Busy Couple of Days

As my whirlwind internship continues, I have had quite the busy past couple days.

On Friday, the Prague trip was starting to wind down for my colleagues who went overseas.  As part of the trip they took a ton of pictures of their experience to post it on our site.  I got the distinct pleasure of getting to caption all 66 photos.  It was a whole lot of fun to see the little details of the trip.  For anyone who has not done captions for photography it can get  relatively difficult throughout the process.  Why is that you might ask.
1.  You try not to repeat a caption.  When there a lot of pictures of the team warming up, there are only about three ways to describe stretching.
2.  During practice the players don't have names or numbers on their jerseys.  Identifying players can be next to impossible if it is a zoomed out shot.

Then after I was captioning all the pictures, Art asked me to transcribe two interviews.  One of Tyler Seguin the other of GM Peter Chiarelli.  The two interviews totaled about 10 minutes.  The two took me about a half hour to transcribe.  This task is very difficult depending on how quickly the person talks and how well they enunciate each word.   The Seguin interview proved to be a somewhat difficult task.   Between filler words (like, ummmm, like) and the speed he was talking I had to continue rewinding the footage to make sure I quoted Seguin correctly.  The Chiarelli interview was longer but considerably easier.  He enunciated every single word, and spoke reasonably slowly, which made my job easier.  There are two very big differences between the two people. Seguin is a hockey player, it is not particularly his job to be speaking to the public.  He is getting payed to help put the puck in the net.  Chiarelli makes the big bucks for speaking for players and the organization.  So, I understand.

I had Monday off.  Thank you Christopher Columbus.

Ok, back to work.  I actually got to do something with Photoshop today.  Jason Levine found out that I have an extensive background in Adobe Photoshop.  So, I got to create the little logos that will be featured in Joe Haggerty's Power Rankings.  I just had to do some basic Photoshop work, but it was something new and fun that I knew I could do.

The Randy Gene Experience

When you work in this business, big news is the most fun experience throughout the day.  The newsroom get really loud and rowdy as discussions of the event echo throughout the newsroom.  Wednesday morning was very different.  A monumental trade went down sending Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings.  At around 9 a.m. I arrived in the newsroom to find out about the news of Moss,  but there were no discussions, there was no ranting about why the Patriots made a terrible move. Why was today any different than other days?  The majority of the people who are normally in the newsroom at 9 went on the trip to Prague to follow the Boston Bruins.  This made my morning very interesting.  It was up to me and (a video intern) Tim to hold down the fort and get the video and news out to the public.  We did just that.  I posted the story immediately after finding out the news, and he gathered pictures in preparation for the mid-day update that would be coming his way when more people came in.

Later in the day I was navigating my way through the Patriots web site after the deal became verified by the team.  I then found my way looking in the Pro Shop site and discovering that the price of an authentic Randy Moss jersey has plummeted from $250 to $75 dollars.  I got a laugh out of it so I shared it to Art and Rich.  Art replied, "Write it up, then put it in the Patriots folder."  I was kinda confused, I didn't realize that was actually news.  I wrote it up anyway, and after a lot of editing by Art it turned out to be this.  Art taught me that when writing something like that to just punch at it.  What I had before he considered it as "too wordy" and now I understand.  I have to get myself out of the habit of writing around the topic.  Word counts in high school and college are really hurting me right now.  I am really learning a lot, and having a lot of fun at the same time.

Then today, I got to help out the CSNNE community again concerning the Randy Moss situation.  Tom E. Curran had a lot of work to do today in preparation for his show Quick Slant tonight.  After the trade, the show took a complete 180 degrees in another direction.  This gave me a chance to help out, so I told him I could.  Tonights "Stats are for Losers" segment will be the fruits of my labor.  I went through the Randy Moss stat archive to try and find how many games he led the team in receiving yards and what their record was.  When Randy Moss led the team in receiving over his 3+ years in New England the team was 17-3.  In the remaining games that he did not lead the team they were 25-11.  So, hopefully this stat that I acquired helps people make their decision whether the Moss deal was a positive or not.  I can't wait to tune into the show and see the stats that I got!

Once again, it makes me feel so good that Art and the rest of the staff has so much confidence in me that they don't feel the need to babysit me throughout the day.  I feel like my hard work has finally payed off.

Feeling at Home

Well, it has been a good month, five weeks, 25 days, however you want me to put it.  A whole lot has happened here at Comcast Sports Net.  I have learned some valuable lessons already and can't wait to see what is in store for me over the coming months.

Anyway, the meaning of this post is to go over how comfortable I am here.  I feel like I know exactly what I am doing at the time, and I can't wait to do more things as my time here moves along.  I not only feel comfortable, but I think that the rest of the web team feels confident in me as well.  The writing team seems to have no issues asking me about my opinion, help, and also for knowledge that I might have on a certain topic.  The other day, Art was doing some research about next years Red Sox team.  He came to me to do some research about the salaries that the team has on the books for next season.  It was actually interesting to me.  I found out some new things about the financial system of MLB, something I never really understood or cared about in the past.

Keeping on the same theme, Bill showed has shown on a couple occasions that he trusts me to do good work.  The tasks he has given to me have been mostly from a business standpoint.  The first one was to help organize receipts from a writers road trip.  I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, so I figured I would mention it again.

The second task Bill gave me was a much more important one.  As many people may know (if you don't, go to my shameless promotional link) the Bruins have headed to Prague to open up their season.  This is a monumental trip for CSN as we push to get more coverage for all sports in an attempt to become the go-to web site for all things New England sports.  Bill wants to see what kind of ratings our site is getting throughout the trip.  That is where I come in to the equation.  I have been placed in the middle of this trip, don't worry I'm not going to Prague.  I am responsible for keeping an eye on the web traffic throughout the trip, basically seeing if it was worth it.  I have learned so much about the business aspect of CSN/the internet, and is very fascinating.

As more tasks get placed on my shoulders I feel trusted and so at home here.  I guess I am doing something right.

UPDATE:  Just stumbled across a bunch of messed up videos.  I helped save the Celtics Dancer special.

Hindsight is 20/20

As time continues to fly by throughout my internship at CSN I still am loving every second of what I am doing.  The other day Mary was doing a blog about the Red Sox I dug through the sporting archives that is my brain to remember the best Bruins fights of recent memory.  I clearly remember some totally awesome PJ Stock fights like this one, this one, or even this one.  I chose this fight between the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins as my favorite.  Mary ended up agreeing and including it in her blog for the day.  I was very happy to help.  Being a lifelong Boston sports fan is an extreme advantage in the location where I am right now.  I know all the monumental events in Boston folk lore, ones that not all people will remember, and other tidbits that are so pointless that I can't find a You-Tube video or even picture.  My hometown connection gives me the chance to reference moments from the past.

I got a chance to help make an already posted story better with the wondrous powers of the internet and previous knowledge of the Red Sox season.  Sean McAdam wrote a terrific article about 10 specific games that led to the downfall of our beloved Red Sox this season.  My responsibility was to go into the archives of the season, find these specific game recaps, and create a link to the new article.  This task would enable readers to (unfortunately) relive the pain of what happened in these individual games.

This was a powerful lesson for me and my internship.  I learned that history is a powerful tool to use.  It gives you insight into what events built up to the present.  Using historic knowledge that you may have can only enrich the story that you are writing.  Like they say "hindsight is 20/20" and you should never things that have passed, good or bad.  They can only do you good in the writing business.

CSN at a Standstill

Primed and ready for an eventful day, the CSN web staff is working hard to find news to reveal to the public.  "The site is down!" comes from the office of Jason Levine.  Suddenly our day has been put to a halt.  Not just a small halt either.  The site was down from 2:00 to 7:00 and it reverted our news back to the previous week. So, in a nutshell people did not get up to date news from us because scheduled maintenance took place during the peak news hour of the day.  That sounds reasonable right?  This wasnt just New England either, this problem resonated throughout the CSN branches throughout the country.  The worst part is both Art and my good friend (and former CSN all-star) Timothy Meagher tell me that this issue happens all the time, and causes a ruckus every time it happens. So, on behalf of the entire CSN community, thanks a lot Platformic!

Because of the standstill I got to do some new and different activities throughout the day!  The first thing I got to do was to sort through the e-mails going to Mike Felger for his Hey Felger! segment.  There were some really good questions from fans, but for every good one there was an equally awful one.  After looking over the questions,  we then forwarded them to Mike for him to answer them.

Then, I got a chance to do a little more REAL intern work.  I had to help do some financial work for Bill.  I was responsible for looking through a massive (and i mean massive) pile of receipts from a writers road trip.  I had to correspond the receipts to another sheet of paper.  It was tedious work.  It really wasn't too too bad.

RIGHT NOW:  There is a VERY intense conversation between Sherrod Blakely and Kyle Draper about the who the top three players in the NBA are. This conversation has been going on for 30 minutes (and counting.) Draper is not thrilled that Sherrod is not including LeBron James in his top three.  This is so entertaining... and informative.

Pat Burns died today, then commented on his own death?

"There is absolutely nothing going on today," says Mary Paoletti as we search twitter for news and a potential Wicked Good Sports story idea.  We spoke too soon.  There WAS nothing, that was until the Pat Burns saga began.

For anyone outside the sporting world who does not know who Pat Burns is.  Shame on you.   Pat Burns is a legendary coach in the National Hockey League and former coach or our dear Boston Bruins.  Unfortunately Burns was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  Many media outlets over the past couple weeks have been reporting that Burns' condition has been deteriorating.

This morning CTV in Ottawa reported that Burns lost his battle with cancer.  So, as all news stories do, the topic then went through twitter faster than anyone could say... he is alive!  That's right readers, Pat Burns did not die.  In fact, he probably got to read the stories celebrating his life before they got pulled from their respective sites.

 A family member of Burns commented saying, "Pat is surprised to learn he's dead."  Even Burns got to comment on his death. (as weird as that sounds)  "Here we go again," Burns told TSN's Bob McKenzie. "They're trying to kill me before I'm dead. ... I come to Quebec to spend some time with my family and they say I'm dead. I'm not dead, far [expletive] from it. They've had me dead since June. Tell I'm alive. Set them straight."

How many times do people get to comment to the media about their death?  Today's CSN lesson of the day: don't rush a story just to be the first to get it out.  Get the facts straight, check them several times, then you can write the best, most credible story you can.

The Inez Sainz Influence

Its a slow day in the newsroom today.  I guess I will write about the lack of material there is today.  There are three days until the Patriots game on Sunday, the Sox are just barely still alive, and the Bruins rookie game is tonight.  That is the extent of the news today.

One thing that is still buzzing around the newsroom is the Ines Sainz saga.  To fill anyone in about the situation, Ines Sainz is a a sports reporter for a Mexican news station.  She is a very attractive woman, and pretty much flaunts it by wearing tight clothes and other provocative outfits.  Last week she entered the New York Jets locker room to do an interview with quarterback Mark Sanchez.  Things were said (no one really knows what was said) in the locker room that she deemed inappropriate.  This has started an uproar between the media, players, and viewers alike.  Many people have chimed in on the issue.  We were lucky to have two willing women to talk about it on our site in two different mediums.  Carolyn Manno spoke up about her opinion on the topic in a casual conversation, which then led to her appearance on The Dino Radja Experience (Rich Levine's weekly podcast) to address the situation.  (Link here -- http://is.gd/fdK84 )  Mary Paoletti also got a chance to talk about it in a more comical fashion via Wicked Good Sports.  Mary goes into the locker rooms every week with her coverage of the Patriots.  She even mentions an alternative way to dress this week now that SHE has to go into the Jets locker room.  (Link here -- http://is.gd/fdKyv)  Although I am not an attractive woman... or a woman at all, I still have learned a valuable lesson throughout this story.  I learned that if you want to be taken seriously in the professional world, you must view yourself as a professional and dress the part.

Okay, now on to the casual factor of the day.  Today is the day for Quick Slants at 7:00 pm on CSN (Shameless promo) so Tom Curran was in the office.  Because of the lack of news today, I naturally was looking for something to do.  So, the two of us played catch with a Nerf football, which has been the highlight of my day.

So, in a nutshell, I am still enjoying every second of my internship.  I just have to remember... no news is good news... and very boring.