The Things We Used To Dream

When you are a child you dream crazy dreams. You have innocence about you and think nothing will ever stop you from reaching that dream. As we grow up we realize that living your childhood dream is unlikely. Life gets in the way and your innocence is shattered by reality. As a college student getting ready to enter the real world I am realizing the reality of what it takes to make dreams come true. That being said, I am still living out my dreams, one of the last things I got to do with my internship was go to the Patriots vs. Texans football game.

 

Photo By: Nikki Romanuk

I was really excited about this because I am a huge Patriots fan, as most of you know, and was determined to see that it was like to step onto the field for Monday Night Football. The weather looked grim before the game, although it was an unusual warm 60 degrees, it was also raining. But as Walt and I got to the stadium the rain was slowing down, and I knew something magical was going to take place.

If you follow football the Texans had a winning record of 11-1 and the Patriots had a 9-3 record, everyone knew this game was going to be a good one. 

Darren Haynes took this picture for me!

Walt and I left the studio at 4 P.M. for an 8:15 P.M. game. Considering the game was on Monday Night, we did not want to get stuck in traffic, so we left early. Once we pulled into Gillete Stadium, we unloaded the car and prepared for the night. Walt and I made our way to the field to drop off some equipment, and I could not help myself, and walked out on the gridiron. If you are a football fan, you know how loud a stadium can get, but when I was on the field, there was a peaceful silence. A person, like me could only imagine what the night would lead too, but for that moment, it was nothing but peace.

Walt and I ran up to the media room and got good seats to relax in before kickoff. We had to eat and socialize; I also had time to check out a press conference with Matt Light, a former Patriot player who was being honored. Because we had so much down time, I decided to go down to the field with channel 7’s Darren Haynes. Now that the fans were filling the stadium and the players were warming up, I knew it would be a different atmosphere!! And the word Different was an understatement. The fans took away that peaceful silence and filled it with crazy excitement. I began to feel the rush the players do before the game! Darren and I walked the sidelines and felt the rush of the crowd.

Photo By: Nikki Romanuk

Darren then left me to go upstairs to the press box, when I decided to stay on the field until I got kicked off. Needless to say I did not get kicked off and got to talk to Greg Glassy a camera man for channel 7. I also had some more time to hang out with Walt. The announcer came over the loud speaker and announced the Houston Texans. The players ran onto the field and the crowd was filled with boos! Then the announcer came over the loud speaker and announced the New England Patriots. Fireworks came shooting out, the minute men shot their guns, and the crowd cheered so loud the stadium shook, being on the field for all of that was one of the craziest experiences that only few NFL fans get to experience

After the singing of the National Anthem, the game was about to begin. I stayed on the field for Kickoff memorized, by the gigantic athletes that were in front of me. Something all people should know, up close and personal these guys are HUGE! You would only realize the size of these men if you were close!

After kick off I decided to walk back to the press box and watch the game with Darren, partly because I wanted to see the whole field and partly because I feared for my safety. There was no telling if the players would go out of bounds and where I would wind up. I got up to the press box, which had an unusual chatter. Normally you are not allowed to cheer in the box, but since the Patriots were dominating, and it was Monday Night Football, the media was crazy! Darren pointed out some cool things to me, one of them being a man wearing long bright orange gloves. This is on the field during commercial breaks, so the players know they have to wait before starting a new play!

During the game, I was trying to write my script for my package. Something that was not easy for me to do. I talked to Darren about it, and then ran into Levin Reed, another sports anchor who sounds like Mufasa from the Lion King. After getting advice, I felt ready to go after the game. 

Photo By: Nikki Romanuk Of Patrick Chung

One thing I should mention is I was told to be more confident on camera. I had no idea where I was going to find this confidence, and then I thought back to the film Big Daddy with Adam Sandler, and remembered that I needed magic sunglasses to give me confidence. Now I cannot wear sunglasses on camera, so I decided to go with a necklace my Mother gave me. It totally did the trick. I felt very confident in myself.

Okay, back to the game. The game was over and the Patriots won something I doubted. I had my script written, and was feeling confident. I just had to get some post sound, and meet Walt, and then I would get a chance to shoot. When walking down to the press conference room I ran into an old friend Wayne, which made me, feel more secure about myself. Just a side note, Wayne works for the Sports Hub (a radio station) and I had met him during my intern days at Mix1041 (another radio station). After doing the locker-room stuff, which I was getting really good at, it was time for me to shoot. 

Photo By Nikki Romanuk of Gillette from the field

I had first thought I was going to shoot my package in the parking lot, but Walt took me right out onto the field. I was filled with the joy a young child feels when they are waiting for Santa to come, nervous and excited. So after watch Aquib Talib (a Patriots defensive player) wheel past and smile at me on a golf cart, (he had been injured during the game) I was ready to go. 

What a sound it was to hear my voice echo through the empty stadium. I was reminded of the dreams I had as a child. And decided that I need to keep those dreams, and dream the way we all used to dream. Because keeping that innocence and excitement is such a magical feeling. My dream night had ended, I edited together my package later in the week, and I am proud to share it with all of you. Before I head out, I just want every to think real hard about a childhood dream you once had, and make that dream into a reality, it is truly a blessing to live out your dreams! Nikki Romanuk Fox Sports! 

Playing The Field

Photo by: Nikki Romanuk Patriot Practice

Networking is hard; I admit it but it necessary to all aspects of life. This week I went to the Patriots practice, this is becoming my new weekly adventure with Walt. In the car ride to the stadium Walt advised me to talk to other reporters and get advice from them on how they choose to go about their stories. This is sort of difficult because what I am realizing is that people, have completely different ways on tackling their stories. It is also hard because I am finding out, that I am not as outgoing as I once thought. This goes back to the asking for help thing. I really do not like asking people for help, it is difficult for me to do so. But overcoming all of that made interesting and great learning experiences.

In true Walt fashion, he introduced me to Trenni. Trenni works for Comcast sports and is a great person to talk to. She gave me great advice about how to write scripts and how to shoot rails. Finding the angles are pretty easy, but writing the angles into sports talk is a bit harder than I had anticipated, and filming those angels is beyond difficult. It is in this area that I feel at a disadvantage. Most people that go into broadcasting learn how to talk into the camera, and how to write out their angle, I on the other hand am just learning. Sometimes I am feeling very insecure about what I am saying and doing, it is almost like being a t-ball player in the World Series.

Trenni also gave me advice about being a girl in the sports world. I really admire Trenni and she was very willing to help me out. The other person Walt lectured me to talk to is Rhett Lewis from channel 7. At first I thought it was unfair to talk to Rhett because he is in a competing market, but Walt assured me that I have to talk and network to everyone. Walt also told me that Rhett has working in a major sports market longer than Brendan so he has more knowledge on the topic. Rhett was very nice and gave me some advice, pretty much “whatever I find interesting most people will want to hear.”

Photo By: Nikki Romanuk Patriot's Rob Gronkowski

The Stand Up

I am finding that you need to shoot what is known as a package. I am told there are many different ways people film these, but the basic idea is that the anchor comes on screen, introduces a story, plays some footage and is talking over the footage with their story and then comes back on screen to finish up. That is very basic and I am learning there are about a million and one ways of doing this, (something I might have learned if I attended broadcasting school). But I was preparing to shoot one.

The previous night I had written out a script of what I wanted to say, and I was relying on the sound I had not yet gotten, not the smartest idea, but I did not have a choice. So I felt discouraged when the players did not talk about the angle I had written out. Then it came time to shoot, this package. During shooting I was extremely nervous, I did not have the script memorized, and I kept forgetting to breathe. After about ten takes and eight minutes, and I did not get one full take. 

I was very discouraged about my horrific performance, but Walt reassured me that it is a starting point and I can only get better. I would later watch Rhett do his stand up and noticed how good and talented he was. 

The Elevator

After the stand up and lunch, we made our way to the practice field. Walt wanted to get to the practice field sooner rather than later, because time is limited so we rushed into an elevator. The elevator had some room and I squeezed into the hole. Now the hole was not huge and I kept hitting people with my backpack, which I kept forgetting I had on. If hitting people with my backpack was not bad enough, I was holding the tripod, and knocking that around. 

Photo By Nikki Romanuk Bill Belechick

Something struck me odd on this elevator ride, normally people talk and joke around, but this ride was quiet. Walt and I were the only two people talking and joking around. Finally we made it to the bottom floor and I hear someone say, “Do you want to get off first coach?” I realize at that point that I might have hit Bill Belichick a few times with my backpack. Some first impression?

We finally make it to the practice field and we are freezing, but we look for the key players or the players that we know stories will be about. It is interesting watching the practice even for a short period of time.  The whistle blows and all media is kicked out. That ends my day as a reporter. Next week I will attend another practice and work hard on my stand up. Later guys.

We Are Live!

This week was an exciting week for me at Fox 25 Sports. This week we launched our Facebook and Twitter pages. Before I was an intern Fox 25 Sports did not have a Facebook or Twitter page. I offered to start the pages because I feel that it is important, because Fox 25 Sports will be able to establish a fan base and be able to connect with the fans.

Something I noticed while interning is that there is a lot of work that makes up the 10 minutes or so you see on the news. I thought that having social media sites will show the fans what they do not normally see. I also think that having a social media sites will allows Fox 25 Sports to cover more stories that they cannot cover due to time constraints. This is very exciting for me because now, I have more responsibility to prove myself to the boys. 

When creating a social media page, it is important to get the word out about the page. We started by asking all of our friends and family to “Like” our page. By liking our page, we are hoping to get the word out about our page to establish a fan base. This began to be very exciting part of our day as we got more and more likes. The producer Chad, anchor Brendan and myself would scream out we go another like. The first night our Facebook page was up, we got 60 likes, which is a good start.

Our next step was to establish content. When establishing content I wanted to establish a voice.

Why is voice important? Well voice is important because I really want the social media sites to continue even when I am no longer interning at the studio. Establishing voice was not an easy task and I am finding out that I really do not yet know how to talk the talk when it comes to sports. This is a challenge for me because I would really like to sound intelligent when updating a Facebook status or a twitter update. In order to become a better sports writer, I decided that I am going to have to do my homework and read more sports articles, follow different sports stations on Twitter and Facebook, and figure out what type of voice I can develop.

Another struggle I have with running the social media is what I can post. I have read that most people are likely to look at pictures or a video, rather than read something; this means I have to be careful on what materials I use. I would not want to get the station in trouble for something I post. The pressure is on me, considering the other interns do not help out with the social media.

How are we getting followers?!

A way of getting Twitter followers is to do live tweeting. If you are not familiar with live tweeting, it is a way of tweeting while an event is occurring. So this week I took on live tweeting during the Patriots vs. Seahawks game, which ended up being more difficult than I first thought. Now live tweeting is not too difficult, it is basically reporting via the internet. However, live tweeting while logging he game, and watching the game can get pretty confusing. Not to mention figuring out what is trending (meaning what people are talking about) and how to speak sports! 

I did the best that I could, but I quickly learned that I had to proof read my tweets due to the amount of errors I made trying to tweet quickly. Something I should have learned by now with all the writing classes I have been taking. But you live and you learn, and you don’t make the same mistakes. You also take your time when conducting a tweet so you can get the hand of it. 

The next game the Patriots play will be a home game against the New York Jets, and since they are sending another intern to the game, I will be in the station logging the game and tweeting the game. If you are interested in my work check out the Fox 25 Sports Facebook page, and our Twitter. 

Next week I will be going into the Patriots locker room again, this time for practice and organizing a wall of tapes, not to mention I will me attempting to live tweet again, and continue my quest for followers. Talk to you guys next week!

 

From Tour Buses to Locker Rooms

picture of my press pass

I had got asked to the Patriots versus Broncos game on Sunday October 7, 2012. This game was a big match up because of the quarterbacks Brady versus Manning. I was excited to finally see a football game the way the press watches game. I was even more excited to be at the game and watch it from inside, the weather on this day was supposed to be rainy and cold. I went down to the game with my father and his friend who had tickets to the game. I then looked for a media shuttle bus to connect with the camera man Walt and the anchor Brendon.

Took this photo from the press box

Finding the media shuttle was an experience, none of security knew what the heck I was talking about. Finally I just walked over to Walt and Brendon to the media lot. We then made our way around the back into the stadium, where the players locker rooms are. Before going into the stadium all of our bags had to be searched by dogs. I was nervous about this, not that I had a bomb or anything bad but I did have a banana in my bag and was worried it would set the dog off. After security assured me it would not I was okay. We then walked out near the field to drop off some of the equipment. I say some because Walt says you should never leave your camera just in case there are thieves in the area. You can never be too careful.

My camera guy Walt

Before I go on I should tell you about Walt. Walt is not a big guy, but he has a huge personality! Walking with Walt is like walking with a player, everyone stops him and says hi and chats with him. Walt is also not a Patriots fan so he talks a lot of smack, but makes it so much fun. Okay so after we drop the equipment off we get onto an elevator. The weird thing about the elevator is that there is a lady who rides the elevator and uses a key to bring people to the floor they wish to go on. The elevator is something you see in rich hotels, so that was interesting to me.

Steve Burton, he does not know I took this pic

We get off on the blue floor, where there is food and drinks for us. Walt knowing everyone gets us a table and sits us right down! He then grabs food, a ton of food. He is a pro and knows what is good and what is okay! While sitting down and eating, I meet a ton of reporters including Steve Burton. If you are not familiar with Steve Burton, he is a sports anchor for CBS and also the Patriots anchor. He travels with the team and covers all of the games! I want his job!! Meeting him was amazing he is seriously the nicest guy I have ever met. I spent half time talking to him and picking his brain about what it takes to make it in this industry. I also asked him how he made it.

I should also tell you that on the blue floor is the instant replay box, where the plays are reviewed and a box for the inactive players. The security guard, Paul was joking with me about how he tries to slip money under the replay box door to get the plays to be called the players way! After we all ate, Walt had to make his way to the field for the game. Brendon and I made our way to the press box and found our seats. All seats are assigned, but Brendon and I got to sit next to each other. Brendon warned me of the one rule in the box, NO CHEERING! This is very hard to do if you are a dedicated fan like me. I sat and watched the game tweeting all the great plays and holding my breath so I would not scream.

Brendan, this is from his profile

After the game we had to make our way to the locker room for interviews. Before Brendon and I made out way down there, we figured we would stop at the bathroom. When I was walking toward the bathroom, someone ran into me, almost knocking me over, trying to get my regain my balance I hear Brendon say, “DO you know who just ran into you? John Elway!” sure enough I was ran into by the Broncos owner and former quarterback John Elway.

Coach in a press conference

Going back on the elevator to the media room was not fun. They sort of heard the media people on the elevator like cattle. We were all squished in and made a mad dash to the locker room. Now I know it is every girls dream to go into the locker room, but I will tell you I was not prepared for this at all. And I am not sure I would have ever been prepared for this. First we find Walt in the media room and wait for Bill Belichick to come out and talk to us. Then we decide to make our way into the locker room to get other interviews. I should tell you that I have interviewd Adam Levine, Jonnah Hill and other well known names with out a problem, but the locker room was a whole differnt game!

We were waiting for a player when all of a sudden I, yet again get run into. This time by a wet body, I looked to see who it was this time and there he is, my favorite player, the one I have the biggest school girl crush on, Rob Gronkowski. Now I am going to keep this blog PG so I will just say that I saw his tight ends and he is a whole lot of man! I actually saw a ton of other players backsides and there is no butts about it, I was in way over my head. If I was not fighting the hardcore men in the media, I was dodging the players.

Tom Brady, post game press conference

We soon left the locker room and went back to the media room where Vince Wilfork, Tom Brady, and Wes Welker all talked to the press. I got to say hello to the players and made sure they saw me. Brendon had to write up some stuff so Walt and I packed up and walked back to the van. I was going to shoot some stuff outside the stadium, but I left my notebook with Brendon.

I am looking forward to the next time I can go into the stadium and cover the game. I will know what to expect, and be able to keep my composure! Until next time guys!

Logging and Blogging

I have been interning for a few weeks now. And I have learned this, I hate baseball. A big part of my responsibility is to log the games and highlight the key plays. The days that I have gone in have all been days where the Boston Red Sox are playing. I spend most of my time watching the Red Sox lose, and it is very boring to me.

I am a football fan. I can say this because of the four major sports, football, baseball, hockey and basketball, football by far is my favorite sport. I have respect for that game. In baseball, especially the Red Sox, I have lost all respect. Here is why. 

 

 The Patriots vs. The Red Sox

The New England Patriots are a very classy team. The owner Robert Kraft cares about his players on and off the field. The Red Sox however are the least classy athletes I have ever seen. They drink during games, joke around after they get pulled from games and do not seem to care they are the worst team in baseball right now. 

I have spent way to long watching the Red Sox in the past few weeks. And I am disgusted that at every chance they get, they are celebrating a time when they were winner. On September 25, 2012 for an example, the Red Sox honored the 2004 winning team. Okay that is great, you guys broke a curse or whatever, but the Patriots also won in 2004, and Patriot fans do not need to honor a winning team, because they still are a winning team. The Patriots are still striving for greatness, while it seems to me the Red Sox have given up completely. 

New Stuff With The News

Okay enough ranting about baseball and football. Here are some new things at the studio. First off we got a new producer, named Chad. Chad has previously worked at ESPN and NESN. This is important to me because if I want to continue a career in sports, I can ask him for contacts and network myself.

Other new things that happened this week, the Fox 25 Sports have just created a Titter page. This is exciting because social media is such a huge part in sports it is crazy. You can follow us @FOX25SPORTS. This also means that I might soon become responsible for maintaining the Twitter page. This will give me more responsibility. 

Another new and exciting thing is that I might be able to go into the field soon! The Patriots are playing at home next week and they need someone to go to the game and conduct the locker-room interviews. As of right now they said I can go so I am hoping this is true!! 

Okay that’s all I have for now! Maybe next week will be a little more entertaining  blog entry.