El Clasico – Multimedia Report

As a born and raised Chicagoan, I thought I had already experienced it all when it comes down to sporting events. Packers at Bears during a blizzard, Sox vs Cubs in the summer, and my personal favorite last summer when I saw the Blackhawks play the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. If you’re a hockey fan then you are well aware by now that the Blackhawks and Bruins are absolute powerhouses in the NHL. In fact, the Blackhawks and Bruins have accounted for 3 of the last 4 Stanley Cup Championships (Blackhawks with two and Bruins one). Being at a game of that gravity is something I never thought I’d experience again at the time. The atmosphere in the United Center that night was one in a million, or so I thought.

outside the United Center

warm-ups

All that changed when I purchased a ticket to this “little” game they call, “El Clasico.” The name “El Clasico” is given to any game played between the football clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. All jokes aside, there is nothing remotely little about this game, except for maybe the soccer ball. Other than the UEFA Champions League final, El Clasico is the most followed club football match in the world and it is watched by hundreds of millions of people. The popularity of this game is obvious for Spaniards because Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain. However, these football clubs are also 2 of the 5 richest and most successful clubs in the world and that is why this game is so popular around the globe. The rivalry between Madrid and FCB has grown even more intense with the political oppositions’ of the two cities. On one hand Real Madrid plays for Spain nationalism, but on the other hand FC Barcelona represents Catalonia and their continued strive for independence. From the moment I got off the train outside the stadium I just knew this was more than a football game.

prior to entering Camp Nou

The people outside the stadium looked like little kids on Christmas day. Smiles from ear to ear, it was absolutely infectious. Bordering the stadium you couldn’t go 10-feet without seeing a vendor selling some sort of Barcelona apparel. In addition, fans could pop their heads into a restaurant or bar to get a bite to eat or a beer before kickoff. As you can imagine it was hard to find tickets to the game let alone a group of four that were next to one another. So yeah, to be honest I was a little concerned about sitting by myself, at a soccer game, with a bunch of people who don’t speak my language.

El Clasico tickets

When you first walk into Camp Nou it completely engulfs you. Sweet home Chicago has some incredible sporting venues don’t get me wrong, but it was nothing in comparison to this. I walked to my seat in full zombie mode, my jaw dragging on the ground until I finally got the first view from my seat.

first-half view

From my vantage point I felt like I was just a single spectator in a sea of thousands. What came next actually gave me the chills. Each fan in the stadium was given a colored card to hold up that represented the flag of Catalonia. While we held these cards above our head the stadium roared with what I’m assuming was a song of Catalan patriotism. The same thought kept running through my head, “this isn’t just a game to these people, it’s about pride, it’s about being proud of where you came from.”

Like most people from the United States, soccer wouldn’t be a top my list of favorite sports. With that being said, watching some of the best in the world compete in seemingly a “life or death” type of game would be compelling to anyone. Everyone in the stadium was on the edge of their seats at every single point of the match. Every whistle, every foul, and most importantly every goal brought the fans to their feet. I must say even I got a little caught up in the rivalry after FCB went up 2-0.

FC Barcelona came out on top 2-1 in a thriller. I would 100% guarantee any American that sat in those seats for that game would never call soccer “boring” ever again. All the FCB fans flooded the streets and I was high-fiving people I’ve never met in my life. I interviewed my roommate when we got back to our apartment and asked him how he liked El Clasico compared to a Chicago sporting event.

Being completely honest, I wouldn’t say that now I like FC Barcelona more than my hometown Chicago teams, but without a doubt that was the coolest sporting event I’ve ever been to in my life. There was an atmosphere in that stadium that is incomparable to anything else I’ve ever experienced. That was two teams playing for two cities, how can you possibly out-due that? If you don’t believe me go ahead and buy your tickets for the next El Clasico.

post game celebration

Valenti Sanjuan

Meet Valenti Sanjuan: the presenter and director of the Barcelona TV show entitled Visto lo visto. Maybe you’ve seen an episode on YouTube because his show generates thousands of viewers every week and has around a hundred thousand subscribers today. If you know Sanjuan personally then you would know the guy is ambitious, daring, and he just about does it all. I was fortunate enough to witness a Sanjuan presentation in one of my classes this semester. He informed us of his radio/tv history, told us about his different hobbies, and more importantly made us all more knowledgeable about his job-industry. Sanjuan has been on radio shows previously but his claim to fame is most definitely his hit YouTube show Visto lo visto. Personally, I was almost more impressed with the level of fitness he is in. Sanjuan competes in these marathons called “Ultraman” endurance challenges. These races are no joke and you have to be personally-invited in order to compete. If you have time check out the link below to see a personal video of Sanjuan biking in the Ultraman UK.

Getting back to Sanjuan’s presentation, I was really fascinated by the way a YouTube show works behind the scenes. He explained to us that funding for your show is tough at first and most of the money going into the show is coming out of your own personal pocket.  Now that his show is doing so well he has sponsors that bring in revenue. These sponsors give Sanjuan and the show money in exchange for their ads appearing on Visto lo visto every week. I asked Sanjuan if his show changes sponsors for every particular show and he told me they don’t do that because that would make his show lose credibility. The viewers get used to seeing a certain sponsor and it shows that Visto lo visto really does endorse their product. The other main source of funding for the show comes directly from YouTube. If this is news to you don’t worry because I was unaware YouTube does this too. Sanjuan told us that once you reach a certain amount of views on a particular video or channel, YouTube will reach out to you and actually pay you about a cent for each viewer. How can a single cent be of any value though? Well think about it. If he’s doing a new show on every Wednesday, and each show gets roughly 30,000 visitors, I’m no mathematician but those one-cent views begin to add up. Now, hopefully you are seeing that it is possible to make a living from a YouTube show. I’m definitely not saying that it’s easy though. I think by now you can get an idea of what kind of guy Valenti Sanjuan is. The man busted his butt to get where he is today and the ceiling is endless. Check out an episode of Visto lo visto below and follow Valenti Sanjuan on Instagram and Twitter @valentisanjuan

Also, here is a picture taken by Sanjuan before he spoke to my classmates and I (yeah, I’d be the idiot on the right doing the “surfs up” sign).

Chicago Sports Update

Bears – Sunday was definitely a bitter-sweet day for Chicago-ans and Bears fans. On one hand, the Bears were able to pull out an overtime victory against the Ravens, but tornadoes left communities in shambles all over Illinois. To be honest with you, I don´t know how the game wasn´t cancelled on Sunday. There were 60 MPH winds gusting around Soldier Field, I´ve never seen anything like it. The football was literally changing directions in mid-air when it left the quarterback´s hand. The refs had to delay the game for about 2 hours, and that just doesn´t happen in football. Regardless of the weather conditions, Josh McCown once again came up big. McCown just refuses to turn the ball over and the guy hasn´t thrown an interception this entire season. Basically he´s been the opposite of Jay Cutler. He manages the game, keeps the Bears close, and makes the necessary plays to win down the stretch. Cutler is out yet again this weekend against the Rams, but I don´t get the impression Bear´s fans are too upset. If McCown keeps playing the way he´s been playing we just might have a QB controversy here in Chicago.

Blackhawks – Even though the Blackhawks got stomped last night by the Colorado Avalanche, there are a lot of things to be excited about. The Hawks are currently in first place in the division, the power play is ranked in the top 10 in the league, and we just brought Kris Versteeg back to Chicago. In case you forgot, Versteeg was a vital part to our Stanley Cup championship in 2010. Versteeg left the Hawks the following season and signed with the Florida Panthers as a free agent. The Hawks were able to acquire Versteeg for a reasonable price and hopefully he can add some more offense to the 3rd line. Something to keep an eye on this season is the emergence of the Colorado Avalanche. They are no longer a team to push around and they could be a tough match-up for the Hawks if they meet in the postseason.

Bulls – It hasn´t been the most ideal start for the Chicago Bulls this season but the Bulls are still at an acceptable 6-3 record. Derrick Rose just hasn´t been playing the type of basketball we´re used to seeing from him. Maybe he´s getting back in to a groove, or maybe he´s just not the same player he used to be. I don´t think we should be worried though. Derrick has shown that the end to end speed is there and the guy still jumps out of the gym. His shooting has just been atrocious, especially from behind the arc. The jump shot will come back though, and I feel way better that this is the problem rather than his speed and agility. I think by the time December rolls around we´ll start to see Derrick playing at an MVP level again, and the Bulls will continue to be in contention for the Eastern Conference Title.

Multimedia Storytelling

Welcome to the future of web stories and narratives. Don´t worry if you´ve never heard of multimedia storytelling until now because I was just enlightened the other week. Basically, it is a story of text, video clips, audios, photographs, and graphics put on a web page in a non-linear format. What makes multimedia storytelling so different is that the story is presented in a non-linear format. What this means is that the story is not held to a classical text structure. The article won´t be presented as a bunch of chronological pages of text with a few images or videos to compliment them. Instead, a multimedia storyteller arranges the videos, images, graphics, animations, etc. in the most compelling and interactive way for the reader. The reader can bounce around to the different aspects of the multimedia story and navigate the story in the way that is most fitting to them. In my opinion this method totally beats the old school “CNN” type of text article. It puts creativity into the hands of the storyteller and the different combinations and possibilities are almost endless. It might take a little time to get adjusted to this new format, but I have found the multimedia storytelling to be much more compelling and interesting to me. One multimedia story I watched in one of my classes went into depth about the Taliban. It is broken up into different chapters where you can look at different Taliban interviews or even what their views of the world are. This story had me clicking around and watching for an hour or so, so I thought I´d post the link to see what you guys thought of multimedia storytelling and this example in particular.

Talking to the Taliban

 

In McCown We Trust?

Are you guys starting to see a common theme in my latest posts? That I´ve pretty much been wrong about all my latest predictions? Well, once again I didn´t disappoint with my evaluation of Bear´s backup quarterback Josh McCown. Before the Bear´s Monday Night game in Lambeau against the Green Bay Packers I called Josh McCown a chump, and said only a miracle could lead us to victory. I honestly think Josh McCown read my post about him prior to kickoff because he played like an absolute STUD and carried the Bears to a victory. Now let´s flashback to last Sunday´s Bears vs Lions game. Starting quarterback Jay Cutler struggles the entire second half and Coach Trestman throws in McCown, down 8, with one drive to tie the game up. McCown proceeds to lead the Bears down the field for a touchdown with seconds remaining. Trestman of course calls the two worst play calls on both attempts of the 2-point conversion and the Bears lose a heart-breaker. Yet again McCown showed the fans and the coaching staff that he deserves to be the starting quarterback until Jay Cutler is actually 100% healthy. So until that day comes I´m hopping on the Josh McCown bandwagon. The guy plays with fire and you can tell it inspires the rest of the team. If you haven´t given the man a chance yet, try giving him a shot, he just might surprise you.

Josh McCown – a goon, but he´s our goon

MNF Preview: Bears at Packers

Keep your expectations low for tonight’s game Bear’s fans. Normally I’m the type of person who looks at the glass half empty, but tonight I think that mindset is warranted. The injury plagued Bears roll into Lambeau Field led by backup quarterback Josh McCown. Even though McCown played well against the Redskins two weeks ago, lets not write him off as a capable backup. To be honest McCown is a complete chump, and in my opinion he is one of the worst backup quarterbacks in the league. Every time I close my eyes and think about tonight’s game I envision Clay Matthews coming off the edge unblocked and dislodging the ball and McCown’s head from his body. Don’t get me wrong I’m going to be cheering my Bears and McCown on all night, I’m just very skeptical that he can pull off a road win in Lambeau. If the Bears are going to pull off the upset tonight the defense needs to finally step up. Middle linebacker Jonathan Bostic will be the leader for the Bear’s defense tonight and the safeties need to play much better if we’re going to slow Aaron Rodgers down. Maybe we can pray for a couple return touchdowns from Hester tonight because we’re going to need a miracle in order to pull a win out tonight. With that being said, miracles do happen, and let’s go Bears!!

Hester return TD against Packers

Favorite New Social Media Outlet: Vine

I know that Vine isn’t the newest of social media outlets, but out of all of the “newer” ones it is definitely my favorite. Vine allows you to share a 6 second video with all of your friends and followers. You can break up these 6 seconds into as many different cuts that you’d like, wether that be 2 breaks or 50. To me the best part of Vine is the uniqueness about it. Everyone has their own style and it allows each individual to express themselves in their own creative way. Some of the Vines people make leave me completely speechless. Like how could someone possibly think of that? All of these famous viners have inspired me to reach my goal of vine stardom (yes I know that’s pretty pathetic.) Currently I’m sitting at a lackluster 192 followers which is far from being Vine famous. Some of the really famous viners have over a million followers. It pisses me off a little bit because most of those viners are not even remotely funny. You can check out my Vine profile by looking up my name, Matt Rossier. I’ve been working on some new material but hopefully you’ll enjoy some of my older stuff.

 

 

I Lost a Friend to Twitter…

I never thought the day would come, but sadly it has. I have lost my friend and bunkmate Matthew Connor to the social media network Twitter. Like many kids and young adults today, Matt just refuses to put his god damn phone down. He’s always giggling to himself, scrolling aimlessly through his Twitter feed, and tuning out the rest of the world, including the rest of my friends and I!! Don’t get me wrong I use Twitter too and it is one of my favorite social medias, but Matt has taken it to the next level. He’s become obsessed with how many followers he has and how many retweets or favorites he can get on something. I just want to slap him in the mouth and tell him, “Nobody cares bro!!” Since he follows all of these famous people he thinks he knows exactly what’s going on in the world. Just because Kim Kardashian says something doesn’t make it true. I’m really hoping this is just a phase because I think I might have been like that when I first started using Twitter a lot. If not, Matt will become the poster child of what’s going wrong in America. Too many kids getting their souls eaten by social media outlets like Twitter.

before Twitter took Matt