After getting to the game far too early, I wandered the eerily empty halls of the arena to soak in my first engagement. Overlooking the fresh ice, a song came over the P.A. system that caught my attention. I think someone forgot to check which version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to play (Just think about the version by The Dan Band in the movie, "Old School"). A pretty hilarious start to the evening.
After about twenty minutes of aimless wandering, my cohort, Tamra, and I decided to get to the media room for the pre-game meal. As Adam Rogowin, Director of Media Relations for the Wolves, told me earlier in the week, "You might as well be treated like a member of the press." We collected the media kit, the media guide, the game notes, and the team statistics which were to offer us a complete breakdown of the season, the series, and both teams. After downing some salad, rice pilaf, and some chicken cordon bleu, it was time to head off to the press box. Although there wasn't room for the two of us due to the heavy load of media members already scheduled to be in the box, we found some seats in a quiet corner of the arena to focus on the action.
The game itself was pretty lopsided as the visiting Rockford IceHogs beat the Wolves 5-1 to take a 3-2 series advantage. After the game was over, we had about ten minutes before the Wolves coach, John Anderson, was to address the media. We gathered the final game notes from the press box and headed down to the locker room area. Before the game, we were instructed to "walk with authority" when passing security as the two of us did not look like the grizzled hockey reporters that were accustomed to frequent the locker room area. Anderson popped his head out of the locker room for a quick five-minute Q&A with the media, myself included. I simply stuck my digital voice recorder out to get whatever quotes I could from the soft-spoken, dejected coach. (My favorite: "I guess that's the bottom line. We'll be golfing soon. We know there's urgency and we don't have any more time to waste." Fore!)
Overall, the evening was a success. Even though we were not technically on deadline, just to see what it takes to be a member of the media and feel as if we were part of the machine was pretty incredible. What I will take away from this event is that no matter the scale of importance of the game, someone wants to know what happened and why it happened. The fans are relentless at any level of the sports pecking order, and there will always be a story to tell.
NOTE: Mine will be available shortly once the final edits are made.
Please know that I know this will not be my last foray into the wide world of sports media.
1 comment:
Love the title Steve!!! Looks familiar, doesn't it? I'm just messing w/ ya but this one is a good posting - must've been nerve wracking in the sense that you do get treated pretty well in the press box but at the same time, you've got to produce a worthy story/article....
That's my dilemma with my experience as a member of the press - at the collegiate level.
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