Today’s game was pretty much life changing for me. When I got my assignment sheet for the game a few days prior, I thought to myself, “Oh man, post game quotes, this is going to suck!” Well boy was I COMPLETELY wrong. So I show up to the game early and was told to head to the press box. Since the Union’s stadium was not yet complete, we were playing home game #2 in the stadium of my favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Since we were at Lincoln Financial Field, some of the Eagle’s staff was on site to navigate.
I was assigned to work with a member of the Eagles organization who worked in media and public relations. He nonchalantly gave me a general overview of what “Post Game Quotes” consisted of. He told me that I would have to take a tape recorder to a press conference or in a locker room and gather quotes or interviews from players. The man reassured me a number of times that there would be media to aid in this process. “You won’t have to ask any questions, just follow the media and put your recorder up to the player when they are asked questions. If you do not know who the player is, ask the media.” He told me with confidence. After “showing me the ropes”, the man told me that I could sit in the press box with the journalists and watch the game.
That is just what I did. I made myself at home. I went over to the food that was provided for the press and I got myself a hot chocolate (I don’t drink coffee, haha) and a small salad. I grabbed the journalist “cheat sheets”, which consisted of player and team statistics, a starting line up, and a roster. Then I returned to my seat in the third row of the press box and I got ready for the game.
The game was great as all Union games are. The Union played pretty well. I sat at my desk taking notes on everything that was happening. FC Dallas had scored early, as Brek Shea scored a goal in the 13th minute of the game. I think this may have hurt the confidence of the Union early, but they continued to fight. That’s the one thing about this Philadelphia Union team. No matter what happens, they NEVER give up, EVER! That really tells you something about what kind of guys this Union team consists of and what kind of team they have put together. And when I say that this team never gives up, this game was proof.
At about the 88th minute of the game, I decided it was time to pack it in and head down to the locker room. I was assigned to get quotes from FC Dallas. While walking downstairs I was upset that the Philadelphia Fans would witness the teams first home loss. At the same time I thought, “Well, this is our first year, what can we expect from these guys.” Then I thought, “At least I am not going to have to walk into the locker room of the losing team!” I was just a bit nervous, if you didn’t already pick that up. So while I was standing outside of the locker room talking to the security guard and trying to calm my nerves I started to hear cheering. Louder and louder. Then I heard the stadium erupt. “What the hell is going on?” I thought as I stood there looking at the security guard. All of the sudden one of the Union staff members runs in, “WE SCORED!” She shouted, “IT WAS DANNY!” In stoppage time, the MLS number one draft pick, Danny Mwanga, scored his first MLS goal to tie the game in front of a Philadelphia crowd of over 25,000.
Minutes later the players started coming back to the locker room. The FC Dallas players were swearing. Then I began to hear clapping. I turned and Danny Mwanga was jogging by with a smile on his face as everyone in site was saying, “Good game, Danny!” I was extremely excited and happy for him. What an amazing way to score your first professional goal, in front of your fans to keep from losing the game. Being a soccer player, I was caught up in that fantasy for a few moments as I saw him run by.
I quickly came back to, when I realized that now I would have to enter the locker room of an angry team. That did not help my nerves. All of that quickly slipped out of my mind however, as the security guard told me that I could enter the locker room, yet there was no media in sight. I was asked to get, “A couple interviews with a couple players.” I realized at that moment, that I was going to have to do the interviews.
Luckily, I have played soccer my entire life and there is nothing in my life that I know better than soccer. So as the players came out I was ready for them, I guess (haha). First I interviewed Brek Shea, the 18 year old, FC Dallas player, who scored the goal in the 13th minute of the game. Brek was really tall and pretty nice. I had a bit of difficulty with him which tore my confidence down. He wasn’t the type of person that will go on and on when you ask him a question. His answers were extremely short, EXTREMELY SHORT. “Am I asking closed questions?” I thought at first, then it was, “Am I not using minimal encouragers?” If you are wondering what all that means, I come from a Counseling Psychology background and those are techniques to use when interviewing someone to get a desired result from an interview. I started to think that this position was not right for me. But then Heath Pearce came out of the locker room. At the time, Heath was about to try out for the USA’s World Cup roster. I decided to talk to him a bit. He seemed much more experienced with interviewing and he gave longer and more desirable responses. I was extremely happy with this interview.
After I spoke with him, I quickly ran back upstairs and began transcribing my interviews. After transcription, I had the Eagles staff member check everything over, then I made copies, and handed them out to the journalists in the press box. And although high speed and anxiety provoking, I realized that this was a perfect job for me. So hopefully, I will be able to continue on this crazy journey of mine and share my behind the scenes experiences with you all. But for now, I am happy with a 1-1 tie and I will head to bed with feelings of excitement and happiness about what this day has brought me.
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