After three weeks of bad calls and broken hearts, the regular NFL officials are back, beginning with tonight's Baltimore-Cleveland game. I think the one who lost the most in this case (other than the fans) was commissioner Roger Goodell. He can deny all he wants, but one of the biggest reasons a deal got done late Wednesday night was because of the end of the Monday night game, which we discussed at length in #loweclass Tuesday.

Picture this: your boss releases a statement saying you made the right decision and he stands by you but then the very next day, he fires you. I just don't know how Goodell gets off like that. If you think the timing of the deal getting done was a coincidence, you need to get yourself checked out. But I digress. It's over and done with. We can go back to yelling at the regular refs now.

As news of an accepted deal was unfolding Wednesday, I thought about what the talks between the league and its officials were like. I'm sure both sides compromised on some things, but they had to make a deal. I think the NFL did the right thing by having regular officials on the Ravens-Browns game because if they didn't, they would be put at a competitive disadvantage.

After not being able to stay objective during class on Tuesday, I've made peace with the fact that the replacement officials did the best they could, but they were wrong and made the wrong call. It happens. I think we can all be thankful

Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel, who is one of the most respected writers in all of sports, had a swift and blunt statement to those who keep complaining about the NFL replacement officials: get over it. Wetzel's column appeared Monday morning on Yahoo!'s web site and also recommended commissioner Roger Goodell "do something" about the continued presence of the officials.

I found Wetzel's column to be informative and insightful about a view that hasn't been shared much among those in the media. Just about every sports site I could find had negative things to say about the replacement officials. Not that Wetzel wasn't: He fully believes the regular officials are needed to preserve the integrity of the game.

Wetzel discussed the end of the Baltimore-New England game when Patriots' coach Bill Belichick chased down officials after the winning field goal by Ravens' kicker Justin Tucker barely went through. For the record, the officials got the call right and once the game is over, they don't need to answer to coaches. Belichick deserves a fine and possibly a suspension, especially after a memo sent by the league specifically said players and coaches needed to stop their demonstrative behavior towards judgment calls.

There is no easy solution to this. Both parties want more money, the officials want a bigger pension. When money is involved, it almost always ends bad. There was a lockout in the NHL that cost fans the entire season. The NBA didn't start until December this year. The NFL was almost locked out last year. One thing is certain: the integrity of the game is being compromised with these rep

David Bornstein was chosen as the Burleigh Media Ethics Lecture speaker on Tuesday at Weasler Auditorium and he provided some shocking revelations, at least to me. The lecture was also my first attempt at live tweeting and I have to say it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever had to do.

I've tweeted at sporting events before, most notably Marquette basketball games, but this was different. There isn't a lot of time in between quotes and Bornstein was providing a myriad of excellent ones. During a basketball game, there is usually a lull in the action at some point during the game, which usually lets me catch up with my tweets. That isn't the case during a live lecture.

My professor gave us a quick crash course on what to expect when live tweeting but it was still a bit overwhelming at times. Picking out what should and shouldn't be tweeted is harder than it seems. One thing that I was surprised about is highlighted in the above tweet. Bornstein noted that the public's trust in journalism has fallen in every institution except the military since 1976.

That was a bit shocking to me and sort of puts my career path in perspective. From my experiences this summer as an intern, I realize that some people just don't want to talk to reporters or have their name in the newspaper. That's fine, but they still need to get their news somehow. Without reporters, there wouldn't be news. I'd be curious to look into why people are so guarded and callous against reporters.

Overall, the lecture touched on many topics I found interesting and hope to be able to apply to my own work. The world needs solutions and Bornstein gave a good overview of exactly how reporters can go about that.

When I look at my usual sports sites (ESPN, Journal Sentinel's sports section), I like to read the big stories, which are usually hard news. I also try to look for human-interest type stories because I think going beyond the facts can make a story easier to relate to for the average fan.

That's why when I looked at the Yahoo! Sports' front page and saw this as one of the headlines, I had to check it out for myself. The cheerleader, Patience Beard, is a freshman at the University of Arkansas, who was diagnosed with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD) when she was six months old. Beard's leg was amputated three months later and she has lived with a prosthetic leg ever since.

Yahoo! writer Eric Adelson provides numerous supporting anecdotes into the struggles and triumphs Beard had as a child. Beard didn't let her disability affect her; beginning gymnastics at age four and cheerleading in seventh grade. Beard understands the scrutiny she is under from people who see her at games and on TV, but it won't stop her from doing what she loves.

Stories like these make you forget about silly things in sports like the drama at the end of the Tampa Bay/New York game Sunday or the latest BountyGate news. Stories like Patience Beard make you take a step back and think about what's really important in life. I used to think sports were everything and sometimes I still do. But I don't think Patience Beard is cheering for Arkansas because she's a huge Razorback fan. I think she's doing it because she can, her disability be damned.

I got a lot out of the latest module from the module "Developing a Successful Journalistic Blog, mainly because I hadn't read something like it before. I didn't have a blog before taking JOUR 4932, so this has been a work in progress for me. The highlights from what I read included the "elements of successful blogs" and of course "ethical & legal considerations."

To me, and hopefully to most journalists, ethics are the most important thing in reporting. If you don't have ethical standards, what exactly do you have? During my internship this past summer, I encountered a few ethical issues in my reporting. I won't bore you with the details, but the thing I learned is that you won't make everyone happy no matter what you do. The important thing is to be balanced with coverage and leave the rest to everyone else.

Of the five "elements" the module presents, I think "focus" and "community" are the two most important values in a successful blog. Being the sports editor for the Marquette Tribune since February, I have heard quite often from different people outside the newspaper what they would like to read about. A lot of them would like us to focus more on club sports. The Tribune's focus has always been to give top priority to varsity sports at Marquette, but club sports play a big role in the community aspect at Marquette. The combination of a focus on club sports has lead to more readership and has helped our section become more successful and reader-friendly.

I think the most important thing I have learned so far about becoming a successful blogger is to act professionally and keep my posts on task. It is easy to stray from relevancy if you aren't careful and then people aren't going to want to read the blog. If you write about stories that matter, more people are going to read it. It's that simple.

The module as a whole gave me a lot to think about. How can I make my blog better? From examples like what to write blogs about to how to write headlines, "Developing a Successful Journalistic Blog" has given me a lot of ideas to work on improving my blog.

Yahoo! Sports, and Yahoo!'s main page for that matter, didn't have a lot of 9/11 coverage today, but I found a man who did. Philadelphia Eagles' receiver DeSean Jackson spent the day at the Fort Dix Joint Base in New Jersey after donating $50,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project. Jackson's cousin served in Vietnam and was awarded a two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for his time in the military.

The Project provides aid to military members who incurred service-connected wounds, injuries or illnesses on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Jackson posted several photos on Twitter (@DeseanJackson10) and tweeted words of encouragement and patriotism to his followers on the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

I know a lot of people knocked Jackson last year during his contract holdout (myself included) before he finally got his wish in May. What people can't knock is Jackson's character has taken a big step up in the past few months. He looks to be part of what the Eagles are trying to do and obviously understands the significance of this fateful day in U.S. history.

Miami Heat guard LeBron James, Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden and Olympic champion Michael Phelps were among those athletes who tweeted photos or sent tweets remembering those who feel victim.

As for my experience on Sept. 11, 2001, I was in sixth grade at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Port Washington, Wis. I can't say I remember much of that day, but I remember being in the car with my mom on the way to school and one of the local radio stations came on and talked about a plane hitting the World Trade Center and there wasn't much more information available at that time. As the day went on, well, the rest is history.

The headliners on Yahoo! Sports' front page were predictable, but not unlike many of the other national sports sites after the first slate of NFL action on Sunday. The choice to go with the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III with the dominant image over Peyton Manning and the New York Jets was a refreshing surprise to me. It could have gone into other hush-hush storylines like the beginning of Cam Newton's sophomore slump in Carolina or Detroit's miraculous last-second win to avoid embarrassment against St. Louis.

While Manning and Tim Tebow/Mark Sanchez were featured, the site chose to focus on the Heisman Trophy winner's debut in an upset over the New Orleans Saints. RG3 had the toughest first game among the five rookie quarterbacks starting in Sunday and was the only one to win. The lead up to Griffin's start was played out a few days earlier when Yahoo! featured Griffin in a story it picked up from the Atlanta Black Star. Griffin has been a star in college and will likely keep that going in the NFL.

When I scanned ESPN.com and SI.com to see what they decided to pick up for NFL action, I was shocked to see the exact same photo of Peyton Manning, who was making his first regular season start in over a year. Yahoo! as well as ESPN and Sports Illustrated proclaimed Manning "back." We'll see about that.

And, of course, there was coverage of the soap opera that is the New York Jets. Yes, they shredded the hapless Buffalo Bills, but only on a team with Tim Tebow would there be a mention of a BACKUP quarterback who had a whopping five carries for 11 yards when the starting quarterback threw three touchdowns and one interception.

Yahoo!'s Dan Wetzel, who I think is one of the finest football writers around, even got roped into the baggage that surrounds Tebow at every turn. His column emphasized there will be no getting around this quarterback "controversy" no matter how good Sanchez plays this year.

As a whole, I give props to Yahoo! for focusing on more than just the typical story lines on the first weekend of NFL action. It dove into an issue I didn't realize was a big deal in Washington, D.C., with Griffin acting as a potential hero in the "Chocolate City." Plenty of room for improvement, however.

Before I began reading the Introduction to Sports Reporting, I wasn't really sure how much I would get out of it. I have been covering sporting events at Marquette and around Milwaukee for the past three years. I've covered basketball games, soccer matches, baseball games and even tennis matches.

What I found, however, was a pleasant surprise. Some of the things I already knew: research the teams you are covering, understand the rules, etc. Some of these things I thought should be common knowledge, but for those who haven't covered a sporting event in the past, it was good background information.

Some of the things I read were more beneficial, however. Under the "At the Game" section in the "Where You Watch the Game" part, the article advised to avoid the press box if possible. I've always been content sitting courtside at a basketball game or at the scorer's table during soccer matches. Getting up and taking note of the emotions from players and coaches during the game could add an extra element to my stories.

When I read the "After the Event" section, I thought of how difficult it can be to gauge an interesting answer from a basketball player following the game. Some of the players can give bland answers to questions. I wish the section had a little more advice on how to work with uninspiring athletes.

Overall, the section provides a comprehensive guide for beginners and more experienced writers alike on how to cover sporting events. It is one I would recommend to my writers when they attend events to get a better understanding of how the game works.

I'll admit it. I'm an ESPN guy. As much as I think the entire enterprise has gotten too big for itself, ESPN.com is still my homepage and where I get the majority of my sports news and I still watch SportsCenter every day. I feel ESPN has the best writers for the sports I like to read about and do the best job writing about issues that matter.

Having said all that, I was intrigued to try out a new site for my sports news. As I mentioned in class, I find Pat Forde to be a fantastic sports writer. Yes, he's a columnist, but I'm not going to hold that against him. Forde used to work for ESPN, but as we've seen with a lot of writers and reporters over the last few years, he moved on to greener pastures last October. Other examples here, here and here.

Each week during the college football season, Forde publishes his "Forde Yard Dash," where he picks a theme and writes about 40 or so different teams, players, coaches, mascots, etc. from the college football landscape that previous week. This week's Dash is another example of what separates Forde from other talented columnists around the country.

College football was the biggest topic in sports last weekend, with the U.S. Open in tennis and the Deutsche Bank Championship in golf not far behind. I think Yahoo! did a decent job covering the weekend but it simply doesn't have the amount of writers who can break each game down like ESPN. The premiere sports information site has one, sometimes two blog writers for each BCS conference who focus solely on the games in their conferences each week. Tough to beat that.

One thing I found interesting while perusing the site was the section of the NFL mini site with the day's transactions. Call me a nerd, but I like seeing who got cut, placed on injured reserve or the practice squad, no matter how irrelevant that player may be. I don't see that anywhere on ESPN or any other sports site I look at.