Diversity??....and a Day At The Rock

I had an interesting exchange with someone close to me today. Judging by my schedule this past week, she suggested that I need some "diversity" in my life, and that covering and going to hockey games was practically "all I knew."

I've been writing and trying to get into this business for the past, oh, five years now. I started while I was in college, writing on and off for Hockeys Future, during that time every now and then I'd head up to Bridgeport and see a few games and track the young prospects development. I knew from the first game I covered (Islanders vs. Devils exhibition in Bridgeport) that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I took a little time off as I finished up college to right what I had done wrong in my middle years at St. Johns (try going from a 1.9 to a 3.0 GPA in 2 years straight and not taking any semesters off!) I then took a job in the advertising trade industry in Manhattan a few months after I graduated college, and in that time I forgot how much I enjoyed to write, and in turned realized that this job in advertising wasn't for me and writing was my true passion. I covered the Sound Tigers 2006 playoff run against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during that time and was invigorated to pursue this.

I had left the job in Manhattan that summer and the next season I covered the Sound Tigers for the whole 2006-2007 season for NY Sports Day and within a few months, became inundated in the team, the industry, and the AHL. I became a usual face in the press box, and was actually recognized as a regular in the media when Mike Fornabaio asked me to assist in voting for the AHL Year-End Awards. For me personally, it was quite the honor and it gave me that feeling like I'm doing something right here.

Unfortunately, the Sound Tigers fell short of the playoffs that year, but I had the honor to cover the New Jersey Devils 2007 Stanley Cup Playoff run for NY Sports Day immediately following the Sound Tigers season. I felt like I was really making strides here. It was the big time...I got to see some great games (Devils 2OT win vs. Ottawa), some great exchanges (John Tortorella's verbal exchange with Larry Brooks), and some great images (seeing Zach Parise not wanting to take his equipment off after being eliminated from the playoffs is an image that will not go away).

Naturally, when the New York Islanders put out a call for the NYI Blog Box, I thought, "Why not?" Much to my surprise, I was picked and have been having the time of my life so far. The strides I feel like I've been making towards my career goals have been ten-fold compared to last season. The most important thing about this business is to get your name out there, and promote yourself as much as you can so people can notice you. With help from Sports Illustrated, the Islanders, the Sound Tigers, and many other media outlets, this blog is getting a lot of traffic lately, and for that, I thank each and every one of you that have been clicking on this site and using it for a news source. I have no plans of slowing down and stopping, and if hockey is "all I know" right now, then I'm damn proud of it.

But anyways, what a week this was. Since I work in the Rockville Center School District, they had their winter break this week, so that means a little rest, right? WRONG! Let's take a look...

Feb. 16: Bridgeport, 8pm game
Feb. 17: Bridgeport, 4pm game
Feb. 18: Long Island, 2pm game
Feb. 19: Day off!
Feb. 20: Bridgeport, 7:30pm game
Feb. 21: Long Island, 7pm game
Feb. 22: Day off!
Feb. 23: Enjoying a game finally! @ Newark, 1pm

Now about the Blog Box's trip to "The Rock". I've been to this beautiful arena once before, and instantly fell in love with it. Sure, there are its flaws, but in overall terms of appearance and quality, this is a damn nice arena! Plus, it's easy to get to!

I started off late, I overslept through one train! Great! (It doesn't help that I was in the city until 2am the previous day to begin with, but it was worth it anyways!) I was going to try to meet my other members of the Blog Box "Troika", Dee Karl and Mike Schuerlein in Penn Station, but I had to settle for seeing them in the arena itself.

Dee, Mike and I were pretty closely situated around each other. Mike was two rows in front of me, Dee was two sections to my left, and the Booster Club was two sections to my right! Perfect, I've got Islanders fans all around me! Plus I managed to walk into our leader, Chris Botta! It was the first time though that I had the opportunity to actually sit and enjoy a game as a fan, rather than "work" through it. Not that I don't like working through it, but after a full season or so doing that, it's nice to take a break once and a while.

Now Dee, as stated in her blog, had a big problem with how things are run there. She wanted to enjoy the bars, the restaurants, and all the other amenities that came with the Prudential Center, and that's perfectly fine. I was there, to watch a game and enjoy myself. Luckily for me, I was at the back row of my section right in front of the open concourse that overlooks the rink, so for the first time in years, I hardly sat in my seat the whole game and walked around the concourse, yet keeping my eye on the game the whole time. That's probably one aspect of the Prudential Center that I love.

Even though the Isles lost yesterday, I had a great time with my Blog Box buddies on the road. We're quite the group and I couldn't ask for a better bunch of people to be around. And you know what, I'm quite glad that this is "all I know" right now...