First TopDrawerSoccer.com Post

I started out at the bottom
August 29th, 2008
by FootFairy

I started out at the bottom. The team that had no chance in State Cup, the team that didn’t play in the top division, they were the team that went out to every game and played their hearts out and their passion for the game was never questioned.
I’ve been in the middle. The team that finished fourth in State Cup, the team that was at the top of the division, the team that took soccer a little more serious, but would rather play video games or hang out with friends than go to practice
I’ve made my way to the top. The team that always qualified for the State Cup final, the team that always had a chance to go to Nationals, the team that had the potential to be the best, but would rather go to their high school homecoming game rather than play a league game.
And I’ve been at the highest level of club soccer. An extension of the U.S.National team, the team that played against the top teams in the nation, the team that played in showcase tournaments, the team that played against theU-18 U.S. National team, but by the end of the year players quit and abandoned their team to party during their senior year.
I’ve made my way from the bottom to the top, but I realized the team that had no chance in State Cup, that celebrated every goal like it was the game winner in the World Cup final and the team that were as close as a family, had more passion for the game of soccer than the big time team ever had or ever will.

The Women's Basketball Big Three

Of all my stories, I was least excited for this one. Sorry girls. I got the story from my mentor and called the coach for some information. Immediately she started saying what she wanted in the story, what had to be included, who needed to be included and so on and so forth. Then, she called back and said she didn't want us to write about them until the fall because it would give other teams info on their star players. My mentor gave the coach a call and straightened it all out when I couldn't get through to her that CFP's were ending and there was no other time. I got the numbers to the three girls and asked them questions. When I began writing the story, I was stuck. I didn't have a lead, I didn't know what the story should even be about. I began writing things until finally something sounded half way decent and the copy editors ended up liking it. As for the coach, she called back and told me a few more things I needed to add to the story. Unfortunately none of them made it into the story through the copy editors. Oh well...

Swimming Sensation, Allison Schmitt

This story, next to the Keeler story was my biggest at the Free Press. Terrance Collins (A big editor in sports who controls Prep Crew work in the fall) assigned me to the story. I had to work extra long and hard on this to impress him so I could get a job back at the Freep in the fall. I started out calling Colony Swim Club to get information on who I needed to talk to. After calling three different numbers, I finally got ahold of someone who could help. I was told to come out to a swim practice on a Friday at 8 a.m. in Canton. I was thrilled... Went out to Colony that Friday and talked to the head coach of Canton High School and Colony swim teams Ed Weber about Allison and her accomplishments. I didn't have to ask many questions because Mr. Weber liked to talk and gave me most of his quotes with no questions. I talked to a few members at Colony and called another swimmer who swam with Allison to get some extra quotes. The story was published and Mr. Collins was happy. I will now be working back at the Free Press during the fall football season as a Prep Crew member.

The 16-year-old Pro

As my time at the Free Press began to wind down so did the last few issues of the Detroit Free Presses "Community Free Press," which all of the stories appeared in except for the Brandon Keeler story. This ran in one of the final issues of CFP. I got this story with 3 work days left at the paper. My mentor ran it by me and I decided why not, it just adds more clips for me. I got all the information and called Austin's dad to set up an interview. I got all the information and Austin called for the interview. I wrote the story and sent in to complete my five stories at the Free Press.

Brandon Keeler, The $800,000 Kid

I was on top of the world after this story ran. It was my first story to run in the Detroit Free Press. My adviser said she gave it to me because of my ability to make a story sing. Going into writing it I was beaming with confidence. I contacted Brandon Keeler's mother about her son and his accomplishments and set up an interview at a local library for the next day after I recieved the story. Now anyone who has to have $800,000 in scholarship money has to be a nerd. You know, short, glasses, shirt tucked in, pants up high, the typical nerd. I was wrong. Brandon Keeler walks in standing about 6-foot, 180 built like a football player. I had no idea it was him until I heard his mom's voice. So we sat down and I asked him some questions got what I needed and went home. I wrote the story at home and sent it in to the office, only to come into work on Monday with a whole bunch of things I needed to do. My adviser said your story is great, but the Features editor is out of town and the replacement thinks it needs more. On the last day of deadline I had to contact a PR person for Detroit Public Schools, the Principal of Detroit Renaissance High School and a woman from Yale who did not like me at all. I finished the story and it ran on Tuesday, July 8. The next day, I logged onto the computer and opened up my email to find 12 emails congratulating me and saying what a great story it was. It ended up being the third most-emailed on Freep.com. In the last week of my apprenticeship I was sitting talking to someone and the photographer of the story walked by then turned around. He said your the kid that wrote that story on the kid with the scholarships right? I replied with a Yes. He returns, You know that story went National right? Go google your name. So I did and it did. 12 papers around the country picked up my story for their papers and one from the Middle East making my story an international and national publication. Not bad for my first story.

Doug Brolus, Bodybuilder

This was my second story in the Free Press and my first in the sports section. And what an interesting story it was. I first recieved the story from my mentor excited and ready to go. I went to Mr. Brolus' house and saw two old men in a basement full of weights. Instantly, Brolus starts talking my ear off. I end the interview and go back to the office. I did some research on him and couldn't find anything he had stated in the interview. He said he was published in magazines and took pictures for magazines among other things. I couldn't find anything. I started to think this guy was a fake and pulling everyones leg. I contacted Brolus and asked for proof of the magazine publishings and he said he only had one copy of it and didn't want to send it in. Things started getting more and more suspicious. Eventually he sent me a copy of it and I had what I needed to write the story. So here it is, 49-year-old Doug Brolus, a work out machine.