Ever since he was a journalism major at George Mason University, Matt Lee has lived by the quote that late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs once said: "Don't be afraid. You can do it."
It was this message that got Lee out there and gave him the confidence to apply to jobs and internships as a senior in college, with very little experience in the field of journalism.
"It was like a chip on my shoulder because I wasn't doing myself any favors by going there," said Lee of his decision to go to George Mason, a school not well-known for its journalism program. "My one professor told me 'look, let them tell you no. Don't take yourself out of it before you even give it a shot.'"
In essence, Lee's journalism professor was telling him to not be afraid because he can do it.
Following his graduation from George Mason in 1998, Lee took a job at Washingtonpost.com as the online producer, working mainly the night shift. It was Lee's job to take all of the print content and put it online, but working online was not the ideal job that Lee had for himself.
"I wanted to be a beat reporter of some sorts," said Lee. "I had no idea where this was going to take me and all the old guys there were telling me that what I was doing was just a fad."
By taking an online job at Washingtonpost.com, Lee was pursuing something outside of his comfort zone. Not being afraid of the task at hand.
When Lee graduated, there were only three routes for him to take in the field of journalism: newspapers, radio, and broadcasting. But, with the invention of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other interactive social media sites, journalism was rapidly changing.
Lee excelled as the online producer and was one of the key guys in starting the first blog for Washingtonpost.com. This experience led to Lee getting a call from one of his colleagues who had a job opening at ESPN.
"I got a call from one of my old colleagues and she had a job opportunity at ESPN to work on the news desk," said Lee. "I didn't get that job, but I did get a job as the lead editor for the Insider section."
That opportunity led to Lee getting to where he is now, as the senior blog editor for ESPN.com. Four years ago, when he first took the blog editor position, Lee's staff consisted of only three or four writers.
"We hired traditional beat reporters to cover each specific NFL division and blog about them and give analysis within each division," said Lee.
Along with the NFL blogs, his small team of writers also wrote college football blogs, covering each of the major conferences.
Today, Lee's staff of writers has tripled to nine writers and their content has also expanded to to college basketball and major league baseball, on top of the NFL and college football blogs.
Lee is in his sixth year at ESPN and is a long way from that insecure college student from George Mason.
"One thing I would tell anyone pursuing journalism is to find something passionate and blog and write about it. Find something you love because this is a tough business," said Lee.
Find something you love, and, oh, don't be afraid. You can do it.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Concussions Changing The Way The NFL Is Played
Imagine yourself on queer street, not knowing where you are, being sensitive to light and sound, and constantly nauseous. Now try to imagine those same feelings while having them in front of 70,000+ screaming fans every Sunday.
Those are the immediate effects of a concussion and the injury that is the reason why fans and critics alike are calling for a change to the nation's most-popular league. The high-level speeds and hitting that occur in an NFL game make the sport one of the most violent in the world, but fans still love to see one of their team's favorite players light up the opposing player. Unfortunately, it is ruining the game everyone loves.
On October 7th, Washington Redskins rookie quarterback and No. 2 overall draft pick Robert Griffin III (RGIII) suffered a nasty blow to the head in the 3rd quarter in a game against the Atlanta Falcons. Upon viewing the hit and seeing RGIII's immediate reaction following the play, any sensible person could see that he was not ok. Following the game, head coach Mike Shanahan admitted that his quarterback suffered a "mild" concussion and he was not just "shaken up" as the team previously stated, meaning that Griffin would now have to go through a series of tests that the league put in place so that players who suffer head injuries won't come back too soon.
Now, the Redskins are facing potential fines from the league because of the original diagnosis of RGIII as only being "shaken up." However, in a different report and mentioned on Yahoo Sports "Shutdown Corner" blog, the Redskins' medical staff denies any claims that they downgraded Griffin's head injury and went through the correct medical steps to diagnose his injury, including asking him the quarter and score of the game, which he failed. After he failed that test, the trainers took him back into the training room and examined him further.
RGIII was drafted to be the team's prized possession and the organization's future, so it only seems fitting that the team would do anything possible to have him on the field. However, risking his future now is a dumb move, especially since he started the following weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. So much for really protecting the prized jewel.
The NFL has done everything it can to try to reduce the number of concussions in the game, by putting harsher punishments on helmet-to-helmet hits and blows to the head, but it's just the way the game is played. Sadly, the NFL community and sports world lost a legend last May when former NFL linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide. The cause of this: too many concussions over the course of his career.
Seau is one of many NFL stars that have ended their lives early because concussions led them to having mental problems following their careers.
On the same day as RGIII's concussion, Kansas City Chiefs' QB Matt Cassel also suffered a serious concussion, one that kept him out of the following week's game. Prior to the hit that knocked Cassel out of the game, his play had been poor, throwing two interceptions on 9-of-15 passing through the first three quarters. But, it was the reaction that the fans had after Cassel had been knocked out, causing him to be taken out of the game. The hometown fans cheered when he was removed from the game, causing Chiefs' offensive tackle Eric Winston to go on a rant about how embarrassed he was at the reaction the fans had when Cassel was injured.
Much like RGIII, Cassel may return in short time, but the reality of concussions can be seen in the sad stories of Seau and the other NFL stars that have committed suicide: concussions are not something to mess with and can cause a lot more long-term damage than the short-term pain they initially create.
We should only be thankful that the NFL is trying to do something to fix this.
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