Holy living fuck (overdue)
I helped cover a Sacramento Kings-New Orleans Hornets game for the Davis Enterprise on Sunday night. My cohort Mike Mirer wrote the game story and I did a sidebar on Byron Scott, the Hornets coach and a former Kings assistant. Of course, although my story was published, it didn't make it onto the Enterprise's website (it was good, I swear) so everyone is going to have to take me at my word that this all really happened. Trust me, though, it was an awesome experience.
Here's a rundown of my first assignment covering the NB-fucking-A:
1. Mike picks me up around 4:30 p.m. Sunday
2. We get to Arco Arena just before 5, head to the media entrance and grab my credential
3. After dumping our stuff in the media room, we head to the visiting locker room. I sit around while a few reporters interview Baron Davis, the Hornets star guard. Davis has been injured a month and has just participated in his first practice in awhile. The reporters are anxious. While standing back, watching the litany of questions, I spy Scott in his office. Only a security guard (who I actually went to high school with) stand between he and I.
4. Interview #1... Along with other members of the media, I get to interview Scott. It lasts seven minutes and I still have it on tape. After everyone else is done and Scott is getting ready to head to the court, I ask if I can walk with him and ask him one more question. He obliges and I walk backwards with him, almost stepping on Davis (who's laying down doing stretches outside in the hallway) while in the process.
5. Interview #2... Out on court, I stand nearby as Scott embraces Pete Carrill, his former colleague on the Kings staff. After they get done chatting and part ways, I conduct a brief, fruitless interview with Carrill along with a Bee reporter who fares a bit better.
6. After interviewing Carill, Mike and I head to get some food. By this time, I've seen a bunch of people including the Kings television announcers, including Grant Napear, who's sitting near my path back to food. As I pass, I turn to him, quickly blurt "Big fan!" and stumble off.
The food is awesome. I've determined that the higher the level of sports it is, the better media stiffs like me eat. In this case, there's gumbo, creamed chicken (I think) and pizza among other things. Following dinner, there's also cake (later after the game, there will be beer, free of charge of course)
7. One funny thing happens after dinner, before the game.
When I was in ninth grade, my high school had its winter dance in the same building where the Kings were having their year-end party. The team sucked balls then, but me being me I was thrilled to be in the presence of my heroes, especially when I went up to one of the Kings executives who was nice enough to point out a few of the guys. A wheelchair-bound teacher from my school promptly tried to shoo me away, but I kept going back. The executive didn't seem to mind. His name was Wayne Cooper.
Anyhow, Sunday while waiting for the game to start, I see Cooper walk in to the dining area. I walk up to him while he's grabbing some food, tell him this story and he smiles at me.
8. 6:00 p.m. rolls around, game time. As the Hornets come in 2-20, they get their asses destroyed by the Kings, 107-71. I observe all of this not from the courtside scorers table, but the upstairs one reserved for most media. Since my assignment wasn't to cover the game itself, I didn't note a whole heck of a lot, instead using gametime to discover weird facts that sportswriters are known for (Did you know that in eight seasons where Magic Johnson and Byron Scott played together, the Los Angeles Lakers had a 739 winning percentage?)
9. The game ends and Mike and I head back downstairs to the media room. We walk in not long before the start of Kings coach Rick Adelman's press conference. When it starts, I ask the second question, (Interview #3) one that is actually heard by radio listeners when the local sports station randomly starts broadcasting live midway through my lengthy query.
On a cool note, this press conference and also Scott's one (which I don't attend) are both transcribed by the Kings media relations people. I wish the Cal Poly media relations office was this cool.
10. I head to the Kings locker room. Most players are in the showers or gone, and the few who stand by lockers are outnumbered by media guys like me 5-1. While the pack waits to interview a big name guy, I peel off and Kings reserve Matt Barnes, who is dressing next to another player (David Bluthenthal?), pretty much undisturbed. The interview goes decent and yields one usable quote.
11. The main interviews start, none of which I participate in, but watch in an almost catatonic, wowed state, In a span of a few minutes, I watch Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller and Greg Ostertag face a battery of media. Meanwhile, I put in a request to interview Peja Stojakovic, who's in another room, but alas it is not to be-- he's in with his family and doesn't want to come back in the locker room. I don't blame him.
12. I retreat back to the media room. On my way, I pass a few seriously hot blonds (and naturally I hit on them), Perhaps these are players' wives or girlfriends. Regardless, I must say the hoochies really come out of the woodwork when there is a pro sports game.
Anyhow back in the media room, I write a bit of my story, trying to get my facts straight. I am not to finish early and will later spend the better part of my night getting everything just right. In the meantime though, I observe the other reporters doing their things. One reporter who shall remain unnamed from a media outlet that shall also receive anonymity repeatedly cracks me up by being unbelievably coarse. At one point he says, "CB will be in around 11:30". I later find out that CB stands for Cunt Bitch, this guy's nickname for an absent fellow reporter who he dislikes with an almost comic intensity (a dislike that is of course reciprocated).
13. Mike and I depart around 9:30. I get home around 10, then head over to Chris's at 10:30 with my sister's laptop to write the rest of my story. I finally finish and head home and get it emailed in around 3:00 am, ahead of my 6:00 am deadline.
Mike and I had a good conversation on the way home. It seems there may be a full-time job or two opening in sports at the Enterprise around the time that I'm due to graduate from Cal Poly. I'll have to see if I want to become a full-time working stiff. Perhaps, perhaps. After all, it'd be cool to cover more Kings games. Mike got to go to 20 games last year. I'd be grateful to do even one more.
Here's a rundown of my first assignment covering the NB-fucking-A:
1. Mike picks me up around 4:30 p.m. Sunday
2. We get to Arco Arena just before 5, head to the media entrance and grab my credential
3. After dumping our stuff in the media room, we head to the visiting locker room. I sit around while a few reporters interview Baron Davis, the Hornets star guard. Davis has been injured a month and has just participated in his first practice in awhile. The reporters are anxious. While standing back, watching the litany of questions, I spy Scott in his office. Only a security guard (who I actually went to high school with) stand between he and I.
4. Interview #1... Along with other members of the media, I get to interview Scott. It lasts seven minutes and I still have it on tape. After everyone else is done and Scott is getting ready to head to the court, I ask if I can walk with him and ask him one more question. He obliges and I walk backwards with him, almost stepping on Davis (who's laying down doing stretches outside in the hallway) while in the process.
5. Interview #2... Out on court, I stand nearby as Scott embraces Pete Carrill, his former colleague on the Kings staff. After they get done chatting and part ways, I conduct a brief, fruitless interview with Carrill along with a Bee reporter who fares a bit better.
6. After interviewing Carill, Mike and I head to get some food. By this time, I've seen a bunch of people including the Kings television announcers, including Grant Napear, who's sitting near my path back to food. As I pass, I turn to him, quickly blurt "Big fan!" and stumble off.
The food is awesome. I've determined that the higher the level of sports it is, the better media stiffs like me eat. In this case, there's gumbo, creamed chicken (I think) and pizza among other things. Following dinner, there's also cake (later after the game, there will be beer, free of charge of course)
7. One funny thing happens after dinner, before the game.
When I was in ninth grade, my high school had its winter dance in the same building where the Kings were having their year-end party. The team sucked balls then, but me being me I was thrilled to be in the presence of my heroes, especially when I went up to one of the Kings executives who was nice enough to point out a few of the guys. A wheelchair-bound teacher from my school promptly tried to shoo me away, but I kept going back. The executive didn't seem to mind. His name was Wayne Cooper.
Anyhow, Sunday while waiting for the game to start, I see Cooper walk in to the dining area. I walk up to him while he's grabbing some food, tell him this story and he smiles at me.
8. 6:00 p.m. rolls around, game time. As the Hornets come in 2-20, they get their asses destroyed by the Kings, 107-71. I observe all of this not from the courtside scorers table, but the upstairs one reserved for most media. Since my assignment wasn't to cover the game itself, I didn't note a whole heck of a lot, instead using gametime to discover weird facts that sportswriters are known for (Did you know that in eight seasons where Magic Johnson and Byron Scott played together, the Los Angeles Lakers had a 739 winning percentage?)
9. The game ends and Mike and I head back downstairs to the media room. We walk in not long before the start of Kings coach Rick Adelman's press conference. When it starts, I ask the second question, (Interview #3) one that is actually heard by radio listeners when the local sports station randomly starts broadcasting live midway through my lengthy query.
On a cool note, this press conference and also Scott's one (which I don't attend) are both transcribed by the Kings media relations people. I wish the Cal Poly media relations office was this cool.
10. I head to the Kings locker room. Most players are in the showers or gone, and the few who stand by lockers are outnumbered by media guys like me 5-1. While the pack waits to interview a big name guy, I peel off and Kings reserve Matt Barnes, who is dressing next to another player (David Bluthenthal?), pretty much undisturbed. The interview goes decent and yields one usable quote.
11. The main interviews start, none of which I participate in, but watch in an almost catatonic, wowed state, In a span of a few minutes, I watch Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller and Greg Ostertag face a battery of media. Meanwhile, I put in a request to interview Peja Stojakovic, who's in another room, but alas it is not to be-- he's in with his family and doesn't want to come back in the locker room. I don't blame him.
12. I retreat back to the media room. On my way, I pass a few seriously hot blonds (and naturally I hit on them), Perhaps these are players' wives or girlfriends. Regardless, I must say the hoochies really come out of the woodwork when there is a pro sports game.
Anyhow back in the media room, I write a bit of my story, trying to get my facts straight. I am not to finish early and will later spend the better part of my night getting everything just right. In the meantime though, I observe the other reporters doing their things. One reporter who shall remain unnamed from a media outlet that shall also receive anonymity repeatedly cracks me up by being unbelievably coarse. At one point he says, "CB will be in around 11:30". I later find out that CB stands for Cunt Bitch, this guy's nickname for an absent fellow reporter who he dislikes with an almost comic intensity (a dislike that is of course reciprocated).
13. Mike and I depart around 9:30. I get home around 10, then head over to Chris's at 10:30 with my sister's laptop to write the rest of my story. I finally finish and head home and get it emailed in around 3:00 am, ahead of my 6:00 am deadline.
Mike and I had a good conversation on the way home. It seems there may be a full-time job or two opening in sports at the Enterprise around the time that I'm due to graduate from Cal Poly. I'll have to see if I want to become a full-time working stiff. Perhaps, perhaps. After all, it'd be cool to cover more Kings games. Mike got to go to 20 games last year. I'd be grateful to do even one more.