My New Strategy

You may have noticed that I'm trying a new strategy with my posts. For one, I'm working hard to post something every day. As I told Marty yesterday, I didn't know when I started this blog that it would become a full time job pleasing my viewers! I'm just kidding...I'm glad that someone out there cares about what I'm doing enough to check this thing every day.

The second "new strategy" I'm implementing is I'm trying to include a picture with at least most of my new posts. I hope this doesn't slow down the page loading for those of you who are using dial-up. Please shoot me an e-mail and let me know how you feel about the pictures.

Also, I'm going to Southland Christian Church tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what I think about it sometime tomorrow.

My First Web Story

I successfully posted my first web story today on the WKYT website. You can view the story here.

My First Motorcycle Ride

This picture used without the written consent of Samuel Curtis Bowles

Sam brought up a very good point regarding my post about last weekend. I failed to mention that he had let me ride his motorcycle! Sam, I apologize for leaving that very exciting detail out of my post! :)

Most of you probably know this about me but I'll say it anyway...I'm not a dare devil in the least! I never enjoyed riding my bike over ramps or jumping from roof tops. I don't even like climbing trees. This may come as a surprise to you but it's really true. I don't typically drive fast...although I have been stopped a few times. (I certainly don't drive fast now because it is so inefficient for fuel) I do love roller coasters and scary rides but that's about as crazy as I get when it comes to doing things that could hurt me. I've always admired Sam because he is willing to try just about anything. I think most of you can recall a broken arm he suffered because he fell out of a tree he was climbing.

This difference between us was once again evident over the weekend when I took a short ride on his motorcycle. I was scared! I didn't go fast, I didn't make any sharp turns...in fact, I made a very wide turn. I never even got the bike out of 1st gear! It's funny but we've both always been like that. What can I say? I'm just a scaredy cat!

Lexington Catholic vs. Dunbar

Tonight I actually got to do some reporting. Now, I gotta clarify and let you know that my reporting didn't actually get on the air but it was an opportunity to get some practice and put some stuff together for my resume tape. I'll try to put the package on youtube when I'm done with it. I may not get it up until Friday if I get it on at all.

I covered the baseball district championship between Lex Catholic and Dunbar. They are two teams with no love lost between them. They despise each other and last season the district championship paired the same teams and Dunbar advanced with a 1-0 victory. This year however was a different story as Lex Catholic won tonight's game 7-0 upon the arm of University of Florida bound pitcher Nick Maronde, pictured above.

Tom Leach

I e-mailed Tom Leach (the voice of UK football and basketball) a few days ago about critiquing a couple of my past broadcasts. He e-mailed me back today and told me he would be glad to do so. It's pretty cool to have a guy with a high profile position critiquing my tapes. I'll let you know what he has to say about my broadcasts when he sends his critique my way.

Family and Friends

It may sound like a bit of an exageration but this past weekend was one of the best weekends in recent memory for me. I didn't involve any spectacular sporting event or great trip. It didn't even involve me broadcasting any games. It was just a laid back weekend where I got to spend time with my family.
I have to be the luckiest person in the world to have the family I have. My Granny and Grandad and MawMaw and Pawpaw are so loving and encouraging. They are so interested in what I'm doing that they actually get perturbed when I don't blog for a couple of days. My parents just pour out love for me. They encourage and advise me and make me feel like I'm the most important person in the world....and the crazy thing is they also do that for 3 other boys.
I think I just needed to say thank you to my family and friends that shared this weekend with me. It was encouraging and enjoyable.

I'm Actually Doing Stuff

I was a little bit worried heading into my internship at WKYT that I would not really get to do much more than go fetch the carry out or watch the video feed to make sure nothing "went wrong." However, after only a couple of weeks at WKYT I'm already really getting my hands dirty.

WKYT is in a unique circumstance because not only do they produce all of the newscasts for WKYT but they (or I guess I could say "we") are also responsible for the local fox affiliate's news show at 10 pm. So...last night Drew Deener, the weeknight sports anchor for WKYT let me produce the entire 7 minute sports segment for Fox's 10 pm show. I chose which stories we would run, I wrote those stories, then I edited the video for those stories. The only part of the segment I didn't do was the actually on-air delivery. It was a cool learning experience. And, in case you were wondering, everything went perfectly smooth.

I'm home for the holiday weekend and I'm enjoying some time with Jessie and my family! I'll write again soon.

"Loving Everyone Without Really Loving Anyone"

Today Greg and I went to Beatyville, KY. Beatyville is a small town, no larger than Orleans. It is is Lee County which is the county just north of Osley County. And to help you understand the situation of this area of northeastern Kentucky let me tell you that Osley County is the 2nd poorest county in the entire country! People in Lee and Osley Counties do not have very much money.

So today we stopped by a camp ground of sorts. The place is an area which houses mission teams throughout the summer and sets up these mission teams with projects to serve the people in these poor and struggling communities. The camp group also houses a second hand store.
Greg and I stopped in this store and had a good conversation with the lady that runs it. She was extremely nice and extremely talkative. And she is certainly living out Jesus' love to those communities.

This lady is 63 years old. She started this store because she saw a need that poor people in the community needed a place to buy clothing. She doesn't like to make people pay for things but the store has generated much more business when it charges a little money for items because people keep their pride. I was so moved by this lady's concern for her community. She works so hard trying to make people's lives a little better.

As I listened to her speak I couldn't help but think about something that Joe, the minister here at Gardenside said on Sunday. He said, "Too many Christians are loving everyone without loving anyone." In other words, we are not being specific and purposeful in our love for others. The lady in Lee County is loving people in specific ways. She seeks out people who are hurting and needing help and she finds a way to enrich their lives. I pray I can be more specific and purposeful in my love for others.

Jessie

I need to mention my beautiful girlfriend for a moment as well. She is simply AMAZING! She has a way of lifting me up and loving me the way I need to be loved when I need it. I haven't mentioned her very often on this blog and that's not really fair to her or to you who are reading and wondering what my life is like on an everyday basis. Jessie is such a huge part of my everyday life and she's a blessing that I do not deserve. I love her and miss her.

Another really neat story dealing with sports

Here's the link to a video that is pretty cool. I've always thought doing something like this would be neat...obviously somebody else thought so too. This is certainly something these kids will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives.

Watch the video

The Beauty of Sports

Here's a video by ESPN that proves once again people have something to gain from the world of sports.

Sara Tucholsky's First Homerun

Update on Sports Immersion

Here's a story on the sports immersion program I'll be participating in next semester. This is just more evidence that Ball State is second to none in telecommunications.

Ball State Creates Sports Immersion Program

My First Day at WKYT

This afternoon I embarked on what will surely be a very exciting part of my summer...my internship in the sports department at WKYT 27. It was a great first day. I got to know a few of the men that I'll be working with throughout the summer and things look like they'll be really fun.

I became acclimated with the sports department section of the building (which looks like a beautiful colonial style mansion). In fact, I actually edited together 3 highlight reels for the 10 o'clock show. The guys were quick to accept me and to start teaching me the ins and outs of the station.

Today was also a reassurance that Ball State's tcom department is everything that it's cracked up to be! When one of the sports reporters was explaining some of the programs they use he was absolutely amazed to learn I already had experience with those programs. In fact he said, "How the h%^* did you learn all this stuff?" Then later, as I was preparing to leave for the evening, the same guy said, "Well Cameron, you're a quick study but you are by far the farthest along first-day-intern in the history of WKYT."

Both of those statements were compliments of not only me but Ball State and my professors who have obviously taught me the things that I need to know in the real world.

Ultimately it was a very enjoyable first day and I'm really looking forward to working as part of the "WKYT Sports First" team throughout the summer.

Side Note: WKYT is one of only a handful of stations in the entire country that shoot high-definition in the field instead of converting it later.

My Mom

I thought with Mother's day coming up it would be an appropriate time to share some of the feelings about my mom.

I think my mom is the best mom in the world. Now, there may be lots of people that will say that about their moms but I really do believe it. Let me tell you why.

My mom is a servant. She serves her children, her husband, her church, and the Lord. She simply has a servant's heart. Sometimes, I just take a moment to think about all of the selfless acts she practices on a daily basis and the thought is very humbling. For example, right now as I type this she is in the kitchen preparing dinner. Before she could start dinner she had to make a run to wal-mart for some ingredients. Now, I might enjoy preparing dinner for one night but to do it night in a night out would simply wear me out. But my mom simply does it. It's all part of her duty as a mother and she just serves with no expectations for recognition.

I'll give you some more reasons why my mom is the greatest mom in the world. She's a working mother with a full-time job and she stills finds time to enjoy life. She has made her boys one of her main priorities and she loves to enjoy our activities. She never misses our activities. Whether it's watching wrestling, football, or golf she just loves it. I'm sure if you go down to the bleachers in Chamber's gymnasium or Cook field you'll find a perfect imprint of my mother's rear end because she's seen so many games there. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

I also love my mom because she's willing to let us go. She's never been one to keep us home and keep us from going to camps or anything else. She certainly loves it when all of us are home but it really doesn't happen all that often because we're all involved in everything and she doesn't complain she just encourages us and loves us.

I could go on and on about why I love my mom. But the bottom line is she is a wonderful mom and I'm so blessed to be her son. There's no better feeling than walking in to my living room after being away at school for a few weeks and being greeted by a huge hug from my mom.

Mom, I love you.

Indiana Votes

A couple of days ago the people of Indiana had a great opportunity. As the eyes of the entire world focused on the Hoosier state I couldn't help but wonder what role religion plays in the way people vote. I know people, and I may be one but I'm not sure, who really just can't bend on some issues. You know, the "moral" issues that seem to always come up during elections like abortion and gay marriage. Now, I'm a conservative and usually vote republican...but sometimes I think the wrong things determine how we vote.

I mean, should the fact that candidate A's affiliated party has a certain view on a "moral" issue really make him unable to be the best candidate? I do think that the Holy Spirit should guide our decisions...especially as we choose the best people to run our town, county, state, and country. But, is it possible that just a Democrat is the best candidate? Is it possible that Republicans are abusing the support they receive from the "moral" people?

I'm just not sure about all of this. I love democracy! But sometimes I think we've corrupted the system to the point where we don't choose the best candidate. It's like choosing a car based on not it's engine, the mileage, or its gas efficiency but instead based on the paint job and only the paint job. If that makes any sense.

Anyway...I'm just talking about the things that have been on my mind. I certainly don't have anything "figured out." These are just my quandaries.

By the way...you have a chance to vote on my blog...look at the poll question on the right side of the page and cast your vote!

Meeting a McCoy!

I had a very interesting day on Friday. First, it was my last day of Newslink Indiana. I'll have a post relecting on the semester in the next few days but I chose a fun story to end the semester with. I'm not going to give it all away but I'll give you a little tease to encourage you to watch. My story dealt with 80-something-year-old ladies and nude poses! You can watch the story here.

But...the interesting part of my day that'll I'll tell you about in this blog is a really cool story. Rachel, my photographer for the story, and I were hungry after finishing our story. We were in a town that is about the size of Paoli, called Winchester. (Paoli basketball fans may recognize this name...the Rams and the Golden Falcons seemed to meet year after year in the semi state in the early years of class basketball. The Golden Falcons and the RAms both have enjoyed a return to glory as well. In fact, Wincherster has been the 2A runner-up the last two season.) Anyway...Rachel and I decided to grab a bite to eat and we walked a block down from the town square to a little pizza parlor.

I wish I could remember the name of the place but I'll just say that it was less than half the size of Papinno's. We walked in and order our pizza. Then, we went to sit down at one of the two card-table sized tables in the place. We looked up and noticed all of the empty wall space had been filled with memorabilia. Posters, tickets, records, record covers, pictures, and much more...all from the band The McCoy's. Now...to be honest...I had never heard of The McCoy's. You may not know the name either but I'm sure you know one of their songs. It was their only billboard number 1..."Hang on Sloopy" If you've ever been to a Paoli high school basketball game then you've heard the pep band play this.

Anyway...Rachel and I were both intrigued so we decided to ask why this little pizza place had all of this stuff. The lady was quick to share with us that her husband was the key board player for this 1960's boy band. The man himself then walked out and talked to us for about 15 minutes about his days in the band. The McCoy's actually opened for the Beatles for about 6 months. I was talking to a former rock star! I got his autograph (which he really enjoyed giving) and learned a lot about this guy's life. It was a neat experience! You never know when you may be talking to somebody who was a somebody at one point or another.

This is why sports are important

I know some people say sports aren't important and they serve no purpose other than meaningless entertainment...this story is yet another example of why sports do make a difference in people's lives.