Introduction: Beyond the Game Spring 2014

[pullquote]Read the stories from Beyond the Game series from Spring 2014 [/pullquote]Monday, Jan.27, 2014, was the first time we all came together.

For some it was the first time meeting our classmates, for others it was the first time ever taking a sports reporting class.

We all came from various backgrounds, with different passions, different focuses and an array of career goals and aspirations.

That was 16 weeks ago and since then we’ve worked to give you the magazine you’re reading now.[pullquote]Interested in taking this class?

53-4540 Advanced Sports Reporting

Course, the sequel to Sports Reporting, emphasizes in-depth coverage, both in subject matter and length of stories. Field-reporting assignments will include sports media, sports business and marketing, stadium financing and construction, legal issues, and gender issues.

3 Credits
PREREQUISITES: 53-2520 Sports Reporting and/or instructor permission.[/pullquote]

We all came up with story ideas that go, well, Beyond the Game – everything from the people who make it work behind-the-scenes to medical issues to charity events and sports specialization that is changing the scope of the sports world as we’ve come to know it.

What started as an idea has turned into extensive reporting, researching, interviewing, broadcasting, photojournalism and multimedia pieces. Not to mention a collaboration amongst each and every person in the class to create give-and-take relationships.

While we were building up these stories as sort of the “capstone” to the semester, we were blogging weekly. Everything from the NFL draft, bracketology and the MLB, to college football unions, hockey, Nascar and golf.

There were rants about potential draft picks, upsets, trades and occasionally the professor…oops.

Clearly we wrote, a lot, but about topics and stories in the sports world that interest us and that we have a passion for. We also had the opportunity to explore aspects outside of sports reporting such as a mock NFL draft day in which we paired up in teams to research and negotiate draft picks. We listened to a Columbia College alum, Elizabeth Chmurak, speak about her journey and how she got to where she is today – the editorial producer of CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper. We watched a movie and talked about the impact the media has on sports coverage.