Updated Story pitch, or Story Plan

Jay Hanlon

Should the University of Colorado Boulder field a varsity baseball team?

In 1980, the Boulder Division I baseball team was disbanded due to Title IX. I would like to focus on the CU club baseball team for my social media story. I can curate an op-ed style piece on the current roster, their season so far, and future games and whether it has been a success keeping the club at its current level, or whether CU should entertain the idea of adding a varsity team for baseball. CU is the only school in the Pac-12 conference that does not currently have a varsity baseball team and, based on the success of our other varsity sports, my initial feeling is that the Buffs should have a baseball team.

For my experimental portion of the project, I would like to use podcasting since I like the idea of a conversational aspect about this topic. I want to be able to share opinions with the players, coaches, and possibly the athletic director if I can get him. I do have one person who I know will be happy to do a podcast with me: David Plati, the CU sports information director. Mr. Plati has worked for the CU’s sports department in some capacity since the 1980’s, and I think his insights will be invaluable. I will meet with Mr. Plati after the Spring Break to record a podcast.

My live element will be done at a practice for the players. I will go to the practice field and interview players on Facebook live, and also take videos of the different drills and activities the team participates in (i.e. stuff like fielding ground balls, dugout conversations, etc.) The purpose of this will be to gauge how seriously the club takes their season.

I will attend a club game for my produced story. I am thinking of attending the CU vs. CSU game because of the intriguing rivalry between the two schools (this might change if I can’t attend, but they have around 20 games I can choose from). I will use Instagram for this portion of the assignment. I want to get a feel for what the atmosphere at one of these club games is like; how does it compare to DI ball, minor league, or even MLB games?

My tweet strategy will be mostly in the form of tweeting out historical tidbits about CU’s history with baseball at both a club, DI, and professional level.

My blogs will likely be the “loosest” aspect of my project. I will do weekly blogs on various topics. Some of my ideas so far:

• How the club baseball season is going
• A history of the last season of CU division I baseball
• Prospectus on why CU should have a baseball team

Instagram stories will be my experimental platform. I have never made an Instagram story, so I will have to play around with it a little beforehand in order to get an idea of what I will use it for. My first thought is using it along with the voting text feature, so I will likely generate questions as I learn more about the baseball team to ask my Instagram followers.

My primary goal of the project will be to assess my thoughts about the status of America’s pastime at CU, and also generate and spread ideas, opinions, and dialogue concerning baseball in Boulder. At the end of my story, I will offer my own opinion as to whether CU Boulder should field a baseball team or not, and what changed my initial opinion.