We Have Ignition!

Hey there.

The last time I posted in this blog, I was announcing that I have a new job, working as an intern for the new Detroit Ignition indoor soccer team.

Now's my chance to tell you all about it.

Basically, I have two positions. One is working as a go-between the team and the cable TV network that's broadcasting several home games during the season. During those games (at least ten of them, plus possible playoffs) I serve as a time-out coordinator, or what they call a "redhat", where for two breaks in betweeen each quarter (four of them), I let the referees know that the network guys want a "TV timeout", or a 90-second break between action.

Now, the first game I did that, which was the home opener (November 4) was crazy, because at first there were problems with the headset I had communicating with the production truck, causing a slight delay with the game's kickoff. Thankfully, the delay wasn't too long and I was able to get with the guys in the truck. Also, because of the mad rush that happens when the game comes on, the director in the truck sometimes didn't give me a count on when to let the refs know that they can resume the game. Again, thankfully, no damage was done there.

The other times when there's not a TV game, I'm a game operations intern. That's the other postition that I do for the team. With this role, I'm all over the place. I can do things from setting up the merchandise booths, which I did for the last home game (November 19) to working the VIP club tables to working the spotlights for the player introductions, to helping take everything down when the game's over. Now those days can run really long. That last game, which was a matinee, I arrived sometime after 9am and didn't leave till after 8pm.

Now, in spite of the long hours, I am having the time of my life working with the team.

I told you before in this blog how much I like knowing the behind the scenes stuff with sports and TV and I'm getting a hands on experience in both. From setting things up to seeing how it all works and everything in between, I'm learning it all. I've only been at it for three days, the two home games and the intial run-through the day before the first home game, and I've already learned a lot.

And the people I work with are a great crew. There's about 12 of us that work on the game ops staff and each of us gets along great. I think the first day we all got together to literally bring up chairs and tables to set things up for opening night was a good moment to talk and connect and form a pretty good team. Our boss, who happens to be the team president/general manager even gets us together for a team huddle before each game to get us psyched up and ready for the game ahead. It's kind of cheesy and corny, but hey it works.

Overall, I like being a part of this. It's been quite a while since I've been a part of something along these lines. It's hard to describe really what it feels like to work in this role, but I can honestly tell you that when I'm there, doing the multiple tasks as a game op or relaying messages to the cable TV crew, this is why I want this to be my dream job, my dream career. Now, I don't know what's going to happen after the season ends next April. I could wind up with a full time gig with the team, parlay it into something else sports or media related, who knows. But I do know, I'm going to enjoy and relish every minute that I work with this club. It's been a great ride so far and I can't wait to see what happens next.

To find out more about the team and it's upcoming schedule, click on the headline or go here for more information.

That's it for now, I'll blog at you later.