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There has been a lot of talk about the Bird-flu that is sweeping across countries that are over seas.  Today there was a report that some chickens in Canada had a form of the Bird-flu.  The type of flu these chickens have is not the type that spreads easily to humans.  However, panic has set in for many people.

I understand health officials being concerned about the virus spreading, but I don’t see the point in scaring people to death when it’s not necessary.  For several months we’ve heard about this virus killing many people and how the other countries aren’t prepared for something like this.  Well, come to find the U.S. isn’t exactly prepared themselves. 

Supposedly we don’t have enough vaccinations and don’t really know how to prevent the virus from spreading so rapidly.  I’m not the type of person who gets really upset with stuff like this, but I am a little concerned since the virus was found in Canada. I just wonder what officials have been doing these past few months to prepare for this terrible bird-flu.

Of course, this could be similar the SARS scare a few years ago.  Everyone was in a panic and the U.S. was not really affected by the disease.  I just don’t know what to think about the bird-flu virus.  Will it every reach Alabama?  Does the vaccination really work?  Is there are real threat, or has this just been hyped up?

Right now, I think the news stations need to back off the bird-flu scare.  They talk so much about how terrible the virus is but never mention the chances of the virus affecting you.  For all they know, the bird flu could just be something that’s forgotten about in a year because it never really affected the U.S.

 

According to former Auburn athletic director, David Housel, at every home football game there are two battles going on.  One on the field, and one in the press box.  That was certainly true this past Saturday as Auburn and Alabama took the field for the Iron Bowl. 

The press box was beyond capacity because so many writers had requested credentials.  The student volunteers like me were forced to stand on the photo deck the entire game.  We arrived at the game three and half hours before kick off to get all the programs stuffed with game notes.

Everything looked like it running smoothly and it was until the third quarter.  With less than seven minutes left in the third quarter someone found a sticky note that said that the half time stats we had handed out and collated were wrong.  No one bothered to come tell us personally; they were just hoping we found the note.

We did find the note and had to scramble to replace all the incorrect papers before the end of the third quarter.  We nearly lost the battle at that point.  Then once the game was over it was pure chaos.  We were trying to run stat sheets down to the locker rooms but couldn’t get through the fans that weren’t leaving the stadium.  Once I finally reached the locker I was mobbed by reporters standing outside the interview room.  There are no words to describe how rowdy the reporters were.

Our student team did pull through in the end and we managed to make it through the season with no major mistakes.  We were very efficient and worked together well.  I’m sad that it is the end of our football season and at the same time I have learned so much that will benefit me in my future career.

 

Auburn place kicker John Vaughn has some what redemed himself.  After an embarrassing performance at LSU in Tiger Stadium, Vaughn, who missed five field goals that game, made the game winning field goal against Georgia.  With eight seconds left in the fourth quarter and Auburn down by two Vaughn made the kick.  Auburn fans across the country celebrated and praised Vaughn after bashing him just three weeks ago.

After the LSU game, Vaughn was the victim of bad press.  Reporters were asking him what it felt like to lose one of the most important games of the season and what he’s planning on doing to correct his mistakes.  Well, I think he has fixed all of his problems.  However, I’m not so sure the press will forget about them.  Many people have said that if he made a game winning field goal against Georgia or Alabama all his troubles will disappear.  He did make a game winning field goal, but journalist never forget about the mistakes a player has made.

For instance, a couple of years ago wide receiver Ben Obamanu dropped a game winning touchdown pass against Mississippi.  He has made great plays since then and has scored several touchdowns.  However, every time he gets interviewed that one moment is always brought up especially when we play Mississippi.  Reports even wanted to talk to him when Vaughn messed up because he “knows how it feels.” 

I think journalists need to realize that these college players aren’t super heros and they make mistakes.  Everybody drops a pass or misses a field goal every now and then, but it’s only made a big deal when it’s to win the game.  The players know that it’s just a game and next week there will be another and journalists need to realize that too. 

 

I am in a feature writing class and our next assignment is to do a news piece.  I chose to do the piece on Auburn students who are in the military and had been to Iraq.  I did my first interview yesterday and I learned much more than I had ever expected to. This guy, Bob, was so excited that I wanted to talk to him he had a whole presentation type thing to show me.

While he was in Iraq he had taken a ton of pictures with a digital camera he bought to take with him.  He put a picture show together with music in the back ground.  He had like five of these made; however, I only got to watch two of them.  They were so amazing.  He had pictures of him sitting in one of Saddam’s palaces, holding an Auburn flag and there were even pictures of him celebrating is 21st birthday with non-alcoholic beer.

Bob considers himself lucky because his platoon got to stay in bunkers that were originally used by Saddam’s troops.  His job was in telecommunications so he was able to talk to his family almost everyday.  Not to mention, his brother was also in Iraq in the same platoon.

I was shocked to hear that he was happy that he got to experience serving his country.  He entered the army so he could get a free college education and never expected to get called to serve his country. He said that it was the experience of a lifetime and it has changed him forever.  He was forced to grow up since he was only 20 when he went over there.

After talking to him, I have a new found respect for men and women who have served this country.  Bob was so passionate about what he had done and he was proud to say that he had served his country.   I was amazed with everything he told and I can’t wait to talk to other students who have served in Iraq.

Yesterday it was announced that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens had been suspended indefinitely.  All I have to say is it’s about time.  Last season T.O. displayed his unsportsmanlike conduct nearly every game.  He tore down posters, he danced in the inzone and he even celebrated on the Dallas Cowboy’s star on the 50 yard line.  I don’t know of many people who actually like Owens because of his arrogance.

I think he is bad for the NFL and has no right to think he is so good that he can get away with such shenanigans.  I just wish the sports shows would stop talking about him.  He acted the way he did because he knew he would get on TV and get press.  He didn’t care whether it was good or bad press.  He was trying to make a name for himself.  He was a great football player; however, he caused a lot of turmoil with his team.

I must say that I was actually relieved when I heard that he was suspended.  Children look up to NFL players and when you have someone like Owens who gets attention for the bad things that he does.  He is no role model for kids and should have been suspended a lot sooner.  This past summer he held out practicing because he wanted more money from the Eagles.  He thought that he was so much better than anyone else that nothing would ever happen to him.  He has made negative comments to the media about the Eagles quarterback Donavan McNabb.  Just recently he told someone that if Brett Favre was the quarterback the Eagles would be undefeated.

The bottom line is that Owens should have been suspended a lot sooner and I don’t think anyone will miss him if he never plays for the NFL again. 

I have been working Auburn volleyball matches for a couple of months now and today was the last home match.  Every couple of games an aspiring journalist is their for the Auburn Plainsman (the University newspaper).  I’m glad that the newspaper realizes that there’s more to sports than just football; however, the writers they send to the volleyball matches barely know what volleyball is.

 For example, since today was the last home a girl from the Plainsman was there to interview some of the players after the game.  Auburn was playing the University of Florida which is ranked in the top five. 

It was no surprise that Auburn lost, but the players were still upset.  Shortly after the game was over the girl from the plainsman comes up to me wanting to interview some of the players.  She was shaking like a leaf because she was nervous about talking to the girls.  I asked her who she wanted to interview and she had no idea who any of the players were.  She told me she was just supposed to interview three players.  I told her three of the top players’ names that she might want to interview and she said ok I’ll do that.

She had sat through 4 games and still didn’t know any of the players’ names, she had done no research on the volleyball team and there was no sign of notepad or tape recorder.   For someone who wants to be a journalist this girl was off to a rough start.  She had not been trained properly on how to cover sports news.  I don’t even think she knew anything about sports.  It just makes me mad that something that is used as a training program for students has not trained someone properly.

As most sports fans already know, the Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville spoke his mind about the “Gameday” program on ESPN.  He said that ESPN sways the poll voters to vote one way so they can have better ratings.  I think a lot of coaches probably agree with Tuberville but are just too scared to speak their mind.  I can see what he’s talking about since most people have already figured out that Texas and USC are going to play in the championship game.

Tuberville also mentioned that there are other undefeated teams like Georgia, Alabama and Virginia Tech that still have chance to be undefeated.  But, they aren’t getting any publicity because the commentators are in love with USC and Texas.  They have even already decided who the Heisman trophy winner’s going to be. 

It is almost not fun to watch “Gameday” because they only talk about two teams.  Even last year when Auburn went undefeated we were underrated.  Oklahoma was supposedly so good, but when it came to the championship game they looked terrible.  Auburn wasn’t given a chance to play because we were ranked so low in the preseason polls.

Basically, what Tuberville was saying is that college football needs a playoff system.  I think most fans agree with that too.  However, some people are saying that a playoff system would be too many games for the guys to play.  In professional football the teams play about 20 games a season plus preseason games.  High schools have a playoff system so why is there not one for college.

If there was a playoff system the schools would make more money and there would be no controversy at the end of the season.  A team wouldn’t get left out like Auburn did last year.  I think it is ridiculous that college football doesn’t have a playoff system and every other sport does.

For the past two days I have been in Birmingham, Ala. for the Southeastern Conference Basketball Media Days.  It was my first SEC event to attend and I had no idea what to expect.  Megan and I arrived early Tuesday afternoon to help bag all of the different media guides so I was able to meet the staff before everyone else showed up.  Yesterday was an early morning since we had to be in the lobby by 7:15 a.m.  I was in charge of passing out media guides so I got to meet a lot different journalists from all over the southeast.

At media days both the men and women’s basketball coaches from each team are there along with one or two players. They go around to different stations and hold interviews with radio, TV and newspapers.  Our job as student assistants was to transcribe the quotes from each coach and player, type them up and send them to the SEC people.  We also had to make 200 copies of each for the writers.

This event was great for me since I’m about to graduate and look for a job in sports.  I was able to get my name out to the SEC staff as well as some of the journalists.  The rest of the students and I were even invited to work the Sugar Bowl, which is being held in Atlanta this year. By going to this one major event, I have managed to be invited to one of the biggest bowl games.  My network of people has also grown quit a bit.

Although there was a lot of just sitting around, I really enjoyed being there.  It’s always so much fun to meet new people and get to know them a little.  I was also able to bond with the girls I work with some more.  We had a great time and I’m going to try to work as many SEC events as I can before I graduate because I think the more events I work the more people will get to know me and want me on their staff. 

I am an avid watcher of the weather channel.  It’s the first thing I watch in the morning and the last thing I watch at night.  I always want to know what the weather is going to be like the next day and for the next week.  I know it’s a little weird and I find myself obsessed with the weather channel.

So, this morning once again I was watching the weather channel and I heard that you could get on their website and check a blog for the latest weather updates.  I immediately thought, “Hey, that’s a great idea.”  I went to their website and read some of the blogs.  They were great.  I was able to read all about Hurricane Wilma and other recent weather activity.  The blogs were written by several different people from the weather channel and you can even comment on them.

With all of the hurricanes this season, having a blog is great way to keep people informed when they have no other way of communication.  It’s also a great way for victims to communicate with each other about what they are experiencing.  I was actually amazed that the weather channel even had a blog.  Most other news stations don’t have a weather blog for their local viewers.   It’s just another way for the national station to communicate with its viewers.  Some of the blogs are even about different weather terms and explaining why or how certain things happen.  It’s a great learning tool as well as a great information source.

I think it was a good move on the weather channel to have blog.  It keeps concerned viewers informed and helps people learn about different weather information.  I was impressed with it and I think other people will be too once they learn that there is a weather blog out there.   I can see the site becoming very popular as more severe weather situation arise.  I think it’s a great idea.

An article I read at time.com opened my eyes to what is really going on with the U.S. troops who are returning from Iraq.  It said that 1,700 of them have experienced thoughts of killing themselves among other serious psychological problems from the war.  I have never heard anything about this on the news and had no clue that these symptoms occurred in one in four soldiers.  It makes me wonder what else are they hiding from us.

In this day in technology it seems that there isn’t much that can be hidden from the war in Iraq, except for the numbers, of course.  We always here about another soldiers or group of soldiers getting killed, but they never say that nearly 2,000 soldiers have been killed so far.  We rarely here about soldiers getting seriously wounded, however, more than 15,000 have been so far. To add on top of those numbers there are thousands of soldiers who a mentally wounded from the experience.

So, how come we hardly ever hear about this?  Is the government trying to “protect” us from the reality of the war?  I don’t know, but I was shocked to hear about the high number of returning soldiers with problems. 

The article also mentioned that the government is paying more attention to returning soldiers than they did with the Gulf War.  Before departing the soldiers are examined physically and mentally and when they return they go through the same process. The soldiers also return several months later for another check up.  A lot of the people going to Iraq are my age and have never been exposed to anything like this. 

A guy I knew who went to Iraq wrote a letter to his guy friends.  I started to read it but it was so graphic I couldn’t finish the letter.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to actually be there and see your comrades getting seriously injured or killed. I think we feel like we know everything that’s going on in Iraq, but in reality we only know a small portion of what goes on.