Dumb Question/Creative Thought

"There are no such things as dumb questions." We have heard that saying used by professors, interviewers and employees for most of our lives. I used to tell production assistants during their orientation that what's worse than a dumb question is not asking and then getting it wrong. I remember a producer once asked during a show meeting , "why does a switch hitter bat right-handed against a left-handed pitcher ?" On the surface, a pretty dumb question because the answer is obvious. After some laughter and good nature d ribbing, we moved on. A few minutes later, an intrepid researcher came back with statistics showing the list of left handed hitters who had great success against left-handed pitchers. It was at this point, that one of our analysts described how a switch hitting teammate once batted lefty against a southpaw and got three hits that day. I remember the producer screaming at him for not bringing this up earlier while he was getting abused for his dumb question. The bottom line is that it led to a very interesting segment of the show that was done because someone asked a dumb question.

It is human nature to be curious. What is not obvious to one person may be crystal clear to others. That doesn't make the question dump to the person asking the question.

Us vs USA

It came down to one incredible play by a Ghana soccer player whose name will never be remembered by most American sports fans. The U.S.A.'s 2-1 overtime loss at the World's Cup ended our country's brief flirtation with the rest of the world. We can now go back to our 20 million dollars a year baseball players on steroids and wait until the REAL football season opens in September. We will watch with bated breath as millionaire N.B.A. owners woo the games biggest names with dollar signs in their eyes to come play for their team in their city.

Sports in the U.S.A. has become too much about the almighty dollar and less about the game. We have disconnected from the rest of the world when it comes to soccer. Why ? Not enough scoring, not enough scoring opportunities ? Or is it just a snobbish attitude America has for the sport. It's not real football is it? Besides its spelled with a u, futbol. Even my spell check thinks that's wrong. Did you see the headline in Sunday's paper ? In this country, the game is considered stupid, but, around the globe this is the biggest sporting event there is.

You have to give ESPN credit. They are trying to educate a soccer illiterate nation to the nuisances of the game. Imagine showing Lady Ga Ga on tour to a Muslim extremist. The mind is closed to the performance no matter how artful it is. So too is soccer in the U.S.

There is no question that had the USA team won and advanced deeper into the tournament that the interest level would have ramped up and the country would have been totally behind the team. With this nation being pulled apart by a split government and an incompetant Brittish oil company, I think we could have used something to unite us. For all those who say the interest in the World Cup will make soccer more popular in the U.S., I say, been there, done that. While many school kids play soccer it has not translated into popularity for the sport. If the greates soccer player to ever play the game, Pele, couldn't bring the sport to America, then it never shall.
And once again America will isolate itself from the rest of the world.

How to Work Out

Exercise, to some it entails actually having to get off the couch and exerting themselves. To others, it is a welcome diversion from the stresses of a day. And to a slightly larger group its a taboo word that will never become part of their vocabulary unless its to exercise their right not to exercise.

Thanks to the influx of infomercials we can watch on late night TV, there appears to be many ways one can pump it up and get those tired old muscles into tip top shape. Whether your exercise routine is to follow a video from inside your home,heading out to the gym,playing sports, or just going for a walk there are still some guidelines you should follow.

The first is to always stretch ! This loosens your muscles and allows your body to absorb any impact that comes its way. Work your way from the bottom up or from the top down. Make sure each side of the muscle is stretched out. Now you are ready to tackle that pair of dumb bells, a six foot five basketball player, or the dog walker with a German Sheppard and a Pit Bull blocking your path.

Your goal is to strengthen your muscles and increase your heart rate at the same time. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Try not to over exert yourself. If you are lifting weights, don't go so heavy that it affects your form. Try to avoid unnatural body movements. A twist can turn into a twinge that can turn into a doctors appointment. Know your bodies limitations if you are playing sports. I constantly have to remind myself that the mind of a 30 year-old coupled with the body of a 50 year-old is a good way to injure yourself.

Once you have been able to complete your exercise choice safely, then you can try to challenge your body. Increase the impact of your routines in increments. Cut down on the reps (the amount of times you perform the exercise) as the weight increases. This allows your muscles to grow slowly with maximum effect. If your a walker or a jogger, increase your distance every time you go out. After reaching a certain point you can then exert your body more and try for more distance at a quicker time.

The last thing you need to do is to repeat the first thing you did. Stretching helps cold muscles get warm and warm muscles stretch more allowing your body to expand and the muscles to fit more snugly.

For most people, its just a question of taking that first step. Once you get your hand out of the chips bowl and start exercising you'll see how much more energetic you feel both physically and mentally.

Module 4- Thesis Update

I'm very excited because I have found a character who I think will become a central figure in my thesis documentary. He is an old vaudeville comedian who used to perform with among others the singer Rosemary Clooney. For historical reference for some of you Rosemary Clooney was the aunt of an actor named George Clooney who I'm sure many of you are familiar with. Vaudeville, dates back to the 1860's, it was a combination of theater, singers, dancers, acrobats and comedians. It remained the focal point of American entertainment until talking movies phased it out in the 1930's.

The performer I found is the father of a friend of mine and he promises that he has tons of old photographs and programs that I can use as historical footage for my project. Right now I am doing my research so I can formulate the right questions to ask. Once that step is completed, I should be able to schedule my shoots. Time to turn this project from an idea into a reality.

Module 4- Devils Advocate

It is very frustrating to stare at a blank page and know you have to say something about anything. You try to concentrate on what you want to say, "OK focus, I can do this", then nothing comes out. My attention starts to wander, what's my dog Duncan up to ? Whose on Letterman tonight ? Any new apps for the iPad ? After each distraction, I bring it back to that blank page, "god it's getting late, why can't I think of anything to write?" How the hell am I ever going to find my voice if I don't have anything to say ? What in the world possessed me to take an online writing class in the summer? I'll get you for this Phil Simon.

I guess I could write about something that's going on in the world. Let's see, the Republicans are pissed off at the President because he went out and played golf with Biden while oil was still spilling into the Gulf. How do I feel about that ? I guess to some it would give off the wrong appearance, here's the President blasting out of a sand trap while the American economy and environment is being drained and polluted. But, I really don't think for a minute that some Secret Service agent would not put a call through if something major came up because Obama was lining up a birdie putt. And he is sharing a golf cart with Joe Biden for three hours. No, I don't think I want to write about that.

I can feel my heart pumping a bit faster as I realize that this writers block is creating some anxiety within me. I need to relax, take a few deep breathes maybe bang out a set of sit-ups. There I feel much calmer now. What else is going on ? There's this whole Lady Gaga baseball thing. Is she trying to out-Madonna Madonna. She's been to two baseball games in two weeks at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium. Both times she stripped down to her underwear and at Citi Field she flipped the crowd the bird and in the Bronx she was drinking in the clubhouse after the game. She must have a new album coming out. Either that or she has a real need to be the center of attention. She's one step away from shaving her head and taking a baseball bat to a car. Can't picture a celebrity going that crazy. Oh, wait a minute. Besides, who even knows what she looks like considering she walks around with a veil over the face all the time? What's up with that ? No, I don't think I want to write about that crazy lady.

Politics? Entertainment ? How bout sports? Yanks beat the Mets two in a row. I can't be too unhappy with a 7-2 road trip. Should be an interesting week coming up. The Mets aren't as bad as they were the first couple of months of the season but who knows if they are as good as they've played lately. If they play well this week, I hope they decide to go out and get a starting pitcher. They could use a reliever as well. Elmer Dessens in the eighth inning makes me nervous. I probably shouldn't write about the Mets either, how many people really care besides me ?

I have to find something to write about, I can't just leave an empty page, I'll fail !! Hold on, this page is not as empty as I thought. There are actually well constructed thoughts and sentences written. I just double checked it and you know what it makes sense. I can relax, watch Kimmel, maybe Professor Kalm is right. Just keep writing your thoughts and you never know when it will turn into a story.

Sports Talk

Sports Talk.... to many it conjures up the sound of WFAN or WEEI radio stations. Since 1987, sports talk stations have given us 24/7 coverage of our favorite teams. The good and bad on the field and the ugly off the field. It's where excuses become reasons and frustrated non-athletes become experts. A place where fans can play General Manager and Joe from New Jersey can get his own talk show. Yes, a whole generation has grown up on this non-stop critiquing of the athletes who play the games we love to watch. But, this is not about that kind of sports talk, this is about the kind of sports talk that has become ingrained in our culture.

The language of sports has been around for as long as the games have been played. Even Osama Bin Laden who actually does live in a cave, knows what a home run, a touchdown or a goal is. As I read Chapter 17 of "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser, I thought about how that language has been used both properly and improperly. It is a language riddled with cliches. The lazy announcers and writers fall into the cliche trap.

The team one game away from elimination has "its back to the walls", the team coming from behind to win has "snatched victory from the jaws of defeat" and the baseball player having trouble getting a hit is "mired" in a slump. There have been a couple of cliches that have made its way into the language of sports that I just don't get. In baseball, its the "walk-off". We have the walk-off hit, the walk-off home run and the one I laughed the hardest at last season, the walk-off balk. So what makes walk-off so special that it gets its own word ? Baseball fans know that for the home team to win a game in the bottom of the ninth inning or in extra innings it has to be a walk-off something. And what is a true freshman ? In college football and basketball a player has five years of eligibility on their scholarship. If they get injured and miss a year they can "red shirt" the season. For a long time you were either a red-shirted freshman (second year of eligibility) or you were a freshman. About three or four years ago, that freshman became a "true freshman". As opposed to what ? A false freshman ? It's just a cliche created for no reason, yet, if you listen to all network announcers, it has become a regular part of their broadcast language.

Lazy announcers and lazy writers can fill the media with one cliche after another. The key to success is to paint the description using words and expressions that everyone can understand. As Zinsser writes, "the value to look for when you write about sport: people and places, time and transition". If you want to understand what that really means, go on You Tube and listen to Vin Scully announce one inning of any Dodgers game.

Modul 3 Post 2- A Tabloid Society

Have you ever thought about what a tabloid society we have become ? How we idolize our sports heroes, movie and TV stars and politicians, yet, are so quick to revel in their misery during a scandal. There are many reasons we have evolved to this point. The 24/7 news cycle of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News as well as the Internet and blogs will now take the most insignificant story and turn it into the most discussed issue of our times. Professor Kalm mentions the Brangelina phenomenon. At least they are two talented actors, but what about Balloon Boy, Jon and Kate, and Paris Hilton ? We know more about the lives of the untalented than anyone has the right to know. A couple sneaks into the White House, a serious security breach, so how does our society deal with them? By heaping tons of free publicity to them and getting them their own reality show.

Do we really care how many women Tiger Woods slept with ? Bill Clinton, yes. He was the President carrying on in the Oval Office. But, Tigers only judge and jury should be his wife, and she split, so why won't the story go away ?

Yes, there is a point where TMI is on overdrive. Reality TV has also contributed to this. You can't fool all of us, we know reality TV isn't really reality its just a scripted show. Yet, we are making stars out of some of the most obnoxious people to think they were famous. Please, who really has time for Omarosa, Snooki or any of the C-list celebrities on Dancing With the Stars ? Just think Simon Cowell walked away from hundreds of millions of dollars on American Idol for just sitting there and winking at the girls and telling the guys they sound like karaoke singers. And don't even get me started on Donald Trump.

So as my blood pressure returns to normal and my veins pop back into my skin think about this the next time you see a tabloid headline or sit down to watch your favorite reality show. Why do you really care about this ? Wouldn't I be better off writing another blog for my ICM 506 class ?

Finding My Voice-Module 3

Once again I sit here fingers on keys, arm-wrestling with myself, trying to decide what I want my online voice to be. After absorbing the words of William Zinsser and Professor Kalm, I have decided that the best way to find my voice is to just write. Let my writing be my voice as opposed to finding a voice to write about.

As a 30 year career broadcast journalist, I find that my writing is best styled for television. It is a style that is both conversational and succinct. If less is more, than the who, what, where and how must be plain and obvious. What struck me during our readings was that the differences between writing for broadcasts and writing non-fiction or fiction are as wide as the differences between European futbul and American football. The literary writer is able to enhance their words with description. In this sense, it is very similar to the differences between a baseball play-by-play announcer doing radio as opposed to TV. The writer needs to paint a picture of the story, and do it in such a way as to enable the reader to imagine what the words are describing and keep their interest.

In my opinion, the other key to the lesson, was to not be afraid to write about what you as the writer know must about. I thought this line by Professor Kalm was especially telling, "Writers and artists are always revealing themselves. It is part of the job description. They too, admit far more than they know, when they start putting down words in a certain order."

I think good writing is exposing a certain part of the writers vulnerability, its a risk well worth taking.

Module 2-Writing Techniques

To me, its the old chicken and egg theory.
Does a writer need to be passionate about their personal experiences ? Or, does ones personal experiences bring out the writer's passion ?

I've been thinking about this as I read Professor's Kalm's blog for this week as well as our assigned readings in"On Writing Well". In writing about a personal experience, it seems, the more effective techniques were the ones that captured both the emotions and senses involved. In Alfred Kazin's, "A Walker In The City", the author describes the sense of smells he remembers as he enters his home while his mother bakes or when his father comes home covered in fumes. These words paint an image to the reader of what was memorable to the author. They are trying to convey their emotions at the time. If it is done correctly, then the reader can interpret by its importance to the author, how passionate the writer is about their subject matter.

So I believe that a writer's message to their reader, if done right, shows how passionate they feel about the subject matter they are writing about.

My Topic Proposal

As I think about the things that I am most passionate about, I just assume that sports would top the list. But, as I sit here pen to paper (or finger to keyboard), I realize that humor has been the most important common denominator in my life. Even during the saddest and toughest of times, it has been humor that has helped keep me going. Whether its the telling of a joke, making light of a situation or just not taking life too seriously, I have discovered that laughter is the cure to what ails you.

As I think back to my youth, I remember constantly being surrounded by humor. The uncle who always had a joke to tell. I thought he always started a sentence with, "Did you hear about the....", or maybe it was my grade school friends who all thought they were aspiring comedians as we taunted each other with endless rank outs and family insults. Everything was fair game to hurl at one another, a fathers vocation, a mothers fashion style, out of proportion body parts or the family cars. Sometimes it was very mean spirited, but there were other times, that with some voice inflection, props and some acting chops, you could turn the insults into some humorous entertainment. It was here that I discovered how to be funny and how people reacted to me being funny. It also didn't hurt when the girls would say, "Oh that Jeff, he makes me laugh".

I think that the other factor in my love for humor was television. TV became more of a cultural fixture in society during the 1960's and it was the variety shows and sit-coms that made us laugh. I remember Phil Silvers as Sgt. Bilko, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, and of course everybody loved Lucy. As I got a bit older, there was one night my parents used to let me stay up late, Thursdays, so I could watch The Dean Martin Show. Some of you may have seen the infomercial for the program that runs late at night, but, believe me when I tell you, this was a weekly happening of some of the funniest moments ever seen on the screen. It was while watching this show and the Ed Sullivan Show, that I became exposed to some of the funniest comedians in the business.

One comedian who immediately became one of my favorites was Don Rickles. Maybe it was because he was a Jewish boy from Queens, maybe it was because his insult humor reminded me of the rank outs my friends and I used to throw at each other, but, a Don Rickles guest spot on a show was must see TV in my house. It was what live TV was meant to be, unpredictable. You never knew what would happen when Rickles was on. He would cause chaos whenever he was on Carson's couch. He was quick witted, honest and out of his mind. He recorded an album called, "Hello Dummy", which I immediately memorized.

I think that my ability to relate to the humor of Don Rickles got me started on my quest to trace the roots of his humor. It is the ethnicity of the humor that led me to my capstone project of producing a documentary on Jewish humor. Rickles made a career out of insulting others while at the same time putting himself and his heritage down. As I began thinking about some of my other favorite comics, Robert Klein, Alan King, and Buddy Hackett , I realized that this self-deprecating humor was prevalent in all of their acts. I wondered if the Jewish culture of putting themselves down was a survival technique bred from a world of anti-semitism. So I venture into this project not sure where it will lead me. I do know the end result will be funny and I hope I can get someone to say, "Hey, did you hear about the......".

Rewritten Biosketch- Formal Version

For the past 30 years, Jeff Schneider has been responsible for some of the most memorable moments in sports history. This 5-time Emmy Award winning Coordinating Producer and Producer has covered 9 World Series and 4 Super Bowls for ESPN. Jeff's show responsibilities included overseeing Baseball
Tonight,SportsCenter,NFL Prime Monday and Outside The Lines. After leaving ESPN in 2004, Jeff became a show builder. He was the architect of daily news shows at NESN, Versus and MSG Networks, creating infra-structures, procedures and news gathering systems.

Before arriving at ESPN, Jeff honed his skills as a News Producer for WPIX-TV New York. There he covered major news events such as the Challenger explosion, the Bernie Goetz shootings and numerous election night coverage. Jeff also produced the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks show for five years.

A native New Yorker, Jeff graduated from Syracuse University and is now earning his Masters Degree in Interactive Communications at Quinnipiac University. He has a wife and son.

One Paragraph Bio-Module 2

Since 1978, Jeff Schneider has been one of the pioneers of TV sports production. The 5-time Emmy award winner has been responsible for multiple successes at ESPN, NESN, Versus and MSG Networks. A graduate of Syracuse University, Jeff is currently earning his Masters Degree in Interactive Communications at Quinnipiac University.