LAWRENCE, Kansas – We began doing “Little Scottie” in October 2008 as a color webcomic with no consistent format or structure and only a self-imposed weekly deadline. Since then, we’ve completed 150 strips. 118 of them appeared in The University Daily Kansan newspaper over the course of three full semesters and a summer.
LAWRENCE, Kansas — Even after the Kansas men’s basketball team had escaped with a one-point victory against UCLA last night, something just didn’t feel right. How could officials have put 0.7 seconds back on the clock after reviewing the same footage I’d seen on television?
The issue to me was not whether KU’s Mario Little was in fact fouled but whether the official had called the foul before time had expired in the second half. After the replay had aired several times, it was clear that the official hadn’t raised his arm until after time had run out.
LAWRENCE, Kansas — In the wake of several suicides involving gay teens ranging in age from 13 to 19, “cyberbullying” has quickly become the buzzword du jour.
These events are a stark reminder of what those of us in the gay community already know: being gay isn’t easy. But while the issue of anti-gay bullying is very real, cyberbullying is not simply limited to straight people targeting gays.
Since the early days of chat rooms, message boards and instant messaging, there has been an opportunity for people to attack others with little or no consequence.
LAWRENCE, Kansas — Contrary to what some are suggesting after last Tuesday’s “Little Scottie” comic, we are not homophobic bigots with an axe to grind. In fact, we agree that “the heterosexual community often hypersexualizes the queer community in order to vilify them.” There is one problem. We are not part of the heterosexual community. We’re gay.
LAWRENCE, Kansas – During the time that I’ve been preoccupied with other projects to devote my full energies to keeping up with IPW, I’ve made the first major effort of my life to get into better shape. I’ve lost two grandfathers, a great uncle and others to heart disease, so sooner or later I was either going to need to do something about it or suffer irreversible consequences
LAWRENCE, Kan. – When I said three weeks ago that, for CBS, this year’s NCAA Tournament “may very well be the network’s own shining moment,” I never could have anticipated the whirlwind ride that followed. Not only were we treated to two overtime games in the first session of the first round, but we were also treated to close game after close game, upset after upset.
In a year with so much uncertainty about the future of the tournament, teams delivered the most exhilarating set of games in history. They showed off everything that is right with the current format, making a seemingly imminent expansion to 96 teams look that much more ridiculous.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – As CBS embarks on another NCAA Tournament, it is important to remember just how good they are at doing this event. Sure, they will miff some viewers by jumping around from site to site to update other games – the necessary evil known as “walking the dog” – but when your game is on the line, you can be sure you’ll see it live.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – At a time when four-year college graduation rates are falling, it seems that putting a program in place to expedite high school graduation might be a bit off the mark. But that’s exactly what the National Center on Education and the Economy wants to do. As part of an initiative announced last week, a select group of schools in eight states will begin offering – among other things – an option to take a series of “rigorous” exams that would allow students to graduate high school two years early.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Today’s “Little Scottie” comic strip touches on University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the recent lightning rod for all kinds of criticism surrounding his “advocacy ad” on Sunday’s Super Bowl. So far, Tebow hasn’t looked impressive according to many who’ve covered the Senior Bowl and who’ve turned the NFL Draft into a science. But that’s not why I picked on him.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Winter Olympics can’t come soon enough for NBC. Until then, there’s little the network can do to stop their talk show hosts from taking nightly jabs at their apparent late night ineptitude. Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien has finally broken his off-air silence, rejecting the proposed move to 12:05 a.m. ET in a statement released today:
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Who knew it would take over 15 years for the chinks in NBC’s late night armor to show? Indeed, what goes around seems to be coming around for the network that once branded itself “America’s Late Night Leader.”
It’s becoming clear that the decisions NBC made in 1991 set the stage for the giant mess currently waiting at its doorstep.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Rumors began swirling today about the future of NBC late night. With an end to the 10 p.m. (9 p.m. CT) Jay Leno Show imminent, many people are wondering what will happen to new Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien.
It has been said many times over that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Such is true of NBC.
The network that passed over David Letterman as Johnny Carson’s successor for The Tonight Show in the early 1990s seems to have made a similar gaffe with Leno and O’Brien. Like former NBC Entertainment executive Warren Littlefield – made infamous by Bill Carter’s book The Late Shift and a subsequent HBO movie of the same name, current entertainment chief Jeff Gaspin offered the 11:30 time slot to a seemingly hot commodity, O’Brien, in order to prevent losing him to a rival network.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – I am a die-hard Saturday Night Live fan and have been since I was in elementary school. (Too bad my classmates didn’t always appreciate my not-ready-for-prime-time sense of humor.) But for as much as I love the show, I have often been as critical of the show as any outsider with better than cursory knowledge of the inner workings of the show.
The show is currently in a sort of transition, with new writers coming and going and talent cycling through like college athletes. Even so, SNL has recently shown the sort of signs of life that illustrate just how close it is to striking yet another memorable balance in both its on and off air ensemble. And that’s just the purely content-driven side of the show.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – What is it with male athletes in the Big 12 these days? Specifically, I’m talking about the Big 12 North. Okay, so to be fair, it’s hardly a trend. But being in the heart of Jayhawk country, it is definitely a theme that stood out immediately.
While the blogosphere is having mixed reactions to Deadspin’s rumor-based exposé on sex scandals involving ESPN management and talent, I was drawn to a different sex-related story on their home page, one about Chase Mejia.
To be honest, what caught my attention even more than “X-Rated” in the story’s headline was the mention of “Kansas State” in its description. That piqued my interest. Sure, I’m typically neutral with regard to sports teams, but I’m still a Jayhawk. I can’t help it.
After reading through Barry Petchesky’s post, I was led to a story on Herm’s Perm, posted yesterday. Already entertained by the header image and slogan, I read more about Mejia, who apparently attended the Herm’s Perm crew’s high school alma mater, Shawnee Mission Northwest.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – I don’t typically take requests for what I whine about. But there are always room for exceptions.
Apparently, my mate Ben Smith (he’s English), who–according to a recent Twitpic–is in charge of Major Accounts and the Social Media Manager for The World Company, wanted my opinion on Twitter development.
I’m still not sure why he would ask me. After all, his “Twitter Grade” is 99.7 out of 100. That’s higher than the ever-popular @shitmydadsays or the absurdly underused @Oprah and only .18 less than @drdrew and @jimmyfallon. My score is a mediocre 94.
But he asked, and he shall receive.
I read Ben’s tweet on Sunday afternoon.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – What has gotten into the Kansas Jayhawks? Two incidents of fighting between members of the school’s football and basketball teams in less than 24 hours are inexcusable and embarrassing.
At a time when Kansas football has started their season 3-0, breaking into the top 20 in all polls, and Kansas basketball is the preseason number one, these guys should be enjoying themselves and prepping for opponents.
Instead, word spreads of an altercation involving guard Tyshawn Taylor and other players on both teams. It turns out that, according to a KU Public Safety report published on the Lawrence-Journal World website, an argument involving 8 people escalated to an all out fight with more than 100 people present.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – By now, it’s hard to have totally avoided the news of the video taken through a peephole that shows ESPN reporter Erin Andrews walking around a hotel room nude. The blog post that surfaced in the media late last week is getting all kinds of reactions–from outraged to obscene.
ESPN attorneys took immediate action, sending a cease and desist letter to the blog’s owner. Andrews’ own attorney subsequently released a statement confirming what had previously only been suspicion of the identity of the “Hot naked blonde.” Deadspin, which has been covering developments in the story since it broke, has reported that the video had actually been online for months before widespread news of it broke.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Some people are fast learners. Others are not. As the number of Baby Boomers engaging in social media rises, I’m finding more and more how little my parents’ generation understands the new interpretations of some classic technologies. My generation, particularly the twenty-and-thirtysomethings, seem to understand it better. But even among people my age, not everyone gets the newest incarnations of social media like “microblogs,” a term that barely does it justice, most notably Twitter.
The most import thing to understand with a thing like Twitter, unlike with e-mail or even a cell phone, is that it functions much like the news cycle. Part of the appeal of Twitter is that it’s an instantaneous, steady flow of information. It is, in effect, one huge group conversation. And, as with any conversation, timing is everything. If you wait too long to comment on something someone has said, then it will be too late. The moment will have passed. If you limit yourself to talking only with a small group, you’ll never meet anyone new.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – After putting forth my arbitrary list of the best in live television for the past year, I have seen that the Sports Emmy Awards were given out last night. I’ve decided that, since I have yet to look at the winners, I might as well give my picks to a slightly less arbitrary selection.
Here’s a quick digression: I’m sitting in the Kansas Union on the KU campus in Lawrence with ESPN’s newsmagazine attempt, E:60, on a television to my left. I can’t really hear what’s being said. What I can tell is that the film noir pitch meeting footage is horribly over the top, and the camerawork for the interviews in this Stephon Marbury piece is basically what I’d expect from ESPN trying to do break into this genre. Could someone please watch Real Sports or 60 Minutes?! They do it right.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – For as long as I’ve been writing about the world of live television, I don’t think I’ve ever actually put forth a list of who I think is the best for on-air and production.
Here are a couple of rules: 1) individuals must still be active in their respective roles (network changes are okay); 2) there is no limit on how many people working for a particular network can be chosen (if the network happens to be that good, it wouldn’t make sense for me to suggest otherwise); 3) for sports, when I feel it is warranted, I may select multiple people holding the same position but for different sports.