Okay, so today I wanted to keep better track of the NC State basketball team’s injuries. It’s always a pain to dig around for updates, so I figured I’d create my own little tracking system. Here’s how I went about it:
Getting Started – Finding Sources
First, I needed to find some reliable sources. You know, places that update regularly and don’t just spread rumors. I started with the usual suspects:
- The official NC State Athletics website.
- Some of the bigger sports news outlets.
- A couple of fan forums – gotta be careful with these, though!
Setting Up My “Tracker”
I’m not a coder or anything, so I just used a simple spreadsheet. Google Sheets works fine for this. I created columns for:
- Player Name
- Injury
- Date of Injury (or when I first heard about it)
- Expected Return (if there’s any info on that)
- Source (where I got the info)
- Notes (anything else relevant)
I just started to find it helpful for myself.
Keeping it Updated (The Hard Part!)
Populating the list and Keeping it updated are very tough.
I made it a habit to check my sources at least once a day, usually in the morning. Whenever I saw a new injury report or update, I’d add it to the spreadsheet. It was pretty satisfying to see the information grow, and it saved me time in the long run because I didn’t have to keep searching for the same updates over and over.
Sometimes there would be conflicting information, especially from the forums. In those cases, I’d try to find a more official source to confirm, or I’d just note the uncertainty in the “Notes” section. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing!
The Result (So Far)
I realize this way is very * I can build an automatic tool in the future.
It’s not fancy, but it’s a centralized place for me to keep track of the injury situation. It’s been helpful, especially when I’m trying to figure out who’s likely to play in the next game. Of course, things can change quickly in the world of sports, so I always take it with a grain of salt. But hey, at least I’m a little more organized!