This was again a relatively tame week for an advanced reporter. Last Friday we had a beat meeting in which the four remaining advanced reporters stated their preference for beat, so during this week we waited to see what our beats were and worked on some general assignment reporting. I applied for credentials to the Kansas City Wizards vs. LA Galaxy game last week in which David Beckham will be playing but have been told my request is on queue. Today I saw that Beckham is injured and out for 4-6 weeks though, so he might not even be playing anyway.
The big news today is that we did get our beats; John and I will be covering the Missouri men's basketball team. I am really excited to be covering this team and to be working with John. Going into the year I always felt that this is the beat I could do my best work in and I know John and I will work well together. Of course things can change at any time, but if things remain the same I am really excited to get started on the men's beat. I have a few ideas so far, specifically talking to the new recruit Zaire Taylor, but John and I should also try to set up a meeting with Dave Reiter and possibly coach Mike Anderson as well. I'd like to get a good understanding of the team early on so we can do the best job possible in reporting.
Other then that, I have gotten started a bit on my freelance job with the St. Joseph News-Press. I went to Missouri football media day on Monday and will go to the game in St. Louis tomorrow to cover it with a focus on the players from St. Joseph. I am glad that I got this opportunity because I think I would go crazy if I wasn't reporting in some sense until basketball season starts. So things are looking pretty good right now and we'll see what happens from here.
