Weekend in Review: Volunteering at the Big Ten Tournament

I don't like to use this blog to talk about myself or anything like that and I like to stay away from using the pronouns "me" and "I" but for this next post I would like to write about my weekend in Indianapolis. Earlier in the year I contacted a woman from the Big Ten conference and asked for a media volunteer job for the Big Ten Men's conference tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse. I was then contacted by the head of Conseco Fieldhouse operations and he said that I had a job and from there I went through a few minor things before traveling down to Indy on Friday to work the Quarterfinal games. I worked Friday through Sunday and, in all, was able to see seven games, including the championship.

David Lighty cuts down the net

I learned quite a bit in my time at Conseco and number one was this: the media live a hard life but a good life. You want to know why some media guys are fat? Because there is free snack food everywhere for them. Down in the bowels of Conseco the hallways were buzzing with people from security guards manning every door to media people sprinting to get back in the arena before the second half started. The band and cheer teams for the schools playing next warmed up and stat runners (that's what I was) scurried around to deliver box scores to their assigned stations. Just outside the arena is a restaurant/sports bar with televisions showing the game inside and the various other college basketball games. There were refridgerators filled with pop and water and snacks on every table. Once or twice a day, depending on how many games there were, the Conseco food service would cook a meal for all the media and we would be able to eat between games. The meals were top of line with food such as meat loaf, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy and rolls. It was always a priority to eat the meals because they not only were they delicious but that was when I knew all the big name broadcasters and writers would be in the restaurant.

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to meet several former players and a number of broadcasters/writers. Larry Bird, Joe Dumars, Tim Hardaway, Ralph Sampson, Clark Kellogg and Jim Jackson were all in the arena for the games and I had the privelige of speaking to Kellogg, Hardaway and Jackson. What is awesome about these guys, especially Clark Kellogg, is that they take the time to speak with anybody. They seem like stars or celebrities but they are just normal guys who like to have a good talk about college basketball. I also had a few conversations with members of the Big Ten Network and we ragged on Bruce Weber and the Illini. One worker said that Weber should be fired because he hasn't been able to blend talent together the way many thought he should have. It was fun to just sit there and talk basketball with guys that were going to be on television five minutes later.

My job was to be a stat runner and that consisted of three short shifts. Before the game I needed to distribute pre-game notes on the two teams to an assigned two rows of media then delivered halftime and postgame box scores. When I wasn't working I was allowed to sit down at an open seat on press row and watch the game. That's when I was able to strike up a conversation with some of the guys working and exchange business cards and talk to them about what they do. The crazy thing is that some of them were just sitting there and tweeting about the game. That was their only job. Pretty sweet.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney presents OSU with
the Big Ten championship trophy

Sitting behind the bench for all the games, I was exposed to different aspects of the game that fans in the seats can't hear. During the Purdue-Michigan State game I was able to listen in on Purdue coach Matt Painter's conversation with referee Ted Valentine. Painter and Valentine went back and forth for a few plays and then Valentine started warning Painter, "Keep talking and I'll do it [give you a technical foul] and I wouldn't hesitate to do it Matt!" Painter looked at Valentine and said, "Go ahead then and do it!" Valentine responded by putting his hand up, blocking Painter's face from view as if to say, "talk to the hand." I also was able to listen in to Ed DeChellis who, I determined, the dirtiest mouth of the Big Ten coaches. The Penn State coach repeatedly dropped F-bombs and wondered aloud what his players were thinking when they made a mistake. Thad Matta, coach of Ohio State, was all about toughness and begged his players to not give in and be tough down the stretch. The assistant coaches also do a lot of coaching and they are very knowledgeable on the scouting reports. The head coach takes care of the timeouts but the assistants do a ton of coaching during the game.

It was a nice inside look into what the media life is like and it was an experience I will never forget. I spoke to Tim Hardaway Jr., gave knucks to Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger and high fived Talor Battle. I know that I definitely want to work in the media when I am older. I saw seven games and watched Ohio State cut down the nets. I feel like I've learned a lot about all the Big Ten teams but that doesn't mean I'm more confident in picking my bracket.

These pictures are pictures I took after the championship game on Sunday

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