Category Archives: Contributor Blog

Contributor Blog

Wesner: “I have learned and will not forget”

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Wesner: “I have learned and will not forget”

Peyton Wesner – Producer and Men’s Basketball Reporter
March 2, 2020

My contributions to Mariah’s show consisted of IHSA State Wrestling Championships coverage. I have a sense of humble pride in the content produced. The Luke Odom VO-SOT-VO had a great story — the Illini commit being a life-long fan and also set to become the first member of his family to go to college. Moreover, my package on the Braunagel brothers may be one of the best narratives I’ve told during my time at the University of Illinois.

Ultimately, these stories — not to mention a behind the scenes look at Fighting Illini wrestling commit Cody Goodman for this week’s show — set a high standard for Illini Sports Night. We covered high school commits that have never suited up for Illinois. Thus, this should set a new benchmark for everyone invested in this newscast to not settle for the stories right in front of them and, obviously, pick up a camera.

Every time I check out a camera from Richmond Studio, “my shoot” gets better. My shots are more advanced and I implement adjustments to help become more effective.

As a producer, shooting is essential. If any producer allocates all of their coverage to videographers without going to games to help, then he or she is shirking their responsibilities. For instance, last Wednesday, I went with Alvaro Martinez to a women’s basketball game to help with his first sporting event. Hence, I believe in a more “hands-on” approach.

More so, and this will be discussed more in next week’s recap, you cannot count on some underclassmen to follow through. For instance, I had two videographers not cover the contest they committed to. This should not happen. It’s a bad look to Illinois’ sports information directors (SID) to make plans for coverage and no-show. I apologized profusely to the women’s tennis SID and IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. For Illini Sports Night to grow and continue to build credibility, EVERYONE must take this seriously.

That’s because Illini Sports Night is all about beyond-the-field reporting and in-depth stories. And, I will continue to shoot as many sporting events as possible — maybe in a tag team. I’ve learned from this and will never forget. #DIY

Contributor Blog

Illinois Is Officially Chicago’s Team

Jake Hasan
Feb 27th, 2020

It might be time for the Northwestern Wildcats to think of a new catchphrase.

The Illini traveled to Evanston Thursday night and took care of business as expected in a 74-66 win against a Northwestern team that has notched just one conference win all season.

With the win Illinois jumps back into a tie for second place in the Big Ten standings, a position that has them in line to get a coveted double bye in the Big Ten Tournament. It also secures a winning season in the Big Ten for the Illini, the first time since 2010.

Pretty big night if you ask us.

With all that for once it wasn’t the Ayo Dosunmu show, and while the star guard was still a force (21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) the big story of the night was sophomore forward Alan Griffin. He didn’t start the game but Griffin ended it as the talk of Twitter, he had a career-high 24 points on 6-8 shooting from three (so close to being nice) to go with 7 rebounds.  Griffin continues his breakout season after only playing sporadically as a freshman, and he is one of the Illini’s most important players going forward.

Elsewhere, Kofi Cockburn continued his case to be the Big Ten Freshman of the Year by putting in 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds of his own. This is Cockburn’s second double-double in a row and his third in the past four games.

Looking ahead Illinois has three games left before entering the Big Ten Tournament, and the next comes Sunday back in Champaign against the Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana lost Thursday night against Purdue, and as a team that is fighting for their lives to get into March Madness, they will be hungry for a win in Champaign on Sunday.

Contributor Blog, Headlines

Softball Ready for Upgrades

Jake Hasan
Feb 25th, 2020

Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman is a wizard.  Not for the first time (and probably not for the last time either) he’s convinced another family to make a donation to Illinois Athletics. It started with football and their new facility helped by the donation from the Smith family.

Then the anonymous donation to update the facilities at Ubben for basketball.

Then a donation from the Demirjian family for track and field and soccer.

Then the Atkins family who supported new baseball facilities.

And now the Atkins family, who donated $3 million to upgrade the softball facilities.

The new softball facility, which will be called the Rex and Alice A. Martin Softball Training Center, is going to be an addition onto the current facilities and add an estimated 13,000 square feet. It adds a full practice area: infield, batting cages and pitching cages. This will put Illinois up there with some of the top softball facilities in the nation. The project will commence later this year and will conclude in the Winter of 2021.

This is just the latest step in Josh Whitman’s plan to rebuild Illinois athletics. We all knew when he came in that football and basketball would be the two main projects for Whitman to work on. But he has also shown a lot of commitment to making other sports better too. All part of the plan to make Illinois more relevant across the board, and it appears he is succeeding. At the very least he is convincing donors to believe in his vision.

Can we get an announcement on that hockey project next?

Contributor Blog, Headlines

The First Solo Show: A Memoir By Jake

Jake Hasan
Feb 25th, 2020

So I volunteered to captain the very first solo show of Illini Sports Night because I figured if I failed spectacularly at least the bar would be low for eveyone else to clear. Team player here.

But now that it’s over I think the show we put out on Valentines Day was awesome and I’m proud of the work that we all put in.

No to say that there weren’t issues and kinks but this is still an extremely new project and hiccups are to be expected. You don’t expect an infant to get up and walk right away right? No of course not, all infants fall on their faces sometimes, and so will Illini Sports Night.

But we’re going to learn and we’re going to grow and by the time May rolls around I think we’re gonna have an awesome product for you all that runs as smooth and crisp as anything you’ve ever seen.

Already we have some awesome stuff, I love Shot Clock and no not just because I get to be the buzzer and there’s a little GIF of me (shoutout Ken). I think Nathan has a real grasp on what to make Shot Clock and we’re gonna have a lot of fun with it. I’m excited to see what he comes up with.

Mariah did a great job with  our Illini Story this week, just absolutely crushed the interview with Karen Howell. Giving people a platform to showcase themselves and their personalities is gonna be a lot of fun and give fans some great looks at athletes when they aren’t on their respective court/field/what have you.

So after the first week of solo shows, and the second week well under way, I’ll leave you with this:

Illini Sports Night is gonna be something. I can feel it in my bones. I have total and complete confidence in Mariah, Peyton, Nathan, Patrick, Tristen and all our reporters. And of course Ken in guiding us. Myself too I guess. So keep coming back and tuning in because we’ve got some really really cool stuff coming.

 

Contributor Blog

Wesner: Not “one and done!”

Wesner: Not “one and done!”

Peyton Wesner – Producer and Men’s Basketball Reporter
February 24, 2020

A first show is a first step. The second show is the continuation of hard work and collaboration.

With the blessing of Professor Ken Erdey, I was allowed to take a step back for the second show as my responsibilities were directly related to social media. Hence, I produced social media posts on the IHSA State Wrestling Championships (which will be featured in video content during our third and fourth shows) as well as wrote website-exclusive stories on Fighting Illini men’s basketball and men’s golf.

The opportunity to write stories on the website is something I have really enjoyed. At this point, I consider myself the “clubhouse leader” in doing so and the short write-ups keeps my print journalism skills sharp.

My coverage of high school wrestling will benefit Mariah’s newscast as well as my own. For Mariah, I will contribute a VO-SOT-VO on an Illinois commit (Luke Odom) who won a 3A state championship. Plus, I will have a PKG on the Braunagel brothers and their support of Joe Braunagel — who competed during the IHSA State Wrestling Championship.

In terms of looking ahead, I am very excited for my opportunity to produce on March 6. The newscast will be heavy on wrestling and men’s basketball. Honestly, with the wrestling room traveling to Piscataway, N.J., for the Big Ten Championships and Brad Underwood’s group competing for a regular season conference championship, I am excited to produce rich content that interests, you, the viewers. Also, keep an eye out for a new type of package. I had a great opportunity to capture footage at the high school wrestling championships and I look forward to you seeing my content. No spoilers!

That is because Illini Sports Night is all about beyond-the-field reporting and in-depth stories. I will not rest until Illini Sports Night and my first solely produced newscast represents this mantra and exceeds my personal expectations.

Contributor Blog, Uncategorized

Wesner: Illini Sports Night was ‘dream’ come true

Wesner: Illini Sports Night was ‘dream’ come true

Peyton Wesner – Producer and Men’s Basketball Reporter
February 17, 2020


The premiere of Illini Sports Night was the realization of a dream.

I remember discussing with Thomas Polcyn inside Richmond Studio, pondering the logistical steps of launching a weekly sports newscast. Now, over a year later, Professor Ken Erdey has made this a reality.

Although the semester is not even a month old, I have learned so much. A videographer can only get better and, through covering a variety of different sports, I believe my skills have sharpened and improved. Plus, I have enjoyed the freedom to produce post-game wrap packages. With major sporting events or popular teams (in a market), post-game hits are essential for a sports reporter, so the experience is invaluable.

Speaking of my contributions, most — if not all — footage and b-roll appearing in Illini Sports Night’s first episode was captured by me. Furthermore, I also produced the first five minutes of the newscast, which included a package about Illinois sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu and his injury (edited and voiced by me).

A courtside perspective of Illini Sports Night’s vantage point during Illinois’ battle with Michigan State on February 11, 2020.

Naturally, I feel more comfortable as our producing trio ventures into the second show. While my responsibilities will be less, I am relieved to know other talented videographers will be able to pick up the slack in covering events. For instance, Spencer Nelson was responsibility for capturing women’s gymnastics on February 14 while Tristen Kissack and Blake Landa covered women’s basketball senior day. Now, I could not stay away from checking out a camera and shooting wrestling, which was my twelfth sporting event covered since January 24.

Nevertheless, I know now our videographers are serious about bringing you, the viewers, an inside look to the talented varsity athletics on campus.

After all, Illini Sports Night is all about beyond-the-field reporting and in-depth stories. I will not rest until Illini Sports Night represents this mantra and exceeds my expectations.