My Day as Finz

Today I got an opportunity to make a local elementary school appearance as Finz, the Worcester Sharks mascot. The event was for the team's initiative Reading is Cool! I helped hand out certificates and tickets to the students who read the most books since January. The overall winner was a first grader who read 1,700+ books. I asked the principle and she agreed there was no way in the world the kid read that many books, but the parents signed off on it so you cannot challenge the number. The teachers were part of the initiative too, they set a school goal of 20,000 books and if the students reached that number they would do crazy things to their hair. The principle looked like Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII. Another teacher created a bell using her hair it was very impressive.

Playing the part of a mascot is really fun, you get to give high fives to the little kids and then play around with them and they all want to meet you. Since you are hidden in many ways it is easier to dance around like a jackass and entertain the audience. The only issue is the mascots head. I wear glasses and half way through the appearance my glasses were sitting on the edge of my nose. I just wanted to rip off the Finz head and take off the glasses. The view from the head also leaves a lot to desire. You cannot see your own feet, which for me a size 13, that is hard to do.

Interview with Sydney Blue Sox

Tonight I had an interview with Matt Cooper of the Sydney Blue Sox. The job I am interviewing for is a Public Relations and Media volunteer position with the team during the 2013-14 season. The thought of moving to Australia even for eight months is scary, but in a good way. With my career change one of my goals is to go outside my comfort zone. Living in Philadelphia for three months went well and Australia would be very similar, but the people would have cooler accents. I would learn a lot while working in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) since they use many of the same systems as Major League Baseball (MLB). Since MLB owns 75% of the ABL I would gain some great contacts with both leagues.

First Game with New England Revolution

Today I got my first chance to work a game with the New England Revolution. Our in-game responsibilities were pretty easy. I distributed lineups to the TV trucks, stats to the officials, and did post game interviews with Scott Caldwell, Chad Barrett, and Matt Reis. The game will be easy to remember due to the wind. The Revs recorded their first shot of the game in the 77th minute due to the win causing havoc on all passes. Overall it was an uneventful, but enjoyable experience. The Revolution tied Sporting Kansas City 0-0. New England now has four points in their first three games of the season, which is better than most people were predicting.

When it comes to the Revolution I have now met a few players and all of them have been nice and easy to work with during my internship. The No. 1 overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft, Andrew Farrell, has been especially fun to work with in Foxborough. He has an exceptional attitude every time someone asks him about a game the first word out of his mouth is fun. It is great to hear a professional athlete talking about how fun it is to be an athlete.