ARTICLE: http://www.clintonherald.c
Well, today was the big day. The pinnacle of my early career.
I'll be honest –it's almost ridiculous some of the opportunities I've been given. I'm still not even done with college, and I've done all sorts of amazing stuff. I really want to thank the people who are responsible for that, first of all. The Quad-City Times gave me my start (and sent me off to AHL hockey and Minor League Baseball), the Gazette (they've sent me all over, to MiLB games, to interview Nate Kaeding) and, of course, the Clinton Herald for sending me to Kinnick Stadium today.
That out of the way, let's get on with the story.
Walking up to Kinnick Stadium after getting off the train was cool, but I've done it before as a fan, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Walking around the stadium while wearing a press pass (pictures), however, was quite awesome. I walked up to Gate I, where media are told to go, and got my pass scanned. I was directed to the elevators that lead to the press box, and worked my way around the concourse to get there. I took the elevator up to the Fourth floor, and my jaw about dropped when I opened the door.
There were people everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. I wish my phone wasn't broken and preventing me from taking pictures, because I would have taken some to give you an idea what the inside of that place is like. There are three rows or press chairs, about 35 in each row, with the first being lowest, the second being about 5 feet up (so, sort of stadium seating), and the third being even higher. I'm not sure which gives the best view, but I was in the second row, seat 30, directly above the 10 yard line. I've watched a lot of football in my day (and even been in the press box at Lambeau Field once) but I've never seen a game like this before.
I had an hour to kill before the game, so I scoped out my surroundings. The press passes are scannable for one free meal, so I ate some press box food. Funny story–there were hot dogs or BBQ chicken. Everybody in front of me took one hot dog, and, despite being fat and hungry, I only took one so I wouldn't look so huge. Of course, the tiny girl behind me took two hot dogs, chips, a few cookies, etc., and made me look skinny by comparison. Oh well, the food was good, and with how riled up my stomach was, it's probably good I didn't pig out.
Surprisingly, the press box isn't too far off from being soundproof. The bands were playing, and I couldn't even tell. The crowd cheering made a little noise, but still, pretty incredible how quiet the box is. The lead-up to the game itself was boring, as I just read through some media materials that were provided, so let's skip to just before the game.
The press box has it's own PA announcer, and anything the referees on the field say into their mic comes through, incredibly loud, in there. The PA announcer asked us to stand for the National Anthem, and I was stunned that, for the next two minutes or so, I was surrounded by dead silence. We couldn't hear the anthem at all, and not one loud-mouthed sports writer said a word. Incredible.
Right before the kickoff, the PA guy came on and told us that "This is a working press box, so there is no cheering allowed. If you are caught once, we'll ask you to stop. If you are caught again, you will be removed from the press box." I mean, I thought it was just frowned upon to cheer in the press box –I didn't know it was outlawed. Just an interesting fact.
Not much happened during the game. I watched, from the greatest vantage point ever, as the Iowa Hawkeyes played a pathetic game and almost lost to an FCS opponent. One funny moment was after one of Ricky Stanzi's many pathetic attempts at a pass in the first half, some guy in the box yelled "Somebody should Twitter 'Where's Jake?'", referring to former Iowa "QB" (I use that term loosely, because he sucked worse than Rex Grossman) Jake Christensen. The entire press box cracked up at that one.
At halftime, I ran into some familiar faces. Craig DeVrieze, of the Quad-City Times, was there. I basically started writing for newspaper thanks to him, because he needed a backup for covering the Quad-City Mallards (and later, Flames), and I loved hockey. I talked to him for a few, and Mike Hlas, from the Gazette, came over. I actually hadn't met Mike to that point, so that was nice to meet and talk a bit. Near the end of the game I ran into Don Doxie, the Sports Editor at the Q-C Times who was my boss when I was there. It was nice to catch up and say hello and see how they are doing at the Times.
I'm not going to describe the end of the game here, because if you care about sports you already know what happened, but it was literally the weirdest thing I've ever seen at a sporting event. Not one person in the entire press box had ever heard of the rule that gave UNI a second chance at winning. We were seriously stunned, and couldn't for the life of us understand. Yes, there were a few of us there who hadn't covered college football before, but a lot of these guys had been doing this for a LONG time. The ending was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and I can safely say I was witness to one of the greatest games in Iowa football history. Not a bad first game.
Now, to the fun part. Right when the game finally ended, the 100 or so of us in the press box all bolted for the elevator. I got on in the first group (with Don and Craig and many others I don't know) and we went down to the concourse. Here is where things get stupid –there is no easy way for the media to get to the press rooms. We literally walked through the concourse that was packed with people, then entered the field through the corner of one of the end zones. I actually got to walk on the field, because we had to cross the ENTIRE thing to get to the two locker room areas. Seriously, there's no better way they could have designed this? I will say that it was an awesome feeling to be on that field with a press pass while the stands were still relatively packed...
We all stood outside of the media area, because security doesn't let us in until all the players and coaches have left the field. Since ESPN/TV stations like to grab them on field right as the game ends, we waited for about ten minutes. Finally, after one of the players walked by (I can't remember who), we were all allowed to follow.
The setup is like this –to the left is the vistor's media room. To the right are two separate rooms – the Iowa player's media room, and Ferentz's press conference room. We were told by "veteran" writers that Ferentz was notorious for taking up to an hour to start his press conference, so I waited in the UNI room since I needed to talk to both teams.
Three players came in the UNI room and sat up at a table with a mic, and all the reporters put their recorders on the table in front of them and then went and sat down. I kept quiet and just listened and took notes as three extremely depressed UNI players (standout WR Jarred Herring, defensive lineman Ben Boothby and quarterback Pat Grace) were grilled for about five to ten minutes each.
I decided to head to Iowa's player room, as Ferentz was still nowhere to be found (although he had given his "first call," so he was coming sometime in the near future) where most of the freshman were brought in. Apparently, they bring in the Iowa players in order of class, and they trickle in every few minutes. I was there for interviews with new (likely starting) running back Adam Robinson, defensive lineman Broderick Binns and wide receiver Marvin McNutt – he was the only one I actually asked a question of, because, with so many people around and me being in awe, I just let others do the talking except for with him.
The interview process is interesting. The visiting team gets to have their players sit at a table, while reporters sit a decent distance away. The players are elevated, too, so it's not awkward at all.
The Iowa players, however, got a full-on dose of awkwardness. When I first walked into that room, Robinson was literally being smothered up against a wall by about 20 reporters holding mics/digital recorders up to his face. Of course, I joined that throng, but it's really weird to witness in person. I was only one of about 5 people talking to McNutt, but it was odd because he basically just looked down at all our tape recorders while he talked.
I checked to see if Ferentz was there – nope – and headed back to the UNI room. That was good timing, because Coach Farley was in the middle of his press conference. He was the best of the group, because he was quite outspoken, very passionate, got pissed off on a few occasions, and was just a good speaker. I sat at the back of the room with the recorder on my lap, but still managed to get 11 minutes of decent audio out of it.
I walked back to Ferentz's conference room, only to see the camera guys dismantling their gear. Apparently, he came out during Farley's press conference and I missed him. I was mainly upset for selfish reasons –it would be cool to say I was in the room with him and interviewing him –but I knew I could find his press conference online or on TV if I needed, so it wasn't a horrible situation. I went back into the players room to go join the mob harassing one more player –senior linebacker A.J. Edds, who is an awesome player, by the way – before calling it a day. Edds had some great, great quotes (including one about how he jumped on Pat Angerer on the last play, after Angerer recovered the blocked kick, so 'Pat wouldn't do something stupid and kick the ball into the end zone') but I wasn't able to use them for my story.
I realized I didn't talk to Paki O'Meara, Ricky Stanzi or Tony Moeaki, but that's OK. I was there for both teams, so I had to pick my spots. I also had no clue what I was doing heading in, so next time (if there is one) I'll be able to better pick who to interview.
Anyway, that's about it. I got lost trying to find the train station but made it onto the last train in time to get home, so everything worked out. I'm happy with my article (I'm not sure I should post it yet, since it won't run until Monday... Still, who's gonna see it?), and the experience was just incredible.
The best part of all? I didn't feel out of place at all. I belonged in that press box. I wasn't very outgoing so I didn't talk to many people around me (because I was lost in my own thoughts at the start of the day), but next time I'll feel more comfortable and have even more fun with it.
What a day. I can't even accurately describe it with words. I wish I had pictures of the press box, my view, the conference rooms, the interview scene, etc, but you'll just have to deal with this.
One last thing – as my status says right now, it is completely and utterly surreal to have been writing an article about Kirk Ferentz, Ricky Stanzi, Mark Farley, etc. It felt so weird typing it, and I actually re-wrote the entire thing after finishing it and turned it into a different angle. I needed to make sure this was right and I did everybody involved justice, so hopefully I did that.
Thanks for reading!
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