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We live in a world where manual skills are shunned. As technology advances, manual skills, techniques, and tools are becoming obsolete and a thing of the past. However, preserving manual craftsmanship should be an essential part of designing a product. George Nakashima, an Japanese American Architect and woodworker once said “I believe in them, not only in the act of producing a better product, but in the sheer joy of doing or becoming.” This quote is the drive and motivation of my capstone.

For my capstone, I designed and created furniture using traditional woodworking methods. The traditional woodworking is a culture that is increasingly becoming extinct with companies like Ikea. There’s a high demand for nicely designed but cheaped crafted furniture. The modernism style is an important part of our culture today but we can’t forget the classic style and traditional methods.

(I'm still working on finishing the chair plus other products)

Abstract:

I created The Empire: All Things College Basketball In Philadelphia last year with my good friend Benjamin Simon after attending a journalism conference at Germantown Friends School (GFS) and being inspired by National Baseball correspondent Tyler Kepner. Kepner shared a magazine of his own creation from when he was younger, which led to our sports website idea.

I prepared for the upcoming season by writing recruiting profiles for incoming freshman who were recruited by the six schools that we decided to cover (Temple, Saint Joseph's Penn, La Salle, Villanova and Drexel). The recruiting profiles helped us lay down a foundation for the site.

Once we were informed of the media polices related to covering a college basketball team by two collegiate media relations directors, we began to conduct our first interviews with players and coaches.

We added more writers to our staff by sending out a tweet from our @PhillyEmpire Twitter handle. Shortly after, two writers agreed to join us. We gained traction by posting articles to Twitter and Facebook, which led to a staff of nine writers and a photographer.

From having access to the media room at the Palestra and Hagan Arena, to sitting courtside next to professional journalists at games, to listening in on Phil Martelli and Steve Donahue’s post-game press conferences, this has really be an exhilarating experience and one that I could not have even dreamed of. My website has come a long way in the past year and I want to continue the success.

Annotated Bibliography

Delaney, Tim. "Tim Delaney Villanova." Telephone interview. 11 June 2015.

This is a telephone interview recording between myself and Tim Delaney. Delaney is college basketball player who currently attends Villanova University and is in his freshman year there. This interview was conducted before the season started but while he was on campus preparing for the season. Many questions were asked during this interview that had to do with his high school basketball career, his decision to attend Villanova University and what he like’s to do off of the court, among other things. The content of the interview was used for an article written about Delaney in June of 2015, that featured a Q&A section that contained some of his responses. This telephone interview recording was credible.           

Donahue, Steve. "Steve Donahue." Personal interview. 2 Jan. 2016.

This is a press conference recording of Steve Donahue from after Penn’s game against Binghamton. Donahue is Penn’s head men’s basketball coach and is in his first year with the team. Since it is a press conference recording, the recording included questions from many reporters who attended the game and responses from Donahue and a current Penn men’s basketball player who also attended the press conference. The content of the press conference recording was used in an article about Penn’s freshman players playing big roles on the team this season, that included quotes from head coach Steve Donahue about the freshman. This press conference recording was credible.          

Gianni, John. "Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Teleconference." Telephone interview. 18 Jan. 2016.

This is a telephone interview recording of John Gianni from the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Teleconference on January 18th of 2016. Gianni is La Salle’s University’s head men’s basketball coach and has been with the team for 12 seasons. Since it is a teleconference recording, the recording includes questions from many reporters who called into the conference, as well as Gianni’s responses to those questions. The content of the teleconference recording was used as background information in an article that previewed La Salle’s matchup against Big 5 rival Temple, that included Gianni’s opinion about how the season has gone so far which led to me forming my own opinion on their season. This telephone interview recording was credible.                     

"Home." City of Basketball Love. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

City of Basketball Love is a website that covers men’s basketball throughout the tri-state area, more specifically they write about high school and college basketball. The editor-in-chief of the site Josh Verlin, who graduated from Temple University with a degree in broadcast journalism, has served as a resource for the site and has aided us with his knowledge of  journalism and media. His blog has served as an example of high quality sports journalism, as well as high school and college men’s basketball media coverage, which in turn has given us guidance and led to our site being what it is today. This site is credible.            

Interview by Daniel Jeremiah. Audio blog post. Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah & Bucky Brooks. N.p., 17 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.

Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah & Bucky Brooks is a podcast series where two former NFL Scouts talk about football, more specifically they discuss current NFL and College events. Jeremiah is currently an analyst on the NFL Network and writes for NFL.com, while Brooks is a former NFL player and writes about the NFL for Sports Illustrated. Since Ben and I conduct our own podcast, Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah & Bucky Brooks has served as a quality example of a sports themed podcast. Ben and I have incorporated this source in our own podcast by following their lead by starting the podcast with music for an intro. This podcast is credible.             

Kepner, Tyler. "Imported Stars Give Red Sox a Chance at a Worst-to-First Repeat." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Apr. 2015. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

The New York Times article “Imported Stars Give Red Sox a Chance at a Worst-to-First Repeat” was written around the same time Ben and I attended a journalism conference at GFS (Germantown Friends School) by Tyler Kepner. Kepner, who is a GFS alum and national baseball correspondent for The New York Times, spoke at that conference and I was inspired by his experiences as a teenager when he created his own sports magazine. He also had the opportunity to interview Philadelphia Phillies baseball players at that youthful age. I have used this source by following in Kepner’s footsteps by creating by own media during my teenage years. This article was credible.    

Kimble, Lamarr. "Lamarr Kimble Saint Joseph's." Telephone interview. 22 July 2015.

This is a telephone interview recording between myself and Lamarr Kimble. Kimble is a college basketball player who currently attends Saint Joseph’s University and is in his freshman year there. This interview was conducted before the season started but while he was on campus preparing for the season. Many questions were asked during this interview that had to do with his high school basketball career, his decision to attend Saint Joseph’s University and what he like’s to do off of the court, among other things. The content of the interview was used for an article written about Kimble in August of 2015. This telephone interview recording was credible.   

Martelli, Phil. "Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Teleconference." Telephone interview. 18 Jan. 2016.

This is a telephone interview recording of Phil Martelli from the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Teleconference on January 18th of 2016. Martelli is Saint Joseph’s University’s head men’s basketball coach and has been with the team for 21 seasons. Since it is a teleconference recording, the recording includes questions from many reporters who called into the conference, as well as Martelli’s responses to those questions. The content of the teleconference recording was used as background information in an article that previewed Saint Joseph’s matchup against Big 5 rival Penn, that included Martelli’s opinion about how the season has gone so far which led to me forming my own opinion on their season. This telephone interview recording was credible.          

Martelli, Phil. "Saint Joseph's Press Conference 12-29-15." Personal interview. 29 Dec. 2015.

This is a press conference recording of Phil Martelli from after Saint Joseph’s game against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Martelli is Saint Joseph’s head men’s basketball coach and is in his 21st year with the team. Since it is a press conference recording, the recording included questions from many reporters who attended the game, which the Hawks won and responses from Martelli. The content of the press conference recording was used as background information to better understand the team’s mindset at the time, which turned out to be the same as it was in the beginning of the season “Win the day”. This press conference recording was credible.   

"WFUV Sports Halftime Show." WFUV Sports Halftime Show. WFUV Sports. Philadelphia, PA, 16 Jan. 2016. Radio.