Crimson White, Daily Texan blitz coverage

The Crimson White produced a terrific publication previewing today's SEC title game.

So what are college newspapers saying about three big games set for kickoff today?

Florida vs. Alabama

The Independent Alligator offers a story that is filled mostly with overview and background. The ‘Gator also includes several columns along with a podcast where football writers preview the SEC Championship game. Decent content. But nothing spectacular for a game promoted as ‘the game of the millennium’ on the podcast. Columnist Mike McCall says he’s pulling for several teams (Texas Christian, Boise State and Cincinnati) to win so there will be added pressure on college football officials to create a playoff system. Good luck convincing those greedy, self-serving league officials to change the system, Mike, but keep trying.

Layer print stories with photos, audio

Check out the multimedia package 'The Girl' at latimes.com.

I’ve written about this terrific story by the Los Angeles Times’ Kurt Streeter before. But I’ve never really talked about the multimedia package that accompanied the piece. Streeter tells the story behind this story of a young female boxer, narrating as a slide show reveals the girl and her father in East Los Angeles. In addition, you can watch interviews with Seniesa and Joe Estrada. As a result, readers can literally see and hear more about a story already told so well in print. This is a great model to use for your own reporting.

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Jenkins nails Tiger in parody

Sally Jenkins, Washington Post columnist

Tiger Woods’ statement about last weekend’s auto accident yields more questions than answers.  The ever-reclusive Woods, though, refuses to speak with state police investigators.

Fortunately, Sally Jenkins, the Washington Post’s talented sports columnist, offers Tiger’s ’side’ of a story that is growing more bizarre by the minute. (Somebody who knows public relations, please, please speak to Tiger before he completely destroys his public image.)

Check out blog for sports media course

Class blog created for Sports & Media course here at Eastern Illinois University.

I just completed a class blog that will be used for Sports and the Media, an upper-level class here at Eastern Illinois University. On the blog, I have included about eight to 10 Power Point presentations that students can review before, or after, these respective lectures.

In addition, I included links to assigned articles, although our library has a great eReserve system that allows students to click and read selected articles from reserved journals. I have yet to find the definitive sports media textbook – at least, one that covers subject areas I assign – so I have also placed several texts on regular reserve. Students can read an assigned chapter from these books for up to three hours.

MLB.com seeks interns for summer ‘10

MLB.com is once again seeking interns to work this summer, a terrific opportunity for either undergrad or grad students. Deadline is Dec. 11, 2009.

According to MLB: “Applicants should submit a resume, 5 to 10 published articles, a list of references and a 750-word essay on why MLB.com should select you? Your clips ideally will show a variety of work, including game stories, previews and features.”

Good luck.

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Great resource for coaches’ salaries

Pete Carroll earns more than $4 million per year coaching football at the University of Southern California. Robb Akey earns $258,187 for doing the same at Idaho while David Elson gets $259,808 for coaching Western Kentucky. This disparity is not a shocker – the largest schools with the wealthiest fan base (re: boosters) usually get the most money, the same way that larger schools also get most of the BCS dough.

Even assistant coaches get paid more than head coaches at the biggest football schools. At Alabama, assistants are paid up to $390,00 per season. Assistants at Arkansas ($378,238), Clemson ($350,000), Florida State ($629,000). Louisiana State ($429,000), Maryland ($468,000), Oklahoma ($406,000), and Washington ($600,000) are also paid exceptionally well. But nobody beats Tennessee, where an assistant coach reportedly earns $1.2 million.

Check out this terrific data base created by USA Today. You might also want to develop one for your own school, outlining how much each head and assistant coach makes. (Compare these figures to the salaries paid to teachers and administrators and see where the story takes you.)

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E-mail sports news daily

The Washington Post does a terrific job offering sports updates through the day. And they also understand when most fans check for sports news – morning and during lunch. So the Post offers an additional helping of sports news around noon each day. SceneDaily also offers daily updates that are emailed to readers (usually in the late afternoon.)

What are you doing? Remember – every college newspaper should now be a daily regardless how frequently the print edition publishes. Send out daily updates, create blogs and update the Web site for sports news as you gather it.

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Football team ‘night out,’ a pre-game ritual that costs colleges

College football coaches can sure be selfish, at times. And misguided.

The recent Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics reveals that spending at many college sports programs is out of control. A group that represents athletic directors will present some cost-cutting measures to the NCAA in the next few weeks.

Among the cost-cutting measures – Asking schools to eliminate housing teams off-campus before home games, a practice where teams check into a local hotel. Some football coaches are opposed to this cost-cutting measure, believing the hotel minimizes distractions for players who, presumably, can’t stay out of trouble.

Tips for job/intern interviews

After what I would call a successful internship interview with the Dallas Morning News this morning, I thought it would be appropriate to share that experience. After all, moments like these are the culmination of all my hard work. Here are the two biggest tips I can give you for impressing your potential employers.

Tips for teaching sports writing

Teaching a sports journalism class next semester? Here are a few things to consider.

1. Create a class blog where students must post stories with links, photos (and audio/video whenever possible.) You can use either Word Press or Blogger, but several more sites, such as Weebly, have popped up as well. I’m also creating a Facebook page and asking students to Tweet on their respective teams.