My year as an NBA intern.

It's strange to think it's been a year since I worked for the Indiana Pacers. I'm one of the lucky few who can say that they have worked for a professional sports team, and it was by far the most exciting experience of my life. Technically, I was an intern, compensated only in carb-heavy media meals and excellent tickets to all Pacers home games, but it was worth it. I have never learned so much, so quickly.

Before getting to Indianapolis to study journalism, I had very little practical experience in the field. I knew that if I was to get the most out of my degree, I would have to have some real life experience to supplement the classwork. Fortunately, I fell into the role of digital marketing intern, and it was, for lack of a better adjective,  so cool.

Three of my classmates and I were interns for the website department. My bosses were exactly what you would expect guys who are behind sporting websites to be: sports geeks. The best kinds, of course :)

I remember the first home game like it was yesterday. I knew NOTHING about the NBA, besides Kobe and Lebron. I offered to sit in on the coach's press conference, because the alternative, going into the locker rooms, was just not going to happen on the first night. Sitting in press row is a unique experience. You're not there as a fan, but as an analyst. A third party viewer to a game. But I was just in awe to be at a pro basketball game.

I think my experience with the Pacers was the first time in my life that I actually recognized in the moment that what I was doing was so effing cool. Once I grew some.... ahem... gained some courage, I was in the locker room sticking a microphone in the face of Carmello Anthony, Paul George, Chris Paul, and the like. I was leaning over commentators like Craig Sager in order to get the right camera angle. I ate dinner with... okay a table away from... Stephen A. Smith. 

More than that, I was writing and shooting and editing and learning HTML code and working in a team of sports geeks like me. It was fascinating. 

As I semi-watched the Pacers-Heat game yesterday (because watching these games in their entirety stress me out) I remembered exactly how it felt to be there last year and watch the Indiana underdogs take the Heat to seven games. Adrenaline pumping. Fans screaming. Intensity felt even in the pre-game media room. It was electric.

The experience gave me a new perspective on sports. The people that are behind producing a game on television. The people behind the cheerleaders, the jumbotron, and yes, the website. I understand the game better. I feel like I know Frank Vogel and David West and Roy Hibbert (in a completely non-threatening way). 

So as the Pacers inevitably take the Heat to seven again this year, and somehow, miraculously make it to the finals, I wish my former colleagues lots of sleep, coffee, and those yummy cookies from the media room. May your Eastern Conference Finals be the best time of your life!

Beat the Heat!