Now That's What I Call A Blog

Patience is a virtue


The new basketball season is upon us. Our roster, tweaked only slightly once again, is aimed at providing a little more height and bigness to our team. The season, which started April 29th, is one we feel really great about. The only addition to the roster was a friend of Rodney and Donald named Matt, about 6'2.

Lone Rangers (April 2007-present)
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Jesse Selser
Brad Gilcrease
Shaun Walker
Gary Barnes
Rodney
Donald
Matt

In our first game for this new season, we played the team that knocked us out the playoffs last season as the #5 team. I always said last season that if we hadn't played those other games beforehand, we could have beaten them. We came out hard and it was the first time in our team history that everyone on the team scored in the game. We ended up beating the team 46-35 and for the first time ever, began the season (1-0).

The next week, we took on the only team we beat in the regular season last time. They were a decent team, but overall, pretty bad. We played extremely strong this game, feeding our big guys down low and getting more easy baskets then taking threes. Donald and Rodney took the game over and were complimented by everyone else's points and assists. Although they valiantly tried to make a comeback and started hitting more shots than earlier, they were denied. We ended up torching them and getting the win, 71-51.

The Lone Rangers are now (2-0) and are looking like one of the top 3 teams in the league. The combination of big men brothers Rodney and Donald accompanied by Matt's increasingly solid performance and the outside shooting and assists by me, Jesse, Brad, and Gary have made us a dangerous team who has finally found the right combination and chemistry to make us contenders. It's taken quite some time to get where we are and where we are going, but it's all been worth it as the wins continue to mount up.

Next game, Wednesday May 16th.

Building to Win



Since the last post about summer basketball, a lot of games have been played. That summer season, we went to the playoffs and were easily knocked out in the first round. We played another season right after that with similar results.

Then, we began our most recent season in January. Our roster wasn't overhauled, just tweaked. We felt we had a competitive team, it just needed a few key pieces, mainly tall key pieces. Enter brothers Rodney and Donald. Both 6'6-6'7 and fierce basketball players.



From January until March, we won only one game going (1-9) and finished ranked 11th out of 12 teams. We had lost several close games that season and felt we were getting better as the season progressed, even if the record didn't indicate it. The playoffs started in March with our team matched up against the #12 seed in the first game. We played tough against them, fighting hard to not let our season end like all the other ones. After ending regulation tied, we went to overtime...and then went to a 2nd overtime. Finally, we prevailed 64-61 and moved on in the playoffs.

Tough thing about being ranked 11th or 12th place in the playoffs? They make it tough for you to advance. So after that very tiring game, we had an hour off, then had our next game. So an hour after our game, we took on the #8 team. This one was another tough game, but we hung on to defeat the #8 team 56-49.

The 11th place curse continued after that, however. We once again had an hour break. But immediately after the break,, we were to play for the third time in four hours. This time, we played the #5 team. By this time, we were physically drained. We were very sluggish after two full games and two overtime periods. We kept pace for much of the game and were competitive, but ultimately fell 56-38. The season was over, but we felt good about how we had come together and were playing as a team. We looked forward to the next season.


Lone Rangers (Jan 2007-March 2007)
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Jesse Selser
Brad Gilcrease
Shaun Walker
Gary Barnes
Ian Howard
Rodney
Donald

So strong, he can bend words!


So, it's been awhile since I've posted. Lots has happened. First, I will start off by saying that after interning at Trumpet Advertising since October 17, 2006, I was hired full-time on March 20th as a Junior Content Developer (Junior Copywriter). Very exciting stuff. I am a master of words now. If words were metal, I'd be Hercules. Trumpet has grown immensely since I've arrived. There were maybe about 20 people when I started, now, it's into the 30s.

Trumpet is growing and is pumping out some good, if not great work. One of the accounts I'm most proud of that we have is the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. Last October, they began a campaign called "Forever New Orleans" to rebrand the city and change our post-Katrina image. Google the campaign name and you'll see it's stirred quite a buzz. Also, a new round of billboards for the campaign are about set to go up. One of mine may be used. If it is, I'll let you know. Check out Trumpet's new site (still not entirely greenlighted) @ www.trumpetgroup.com. The old site from awhile back is www.trumpetadvertising.com (not as good, which is partly why it was dumped) I'm proud of the agency and look forward to helping it grow as much as it can and making it a household name in the industry.

Summer Basketball

If you didn't know, I assembled a team for the Metairie Basketball League again this summer. This is the third year we've participated in the league. The first year was an experiment...we had never played before and didn't know what to expect. When our team averaged a height of 5'10", you can't expect to win much. Even though we had a 6'7 guy play for us, he was able to make only a few games, two of which were our only wins. He missed most of the season and our record showed it. Michael Jordan's 4th Cousins (our team name), finished 2-8 that year. The next year proved even less successful, even with a changed name. The Lone Rangers finished 0-8 for the year and didn't participate in the playoffs due to the hurricane.

This summer of 2006, with a revamped roster, The Lone Rangers are expecting a much better season. The league started on June 4th. We ended up losing out first game 37-52, but came away feeling good. We hung tough and made it a close game in the first half, but with only 6 guys for the game, we ran out of gas in the 2nd half since we were all out of shape. I finished with 3 points (a 3-pointer). We were impressed though with our play when we had energy and felt we would only get better as we got back into shape.

Week 2 on June 11th proved disheartening as we lost 30-65 and were outplayed for majority of the game. Even though we matched up well with the team, we neglected to take advantage of our easy opportunities and missed too many gimmies. Shots didn't fall, lay-ups didn't go in, and rebounds bounced the other way. It seemed we had regressed. In the Metairie Basketball League, majority of the teams have massive, big guys on the teams...and we didn't take advantage of playing a team we matched up well with and lost badly by 35. I finished with 4 points.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Lone Rangers 2 11 17 30
The Posse 12 24 46 65 F

We didn't hang our heads though. We came away from the loss with lessons learned...what not to do next time and what to work on. I personally knew I needed to take less outside shots, drive to the basket more, and fight harder for rebounds. I pushed to use these lessons for the next week.

Then in Week 3, on June 18th we took on another team we matched up well with. Several of the guys on the other team were former rivals of mine from my days at Girard, so it made the game kind of special. They were good players...all-stars back then. We started out pretty well, keeping pace and tight. After most of the first quarter though, they began to pull away by way of numerous 3-pointers by Gomes (Girard rival). We ended the first quarter down 19-7. The 2nd quarter though was ours. We came out determined not to let this game slip away like so many others. We took a 8-0 run to get back in the game and bring the score to 16-19 and didn't allow them to score for the first 4 minutes of the quarter. With 3 seconds left in the half, Dave, our tall, big man put up a hail-mary 3 from midcourt and sank it as time expired...At the half, we trailed 26-28.

The 3rd quarter seemed like it might slip away again as the team hit a bunch of 3s and held a 9 point lead at one point. We battled back though and ended the quarter down 37-40. The 4th quarter was especially tough as we again began to feel a little drained since we only had 6 men again, but did not let up. We were down 44-47 with a minute left and the other team taking a 1-1 free-throw. Dave got the rebound off the missed shot and tossed it down court to me waiting at the other end. I drove in for a lay-up and was fouled...the basket counted and one. I hit my free-throw to tie it 47-47. They drove down court and hit a jumper from the left wing to take the lead 49-47. Seven seconds remained, so we called a time-out. We inbounded from half-court, passed it to Dave on the right wing, who then drove into the lane and hit a jumper to tie it 49-49 with 1 second left.

To over-time we went. For two minutes we fought tooth and nail, but drained of energy and thoughts of previous let-downs where we lost at the last second. But we held on strong and pushed hard. We played excellent defense in the final 2 minutes and scored 5 points to take it. At last, we had won for the first time since the summer of 2004 by a score of 54-52. It took a lot for us to win, completely exhausting everything we had. Now we're (1-2) and look to build off the performance. I finished with 9 points, although that wasn't my strength. I made a few easy shots, but I shined defensively where I played pretty well and had numerous assists. The Lone Rangers have done it!

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT
Lone Rangers 7 26 37 49 54
Run n' Gun 19 28 40 49 52 F


Rosters

Michael Jordan's 4th Cousins (2004)
Jesse Selser
Brad Gilcrease
Brett Pfiefer
Shaun Walker
Erin Flynn
Todd Keyes
Steve Terry
Chris LeBlanc
Ian Howard
Gary Barnes

The Lone Rangers (2005)
Jesse Selser
Brad Gilcrease
Tyrone Dudley
Shaun Walker
Gary Barnes

The Lone Rangers (2006)
Jesse Selser
Brad Gilcrease
Tyrone Dudley
Shaun Walker
Gary Barnes
David Cooper
Brett Pfiefer
Truong Vu

End of the (College) Road

[I apologize for this being the first post since 2/15, but you know, it's not like I have a ravid fanbase or anything like some of these other major bloggers. But anyway, I'm going to try to do it more as I hit the end of college in this final month or so.]

Well, Spring Break 2006 is officially over. And so begins the end of my college career. I have less than a month now left here (graduation is Friday May 12th) and I know it certainly will not be a pretty final stretch. I have the most important work of my advertising classes ahead of me with projects galore and many sleepless nights to go before I am through. Yes, I'm excited to be finally done with class. And no, I'm not too thrilled about leaving. It's a tough situation I'm sure everyone feels. Happy, but disappointed. Thrilled, but sad. Anyway, like the feeling of my stomach coming up my throat in cross country races back in high school when I was on the final 60 yards, I didn't like the feeling then, and I don't like the feeling now of this final stretch. Too much to do...and the quicker I get it done, the quicker I'm out of here...kind of a catch-22. I want the work over with, but I'm not quite ready to leave either.

I got to visit Scott, Jack, and Jennifer on Tuesday of Spring Break. I really enjoyed seeing all of them. Jack has gotten really big and I can already tell, he's going to be better looking than Scott. Me and Scott played some Atari Flashback games. He schooled me on the 4-bit (?) system. He harkened back to the days when he throttled me on Nintendo when I was 8 and he was 17 and made me cry because he showed no mercy. The two main games, Tecmo Super Bowl and RBI Baseball 3, were the ones he crushed me on. Since then, he hasn't beaten...I school him. Now, it looks like I'll have to start training on the Atari system for the next 10 years. I also got to go Scott and Jack's daily walk with them and was quite enjoyable. Later, Jennifer got home and we all went to eat at Midtown Cafe...it was pretty good...had a New Orleans kind of feel to it.

Scott had also gotten to visit me for two days on March 31st and April 1st. It was disappointing, we both found out, that we hadn't gotten a chance to have more visits earlier in my college career. I really enjoyed him being here and felt like we were more on the same level than ever. For my entire life, he was always in a different stage, much more older and mature. But now it feels more like I have common ground with him and I can talk with him about things that aren't trivial from when like I was 10 and he was 19.

Thought for the day: I got this quotation from a friend not too long ago and I really like it.

• "I've come to the conclusion that if having things turn out the way you wanted them to is the measure of a successful life, then some would say that I'm a failure. The important thing is not to be bitter over life's disappointments. Learn to let go of the past. And recognize that every day won't be sunny, and when you find yourself lost in the darkness and despair remember it's only in the black of night you see the stars. And those stars will lead you back home. So don't be afraid to make mistakes, or stumble and fall, cause most of the time the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you'll get everything you wish for. Maybe you'll get more than you ever could have imagined. Who knows where life will take you. The road is long and in the end, the journey is the destination."

Well, the recruitment poster that me and Josh were working on for so long was shown to the higher-ups on Tuesday. They saw it...they loved it...they took too much time analyzing it. Initially, it was the greatest thing since time began. But after 30 mins of discussing and reviewing it, they decided that the quote "Ability is nothing...without opportunity" and "Say hello to your opportunity" were too offensive to other groups in the department.

Basically, it was seen that we were being too aggressive and subtly saying that there hadn't been any opportunities for students prior to this and if there were, they weren't any good. In reality, we were trying to convey the message that this new group (The Univeristy of Southern Mississippi Brass Theatre) and the show that they would be creating was an opportunity unlike anything before it. The target market we were trying to reach were musicians and theatre artists, which are usually very intellectual and would have received the poster very well. I had My advertising teacher and advisor Dr. Johnson review the work. He thought it was great and loved the concept. I told him of their complaints and he said it seemed more inhouse politics and that they were crazy. However, as the client, it was ultimately their call and not ours...which did suck. But in advertising, you have to get used to having what you know is great work and ideas being rejected by those who don't know much about creative strategy and advertising.

They loved the artwork and concept, but wanted the words changed. We went back to the drawingboard to rework the wording. We kept the artwork exactly the same and tried to convey a better message that still integrated with the artwork. We came up with 4 new ideas, two of which were not too great, two that were pretty good submissions. Idea 3 and 4 are the better ones that we expect to be accepted.

New wording:
Idea 1 - "Not everyone is unique...but we all have the potential to be." (all white words). "A New Brand of Performance."
Idea 2 - "Ability is empty...without the fulfillment of performance." (All word are white, except empty, which is colored gold). "A New Brand of Performance."
Idea 3 - "your golden opporunity." (your & opportunity is white, golden is gold). "A New Brand of Performance."
Idea 4 - "opporunity is the audience...that ability dreams about." (All white except, opportunity & ability is colored gold). "Say hello to a new opportunity."

Once they choose, I will post the winning poster here. Once they choose which one(s) they want and they are start to be posted around school and numerous other places within the region, we will basically have about a month or so until the next phase will start...an awareness campaign.

(Also, if you didn't read before, check out www.blasttheshow.com to see the model for the show that the Brass Theatre will be producing. We will also have to come up with a logo for the group and a name for the show once things start rolling along.)

Thought of the day: "Save things you want to throw out sometimes. Packrats are often criticized for their hordish ways. But sometimes, when you see the things they have, it'll make you wish you had kept some of the things you once had. You come across a lone school notebook from 4th grade... What were you thinking then? Who were you? What were your thoughts on a particular day in that notebook? Sometimes, the least important things today turn out to be instrumental mirrors of the past tomorrow."

Success! Me and Josh Collum's work on our recruitment poster for the Brass Theatre is coming along nicely. We took numerous digitial pictures Thursday for the ad with two coming out most favorably. Then the work began to photoshop the pictures. After many frustrations and many under the breath cursing because the picture refused to do what we wanted it to do, I asked someone who knew better. After getting some expert advice, the picture is finally doing like we envisioned and the poster is coming together nicely. The draft will be ready most likely for Monday to be shown to the higher-ups and get their opinion on it. Basically, we'll be showing them the work to see if we are the people for the job and beat out the marketing guy. Once the poster is finished, I'll try to post a sample of it on here or at least somewhere online.

This weekend looks to be uneventful. Which is what I like. I handed in a paper today in my history 466 class (Our Times: U.S. since 1945) on a book that I didn't finish. I read about half and got bored, so I tried to wing it. I didn't proofread the paper or really give a damn. I just wanted it to be done with. Did it answer the questions he asked? I don't know. I think they did, but if not, that's ok because we have like 3 more to do and eventually one of those papers will answer a question correctly. So now, I have some down time to just do whatever. It feels nice.

We play our 4th intramural basketball game Sunday (odd day b/c its usually Mon or Wed, especially for suitcase university). Of our 3 games that are in the books, we are (2-1). We lost out first game 37-17. I scored 7 of our 17. Then, our next two games were wins by forfeit. We scare opposing teams so they don't show up, that's our philosophy. This Sunday, 3 pm...(3-1) perhaps? Not much else is happening this weekend really.

Thought for the day: "People are going to disappoint you and screw up no matter what you do. But in life, there is no sense in holding a grudge or being angry at someone as long as they are sorry. All you can ask is that they learn from their mistake and move on because you know that you will make mistakes too. Life is too short to spend it angry or mad. Learn, Forgive, and Forget. As a famous quote says, 'Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.' Time used being angry is time wasted and never gotten back."

Apparently, my advertising career is already taking off. Within the last 2 weeks, there are at least 3 offers for me and fellow fraternity brother and ad-major Josh Collum to accept or turn down.

We have currently accepted one with the other two being put on hold. The offers we have received are all possible money makers and at the very least, good experience. The first offer that we are competiting for is for the USM Brass Theatre Band, who next year will be producing a show similar to broadway show "blast" (blasttheshow.com). We are currently working on the recruitment poster for 10 spots they are looking to fill and will later come up with some creative work and name to market the event. The grant for the show is $150,000. We may get paid handsomely if it all works out.

The 2nd offer stems from Josh's own work. Josh is from and went to Clinton High School in Mississippi, where N'Syncs Lance Bass went as well as many other singers. Josh knows Lance and the other N'Sync guys and has been working to break in the music industry for awhile now. This summer, he is supposed to be doing a tour with two other guys as he puts together a new cd and needs marketing for the event. Another potential money maker.

The 3rd offer is in limbo right now. AVanessa, a girl that used to go to USM and her sister, are about to open up their own clothing store. Their dad, who is quite loaded, gave them $30,000 to go to Vegas to get clothes to fill their store. They will need advertising and marketing when it comes time for the grand opening and want us to give it a try. We're still considering the possibility, but for now are focusing on the Brass Band Theatre event.

All of these offers come after we worked on some ad material for Roly Poly trying to gather more money for their catering services back in January. Anyway, here's to hoping we can make some money here and there and produce high quality material...that gets results.

Thought for the day: From the BMC weekend last week "Compliment three people every day. You'll be amazed how effective a simple compliment can be."

This past weekend, the fraternity held a "Building Men of Character" retreat hosted by some national staff members here at the house. It made for a loooong weekend. Friday 6-10 and Saturday 9-9. The sentiments were the same though...we were all highly skeptical of getting anything out of the weekend, but turns out, it was one of the best things that could have happened for this chapter. Sure it was long and time consuming, but we actually did come closer together and got a lot of things in the open. Saturday night, after it was all over, I felt the best I had in a long time and still continue to feel that way. I acutally have a renewed optimism and desire to see this place succeed.

The weekend was deemed "substance free" by the national guys so we could be active participants and not hungover on Saturday. After it was all over though, everyone hung out at the house and got trashed. It was the best time I had hanging out with everyone at the house in a long time. There were a few girls over, which was great, but I actually enjoyed just drinking and bullshitting with the guys.

Last weekend, the pledges were initiated on Sunday, so we have some fresh blood and shiny pins. The first 2nd semester pledge class since mine. Even though they are solid guys, I love giving them a hard time and joking around with them. After this past weekend and their initiation, I feel a lot more confident in the direction of this chapter and am disappointed I will not be here to help ensure its future success...but it's in good hands.

The retreat really made me think about a lot of things and evaluate myself. It focused on "Character" and there were three things that made an impact on me at least. The first was an open discussion where we all sat in the chapter room and talked freely of any issues and concerns we had and addressed them. It was great to talk so freely. The 2nd and 3rd things were very similar. They were power point presentations of quotes and phrases basically and I have always been interested in quotes. Although a lot of the quotes were great and I want to get a copy of the presentation, one quote that stood out is "If you don't have any enemies, you don't have any character." I thought that was profound b/c I always try to not have bad blood with anyone and don't like having enemies, I'm sure like everyone. I'm going to try to get those copies and then post my favorite quotes next time...I think they are very inspirational, especially the impact the videos make when you see the full thing.

Lesson of the day: "Majority of the time, the moments that make the biggest impact on your life are the things you don't want to do and later can't imagine not having done."