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

Why I Loved Interning During the Celtics Playoffs!

It is true that I love ALL Boston sports, but the one sports team that I love more than the others is the Boston Celtics. Basketball is my favorite sport- to play and to watch. My dad got me great playoff seats during the Celtics vs. Heat series. Above is a picture of me with my Dad, and right below is the great seats we were in and the view we had when the Celtics won!


The night the Celtics won the 2008 Championship, I went into Boston. The day that the Celtics had a parade to celebrate in Boston, I was there. The night the Celtics lost to the Lakers in the 2010 Championship game, I cried. Anyway- here are pictures to prove my love for the Celtics during the parade in 2008...

Pierce with the trophy!

Lucky!

Running into fellow friends that are Celtics fans!

And this is just a little something extra- during my freshmen year at Bentley, the cheerleaders got to perform at the Celtics game! I am the flyer in the far left corner :-)

Celtics Playoff Pandemonium

I walked into the Sports Hub in the midst of the Celtics vs. Lakers series. Nice. I quickly learned how crazy Boston sports fans can be. Don't get me wrong, I would have given anything for the Celtics to win the 2010 Championship, and I loved watching every playoff game at the station. But, there are some fans who called in to the D.A. Show who were so obsessed with the playoff series that I couldn't tell if they loved or hated the Boston Celtics. At 98.5, however, there WAS one player that we all loved to hate- Rasheed Wallace!

Rasheed was so awful during the season that 98.5 blamed him for bringing down the Celts. Ironically, he was a critical member of the team during the 2010 playoffs, driving those at the D.A. Show to be even more upset with him! In response to their anger, those at the D.A. Show started blaming Rasheed for everything that was going wrong not only with the Celtics, but with their lives. Every crew member made up a Rasheed Wallace "hate" chant, and ranted about all the reasons why Rasheed was ruining their lives. In just my second week at 98.5, I was asked to do a Rasheed rant as well! I made up a list of things that I am not happy with in my life, and I blamed Rasheed for all of them. I pre-recorded my "hate" chant, and Josh the audio producer added sound effects to spice the rant up even more. Take a listen to my version of "Why Rasheed Wallace is Ruining MY Life"- HERE ! Start listening for me at the 00:07:30 mark.

First Week on the Job!

My first week at The Sports Hub involved getting to know who I would be working with and what I would be doing. I was introduced to:

Damon Amendolara- host of the D.A. Show

Chris Curtis- Executive Producer of the D.A. Show

Josh Deering- Audio Producer of the D.A. Show

Chuck Perks- Headline Reporter for the D.A. Show

I learned that I would be working in one studio with Chris Curtis, while Damon, Josh, and Chuck would be working in the studio in the next room. I would be answering phone calls and recording the D.A Show's segments. Chris is the executive producer, so he would get well-known sports writers to come on the air with D.A. to talk sports professionally. Josh is in charge of the audio, and would sit right across from D.A. in the studio. Chuck would announce the major sports headlines of the day every 20 minutes. And D.A., the host, would handle the crazy callers as well as give an entertaining and informational sports show for 5 straight hours.

The D.A. Show covered every sports team in Boston, and attracted many loyal callers. Check out the D.A. Show's website here !

Background Info ....

I think the first post I make should explain a little bit about myself and why I was so happy to intern at The Sports Hub in Boston!I was born just outside of Boston and have lived there my whole life. I have loved sports for as long as I can remember. Lucky for me, Boston is a huge, crazy sports town, and I have been able to grow up right in the center of sports madness. I have gone to countless Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots games. I have played every sport you can imagine- baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, track, volleyball- and more. When I went to Bentley University, I thought I would be too short to play any sports, so I joined the cheerleading team instead! I figured if I couldn't PLAY a sport, I might as well ROOT for the person playing the sport. Cheerleading was a perfect fit for me.


Now, as to why I wanted an internship at a place like The Sports Hub. I always knew that when I graduated from college, I wanted a job that was involved with sports. My dream job is to be a sports broadcaster! Because I have grown up with sports all around me, I know a lot about the rules of the games and what not. I have grown up with my dad, my uncles, and my brothers screaming at the TV every Sunday night and going to see games at Gillette Stadium, Fenway, and The Garden. I have learned to act as they do and believe in Boston sports like they do, and I have grown to love the very special, die-hard loyalty that this town has for its teams.





As you can see from the above pictures, I wear Boston sports attire when I go out, I dress up as players for Halloween, and I am proud to wear a jersey that says I support Boston. Interning at The Sports Hub as increased my love for sports. The people that I work with are Boston fanatics, and I have learned so much from them. I believe that this internship was a great step for me in my career path, and in the next few blog posts I will explain why I feel that way!