Senior Writing Portfolio Students
Millikin University

Justin Rosenberg

biography

I am an a English-writing major who hopes to one day obtain a job as a sports broadcast journalist. I have spent the majority of my college career gaining the necessary tools to make this a reality. 

I have worked for the Millikin Decaturian since my freshman year, first as a staff writer, then as an assistant editor and finally as the senior editor of the sports section. There are a few words that can describe my editorial and writing style: paranoid, obsessive and witty.

I strive for perfection both with my articles and with the articles I edit for my section. I do not like picking up a newspaper and seeing errors in my section; it makes me ill. Seriously. It does. I actually vomited one time after seeing two big errors in my section. For what it’s worth, those errors were undetectable at the time of print, as they both occurred in the newspaper’s transfer to hard disk, which was then sent to the publisher. Whosever fault it was is irrelevant and I still get sick when looking at that issue.

In addition to my work with the Decaturian, I also worked as a sports correspondent for a year and a half with the Decatur Herald and Review. As a member of that staff, I traveled to local sporting events and worked under tight deadlines while refining my journalistic style.

It was around this time that I started working as the WJMU play-by-play announcer for the Millikin athletic games. I enjoyed each game I broadcasted  more than the previous game and started to look into the possibility of taking my skills in print journalism and transferring them to the radio. I started hosting a weekly sports talk show on WJMU and found that I was looking forward to Sunday, just so I could do my show.

Two years later, I am sure of my desire to work as a sports broadcast journalist. Of course, working as a print journalist within the sports field would be a most acceptable plan-B. 

writing theory

I write for myself. I wish I could say honestly that I am a journalist who writes to inform the public of vital information, but that is not always the case. I write because there are stories that catch my eye and I feel that they deserve to be told.

I wasn’t given the authority to do this until I became the sports editor of The Decaturian, and I was nervous to take this route. I wasn’t sure how these types of articles would be received, does the campus really care about a group of guys who dress in plaid and cheer for the soccer team? I was afraid that the student body would see this article as a joke and that they would dismiss my stylistic decision as trite and unworthy of any publication.

The reaction to this article couldn’t have differed further from my fears. People I didn’t even know approached me to tell me how much they enjoyed reading that particular story. It won an award at the state level and was nominated for a national journalism award. Even faculty within the English department at Millikin consider it to be the writing sample most indicative of my writing style, and I would agree. The amount of respect this article received told me that there is a place in journalism for stories about the unusual events of normal people.

I write because I like telling these stories. I believe that people should be celebrated for what they do. I do not believe that being a sports writers should confine me to writing about traditional athletics; while I understand that it is necessary for me to do so from time to time, I’d much rather report on lighthearted situations.

Hunter S. Thompson would be a loose example of how I want to report. While his gonzo journalism style is a little too loose and informal for my liking, I appreciate the stories he has to tell. For example, in his story “The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved,” he doesn’t necessarily cover the Derby as a horse race. He covers it as a cultural phenomenon and focuses his story on the fan response to the event. This is how I want to write. I want to write about sports as a staple in the American culture because that’s how I view them.

writing sample

Soccer Dads Introduction

It was the first issue of the Decaturian that I had the title of being sports editor, and the responsibility made me extremely nervous. The only goal I had for the issue was to make sure I assigned enough stories to fill the section.

And at that, I failed.

Of course, I didn’t realize this until Saturday morning when I looked at my section and saw a big white space. Seeing this, I rushed back to my house, not knowing what to do.

When I arrived home, I immediately noticed a group of my fraternity brothers wearing plaid, drinking alcohol and acting ridiculous. To say they caught my attention would be an understatement. I began talking to them, asking them what they were doing and why they were doing it. After the conversation ended, I had a story to fill that white space.

New generation of soccer dads

by Justin Rosenberg

It seems as if you can’t watch a college sporting event these days without seeing some awesome school mascot running the sidelines and persuading the crowd to stand on its feet and cheer. The University of Illinois has Chief Illiniwek, Illinois Wesleyan has Tommy the Titan; even the University of Miami has Sebastian the Ibis to personify its Hurricane moniker.

Until a few years ago, it was as if the only way to get away from this hysterical mascot craze was to attend a sporting event at…well, Millikin University, where there still is no official mascot. But the lack of being officially recognized hasn’t detoured the soccer dads from filling that void for the soccer team.

“We like to think of ourselves as unofficial mascots,” junior Andy Novak said. “If there were an official mascot, we’d probably cheer with him.”

Former Millikin students Billy Flowers, Caleb Garbey, Nick MCClay and Tom Sweatt formed the original soccer dads in 2001 as a means to support the players on the team who were fellow Delta Sigma Phi brothers. Four years, and multiple generations of soccer dads later, the same principles of the founding dads are still evident.

“I think this new group of soccer dads is taking the torch well,” said Beau Hanger, a member of the second generation of soccer dads.

The “newest resurrection”, as they call themselves consists of Novak; senior Brian Miller; juniors Matt Piper, Kevin Samuelson and John Donze; and sophomores Matt Tobiasz and Kyle Lincoln. They can be seen along the sidelines at all home games helping the referees make the proper call.

“We constructively criticize the refs,” Piper explained.

The helpfulness of the soccer dads isn’t anything new, according to Hanger.

“We used to have two poster boards, red and yellow. If we thought a card should be pulled, we’d hold up a card to encourage a call.”

The group is filled with former athletes who, for one reason or another, ended their athletic playing days after high school. Still, these dads admittedly wish they could continue playing sports.

“We’re the fat kids who couldn’t make the team,” Miller said.

At first sight, the soccer dads appear to be nothing more than an obnoxious group of guys who get a cheap thrill from yelling at the refs and dressing in plaid pants and sweater vests. But that’s exactly the reason they support the team the way they do.

“We’re a satire of the people who take the game too seriously,” Piper said.

Novak added another perspective for the crew’s antics.

“We all grew up with fathers who were over-involved with sports, and we’re just making fun of them.”

Even with their odd methods, the soccer dads still accomplish their main objective of supporting the soccer team.

“The team asks us during the week if we’re going to be coming,” Samuelson said. “It’s all about supporting the guys. They get fired up when we’re there.”

Millikin midfielder Colin Miley not only agreed with Samuelson’s take, but also endorsed their methods.

“It’s great when they’re out there because they break down the opposing team mentally while we break them down physically.”