2008 Woodie Awards
It would have made for one heck of a marathon, but one heck of a softball game, preceded by three other softball games, will have to suffice. The Massachusetts softball team played three games Saturday in the NCAA Amherst Regional, defeating Princeton, 6-0 to advance to the second round where Stanford and pitcher Missy Penna upended the Minutewomen, 3-0.
It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but the Massachusetts football team got the job done in whatever way it could. Playing under the newly-installed lights at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, the Minutemen defeated Albany, 28-16, in front of 15,112 (the second-largest opening day crowd).
So I guess this is it for me. Three years of my life come and gone, and as trying as they were at times, they were also some of the best of my life. I discovered what I wanted to do with my life and I have the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and everyone who worked there alongside me to thank for it.
The deadline for this story - which is supposed to encompass the entire year down here at the Collegian, which I spend nearly every second of my life at - was at 5 p.m. Naturally, I'm writing this sentence at 6:48 p.m. Yeah, I'm that guy. It's no wonder why every professor I've had hates me so much…I'm never in class.
The only difference between the 2007 season opener and this year's were the new lights at McGuirk Stadium. OK, not exactly. The score, opponent and starting lineups were a bit different this time - but for the Massachusetts football team, the way it earned the victory really was the same.
When the Massachusetts football team graduated both J.J. Moore and Rasheed Rancher, the Minutemen had huge holes to fill at the wide receiver position. Despite a 28-16 win over Albany on Saturday night, those holes were very visible. With the five receivers on UMass' active roster combining for 18-career receptions, filling those holes stood as a major task for UMass coach Don Brown and his coaching staff.
Two years as sports writer at the Daily Collegian; one as an unpaid assistant editor - that really should have been enough. And it probably would have had I taken school as seriously as writing game stories and sidebars about the six sports I've covered in my time here.
"I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."-Muhammad Ali Thank you to everyone I've worked with at the Collegian over my two years. I started thinking this might be my career and ended up going to a new path.
Hey what's up all you loyal Collegian staff and readers, glad your actually tuning in to catch our last articles of the year. Now if my name is familiar to you, you either work for the collegian, have gotten drunk with me at some point, or are truly a die-hard Collegian reader.
If you asked me a year ago what I wanted to do when I graduated college I would have gave you an answer along the lines of "I don't know." Somehow, someway, I came to the realization of what I wanted to do with my life; I wanted to be a sports writer. Going into my first semester of my senior year I was far behind; I was a history major without any knowledge of journalism at all.
Although I may be one of the least experienced writers on the sports staff, one of the few non-journalism majors, and the fact that I've had to follow a sport this spring which had nearly no interest to me, I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything.
I'm the biggest rookie of the bunch here, so I'll try to keep it short for the important people. Rather, the people that think they're important. Speaking of egos, I'd really like to thank Jeremy, Joe, Mike, and Eli for all the help they've given me over this great, albeit brief, period I've been with the section.
I don't even know where to begin… I guess I can start by saying I can't believe it's the end of my junior year of college because I still feel like I should be in seventh grade. In the last two weeks the Collegian has become my second home and I wasn't sure if I thought that was going to be a good thing, but it totally is.
I've only been here at the Collegian for a little more than a semester, but the little time has been great. I'm gonna keep it short and sweet to give space to the seniors since I'll have two more of these issues because of my sophomore status. Also, I only have an hour and a half to finish this before I have to send it in, because I just passed out for four hours when I wanted to start this.
After my first full year at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, I can honestly say that nothing has impacted my life-short of my grandmother dying-than working for this newspaper. I wasn't the most dedicated writer this year but I know that I've grown so much already.
So to begin, first and foremost - no I'm not going to thank God for allowing me to become assistant sports editor because that would just be simply clichéd and foolish. However, I will bust out the second most popular cliché and thank my mother, so you're gonna have to deal with it.
When I originally chose to go to UMass, I wasn't sure if I would continue writing sports, which occupied most of my life in high school. I pretty much decided that I would stick with the newspaper until it wasn't fun anymore, which ended up being a smart decision.
When I walked into the Collegian newsroom late last November, I must admit that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But looking back on it now, it might have been one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. As a freshman and far away from home for pretty much the first time in my life, I found a sense of community and family immediately after working for the UMass collegiate newspaper.
It's hard to believe that just one year ago I was in awe of my chance to be an Assistant Sports Editor and cover some important teams. Now I feel the same way about the opportunity I have to lead this newspaper as Editor in Chief. I'd be lying if I said my experience with this section didn't greatly prepare me for my future challenges.