Breathing Elsewhere

Just in case you're wondering, I'm still alive. I'm working on a few new projects while I make it day-to-day as a barista in the Big Apple.

The first of those is my personal blog, which I launched just over a month ago and am calling The McColumn. I'm trying my best to take each post as a column that might appear in an actual newspaper (remember those?) while trudging through each day as freelancer, an individual, a young adult...

Secondarily, I've began working with Erwin Ong over at Tennis Served Fresh. I'll be doing posts for Erwin with some regularity, hopefully contributing a new angle to his already-well written blog.

My first assignment for Erwin is to head over to the Billie Jean King Cup at the Madison Square Garden this coming Monday. It's a huge exhibition event, with Venus, Serena, Ana and Jelena all in attendance. No doubt lots of tennis dignitaries will be in attendance too. Check out TSF all next week to see what I come up with!

And, as usual, I'm contributing at Green for Good with a column on being young and Green. Don't forget to check that out once in a while, too!

Hope all are well!

(I'm even finding some time to release my anger in healthy ways! Photo copyright Matthew Murphy.)

Behind the Story

Christmas in Montana is always magical. There's the gathering of my family, the small-town charm, the home cooked meals. It all comes together and feels like magic - which I realize I'm lucky to have. Many people fear and dread the holidays like they're the plague.

Over the last two weeks, I've spent time in Montana driving through the snow, eating too much and writing. Usually my Christmas-time writing includes me writing furiously in my journal about the random frustrations I encounter when moving back home for a flash, but this time I had the opportunity to write freelance for the local paper, and it kept my pen (and my brain) busy in the frigid temperatures of the Rocky Mountains.

After writing for my hometown paper, the Independent Record this summer, I was asked to contribute a few articles while I was in Montana this winter. The first was a simple news story on a high school girls' basketball game, while the second two were features: one on the area ski team and the second on the "Male Athlete of the Year," a 20-year-old boxer named Duran Junior Caferro.

It's great for a young writer like me to get such experience. I was busy calling sources, conducting face-to-face and phone interviews, and digging for facts for my stories while putting together pieces that I was happy with. The experience and resume building are enough to make it worth it, and it's nice to put a little cash in the Survive NYC Fund.

Check out the story on the Great Divide Ski Team here: http://helenair.com/articles/2008/12/28/sports/top/50spl_081228_skiteam.txt

And Junior Caferro here:
http://helenair.com/articles/2008/12/31/sports/top/50spn_081231_caferro.txt

As 2009 begins, I'd like to dive back into the blogging world a bit. I'm excited about the possibilities the tennis season holds, but more than anything else, I'm excited about telling stories and finding new ways to share them. I hope to continue this blog and make it as interesting as possible, but I know myself well enough to realize that it may be touch and go for awhile, as a lot of things in life are.

Career Battle

Lately, I've felt like a Williams sister. No, I'm not taking New York by storm with incredible fashion, participating in photo shoots, starting my own design line, starring on TV and having paparazzi follow me all over the city (a boy can dream though, right?). Instead, I've been exploring my various interests in this new and different city, dipping my toes into a new cafe, playing volleyball, exploring the arts and getting lost on the subway.

So, as the season has come to an end and Venus captured her first-ever WTA Championships title, I haven't felt like blogging much. I'm wondering if I seek a career like the Williams sisters, where I blog now and then and save the good stuff for meaty, Grand Slam-like posts or that of Jelena Jankovic, where I'm blogging everyday, often times at a lower quality level, stretching my mind and imagination and failing to deliver when it matters most (like during the 5th biggest tournament of the year).

But like tennis, the nature of the blogging world is demanding. If you don't churn out consistent, good stuff, the critics will come calling - or, in this case - the readers will stop reading. It's a Catch 22 if there ever was one, and as much as I think I have good writing skills that can only get better, I'm no Venus or Serena.

In any case, as winter approaches and the tennis tour takes its short vacation, I see myself joining them for the most part. There are certainly a few topics I would like to write on over the next 6 weeks before 2009 begins, and I would like to resurrect the ever-popular video blogging.

I'll try to make that all happen soon, but for now I'm off to a photo shoot... oops, there I go thinking I'm a Williams sister again. Ah, the life!

No-ho Video

I officially hate my camera.

One of my favorite parts of this past summer was getting the chance to do video posts for the blog about the goings on around tennis. It was fun, fresh and something that I truly enjoyed. And, beyond that, it was something that no one else in the (tennis) blogosphere was doing... therefore I was a total trendsetter, right?

But as I've started to re-boot the blog (and my life) over the last few weeks, my camera has been nothing short of impossible. One minute it won't turn on, the next it will - but only to die two seconds later. Then (after re-charging), it'll let me record a video, link up to my computer, only to crash when I try to import.

The moral of this story: my camera is old. Not old, old, but rather 21st-Century old. I've had it for over three years and it's given me a lot of good pictures and videos in that time... but shouldn't it be built to last?

I was hoping for the Martina Navratilova of cameras, but I ended up with Justine Henin instead. Pooey.

A Little Inspiration

There are those people in life that are inspiring when you hear their stories. They inspire you with their hard work, or their triumph over tragedy, or simply because you've connected with them and they are impossible to not be inspired by.

Then there are those people who are inspiring just by being present. They have an air about them; an aura that can't really be explained; an energy that is well, contagious. I met one of those people today, and she's the reason I'm writing this blog post.

Seena Hamilton has been a fixture on the tennis (and marketing and public relations and writing and radio and philanthropy and travel and social) scene(s) for over 40 years now. 17 years prior to my birth and seven years before my parents even met, Seena was making waves as a professional in whatever she chose to dip her toes into.

Basically, she's a pretty big deal.

The sad thing is, even as an avid tennis fan, player and enthusiast of the game, I had no idea who Ms. Hamilton was until two weeks ago. Her sudden arrival in my life has reminded me that there is a reason why we are passionate about things in life, and that passion has been re-ignited and might become one of the fall season's most dangerous wildfire.

You can consider this my official return to the blog. You'll hear plenty more about Ms. Hamilton, and a little more about me, too. I'm in New York City now, living and - apparently - being inspired.

Out of Blogness

It has been so great getting back into the blogging world this summer. From the French to Wimbledon to the US Open Series, all of it has been so much fun!

More than anything, I've enjoyed starting up my video posts, complete with off-color commentary and my attempt to sound smart on screen.

But, separate from the blogging (and vlogging) world, there's this thing called my life out there that I have to tend to. Over the next seven weeks, I will be dotting the globe with friends and family enjoying their company and celebrating my graduation from college.

I will be moving to New York City in late September, and hope to have the blog back up (in some form) come early/mid October.

Keep your eyes open around then, and check back in here every once in a while - I might just putting up some random stuff!

All my thanks for you who stopped by for a first, second or thousandth time.

Cheers,
Nick

Roger That: Technical Difficulties

Seems as though Roger Federer isn't the only one experiencing technical difficulties these days. I did a video for you guys last night and have tried several times to put it up today, but my camera just won't cooperate! Boo :(

In the meanwhile, here's the surprisingly competitive draw for the men's tourney down in L.A. this week, in which those non-Olympians are playing in.

More soon... I hope!

Yee Haw, Y'All!

I went to the rodeo this weekend. There, I said it. The rodeo. And me. Together, in one place.

I'd never been to a rodeo before. Although I was raised in Montana, we were a sports family growing up, so our nights and weekends were taken up by YMCA soccer and basketball games and every other sport imaginable.

So on Friday night, when I ventured to the Broadway County Fair in Townsend, Montana, it was not only my first time at the rodeo, but my first time writing it, too. My local paper asked me to do a little coverage for them of the event because they're short staffed, so I put my tennis slash soccer slash general sports knowledge to the test and went where no queer Seattle reporter has gone before... at least, not that I know of.

(Photo by Amdanda Determan, the Helena IR.)

Check out what came of the article here.

If you think that tennis is that far removed from the rodeo, then you better think again. This summer, a bunch of tennis vigilantes have been taking over both tours, ravaging the draws in US Open Series events and making the top players saddle up their games before the Olympics and the US Open are upon us.

Roger Federer has been the biggest cowboy to go down, but Andy Roddick, the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic haven't been far behind.

Watching Rafael Nadal and Jankovic vault their way to the top of the game has been exciting, but nothing like an 8-second bull ride. Shouldn't there be a rule in place that if a player doesn't win a tournament, he or she can't be number one the following week? What a weird feeling that must be for Jankovic, especially.

On the cowboy's side, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are each having a pretty good summer, and they'll meet today for the title in Cincy. Behind Nadal, these are the two hottest players on the men's tour. A new trivalry? Maybe.

Meanwhile, Sharapova is out of the US Open, and the women's tour continues to suffer from its own faults.

Video post soon, y'all! Cowboy's promise!

Behind the Story

A couple of weeks ago, after my first of several articles ran in my local paper, I had a family friend tell my in utter surprise how impressed he was with my writing. He meant it as a compliment and I took it as so, but I told him that the last four years of my life had been spent working on my writing, so hopefully I'm pretty good at it, right?

It was more of a joke than anything else, but as I look back at my few weeks spent in Montana this summer I will be thankful for many things. But one thing that will stand out is the opportunity to tell a few incredible stories to the community that I was raised in. So often the media gets branded as a fishing entity, one that only stirs up controversy and finds the worst in others.

Well, much of that is true, but on the same token, there are good stories to be told out there... actually, there are good stories that need to be told out there - because they're newsworthy.

Over the last eight days, my life has centered around soccer for the first time in 15 years. I had the incredible opportunity of witnessing recent high school graduates giving a clinic for at-risk youth, kids who suffer from all sorts of mental and emotional trauma.

I think we, as a society, oftentimes forget how impressionable other are. We take simple interactions for granted, never pausing to think how we impact one another. The impact on that morning was visible and nothing short of inspiring. Who knew that 30 minutes could make a week? Or, by god, a life?

This week, I got to spend time with a friend that I grew up with, talking with him and his family about his upcoming adventure to Africa, to work with the non-profit Grassroot Soccer. This is a humble, down-to-earth individual who genuinely cares about others not only in his immediate world, but in the global sense, too.

The story behind the story here is simple: this kid is the real deal. So often we are limited in writing by cliches and simple language, but to know and understand an individual and his or her 'cause' is to see them in their true light. His light will shine on others... how's that for cliche?

My hope is that these stories exist in the tennis world, as well. That stories like James Blake and his father, Andre Agassi and his school and Ana Ivanovic learning to play tennis in a pool don't have to be anomalies, but rather the fabric that makes up the world of tennis. Yes, you must find the good ones to make them worth writing (and reading) about, but they're there, it's just a matter of finding them.

Tennis Chatter: Head Above the Crowd

Well, I'm sitting here at my computer waiting for the clock to strike midnight (it's 10:40) to see what my first ever front-page article will look like. Last week both stories I did got B1 (Sports) billing, but I have a hunch that the piece I did might make section A... so I'm waiting for the web site to re-boot at midnight so I can check it out!

Meanwhile, I thought it might be good to get in here and update all of you on what's going on in the world of tennis (as if you don't know).

Here's one thing you might not be tuned into: a friend of mine that I just graduated from college with is interning down in SoCal with The Press Enterprise in Riverside. He emailed me late today to let me know he was on assignment at the East West Bank Classic, telling me that it was "my first time shooting tennis, too bad the tournament turned out to be kinda lame." I think that Joey is right, the EWBC has turned out to be quite lame so far this year, but let's hope that Jelena can make a run into the finals and start her summer right. I'd love to see her win the US Open, wouldn't you guys?

The link to Joey's (Joey Anchondo, if you're wondering) EWBC photos is here.

And while we're on the topic of the women, let's talk about their summer season for a minute. So far they've played Stanford and now LA, two tournaments that have turned into complete jokes on the women's schedule. Remember when playing during the summer was important to WTA players? When playing outside of the slams for that reason was important?

Well, the girls certainly don't care now. It's really, really heart breaking to watch these tournaments come up with Aleksandra Wozniak (no offense Al, but my favorite Wozy on tour is Caroline... you just don't cut it!) and Bethanie Mattek (sorry to you, too, BM, but you're just not the player I want to see in the semis!) as premiere players?!? Perhaps the WTA needs to re-think that brilliant Roadmap of theirs and figure out how to get top players to play, and play often.

I know that was a poor attempt at a rant... but the last 18 hours have been rough... so take it easy on me, okay?

Let's talk about how Rafael Nadal continues to prove why he's so much better than the entire rest of the ATP tour. Nadal has advanced to the semifinals in Toronto by beating Richard Gasquet in three sets, and will take on Andy Murray, who has arguably had the second best summer on the tour.

With all that's happened at the Rogers (and I'm sure will happen over the next couple of days), it's sure to say one thing: the top of the men's game is very unsure right now. Federer, Roddick, Djokovic... they all lost to opponents they could have and should have beat, all saying that they needed to "play their way into the tournament" or something of the like.

So what's their excuse going to be when they fall at the US Open? Can't wait to hear those.

Oh, and video post this weekend... I PROMISE!

Tennis Chatter: The Sunday Scramble

I feel as though I have a lot of catching up to do on here and in the tennis world in general, but as I surfed the web this morning checking out the latest scores and story lines, I realized that I really didn't miss that much over the last ten days.

As I promised, here is the second feature story I've done for our local paper, The Independent Record. It's been quite the learning experience for me over the last week to write these two stories. Though they dealt with the same event, they were vastly different in subject matter and leg work.

The first I had six days to work on, get interviews for, re-think and edit over and over again, but yesterday had me at the pole vault event for four-plus hours before heading home and hunkering down in my basement to crank out an equally-long story. I felt a bit of pressure, but lucky the words came off the keyboard with relative ease, which is always any writer's hope. I could tell you the dozen or so little things I found in the two stories that I was self-critical about, but instead I'm going to see these last seven days as a learning experience. What else could it be?

This next week, I'm doing two pieces (again, one feature, one "game-day") on the Shodair Soccer Classic happening here in Helena. I'm pretty pumped about being a part of the Shodair festivities this summer as my older brother was a participant years ago went the event was just getting off the ground. I know there will be some great stories to tell, I'll just have to dig deep to find them.

Being around pole vault reminded me of one thing yesterday: tennis really is a niche sport. As much as I think we all want tennis to succeed on a global stage, it is, and will always be, for us tennis enthusiasts. Yes, there will be times when the world's eyes are on our sport (think Wimbledon 2008), but for the most part, we bask in the quietness and uniqueness of this sport.

Such is the same in pole vault, which in and of itself is its own sport within track and field, but inspires such a niche and often cult-like following that it's pointless to ever try to make pole vault mainstream. You can't kick around the pole vault in the back yard or hit it against the wall, can you? It's always going to exist as it does: a sport that few love and are passionate about, but most have no idea what the hell is going on.

That's the thing I get most often when talking about tennis to others: I just don't get how it works. Yes, tennis scoring is beyond confusing, which I think plays a big role in why we will never be a football, soccer or basketball. And I'm not saying tennis should just hang out with its five fans and be happy for the rest of its existence, but there needs to be a realization on a bigger level that this kind of sport can only be so big, just like pole vault.

Perhaps I am speaking from a naive point of view. No, I wasn't alive when John McEnroe was America's bad boy and tennis stars were like rock stars. But our world has vastly changed since then ... it's hard to think tennis could ever have that status again.

With all that said, I think what Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done for the sport is spectacular. As we head into the meat of the US Open Series schedule, I will be interested to watch just how things shape up. This past weekend was a blow to American tennis: Serena pulled out at the BOTW, Blake and Querrey both lost their semis at Indy, and Venus and Lindsay both pulled out of LA before they even hit a ball. Will these American tournaments live and die by the American participation? It's hard to tell.

It isn't hard to tell, however, that the entire tennis world - not just Americans - will be a little less interested in the Simon-Tursonov and Wozniak-Bartoli finals than had those aforementioned players won their matches yesterday. Will it be another USOS plagued by injuries and pull outs? I sure hope not.

But then, there's those things call the Olympics, too...

Published (In the Paper)

It's one thing to get published on the internet, but quite different in these days to see your work in print. Over the last couple of years I've been lucky enough to do a lot of publishing through this blog, and even nab a couple freelance jobs on "real" web sites.

But this morning, I had my first-ever I'm-a-professional story printed in my local paper. As some of you know, I'm home for the summer in Montana and interviewed with our paper, the Independent Record, to do some sports freelancing while I'm here.

This week, I was lucky enough to tell the incredible story of Patrick Kelly. Patrick is a young man who passed away two years ago unexpectedly, and his story of life and the way he lived it is simply inspiring. I feel blessed and humbled to have told this story.

A Little Busy

Who knew summer could be so busy?!?

I'm working hard on two articles for my local paper (yes, I'll link when they're up!) and have a visitor in town! My friend Matt has journeyed to Montana from The Big City (NYC, of course) and is hanging out for a few days before he heads over to Missoula to see his family.

Check out the terrific post he put up this morning, and we'll be sure to have a video post up for you guys this evening or tomorrow! Cheers :)

Tennis Chatter: A Week Later

Well, we're just now a week removed from that epic final that had all of us stirring for days and that we will no doubt be thinking about and re-analyzing for weeks, months and perhaps years to come! I've spent this last week working and hanging out with family, and also had the pleasure of playing my first USTA tournament in over three years. All in all, it was a good weekend (and I'll just leave it at that!).

With all this "de-throning" and "changing of the guard" talk on the men's side, I wanted to touch a bit on what the last few weeks have meant for women's tennis. In my post on Wednesday, I mentioned that a few journalists had made this point themselves, and so I thought it would be fun to speak a bit about it in my next video post. My good friend Kelsey joined in for the convo, and though she's no tennis buff, she knows a thing or two about longevity and burnout.



Over the next week, I'm working furiously on two feature articles that are to be printed in my hometown paper, the Independent Record. I'm pretty stoked to be doing some freelance while in Montana, and hope that I'll be able to cover all my ground and write some kick-ass stuff. I've got this blog thing down pretty good, but writing features for the local paper is a little bit different.

While I'm researching, transcribing interviews and writing, the men and women of the professional tennis tour officially kick off the US Open Series with the ladies at the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and the guys playing in Indianapolis.

LIVE BLOG: Tuesday, July 1st

I'm ringing in the new month and celebrating Ladies' Day (all four women's quarters will be played Tuesday) by doing a LIVE blog from 6 AM to 9 AM Mountain Time. Yes, my friends, I'm in the metropolitan known as Helena, Montana watching lots and lots of tennis.

You know you are jealous.

Swing by on your lunch break (East Coast), or breakfast (West), or perhaps dinner (London)!

Oh, and I'll have a video up tomorrow, too :)

Middle Sunday

I'm taking the day off to finish up what has been an epic run of cleaning and packing the house the myself and four others lived in in Seattle for over two years. When that many people are in one place for that amount of time, you accumulate stuff. And, being the ignorant one in the house, I didn't realize that if you leave last, you're most likely to end up taking care of all the extra accumulation, even if it's not yours.

Tomorrow (Monday), I'm hitting the road for the Queen City of the Rockies, better known as my hometown of Helena, Montana. It's a 600-plus mile drive, so I'll be sure to be thinking all about how week two could go and should go while watching the hills of Eastern Washington roll by.

Be back with a video tomorrow night!

A Brief(?) Return

Well, folks, I've finally graduated from college. Nearly two years after I started this blog, I'm returning to it for coverage of Wimbledon and to see what sort of stuff I'd like to do for the year's greatest slam.

I've been toying with doing some video posts, delving into other women's sports and giving my tennis coverage a little bit of a different angle than any other site. Here's what you'll be getting from Tennis Chatter over the next couple of weeks:

-Original content
-Video posts
-Funny on-tour quirks
-Outside-the-lines stories
-My pure, unadulterated humor
-Opinion
-Gossip

I'm tired of tennis blog after tennis blog popping up all over the net and giving us the same thing that every other site gives: tennis news. Yes, it's great that the men's and women's games are getting ample coverage all over the Internet, but how much do we actually need 50 different sources telling us the same thing? If I learned one thing in college it was that we are drowning in a world content. There's content about everything imaginable out there, and in order to try to doggy paddle through it all, you have to sift through the stuff that's irrelevant.

That's why my return to Tennis Chatter may be brief. Perhaps I'm irrelevant. Perhaps I'm just another talking head that is under-educated about tennis and about life and is just spouting off un-needed opinion and taking up (cyber) space. I take myself (not too) serious as a tennis fan and as a writer, but perhaps I should be putting my energy elsewhere to make this thing called life work. I don't need to "prove" myself through a blog but instead I should be enjoying what I do while providing a unique and worthwhile service for my audience.

As always, comments are welcome.

April Already?

For those of you who are checking in every now and then, I wanted to get a post up to let you know I'm still alive (incredible!) and making my way toward graduation in June. Yesterday was my first last day of school for a while... if not ever. I started spring quarter of my senior year, which has come alarmingly fast.

I've still been actively doing posts for GreenforGood.com on a variety of environmental issues. Check them out below:

"Trying times as a Greener traveler" - March 21st.

"Taking a second look at second-hand clothes" -March 25th.

I spent the last 10 days (spring break!) in New York visiting my Montana friend Matt in Manhattan. I spent my time there hanging out, taking in a few Broadway shows with Matt and putting out some feelers for a move there in the fall to try to make it as a freelance writer. I also did a little post on my adventure on the famed Chinatown bus for Matt's blog, too.

I'll be back to check in soon. How about all this good tennis we're getting in the States the last few weeks? Too bad Miss Davenport couldn't follow up her big win over Ivanovic yesterday in Miami, but it's so nice to see her back and playing competitive tennis.

Ban the Bottle

Another post over at Green for Good - this one on bottled water.

UPDATE: Looks like the City of Seattle has caught on too! Mayor Nickels is banning all bottled water purchases for city use. AWESOME!

Can't Stop Writing

So for a few of you that might be still checking in here, or have stumbled upon the blog accidently, I thought I'd share the little amount of (non-academic, of course) writing I've been doing lately.

A couple weeks ago I went to an alumni panel for communication and journalism majors at Seattle U, and quite a few interesting SU alum showed up to share their wisdom. One of them was Teresa Wippel, an upbeat lengthy woman probably in her mid-40s. She spoke about her public relations firm that focused on green issues. She also talked about her new community-based web site, Green for Good, a place for people to gather and share green ideas in an effort to live a more sustainable life.

So, being the ever-hopeful journalism student, I approached Teresa after the panel with the proposal of doing a once-a-week column on students living green in a simple (and cheap) way.

Here's the first of my weekly columns in what we're calling the "Greener Grad." Enjoy!