Reflecting Back on My 10 Weeks

Working at a radio station fit my future career goals perfectly. Most broadcasters start off in radio. I was fortunate enough to be able to start in radio at a very young age. This internship went beyond my expectations...

• Not only did I get to intern at any radio station, I interned at a sports radio station. I want my future career to revolve around sports.
• Not only did I get to be around radio equipment for 10 weeks, I got to be on the air. This experience proved to me that I am very comfortable speaking publicly, a necessity for broadcasting!
  
• Not only did I get to intern in any city, I interned in Boston, a sports-crazed area!
  

The Boston sports teams logos, some of my favorite images:

This internship experience at The Sports Hub greatly helped my study in media and culture. I learned about writing and speaking about sports. I also made great connections. The people I worked with on the D.A. Show were great. I know that I will be keeping in touch with them in the fall. I will stop by the station a few times throughout the semester, to discuss relevant topics and gain more experience in the sports media world! I would love to work at a place like 98.5. And I am very lucky that it is located only 10 minutes from Bentley!

Love that dirty water... BOSTON you're my home.

And who can forget Fenway's favorite- the wave?!

Happy 50th Birthday Chuck Perks!

The last day of my internship was August 5, 2010. Coincidentally, it was also Chuck Perks' birthday!! For the last gig as Sideline Reporter, I poked fun at the birthday boy. Well, everyone at the D.A. Show poked fun of Chuck. See, we told our listeners that it was his 50th birthday, when in fact he turned only 43. Chuck was not pleased with our sense of humor. For my live gig, I asked Chuck a list of questions to emphasize his old age. These questions were about the fact that he is old enough to have churned butter, the fact that he still uses a typewriter, the fact that he has been on the radio for 25 years, and a few more fun little facts. Take a listen to my humorous questions HERE !

In the middle of my questions, executive producer Chris Curtis brought in Chuck a birthday cupcake. I work at Rockin' Cupcakes, an ice cream shop and bakery in Rockport. A few times throughout my internship, I brought in cupcakes for the guys. I just happened to bring cupcakes in on Chuck's birthday, so we put on some "50" birthday candles and took a picture of him! I am in the background questioning him.

Also, here is a picture of some of the many cupcakes I brought into The Sports Hub! Delicious.

The Jersey Shore Questionnaire

At the D.A. show, we like to have fun. Towards the end of my internship, the Season 2 Premier of Jersey Shore show aired. Jersey Shore and Boston sports have nothing to do with each other, but the cast members of this reality show are so ridiculous, and unfortunately very popular, that we had to bring it up on the air. Headline Reporter Chuck Perks is the oldest of the members of the D.A. Show, and we decided to make up a list of Jersey Shore trivia questions that we could ask him live. We all assumed that he would know nothing about the show, and would fail the questionnaire. However, it turns out that out of the 9 questions, Chuck Perks answered 6 correctly! He passed the trivia questions that I asked him. Listen HERE to hear me quiz Chuck Perks! Questions start at the 00: 08: 20 mark!

WEEI- "the guys across the street"...

Well, how do I explain what happened here. WEEI and 98.5 are both sports radio stations in Boston, whose buildings happen to be right across the street from each other. They are MAJOR COMPETITORS. At the end of July, there was an article about the recent ratings of 98.5 and WEEI. See, WEEI has a Boston station and a Providence station. In the ratings, WEEI included both their Providence and Boston scores, which caused a huge controversy. In the battle vs. The Sports Hub, only the Boston scores should count, because Providence and Boston are two different markets. On top of that, WEEI in Providence is an FM station, where WEEI in Boston is an AM station. Clearly, the fair thing to do is to compare just the two markets in Boston. Including the ratings in Providence to boost up the final score is irrelevant. Look HERE for a link to the article discussing the controversy!

Due to the controversy, the D.A. Show decided to mock those at WEEI, whom we call "the guys across the street". We tried to think of creative ways that we could boost our ratings, as well, and try to get away with it. My first job as Sideline Reporter for the D.A. Show was to come up with ways that we could count people as listeners in an effort to improve our ratings. Listen HERE as I give the rundown on the ways that the D.A. Show came up with to improve the Sports Hub ratings! I start speaking at the 00:13:50 mark.

Damon also took pictures of me as the Sideline Reporter, below!

Here I am interviewing Headline Reporter Chuck Perks after an intense night of covering the WEEI vs. 98.5 controversy.

D.A. Gone Missing?

It is true. D.A. was taken hostage for 19 days straight! That means that he was missing for two and half weeks of my internship. For over half of the month of July, D.A. did not host his own show. During the last week in June, he was filling in for hosts Toucher and Rich in the mornings, from 6AM to 10AM. During that week I had to be in the studio at 5AM! I am very glad that only occurred for one week, because it was not easy waking up at four in the morning. During the next week, D.A. was on vacation. The following week, one of the hosts of the morning show had a baby, and needed to take time off. So, D.A. covered his show. Luckily, I did not have to be there in the morning that week. I still worked the usual 6PM to midnight shift with either Adam Jones or Rich Keefe hosting the D.A. Show.

The week that Damon returned, he came back with a new idea for an opening song to his show. The skit was space- themed, as D.A.'s welcome line is "The Mothership has connected, welcome aboard". In this skit, I played Dispatcher Skyfox, and had to help D.A. connect the mothership to the Boston fans. It was a fun little role, and Josh Deering, Chris Curtis, and Chuck Perks had roles in it as well. We pre-recorded the skit, and it is played at least once every show.

World Cup

Another major sports occasion that was taking place during my internship was the 2010 World Cup. I will admit that I know NOTHING about soccer. I have never watched a game, and the last time I played was in first grade. Back then, I had no idea what was going on in the game of soccer except to kick the ball if it came near you, and that is still about the only concept of soccer I know.

The crew members of the D.A. Show made predictions about which country would win each round of the World Cup. Here is the list of what each member, including myself, predicted.

When it came to choosing countries, I chose randomly. That is why it came to everyone's surprise that during the first few rounds of the World Cup, my predictions were 100% accurate...I went 4 for 4! I was in the lead at the D.A. Show, and for the first time, I went on the air live to talk about my picks. Listen HERE ! I begin speaking at the 00:41:20 mark.

So, my first time on the air revolved around a topic I know nothing about! But, I do love the World Cup theme song... Check it out.

Goodbye, Wideman!

A few weeks into my internship, Bruins talk was heating up. The trade deadline was closing in, and the Bruins needed to make some moves. The talk of the potential Wideman trade caused some talk, but for the most part, Boston fans were content with Wideman being traded. This blog explains why Boston has been disappointed in Wideman this year, and why fans are OK with this trade.

Wideman was a great player for the Bruins during the 2008-09 season, but regressed this past year. Those at the D.A Show asked me to come up with a cheer, saying farewell to this defensemen. There was much talk regarding Wideman throughout the show during the last week in June, so my cheer was relative, and played randomly during the shows. It must have been odd to the listeners of the D.A. Show to hear a female voice! But Damon stated that my Wideman cheer was his favorite. Thanks, D.A. !

Below are some pictures of me enjoying the Boston Bruins! Their fans are by FAR the most insane. And its great.

My friend and I at a Bruins game this past year!

View from our seats!


Enjoying the win in Boston after the game