PLN at KIS

This revolutionary course that I took this semester, revolutionalized me as a person.

I certainly became a better writer that cares. Through my project, I had real audience. In order to succeed, I had to have a good writing that catches people. I’ve learned to make the title catching, and I’ve learned to make sure the audience wanted to read. To do that, I had to think about the sentence styles, order of what I write about, and maybe throwing some nice metaphors. I’m starting to care about what I write a lot. And one can observe my improvement in writing if one reads my own blog.

As a thinker, I’ve learned to think. After doing a project about something I’m interested in, I’ve learned to think in my own way, that things  I like can turn into something like this. After realizing this, I’ve learned to write about things that I like. And to me, writing is just like thinking. When I write about something I like, then I feel good. I’ve learned that ultimately, I would want to please the audience, but it all starts from pleasing myself with my own thoughts.

As a producer, I’ve learned that I’m a producer now.  I produce things. I’ve produced my website, I’ve produced the interviews, and I’ve produced the productivity. I never turned in anything. Everything I did in this class, was what I produced. I’ve learned that by producing, I can learn more.

As a networker, I’m not a big user of twitter. But using our connection, we’ve reached three big-time interviewees. One of the tools that helped us was facebook. There are many “non-educational’ ways to use facebook, but it still keeps people in touch. It’s easy to contact people, and it’s easy to expand my network by becoming friends with my friends’ friends. This method led us to interview three big basketball figures in Asia. Connection is important, because with one, you can have a million.

As a problem-solver, I’ve learned to consider everything possible. One of the problems we had in our project was the contact with Graham Bensinger. It was great that we got into cantact with him, but we just couldn’t arrange the time for our interview. We’ve exchanged tons of emails trying to figure out the time. When we finally did, about 6 hours before the time arranged to interview, the time difference between Korea and US changed because USA just entered the spring time. So we could never do our interview. The problem was the time difference. But I’ve failed to consider USA entering the spring time. After that, we fortunately got new interviews, so we never contacted Graham anymore. Mr. Burell did suggest some video chats that we could do regardless of the time difference, but interviews are live, and I wanted to do it live. For the next interviews, I made sure the time difference didn’t change. So maybe it’s not as a problem solver, but I’ve learned to learn from the mistakes.

Again, I thank Mr. Burell for this revolutionary class. It was the only real experience I had at school.

Photo by: Jarrellish

“It is a small world after all”. The past five months truly taught me what this quote meant.

As with most other cases, the start was not so great. I did not want to make this into a academic, insignificant project. Deliberating desperately to figure out a way to make this work, I came up with a risky idea of focusing on the stereotypes about basketball. Due to the relatively long time that took us to decide on what we are going to do , the group went on a slow start.

Connecting to the world.. It was not so far away from us after all. After I chose the focus, things started to work out for us rather quickly. Luckily for us, the Columbia University basketball star Keijuro Matsui accepted our interview request. “Maybe this could actually work“, I thought to myself. Then Ko Yada, then Kelvin Kim. In approximately 4 weeks, we had interviewed 3 basketball sensations. The empty parking lot started to fill when visitors started coming to see the show and naturally the show began to flourish..

Writing… This was an inevitable part of the class. The primary problem was not knowing my weaknesses. It wasn’t too long before Mr. Burell pointed out that my sentence structures are always the same. (Subject verb object). Clearly, I had to change this style to make people want to read me. As time went, luckily for me, my writing improved to a level where Mr. Burell said “That was good!”. I have not completely gasped the art of organic writing yet, but started to notice where to pause, where to put in the funny stuff. Looking back, my lack of confidence about writing was preventing me from trying out different things in my writing..

At this point, I can honestly say that the English Seminar Class has taught me two valuable experiences that I did not experience anywhere else. It has taught me the power of technology, and the techniques of creative writing.

For the ending, I want to thank Mr. Burell for having faith in us when we were lost in the Sahara Dessert and helping us find something that can be extended into the world Thanks.

Photo by: draftexpress

Not too long after the start of the 2007-2008 season, the ACC powerhouse University of Maryland Men’s Varsity Basketball Team received it’s first commitment of the class of 2009. His name is Jin Soo Kim. Standing 6-foot-9, weighing 170 pounds, Jin Soo Kim plays the shooting guard or small forward position, depending on the needs of his team. By signing with the Maryland, Jin Soo becomes the first Korean born player to every play in the NCAA division one basketball leagues.

Looking back, it was not an easy route that awaited Jin Soo who first came to America in 2004 as a freshmen in high school. After getting recruited at the Adidas All American Camp, Jin Soo’s quest to the promised land began. Despite risking many things, Jin Soo came to the US to achieve his goal of playing in the NBA. But let alone the NBA dream.. For a guy who has never lived in the US before, English was the primary problem. Not knowing the language, there was not much Jin Soo could do in the classroom. “The first year was one of the hardest times of my life”, confesses Jinsoo who states that he thought about going back to Korea countless times.

As a freshman, Jin Soo was a starting forward for Montclair Prep, a strong basketball school in California. But to fill his needs of playing at the highest level of high school basketball, Jin Soo transfered to South Kent School of Connecticut, one of the best basketball schools in the country. Now, Jin Soo ranks as one of the top 25 class of 08 shooting guard prospects and has verbally committed to play with the University of Maryland Terrapins.

“Many elite programs basketball programs recruited me. Yale University, Stanford University, Duke, University of North Carolina were interested in me. But coach Williams (Coach of Maryland) and the needs of the team seemed to fit me the best”, explains Jin Soo on his decision to attend University of Maryland.

This triumphant victory seems to mean a lot for the Korean basketball fans who have been desperate to see a Korean native in the big leagues. Japan’s had it’s KJ Matsui, China’s had it’s Derrick Low but Korea has never had a native make it to the promised land. By passing the last obstacle (the University of Maryland SAT cut off score of 650) , Jin Soo is now officially qualified to play in the big leagues, and maybe even more.

Photo by: KoreamJournal

Kelvin Kim is special not only because he is the third baller that we interviewed. He is more than that.

If you are a basketball fan living in the state of California, then you have probably heard of Kelvin Kim. Kelvin has gained himself some mad fame by becoming the first Korean and Asian to ever play on the prestigious UCLA Men’s Varsity Basketball Team.

Despite having a prolific high school career at El Toro High School in Orange Country California, where he was named 2004 South Coast League MVP, Kelvin has always had his share of doubters. Many judged Kelvin’s game by his height and claimed that he is fit for the Junior College level or prophesized that Kelvin will never play at the next level. But the doubters did not bother Kelvin who kept on playing and proving himself on the court. During Kelvin’s Senior year of high school, he got numerous scholarship offers from the east coast schools such as Boston University, Colgate, Columbia University, and many more. But Kelvin chose to walk on as a freshmen to UCLA to be close to his family.

“I didn’t know if I was ready to move that far and I really wanted to focus on academics [and] basketball. I tried to find a school that fit both of those needs. Kelvin’s parents, co-owners of a small construction business in Orange County, could make the short commute to Westwood to see Kelvin play.

Before transfering to UCSD (He is a junior now), Kelvin was AKA the Chosen One at UCLA. Although playing sparingly as a walk on freshmen, Kelvin’s popularity rose rapidly as the fans started recognizing the 5′10 Asian guy on the team that sat on the bench amongst the 6′6’s. The UCLA student section, a passionate group known as The Den, would chant Kelvin’s name “Kel-vin, Kel-vin” and UCLA Coach Ben Howland would finally bow to crowd pressure and insert him into the game.

This was two years ago.

Last year, Kelvin brought his game to a different University of California School, UCSD. Although he transfered schools, Kelvin continued to electrify the crowd. “I made the decision to transfer from UCLA at the end of last season.” Kim explained. “I just wanted to go to another school where I’d have a better opportunity to play ball.”

At UCSD, Kelvin has achieved his wish. Kindly listed at 5′10 in the profiles, (some claim that he’s 5′2) Kelvin’s name sits in the roster of the University of California San Diego’s Men’s Varsity Basketball Team. His bulky build (alliteration) seems suited for a wrestler’s or a football player’s. Nevertheless, Kelvin is a baller, a very good one. As the starting point guard of the UCSD Men’s Varsity basketball team last year as a sophomore. He averaged 8.8 points per game and led the Tritons in assists (3.8) and 3-point percentage (50).

After having a successful season at UCSD, Kelvin is breaking the sweats and hitting the weights for a marvelous junior year. “My strengths are my shooting and my passing ability”. He also emphasizes the need to use his head in the game to overcome the size deficit. “I can’t dunk. I really can’t”. For a NCAA player to be not dunking is a shame.

Such a sin can be forgiven only in the case of the awesome “Kel-vin Kim”!

Here’s a youtube video of Kelvin. We will soon upload our podcast interview with him on our site so keep checking.

Click on Picture for Highlights of 2002 Asian Games Men’s Basketball game. (Korea vs China).

Photo: http://www.asia-basket.com/KOR/Photos/nt06.jpg

It was a thrilling victory for the South Koreans who did not win a game against China since 1982. Some people call it a “upset” but for others it was an expected win.

On the Finals of the 2002 Asian Games Men’s Basketball Championship, the unknown Korean Men’s basketball team defeated the Chinese team that had two current NBA players Yao Ming and Mangke Bateer. The score was 102-100. Yao, taken first over all in the 2002 N.B.A. draft by the Houston Rockets, had 23 points and 22 rebounds for China, which led by 84-71 with slightly more than three minutes left.

With 25.5 seconds left in the game, the Chinese were in the lead 90-83. “At that point, we were hoping for a miracle”, says the starting point guard of Korea at that time Lee Sang Min. Little did he know that a miracle would really happen. When China was inbounding the ball, the speedy Korean guard Kim Seung Hyun stole the ball and assisted Hyun Ju Yup to score an easy two. After about five seconds, Kim Seung Hyun stole the ball again and this time Assisted Moon Gyung Eun for a three point shot. The Koreans had scored 5 points in approximately 5 seconds. Then Koreans decided to intentionally foul in hopes of the Chinese missing the free throws. The Chinese guard Wu Heidong, a very high percentage free throw shooter, missed both free throws, giving the ball in Korea’s hands with 10 seconds to go with 2 down. There was no strategy. Hyun Joo Yup, the small forward of the Korean team drove into the basketball, made a spin mood, and double faked his defender and tied the game. The champion would be decided in overtime.

In the overtime, the Korean team played with heart and heart alone. Once again there was no strategy. “We didn’t really have a set offense at that point. Everybody knew where to be and what to do”. What a coincidence.. In the end, Korea defeated China 102-100 in overtime and became the champions of the 2002 Asian Games.

Looking at Korea’s victory, one can point out the importance of heart in basketball. China, who had a 7′5 center and a 6′5 point guard had a far taller team than Korea. But in the end, the heart defeated height.

An Asian basketball player who’s only 6′2” (with shoes) throwing the ball up in the air, catching it with one hand to finish it off with a slam dunk is not the typical image you have about Asian basketball players. In fact many of you will be saying “Asian basketball players?” Some of you will go, “Do they even exist other than Yao Ming? ”

An Asian player that made it to the promised land, the NCAA division one basketball league. KJ Matsui, starting shooting guard of the Columbia Lions basketball team.

Yes, as our title says, he sat with us on skype to have a nice little conversation. Rather than like an official interview, it was more like a friendly conversation. So, what did we talk about? Here’s the table of contents.

• Us Introducing Ourselves To KJ
• KJ Introducing Himself
• KJ’s College Offers
• KJ’s Pre-Game Routine
• KJ’s Childhood Basketball
• KJ On His Game
• KJ’s Dream
• KJ On Japanese And American Basketball
• KJ’s Attitude Toward Studying
• KJ’s Social Life
• Words Of Advice From KJ

“My goal is to go to NBA, but I don’t think the chances are high,” said KJ. Even though humble he is, he still dreams to go to NBA.

Whether he makes it to the NBA or not, Matsui’s accomplishments are certainly one of a kind. And the words of advice at the end of the conversation should be a good inspiration for those of you ambitious to play basketball in the future.

Listen to the conversation here. You can download it to your iTunes [right-click the link above and click “save link as” or “save target,” then open with iTunes].

We’re not ready yet to publish our basketball site yet. We want to wait until we finish the interview with St. Louis coach and players, and with Graham Bensinger. It’s really hard to adjust time with Graham, so we are going to wait until my spring break for him. On the other hand, I haven’t heard from the St. Louis people yet. I’ve sent them the questions, and we will be ready to publish our site officially after we finish the interview, edit them, and post them up so it looks cool.

One of the things that I can surely tell from the sports journals I’ve read is that they tend to be not fancy. Their introductions are plain, straight to the point. Even their titles are not decorated. For example, one of the titles from CBSSPORTS.com read, “Win In Dallas.” How short and to the point is that?

There are very few articles with a fancy introduction or a title. “Truemor” is surely one of the good titles. It is way better than “SI.com,” or “NBA.com.” But SI.com and NBA.com have more readership and are more popular that Truemor. Maybe because SI and NBA are short, but I certainly don’t want my title to be “EDSBS.” It’s too long, and I have to pronounce each letter out to read it, unlike UEFA, which can be read just UEFA. Afterall, using acronyms as a title doesn’t seem to be a good idea unless it’s NBA, or NFL.

I liked the title “Rocket Men.” There’s a team that’s making a history in NBA right now, and that is the Houston Rockets. They’ve won 22 games consecutively, which is the second longest winning streak in NBA history. Now, the title “Rocket Men” just instantly reminds you of the Houston Rockets if you’re an NBA fan. Many NBA articles like to play with the team names, like “Suns torches the Lakers,” or “Heat was hot against Hornets.”

I am getting ready for an interview with a high school coach and his player at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School. And for them and for me to be ready, I’ve prepared some questions that I think people would be interested to read. So here they go.

Coach
Q. What is your experience as a basketball coach?
Q. What do you think is the most important thing when coaching a basketball team?
Q. What is the first thing you would teach a young basketball team?
Q. When was the best moment in your whole career of coaching basketball?
Q. How was the season this year?
Q. Who is your go-to guy?
Q. If your team is down by one, and we have 13 seconds left, would you set up a play for the win, or would you give it to your best player to finish it?
Q. If you had the No.1 Draft pick, and there are LeBron James and Yao Ming, who would you choose?
Q. Lastly, what is basketball to you?

Player
Q. When’s the first time you shot a basketball?
Q. Did you make it?
Q. What part of the game do you take pride in?
Q. What things do you feel like you still need to work on?
Q. Who was your role model basketball player as a child? Is it the same player now?
Q. Tell me about your best game
Q. Are you thinking of going pro?

But I think that interviews are supposed to be more naturally flowing. The interview will be based on these questions, but I might come up with something new during the interview, and I think that’s an interview that peopel would love to listen to, a natural conversation, than a hard, robot to robot interview.

This months was pretty rough, missing one whole week because I had to play basketball…

But only good things happened this months. First of all, I’m in touch with the ESPN broadcaster, Graham Bensinger. We are having a trouble scheduling the Skype chat because of the 19 hours time difference in here and there. But we are keeping in touch with each other, and we are going to have a skype chat sometime soon.

Another good thing. I’ve made a first post on our site. It’s just an introduction about our site, but I thought I needed it before posting up anything on there. I also worked on my site a bit, made some pages, and organized more. Doing this made me feel better. I felt more organized and more ready to post things up.

While I was gone to play basketball, Jaeho did a great interview with a Korean basketball player. I read the interview, and I really found the information interesting. We’ve posted up the interview on the interview page of our site. But the interview formatt is not professional, or not as good to interest more people. We need to work on our style more.

While Jaeho was concentrating on interviewing, I was interested in writing articles. In fact, I’ve found a really interesting article here.
The article criticizes a two-time MVP player. His writing is really persuasive that even I, the big fan of Steve Nash, thought maybe he was being overrated. I was amazed by this article. This is the level I want to get to. I’m thinking of maybe concentrating on writing articles, and letting Jaeho concentrate on the interviews. I think it’s a good idea, because we’re starting to see our directions… We know where’s we’re going. We just found the direction sign.

So for this months, I’m not sure what grade I should get because I was away for a week… But I am making progress so I think I do deserve A- for this month.

photo credit to DonnaGrayson