Penguins - Week 6

The preseason is now officially over and the regular season begins Saturday for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 We had two preseason games last week along with Penguins fan fest on Sunday. The Penguins lost both of their last two preseason games, ending the preseason on a sour note.

It was much of the same routine as the previous games, with a few twists in between.

We still haven't gone over a couple of our daily game day duties due to the preseason, but for the most part, we're off and running and starting to get comfortable with each other.

I had the chance to run microphones again at the post game press conference for the Penguins coach on Wednesday. Saturday, I got sound from Columbus coach John Tortorella's post game media scrum.

I wrote a few game notes in preparation for the regular season where we'll write notes on a daily basis.

We'll also start to add more graphic elements to our daily routine to enhance our social media feeds.

 Sunday was a long day.

We arrived at Penguins fan fest at around 9 a.m. and didn't leave until 7 a.m. I worked both sessions of the Penguins fan fest that lasted six and four hours a piece.

I spent the morning running a waiver station that hundreds of fans visited in order to get clearance to play different games on the ice level of PPG Paints Arena. During the afternoon session, I manned an autograph scratch off ticket redemption station on the concourse level and had to instruct hundreds of fans on where to go and how to redeem their tickets for a wristband that would give them access to an autograph session.

We had a few left over after a couple sessions and I got to walk around the arena looking for kids or families that could use an autograph session. I made a few kids days when I told them they would get to meet one of the players and get their autograph. That was cool.

There was a lot that went into the past few days, but we made it through the preseason. Now, the regular season begins Thursday with an 8:00 start against the Washington Capitals.

Penguins - Week 5

One game to recap this week!

It was a meaningless and boring preseason game that featured very few regular Penguins in the lineup, but it was my first real game with the Pens as I continue to get a feel for what a typical game night feels like.

The Pens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 Friday night in their first home preseason game of the year and their third preseason game overall.

We got to the arena at 3:30 and continued to figure out what we do pregame, which included setting up the press box and making sure the media work rooms are all in order.

I also manned the credential table for about an hour before the game before eating dinner (press dining at the Pirates is better).

We did our normal pregame routine which is really just distributing the starting lineups for both teams to everyone in the press box, then we sat in our booth and watched the first period. During the game we are typically writing notes about the players and teams, but we are just practicing now for preseason to get a feel for it. There weren't a lot of notes after a 1-0 win.

In between periods, we have to pass out stats to both the media and the coaches in their offices. After the game, I went to the Penguins locker room and got sound from Marc-Andre Fleury's interview and went to our head coach's press conference. I was in charge of passing the microphone around to the media members asking questions.

Once we get going with the season, everything will be pretty formulaic and standard. We had the benefit of working the World Cup of Hockey to really get a feel for how games work.

My work with the Pirates is also officially done for the season. We ended Thursday with our final game that resulted in a 1-1 tie, the first tie since 2005 in MLB and our first tie since 1998. The whole night was bittersweet and I kept thinking how lucky I am to be in my position. It was a weird night considering we tied, but it was a fun way to go out. I'd rather go out with a tie than getting slaughtered in a Wild Card game like the past two years.

We have a pair of preseason games next Wednesday and Saturday for the Penguins against Detroit and Columbus before the regular season officially begins Oct. 13.

Penguins - Week 4

My apologizes for the brief delay this week. Needless to say, working with both the Penguins and the Pirates has been amazing and, as the two overlap, the two are also crazy.

I spent Friday and Saturday at the Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry for Penguins Training Camp. I couldn't attend training camp Sunday because of the Pirates series finale with the Washington Nationals in the afternoon.

The Pirates game ended up lasting more than four hours and set multiple records. The Pirates tied their club record for the number of pitchers used in one game, the Nationals set a club record for the longest 9-inning game (4:01), and the two teams tied a National League record for the number of players used in one game.

I immediately ran from PNC Park over to the new Center for Media Innovation for a night of Point Park Globe meetings. I also spent the early part of Sunday morning covering the Great Race for Point News.

So, it was an involved weekend.

Training camp
My dad was gracious enough to drive to Pittsburgh and provide transpiration too and from Cranberry both Friday and Saturday so I could work the two days. I arrived to the facility at around 7:30 both days and began both mornings passing out full-season credentials and training camp information to members of the media as they arrived.

After the morning skate and scrimmage concluded both days, the interns took to the locker rooms to collect sound from the players' interviews.

I went to the primary locker room on Friday and got sound from Justin Schultz, Scott Wilson and Trevor Daley.

I was assigned to a secondary locker room Saturday where there were no media "scrums," so I just had to basically supervise the locker room. My cousins stopped down on Saturday and said hello which was nice as well.

Our bosses have been fantastic and bought us lunch Saturday from Noodles & Company. The other two interns are also fantastic and will be great to work with.

The Penguins' first home pre season game is this Friday, when I'll really get a taste of what is to come this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Week 3

Talk about starting this internship with a bang.

Tuesday I went to Consol in the middle of Point Park’s grand opening ceremonies for the Center for Media Innovation. I was all over the place that day for the ceremonies, but had to escape for two hours to help with the media credential check-in table.

It wasn’t too much work, just essentially giving people their credentials as they entered the arena. Tuesday was the practice day at Consol for the four teams in the World Cup of Hockey. There were hundreds of members of the media, along with scouts and coaches from other teams around the world.

I wish I spoke more than just English, let me tell you what.

Wednesday was game day. My class that was supposed to end at 12:50 let out at 12:30 and I bolted to Consol immediately after the class finished. I got to the arena around 12:45 and didn’t leave until 11:45.

We had to man the credential table once again. This time, there were a lot more people coming in and looking for their credential. I only had a couple minor problems. I didn’t have parking for one photographer who wasn’t happy and somebody from team Europe was irritated that I couldn’t find his credential right away or understand what questions he asked.

I felt so lost on that day. People were asking me questions I should know the answer to, but didn’t simply because it was my first real big day there.

I don’t even know my way around the arena.

I did the best that I could to find the answers everyone had questions for and kept my cool. The arena is a giant maze, even though it is just a circle. I think it will take a few more days before I really know my way around. It is kind of confusing in parts because certain elevators go to certain floors and certain doors are sometimes locked. It was frustrating not knowing exactly what I was doing, especially for such a large event. But I managed and made it out alive.

I had to man the credential table at the Consol entrance for the duration of the first game between Czech Republic and North America. We were short staffed so I sat worked the table. It wasn’t bad – I still watched the game on a TV in the lobby.

I went back to the press box for the second game between Russia and Canada (the one that really mattered). The crowd went nuts for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin when they were both introduced.

I followed the veterans around and helped them out during the game, trying to get a feel for what I have to do on a typical game day.

Canada tied the game with 6:00 left in the third period and eventually won in overtime. When the game was over, they gave me a recorder and sent me to Canada’s locker room to get sound from players’ interviews. I was in the front row for Crosby’s interview and later interviewed Buffalo’s Ryan O’Reilly.

It was really cool to get in the media scrum around Crosby. I know it’s something I’ll get to do frequently, but it was special getting to do it for the first time as he represented team Canada.

We’re quickly approaching the NHL pre season and I’m really excited to get going. The Pirates are quickly fading out of the MLB playoff picture and I unfortunately only have three games left with the Buccos.

This is fun. This is a fun time. We’re only getting started.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Week 2

This week at CONSOL Energy Center was spent preparing for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey preliminary round games next week.

I ran (literally) to CONSOL in between classes on Thursday for an hour and a half to prepare credentials for team Canada, North America, Russia and the Czech Republic for the week. As soon as I finished, I had to run back to campus for my 1:00 class and then immediately go to the North Shore for the start of the Reds Pirates series. That was a busy day.

Unlike a typical game day, the players for the World Cup of Hockey all need credentials for the event.

The Russians spelled names a little differently than we're used to. For example, Evgeni Malkin's name was spelled Evgeny by the Russians, so that's how we had to put it on his credential. The Czech names were a bunch of consonants thrown together and required careful spell checking.

Next Tuesday is the practice day for the World Cup and Wednesday is game day. I will go in for a couple hours on Tuesday to help with the practice, but will be there virtually all day Wednesday for the actual games. There were originally four interns for the 2016 fall semester for the Penguins, but one had to step away so there are now three of us - two of which are Point Park students.

The Czech Republic plays North America at 3:00 and the highlight of the night comes at 7:00 when team Russia and Malkin play team Canada and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Week 1

Follow my blog all semester long to follow my experiences as a media relations intern with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I recently went to CONSOL for orientation to find out what my internship will be like. I am one of four media relations interns and will work 18 games during the first half of the season. During my time with the Penguins, I will assist the communications department with game notes, stat distribution and post game interviews.

Many of my duties are similar to my current media relations internship with the Pirates. I'm anxious to get started in the coming weeks preparing for the regular season as the defending Stanley Cup champions.

On Sept. 14, we will work our first big event, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey Pre-Tournament hosted by the Penguins and CONSOL Energy Center. We should begin preparing for the tournament in the next week.

Preseason games begin in October, along with Fan Fest on Oct. 9. Until then, we will do preparation work for the season and help work the World Cup of Hockey game.

I'm looking forward to an exciting season with the Penguins!

People

People.

I’ve had some time to think over the past few days about way too much. Most of my thinking happens late at night or in the shower. The rest of my day is spent trying to keep busy to keep my mind busy.

I’ve also had time to do a lot of reading this week. I finished my online summer classes which freed up some time. I found an old book published in 1985 celebrating Point Park College’s 25th anniversary. It really was fascinating. There were so many interesting stories in this book told by really interesting people. We are coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Globe (our student-run newspaper) and it gave me some great ideas for stories leading up to our celebration.

The second book I read was “Tales from the Pirates Dugout,” featuring a broad range of stories from former Pirates players, managers and opponents. Some were funny, some were fascinating, some were historic. My “fountain of useless information” as my dad calls it has definitely grown deeper over the past week.

The Point Park book was organized chronologically with events told by those who were there to experience it all. The Pirates book was organized by the players’ last names and told through a narrator with a few quotes mixed in here and there. 

It inspired more thinking. What if I had a book describing the people in my life sharing stories about our experiences and adventures? I’m sure few would actually buy a copy, let alone read it. The reader would find the section where I talk about font selections incredibly boring and lame. It happens. 

Who would be in this book of mine? Would it be like the Point Park book with people sharing stories about me or would it be like the Pirates book with me describing tales from the people in my life? It probably would end up being a mix of both. 

There have been some amazing people placed into my life. I’m still trying to figure out why some have entered, exited, stuck around, helped me out, etc. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and you meet everyone for a reason. 

I started typing a list of the different groups of people that would be in this book. I wrote the list, realized I left some people out, rewrote the list, and just decided to delete the list and keep it to myself. I would want to include absolutely everybody in this book. From my mentors in school to my family and my friends - even the people who aren’t part of my life anymore. Everybody. 

Why leave people out? Like I said, everybody you meet you meet for a reason. I don’t know what the reason is for meeting a strong majority of the people in my life right now. I do know that the people in my life right now are incredible. My friends, my family, the people I work with, everybody.

There are plenty of people from my hometown that I’ve lost contact with or that I never was really close with that I’d want in this book too. I was a different person four years ago than I am today and I imagine I’ll be even more different four years from now. The evolution of a someone’s life and personality is fascinating to me. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed the Point Park book so much. This place has evolved and grew so much over the years and the book was published in ’85. So much has changed, yet so much has stayed the same. 

People are like that too. We all change over the years. We all adapt to our surroundings, gain wisdom and experience, and ultimately change. You grow as a person and so much changes, yet so much stays the same.

Just looking back on the past few years of my life, I can see some of the things that have changed and stayed the same. I’ve learned how to balance and juggle multiple things at once. I’ve learned how to smile more and focus on positivity. I’ve learned the importance of having a strong support system and surrounding myself with good people. 

There are genuinely good people in this world that care. It really is amazing to discover those people and even more amazing when they stick around for a while.

I don’t know why I’ve been so fortunate to meet so many of these people over the last year or two, but I’m so thankful that these people have entered my life.

People come and go. At the end of our lives, we’ll ultimately be summed up by a few bullet points. The people you meet and leave an impact on throughout the course of your life are far more important than the bullet points left in your obituary. 

My late night thinking recently led me to think of so many people that have walked into my life. I’m thankful for each and every one of them, even if they weren’t great for me at the time. I’ve learned something from everyone I’ve met, even if I don’t know what that something is yet. Im thankful for that. 

My hope is that I will be lucky enough to encounter more of these people in the future and keep the ones in my life now around for as long as I can.

Because, why not?

Josh