seen bad, but this is just horrible stuff for an outlet of this size. And on top of the crappy videos the recent redesign of the site has left a crowded site that lacks any sense of direction. The sad thing is that philly.com can probably get away with this because they don’t have many challengers in the market.

My advice for philly.com is to hire a journalist who has made video stories before and ask him/her to produce one or two solid stories a week. This route ain’t going to get you anywhere.

I now feel better about my future - thanks philly.com.

Crazy NFL Fans Camp Out for the NFL Draft

The Ferocity with which NFL fans follow their beloved sport never ceases to amaze.

One of the few NFL events fans can attend for free is the NFL Draft, which Radio City Music Hall in New York hosted on Saturday, April 26. The thousand or so free tickets are handed out on a first-come basis.

The first fan, Billy Walsh from Rockaway Beach, N.Y., got in line at 2:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. He would wait until 10 a.m. the next morning to get a free wristband that would allow him to get into the draft that started at 3 p.m. At it’s peak, the line for tickets stretched three long city blocks and included an estimated 2,500 people — some dressed and some painted in their team colors. All this for an event in which the NFL commissioner simply reads each team’s pick into a microphone and walks off stage?

“To us, it’s like our Super Bowl,” said Walsh, a San Francisco 49ers fan. “To us it’s important.”

Staking Out Spitzer (my first stakeout)

The New York Observer, where I intern a couple of days a week this semester, emailed me late Tuesday night and asked me if I wanted to stake out New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s apartment. If you haven’t been living in a cave, you’d know that the New York Times reported on Monday that Spitzer had been involved with a prostitution ring.

Later Monday, he made a brief statement that he was disappointed in himself. Since then, speculation has whipped through New York about if, and when, he might resign. On Wednesday, he did resign. He left his apartment a little after 11 a.m. and took his motorcade to his midtown offices where he made his resignation announcement.

Click the photo to watch the slide show of the stakeout (running time: 2 minutes, 40 seconds)

Newark Slideshow

I spent Sunday afternoon at an indoor soccer match in Newark, N.J. between the hometown Ironmen and Orlando Sharks of the Major Indoor Soccer League. This is a slideshow of my walk around Newark before the match, game action and my walk back to the train. Click the photo to play the slide show.

Ironmen Win, Continue Push to Gain Fans

Ironmen coach Omid Namazi (pictured above) earned MISL Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006, but the team, The St. Louis Steamers, folded. After that experience he spent two years outside of pro soccer. The Ironmen drew him back to the MISL for their inaugural season and today the franchise reached a high point as it scored the most goals of any team this season in a 27-5 win over the Orlando Sharks (3-21). With eight games to play, the Ironmen (12-10) are in fifth place and poised to make the six-team playoffs. Namazi, who suited up on defense because of injuries and suspensions that claimed eight of his players, knows that a successful team will be key to the Ironmen avoiding the ending of his previous MISL franchise.

Blowout Ends, Thankfully for the Sharks.

The Ironmen added five more points for a 27-5 final. They win improves them to 12-10 and has them in fifth place. The top six teams in the nine-team league make the playoffs.

Of note is the performance by Shaun David who scored goals in the match to double his season total to six.

Now I’m off to interview some players. Look for post game pictures and interviews.

Coach Suits Up

Ironmen coach Omid Namazi played several shifts today on defense because of injuries to other players. Namazi played in Major League Soccer and is considered one of the best coaches in the league. The Ironmen PR guy, John Archibald, called him the “most competitive person I’ve ever been around.”

With two minutes left in the game, the Ironmen keep piling on with a 3-pointer to make the score 22-5.

Ouch.

Ironmen Continue to pound the Sharks

Now we’re into the fourth quarter and it’s 22-5.

Much of the crowd is still here. The crowd is made up of families, some 20-somethings mingling around the bars in the arena and hard core soccer fans.

Taylor Simms, a 20-year-old flight attendant who just moved to Newark this weekend from Texas, said she was shocked at the scoring while she sucked down a coke and ate chicken tenders.

“We walked in and the score was 10-0 and I thought I’d never seen a soccer game like this before,” She said.

Goals Galore in the First Half

The Ironmen continue to pound the Sharks. The score at halftime is 15-0. Forward Shaun David scored the only 3-point goal of the half on a blistering shot from 20 yards. In the second half it will be interesting to see how the Sharks play - will they lose 30-0 or show some pride?