With that being said, it is important to pick your battles. Some of the comment frays are completely garbage, but there are those which are informative and helpful. The ones I have found to be the most informative throughout the semester have been local news paper websites and op-ed columns comments. Stay away from YouTUBE clips and huge newspapers, as I found the just turned into arguments instead of talking about the articles. They can be the spot to find some good one-liners, so if your having a bad day, you may want to check them out.

One of the moments of the course I will always remember is the radio-call-in project. I had always wanted to man up and call in, and now that it was an assignment, I was finally forced to do it. Getting on the air was an experience I won’t forget. Now that I have done it before, I won’t be hesitant to call in again if a conversation sparks my interest.

If I had to do anything differently, I would have changed my approach on the story in which we wanted to elicit the most comments. Instead of asking questions, I would have made it more of an open debate. I also would 100% post the blog entry into the Twittter feed and Facebook page to get more views, hopefully leading to more comments.

Going forward in the future, I will continue to be involved in the comments board. I will always take a look at the comments, and if I’m really into a topic, will jump into the comments.

However, the Mike Vick story did not receive many comments. Only receiving 2, it seems that most do not have an opinion on the case or the topic wasn’t controversial enough. Maybe I did not entice people to comment on the story enough in terms of wording.

With that being said, to elicit more comments next time, I would absolutely post the post on my Facebook or Twitter accounts, or even both. I’m sure I could find a contingent of dog lovers on those sites ready to voice their opinions, as well as the Mike Vick following to show their support.

Maybe if I had wrote the blog entry after ESPN 360′s E-Ticket about Mike Vick’s former dogs was released, I would have got more comments as well. Anyways, check out the E-Ticket.

Thanks to Air Force One, thousands of people close to lower Manhattan had a 9/11 flashback today when the 747 flew dangerously low. The government has since apologized for the scare, but what the hell is going on here?

There have been rumors circulating it was a photo-op to show off the 747. Some people question whether it was a so called “fake fire alarm”, seeing how fast people could evacuate with a plane being so close.

Either way the government tries to spin it, it is inexcusable. We are not test dummies, and we sure don’t need to be scared shitless every time a plane is flying overhead.

Reddit commentor provides  his insane theory:

My theory: They did this to distract Fox News for a few days while they rush through a Socialized Medicine bill and DESTROY AMERICA FOREVER.

The Times reported an operating loss 0f $61.6 million.

• 28% ad drop year-over-year
• Internet ad sales slipped 6.1%

Forget the saying “there is nowhere to go but up from here.” The downward trend will continue until the print publication moves to a weekly newspaper or strictly online.

Forget all the meetings newspaper reps are conducting now to strategize and organize. If they were smarter and more prepared, these would have taken place 10 years ago. Too little, too late. And now it is everyone’s problem.

I tried it out. It took me 1:19 to finish it. I was begging for a cup of water by the end of this. This could become a serious game.

Secondly, how do these marathoners do it? Running at that pace for such a long distance is unbelievable. I have trouble driving my car 26 miles without getting tired.

The marathon got me and my roommate into a bet though. We have a deal in place to challenge each other to run 26 miles in a month. I know the marathoners only get a day to do it, but whatever. The first person to complete the 26 miles will get 26 bucks.

Generally, I don’t like to comment on stories or give my opinion so this was kind of like “forced feedback” for me. Maybe that is just my introversion coming out, but I’d rather read the article and take in everyone else’s perspective because I already know what mine is.

Therefore, I found myself searching for stories that were a lot easier to comment on, a la the comical stories. Instead of reading CNN or the Boston Globe for important news stories of the day, I was checking out Reddit, Digg, and YouTube for stories containing funny headlines.

One of the funniest stories I got into the comment fray on was a story of two middle school students putting poison into their teacher’s coffee cup. The poisonous syrup induced vomiting and forced the teacher to be rushed to the hospital. The two students were arrested, and ultimately expelled from the school.

The comment board was filled with mix reviews about the situations. Some felt it was the teacher’s fault for continuing to drink the coffee even though she knew the students were by the desk and there was some type of syrup in there. Take a look at this comment:

wtf are you talking about it said she saw the kids near her desk BEFORE she drank her coffee and just pointed the kids out to the cops. imma guess she did drink it.

Even if the students were at her desk, she should not have to worry about them putting poison into her coffee. For you to blame this on the teacher is ridiculous. Were you one of those students that blamed your poor grades on the teacher too?

Vick served a year and a half for operating Bad Newz Kennelz, a dog fighting program designed to force pitbulls to fight to the death. Gruesome details emerged from the story that if one of Vick’s pitbulls lost a fight, he would have the dog doused in water and electrocuted.

Now that he has served his punishment, the question becomes whether the former franchise quarterback will play in the NFL. He is expected to meet with commissioner Roger Goodel shortly after he is released about re-instatement, which he most likely receive.

The question becomes: What team is willing to take the risk?

Vick has stated he is a changed man from the incident, and ready to make the right decisions.

When I get out of jail, I already have a construction job working for $10 an hour. I hope I can prove to the people I’m ready to do the right things. When it comes time for a decision on the NFL, I hope everything works out.

If I am the owner of a team with a need for a quarterback, I sign Michael Vick. I understand the bad press and the animal rights protests that will take place outside the stadium, but the NFL is a business just like anything else.

When a team has success, problems push to the back-burner. Michael Vick will bring wins to any team he plays for. Winning cures problems. I am not supporting or advocating what Vick did in the past, but everyone deserves a second chance.

Now, my question is for you: What is your stance on the Vick situation? Would you want him playing for your team? Do you have any problem becoming a fan of him again? Or, do you completely despise the man for his actions and crushing the dreams of millions of kids that looked up to him?

For me personally, the Host read like talk radio, talking about a talk radio show. What does that mean? Foster portrayed Ziegler’s conversations, the setting of the station, problems in the media(a la the OJ Simpson scandal, Scott Peterson trial), switching and back and forth between the mediums. In the text, Ziegler was the talk radio show host arguing and with his callers about substantial topics.

When the piece got into Ziegler’s conversations with callers, it was extremely moving. Perhaps the most interesting conversation he had was with caller Daryl from Temecula.

Arguing over the OJ Simpson murder and whether Ziegler was a racist, Daryl insists Mr. Z only talked about black men involved with crimes. Ziegler goes on to say

“As a matter of fact, Daryl, oftentimes when we go through who’s committed the crimes, there are times when the white people who control the media, we get together and go, ‘Oh, we can’t talk about that one, because that was a white guy.’ This is all a big conspiracy, Daryl.”

The most important thing I learned from the piece is the amount of advertising that goes into a radio show. 40% of each hour is alloted for advertisements alone! Foster’s insight on the logistics of radio shows, especially if it is journalism, was well researched.

After reading this, talk show hosts have some serious balls. For Ziegler to open a show by saying “we(Americans) are just better than they are(the Arab world),” is something most people would hesitate to say to themselves, never mind to thousands of listeners.