Friday 12 September 2008

Names Of Interviews and Press Conferences I've Attended

Cameron House, Loch Lomond, Scotland Press Conference, Kirk Broadfoot, Steven Pressley and Craig Gordon

Strathclyde Stadium, Dumbarton, Scotland Press Conference Darren Fletcher

Fir Park, Motherwell, Initaitive scheme promotion, Scott Leitch and Chris Porter

Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Preview of Weekend Game With Rangers, Jim Jefferies and Gavin Skelton.

Celtic Park, Glasgow, Celtic Conference, Gordon Strachan

Day 5

IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN and my time at "The Daily Record" and as a whole my fortnight as a sport writer has been phenomenal.
There WAS times last year near the end of my College course that i felt like giving up with this career path, However i've since found a new lease of life and woken up to realise that THIS is what I want to do.
I'm capping off what has been a fantastic two weeks and i have smelled the coffee and came to the conclusion that i WON'T give up on my dreams by accompanying Hugh Keevins to Celtic Park for the press conference and tbh it couldn't have ended bette.

Now i'm looking forward to college life on Monday.

Thursday 11 September 2008

Day 4

And Now the end is near...... .

My second last day at "The Record" and after Burley's boys got our world cup campaign off the ground after a 2-1 win in Reykjavik, the papers have been dominated today by Broadfoot and Faddy getting the goals.

I'm heading to rugby park at kilmarnock at 12:30 for their press conference and should be there for the rest of the day.

From now till then though i will strive on and get a story to work on from now and hopefully get my byeline in "The Record".

FINAL DAY TOMORROW.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Day 3

Best day that i've had so far at "The Daily Record" as i was assigned an article to start on about Rangers weekend game with Kilmarnock (Even though i'm a celtic daft).

i was halfway through my task when i had to accompany a journalist to Fir park for some interviews with scottleitch and chris porter in turn we would promote an initiative for male sucides in scotland.

I got back in time for something to eat and came up and finished off my article on Rangers and that's about it.

I had a byeline about thehead to head with scotland vs iceland this mornings paper and should have one for tomorrows paper and by the weekend you never know.

The Skies the limit.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Day 2

Well my second day was undoubtedly better than my first day and have completed two articles and snt them to be published
So I'll have more byelines by the end of the week to stick in my journalist folder.

My day started and was at my desk for 9:30 and for a long spell was the only one here but that never troubled me as i immediately set about researching stats and jotting them down incase anyone wants to know a football fact.

my first job was to rsearch the head to head games between scotlad and iceland and write a paragraph about the game and how it went who scored who played etc etc ..... .

I Completed that and sent it to press then i had to phone round some former scotland players that had played against iceland and get their views on how the game would go in reykjavik.

after that i caught up with some lunch and then was assigned a task to write an article highlighting the US Open final and Murray's achievement of getting there.

it's now nearly 3pm i'm just about finished because my stories have been sent to press and i'm looking forward now to thursday and friday when the international games finish up an it's back to the hustle & bustle of the domestic season.

The Daily Record

Day 1

My first day at "The Daily Record" brought some surprising feelings as it wasn't anywhere near as good as "The Evening Times" Last week and wish i was back in the city centre.
I suppose by the end of the week i'll feel different however i was early as usual with a keenness to start work and try and get sum byelines for my journalist folder.
First off i met Hugh Keevins and Jim Traynor and accompanied them to Dumbarton's ground for a Scotland press conference and i recorded and took notes of Darren Fletchers interview and with Hugh sitting next to me i was always trying to impress.
What a brief Jim has though, big, spacious and comfy leather seats.
we got back just in time for lunch and immediately went for something to eat and drink.
After lunch i started work on a Darren Fletcher interview and although it was just for practice it was good to get into the habit of writing in the style of papers like "The Daily Record" and "Evening Times".
Just coming up for 4:00pm and heading home soon all in all been pretty quiet and will be till Thursday and Friday when it gets back to club games and the domestic season.

Reality Round Up

TOO NICE RACHEL RICE WINS BB9

Finally Big Brother is over for another year and although at times it was entertaining i felt it just dragged on too long.
Welsh girl Rachel Rice was crowned the first female winner of the show since Kate Lawler won the prize in 2002.
the votes couldn't have been closer (Allegedly) as Davina announced that Rachel recieved 51.3% of the votes.
She has just scooped £100,000 and the chance to make up to a million pounds with magazine and newspaper articles as well as tv appearances yet she walked out victorious to a chorus of boos and jeers.
Yet her final opponent Mikey came out to massive cheers and the crowd chanting his name.
Rachel Said in her interview "it doesn't seem real somehow",
AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH.


X FACTOR EMBARRASES SCOTLAND

X Factor week 4 and still haven't found a star, plenty of good singers but nothing like the quality of Leona Lewis.
the judges travelled to glasgow at the weekend and were met at Hampden by tens of thousands of hopeful wannabes thinking they had the X Factor.
First up was 28 Year old Susanne Gay what looked like a filthy haggerdy drug dealer who had the most irritating voice ever.
she embarrased not only herself and her family but as a nation the whole of Scotland cringed as she murdered Whitney Houston's hit "I Have Nothing".
she tried three times to get the words right but kept singing One Moment In Time - also a Whitney number.
Simon Cowell looked sick to the stomach and i could barely watch as she finally got the right words but that didn't help much as she crucified it.

The highlights of the Glasgow auditions were that of 20 year old Ricky (Will young wannabe) who belted out the Sam Sparro hit Black And Gold and Mrs Cole said that he did it justice and she enjoyed the audition.
Polmont Prison officer Kirsty was the other stand out and she was also impressive.
By the time the judges got to London the performances got better but weren't of a high calibre and the stick out was 17 year old Joelle as she performed "I Have Nothing" probably just better than the first auditionee in Glasgow (just kidding she was superb).
I Can't imagine what else the X Factor holds in store for us between now and 17th December when the show reaches a climax, if i was to pick a winner i would have to go for Joelle as her performance was flawless.

A Week In The Life Of A Football Writer

I recently applied for a work placement at "The Evening Times". It started on Monday 1st September 2008 and this is how my week went.

Monday

On my first day of the placement i had to admit to being both nervous and excited.
My day wasn`t getting off to a great start when i was sat in reception till almost 10:30am but i let it go and all was explained and soon got into my first day at "The Evening Times".
I met Liz Mulgrew who is the P.A to the editor and was almost in awe as i bypassed Darryl King and Darrell Broadfoot who are well respected professianal football writers whom i read and listen to On TV/Radio/Newspapers.
I was assigned a task to work on and had to practise creating some fillers ( The small articles at the side of a page usually without picture/s), although it took me some time to settle into it and quickly got a feel for it.
My lunch hour was from 1-2pm and as i sat at my desk eating my bacon rolls and sipping my tea there wasn`t a lack of reading material as you can imagine and got to sifting through "The Evening times" and "The Herald".
After my lunch my editor for the week was busy in meetings and apologised for not properly showing me what to do, however it gave me a chance to tour the building and meet new faces.
I came back to my desk and scoured my computer for archive stories.
Overall it`s been an eventful day and althogh i was nervy to begin with, i`m relishing the rest of the week with "The newspaper that knows Glasgow better".

Tuesday

I was more relaxed on my second day as i knew some more people and knew where i was going.
I was reasonably early as i arrived at my desk at 8:40 am, Helen hadn`t arrived yet therefore i had a cup of tea and read of the paper.
I started working on some more fillers to get me into the habit and Helen(My editor) arrived at 9:30 and asked her what she wanted me to work on she assigned me a task with senior reporter Iain Lundy to go out and cover a story at the Kingston Bridge. After we got back i started research on the story filed a report and e mailed it to Iain.
I was then taken aback when one of the guys from the sports desk came over and introduced himself he asked me if i wanted to come and do some work on the sports desk, well i just about hit the roof with excitement- i mean don`t get me wrong working on the news desk was good but this was where i wanted to be and nearly messed my words up although i remained composed and calm.
I was immediately put to task to put together an article on old firm players that are away on International duty and agreed to go with a few journalists during the week and told i could get a couple of byelines out of it.
By the end of the day i was settled as a football writer and feel it`s important to make as many friends in this buisness as possible because it`s not WHAT you know, It`s WHO you know.

Wednesday

My first full day at the sports desk started brightly and got asked to write an article on the last five of Scotlands world cup qualifying campaigns and discuss their opening fixtures e.g date,Stadium,Score,Goalscorers and team line up`s then a paragraph or two about how the game went.
i was then taken during my task when football writer Matthew Lindsay asked me to accompany him to cameron house in loch lomond for a scotland press conference before the lads travel to play macedonia.
Whilst there we interviewed Kirk Broadfoot, Steven Pressley and Craig Gordon and were there for a while just generally chatting.
We made it back to the office about 12:30 and immediately got to finishing my article and e mailed it to Darrell King, If anything i should get a couple of byelines, Hopefully more.
I`m wishing this was more permanent but if i keep up the strong workload and keep impressing then you just never know.

Thursday

Started work and finished a player profile on a macedonia striker Goran Pandev, Then Darrell got me to write an article about finances between the old firm and write a few paragraphs comparing it to the takeover at manchester City and finished that at 12pm and went for a cup of team and some lunch.
When i got back i was asked to write an article on celtics last 5 opening champions league games and how they`ve fared in them.
All the lads finish at the latest of 3pm and as an early birthday present for me i recieved a case of tennents for all the work i`ve done for them this week which will be appreciated when i`m watching the Scotland game on saturday afternoon.
I`m dreading the end of the week as i really don`t want to leave now and feel i may take a step back instead of forward when i start over at "The Daily Record".

Friday

My final day at "The Evening Times" and it`s been a really quick week.
I thought it best to come in early so i can help out as much as possible whatever happens now will be left up to fate and is in the hands of the gods.
I just hope and pray that i get something, Anything, i just don`t want to leave here.