The Beast

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Aug 24, 2009 -> 10:30 AM) Steve Stone having a Cy Young has a lot more to do with him being in broadcasting then him having a BA in History. As far as your question Farmteam, it certainly helps, but it's more about being a great speaker than the actual voice. Guys like Mike Murphy and Harry Teinowitz have had long careers in the radio business, and don't exactly have "radio voices". As far as the question of the thread, right now I'm a student, getting a degree in Sports Management. I currently work for the media relations department with the Schaumburg Flyers, and also producer/engineer our radio broadcast. (I'm also going to be the color guy on Tuesday, so I expect all of you to listen! ) I also spent 7 great months with ESPN Radio, which allowed me how to learn how to be a producer/engineer Tony - I was just suggesting that Stone's degree didn't really matter in getting a job in the broadcasting industry. Where are you getting your sports management degree at and what courses do you take?

QUOTE (farmteam @ Aug 23, 2009 -> 08:58 PM) Where do you teach? Currently in school, getting a B.S. in business. Not entirely sure what I want to do with that -- thinking about something in the merchandishing/planning/buying area, though I'm strongly considering law school. I never considered broadcasting, but it's always in the back of my mind, because I'm always told I have a great deep radio voice. Silly question, to those who work in that field -- how much of a selling point is having a voice like that good for getting a job as on-air talent? I'm not even thinking about it seriously, just curious. I don't think it is so much the voice that you present as it is the talent that you have on-air. What makes Dan McNeil great is his quick wit and analysis he brings to the table. Steve Stone has a BA in History and just knows baseball - though he does have an excellent voice for the air waves.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 21, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) Attorney, trying to figure out how I can finance broadcasting school You could check out the Illinois Center for Broadcasting in Lombard. I'm not sure how expensive that is, but I know 670 the Score has an employee who graduated from there and immediately was in the Chicago market. Part of the problem that I have with the radio industry is that if you are in a school of lower tier, you might not be able to get into the position you want until you spend a lot of time in a small town, small market station. But, since I'm not really interested in the technical work or being on air talent (I don't have the energy that McNeil and Spiegel have), it isn't a good fit for me. Though I must say, if you are at Columbia in Chicago or anywhere remotely close in proximity to the city, you might get that job in the city and bypass a 5-10 year trip to a small town. I'm curious though, how some people at the Score seemed to get in the city upon graduation from SIU, ISU or U of I. As far as the newspaper industry goes, my issue with that is similar to the market for radio. Two things. Is there a market for radio to be in a major city or must people pay dues in small markets? Also, is the newspaper industry going downhill? My occupation is being a student. After working doing manual labor over the summer, I've decided that I do not want to go into the trades or do anything related to not having a degree. I don't want to drop out of college, but I must say, EIU did not suit my needs. Location (rural, a bit far from home for my taste), difficulty level of classes (too easy), the campus itself (too small), the school spirit (I'd rather be more spirited like ISU or NIU), the internship opportunities and my personal goals were not really there. I decided that radio was just an interest in high school, and that journalism could be something I'm still interested in, given the right opportunity - at ISU, NIU or a private school. I didn't like the daily deadlines and how I didn't really grow personally down there. When the economy started tanking, I started to get rather interested in business, but wanted to incorporate my writing ability into my major. I looked at my options at different schools - NIU has both business and journalism, ISU has business and public relations, and St. Ambrose has all of those areas of study. Public Relations is a lot of writing, but it also can incorporate my desire to study about business. I could be a business major, but it would require me to ask the academic advisors at the three schools when I visit them this fall about how many math courses I would need to take before I am able to get into Calculus for Business and Social Sciences. Unfortunately, when I tested at the community college, I hadn't taken a math course in over a year and got placed rather low. So, I'm asking NIU, ISU and other schools about what I'd need to take. And for the semester I'm taking business courses while applying for the spring semesters. If I got the business degree, I wouldn't mind opening up my own business. If I got a PR degree, I could work for a PR firm, be a PR manager or work as an editor in some capacity (probably would require a degree in journalism, which shouldn't be too difficult for me, since that subject area is easy). Ultimately though, I think my passion lies within sports. I'm in the process of emailing Brooks Boyer to see what I could do to intern with the White Sox, or to see what it takes to work with them or within the sports industry. I'm also considering contacting minor league baseball teams such as the Kane County Cougars to work with them in some capacity. QUOTE (Molto @ Aug 21, 2009 -> 08:48 PM) I'm a little of a lot of things: editor, print/web designer, an auditor of sorts (boring job, too complicated to explain), but the most fun is baseball coach/instructor (I get paid to teach baseball, which is sweet). My goal is to expand on the latter. Plus the whole www.soxnet.net thing. What did you major in and what kind of courses did you take for web development? I might be interested in taking a course like that.

Are we all sitting together after the game? If not, I'm not sure that I'm going to go - I hated going to the game alone that one time. =P

-When the Sox beat the Cubs in the suck fest on Saturday this year at the Cell. -El Caballo's grand slam to beat the Cubs.

It would be awesome if we could somehow get seats together - is that possible even with how small our group is?

I'll be there. I assume we are playing at the field that is almost adjacent to the ball park and that I'll see you guys at the game about 3 hours before game time.

I happen to hate Beckham's song and I can't stand Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" either. 2005 is soooo four years ago.

For someone trying to be marketable in their chosen career path (business or public relations) I've been reading Career Wisdom For College Students by Peter Vogt. It's a good fast read that I'd recommend to anyone - especially Generation Y college students.

I see a DFA in Bartolo Colon's future.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 6, 2009 -> 10:48 AM) Finished Criminology at 8 today, bit difficult, but i think i did well. Was really worried about Comp Politics, but i handled that one on tuesday. Just have english tomorrow and then i can reflect on how bizzare this year was. I hear you on how bizzare the year was - at around 1:30 tomorrow, I will be done with my "sophomore year" of college. What a wild ride this year has been. An unforeseen breakup, a discovery of not liking what I thought I was passionate about, and an uncertain future. My grades are not the issue, it is the subject matter. I'm embarassed, but I think it is best for me to go to a community college for a semester, figure out what I want to do, and then proceed in school at the likes of NIU, St. Ambrose or Western Michigan University. This time, when I go visit colleges, I'm going to be looking for the right one for me. Hopefully my luck will improve.

Official Fart Thread Post: I ripped one.

Jenks45monster, From my experience, I would reccommend that you visit the program and get a lot of different opinions from different students. I looked at NIU, EIU and UIC. I wasn't pleased with a lot of them, but at the time, EIU had things to offer to me. WIU I hear is a party school and is out in the country. If that appeals to you, go for it! I know that any school will be considered a place for partying, but be sure there's other things to do if you aren't big into drinking. I'm in my second year of college, and I do not know what to study. I'm leaning heavily towards business and am actually going to go to the College of DuPage for a semester before I look into universities, such as Western Michigan University, Northern Illinois University, or St. Ambrose. I've considered Illinois State University, but we will have to see what I think before I make any decisions. I've had mixed reviews about WIU from someone who failed out and from someone who graduated and teaches business courses at my high school.

What time are we playing? I'm adding this to my calendar as we speak.

Crit fail for the loss! ZOMG.

Do you guys want to get tickets on the day of for the game? I'm all for playing softball, but I was curious if we were all going to the game afterwards in a specific section.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) I think you would succeed at business calculus, even if it's at EIU. I stunk at Calc and I was able to pass prettty easily. The best thing you could do is find a group of people in class that you talk to or that you could see talking to(basically people you think you would hang out with on a regular basis, even though you don't have to do this) and helping each other out. It's much easier in class when there's someone on the side of you in which you could ask a question and stuff. I guess it makes you feel like you're not in this alone. Other classes that you struggle in would be better if you did the same in those classes. You may develop a friendship or two. Just make sure you don't get people who are lazy or who always ditch class. By always, I mean 75%. I probably could succeed at business calculus, though it isn't going to be at EIU. I'm not coming back here next semester. I'm better made for a more urban environment and I just couldn't see that when I was looking for schools. I never visited ISU and I kind of would like to attend a school that is in the city and isn't ungodly expensive. One thing that I have to realize is that I'm a transfer student, and that I do not meet a lot of the pre-requisites for the Business Administration program at UIC. I do not have coursework in statistics or business calculus. In addition, I applied as a Liberal Arts major, and they responded by inserting into the department as undeclared, stating that "this is based off the coursework you have achieved thus far and depends on your future academic success." Well, I'm doing fine in my classes, so that isn't going to be an issue. I'm going to discuss my situation with the academic advisor when I go to the transfer orientation program and try to explain that I'm not sure if what I want is possible. At the moment, I need to hammer out some general education requirements that UIC has, and if I go into the Liberal Arts college, I'll need to begin on the foreign language requirement. I want my counselor to know that I'm thinking Communication with business coursework is probably what will benefit me the most, and that I'm either thinking of changing to Business Administration or I'm going to get my MBA in business administration. The way things are looking in the economy and where my skills are at, I think that I'll need to get a Liberal Arts degree or obtain a business degree. Hopefully the answers to my questions will come sooner than later. I'm just glad to be starting over at a different university that isn't College of DuPage. (Which isn't a bad start to your college education.) Edit: Alternatively, it's articles like these that make me have hope: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...,0,693487.story It allows me to see that there's no set path and that change can be good. So, I think transferring from EIU to UIC can be a good thing.

That works out perfectly for me. Now I won't miss any classes.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 07:30 PM) Well I will say, for Business Administration at UIC, it's business calculus that you take. It's a whole lot easier than Calculus. Heck, it's a lot easier than Pre-Calc as well. Once you get through that, you're golden, especially if you could do Statistics. I think the only reason I've felt rather irrational lately is the fact that I'm still at EIU. Now that the semester is coming to a close, I'm going to be working this summer at a decent job where I'll have a lot of time to think. Today I was thinking about why I was thinking of going into teaching and it wasn't so much that I wanted to teach English, but I wanted students to be aware of the choices they make and why they think the way they do. I was inspired to write and teach from my high school teacher in radio and journalism. However, I didn't really care about reading for literature symbols. The reason I'm thinking of business is because I think that I could do well in a business orientated environment. I get things done both well and on time. Ideally, if I got a communication degree, I would take writing and business courses to showcase what I can do for a company. This is why I'm thinking of being a business major over the communication major. I've also thought about being a high school counselor or a life coach of some nature. Who knows what I'll do? I'm just glad I'll be in a more academically orientated environment. As for business calculus, that sounds good. I'm not a math major or even that good at math but I can do some algebra and equations.

Alright, time to bump the thread. I'll admit, I've been rather impatient just kind of waiting out the rest of the semester and just putting all of the strength I have into my academics. I've been thinking about different careers and such, and I've been debating back and forth about what to do. I think the city will prove to be a better place for me to go to school at. It's been rather tedious down here because I'm still unsure about what to do. I'm just happy that next year I'm going to be able to start fresh, try new things out, like joining running clubs and maybe even a catholic group on campus. I want to get involved, network and work my way up. Ultimately, I want to get a degree. My concerns about what I've been thinking about are as follows: Psychology---I don't know why I thought about Psych but I don't know if I could handle the day in day out emotions of the people I would be helping. I'm a caring person and I wear my emotions, so I'm not exactly sure if that would be a good job. Business Administration---Marketing and Management would be something to consider. My problem is that there is Calculus (for business) required as a general education requirement and that kind of freaked me out since Mathematics has never been one of my strong points. I would just need a C to get through the class, and I would be willing to bust my ass just to get that grade and move right along. Communication---I applied to the school as a Liberal Arts major, but in the end, I think it might be best to just go undecided and knock out gen eds. Communication is kind of broad, and I think if I focused on one area, it might give me a better chance in the job market. The major is 36 credits in addition to the rest of the general education requirements, but I'm not sure if I'd be interested in hearing a lot about theory. If they had something that was related to Public Relations or something of that nature, I might consider it. I know that in the end I'll probably get a degree. I just want to be sure that I work with good people, that I am capable of doing a good job and overall that I can live a steady life.

August 8th is the OFFICAL DATE, for the WSI/Soxtalk softball game, part III. Southsider2k5 Northsidesox72 Chisoxfn shipps kapkomet The Beast EDIT: What time do they play that day and where did you guys want to get seats?

QUOTE (Texsox @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 04:27 PM) My almost foolproof method of picking a major. Get out the catalog and list every course that seems interesting to you. See what department most of the classes are in. Done The problem that I see with the communication major is that people have said Communication is a bulls*** major like philosophy and I could only get a retail job. I guess I am intrigued by areas of business, writing (journalism, not interpreting text), and psychology. UIC offers Communication, Marketing and Psychology. I think that this semester it might be beneficial to start on the Foreign Language requirements and knock out gen eds before considering what I should do. I probably should have had most of those hammered out when I was at EIU, but they had really crappy advising that forced me into the English cirriculum. So, instead of a complete waste of money for my sophomore year, I was thinking that I could stick with Communication and take business courses as well as English courses. OR, I could get out of Communication and save myself the Foreign Language requirement bull crap by going into Marketing. It's a fun situation. Maybe I'll try that method.

QUOTE (False Alarm @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) you'd probably hate your job. Yes, I probably would hate a job of reading and interpreting text, but I probably wouldn't hate a job of reading and editing copy. This is why I'm taking a variety of courses and I probably won't get into that field. I think the phrase "like your job" and save "love for family and friends" makes more sense than "love your job."

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 08:35 PM) Just a quick thought. If you like writing, I think you should be an English major. I would also suggest you look into some Sociology classes. Those, to me, were always classes that were interesting because you would debate regular everyday issues while not having to get deep technical terms that psychology loves to give. It's not so much reading a person, but reading a group of people. The Sociology classes at UIC were always interesting and fun to me. I enjoyed every one of them. Overall though, I'm not so sure you're interested in school as of yet. It seems like you are more interested in just doing something so you can make money. I would find something I'm really interested in if I have to take the next 4 years of my life studying it and possibly taking a career in it. If you don't, it's going to be some tough times. All I hope is that at UIC, I will be more comfortable there and happier there. I don't think I've been very happy at EIU because Charleston is a small town where there hardly are any restaurants and just an overall lousy atmosphere (from my point of view). I don't want to bash the university too much because I know someone on this board who attended the school and is successful. nitetrain, you may be right about being an English major; however, I just am not seeing the connection between me hating reading and talking courses that are based around reading. I was terribly bored in my Intro to Lit Studies class and would have to go through all of the literature classes to get a degree. I read on UIC's website that there's only two courses that you need to get a writing internship, and I plan on just stomaching them because they are literature. I have always been intrigued by the prospect of being a psychologist, an excellent teacher, an editor, a sports writer for the Tribune (yes, like Rogers or Morrissey), or even something with law. Only time will tell what happens, but I'm just glad that my head is on a bit more straight than 2 years ago. I'm glad that I didn't stay at home and go to the College of DuPage (which isn't a bad starting point for some), but I didn't want to go to NIU, WIU, SIU and I couldn't get into U of I with the ACT score, so it made the decision kind of tough. When it came down to EIU and UIC, I chose EIU because I had no idea what else I should do. I never checked out ISU, but I think the city of Chicago is where I've wanted to be all along. I've always smiled at the thought of living in a big city, even if that means I wouldn't be in the typical college environment. Might I ask what you did for a major? (And a career) I think next semester all I'm going to do is take general education requirements and electives from various areas that I'm interested in. I do appreciate all of the posts. Thank you.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 03:24 PM) My girlfriend majored in English Lit at UIC and is currently working as an editor; you don't necessarily need a journalism degree to get into that line of work. If you want to stick with that path, take their internship class. It's run by Linda Andrews, IIRC. I wonder what would happen if I took an English minor (because I don't know how much of the English literature that I could stomach) or at least take the bare minimum of courses required to get into that internship. I remember seeing that internship class when I was researching UIC. QUOTE (G&T @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 03:31 PM) If you want to listen to people and write, there's always law school. That way you can punt and take any major that gets you to graduation. English and history majors are quite popular in law school. Law degrees can open a lot of doors even if you don't want to be a lawyer. I thought about your idea, too. What kind of doors do they open up?