The earliest memories I have of being a sports fan go back to my great-grandma’s house. I was a five-year-old kid watching the Boston Red Sox tip off an afternoon game on a nice weekend. As I watched the game, I was fascinated by its intricacies and how it worked. My aunt, who lived next door, always noticed I had a love of sports and knew I would not shut up as a kid.
So she came up with the great idea to tell that little kid to pursue a dream of working in sports. I vividly remember asking her if
that was “even possible” to work in sports, and she showed me who Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy were as they broadcast the game. Seeing that this was a possibility, I knew what I wanted to do and put every ounce of work into getting to that spot one day.
As I grew up, I learned there are so many jobs in sports media that you can get covering a team, and that was when I realized being a credentialed media member was what I wanted. I wrote for my school newspaper and applied to colleges with great sports media programs. Luckily, I was accepted into Seton Hall University, and my journey began.
After I finished school, though, that was where the hard part came into play: finding an opportunity to share my work. I had some opportunities out of school that I worked on, but one would help me more than any other spot, this site, Bright Side of the Sun.
I still remember how it happened when I got the opportunity here. I was playing Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Zombies with my friends when I saw I had a message on Twitter. I looked over the message real quick before I immediately asked my friends to pause the game, realizing what was happening. John was allowing me to write for this site, one that I was more than appreciative to accept.
I had already followed John on social media and enjoyed his Suns takes and how he talked about the team. This felt like a dream getting this opportunity, but soon it would be reality, as I crafted my first article and started working for Bright Side.
That hard work, though, over a year, would pay off more than I could have imagined. With the Suns coming to TD Garden and me living in Massachusetts, I thought that this could be the perfect time to cover a game for the site. I reached out to John, and with his help, the dream I had always envisaged became a reality.
How The Day Went
The day started with a train ride to TD Garden, and I won’t lie, the nerves were definitely getting to me. As I rode the train, all I could think of was not messing up and letting the site’s reputation down. John entrusted me with this opportunity, and I want to make the site proud and well-represented.
Once I got there, though, the nerves seemed to pass, as I said to myself, “I got this.” I walked around and eventually found the entrance for the media members. After getting my pass and going through security, I was then shown where I needed to go.
Let’s say, though, that I did end up getting lost a couple of times…and that is expected for my first time in this position. After asking around and getting help from the great staff and other media members there, I eventually found my destination: the cafeteria.
This is where I sat and had a great meal accompanied by the Celtics chefs. This is where the moment truly hit that I was there, and this was for real. After the delicious meal, I then went into the pre-game press conference with Jordan Ott.
During this pregame press conference, Jordan Ott was asked some great questions by Amanda Pflugrad and Duane Rankin, as I just took in the atmosphere of being there. Alongside us three in the room, though, were all of the Celtics media members, some of whom I knew myself and got to meet.
A huge thank you goes out to Jack Simone, Sam LaFrance, and Justin Turpin for not only being super nice and helpful on the night and showing me around, but also being great friends. After getting to do multiple pre-shows with them on How ‘Bout Them Celtics and having them on Celtics Digest before, it was really cool to meet Jack and Sam in person. Justin has followed me on Twitter and has always been nice to me in our interactions, so it was great to finally meet him as well.
After I had met some Celtics reporters, I also went out of my way to find some Suns people, too. I introduced myself to Jon Bloom, the Suns radio broadcaster, and he was super nice and helpful. We had a great conversation, and I truly appreciated how nice and friendly everyone was in helping me on my first time, so thank you.
Now, though, had come the time I had been waiting for, warmups, as there was still an hour till tip-off. This was one of the best moments of the night, as I was so close to the players as they tried to find their rhythm. Multiple players came out, including Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, and Devin Booker, to work on three-pointers, drive to the basket in traffic, and even work on some handle.
After watching for 30 minutes, I went to find my seat and get ready for the game. This was then once again some trouble, but after some time, I found my spot. I was down low on the floor with some of the best of Boston’s media there. This truly felt surreal in real time, as I was now ready to work and to have the best experience of my life.
Then it was game time, and man, that was a crazy experience. I truly do not know if it was because I was back in TD Garden for the first time this season, but it was roaring all night. The Celtics fans made sure the Suns fans heard it during free-throw attempts. They chanted “MVP” when Jaylen Brown took free throws, and most certainly whenever Jayson Tatum did anything, they made sure he knew he was well received.
This atmosphere made it tough for the Suns, who could not hold on late and fell to Boston for the second time this season. As disappointing as the loss was, though, I was still filled with emotion and a sense of urgency that kept me up all night when I got home. As they say, when you’re having fun, time does fly by, and that was the case for Monday night. Before I knew it, the game was over, and I left the tunnel to walk back to the Suns’ post-game press conference.
As I was walking through, I ran into Tatum in the hallway, doing an interview with his headset on. I won’t lie, I definitely froze for one second, looked like “is this real?”, gave a quick smile, and continued walking to my destination. Once I got there, it was just Amanda, Duane, and me for Coach Ott’s post-game presser.
Once again, overflowing with excitement just to be there, I refrained from asking a question and listened to both Duane’s and Amanda’s questions for Coach Ott. After seeing this on television so many times, it was amazing to be in the room for once and soak it all in. Once Ott finished answering questions, I knew my night was over.
I then thanked Duane for being so nice and for doing such a great job covering the Suns, and walked out of the building. As I left, though, one thing was present on my face, a big old smile.
I had done it; I had truly lived out my dream, even if it was only for one game, and I had gotten the experience I had been working so hard for since little old me could remember. If you were to tell five-year-old me that this was ever going to be a reality, he would tell you you were lying. Hell, if you told 22-year-old Bruce that he would be doing this, he would laugh in your face. That kid was doing TikToks on playoff games, getting 20 views per video. He NEVER would have thought he could get here, especially on this day.
So, one thing I leave you with is: never give up. You may think that is cliché and say, “I always hear that,” but it is true. There have been plenty of times when I never thought I’d get this opportunity, times when I wanted to give up, but I never let it faze me. No matter how hard it may feel to break that barrier, once you finally do, the limits are endless. Truly, I think I am just at the beginning of that with this game I got to see, and I hope that this will not be the last.
A huge thank you once again to John Voita for allowing me to do this and for giving this kid the opportunity to live his dream and make it a reality.
