Daily Dosage's Week Off

So it's been a while since I've done a Daily Dosage and I know some of you out there are sad.

Sorry.

In turn, I am jumping on a different bandwagon. Please allow me to explain.

Ever since this big debate in the DE newsroom about everyone's top-10 celebs began, I've been biding my time as I watched my co-workers and friends list their best lookers on Facebook notes.

Well, let's face it, Facebook notes don't bring hits to The Big Dead Sidebar.

So starting today and ending Friday, I will present my personal Top 10 most attractive celebrities.

Twice a day, I will bring to you a very pretty girl to look at.

Today we'll start with No. 10 and Friday we'll end with No. 1.

Oh yeah, and there will be some sports stories in between.

It's A White Out!

If you live in the southern Illinois region, take a look out your window.

It might look a little something like the picture above.

Good ole white out conditions out there aren't really that good on the wheels. My car is more iced out than an NBA superstar's entourage.

But the Snow Day (and the ensuing day off that comes with said Snow Day) has allowed me to put forth a full day of blogging. And everyone knows how much I love to blog.

So I hope you're ready to get (snow) blown away.

This handsome, well-dressed gentleman is going on vacation

Just don't do me like Christmas Ape!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere, like here, in Carbondale where yours truly is one semester away from graduating. And man, has it been some kind of run.

Here is an abridged version of how this past year went down.

December 2007: At this time lasst year I was being recruited by Sean McGahan to join the Daily Egyptian, the student newspaper of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Even though I wasn't guaranteed a job on the sports desk, I applied.

Later that month I got a call from the Editor In Chief, Sarah Lohman, and I was officially on staff.

January 2008: While shopping, I got a call from Jeff Engelhardt (incoming Sports Editor) asking if I wanted to join the sports desk because there was an open spot. I accepted and was overcome with joy.

And the first story I ever wrote: a preview for the Saluki Booster, the SIU track and field team's first event of the new year.

February 2008: One month in and I was loving my job. One of my favorite interview subjects has been SIU swimming and diving head coach Rick Walker. Coach Walker is always good for a soundbite, and while previewing the women's team's quest for another championship he dropped some golden words.

"We are what we are and that's all we can be, except we want to strive to be better."

I also notched my first two women's basketball stories in February as well.

March 2008: Just another month in the life of the gosh-darned boss. I'm finally easing into my role as I continue to balance school stuff.

April 2008: I have always wanted to be a baseball writer. I was able to write my first baseball story as SIU's bats went cold in a 5-2 loss to Illinois.

The first piece I could say I was 100% proud of was a feature piece on SIU swimmer Pat Sullivan, who survived cancer. A little inside story: my recorder died on my half way through the interview so I had to do it all over again two hours before our early deadline. I think I learned more in the second interview, which provided the in-depth insight the story needed.

May 2008: I closed the semester with arguably my best story, a feature piece about the global outreach of SIU recruiting when I realized that the Salukis have a lot of international athletes. It was one of my favorite pieces to research and eventually write.

However, the biggest highlight of '08 was when Matt Hartwig and I decided to launch our very own sports blog. We called it The Big Dead Sidebar. Why? It's a long story. TBDS would go on to be the home to quality writers such as Jeff Engelhardt, Brian Feldt and Stile Smith. And who knows who else is in the pipeline.

Fast forward to August 2008

August 2008: The aformentioned Brian Feldt taps me to be his Assistant Sports Editor. To be honest, I was surprised. I didn't expect that kind of jump, but I was the only returning member of last semester's sports desk.

Oh and this kid named Stile (really?) joined us.

September 2008: My first football story. My first attempt at breaking a story. And first column.

October 2008: First out-of-state DE road trip took us to Youngstown, Ohio. SIU beat Youngstown State University 33-0, on a trip highlighted by hangman games, things that are bigger than my head, eating at Cracker Barrel twice in less than 24 hours and songs about whiffle ball bats.

My first (and only) taste of Missouri Valley Conference basketball media day. I wrote this piece about the women's team and was also able to interview Illinois State star Osiris Eldridge. An interview that just might make TBDS if I can ever figure out how to transfer audio on to the site.

November 2008: The highlight of my journalistic career to this point was the road trip to New York City with Sean McGahan and Stephen Rickerl. Sure, SIU lost to Duke and UCLA but whatever.

December 2008: Being named DE Man of the Year at the first ever Sports Desk Banquet.

Then Finals Week ends. Life is good.

Well folks, that's it for this semester, but allow me to talk a little about next semester.

I have quite the challenge ahead of me next semester. Not only will I be attempting to graduate in May, but I will have to balance my educational priorities with those that come with being the DE Sports Editor. Unfortunately, I will no longer have Brian and Stile to lean on as they will make the move to the campus desk. I don't think we could have survived without each other this past semester, but I know we will do just fine wherever we end up come January.

I know it's not Thanksgiving anymore, but thanks go out to:

• Stile, Brian and Jeff for their contributions as the newest additions to the blog I've appreciated their help not only on the sports desk, but also on this very blog.
• Every DE photographer I've worked with. Special thanks to Stephen Rickerl for all of his work: from the days at Sports Blast to his work in New York City. Anthony Souffle for allowing me to sleep on his couches on the weekend. And Edyta Blaczczyk for her work as the best road tripper.
• Sean for recruiting me and finding a place for me on staff (Sarah Lohman deserves credit here too). Thanks to Jeff for giving me a shot on the sports desk.
• Hartwig for starting this blog with me. It's been a great success and it's only the beginning.
  

And a really BIG thanks to Brian Feldt as my closing note. If it wasn't for Brian, I would not be where I am today. His departure last January for an internship allowed me to step in at the sports desk. Then he tabbed me to be his Asst. Editor. And now his departure to become Campus Editor has allowed me to fulfill a dream and that's to be the DE Sports Editor.

Three cheers for Brian Feldt!

Finals Week (for me) is OVA!

Ken "Hawk" Harrelson would appreciate the joy I am overcome with after the yelp that followed the conclusion of my finals.

So guess what, it's back to blogging from now and for the rest of the winter break.

But for now, a night of rest and relaxation. I think I've earned it.

So sit back, relax and strap it down ... there are going to be blogs coming your way.

A blogger's vacation

Finals week has brought a unique conflict into my life.

As I try to pass classes that seem impossible to pass, I also have a commitment to inform and entertain my loyal readers. That's where the conflict lies.

So I regret to inform you this might be a slow week in TBDS history. And I have yet to put together posts that would come to you later in the day.

But let's make a deal.

If something breaks, I'll break in and throw in my two cents.

Sounds good to me if it sounds good to you.

E-Mail Us!!!!!

My dearest readers,

Thanks for keeping with us over the last few months. Things have been rolling along quite well here, and even though I let you down last week because of Thanksgiving, I'm hoping you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

As for this week and next, things might be slow as us college students will be working through finals week. But it won't necessarily stop us from posting. Which means when we get a lot of free time during our month long winter break you can expect even more blogs out of us.

Also, you can expect an expanded format that might dip into the entertainment world with music and movie reviews. Am I being ambitious. A little bit. But really, why not touch everything if you have the opportunity. Right?

Well, that didn't work for Michael Jackson or R. Kelly, but I think it will work well for us.

On a serious note, thanks again for your support. We encourage your comments on the blogs themselves. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

If there's something you want to see us do or something you would like to read about - e-mail us! Seriously, we'll take it into consideration and who knows, maybe your topic will spark an original thought out of one of us.

Maybe.

Take care, world. Lord willing, I'll be back with more tomorrow. If not, the blog is in good hands.

Kind of.

Yours truly,

Luis M
Co-founder, writer, editor and all-around good guy

Announcements!

Alright, it's a busy week here at The Big Dead Sidebar.

I'm trying to get schoolwork done as this semester comes to a close to a hurry. I'm trying to get my name out there with my resume and such so I can hopefully land an internship or a job somewhere once I graduate

Then there's actual work, as I must balance responsiblities between school and work, not to mention balancing basketball coverage and football coverage. Yeah, I'm busy.

Did I mention we're going to New York City to see SIU play Duke at Madison Square Garden? Oh, I didn't? Well it's kind of a big deal.

So why am I giving you an announcement?

Well, so you can look at this pretty girl, of course. And so I can tell you a lot of the posts this week will be pre-written and autoposted.

Don't be sad. If news breaks, we'll be here.

Keep it classy, folks.

Announcements

Hi everyone.

This was going to be just an editor's note, but I felt that it deserved a blog post of its own.

It's come to my attention that I have not been crediting where I've gotten my photos that I have posted on this ever growing blog.

My response: my bad.

I realize it's unethical, heck, I read that it was unethical in a book I have. And rather than point the finger and say "everyone else is doing it" I will credit my photos accordingly from now on. I will tell my team of writers to do so as well.

I guess I'll begin with the post that started it all.

This picture of Dana Eikenberg which was uncredited on Google when I picked it up for yesterday's blog before the SIU women's basketball game was actually taken by Emily Sunblade, photographer for the Daily Egyptian.

Yes, it's a coincidence that she is my co-worker. Kind of.

Maybe I should have known it was one of my own that would take such a good photo. I've talked this over with Emily, who brought it to my attention that I had grabbed her work without credit.

So in exchange I offer you the following. Emily's Web site.

That's [http://emilysunblade.blogspot.com/]

She's great isn't she?

It's only fair that I do this. Wish us luck in the future. We'll need it.

-Luis

Gone

I'll be in St. Louis covering the Missouri Valley Conference's basketball media day so I won't be around (much) today.

I might do something via Twitter and if I do you should check the sidebar for details.

I hope you can survive a day without this. Well, at least a morning/afternoon.

I'll be back in the evening.

Maybe.

Now open for comments

Technically, we've always been open for comments but now comments are now open to everyone and anyone without going through that squiggly line stuff.

Judging by the number of hits we've received since adding the hits counter, I've given in to staff requests to open up the comments section.

So please, comment! They're welcome (as long as they're not spam, of course).

Don't make this post go in vain.

It's Friday. Get drunk and take someone home tonight!

Announcements: Welcome To Black Friday

Yesterday, I hinted to a "Black Friday" and it's here.

For those of you who haven't read my previous (no defunct) blogs, the first Friday after the Cubs have been eliminated from championship contention has been celebrated as a "Black Friday" in which I take a look back at what went wrong with the team that was supposed to do the unthinkable.

So here is your official warning.

Or if you like pain, come on in and join in on the fun.

Announcement

I realize I've been slacking on the blog front.

I'm sorry.

The combination of mid-terms and Cubs post-mortem has kept me from blogging as extensively as I wanted to, even though I did that piece on Nick Swisher and Kenny Williams yesterday.

But don't feel bad, there will be plenty of quality blog posts coming soon.

Thank you for supporting The Big Dead Sidebar.