Josh McCuistion- leader in his field.

I have had the great opportunity to be able to intern under one of the most well respected writers for Rivals.com. He has shown a tireless work ethic and has brought the site he works for, SoonerScoop.com, to be one of the more well-known recruiting websites for OU football.

He is a graduate of Putnam City West High School and has a Journalism degree from The University of Oklahoma.

People have described him as, "One of the best," and from what I have learned so far, he is one of the best. He shows great leadership in his communication with others, and he feels great leaders are great communicators.

He exemplifies hard-working and he exhausts any and every medium possible to be able to get info to his readers. But he never crosses the line as some media members may do. In fact, he makes sure that even I get permission from the coaches before talking to players in fear of getting in trouble with the coaches and losing good relationships. This realization is why I thought I should interview him as the leader in my possible career field.

Some of his articles are linked here:

Lots of young talent in Guthrie

These are premium articles, so they have to be paid for, but at least the format is shown to express what it is that he does.

He takes many pictures of athletes one of the he has taken lately is shown as well.

As asked before, but for the purposes of this assignment: How did you get involved in being a journalist for SoonerScoop.com?

Well it was while I was in J-school and I simply was a member of the site. I had some questions about problems with the site and it just slowly evolved into my now boss asking me if I had some interest in doing some work here or there.

I wish I could say there was some massive work of dogged work but other than simply letting him know my eagerness to do the work, there wasn't a lot to it other than luck.

What do you think sets you apart from other football recruiting writers in the Rivals family?

I think it's just bringing something unique to the network. Many guys cover only their own area or only the recruits within their school's commitment list but I try and make sure that I know the best players in the state of Oklahoma as well as the guys who will be wearing Crimson and Cream in the near future.

Also I think I bring a blend of video, photo, and writing that few guys in the network have any interest to do, much less put the work through to do actually accomplish.

What do you think sets Rivals apart from other websites that offer recruiting content, such as Scout.com and Espn. com?

I think it's just shear numbers and making sure that we cover things from a grass roots levels. Lots of places have national analysts who watch video but see very little in person. We have national guys who go all over the country as well as hundreds of guys like myself who are all over the place on High school game weekends to make sure that every player worthy of recognition gets it.

What sets SoonerScoop.com apart from the other team sites such asOrangebloods.com and OStateIllustrated.com?

Well we are a credentialed media outlet through the university that we cover and while both sites are great in their own ways it's not something either can claim. We also have worked very hard to set a tone throughout the site and the idea of having an overall gameplan seems to help us with many of the smaller details.

You are considered a leader in your field regionally; what do you think you have done leading up to your current position with Rivals to gain that notoriety from your colleagues?

I don't think of myself as particularly talented in any aspect, I do think of myself as a hard worker who is more than willing to go to all reasonable lengths (and occasionally beyond) to find the stories that my readers need. I also think listening to those same people is a big part of having a great site, you can't know what you need to be doing without asking those who are paying you to do it.

You are currently working with a few other men of Rivals and ultimatelyYahoo.com that are good leaders in their respective field, what qualities do those men (Carey Murdock, Jeremy Crabtree, etc.) have that makes them effective leaders?

I think at the end of the day it's simply about knowing what you want and devising a plan for how to reach it. Crabtree has been in this business for nearly 15 years and is almost undoubtedly is the most well-respected national recruiting analyst in the country. He has done that by developing a game plan of how he wanted to attack the news and build our network from the ground up.

What do you think is one of the main traits you have established of yourself that makes you one of the best in your field?

As I said above it's about work rate. In this type of media there is always going to be news there is always going to be something to hear and you aren't always going to be the first to get the latest rumors. You just have to make sure to keep moving and not focus on what you didn't get and instead move to the next story. There just isn't any time to linger on successes or failures.

What is one of your weaknesses that you hope to improve on in the future that deals with your current occupation?

I think the technical aspects of my field are always difficult to fully wrap your head around, the latest trends in writing are out dated within days of their pinnacle. I also think that getting into ruts of work can sometimes be a real issue for myself making sure content and stories are fresh and original is always a good thing.

What is an important bit of advise you would give to someone [me :)] who is looking to follow your footsteps and be a recruiting analyst and write for a prominent recruiting website?

Get out and see things. You can know as much about football as you want but if you don't know what is going on with the players and their strengths and weaknesses beyond general obvious things then you have nothing to begin with. Information is King and the more you have it the more you have to offer both future employers and those who read what you have to say.

If there is one thing that has really stuck out to you, and that is key about being in your position as a leader in your field, and a moderator to many football crazed fans, what is it?

Patience, I know I keep talking about speed and effort but there is a human side that can't be forgotten when dealing with not only fans but players, their families, etc. You can't be cold and business like or no one is ever going to trust you with information that is at it's most basic very personal.

What do you envision as the next level for you in your climbing of the sports recruiting ladder?

I hope that as time moves on recruiting coverage finds it's way into more radio outlets and I can have more open avenues that way because as big as we may be it's staggering how many OU fans are still out there and are completely unaware of our existence.

Who is someone you look up to as a leader in your field, or life in general and why?

Oh there are so many great journalists out there it's hard for me to peg one as the guy that I focus my attention around. As far as someone I've always looked up to I'd have to say my grandfather, simply because of his work rate and the fact he seemed to always focus a lot more on making sure the job was done right than always rushing through something.

His impact had less to do with my job and how it's done than handling aspects of the job in the best way possible.

Josh McCuistion

Associate Editor - SoonerScoop.com

Josh@SoonerScoop.com

My future at OU

I expect to meet every person I can in a position of power during my time at OU.

I want to be a stud networker. I think that is one of my gifts honestly. I like to meet people and build relationships that will work well on both sides.

I plan on majoring in Journalism and contuing to work for Rivals.com and SoonerScoop.com.

I plan on being able to have a good time in college balancing all the tasks that are on my schedule on any given week. And I plan not to worry about any of them.

I also plan on contuing to work with volleyball in a managerial position for the rest of my time at OU as well.

Then finally I want to get that big degree, the reason I am here.

They say your attitude determines your latitude

I think when you find some of the most successful groups at accomplishing tasks, the word "attitude" is not brought up very much. It is a given that for the task to be completed accurately and efficiently, that the task must be taken on with a positive and winning attitude.

The "winning attitude" term has become cliche at our age now to where that seems like something an adult would communicate with a younger child about. Well I think that is a powerful term, because if someone was going to go into a situation with a defeatist attitude, then they will not succeed in a quick and concise manner.

I have a wonderful friend, well I have many wonderful friend, but I think I want to highlight two of them right now.

One of their name's is Andrew Charles Martin.

Andrew has taught me many different lessons on how to live life to the absolute fullest. My college experience is one hundred percent different than what it would have been if I did not meet Andrew.

I am much more excited about class in general, I love to listen to everyone and everything. Observing is one of the most powerful tools I have been blessed with, and Andrew helped me really realize that gift. But most of all, he made me believe that I could do anything and let myself get out there and do anything I decided I wanted to in my life.

Now I am apart of a few wonderful things in my life, that has done nothing but grow me into a better man of God daily.

His attitude was incredibly positive and it could build anyone up that was having a rough day. I appreciated most, however, how he was very real with anyone. If he did not like a situation, you would know quickly.

So yup, he's tight.

"Our Attitudes are our most important Assets"- From the way we communicate, to what we believe in our hearts, heads, and everything else exhibits our attitude. We need to have that positive reaction that enables us to make the best of our life.

Dorion Billups

Challenge vs. Problem

I have a few quotes that I have attained over the years dealing with challenges:

"The pressure's on, but guess who ain't gonna crack?......This ain't no tall order, this is nothing to me. Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week."

- Jay-Z speaking on challenges facing him in his career

"Stop saying it's impossible, if it were impossible you could not do it."

- Santiago Restrepo coaching the volleyball girls during a difficult drill.

These two quotes were both talking about challenges and in my personal opinion, the best way to defeat them. For challenges to be defeated in one's life, he must have a positive and conquering attitude towards the issue. Go right into the challenge and attempt to defeat with the best effort one can give. That is how challenges can be solved.

DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT CHALLENGES, THEY HELP YOU GROW.

Problems on the other hand has a bit more of a urgent nature to it.

I would consider a challenge to be something that has a solution that can be achieved with time and careful consideration in time. A problem is the same, but with an added component of the level of urgency of the problem.

Problems need to be handled and solved. Challenges are an opportunity to be a problem solver and find solutions to better situations.

Most of the time the difference is clear if both are apparent at the same time. Challenges will look very urgent until they are set next to a problem.

Thats my take on that.