See you March 4

So it is official. I will be working at The Observer starting on March 4. If you click on the title of this post you can access the Web site. I had my “interview” with them yesterday. Mostly it was just a tour of the office and shaking the hands of the few people who were there. Sports reporters have a great life. First of all, they don’t have to get into the office until 11 am. And once in the office they have a ton of fun it seems. Their job is to watch sports and write about it! That’s pretty incredible. Sure they may have to work on Saturdays, but it is likely they would be watching the games anyway.

The office itself is very relaxed. It actually reminded me of the Sports Section of the old FreeP office (for those who know what that looks like). There were beer and alcohol bottles strewn about a mess of papers. On the walls: a mini basketball hoop, the Boards from last week’s edition. (No dart board, however).

The deputy editor, Oliver Owen was very relaxed. He told me that jeans will be fine to wear (I had a tie on for the “interview”) and he said they like to have a lot of fun in the office (incase you couldn’t tell). I forgot to mention the two high def televisions they have. Anyway, he actually asked me if I like to drink. That scares me a little perhaps, but I think it just contributes the feeling of the office. And if they have to work till midnight on Saturdays I guess I can’t really blame them. Like I originally said, this internship seems like it will be quite entertaining.

Still, Mr. Owen did mention a lot of work. I will be responsible for researching things and the more progress I show the more opportunities I will have. I am confident that with the right ethic, I can get something published. But we will see. He actually mentioned blogging about games as an opportunity (and a lot of people from all over the world read their blogs).

What I liked about Oliver Owen was that he really was interested in having a conversation with me. He wanted to get to know me, but at the same time we talked a lot about the purpose of writing sports. He and I shared a lot of views (such as keeping it simple and lively and not getting too bogged down in mechanics).

So I just wanted to keep you informed. No insights really, but sometime it is just nice to be in the know. This weekend I am going to the coast of Wales where I will have some hiking and kayaking opportunities. There also may be the chance to jump off a cliff into this deep pool. Not sure if I will go through with the jump when the time comes, but I hope I do. I will be staying in a lodge with other kids from the BU program (I booked this trip through BU). I’ll post probably on Monday.

Comments Welcome,

Andrew