The 'Like' Letter

Wow what a year it's been. When I look back to when I was in high school and wanting to take this program, I'm so glad that I stayed the course and stuck with the gut feeling that I had. After four years at York I applied to this program. I've realized that I put myself in a lot of do or die situations. I only applied to this program so if I didn't get accepted I truly don't know what I would have done.

The program and the college have single handedly given me a joy in life. Everything about the program was incredible. I was able to be involved in athletics and be a part of the varsity soccer team. The team was much more than that to me. I had found a new family. The experiences I shared with the coaching staff, the players, the athletic therapy staff, and all other athletes will be ones I will never forget.

The program as a whole was everything I could have asked for and more. It gave me a chance to take some skills that I had and develop them and make sure I was work ready. I have a dream internship waiting for me in just under a week and I couldn't be happier. The class mates I've had a chance to call friends are some really great people. I was able to make some unbelievable friendships including one of the best friendships I'll have with someone. I won't mention this person's name but they know who they are. To have to wake up each morning at 5:30 AM to get to school on time was brutal but if there was anyone that made it all worth while it was this person. With such an incredible personality, I was able to really get to know one of the most remarkable people I will ever meet. There's nothing more I could ask of her as a friend and I truly won't meet a person like her ever again. She has the type of personality that truly comes once in a million years.

So in my last blog post of the year for class I truly want to say that the program has changed my life. It's given me plenty to be proud about and plenty to look forward to. It's made me a better person both academically and as a whole. I've had the chance to work with some outstanding people and to really become friends with some great people.

So with one single tear I say this. Thank you Centennial, Barry, the friends I made, the professors I've met, and the entire athletic staff for putting up with me all of these month's and thank you so much for restoring a joy in learning that was long gone.

To dream is to achieve

Have you ever dreamed about anything? Something you've really been passionate about? Have you dreamed of winning the lottery, or driving that really nice car, or marrying the most beautiful girl or the most handsome guy in the world? Well then you my friends are just like me.

My entire life I've been a dreamer. Maybe I haven't dreamed about those things mentioned above per se but I've always spent my days dreaming. I started dreaming when I was just a little toddler. At the age of two I got my first ever soccer ball given to me as a gift by my parents. That's where my days as a dreamer began.

Since I was five years old I've always dreamt of being a soccer player. I always used to go outside in the backyard and with my best friend we used to play and commentate as if we were taking the last penalty shot of the World Cup. With three simple steps and a kick of the ball I had won the World Cup and took my shirt off and swung it around in the air in celebration. God times were simple then. Looking at my life now I've realized something that puts a smile on my face. I am still that same little boy because nothing has changed. I am still a dreamer.

While between then and now I've dreamt a million different dreams, the one thing in my life that has never stopped or changed is my ability to dream. I was once told by somebody that you are never too old to dream and that message has gotten me to where I am today.

I truly believe that in order to achieve extraordinary things, people must dream extraordinary things. Take for example Martin Luther King. He dreamed for freedom and equality for blacks in a time that nobody dared. Take for example Michael Jordan. He dreamed of becoming the best basketball player to ever live. Take for example Barack Obama. He I'm sure dreamt of being the first black president of the United States of America. These people all went on to achieve extraordinary things but before they could do such a thing, they took the time to dream the unimaginable.

So as I begin my quest to become a public relations professional, I dream of making a difference in the field, I dream of having the platform to do good in this world and most importantly, I dream of truly becoming a successful communications professional. So ladies and gentlemen, you can consider this my coming out party because rest assured like the many greats who have dreamt before me and the many greats who will dream after me, I plan on achieving extraordinary things.  

WHY ARE ATHLETES TURNING TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO COMPLAIN?

Okay I need to get something off my chest because this is really beginning to bother me. If an athlete has a problem with someone in his own team they should be dealt with internally and not out in public. To the athletes who use twitter here's a thought for you. DO YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT MAKING A PROBLEM PUBLIC WILL BENEFIT YOUR TEAM IN THE LONG RUN? STOP BEING SELFISH AND DEAL WITH IT IN PRIVATE AND TALK TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED, NOT YOUR FANS. I capitalized all of this because of how upset I am over athletes doing it.

The straw that broke the camels back for me was when New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie came out publicly and said "Y bring Tebow in when we need to bring in more Weapons for Mark Sanchez let's build the team around him. We already signed to 3 year ext."While it's extremely noble that he has that much faith in his current quarterback, the way he is handling it is completely wrong. Now I know I'm a big Tebow fan and that probably pissed me off more than it should have but all bias aside, if Cromartie has a problem with the decision to trade for Tim Tebow he should bring it up in a closed door meeting with the coaching staff. With all due respect to Cromartie who I really like and think is a terrific athlete, they really don't pay him to make decisions like who to trade for so he should probably try and improve on his sub-par performances.

Cromartie of course is only one of the many examples of athletes wrongfully using dealing with situations. It just seems like Twitter is a place for these athletes to vent and get things off their chest. That is the problem with social media. Athletes need to realize that the only thing they should be worried about is the welfare of the team. STOP BEING SELFISH PEOPLE and do what's best for your team.

Social media, the distribution of news, and Sidney Crosby

On Thursday, Sidney Crosby made his much anticipated return to hockey and the entire hockey world was aware. As a big fan of the game, I've really found that the introduction of social media has completely changed the landscape of how sports is distributed. I used to go on TV every time I wanted some news updates on sports but nowadays it's getting harder and harder to be at home watching TV. With school, soccer, and my internship coming up I just don't have time to watch TV that often. Having Twitter on my phone is a life saver. I never have a problem keeping up with sports and I find that it is my number one tool to keeping up with sports.

Let me go back to the whole Sidney Crosby spectacle. When the greatest hockey in the entire planet comes back from a long time off because of injury, people will be excited. I saw on Twitter that Crosby was coming back before it even came out on TV. This distribution of information has become so unbelievably quick. It has changed the way I take in sports news and it has definitely changed the way I pass on news. I was actually asked how I get all my sports facts in an interview not too long ago and I answered Twitter. The fact that they weren't surprised at all shows how modern Twitter has become with things like sports.

I wonder what sports news will be like 10 years from now. Maybe this blog will continue to go on in 10 years and I'll look back at it.

How twitter has changed sports

For my second instalment of ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I want to focus on how Twitter is affecting sports. In the information age where everything can be spread in the matter of seconds to places thousands of kilometres away, it is important that we use tools like social media for good.

In the world of PR, Twitter has made the life of PR agents for athletes and sports a living nightmare. As a person who has grown up with sports his whole life I think that Twitter is an incredible tool. Surrounding myself with people who are truly good, has made me want to be a better person. I've dreamt my whole life of being an athlete. I've dreamt of being famous and playing the sport I love. I haven't dreamt of being famous because of the money or the lifestyle (although I wouldn't be against that) but simply because I want to bring forth a change in the world.

I'm a 23 year old student with the world ahead of me. At this particular moment I don't have a lot of money. I'm paying for school and I have other expenses as well. I won't sit here and lie to you and tell you that I have a million things to pay for. I live with my parents, food is paid for, and a lot of my other expenses are also paid for. Having said that though, having to pay for 5 years of school with little to no help from anyone on a low paying job, I really don't have a lot to give. With all that in mind, I've organized 3 charity events and a 4th event through my program at Centennial College.

This brings me to sports and social media. Social media is such a powerful tool that I see too many athletes piss away an incredible opportunity to do real good in the world. I wish I was a famous athlete because that would give me a platform and the ability to amplify the amount of help I can do. If I can get 50 of my friends to each buy one simple toy for a boy or a girl during Christmas time who wouldn't be able to afford it why can't athletes do the same. Instead athletes decide to use Twitter and Facebook for other things.

Now of course not all athletes do this and there are the few that really use Twitter to do good. One of my favourite football players, because of the things he does is Tim Tebow. Tebow has used Twitter to really do good for the people who aren't as fortunate as others. If all athletes were to conduct themselves in the same manner the world would be a better place.

So to the athletes of this world that are constantly getting fined for stupid comments they make on Twitter I have one simple question and a call to action. If a 23 year old student with no money can do a small amount of good, why can't an athlete with all the tools at his disposal do the same? I'm not asking these athletes to donate millions and millions of dollars. That's not what this is about. This is about using social media as a tool and a platform to do good and to raise awareness. If I go and post something on Facebook right now about a cause there's probably a 1% chance that all of my Facebook friends will read it. If I ask in that status to devote some time and money to a good cause there's a smaller percentage that will actually do it. If Tim Tebow posts on his Twitter about a cause, the reach that he has can reach over 100,000 people and out of those people at least 5,000-10,000 people will act on it. So to the athletes of today I ask only one thing of you. PLEASE USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WAY TO IMPACT THE WORLD POSITIVELY.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!

HERE WE GO FOR THE FIRST EDITION OF ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! THIS QUICK PACED BLOG ABOUT THE WORLD OF SPORTS AND IT'S JAW DROPPING MOMENTS WILL LEAVE YOU THINKING TO YOURSELF "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER WILL NOT EVEN MAKE IT TO THE NBA FINALS.  As long as russell westbrook is their point guard the team will fall short. Before you get mad just listen to what i have to say. westbrook isn't a bad player, in fact he's a great player but he's not the greatest point guard and that's where the thunder will be hurt. Not having a true point guard is going to hurt them even with scoring champ durant on the team. want an example? Look at the OKC vs. Clippers game. yes it's true that the game will most likely be remembered for the dunk of the year but what caught my eye was the game as a whole. durant had himself 36 points and 13 rebounds and westbrook had 31 points! You're not going to have 4 games in a 7 game series where those guys will have numbers much better than that so how could they lose? Westbrook had 4 assists and 6 turnovers. that's not what you want out of your point guard. What did his counterpart do? Chris Paul had 26 points, 14 assists, and only 2 turnovers. CALL ME CRAZY FOR PREDICTING THAT THE BEST TEAM IN THE NBA RIGHT NOW RECORD WISE AT LEAST WILL NOT MAKE THE FINALS. 

A third of the way through the season and there are a few surprises and definitely a few "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" 

• The Lakers are Sitting in 8th while the Clippers are sitting in 2nd
• The New York Knicks are outside of a playoff spot while the Denver Nuggets sit in 3rd.
• This shouldn't be on here because by now I should know better but the Spurs are 4th with an aging team.
• Philly has the same record as Miami
• Minnesota is an exciting team to wa.... that can't be right!! I guess it really is! Thank you Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love and company for finally rescuing that poor franchise. 

STUD OF THE WEEK!!!

Okay I think this week belongs to one man only. Blake Griffin with his jaw dropping dunk made an absolute mess of Twitter. The amounts of tweets was unreal and for the sake of social media and probably Kendrick Perkins please do not do that again.

DUD OF THE WEEK!!!

On the other side of the coin I guess I can only give this award to Kendrick Perkins. The feared defender will probably think twice before trying to block BG32!! Somewhere out there Mozgov is high fiving the shit out of everybody! 

For those of you who didn't see the dunk YOU'VE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbyOevVAYQI 

UNTIL NEXT WEEK FOLKS!!!!!!