The Press Box: From the Fish to the Jets

I am very excited and a little nervous about an upcoming opportunity this month.

On February 17 and February 28, along with March 30 and April 20 I will be up in the Winnipeg Jets press box covering Jets games for ChrisD.ca. For the reports, I'll be covering the games and also going down to the player dressing rooms to get quotes from players and coaches. As a huge hockey fan and someone who follows the Jets and the NHL this feels like a dream come true for me.

I had the opportunity to do some Folklorama reviews and cover a Winnipeg Goldeyes
playoff game for ChrisD in the summer and he asked me if I would cover Jets games for him when his regular sports reporter Darrin Bauming had personal tickets to games. I was happy to write for ChrisD.ca in the summer but was not expecting to be asked to do Jets games so it was a extremely pleasant surprise.

I spent my summer in a press box almost every night but I know the differences between the two will be huge. I covered the Winnipeg Goldeyes all summer for Metro Winnipeg. It was one of the best experiences of my life and a great place to start covering sports. The press box had three reporters, one from the Winnipeg Sun, one from the Winnipeg Free Press and me. Other than that there was a group of Winnipeg Goldeyes front office people and the voice of the Goldeyes Paul Edmonds.

Some days I wanted to pinch myself for having this summer job. I spent beautiful summer nights at the ball park watching baseball, writing and some nights even watching fireworks and if I saw someone I knew I could go down and sit with them for a while.

It felt like the perfect way to ease me into sports reporting. I've already been told I'll be back in the Goldeyes press box this summer and can't wait to spend another summer at the ball park.

As much fun as I had in the press box I also remember how completely nervous I was the first few times I was up there. Many of the people up in that box have been up there for years and walking in as the new reporter that nobody ever heard of was completely intimidating at first. It took me a while to get comfortable up there but once I did I started to have a great time.

It was also high stress because my stories were often due by around 10:15 p.m. at the latest and sometimes the games wouldn't end until after 10. I learned to write the story as it happens and edit the finished stories very quickly.

Although the Winnipeg Jets press box will be a whole new world as compared to the Goldeyes box, I hope the things I learned with the Goldeyes help me when I am covering the Jets and I appreciate how perfect it was for me that my first press box experience was with the Winnipeg Goldeyes.