For the next step in capstone we had to do an interview. Originally I already knew who I was interviewing because one of the reasons I picked my topic was because I could interview this person. That persons name is Denny Grace he compteted in March Madness and I thought that he could really help me with my research. When the time to try and schedule an interview got close I scheduled 5/13/21. Then my awesome aid Ms. Clemente emailed someone named Micheal DeCourcy. He is a writer/reporter and a bracket analyst for march madness. My parents and I emailed him and I was so excited while I was waiting for a responce. When he responded he said he could do the interview on 5/11/21 at 4:00 pm and we did…

My questions for my interview were:

1. Why did you decide to write about sports?
2. How long have you been writing about sports?  How long have you been covering college basketball?
3. Has anything changed since you first started writing than right now? (Rules and stuff)
4. Do you go to the games or do you watch them on tv and write about them?
5. Do you think that you have helped people change the way they look at March Madness and why it is enjoyable?
6. How long does it usually take to write a whole article? What’s involved?
7. Do you agree that March Madness should stay an annual event and do you find it enjoyable?
8. Is there anything in March Madness that you think should be changed? 
9. How has COVID impacted college teams?  
10. How has COVID impacted you as a reporter?
11. Over the years, what are some changes (e.g., rules)/guidelines that you think shouldn’t have been made to how NCAA tournaments are played?
12. What are some challenges of being a reporter?
13. Do you have any college teams that are your favorite?  Why or why not?
14. What college teams have had the most success competing during the time you’ve been reporting? 
15. What’s your favorite memory of covering March Madness?

The interview went well. I got tons of infortmation just on one interview! For example I learned:

In the early 2000’s the NCAA basketball committee decided that they were sending to many teams to far from home. They came up with what they call a pod system where they put teams to play as close to home as possible relative to what seed your in.

I also learned:

There were lots of teams that thought they were going to have a chance to play in March Madness in 2020. For example, Penn State was going to qualify for the tournament. Lamar Stevens played for three years on Penn State hoping to make the NCAA tournament, but then because of the cancellation of the tournament in 2020 due to covid-19 he was never able to play in the NCAA tournament before he got drafted.

Another thing I learned is:

Bracket pools used to be not that popular but as they get more and more popular the more the tournament grows. In order to have the publication of the bracket done instead of having to put it in people’s mailboxes there had to be a way of knowing which teams were in the tournament. Joe Lunardi started experimenting with how to project the tournament and that’s where bracketology was born. In order to facilitate the tournament bracket without having to put several copies of paper into people’s mailboxes. 

My interview with Micheal Decourcy didn’t stop me with my interview with Denny. Denny and I still had our interview planned for 5/13/21. When the day of the interview came we had to reshedule. We couldn’t really find a good day and time to interview. Then on 5/17/21 on such short notice my dad texted Denny and he said he would love to do the interview that day at 6:15. My questions for the interview were:

1. What made you want to play college basketball?
2. What school did you attend?
3. What years did you participate in March Madness?
4. What years have you won March Madness?
5. Who did you play against?
6. In your opinion what are the key factors for winning a title?  For example, mostly the coach/coaches? 
7. The chemistry of the players on the team? 
8.  Was any experience from one year different from an experience from another year?
9. Do you know how high the hoops were when you played?
10. Do you know how far the three point line and freethrow line was?
11. Did you and your teammates enjoy playing and do you like that it’s a traditional event every year?
12. Do you keep in touch with old teammates? Why or why not?
13. How many people were originally on your team and do you think you wanted more or less players?
14. What is your experience being with a team?
15. Is now any different from when you used to play?
16. When you were about to play in March Madness was anything different than you imagined it to be because sometimes rules or stuff change?

After the interview I was super excited because I had done 2 interviews for my project in less than one week. I got all the information I need from each of my interviews and it is a lot. The due date for the interviews was Wednesday, 5/19/21. I was lucky enough to have both people able to do the interview before the date. Now I can’t wait to start writing my capstone script!