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.

Yesterday, our final strip ran in the paper, ending what has been the most interesting, challenging, baffling and frustrating period in the time we’ve done the comic.

First, it’s worth noting that, although I may be the more outspoken of us, Todd is undoubtedly the creative force behind the comic. He knows comics; I don’t. So, when he says the characters need to be better defined, a change must be made. And, because his responsibility as illustrator is far more time consuming than mine as writer, our schedule for doing comics inevitably depended on how much time he could devote to it.

In the end, Todd was willing to do the comic under a few conditions: 1) we cut back on doing the comic two days a week instead of three, 2) we work ahead to ease his workload during the semester and 3) we develop our characters better. So, that’s what we did.

Our work began over the summer, revamping characters, storylines and artwork to create something that would stand on its own two feet that people would want to read. We worked together to create the storylines and establish connections between characters that we could reveal over the course of the semester. Then, we focused in on individual characters to give each one a more specific identity.

Todd then went to work developing more stylized versions of existing characters as well as new characters. One major change was that he would draw nearly every panel from scratch, while we had the luxury of time, instead of pulling from previous comics. We also agreed on a new, more condensed font that would allow text to take up less space.

By the time classes began, we were about six weeks ahead. It had made for a lot more work for both of us in a very short period of time. But the goal was for it to get progressively easier throughout the semester. Before long, however, it became increasingly obvious that we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the comic for another semester on top of our other obligations.

No sooner had we reached that conclusion than we were suddenly under fire for one of our comics. We vigorously defended our work and made every effort to reach out to groups that had felt offended. Before then, I had always been the one most enthusiastic about doing the comic. But, as responses quickly became personal, I grew disenchanted with the whole idea of doing the comic.

Doing the comic allowed us a unique opportunity to discuss issues that might otherwise not be in the newspaper. But I never wanted our comics to become the story. Sure, there were times when I hoped a comic might make people think or even make people uncomfortable. But they were always meant to be funny. If people couldn’t have a sense of humor about themselves and accept the criticism within our satire, then maybe we had outstayed our welcome.

That having been said, it was encouraging to see others that we didn’t even know express their support for us and our right to express our viewpoint. But for as uplifting as the positive response has been, the negativity simply removed any doubt that we were making the right choice to end the comic.

And so we end “Little Scottie,” trying not to take our work too seriously while being proud of our efforts nonetheless.

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.

At first glance, my personal feeling was that the decision should be based solely on when the foul was actually called. This interpretation is similar to how timeouts are treated. When a coach or player attempts to call a timeout, the clock only stops when it is granted by the official, not when the coach or player first asks for the timeout.

The converse opinion is that the official’s reaction time should not be the deciding factor, particularly at such a critical time in the game. As such, the time on the clock should be based solely on when the foul is deemed to have been committed.

So, did they make the right call? Or should the game have gone to overtime?

Fortunately, the NCAA has defined the proper protocol for this specific situation. It should first be noted that the on-court ruling of a foul cannot be overturned by video replay. Thus, even if you think it was a bad call, that was never going to be reversed.

Rule 2-13.3.c of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules and Interpretations specifically states that:

When there is a reading of zeros on the game clock and after making a call on the playing court, the officials shall use such available [video/replay] equipment in the following situations:

Determine whether a foul occurred before the reading of zeros on the game clock at the end of the first half, or at the end of the second half/extra period only when necessary to determine the outcome of a game. When it is determined that the foul occurred before the reading of zeros on the game clock, the official is permitted to put the exact time back on the game clock as to when the foul was committed.

I’m a big believer that proper use of video replay in sports is a good thing for everyone involved, even if you don’t get the call you wanted.

In this case, the officials got it right. And that’s a win for everyone.

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.

The big difference now is that because today’s cyberbullies use tools like Facebook and Twitter, many don’t even bother to conceal their identities online and then use passive-aggressive tactics to attack their victims.

Don’t be fooled. Talking about rather than to someone isn’t a defense for bullying.

Given the ability of social media to reach a broad audience of both passive and active users, there’s no telling how many people may witness the attack.

Imagine the torment and embarrassment of being bullied by one of your peers on the playground in elementary school. Now imagine that, instead of just your classmates, you have hundreds or even thousands of people watching.

What’s worse, because these online tools are designed to facilitate sharing and discussion, what might start as one attacker can quickly turn into four or five.

And if you think this only happens to teens, think again. Bullying is a byproduct of insecurity, and there are insecure people of all ages.

For instance, a few weeks ago members of the gay community took exception to a comic I wrote and a response I co-wrote, both of which were published last month in The Kansan.

The day the comic ran, I had received both a tweet and a Facebook message calling the comic “trash” and telling me to “get a life.”

He was back on the attack a week later after an openly gay student tweeted that “the best way not to perpetuate a stereotype is to not conform yourself to it in the first place.” His response was to call the dissenter “a spinster” and suggest that only someone who had no social or sex life would make such a statement.

Two others retweeted the comment, effectively cosigning it. One other posted a similar response.

When our response ran the following day, the same student posted a comment calling me “overweight” and a “hypocrite,” before making various sexual insinuations. Before long, others jumped on the bandwagon posting similar messages.

Such incidents are all too common and, unfortunately, are thought by many to be rather innocuous. They’re not.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I can assure you that even the slightest one-time occurrence can have life-changing consequences. And bullying can have life-ending consequences.

No more lives need to be lost to see there’s a simple solution. If you want to stop bullying, stop bullying.

Appeared on Page 4B of The University Daily Kansan (10/7/10)

Being gay, however, should not compel us to agree with gay or “gay-friendly” organizations any more than being American should compel us to agree with our government. Our freedom to disagree is the very essence of our First Amendment. Some people may view such dissent as disloyalty, but we believe it is not only our right but also our duty to express our dissatisfaction with organizations and institutions.

“Gay-friendly” fraternities are inherently focused on differences. Otherwise, why would they need to exist? Ideally, they shouldn’t, but that is not the objective of these groups.

They instead undermine the pursuit of LGBT equality by encouraging more division based on sexual orientation rather than less. Many people, including us, simply refuse to allow our sexuality to dictate our identities, either personally or socially.

As for the comic itself, we write and draw our comics between four and six weeks before they run in The Kansan. We developed this year’s storylines for “Little Scottie” in late June and have never consulted any schedule except the KU Football schedule. The timing of the comic was unintentional. We already did a rush-themed comic that ran in The Kansan on July 21, 2010, where more members of the fraternity are shown, many of whom are not “older, hairy and more muscular.”

The comic in question is a satire, not of any specific fraternity but of a general idea. We held up a mirror to something we are critical of, and it seems that a lot of people did not like the reflection they saw. Our characters may not be based on specific people, but they are a reflection of our own experiences and observations.

So, if the language used by our characters is too “unintelligent, unmasculine and immature,” maybe it’s time for gay students to rethink their behavior. If we’re hypersexualizing gay people, perhaps try not swoon over every attractive straight guy on campus.

To those who disagree, look around. If anyone is perpetuating stereotypes, it’s not us.

Todd Pickrell contributed to this letter.

Appeared on Page 4B of The University Daily Kansan (9/21/10)

I opted for the former and, in Forrest Gump-esque fashion, one day I just decided to start walking. I had talked about it before but had only acted sporadically. Kicking off with a 7.2-mile walk the first day, I floored it at first before tapering off on distance in favor of more challenging terrain. All the while, I’d been making adjustments to the kinds of food I’d eat, trying to figure out ways to exploit various eating habits, etc.

The most amusing part of it, at least to me, is the fact that I don’t own a scale. In this economy, a scale simply isn’t an expense I’m willing to have. But inevitably when people have told me that I look like I’ve lost weight, they ask how much I’ve lost to which I say, “I don’t do scales.” I can tell if I feel better or not, and that’s all I need to know.

As for my walks, I probably push myself harder than is sometimes advisable during the hot Lawrence summer. My regular attire includes workout pants that I bought several years ago to combat the Syracuse cold, warmup pants or sweatpants, a sweatshirt and a hoodie. Plus, I wear a pair of tennis shoes that I bought the summer before I started college. In other words, it’s a bunch of stuff that I’ve had for a while. The only recent addition has been ankle and wrist weights that I’ll wear intermittently to add to the challenge. For me, the objective is to sweat as much as possible.

I walk almost daily, usually in the afternoon in order to get the full benefit of the day’s heat. For as flat as people generally think Kansas is, Lawrence is definitely an exception to that misconception. The KU campus has some wicked hills that I routinely hit up.

But as important as all of those factors are, what gets me through the occasionally tortuous conditions is my music. Aside from the weights, the single most important expense was a pair of headphones that are comfortable, durable. The standard iPod headphones need not apply. In fact, I have a first generation iPod touch that came with my computer nearly two years ago. It’s practically useless to me for walking.

Instead I use my much older iPod (the 4th generation iPod) with a click wheel and a monochrome display that came with my first Mac in 2004 (a PowerBook G4 to be exact). While the computer’s internal hard drive failed long ago (largely my fault… I think), the iPod works as well as ever. And, most importantly, it has actual buttons that allow me to skip songs, play, pause and adjust volume simply by touch. Even better, I have a great hard plastic case for it. Those two things, and I’m set.

As for the music, I have a “traveling music” playlist, made up of a combination of metal, alternative rock, rap, hip-hop, R&B, rock and some pop, that I keep on shuffle so I have a little bit of everything depending on the point I’m at in my walk. On a flat straightaway, I can go for just about anything. Once I get to hills, it’s all rock and metal. After the hills, I tend to tone it down.

In general, I try to mix it up and add different stuff from time to time. But some of the bands I routinely keep in the rotation are AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Ke$ha, The Killers, Metallica, Muse, Queen, Rihanna and Stone Temple Pilots.

So that’s one of the major things I’ve been working on. That, the comic strip, the podcasts and a bunch of other things.

LAWRENCE, Kansas – In a demonstration of trigger-happy media and bloggers, a slew of folks jumped all over the story that Duke senior Jon Scheyer had tweeted his cell phone number following his team’s National Championship victory Monday night. He didn’t.

I’m not a detective. I didn’t need to be in order to crack this case. A quick Google search of the number Scheyer posted led me to a Facebook group. You know, one of those “I got a new phone and need your numbers” groups? Well, the number had been posted to one such group by Zach Kelly, who incidentally is a fan of Wash U Athletics on Facebook.

Sure enough, after the tweet that most people took as an admission that Scheyer had released his own phone number, he followed up with a shout out to someone named Zach Kelly, who he claimed had won back-to-back Div. III national championships.

For those of you who don’t follow D-III sports, Washington University in St. Louis – known by many as Wash U – won back-to-back men’s basketball titles in 2008 and 2009. They also have a senior forward named Zach Kelly who attended Glenbrook North in Northbrook, Ill., which happens to be the same hometown and high school as Scheyer.

But I’m sure that’s all just a coincidence.

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.

I had the pleasure of working for CBS in St. Louis for the Midwest Regionals. Even our least competitive game – Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State – was tight until the Panthers went on one of their signature scoring droughts in the second half.

Even with so many great games, there was an eerie doubt beneath the diligent work of each crew member. It was the elephant in the room. As everyone was focused on the task at hand, the unanswered question remained in the backs of their minds: will we still be doing this next year?

An occasional reference in jest was soon followed up with uncomfortable laughter. Never in 29 years had the question been so real. In some ways, as the tournament hit one crescendo after another, it began to feel  like an all-too-perfect storybook ending. And should it be CBS’ last dance, it would be a heartbreaking end.

Next year, the network would mark its 30th year as the exclusive home of the Final Four and National Championship. Will they be given the chance?

The lead production team of producer Bob Dekas and director Bob Fishman marked their 25th Final Four and National Championship together this year, extending their record as the longest-running production duo for a major annual sporting event. In fact, no Final Four broadcast in the last 29 years has been without one or both of them.

Fishman directed CBS’ first Final Four in 1982 and has directed all but one, when illness sidelined him one year. Dekas came on board in 1985 after his predecessor Rick Sharp died suddenly of a heart attack the previous January. Sharp was only 40.

Indeed, “Deke” and “Fish,”  as they are known, have been a staple of CBS’ Final Four and National Championship coverage longer than “One Shining Moment.” And, while the closing montage doesn’t always deliver, they do.

If they were doing their final championship, they saved their best for last. They managed their nearly 20 cameras and replay machines without overusing any one piece of technology. Fishman didn’t overplay his hand on shots of wives and families, reverting to his early career with CBS News by letting announcers narrate clean pictures without excess clutter. Even in the aftermath of Duke’s victory when the temptation to go overboard peaked, Dekas used only four replays to show just how close Butler’s Gordon Hayward was to sinking his last second heave.

Such restraint would become all but extinct with a network like Fox or ESPN taking over March Madness. It’s no mistake that Augusta National doesn’t trust ESPN with the early rounds of The Masters. CBS produces their coverage instead.

If the NCAA opts out of its contract with CBS and expands the field to 96, what will the tournament look like next year?

I, for one, hope we never find out.

With the NCAA nearing a summer deadline to opt out of the remaining three years of its contract with CBS, this may very well be the network’s own shining moment, or at least its moment to shine. More than any other year of the tournament, there are more teams vying for the NCAA Championship than the ones on the court.

Sixteen announcers, eight producer-director teams as well as more than a dozen associate directors and broadcast associates will travel this week to the four corners of the country and places in between to remind the NCAA of why CBS is and should continue to be its exclusive television partner. From top to bottom, the network has a broadcast lineup that’s second to none. And that’s without many of its golf on-air and production personnel, who are instead preparing for The Masters and the return of a particular golfer.

Indeed, it is the dreaded first weekend – when each crew must broadcast 6 games in two days – that CBS really separates itself from the rest, both from a production and technical standpoint.

ESPN has demonstrated all season long that getting audiences to the games they want to see is not easy. As the regular season progressed, Big 12 basketball fans became increasingly annoyed that Big Monday games were routinely joined in progress, prompting some to start online petitions targeting the network and the conference.

The greatest display of scheduling ineptitude came last week when ESPN joined the  Big 12 Tournament championship game five minutes late in order to show the end of an ACC Tournament semifinal. That’s right. They felt a conference semifinal game took priority over a conference championship game. Did I mention that ESPN has about a handful of channels? Yet they couldn’t move the ACC semis to, say, ESPN2 in order to give top billing to a championship game.

Imagine if they only had one channel. Ever.

That’s essentially what CBS has been dealing with for nearly 30 years. Sure, there’s the DirecTV Mega March Madness package that allows subscribers to choose which game to watch on TV or the free March Madness On Demand service that allows users to choose which game to watch online. But the network is still most keenly set on delivering their product to the viewer watching on an affiliate station.

Because of its 50-year association with the NFL, CBS has needed the infrastructure to distribute regionalized coverage. On the busiest NFL weekend, the network could have eight different games in an afternoon, often with more than half being played simultaneously. The NFL blackout policy requires a degree of regionalization for every outlet, but CBS and Fox are easily the most equipped as they have the Sunday afternoon packages.

Most of the producers and directors for Fox Sports migrated from CBS when Fox took over the NFC Sunday afternoon package in 1994. Of those, only three current Fox producers and three directors covered tournament games in those capacities. Because Fox has never had a contract for basketball, it’s likely been as many as 17 years since any of them covered basketball.

To put that into perspective, Lance Barrow was an associate director the last time those producers and directors covered the NCAA Tournament. He just produced his second Super Bowl last month.

Having the tournament on any other network simply doesn’t make sense. Then again, neither does a 96-team field. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Thursday, March 18

Oklahoma City

Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst), Craig Silver (producer), Andy Goldberg (director)

Early Games (11:20 a.m. CT):

Florida vs. BYU, Kansas State vs. North Texas

Late Games (6:10 p.m. CT):

UNLV vs. North Iowa, Kansas vs. Lehigh

New Orleans

Dick Enberg (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst), Mark Wolff (producer), Mark Grant (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Notre Dame vs. Old Dominion, Baylor vs. Sam Houston State

Late Games (6:15 p.m. CT):

Kentucky vs. East Tennessee State, Texas vs. Wake Forest

Providence

Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Bob Mansbach (producer), Suzanne Smith (director)

Early Games (11:30 a.m. CT):

Villanova vs. Robert Morris, Richmond vs. St. Mary’s

Late Games (6:25 p.m. CT):

Georgetown vs. Ohio, Tennessee vs. San Diego State

San Jose

Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Bob Wenzel (analyst), Vic Frank (producer), Chris Svendsen (director)

Early Games (1:30 p.m. CT) :

Vanderbilt vs. Murray State, Butler vs. UTEP

Late Games (6:20 p.m. CT):

Marquette vs. Washington, New Mexico vs. Montana

Friday, March 19

Buffalo

Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Len Elmore (analyst), Steve Scheer (producer), Mike Arnold (director)

Early Games (11:15 a.m. CT):

West Virginia vs. Morgan State, Clemson vs. Missouri

Late Games (6:10 p.m. CT):

Gonzaga vs. Florida State, Syracuse vs. Vermont

Milwaukee

Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst), Ross Schneiderman (producer), Bryan Lilley (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Xavier vs. Minnesota, Pittsburgh vs. Oakland

Late Games (6:15 p.m. CT):

Oklahoma State vs. Georgia Tech, Ohio State vs. UC Santa Barbara

Jacksonville

Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Clark Kellogg (analyst), Bob Dekas (producer), Bob Fishman (director)

Early Games (11:30 a.m. CT):

Temple vs. Cornell, Wisconsin vs. Wofford

Late Games (6:25 p.m. CT):

Duke vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff/Winthrop, California vs. Louisville

Tim Brando (play-by-play), Mike Gminski (analyst), Ken Mack (producer), Jim Cornell (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Notre Dame vs. Old Dominion, Baylor vs. Sam Houston State

Late Games (6:20 p.m. CT) :

Michigan State vs. New Mexico State, Maryland vs. Houston

Traditional Ratings

The reality of a flawed system has rarely been whole-heartedly denied. Granted, who’s actually admitting the system’s fallibility almost certainly depends on who benefits most from the findings. For instance, when NBC had the rights for the AFC in football, they would claim that CBS’ ratings lead was a mere reflection of the NFC’s bigger markets. CBS had no complaints. When Fox took over the NFC and CBS got the AFC, suddenly it was CBS pointing out that the NFC markets skew the results.

As you probably know, the reason ratings of any kind are so important is advertising. That’s no secret. The more eyeballs you have watching or ears listening, the more valuable the ad time. So, it seems that developing the most accurate measurement would be a top priority. And maybe it is, but you wouldn’t always know it.

What you may not know is that until more recently the primary method for collecting ratings data was by diary. That’s right, diary. The same method your teenager would use to express his or her perpetual internal angst. In fact, diaries are still widely used in over half of the 210 Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs). Consider any time that you’ve been on a diet and had to maintain a journal of everything you ate or perhaps had a school project that required keeping a log of daily activities. Aside from being difficult to keep up with, it almost always gets progressively less accurate over time.

Obviously, this is a gross over-simplification of a very complex system that incorporates a variety of methods. But it’s still a widely antiquated system that, like most polls, attempts to provide relevant data based on a sample that’s representative of the population.

Ratings Get Higher-Tech

Technology has certainly improved the accuracy. If you’re TiVo can attempt to predict what shows you would want it to record based on your viewing habits, surely Nielsen can actually keep track of what you watch.

In fact, they’ve been tracking information about DVR viewing for about five years and, not surprisingly, believe that ratings for many programs would increase dramatically because of “time-shifted” viewing. Needless to say, advertisers aren’t thrilled with the prospect of having to pay more based on viewership at some later date. Thus, those numbers have not been widely figured in to ad rates.

As for the various types of technology – namely set meters and people meters – both require additional hardware. Nielsen can’t just track your viewing habits without your knowledge. So, don’t worry if you’ve been watching what others might consider an unhealthy amount of Rachel Ray. Unless you have a set meter, you can just keep that to yourself.

Meanwhile, radio’s still a bit of a mystery. But the money isn’t as big as television, and the technology isn’t changing at such a ferocious pace. Presumably newer formats, such as satellite radio or HD radio, at least have the potential for better data collection, but with the push toward internet radio and podcasting, talk radio could ultimately find its match.

Online Metrics

The most intriguing prospect is for the growing amount of content online. Like with any other medium, the key to online advertising is reach, the size and demographics of your audience. Websites provide an opportunity for more detailed audience data than all other media combined. That’s a lot more information to sift through and analyze into something meaningful.

Where this presents a more unique situation is in the prospect of a site providing local content but receiving heavy traffic other of locations nationally or internationally. There’s both the opportunity to appeal to more national advertisers and the challenge of keeping prices competitive for local advertisers.

Content Providers and Audience Data

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of all of this is what content providers do with the information they have. Plenty of good television shows have been cancelled simply because the ratings weren’t good enough.

Consider the beloved comedy Arrested Development. The show’s quality cast and writing, coupled with it’s appeal to a critical demographic make it all the more puzzling that Fox cancelled it after only three season. The network was not satisfied with the show’s ratings.

Perhaps to a fault, the show was ahead of its time, a precursor to a genre of smart and nuanced comedies like Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock, whose use of handheld camerawork, reliance on writing and performance, and escape from traditional sets was a refreshing departure from sitcoms.

Just ask Conan O’Brien or Jay Leno if ratings still make or break a show. But should they dictate content? I’ll take a look at that issue in the coming weeks.