Three Social Media Trends That Drive Me Crazy

Posted on July 18, 2013 by brent

As social media keeps evolving there will be certain practices that I love and that I hate. As long as this blog stays up and running, I will continue to write about them. Tonight I will focus on the latter, so as always I want to apologize for the negativity. I will make up for it in my next few posts.

In tonight’s edition of Don’t Blink I want to quickly highlight three somewhat trendy practices in social media that I am not so keen on. Each practice I am about to highlight comes from a different social service but each one I believe carries with it unoriginality and a degree of laziness. I love social media because of its ceiling for creativity so when I see an example of something on Instagram, Vine, or Facebook that I feel has very little uniqueness or thought from the user I get turned off.

Here is what I am currently burning on:

Throwback Thursday Pictures That Aren’t Really Throwbacks: I am still all about the Throwback Thursday idea. I love seeing people’s pictures from years ago when they were in diapers, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, or dressing up for Halloween for the first time. I also enjoy seeing people’s photos from maybe not all the way back in childhood but maybe from a time 10 years ago when they were at a different stage in their life and had a noticeable different style or appearance.

I don’t enjoy seeing someone’s Throwback Thursday picture from their spring break Vegas vacation four months ago.

I have seen plenty of Instagram users butcher the idea of Throwback Thursday and use photos that are just a year or two old and in many cases even more recent than that. If you post a TBT picture, it is a good rule of thumb to not post any pictures that you originally took on the iPhone that you are using at the present moment. To give a more straight-forward rule, make sure the picture is at least 4-5 years old before branding it a #TBT.

If you don’t have a good Throwback Thursday picture I just advise not using one for that particular Thursday. Don’t force one just to say that you posted a Throwback Thursday photo. If you didn’t go through photo albums or search way back on Facebook to get your photo, chances are it does not qualify for TBT. I think sometimes people use Throwback Thursday as an excuse to just post a photo where they think they look especially good in or one that shows them doing something really cool that happened in the very recent past. This misses the point.

The Revine: I want to give a lot of credit to Vine. With the introduction of Instagram Video, Vine has managed to stay relevant. It has kept its original fan base and continues to attract new users. The service has done all they can to maintain its status as a top app by introducing upgrades and new features. I applaud them for this but one of their new rollouts drives me crazy: The Revine.

Going along with the same concept as a retweet on Twitter, Vine users can now take a video that they like and “revine” it for all of their followers to see.

One day I was on Vine and it was completely normal as I viewed the content of the roughly 40 people I follow. The next day I looked at my feed and I was overwhelmed with weird people who I would never in my wildest dreams follow. Many of my followers had started to re-vine like complete randos and I no longer recognized my feed. I had no interest in the funny looking people doing bizarre things on my iPhone screen. It was actually a little scary.

I liked Vine because I got to see my friends showcase their lives and experiences in cool six second videos. I liked the connection that I felt. The introduction of revining has smashed that connection and brought in a lot of garbage that I have absolutely no interest in.

I propose that Vine just puts some limits on revining. I could live with it if the service limited users to one revine every 24 hours. While I would still get a little annoyed at stupid videos that I have no desire watching, it would prevent the people I follow from revining 10 random Vines in two minutes and totally taking over my feed.

The Facebook Share, Share, Share Technique: Now I can see sharing a quote or funny joke once in a while on Facebook but I become a little dumbfounded by the people who use their profile simply to post memes, shared photos, cartoons, sayings, and whatever crap they can steal that already has 1,529,045 shares one after the other on their wall. I am including this in my post because I seem to see it more and more often.

Don’t you get it? Your Facebook profile is there to market YOU. In that space you can let your personal brand come to life, you can showcase your individuality. Not only is seeing a junkyard of quotes and “first world problems” memes an eyesore, it shows that you have little to offer. I would honestly rather read long status rants and view low quality selfies on someone’s Facebook profile as opposed to recycled internet trash just because the former is an extension of the person, something of their creation. I am Facebook friends with you because I am interested, give me something to feed that interest.

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If you do use these practices on social media I don’t hate you. Chances are, I still follow you. I just think originality should always be strived for and social media is a great way to channel your creative juices. Show me what you got! Don’t Blink.

My Big Idea: Making Money on Charging Phones

Posted on July 17, 2013 by brent

I can’t seem to fight the marketing blood I got in my body as I have an idea that might change the world. Well let’s be honest, this idea won’t change the world at all but it would make the life of someone like me much more convenient. And if there is something that can make the life of Brent Reser a little less complicated than it has to be gold, right? Totally kidding.

I have mentioned before in this blog that I have a little problem with my iPhone. For whatever reason, my phone can’t hold a charge. I will have my phone plugged in all night long and by the time the lunch hour hits I am down at 20%. By the time work ends I have recharged my phone back up to 100% only to see it at 32% by 9 p.m. I have tried everything from killing my apps when not using them, having the screen turn off in a timely manner after usage, and even not utilizing my phone as much but I have just learned to cope with that fact that my iPhone 5 is charge-challenged.

Because of this I take my charger with me everywhere. When I say I take it everywhere I don’t mean that I keep it in my workout bag or in my car…I mean I keep it in my pocket with me at all times. I charge my phone at work, at restaurants, and at stores. If there is an outlet, I am using it. A low point came this Fourth of July when as my family gathered in a grassy area to watch fireworks I plugged my phone into the old, dirty outlet of the bathroom building on the premises to build a little bit of a charge.

As I am conditioned to always have my charger with me in my pocket, I have never really thought about the horror of not getting an adequate charge while I happened to be out and about. However, I faced this conundrum just this past weekend. After a long day in the sun at the beach area of a river in Missoula, Paige and I went and ate dinner at of all places, Hooter’s. With being outside all day with no outlets available, my phone was down to under 10%. Luckily I had my charger and Paige had an outlet right under her seat. She plugged my phone in and then delivered the terrible news…my phone was not charging. The problem was my charger, not the outlet. Believe it or not, iPhone chargers sometimes stop working and there is nothing you can do about it. My phone died inside of Hooter’s and it just about ruined my whole meal.

Stick with me here, yes, I realize it is taking me longer than expected to get to my point…

Now I know many places and events sponsor “charging areas”. At Spokane’s Hoopfest this year the local electric company offered a plentiful amount of outlets at a central area for people to plug their phones into. At a place where I sometimes play poker they actually have phone chargers around the playing area for people to plug into. However, I have an idea that has the potential to make a lot of money.

If I had the money to startup a business, I would invest in a company that installed charging outlets in restaurants and other places where people gather. I would design an outlet piece that included built in chargers of the three or four most popular phones out at the time. I would then install these pieces at restaurants all across town. To activate these charging services, customers at the restaurants would pay a fee, let’s say $5, to plug their phone in for thirty minutes. Once the fee was paid the electricity would flow and the phone would get a charge.

People who depend on their phone and can’t live without it (like me) would pay for this service in a split second. While many of us iPhone-addicts carry around our chargers and might initially scoff at paying a fee there are always those times where we forget to pack our charger, or, like in my case, our charger stops working all together. Also, if this service was offered many people would just stop bringing their charger with them in the first place knowing that they would have a legitimate and secure place to plug their phone into. To be honest, there is a level of shame that many of us feel when plugging our phones in at random places. We look desperate and we recognize that we are stealing the electricity of the particular place. To have an area where charging phones is promoted and encouraged would definitely bring some relief and comfort.

After I installed the initial charger outlets across Missoula I guarantee some big corporate organization would take notice and pay me millions of dollars for the idea and the rights to take the concept to every restaurant across the nation. Life would be great.

So there is my big idea for the month. Anyone think I am onto something? Anyone think it is just another one of my crazy ideas that will never work? Anyone think that I am a big loser? Please let me know, maybe we can go in on this idea together! Don’t Blink.

Inspiration at the Missoula Marathon

Posted on July 15, 2013 by brent

I like to think I am strong-willed, determined, and fitness driven on most days. However, the days where I attend a marathon to watch participants cross the finish line I feel like the biggest sloth in the world.

Yesterday morning, Paige and I drove to downtown Missoula and strolled over to the Higgins Street bridge where we watched as participants in the 2013 Missoula Marathon crossed the finish line, completing a task that many of us will never accomplish in our lives. For me, the first half of the battle is not even about getting physically in shape to do such an exercise, it is first wrapping my mind around the insanity of embarking on a race that is 26.5 miles long.

We camped out right at the finish line of the Missoula Marathon.

I envy marathon runners because they are in such excellent physical and mental shape. If I had to pick a group of athletes to go into battle with me I would make sure that after I picked some of the toughest wrestlers around I would choose a couple marathon athletes. A couple times yesterday the P.A. announcer at the finish line would announce to individuals completing the race that “You are now a marathon finisher.” I heard him say those words and I thought about how cool it would be if I ever got to have that distinction next to my name.

Under the beautiful sunny morning skies of Montana, Paige and I stood at the finish line and just soaked in one of Missoula’s premiere events. Runners from all over the country come to Missoula for the marathon (in 2009 it was named the best marathon in the nation) and in return the community really comes out to support them. I paid close attention to the reactions of people once they finished. Some, just like complete pros, finished through the line, stopped their watches, and casually walked through the staging area. Some cried. Some immediately looked for their friends and family who were waiting for them on the other side of the fence. Some grimaced in obvious anguish. All had the look of a champion.

I had a couple connections for this marathon. Our Associate Athletic Director, Greg Sundberg, was participating in the half marathon portion of the event to raise funds for a local charity (Jadyn Fred Foundation). I made a small contribution to the cause and received a sweet orange Team Sundberg t-shirt that I proudly sported on Sunday.

Proudly wearing my Team Sundberg shirt at the Missoula Marathon.

Additionally, my friend Shaun Rainey was participating in his first ever marathon. He pretty much started training for the race from scratch and came out a complete winner on Sunday when he finished in a little under four and a half hours. I got to see him cross the finish line and then subsequently give a television interview about two seconds later. Congrats to both Greg and Shaun.

Shaun crossing the Missoula Marathon finish line at a little under four and a half hours.

I needed that reality check on Sunday to tell me that no matter how well I think I might be doing in the gym there are people out there doing much harder and much more remarkable physical tasks than me. I need to challenge myself a little more and get better. Thanks Missoula for the inspiration! Don’t Blink.

Will Never Watch Again

Posted on July 13, 2013 by brent

Although I don’t necessarily like watching them, I do understand why they are on television. Personalities like Rachel Maddow, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann, Sean Hannity, Stephen A. Smith, and Skip Bayless are all the same in two main ways: They are extreme and they are loud. All these people have set in stone views (at least on television they do) and most of them need to yell to voice them.

These people bring in viewers because they are so polarizing…you either love them or you hate them. Even if you can’t stand them, these people are so good at what they do that many of the haters still watch them. You know why? Besides just offering a differing viewpoint that can sometimes be fun to watch, all of these personalities carry with them a certain level of charm. Many times it goes across to the viewer sublimely and you might call me crazy for saying that these talking heads possess charm but they do. Most of them are also able to show some civility and rationality in their programs, even if it comes in small amounts and on rare occasions.

I used to think Nancy Grace fell in the above category. I watched her show a few times in the past and she seemed like the typical shock value blowhard. Then I managed to land on her show a couple nights ago and my whole opinion changed.

While channel surfing I landed on HLN for a split second and without even considering watching whatever program was on, I flipped to the next station. In the very short time it took to transition from the HLN channel to the next one I heard a woman’s voice yelling at the top of her lungs. I immediately changed back to HLN and there was Nancy Grace, on a split screen, going absolutely nuts on the other person who happened to be on the other half of the screen.

Because I read the graphic at the bottom of the TV I knew they were supposedly talking about the George Zimmerman case but you never would have figured that out from the one-sided conversation going on. Nancy Grace was flaying her arms, yelling at a level reserved for boot camp instructors, and throwing a huge fit on national television. Her “guest” on the show tried to cut in but then Grace did something I had never seen before…she asked the show producers to mute the mic of the guest. She then continued to berate the guest and after she was done with the tongue lashing she mocked the guest for having his mic muted. The segment then ended.

I couldn’t believe it. Thinking she might have had history with the guest or that maybe the guest had gotten out of line during the first part of the interview, I stayed through the commercial break to see if Grace’s behavior would change during the next segment. It didn’t.

This time she had a panel of four people joining the show from various locations to talk about the Zimmerman case again. Four different people with four different perspectives on the case…it would have been nice to hear what they had to say but each one of them could have put a sack of potatoes in their place because they had no opportunity to talk. Just like before it was Nancy Grace getting that evil look on her face and yelling the whole time, speaking over people and just flat out acting embarrassing. She would take shots at the credentials of her guests, make fun of them for stuttering (only reason why it appeared they were stuttering was because Grace cut them off), and belittle them.

After that train wreck, I changed the channel. I will admit that Grace’s antics got me to watch two segments of the show and HLN might consider that a victory. Okay, fine. But from here on out I will never watch Nancy Grace again. The way she ran her show, treated her guests on a national stage, and displayed an amount of disrespect that I had never once seen on any show in my life sealed the deal.

Like I said at the very start of this post, I understand the game many of these personalities play. I don’t take them seriously and I know that many of them don’t take themselves seriously either. But they do offer a product that people watch. However, Nancy Grace goes way too far and earns a spot in a whole new level.

Nancy Grace, you got my viewership for ten minutes on a Wednesday night. You will never get it again. Don’t Blink.

Three “Perks” of My Job

Posted on July 10, 2013 by brent

Working in intercollegiate athletics is a lot of fun. Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of hard work and a lot of long hours but it is worth it. I get a lot out of what I do, most importantly a job that I look forward going to each and every day as well as an opportunity to connect and work with a wide range of people.

Besides the major components of what makes my job so great there are also the little things that make working in college sports just a little sweeter. No, I am not talking about an endless supply of free tickets, summers off, or an office overlooking the football field that so many people think I get (I don’t receive any of the three). I am talking about the very minor things, perhaps things that only matter to the nerdy and sports-obsessed person like myself. Yep, throughout my four years working fulltime in intercollegiate athletics I have accumulated certain items that I value. In tonight’s blog post I want to share the three items I have an overabundance of that I consider perks of the job but most other people would consider junk.

T-SHIRTS

If I wanted to, I could wear a different Griz, conference, or promotional t-shirt for each day of the year. I don’t have enough space in my bedroom closet to store all the t-shirts I have received over the past four years so I have a living room closet that is filled with folded up shirts. You have to see how this happens though. We host any sort of tournament, we get a shirt. We have a white out or a maroon out, we get a shirt. We have a pink game, heart disease game, coaches vs. cancer game, or any cause awareness game, we get a shirt. We have a milestone game, rivalry game, or championship game, we get a shirt. We have an athletic department special event, we get a shirt. We have special initiatives in marketing that we want to push (i.e. social media, spirit squad, etc), we get a shirt.

This is not to even mention all the other shirts that come our way. Different sports will sometimes give me shirts. One time we found a few boxes full of long sleeve shirts out in storage that we didn’t even know we had (each staff member got a shirt). Many times I will get shirts for helping out other entities on campus. A t-shirt collection can build quite quickly.

I try to give shirts away to my family members and friends, and many times I am successful. However, the rate that I give them out just doesn’t match the rate that I receive them.

Me with a stack of t-shirts that I own from work. I am wearing a Play 4 Kay shirt in this photo.

CREDENTIALS

You meet anyone who works in the event industry and most likely you will at one time or the other see their vast credential collection. Employees in intercollegiate athletics are no different as many of us need issued credentials to do our jobs, both at home and away events.

Now compared to some of my seasoned superiors, I have a pathetic credential collection. But it is definitely starting to grow. I have accumulated most of my credentials through working gameday for both Griz football and basketball, doing football road travel, and then various odds and ends events. My most treasured credentials are definitely my NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament creds.

Credentials are important to me just because they show where I have been. They also serve as a memory of that particular season or event. I hold them closely.

A few of my credentials I happened to have around my place.

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS

Growing up as a kid I always wanted to go to giveaway days whenever we went to a sporting event. It didn’t matter if it was a single baseball card or a magnet, I wanted a free souvenir out of the experience. I remember going to Mariners games and freaking out that we had to get to the dome/stadium extra early because only the first 20,000 fans would get the item. Never mind that we could have gotten to the game after the first pitch and still have gotten the trinket, I needed to be 100% sure.

Fast forward 20 years to the career I am in right now and I can say that promotional items have lost a little bit of their luster for me. After you order, get ready, and pass the items out over and over again the intrigue starts to fade a little. You also start to wonder about the sanity of people when you encounter individuals who are 10x more obsessed about getting the giveaway item than I was back in my youth.

Out of the many items that usually come in a single shipment, I try to save one for myself as both a memory and as an example if we ever bring that item back again. I have rally towels, backpacks, growth charts, mini balls, sunglasses, foam fingers, cheer cards, leis, hats, and many more items. Granted most are in storage but I still utilize some of the promo items on an everyday basis, such as the backpacks and sunglasses.

Some classic promo items. I love using the backpack!

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So is my job cooler than yours?! I like to think so but obviously one’s satisfaction with his/her job is relative. I can say though that more than likely I have a greater amount of t-shirts, credentials, and promo items than you! WHAT NOW?! Don’t Blink.

ESPN Ombudsman and Collin Kaepernick

Posted on July 9, 2013 by brent

I was delighted to find out this evening that espn.com is once again running a column that I thoroughly enjoy. Some people might find it as a surprise that the almighty and humongous ESPN actually has an ombudsman, or, for those who are not familiar with what an ombudsman is, a person within the company who keeps the organization honest. Of course there is much more to it. An ombudsman responds to reader’s complaints, investigates shady or careless displays of journalism, and offers up opinions that are many times critical of the company.

For a long time my favorite piece on espn.com was the ESPN Ombudsman. About every month or so I could expect that a new column would pop up, fresh with finger pointing and mud-slinging about the network’s recent coverage. All of ESPN’s different outlets came under fire from TV to radio to print. All employees came under the gun as well from Colin Cowherd to Skip Bayless to Stephen A. Smith to Jeremy Schapp to Rachel Nichols. And of course all the issues that ESPN covered from Tebow to Favre to ARod were dissected and scrutinized. I love ESPN and most likely could not live without it but I appreciate the fact that someone is watching over them and offering a well-written, well-reasoned critique.

However, something disturbing occurred over the past year or so. There was no ESPN Ombudsman. I could not understand. Had the enterprise become so big and so entitled that they felt they no longer needed to take on a little bit of heat? Well, who knows but thankfully the column is now back with a brand new ombudsman (his name is Robert Lipsyte, most recently of the New York Times). In his first column he took on ESPN’s coverage of Jason Collins and then just today he reviewed the constant Dwight Howard free agent escapade. I encourage you to follow the link and read a little bit. Make sure to go back in the archives and see what the other Ombudsmen did, especially Don Ohlmeyer (my favorite).

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On July 4, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick wore a Miami Dolphins hat to a Fourth of July party. As is the case anywhere these days, a fan spotted him with the hat on, snapped a picture, and posted it to Twitter. Outrage ensued inside of 49ers Nation and Kaepernick was brutalized by the media.

I thought this initial act was a poor decision on his part. I am not going to take the broad approach that everyone seemed to take by comparing it on a larger scale (i.e. it is like wearing a Coke hat when working for Pepsi….like wearing a Progressive shirt when working for Geico…like wearing a Google pin when you work for Bing…etc. etc.) because I don’t think it needs to be compared on a larger scale to deem it ill advised. Rather, when playing or working for a certain team or school, it is just simply wrong to wear the apparel of a rival team/school…especially when your certain team is paying you millions of dollars. But for this instance, even though I disagree, I cut Kaepernick a little bit of slack because he was just chilling at a party and because a paparazzi fan took the photo.

HOWEVER, what he did next can be described as nothing but immature. Angered by critics and fans who called him out, Kaepernick took a picture of him holding the Miami Dolphins hat, wrote out a hostile and condescending message complete with classless hash tags, and then posted it to Instagram. Dumb. Stupid. Careless. Not only did he totally miss the opportunity to offer a quick apology, not only did he mock his fanbase, and not only did he make a face worse than any duck face I have ever seen, but he brought out the Miami Dolphins hat once again AND posted it on his OWN social media account.

Yesterday he posted another Instagram photo of him with a San Francisco 49ers hat. Some are considering it a half apology…I definitely wouldn’t go that far. Don’t Blink.

Happy Fourth of July From Walla Walla

Posted on July 4, 2013 by brent

Happy Fourth of July everyone! What a wonderful holiday we get to celebrate today. What more do you want?…..patriotism, BBQ, fireworks, hot dog eating contests, and beautiful summer weather. Celebrating our independence couldn’t be any more fun.

This year I am in Walla Walla, Washington, to celebrate this special holiday. Most of my relatives still live in “the place so nice they named it twice” so my parents thought what a great way to conjure up a little bit of a family reunion and head down to wine country.

In a few hours we will be celebrating in the city’s large, beautiful, and historic Pioneer Park. I grew up playing in this park and actually attending Fourth of July picnics with members of my grandpa’s big Italian family who have long since passed away. Spending time with them, playing catch, feeding the ducks, climbing the trees, and watching the fireworks are some of my favorite childhood summer memories.

This year, replacing my Italian family on my mom’s side will be my wild and crazy aunts, uncles, and cousins on my dad’s side. They know how to have a fun time and there is never a dull moment. At around 11 a.m. we will start grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, enjoying cold beverages, and celebrating this amazing country that we live in. Time to soak it up!

Have a wonderful Fourth of July! As always be safe and remember to take a couple minutes to realize how blessed we are to live in the best country in the world. Don’t Blink.

Horrific Hoopfest Injury

Posted on July 3, 2013 by brent

Because I grew up going to athletic events, played sports all the way through high school, and now make a living working in sports, I have seen my fair share of sporting injuries take place right in front of my eyes. With that said, I had never seen anything worse than what I witnessed this past weekend at Hoopfest. The images engrained in my head from the events that occurred on early Saturday evening will forever be with me.

This year at Hoopfest I was a court monitor for a 12 team bracket as opposed to the traditional 16 team bracket. Because of this, I finished my shift early on Saturday at 4 p.m. I became very excited when I realized that I would get the opportunity to watch my brother play in his 5 p.m. game. Not only was it special that I could see him play, it was also a cool deal because I had not gotten to watch a Hoopfest game as a spectator in over six years.

After finishing up paperwork at my court, I walked from my post to my brother’s court between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main. My brother’s team consisted of himself, two friends from the Ellensburg area, and one guy from Phoenix. The two guys from Ellensburg were staying at my parents’ house with us. Kyle, a former baseball teammate at Central Washington with my brother and a Hoopfest teammate of Glen’s the past couple of years, accounted for one of the Ellensburg boys. The other was a 20 year old kid named Corey who was pumped up to play in his first ever Hoopfest. I had gotten to know Corey the night before when him and Kyle arrived in town. He was excited to be in Spokane and to experience the tournament.

Glen with his two Ellensburg teammates. Corey is on the far left and Kyle is in the middle.

I got to Glen’s court a couple minutes before the game was about to start. The court monitor asked the crowd gathered if anyone could help out and keep score. Because I wanted a prime view of the action and because I know how valuable score keepers are, I volunteered and ran from my curb seat across to the other side of the court and to the scorer’s table.

Saturday evening games at Hoopfest are very competitive. They are elimination games and everyone wants to win and make it to Sunday. This game was no different. Glen’s team and their opponents played each other hard the whole game. Both teams were chippy and both teams were doing all they could not to lose. Just when it seemed like Glen’s team would not make it to see the light of Sunday as they faced a five point deficit, the guys pulled together for one last run. Thanks to some clutch shooting and a very generous timeout call, they managed to tie the game at 16-16 when regulation ran out. Overtime.

The Hoopfest overtime rule was enforced and the first team to 18 would win the game. This was when disaster struck…

In one of the initial possessions of overtime with the score still tied, Corey made a strong move to the basket for a potential lay-in. He left the ground to lay the ball up. As he was in the air, his defender accidentally took Corey’s feet out from under him. This flipped him upside down in midair, making a feet first landing impossible. In the split second that all of this happened I watched in complete horror as he fell head first into the cruel Spokane pavement. Corey was unable to brace his fall with his hands as the complete impact of the crash was absorbed with the left side of his head.

The moment the accident happened I heard a sound I never want to hear again in my lifetime…the thump of the human skull on the pavement. When he hit, it wasn’t like everyone froze and there was a moment of shocked silence, rather there was a collective shriek of sheer terror that came out of everyone’s mouth who watched the incident. About five seconds after he hit the ground Corey’s unconscious body had a seizure. With his body twitching on the court, people all around the court started to lose it. I dashed down the street to find a court marshal (they have radios) to get paramedics and rapid response team members down to the court immediately.

They eventually got Corey stabilized (Hoopfest 2013).

By the time I got back to the court Corey’s head was laying in a puddle of blood that turned the rain soaked black pavement dark red. With my brother and his two teammates huddled around him, a good Samaritan had come out of the crowd and tried to do what she could to help. Emergency personnel started to arrive and work on Corey. By the time they got to the scene, Corey had regained consciousness but was totally out of it.

By this time a large crowd had developed all around the court. Every second someone would come up to me and ask what happened. As the paramedics worked on him, players from both teams stood with their hands on their heads and lost expressions on their faces. They brought an ambulance in and parked it inside the court as personnel worked under the basket on Corey. Glen and Kyle ripped into Corey’s bag to get his cell phone so they could call his parents, only problem being his cell phone was dead. Just as my cousin was about to run to the free charging station they had set up at Hoopfest, the paramedics asked Corey a question: ‘Can you tell us your parents’ cell phone number?” Corey knew it! Not only did he know it, but he could recite it as well. Kyle called Corey’s parents to tell them the awful news.

Just a small portion of the crowd that gathered all around the court to watch the scene unfold.

Just a small portion of the crowd that gathered all around the court to watch the scene play out.

From the time the emergency crew arrived it took them about 30 minutes to treat Corey, stabilize him, get him on the stretcher, and load him into the ambulance. As they carried him into the vehicle, the roughly 200 people who were around watching gave him a nice ovation. As the ambulance took Corey to Sacred Heart Hospital the blood on the court was wiped off with a sanitizing solution and the two shook up teams resumed the game. My brother took Corey’s free throw and made it to put them up 17-16. However, the other team nailed a two-pointer to win the contest, 18-17. In what would have been a tense round of handshakes if the incident never occurred, both teams embraced each other and knew that everything had just been put in perspective. No one really won that game.

The point where they loaded Corey into the ambulance (Hoopfest 2013).

I left my spot at the scorer’s table and went to my mom across the street. Just seeing the tears in her own eyes made me wonder how terrible such a situation must be for the parents who actually have their own kids go through such a devastating and violent injury. Glen and Kyle went straight to the hospital. After a stint in the emergency room, they transferred Corey to intensive care. Things started to get a little scary.

Although he ended up getting stabilized while in the ICU, the damage could not have been more pronounced. Corey had sustained a serious concussion, the inside of his brain was bleeding, the back of it was bruised, and he had suffered a skull fracture. To make you squirm a little, doctors had to use eight staples to shut the giant laceration on the left side of his head.

Glen and Kyle spent Saturday night and Sunday at the hospital with their teammate and friend. On Monday, my mom went to the hospital and met Corey’s parents for the first time who were very gracious about her visit. They said although it was Corey’s first Hoopfest, it would probably be his last. They also said they were hoping that Corey would get released from the hospital that day but that it would have to come when dark fell because he was having sensitivity issues with the daylight.

In fact Corey did get discharged from the hospital that Monday night. He is currently in Ellensburg. Corey faces a long road of recovery and he will be unable to do a lot of things for quite some time. I feel so awful for him. Although I only knew him for around 24 hours before the incident you hate to see something like that happen to someone so young and someone so nice. Another lesson in perspective for me. Here’s to a full recovery, Corey. I am sorry this happened to you. Don’t Blink.

Spokane Hoopfest 2013: Smoooooth

Posted on July 2, 2013 by brent

This past weekend I concluded my sixth year as a Spokane Hoopfest court monitor and I can say that it will go down in the books as one of my smoothest tournaments ever. I had zero major issues and for the most part, everyone kept it cool in my bracket. While Hoopfest 2013 will mostly be remembered as a successful and smooth tourney through my eyes, I will also remember it for a few other reasons. Here is my Hoopfest 2013 recap.

Even though I was assigned to the exact same court I monitored on last year at Washington and Spokane Falls Boulevard, I got a totally different assignment. For the first time ever, I was in charge of a family bracket. The teams that made up my bracket consisted of adult males between the ages of 18-60 who were all related to each other. Mostly I had teams with a dad and three sons or I had teams that had two older brothers each with one of their own sons. I also had teams where I had absolutely no idea how the family connection worked, even after a lot of my own analyzing.

As a court monitor this year at Hoopfest, I presided over a family bracket.

It was fun watching my bracket battle it out. There is a certain chemistry between families on an athletic court/field and it showed during Hoopfest. Most of the teams on my court utilized awesome teamwork throughout the weekend and motivated each other in a respectful and effective manner. The respect that the families showed one another on their own teams also extended to their opponents as well. Although arguments and tense moments definitely occurred between teams during play, good sportsmanship mostly always prevailed and always when the games concluded the opposing teams congratulated each other and left everything on the court. After last year, it was definitely refreshing to see.

My sixth year as a court monitor at Hoopfest went very smoothly.

I think only two controversial moments happened the whole weekend.

1. On one of the late Saturday games, one of the teams went a little crazy when they heard that their game was headed to overtime. They thought that with regulation over and with them holding to a 19-18 lead that the game was over. I explained that the game would continue in overtime until a team reached 20 points. Although angry and feeling like I was against them they finished the game, ultimately winning. Afterwards they apologized for their little freak out session, even before I put the exact rule that I correctly applied right in front of them.

2. A team was convinced that the score reflected on the red and blue scorecard was incorrect. I guess I shouldn’t even say “team”…it was a player on a team who was later joined by another one of his teammates in the mini dispute. They thought the scorekeeper (my dad) took away one of their points and gave it to the other team. After explaining the last few possessions with the players and reaching the score that we originally had reflected on the scorecard, they grudgingly gave up their fight.

I will definitely remember Hoopfest 2013 for the weather. All week long the forecast stated that both days of Hoopfest Weekend would be hot, with temperatures reaching the mid-nineties. While Sunday lived up to its billing, Saturday did not. I woke up at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning and looked out my window at the overcast, drizzly sky and asked myself “What’s going on here?” My mom assured me that it would blow over but it never did. For most of Saturday, the streets of downtown Spokane had dark clouds hovering above with several different periods of rain off and on. At one point, the whole tournament stopped for about 10 minutes for the sake of safety as it poured down rain.

A lot of my time on Saturday at Hoopfest was in the rain.

The intermittent rain had some unpleasant results. First off, I had never seen so many nasty slips and falls in any other year. The wet courts slowed down play but it still couldn’t stop players from sliding around. Probably every player had at least one experience where they found themselves sitting on the cold, unforgiving pavement. Also, majority of the courts were sent into disarray as the tape markings could not withstand the rain coupled with the warming of the courts when the rain would let up. This resulted in many court with no markings whatsoever. My court actually held up pretty well but there was still confusion and cheap blackboard chalk could only do so much. But once Sunday came along the clouds disappeared and the bright sun shined down on us for the whole day, bringing the type of weather that is typical, and preferred, for Hoopfest.

Come Sunday morning, real Hoopfest weather appeared.

I will also remember Hoopfest 2013 for having a little more downtime than usual. I only had 12 teams in my bracket as opposed to the standard 16 so my Saturday ended at 4 p.m. as opposed to 6:30 p.m. This allowed me to watch my brother’s Saturday night game but more on that tomorrow. Anyway, in 6 years I had never had the chance to watch a Hoopfest game as purely a spectator so that was a nice little treat.

Paige got to enjoy Hoopfest with me this year.

In the end, a team called Me and My Three Sons won my bracket. They went undefeated and blew out their opponent in the championship game. I can go into the Hoopfest offseason with a great taste in my mouth and great anticipation for Hoopfest 2014. Thank you Spokane for always putting on such a great event. Don’t Blink.

Hoopfest Eve 2013

Posted on June 28, 2013 by brent

On a scale of 1-10, my enthusiasm level right now is at a roaring 10! It is Hoopfest Eve and everyone in the city of Spokane is gearing up for the best weekend of the summer. Starting tomorrow morning hundreds of thousands of people will converge in downtown Spokane to celebrate the biggest and best 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the planet.

Out of the 300,000 people on the street tomorrow, you can count me in as one of them. If you are trying to find me, look for a dude in a bright green dri-fit fluorescent shirt. For the sixth consecutive year I will serve as a court monitor at Hoopfest. I take great pride in doing my best to make sure that at least 1 of the 450 courts at the event runs smoothly. Because I do take so much stock in what I do, I want to make sure I improve on my performance from last year when a few fights derailed the sportsmanship and solid game flow that I do my best to uphold during the tournament. Take this as my redemption year, if you will.

I am pumped up for Hoopfest 2013!!

You know one of the main reasons why I love Hoopfest so much? Because every year they try to improve, something that gets kind of hard to do when you are already running an awesome event. The improvements can be seen everywhere, even when it comes to us volunteers. This year Hoopfest again outdid themselves with the gear they gave all of us court monitors. Everything reflects the hottest trends within Nike right now. The shoes are that mesmerizing dark yet light blue color with fluorescent green shoe laces. The hat matches the shoes with a blue cap and a hot green swoosh. The shirt that I will wear for two straight days is fluorescent green with the current popular Nike slogan of “(Spokane Hoopfest) Never Stops” printed on the front. The shorts might be the coolest pair of pants I now own as they are gray with a fluorescent green and blue design incorporated. I will have to pay special attention that no one at the court steals the ball as even that is pretty sweet! Who has ever seen a basketball that alternates between brown and orange and has fluorescent green mixed in?

Hoopfest goes all out for its volunteers. Great gear this year.

We got quite the forecast this year too! Both Saturday and Sunday call for temperatures hovering around the low 90’s. Saturday there is a chance of a thunderstorm or two in the afternoon and Sunday is supposed to be all sun, baby. I love the heat and welcome the rays all weekend long.

Hoopfest Family Headquarters will once again be at my parents’ house. My brother already has his team here at the house where they will stay for the weekend. My cousin is due here later tonight with her two youngest daughters who will both be competing in the tournament. Then there is Paige and I who just arrived. This weekend Paige will experience her first ever Hoopfest! I tried telling her a little bit about it but just like with Las Vegas I told her that she would just have to experience it on her own to really see what it is all about.

While I thought my on-court performance last year was a little lackluster, one of the high ranking Hoopfest officials thought differently. During the 2012 tournament when all the chaos was going on he told me he was going to assign me to the exact same court the next year because it took a special monitor to handle it. I thought that was just something he was just saying and would forget about…no and no. Once again I am at Washington and Spokane Falls Boulevard at the KXLY 4 #1 court. Please come see me and say hi! If you do, I might give you a coupon for a free Big Mac.

Let’s get this weekend started! Have fun everyone, protect yourself from the sun, practice good sportsmanship, and be safe. Hoopfest 2013…LEGGGGGGGO!!!! Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

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