I’ve been a Celtics fan most of my life. For the first time, I had to be something a bit more than that.
On Friday, October 30th, I had the incredible honor of making my debut as a credentialed media member for CelticsBlog when the Celtics faced the Bulls in the NBA Cup.
Growing up in Massachusetts, I’ve been all about Boston sports since I was a kid.
My love for basketball and the Celtics intensified as I got older, and I’ve spent the last 10 years studying the game hard, finding a relationship between
improving my own skills on the court and understanding the intricacies of NBA hoops.
At some point along the way I had more opinions, and needed room to share them without bugging everyone in my life. I took to Twitter, finding community among like-minded fans who loved the game and a good argument. Over time, that sharpened my ability to understand what I was seeing and articulate it to others.
Flash forward to now, this voice I’ve found — boosted by several seasons writing for CelticsBlog — has allowed me to fulfill a dream, and it was honestly surreal.
From receiving the notice that my credential request was accepted on Tuesday, to driving into Boston on Friday, I felt a sense of jitters that have only really been exceeded by my wedding day.
It wasn’t nerves based around fears, rather it was about passion and the fulfillment of something that I care deeply about. I wanted to do a good job, and make the most of this opportunity.
From the moment I walked up to the arena, I had to embrace the uncertainty. I immediately asked for guidance from a parking attendant on where I could find the media entrance.
Once I made my way inside, I asked for more directions and was pointed toward the desk to pick up my credentials. I clumsily walked through the metal detector with my backpack on, laughing at myself for the mistake — one I had just read that my colleague Grant Burfiend made as well.
With Grant’s other cautionary tale in mind, I made sure to ask for the appropriate floor in the elevator. Once I reached my destination, I tentatively followed the labyrinth of hallways until I found the media dining room.
I plopped my bag down at a table, poured up a hot coffee and tried to take stock of where things were at, looking around occasionally to see if there were any familiar faces. I downed the coffee and decided it was probably time to find the press conference room for the pregame availability.
I’d like to preface this by saying that I generally think my navigation skills are pretty solid, but I needed the assistance of about three people to get me through the maze of hallways and toward the conference room.
My welcome to the NBA moment came during this time when a large voice offered a polite “Excuse me”. I moved to the side, now a little less confident about where I was going, and watched as the colossal Mitchell Robinson strolled past me.
Eventually, I ended up in what clearly looked to be the press conference room. Though as I took my seat and waited for several minutes as the only person seated in there, I questioned if I was in the right place. Fortunately my initial instincts were correct, and people started filing in over the next 10 minutes or so.
There were a ton of people I recognized, but didn’t quite have the right level of ease to start introducing myself before the availability kicked off. I listened as Tony Dobbins filled in for Joe Mazzulla, answering questions about their big man group, and Mitchell Robinson’s performance so far.
Once the questions concluded, I followed the herd out of the room and found a moment to introduce myself to Noa Dalzell and Jack Simone. They both offered a bit of insight, and led the way to the room for the visiting team’s availability.
While waiting for Tiago Splitter to enter, I said hello to the wonderful Sam LaFrance. Sam gave me some more valuable info, including the important fact that dinner would be $10, cash only. With no cash in my wallet, he graciously offered to cover it for me and would not accept my Venmo offer later on. That was a great gesture, and one I hope to pay back at a game in the future.
Meeting those three helped me feel more relaxed, and I shared my dinner with another introduction to the great First to the Floor trio of Ben Vallis, Jake Issenberg, and Wayne Spooney. I spoke with them for a while, along with CelticsBlog’s Gio Rivera, who I relied on for more guidance on getting from the dining room to the court for warmups.
I spent time taking it in court side and chatting more with the First to the Floor lads. As we watched different players get warmed up, a chaperone with the Boston Children’s Hospital spotted our press passes and commented that being this close must feel regular for us.
Not quite. With it being my first game with a pass and the freedom to roam the perimeter of the court, I mentioned that it felt just as exciting for me.
With about 40 minutes before tip, we made our way up to the press seats, again navigating through curtained entrances and unclear corridors. Once in my assigned seat, I took another moment to appreciate the gravity of the evening. This was something I’ve thought about for a long time, and my goal was to just be present and enjoy.
As the game got underway I locked into analysis mode. The press seats are in the highest perch of the arena, but several of us agreed that the vantage point is actually great for seeing everything unfold during a possession.
In press row, my lens had to change. There’s no cheering, just observation and objectivity. I found accepting that really helped me focus on the finer points of the game, and analyze the trends worth writing a game piece about.
Occasionally I could feel my inner fan rising. It’s hard to watch Payton Pritchard drain a three after making Norman Powell stumble without having some type of reaction.
I spotted a lot of aggressive defensive coverages that resulted in deflections and turnovers — a trend that I’ve been tracking since preseason. As the game carried on I settled on that being the direction I wanted to take, with the hope that I could get a question or two answered in post-game availability.
After the final buzzer, the group in the balcony trekked down the stairs after the freight elevator refused to arrive. We made it down three floors, and walked into the great migration of fans leaving through the main stairwell. We accompanied that group for a few flights before exiting into the loge level. From there we walked down through the court and into the tunnel.
We made it back to the press conference room and took our seats to wait for Mazzulla.
I spun my question around in my head for a while, trying to land on the right words that could garner some level of interest from Mazzulla. Before I found the right combination, all questions had been asked, and the coach was on his way out the door. I missed the window, but fortunately there were responses that hit the right notes for me to work with.
After a few minutes Pritchard stepped into the room. He was introspective about meeting the standards Mazzulla holds him to, highlighting his defense as a point of emphasis against the Bulls.
I was still getting a feel for the etiquette of question asking. From my perspective, it was a discreet and well practiced dance of eye contact, head nods and half-raised hands to make it known that you’d like the microphone. I hadn’t found the rhythm of that yet and went 0/4 on the night for chances to ask a question.
While slightly disappointing, it’s hard to feel that bad about it. I was basically an undrafted rookie in a room of established vets. The answers given were enough, and I was able to complete my piece on their defensive impact in good time.
I walked 12 minutes to the parking garage, reflecting on the evening as I passed endless streams of costumed Bostonians celebrating Halloweekend.
I felt grateful to CelticsBlog for helping to facilitate this, and a reassuring sense of confidence that with a lot of the unknowns now understood, I could come back in the future focusing on the most important parts of the job.
It was great to meet and watch many of the journalists I respect, and to get to know them a bit. It’s given me a greater appreciation for the machine that is game day coverage.
Hopefully with enough reps I’ll manage to learn the secrets of securing a microphone and can break my current streak of unasked questions. For now, I’m glad to have stumbled my way through an unforgettable evening with occasional spurts of grace.
