Royal Rest of the Semester

Out of my three internships going on, the Kings are going to be consuming the most of my time for the remainder of the semester here in Los Angeles. Here's a look at the Kings' schedule between now and their next long road trip:

Tuesday, 12/1 @ Anaheim
Thursday, 12/3 vs. Senators
Saturday, 12/5 vs. Blues
Monday, 12/7 vs. Flames
Wednesday, 12/9 @ San Jose (won't be at this game)
Thursday, 12/10 vs. Coyotes
Saturday, 12/12 vs. Stars

Should be a fun time. I love going to the Kings games. The crowd is always really into it, I have a great time talking to the wonderful people I work with at the Staples Center, and the games are usually pretty good. This past Saturday, the Kings beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in a shootout. Aside from the fact that it was two teams with great, young talent playing, the crowd was the loudest I've heard so far. The shootout was fantastic to watch.


The Reign have spent much of their first half on the road, and have just four home games during the month of December compared to nine road games. Here are their home games:

Sunday, 12/6 vs. Salmon Kings
Wednesday, 12/16 vs. Condors
Friday, 12/18 vs. Wranglers
Sunday, 12/27 vs. Condors

Aside from that, the job search continues in Southern California. I've sent out some resumes and hopefully will start hearing back from organizations soon. I can't believe how fast this semester has flown by!!

2nd Appearance On "The Sports Desk" Set

This past week, I came into the studio of "The Sports Desk" for the second time to talk with our host, Bonnie, on the air and read highlights. This week, I picked my Top 12 Football plays of the season, edited them together, and read the highlights during the show. Wonder why I picked 12 instead of the usual 10? You'll have to watch the show.

Here's the link to watch this past week's episode: Episode 41.09
My segment is right at the beginning after the intro, starting at 2:05.

I wish I got the chance to cover some more football games live, but the ones I did get to see were a lot of fun to watch. Among five high schools in the city of Torrance, there are so many talented players as well as a high level of rivalry and competition. I never got to see anything similar to this back home, so it was a treat to watch California High School Football this year.

I hope you enjoy my segment! Let me know what you think!

Happy Turkey Day!!

\
Hello Blog Family!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! It's very weird for me being away from home for the first time in my life during the holiday. I love getting together with everyone, usually at my uncle's house in New Jersey, catching up with each other, watching football all day, and eating a great meal. Today, I will not be at my uncle's house, but I'm sure the day will still be fun!

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and while I can't think of them all, here are a few:

1) My family, especially my mom: Everyone has been so supportive of me through my college career and mostly this semester in LA. They always listen to my hockey broadcasts and check in on me to see how things are going. I love you all so much!

2) My friends: I have so many great people both at home, in Ithaca, and here in LA that I have surrounded myself with over the last 3 and a half years. You all have been so much fun to spend time with, have been extremely supportive, and I wouldn't give you up for anything in the world!

3) The Ontario Reign, LA Kings, Citi Cable 3, WNBC-TV, WCBS NewsRadio 880, SportsNet NY, and Steiner Sports: Since I embarked on my college career, each of these organizations has been gracious enough to offer me a job or internship that has helped me progress to the point where I am at now. Without all of the experiences you have given me, I would not be as prepared for the future.

4) Ithaca College: The last 3 and a half years of my life have been the best! When I looked at colleges, IC was at the top of my list, and getting accepted was one of my most exciting moments. From my advisor John Wolohan, to the awesome professors I've had, to the people at Financial Aid who allowed me to make Ithaca happen, to the wonderful people at the two radio stations and ICTV, to my bosses at the Campus Center where I worked, and everyone else I'm forgetting, thank you for making college amazing!

5) The Yankees: Almost every year, I always thank the team I care about the most at the Thanksgiving table. It's been rough the last few years with the Yankees either getting bounced in the first round or missing the playoffs altogether. This year, they won the World Series. Can't really leave them out this time. Thanks for a great season, thrilling postseason, and all the World Series apparel I now get to flaunt!

Alright, I have a date with some turkey, sweet potato casserole, and corn bread from Boston Market this afternoon! Very excited!

McRibs, Green Day, and Basketball

What a start to this Thanksgiving week!!

Okay, so first of all, the World Famous McRib is back at McDonald's restaurants. Don't believe me? Check out these pictures I snapped with my phone at a restaurant here in LA right before I sunk my teeth into heaven.



It might not look appetizing, but it is really good! I used to eat this fairly often when I was a kid with the mother. The story is, my friend Bryan and I saw a sign for the sandwich at a rest stop on the way to San Francisco two weeks ago. We tried to stop there for one on the way back, but they were closed.

Then on Monday, I drove to a McDonald's in Torrance before interning for some breakfast. What do I see? The big "McRib is Back" sign, and my day was immediately off to a great start. I called Bryan, he met me for lunch, and life was good. Unfortunately for my East Coast friends, I think it's only available at select SoCal locations. I'll be sure to eat one or fifty for you!

------------


Moving on, I was fortunate enough to get tickets to a Green Day concert outdoors at the Nokia Plaza @ LA Live. They were playing as a part of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly show. The best part? The concert was completely free! My friend Laura and I went to the show not knowing what to expect. Boy were we shocked.

First, there were a ton of people there. Thousands! We had to wait in line forever just to get to the plaza, but once there, we had a pretty good view of the stage as you can see.


The next weird thing was finding out that this was all for their New Year's show. They made us do countdowns and cheer loudly for their cameras like I had to for every TV taping I've been to, as well as wear Happy New Year's hats. It was weird acting like it was New Year's on November 23rd, but it was fun nonetheless.

Eventually, the concert started and it was absolutely amazing! Green Day played 19 songs over an hour and a half, and it was more fun than I could have imagined. Their music was so good. They were very animated and got the crowd involved all show long. Also, they used a lot of pyrotechnics in the show from fireworks to actual shooting fire. It was fantastic to see and nonstop fun from start to finish. I couldn't bring my camera in, but took some shots with my cell phone. Sorry if they're blurry.




As you can see from the setlist of the show, they played a lot of new and old stuff, and even did a brief cover of "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Sweet Child of Mine." They said they had no designated set list at the start of the show.

--------------------


The next night, I was back downtown at the Staples Center to watch my hometown Knicks take on the Los Angeles Lakers. I expected the Knicks to get destroyed, and while they played terrible at points, made it a respectable loss at 100-90.

The Staples Center is a great place to watch a Lakers game. The team is the hottest ticket in town, fresh off their NBA Championship last season. The fans are knowledgeable and into the game. It's also pretty cool to see the numerous celebrities that come out to watch the game. In addition to Jack Nicholson (a noted Lakers fan), Stevie Wonder, and Spike Lee (a noted Knicks fan), George Lopez and Richard Lewis were in attendance.




It was also pretty impressive to see the many great players the Lakers have. It shows why they are a championship team. From arguably the best player in the NBA right now, Kobe Bryant, to Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Derek Fisher, they are a darn good team. Not to mention, they have Hall of Fame Head Coach Phil Jackson at the helm.

Here are some pictures from the game. To see all of my photos, check out my Facebook Album!






P.S. The Staples Center sells McDonalds, and even they are selling the McRib! Don't believe me, here's the photo with the outrageous prices to confirm it:


I said one of the things I had to do before I came to LA was see a Lakers game. I also said one of the bands I had to see at some point was Green Day. I can now check both of those off the list on consecutive days.

Great Weekend of Hockey

This past weekend was a lot of fun for someone like myself who is a big hockey fan. I had a Reign game on Friday night followed by a Kings game and a Reign game on Saturday.

Friday's game wasn't close, as the Reign spanked the Stockton Thunder 8-2, but it was a lot of fun to call so many goals over the course of a game. It's shocking when you see a team put out 8 scores in a game in hockey. It rarely happens, and it almost seems like the other team just didn't show up.

The Kings played the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon, and it was enjoyable to see some of the big stars the Flames have. Jarome Iginla is a premiere name in the NHL, and he ended up with a hat trick in the game. Daymond Langkow, Dion Phaneuf, and Miika Kiprusoff are just some of the quality names Calgary has. While the Kings lost 5-2, the game was much closer than that, and there was a good mix of Kings and Flames fans at the game.

Then, the Reign and Thunder played a thriller of a hockey game at night. Stockton took a 3-0 lead into the middle of the 2nd period, and then the Reign scored 3 goals in the 2nd half of the game to tie the score and send it to overtime. In the end, Jason Pitton scored in overtime to win it for Stockton, but it was a great game to watch and call.

In addition, I was able to interview ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna during the 2nd intermission which was a good time. He's a very nice person and excited about how the league continues to progress. Having the All-Star Game in Ontario this year is something he can't wait to see because he loves the fans and the facility. Should be a great experience.

South Volleyball's Playoff Run

The newest installment of The Sports Desk is available for your viewing pleasure online. For this week's show, I reported on South High's volleyball team once again and their 2nd round match-up with Redlands High in the CIF Southern Section Playoffs.

To view this week's show, click the following link: Episode 40.09
If you want to skip ahead to just my package, it begins at 2:09.

The Spartans are doing a great job once again this season. They got to the 2nd round last year but then lost. This year, they got past the 2nd round, won in the quarterfinals, but ended up losing on Tuesday night to a very very good Corona Del Mar team. Regardless, it was a great season for the Spartans. The seniors helped lead the team deep in the playoffs and they have some key underclassmen that will help for the next few years.

This week, I filmed some basketball previews at North High School that will air next week, and the following week, I will be editing together a Top 10 football list among the Torrance schools and will help choose some MVPs for this past season.

San Francisco, UFL, Kings, and Reign

This past weekend, I went up north with a few of my friends in LA to San Francisco and San Jose. The three people I went with had never been to San Fran, so I showed them around some of the best sites in the city. We went to Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Muir Woods. I had never been to Muir Woods, so that was cool to see. The redwood trees that make the forest famous were incredibly tall and a sight to look at.

Here are some pictures from our time in San Francisco:

Lombard Street

Pier 39 @ Fisherman's Wharf

California Sea Lions @ Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge

Redwood Trees @ Muir Woods


We spent part of our time also seeing some college campuses including Stanford University and San Jose State University. Here are some shots from the colleges:

Stanford University



San Jose State University



Finally, we capped the weekend by going to a United Football League game in San Jose between the California Redwoods and the Las Vegas Locomotives. It was fun seeing some former NFL players, and we got an exciting game to watch. Not to mention, we had seats 2 rows off the field at the 50-yard line. Overall, we had a fun experience! Here are some shots from the game:

View From Our Seats

Game Action (Redwoods in Green)


To see all of my pictures, check out my two Facebook photo albums!

---------------------------


Aside from that adventure, things at the internships are going well. The Kings are finally back from their road trip and host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Staples Center. I actually am getting to do stats for the Flyers TV broadcast which should be a fun experience. I'm excited to watch some hockey once again. The Kings play again on Saturday against the Calgary Flames at home. Nick and Daryl have both been great people to work with and care a lot about my broadcasting experience in Ontario. They have asked how things have gone and even will listen to CDs of my broadcast and critique me. Pretty cool!

--------------------------


Finally, the Reign are back home as well for two games this weekend against the Stockton Thunder. They will play on Friday night at 7:30 PM Pacific Time (10:30 Eastern) and on Saturday at 7:00 PM Pacific (10:00 Eastern). I hope you get a chance to listen as they should be good games, and I am now getting a good grasp of the teams and flow of the game. To listen to my broadcast, click here about five-ten minutes before game time.

I'm Still Here

Hey Everyone,

So yes, it has been a while since my last post here on the blog. However, I wasn't just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I actually did post on my other blog covering New York Sports with a Top 10 list I made of Yankees Championship season. Take a look and let me know what you think.


In addition, I covered a high school volleyball game at South High and edited a package which will air Tuesday. Finally, I went up north with two of my roommates and another good friend of mine for part of the weekend. We checked out some of San Francisco considering neither of them had been there before and we also went to see a UFL game in San Jose. For those who don't know, the UFL is the United Football League and is a "professional" league that was just created this year. I'll be posting hopefully on Monday with some photos and a recap of my trip. It was a blast!

In the meantime, this past week's episode of The Sports Desk at Citi Cable 3 is up online. Here's the link to the show: Episode 39.09

For this episode, I covered the South High School girl's volleyball Senior Night in Torrance. They honored five seniors who are on the team and then played El Segundo in a match that could clinch the team the Pioneer League title. I highlighted the seniors and what they meant to the team during the game and the season. If you want to see just my package, skip ahead to 8:10 in the video.

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think.

Some More High School Football

My newest package for Citi Cable 3's "The Sports Desk" is available to view online. It took the folks at the station a bit to get it posted, but it is now ready to be viewed by the world!

Here's the link to watch the video: Episode 38.09

The package I did for this past week was of the North High School football game against El Segundo. This game was extremely important in terms of the conference standings in the Pioneer League, where both schools play, because a loss for North would likely mean they miss the playoffs. It was another fun game to edit a package for, so I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!

-------------------

Aside from that, this Tuesday will finally be my first full day off in two weeks. During that time, I had 7 Ontario Reign games, 3 Kings games, 2 days of editing at Citi Cable 3, a volleyball match at South High, and a day of class. Pretty busy life here in LA. Now that the Kings and Reign are on the road until next week, I will take the time to start doing some serious job and apartment hunting. We'll see what comes of it!

Last Chance...

...to listen to me broadcast a Reign game until November 20th. The team goes on a four-game road trip to Victoria and then Bakersfield before they come home for two games against the Stockton Thunder. Tomorrow, the Reign end their 7-game homestand when they play the Alaska Aces for the first time this season. It should be a good game as Ontario tries to win all three games this weekend and need to be the defending National Conference champs to do so.

Once again, if you haven't listened to a game yet and are wondering how to do so, it's very simple. Just click this link and then hit "Ontario Reign Streaming Audio" on the page that opens. You can get video with audio too for a nominal fee if you click the upper link on the page.

I've really enjoyed broadcasting the Reign games so far. It is a great challenge to broadcast hockey, especially when doing it for an audio only audience, because the game is so quick. There have also been a bunch of close games which makes it more fun to call, and the fans are definitely into the game. The ECHL is different from the NHL in terms of skill level obviously as well as arena size and amount of employees there. However, I like the small atmosphere.

Aside from that, the Kings are going on the road til the 18th as well, so I'll have a little bit of time off from those two. Time to focus on finding a job and a place to live, as I'm only about a month away from the end of the semester. I'm excited to graduate college. I'm a little scared to start being an adult!

Best Kings Game of the Season

Tonight was without a doubt the best time I've had at a Kings game at the Staples Center. The Kings played the defending-champion Pittsburgh Penguins in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,118. The place was rocking from start to finish, and the Kings won 5-2 with 4 third period goals. When the Kings are playing well, especially against a good team, the Staples Center gets very loud. Fans here in southern California are pretty passionate about hockey and their team, and the Kings have played great so far this year.

I also had a little change tonight as I was the statistician for the Penguins TV broadcast on FSN Pittsburgh. The station requested the Kings to provide them with a statistician, and I was asked to fill that role. It was fun getting to keep track of the key parts of the game (goals, penalties, scoring chances) and even challenging at times. Overall though, it was a great experience that I'm glad I got the chance to have. Getting paid for it doesn't hurt either!

----------------

Aside from that, the Reign begin another 3 games in 3 nights streak tomorrow when they host the Victoria Salmon Kings in Ontario. They'll play two games against Victoria and then face the Alaska Aces on Sunday. Here are the start times for the games and the link to listen to my broadcast:

Friday - 7:30 PM Pacific, 10:30 Eastern
Saturday - 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 Eastern
Sunday - 5:00 PM Pacific, 8:00 Eastern

Ontario Reign Internet Broadcast

Here's a picture I took of the beautiful mountains nearby the arena as well as another shot of my view inside the broadcast booth:



------------------
Finally, I leave you with a few pictures of my roommate and I celebrating the New York Yankees World Series victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night. 27 championships is unbelievable, and getting to celebrate for the first time since 2000 felt great! Congrats to the Yanks on an incredible season!

Reign and Music

Hey Everyone,

This evening, I am back in Ontario for my 4th game in 6 days as the Reign face the Stockton Thunder. The game begins at 7:00 Pacific time, which is 10:00 for those of you on the East coast. I hope you get a chance to listen. To listen, click the link below:

Ontario Reign Broadcast

Audio is free, video with audio is a small fee.

Aside from that, I have been sitting here today preparing for the game and listening to some of the music on my iTunes library. It got me thinking about my Top 5 songs for some of my favorite bands. So, here's what I came up with:


The All-American Rejects
1) Swing, Swing
2) I Wanna
3) Real World
4) Gives You Hell
5) The Last Song


Paramore
1) Misery Business
2) For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic
3) Playing God
4) Ignorance
5) I Caught Myself


Blink 182
1) What's My Age Again?
2) First Date
3) Dammit
4) All the Small Things
5) Dumpweed


Fall Out Boy
1) This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race
2) A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
3) Grand Theft Autumn
4) Sugar We're Goin Down
5) I Don't Care


Black Eyed Peas
1) I Gotta Feeling
2) Pump It
3) Let's Get Retarded/It Started
4) Boom Boom Pow
5) Smells Like Funk


Red Hot Chili Peppers
1) Tell Me Baby
2) Californication
3) Snow (Hey Oh)
4) Otherside
5) Dani California


Green Day
1) American Idiot
2) Holiday
3) Know Your Enemy
4) Basket Case
5) Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)



Foo Fighters
1) Monkey Wrench
2) DOA
3) Best of You
4) My Hero
5) The Pretender

Let me know what you think! What should go up? What should go down?

We Saw A Wildfire

No, there isn't another wild fire going on in the Los Angeles area that I am reporting on right now. This is the name of a song a few of my friends here in LA decided to write, sing, and produce. It is, in my opinion, absolutely awesome. To come up with all the rhyming lyrics was fantastic, the singing was pretty good for three college guys, and the music video "slideshow" was done pretty well too. I give these guys a lot of credit.

The creators of this masterpiece were Bryan Mercer, Eric Licht, and Foster Cooper. It is to the tune of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. I hope you enjoy it.



As for me, this weekend went pretty well. Three Reign games in three days can do a number on the voice, especially when I'm broadcasting the whole game by myself. Regardless, it was fun getting to call hockey and a challenge as well. I'm sure I will continue to improve once I get in a groove.

Once again, if you couldn't listen, the Reign have games this upcoming Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You can see the schedule below for all the start times of the game (they are pacific time, 3 hours behind the east coast). To listen to the games, click here and choose the audio link at the bottom. Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 4th vs. Stockton Thunder - 7:00 PM
Friday, November 6th - vs. Victoria Salmon Kings - 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 7th - vs. Victoria Salmon Kings - 7:00 PM
Sunday, November 8th - vs. Alaska Aces - 5:00 PM