Thanks To All The Roommates I Had

Because those people helped get me here too.

John Noboa, thanks, even though you tried killing me by throwing a dresser drawer at me.

Kevin Hoos, even though you love Duke (despite the fact that they suck) and you probably hate that I'm a bandwagon Blackhawks fan.

Marcus Lathan, two words: Music Wars. There isn't a day I don't come home and think to myself "One, two, three, four I declare a music war."

Steven Luschen, thanks for too much. The use of your car (P.S. I still have your extra key). The use of that bottle of whiskey that one Valentine's Day night my freshman year. For lifting my spirits while imbibing spirits on school nights. And for introducing me to Firefox and country music that doesn't suck.

And why Bar Refaeli via Chickipedia? Well, why not?

That's all the thanks I got for this site. For more, check out my tumblr blog.

Thanks To The Big Dead Sidebar

Finally, the one a good chunk of folks have been waiting for.

• Thanks to Matt Hartwig for his work on this site and for going into this with me. We'll make it really big one day.
• Thanks to the entire staff for their contributions in year one of this wonderful site: BFeldt (Brian Feldt), SalukiOrphan (Stile T. Smith), Jon I., Jeff Engelhardt, Johnny Sole and Mike Carter.
• Thanks to the readers, whoever you are. Feel free to comment, send tips, tell your friends and PLEASE CLICK ON ADVERTISEMENTS!!!!!
• Thanks to the DE photogs for letting me use their stuff (Stephen Rickerl, Sean McGahan, Edyta B, Anthony ... all you good folks!)
  

And finally, a big, warm thank you to Ms. Allison Petty and Ms. Diana Soliwon.

See, there was a little bit of a hub-ub made about TBDS one day in a meeting because the EIC and Managing Editor thought that I wasn't putting the type of effort in the DE Blog that I was here at this blog. And when I found out TBDS was brought up in an Editorial Board meeting -- I'll be honest -- I was scared to the dickens. I feared my job, my life (jokingly) and for my blog.

Well, my defense was that they were two separate, distinguished voices. The Gus Bode Blog was more informational on Saluki Sports while TBDS was all about the outside world with Saluki sprinklings. And after a few heart-to-hearts with the powers that be, TBDS was good-to-go as I started a new era in siuDE.com blogging.

I started the DE Sports Blog, not to mention The Sports Huddle and Sports Lounge web shows. That's gotta count for something, right?

Thanks Diana and Allison for not turning me into Christmas Ape.

Can we all just get along now?

Thanks To Coaches And Student Athletes

I'm sure you're tired of these by now, So I'll try to go through them quickly.

• Thanks to Chris Lowery for accepting my phone calls and giving me interview time whether it was for a story, background or a class project.
• Additional thanks goes to the coaching staff (especially Rodney Watson for directing me to good stories, Lance Irvin for helping me with my final paper for Paul Povse's class and Tony Young for his coaching and playing career)
  
• Thanks to Dale Lennon for dealing with my silly questions about Tropic Thunder.
• Additional thanks to Bubba Schweigert and Phil Longo (who still owes me an Italian dinner ... inside joke)
  
• Thanks to Kevin Dillard, Anthony Booker, Torres Roundtree, Brandin Jordan, Chauncey Mixon, Nick Evans for doing the Barack Obama YouTube special videos.
• Additional thanks to Book for the tip to go to Imo's Pizza.
• Thanks to Coach K (yes, Duke's Coach K) for saying that I asked a good question. That alone should get me a job, even in this market.
• Special thanks to Rick Walker, SIU swimming and diving head coach. Even though swimming doesn't get as much attention as basketball and football do, Coach Rick really treated me well by giving me interview time and explained so much to me. And as much as I enjoyed all my other beats, I stand by saying that Saluki Swim & Dive was my favorite of them all.
  

Here Is One Big Effen Thanks To The DE

The Daily Egyptian is the student-run and student-operated newspaper of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. That sentence has been drilled in my head since even before I was on the DE staff. In fact, here's a little background.

Since the day I stepped onto the SIU-Carbondale campus, my dream/goal was to write for the DE. Some people laughed at my dream of writing for a student newspaper. But hey, big dreams start at small places. And in three semesters that went too damn fast (in my humble opinion) I went from correspondent, to rookie on the sports desk, to Assistant Sports Editor to Sports Editor.

So, here is me thanking the people who helped me along the way.

First, a thanks to Sean McGahan for convincing me to apply when I was almost scared off by the crap the DE got from some folks for their coverage of Poshard's plagiarism incident. Good journalism is often met by resistance, what can I say? Then I thank Sarah Lohman, who was the Editor in Chief that hired me. Next is DE writing coach Wendy Weinhold, who dealt with my persistent e-mails about whether or not I was going to be hired.

The next thank you goes to Brian Feldt, who took an internship to work at the Peoria Journal Star and opened up a spot on the sports desk for me. And thanks to my first sports editor, Jeff Engelhardt (pictured) for not only taking a chance on me on his sports desk, but for dealing with my struggles. Same for Matt Hartwig (yes, TBDS co-founder Matt Hartwig), who often times edited my crap and put me in my place. I guess thanks to Jordan Wilson for being a good mentor and being the other North Carolina Tar Heels fan in that newsroom.

Thanks to all the photographers including Lane Christiansen, Emily Sunblade, Edyta B (no, I'm not even gonna try to spell your last name haha), James Durbin, James McDonnough, Evan Davis, Julia Rendleman, Brandon Chapple ... and all the others I missed. Thanks to Anthony Souffle' for being an awesome road trip partner. And this a very big hat tip goes to Ryan Rendleman, for you will always be remembered in my heart.

Special thanks to Allison Petty and Diana Soliwon ... who will get a special mention in a later blog.

And a very special thanks to all of you who get those little iChat messages from me throughout the day and don't come to my desk and rip my head off. Don't worry, you'll miss it when I'm gone. Speaking of missing people, I'll probably miss the copy editors more than I should, because I'm pretty darn sure I didn't spell everything right in this blog.

A big thank you goes out to DE Faculty Managing Editor Eric Fidler, who rode me until I busted my ass in class and in the newsroom. For some reason or another, he always knew the right thing for me to focus on in my story. He's good. And thanks to Eric and Jerry Bush for sponsoring those road trips in Fall 2008.

Thanks goes out to printshop guru Blake Mulholland, for being the Cubs fan to balance out Cardinals Nation.

Oh, and I can't forget about the professors that helped me get here including: Bill Babock, AJ Stoner, Bill Recktenwald, Bill Freivogel, Uche, Mike Lawrence, Laura Hlavich and everyone else that I am forgetting. I learned so much from them and feel honored to have been guided by their expertise.

Last, but not least, a shout out and thanks to Jack Young, the best adviser in the entire university for not only getting me into classes that wouldn't kill me, but also for being an avid Saluki fan to talk to and exchange stories with.

And for the official final word, thanks to all the friends I made along the way. Here's to you. All of you.

Thank Yous: The Ones For SIU Media Relations Folks And Other Media Peeps

Underrated and overworked, the SIU Media Relations folks deserve a shoutout. If only because Kyle Herm Appreciation Day got rained out.

Actually, I'm posting this one earlier than expected because I know Kyle's got a busy day in front of him. So this is my official thank you to Kyle, who put up with my phone calls, questions, comments and concerns when it came to golf and softball. The man's on point at all times and will be hard for media relations director Tom Weber to replace.

So, I guess this if where I thank Tom for setting up basketball interviews and road game accommodations. For laughing at me for bringing a baseball glove to football interviews before I had to go softball class. And for allowing me to ask questions when I wasn't a deadline reporter and he had asked for questions from reporters working on deadline only.

Shoutout to Jeff Honza for all the football and baseball info.

Very, very, very special thank you goes out to my two favorite ladies: Megan Kramper and Beth Miller. Megan and I worked together at the DE for a semester and had to deal with my North Carolina gloating. She also had to put up with my frozen balls in "her" freezer. As well as dealing with my crap on the media relations side, too. I love her for that. And everyone knows how much I love Beth. Even though she is a Cardinals fan, she's one of the nicest and most genuine people anyone could know. And she's knowledgeable and passionate about Saluki sports. Thanks to Beth for dealing with me when it came to tennis, golf, at practices, interviews and elsewhere.

Additional Thanks Goes Out To:

• Saluki AD Mario Moccia, who met with me every week and answered every one of my questions with detail.
• "The Voice Of The Salukis" Mike Reis for being the best play-by-play guy in the Valley. I learned a lot from his calls before I got on the DE staff and when I joined the media, it was an honor to work with him and his partner Greg Starrick. Their calls of Saluki hoops makes it worth buying the Saluki All-Access package.
• Mike Williams, the Indiana State Sports Information Director, who killed about a dozen bees in the McAndrew Stadium press box during the SIU/Indiana State football game and for getting me a courtside seat behind Chris Lowery in Terre Haute, Ind., for the basketball game.
• Rick Kindhart, the SID for Missouri State is arguably my favorite SID in the Valley. He helped me get situated in the new JQH when I showed up pretty much unannounced. Same for football. He also got me in contact with MBB assistant coach (and former Saluki great) Kent Williams. And he sent golf and softball media guides to me. Thanks, again. Hat tip to you Rick.
• Todd Hefferman ... it's not everyday you give a hat tip to the competition ... but that guy and I have stories for days from our travels in the Valley. And because he left the MVCs early, yours truly had a courtside seat (front row) to see The Osiris Eldridge Show.
• The Sports Staff at the Daily Vidette. Good kids who remind me of me: passionate about sports and damn good at writing about it.

And a blanket thanks to everyone else.