Experience Spotlight - Alex Gimenez, Cleveland Indians

In this semester's Experience Spotlight series, the blog will be featuring Cornell ILR SBS members who have excelled in positions in the sports industry. Many talented Cornell students are making impressions all across the sports world, and this is their chance to showcase their experiences.

This week's Spotlight focuses on Alex Gimenez '15.  Alex is a senior in Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations School. He has been a dedicated member of the club since his freshman year at Cornell, serving as the Ivy Sports Representative in 2013.  Alex has also founded Cornell at Bat, and eventually, the Big Red Sports Network.  He can be reached at ajg322@cornell.edu.

Alex worked with the Cleveland Indians from January through August 2014 as part of the ILR credit internship program.  Alex served as a Strategy Intern with the Indians, and was kind enough to answer some questions about his experience.


What were some of your day-to-day responsibilities of the position?

The day-to-day responsibilities surrounding my job really vary depending on the projects I’m working on. I’ll typically have two major projects and one smaller project. It is basically up to me to manage my time in a way that allows me to complete the projects effectively and efficiently. I’ve worked on everything from realigning our pricing locations down the foul lines and creating a "point pricing system" for our season ticket holder loyalty program, to redeveloping our program for customer service initiatives and helping in the creation of our dynamic ticket pricing models. 

How were you able to get the internship?

It’s actually a fairly long story. I was paired with an ILRSBS alum, Gabe Gershenfeld through an ILR alumni mentorship program my freshman year, and Gabe helped to facilitate a meeting with one of the Indians' Senior Vice Presidents during the MIT Conference. We really hit it off and remained in touch over the next year. Last May, he invited me out to Cleveland to meet others in the organization and I presented the possibility of using the ILR Credit Internship program as an opportunity to do an internship. Five months later, after many interviews,  a new internship position  was created through the Indians HR Department, and approved by the ILR  credit internship office, I accepted the offer in late November.

How has this experience shaped your career plans?

My experience has helped me to really understand myself, my interests, and my skill set and how they best fit in the sports industry. I’ve had interest in working in professional baseball for a long time and this experience helped me to focus in on more specific areas. Being able to gain this experience as a junior where I still have a full year of college left was crucial. I feel like I am in a much better place to make an informed decision on my next steps that will allow me to be happy and successful while providing high value to my future employer. Ultimately, the experience helped show me that the broadcasting, media and PR side of the industry may be the best fit for me, and realizing that this early on was really beneficial.

What advice would you give another student interested in a similar experience?

1. You are going to be challenged in ways that you might not have ever imagined. I’ve been lucky that the Indians have really trusted me with some challenging and important projects, but that definitely brings with its fair share of pressure. There are a lot of days where my 9-5 job becomes a 9-8 job so you have to be prepared to work hard and do what is necessary to get the job done and get it done the right way. 

2. Despite spending most of my life following sports and much of the last four years trying to better understand the business side of the industry, there is so much about the operation of a professional sports franchise that I never knew before stepping into the front office. Understand that, and try to gain as much knowledge as you can before you step in the door. It will really help you in getting a job if you can demonstrate that you understand the business. When you do get your foot in the door, be open to learning about every aspect of the operation, because you never know when you’ll be able to use that knowledge. 

3. Gain a mastery of Excel, Powerpoint, and Word and try to gain some coding experience in programs like SQL, R, or even C++. I know it sounds strange, but you will use Excel a ton and being able to manipulate data in the program will make your learning curve once on the job so much easier. Understanding code will give you an edge over a lot of people when applying for jobs in baseball (player) operations or business operations because coding is used to pull data from databases within these organizations. 

4. Network with people and find ways to get them interested in you by showing how you can provide value to them. I would not have been able to get this opportunity, but for my connections who were willing to make a sacrifice and take a risk on me in a professional setting. The only way to find jobs in the sports industry is to be proactive. 

5. In regards to networking, remember that the highest level people, the team presidents, the GMs, etc are in most cases not the people who are making hiring decisions for entry level positions. While networking with them can still lead to something great, don’t forget to network with middle level managers who make hiring decisions. They will be the people who end up giving you your first job, and in many cases, will end up moving up the ranks to become a high level executive down the road. 

6. In any entry level experience in sports or otherwise, make sure you are not just blindly accepting a position because the name of the company means something to you. Look for opportunities where you will be able to learn and grow your skill set while gaining valuable experience on meaningful projects. At the end of the day, people who are making hiring decisions care more about what you did at an organization , not the name of that organization.

What was your favorite aspect of the experience? 

It is difficult to pick just one. As far as one single event, it was having the opportunity to sit in the draft room for day 2 of the draft. I’m not in baseball operations, but I definitely have an interest in that side of the industry so getting to see what went on from within was a great opportunity. It was much less chaotic than I expected it to be. 

Aside from the draft, I’ve really just enjoyed being able to interact with a Major League Baseball team. Learning from meeting a lot of different people has been great, and I’ve been lucky to have some experiences outside of business and analytics such as watching the draft from the draft room or calling games in a spare radio booth for practice.

Thank you to Alex and the Cleveland Indians for allowing us to share this awesome experience. We hope you have learned about some of the wonderful opportunities that Cornell, the ILR School, and the ILR Sports Business Society can provide in the sports world. We hope to feature many more stories from students and employers this fall!

ISS '13: Why The Cornell Experience Matters

The 8th Annual Ivy Sports Symposium will take place at Harvard Law School on Friday, November 22, 2013.  The Cornell Sports Business Society will be providing regular coverage before, during, and after the event. 

The 8th annual Ivy Sports Symposium held this year at Harvard University on November 22 showcases some of the most successful leaders of the industry. The eleven Cornell alumni speaking at the event reflect on what aspects of the Cornell experience was most helpful or best prepared them for their career paths.

CHARLES BAKER, JD ‘85
The analytic framework for studying business and commercial cases, identifying issues and solving for them, was invaluable training for my career as an M+A and Corporate Finance lawyer. The transactions I worked on early in my career built upon this foundation and enabled me to refine it. Today, not a day goes by when I’m not identifying issues for key clients with respect to proposed M+A and finance transactions and trying to propose creative solutions for dealing with counter-parties, like buyers/sellers, investors, banks and leagues.  Cornell Law School’s case methodology was critical to my development as a sports M+A and finance lawyer. In addition, I enjoy my career because I’m surrounded everyday by smart, creative thinkers. I found the same to be true of my experience at Cornell.

ANDREW DAINES ‘10 
Studying philosophy may seem like an unusual path to tech entrepreneurship, but studying Plato under Professors Tad Brennan and Gail Fine prepared me well. People - partners, competitors, investors, clients, whoever - appreciate appeals to reason. They are motivated by simple, sound arguments that rest on basic principles. Constructing a water-tight argument as to how and why my company will win and will help its clients and partners win is my job as CEO. Thanks, Plato, and thanks Professors Brennan and Fine. 

TRACY DOLGIN ‘81

There are only two assets in the media business:  content and people.  And, ultimately, you’re only as good as the people who make and market the content.  Human capital is really our only capital here at YES.  People are what have made YES what it is today. 

As a result of my ILR experience, I have a unique perspective of the media business…
There are only two assets in the media business:  content and people.  And, ultimately, you’re only as good as the people who make and market the content.  Human capital is really our only capital here at YES.  People are what have made YES what it is today.

The ILR school is all about maximizing that human capital.  Studying at ILR really gives you a leg up in that it trains you to use that part of the brain that most people in media don’t have a classical education in.  ILR alums not only deal with the analytical aspect of a situation, but with the people aspect of it, too.
When I am faced with a situation at work, the road to a solution begins with my human capital.   How do I get the most out of my people?   That’s how I was taught to think.  That’s what has differentiated me from people who do not have the ILR background.  Most others don’t even think about the human element.  

TOM GRILK ‘69
 Learning clarity of thought (philosophy) and economy of language (ROTC)

MATTHEW HILTZIK ‘94
I was first impacted by Cornell even before I was born, as my father’s experience at the ILR school set an example for my eventual career path of studying industrial labor relations, attending law school and eventually working in media in NYC - even though I ended up in a different (non-legal) profession.

While I don’t have many colleagues who cite specific lessons from courses they took in college, thanks to my Cornell education, I regularly still reference concepts from organizational behavior, labor economics, negotiations, and risk management. The relatively small student-to-professor ratio and diversity of my classes reflected the realities of the workplace, the courses helped me think strategically, and my experience as a supervisor refereeing intramural basketball was invaluable in learning to have a thick skin, which are all useful skills when dealing with crisis and other communication issues across a wide range of industries.

TODD JACOBSON 
Being a student athlete at Cornell was a big part of my experience and taught me many things on and off the field - - hard work, time management, preparation, teamwork, leadership - - that helped shape me in to the person I am today and prepared me well for my career.  Most importantly, the experience grew my love of sport and the power it has two inspire and unite people together for a common goal. 

BARRY KAHN ‘03
As an entrepreneur, there are no set answers or formulaic approaches. It’s not about knowing the right answer or recalling what to do, but to take what you know and apply it to a brand new situation with completely unique circumstances. That is a skill set that was fostered going through the very challenging Cornell Engineering Physics program. In running an analytics company, I’ve actually shocked myself by occasionally covering the white board with Fourier series and differential equations that remind me of my days in school. 

When I look back, the true value of what I gained was the ability to learn, to not be intimidated by new challenges, and to apply what I do know in ways that were never contemplated in the text book or classroom where they were taught to me in the first place.Coupled with my experiences running 100+ miles a week as a member of the Cross Country and Track & Field teams at Cornell, where I pushed past boundaries that I may have though existed and truly realized my ability to work hard, and I would say that my Cornell education, in the broadest sense of the word, gave me the tools to start a business. Perhaps the irony is that the focus of that business could have been anything.

JENNIFER KEENE ‘05 
The most applicable lesson I learned at Cornell was not to be discouraged. That there would be ups and downs along the way but that I have the ability to navigate them.

BO MOON ‘99
 The best part of my Cornell experience was the development of problem solving skills and a strong work ethic.  The first, problem solving, comes into practice every single day in my career, and the person that can come up with solutions to various problems quickly can become the thought leader for a business.  And it’s not that cliche “thinking outside the box” that I’ve seen succeed, it’s thinking inside the box but finding the optimal path.  

Secondly, it’s work ethic.  Cornell does not have grade inflation, and the school attracts incredibly intelligent students from all walks of life, so there is a real drive for success that necessitates a strong work ethic.  That will pay dividends when you graduate, because it’s that work ethic that will sustain you when you go a start your own business or climb the corporate ladder.  And trust me, other people don’t have it.
Finally—my advice is to be social, interact with classmates, and take classes with team-oriented projects.  Ultimately, people hire people they want to work with—and those people get promoted faster than others.

JOHN SERGI
In the Fall of 1987 my graduate work began at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.  My purpose for enrolling was to dedicate two full years to create a Strategic Hospitality Design firm for Sports.  By applying the principles of design thinking to food and hospitality, the mission of this consultancy was to shift sport’s perspective on food from tactical, a simple revenue source, to strategic meaning to see food as a way to communicate brand, place and fan connection.

The Cornell experience shaped my business in that my academic advisor Professor Leo Reneghan served as advisor, mentor, and in truth consultant to the design of the business.  In my view this alone was worth the tuition, and would often remind Leo of this.  To have one of the country’s great hospitality marketing minds at my side in the design of a business was an incredible, and invaluable experience.  This qualifies as preparing me for my career path, in spades.

In a broader sense, the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum was exactly what was needed to help me build the tools to manage the business.  Design as we practice it is a very collaborative process involving specialists in operations, facilities, marketing and finance.  We subscribe to the belief that to solve complex problems requires multiple points of view.  Creating strategic hospitality in a 70,000 seat venue is complex.  Familiarity with multiple disciplines via the Cornell curriculum has been critical to the project management process.

Finally, four years ago we effectively shuttered the business John Sergi Associates, to join the new CEO and primary stakeholder, Des Hague, in his reinvention of Centerplate, from sports concessionaire to event hospitality provider, i.e. from tactical player to strategic partner…sound familiar?  Now is the time to really broaden the audience for the conversation of a new way to look at food and sports, and Des has provided a multi-national, yet focused stage. Though not obvious until recently, Cornell laid the foundation to transition from entrepreneur and business owner to corporate executive. 

LOWELL TAUB ‘96TBA

From The Booth #5: Big Red Baseball Predictions

Junior Chris Cruz

This is the fourth post in a series featuring the Cornell At Bat broadcasting team. These posts will appear throughout the Fall and Spring semesters. For part one of the series, click here. For part two, click here. For part three, click here. For part four, click here. 

The beauty of college baseball is that from one year to the next, any player has the chance to step into a vacated role left behind by a graduating senior to make a name for himself and become an integral contributor to his team’s success. It also gives players who only had a few games to show off their skills a chance to step up to the plate and prove that they are indeed worthy of playing an important role on his team.

With the departure of the Class of 2012 and vacancies at many key positions (Brandon Lee leaving catcher, Frank Hager leaving first base, Marshall Yanzick leaving shortstop, and Brian Billigen leaving center field), the Big Red baseball players have the opportunity to compete for starting spots at arguably the most important positions on the diamond. However, it is not just positions that need to be filled, but leadership roles as well. After the jump, read my predictions regarding who will take advantage of their new opportunities and who will thrive on a team with many new mainstays.

Most Valuable Player: Chris Cruz

Cruz’s role at this point in time is pretty well defined: depending on how pre-season competition for positions and starting spots plays out, we can be sure that Cruz will be batting in the third spot or in the cleanup role. Becoming Cornell’s single-season leader in home runs (12) in just his sophomore year, Cruz has set the bar incredibly high for himself. But based on his confidence coming out of wood-bat play in the “Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League,” (league leader with 8 home runs,second in the league with a .569 slugging percentage, third in the league with 40 RBIs), there is no doubt that Cruz expects to continue showcasing his sheer power while cutting down on his strikeouts.

He also has a cannon for an arm out in right field, which will make opposing third base coaches cautious about sending runners around third to try and score. Cruz will undoubtedly have to make an adjustment at the plate, as his status as “the man” in the Big Red lineup might force pitchers to pitch around Cruz and have him chase pitches out of the zone. Just don’t make a mistake, or else Chris will be shifting into “Cruz control” as he rounds the bases.

To read the rest of Jesse Sherman's article, check at the Cornell At Bat blog!.

For more information on Cornell At Bat or if you want to get involved, contact Alex Gimenez email at ajg322@cornell.edu. For previous Cornell At Bat adventures, look here, here, here, here, and here.  

"Like" Cornell At Bat on Facebook! 

From the Booth: A Cornell At Bat Blog Series

This is the first post in a six post series featuring the Cornell At Bat broadcasting team. These posts will appear throughout the Fall semester. For previous Cornell At Bat adventures, look here, here, here, here, and here.  

The 2012 season brought about many changes for the Big Red baseball team. Among those changes were their on field success taking them to their first NCAA Regional since 1977 and the foundation of a broadcasting program, Cornell At Bat, that brought them much deserved coverage.

In its inaugural season, Cornell At Bat and a very dedicated broadcast team brought nine regular season home games and five playoff games to the airwaves through Slope Media’s radio department at Cornell.  We were able to learn the ins and outs of covering a college baseball team and were on air for some of the team’s biggest moments in the history of the program. 

From Connor Kaufmann’s no hitter against Dartmouth to the Big Red’s Ivy League Championship Series over Dartmouth on Chris Cruz’s 11^thinning walk off home run, we were able to show fans just how good this team was.  After getting a taste of the experience last season, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing about much more coverage for the team immediately and for years to come.

This season, we have added new members to our broadcast team and at this time, have a very solid nine person team that includes Jesse Sherman, Adam Kirsch, Gabe Cassillo, Eddie McNelis, Kenny Kirschenbaum and myself from the class of 2015, and Cassandra Vilmenay, Alex Garcia, and Chad Edelblum from the class of 2016.  We have laid out a 24 game broadcast schedule including away games for the first time.  We have been given unprecedented access to the clubhouse by the coaching staff and armed with new top of the industry equipment, and we hope to bring about coverage that no Ivy League sports team has ever seen.

Our coverage includes expanding our following through social media, writing newspaper stories on the team for local Cornell publications, providing a weekly radio show dedicated to the team (with players and coaches joining us on the show), broadcasting games with video or on AM/FM radio stations in Ithaca, and using our own blog to give in depth analysis of the team and the players. 

With this blog post I am introducing a series that will be featured right here on the ILR Sports Business Society’s blog.  These posts will be written by some of our staff members, and we hope that they will help you understand what we do while getting more information on the team out there to you.  We tried to lay out topics that fit in well with the ILRSBS goals. I hope you enjoy them.  Stay tuned for our next post on how the Big Red will look to fill the roles left by last year’s seniors. 

For more information on Cornell At Bat or if you want to get involved, shoot Alex an email at ajg322@cornell.edu. 

"Like" Cornell At Bat on Facebook! 

Gimenez's Road to the Regional: Part 2

This is part two of a three-part series following one of the lead broadcasters for Cornell Big Red baseball. Make sure to read part one HERE. 


Game day always brings with it a ton of excitement.  As a player, it was more nerves than pure excitement because I actually had to perform on the field; but in the booth, it's just pure excitement.  However, as Jesse and I got ready to call the first game of an NCAA Regional for the Big Red since 1977, I’ll admit I was a bit nervous.  I knew we would be making history when we turned on the mics and the Big Red took the field, so the buildup was huge.  Now imagine all of that and add to it the fact that I had been preparing for these games since Cruz hit his walk off home run to bring us here and that Jesse and I had been preparing tirelessly for two straight days.  I couldn’t wait any longer, so it was nice to finally get to Boshamer Stadium on Friday, June 1.

After watching a few innings of the first game of the regional between St. John’s and East Carolina, I made my way up to the press box to start getting ready.  The facilities for both players and the press at UNC are second to none in college baseball, so we were spoiled throughout our time in Chapel Hill.  The press box has a terrific set up just like that of a big league box.  We had our own visitor's radio booth behind the plate equipped with an LCD TV and plenty of room to spread ourselves out and get organized.  We had more than enough free amenities, such as access to food and drinks, and most importantly,  gummy bears.  I didn’t realize how convenient those would be for us, but between Jesse and I, we must have left the booth at least ten times to grab a cup full. 

We had about 50 minutes to set ourselves up in the booth, which was plenty of time to get things ready.  As some of you may know, for the majority of the season, we were broadcasting games using three computers connected to a feed that brought with it many complications.  For this series, all we had to do was plug in the laptop, turn on the program, and hit start when we were ready, and trust me, that took a lot of pressure off me because I didn’t have to worry about the technical side of broadcasting games.  I set up my lineups and stats in my scorebook, tacked up information on each team to the tack board, and prepared my player cards.  As a broadcaster, you establish a system that works for you and you stick to it, and for me it involves creating informational cards for the starters for each team.  These cards have everything from the players’ height and weight to their stats and current trends.  By doing this, I have all the information I need at my fingertips, and because I prepare the cards myself, I don’t even really need them because I remember what I wrote.  I keep more in-depth information and rosters close at hand and always have my laptop open and ready to search for information I don’t have. 

We were finally ready to go, and I was ready to turn on the microphone and get started with our pregame show.  I turned it on, hit start, and then realized I had no idea what I was going to say.  I didn’t have much time to decide so I went with “And it’s a beautiful day for baseball here at Boshamer Stadium at UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina” and with that we were finally underway.  I was so excited to get the game started. When you speculate and try to predict what will happen in a game for weeks, it's refreshing to see the first pitch finally thrown because now you will actually see the final result. 

The first few innings went by rather quickly and I was impressed with the level of play early.  I’ve watched the Big Red in many games over the past year and the way they were able to match UNC early was impressive.  Rick Marks was on the mound for the Big Red and the senior, who lead the team's starters in ERA, was a good choice.

Marks was up to the challenge, and through three innings, the score was 1-0 UNC, with Marks looking dominant on the mound.  In the second inning, the Tar Heels had the bases loaded with nobody out and I got to call one of the greatest defensive plays I’ve ever seen.  I played shortstop for the majority of my high school career so I really appreciate great defensive plays from that position.  What Marshall Yanzick did was like something out of a movie.   On a pop fly down the left field line that looked like it was going to drop in no man's land, Yanzick might as well have put on a Super Man cape.  He ran what must’ve been a good 30-40 feet before throwing his entire body into the air to reel in the catch.  Jesse compared it to making a majestic head first dive into a swimming pool and he hit it right on the head with that description.  Even the UNC fans gave Yanzick a standing ovation on the play. 

With the score 1-0 after three I had scribbled a note on my scorebook that read “I’m not impressed after 3 innings.”  After all the hype that we had been hearing about the #6 ranked UNC Tar Heels, I was expecting more from them and really started to believe that the Big Red had a shot at stealing the game away.  I didn’t get a chance to say that on the air because in the 4^th, UNC scored four runs to put us behind 5-0.  I know I was pulling so hard for Cornell, and it must’ve come through on the air.  I was hoping that somehow we would be able to make a comeback.  In the 6^th, I was hopeful the Big Red would get something going. They had hit UNC Starter Hobbs Johnson well in the fifth but had nothing to show for it.  Brian Billigen came to the plate with a runner on first and nobody out.  I had noted that now would be a great time for his first hit in a regional, and he had gotten ahead in the count 2-0.  I had a good feeling and then,

“That ball is driven high in to the air to right center field, its going back, way back, it is gone!” 

Billigen allowed me to sneak in a sigh of relief as he had cut the lead down to 5-3.  When you call a homerun or big play, you always hope to do it justice with your call, and I was very happy with the call, and more importantly, the outcome.

After Billigen made it rain with his home run, actual rain halted the game in the 6^th, and we had an exclusive opportunity to interview Rich Booth, a Cornell baseball alum and big time donor to the program.  Booth made it possible for me to have one of the coolest experiences in my life, and I couldn’t thank him enough for supporting our broadcast.  Interviewing him on the air was just one way I was going to try.  He had a lot of great things to say and really kept us on our toes during the delay.  This was the first time I had ever interviewed anyone live on the air, and it as a great experience for me that just added to the excitement of the game at hand.  The action resumed, and the Big Red scored another run. We were one step closer to tying the game.  After some more back and forth, we suddenly found ourselves in the top of the ninth in a 7-4 ballgame.

I wanted the Big Red to come back more than anything you can imagine, and I was standing for the entirety of the bottom of the 9^th.  Brian Billigen walked on a full count pitch and then Chris Cruz gave me a bit of a scare.  On a 2-0 pitch he swung, instead of taking, but he lined it in to right field for a hit and the Big Red brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out.  I was hanging on every pitch, and upon listening to myself later, I could hear my excitement and nerves in my voice.  I wasn’t scared for me, I just wanted this team to show everyone watching what they’ve done well all year: make a late inning comeback.  UNC wouldn’t humor me with that request, as the Tar Heel closer slammed the door, retiring the next three Cornell hitters.

The first game of the NCAA Regional for the Big Red was over, and for me, it was one of the most gut wrenching and exciting games of my life.  I wish they could’ve pulled out the victory, but every one watching or listening to us knew one thing: the Big Red were for real.  UNC head coach said it best in a post game press conference when he claimed that he enjoyed watching Cornell play this game more than he did his own team. There was no doubt in my mind that the we could win our game tomorrow, and if we were matched up against UNC later on, that we could beat them.

Check out part three coming soon! 

Gimenez's Road to the Regional: Part 1

Jesse Sherman

This is Part one of a three-part series following one of the lead broadcasters for Cornell Big Red baseball.

Having the opportunity to call Cornell Baseball games this past year was truly a dream come true for me.  I got the idea when I visited Cornell for Cornell Days and had no idea just how far the experience would take me, especially not in my first year of putting things together.  To be honest, I had done my homework. I knew Cornell’s baseball team had struggled the last few years, and was the worst team in the Ivy League in 2011.  Because of that, I assumed I’d be broadcasting for the worst team in the Ivy League in 2012, but they surprised the hell out of me, and gave me a gift that not many aspiring broadcasters are able to attain in their first year on the job.  That gift, was a trip to an NCAA Regional.

When Chris Cruz blasted his record breaking 12^thhomerun of the season in the bottom of the 11^th inning of game 3 to win the Ivy League Championship Series, I knew that no matter what, I had to follow the Big Red to their second NCAA Regional in over a hundred years of existence as a program.  History was being made and I knew I wanted to be a part of it and most importantly, I wanted the team to get the coverage they had fought for all year long and deserved so much.  After a month of planning and coordinating, I was getting off the plane at Ithaca/Tompkins airport, back in Ithaca just a week after returning home from the spring semester. 

It was Monday May 28 at 11:45 which meant that ESPN’s College Baseball Regional Selection show was going to start in fifteen minutes.  I had taken a risk flying to Ithaca before we had been placed in a regional.  There was a chance that the Big Red would be traveling to the University of Miami, which is just 15 minutes away from my home, but I had been offered a chance to travel with the team, and I didn’t want to pass it up, even if it meant getting on a plane and flying right back to where I came from.  So as you can imagine, I was pretty anxious to find out where we were headed.  I got a cab to pick up my car at the RPCC parking lot, looked down at my watch and saw that it was already past noon.  I was set to meet the team at Buffalo Wild Wings for the selection show so I jumped in my car and hauled down Buffalo St. Fortunately, I made it before the big announcement.  I remember walking into the restaurant and seeing the whole team huddled in a private room anxiously watching the TV screens and realizing just how amazing this experience must be for all of them.  I took my place next to Brandon Thomas, a friend and our contact in Athletic Communications, and pitching coach, Scott Marsh, to watch the show. 

It was hilarious to watch as each host school popped up on the screen and immediately you could tell whether or not the players wanted to make the trip to that location.  When a Florida or California school went off the board without the Big Red getting their number called, there was a groan of frustration, and when Little Rock, Arkansas went off the board, there was cheering.  We had been sitting there for quite awhile and we all had our predictions.  I thought we were going to Houston and coach Scott Marsh had called UNC Chapel Hill from the beginning. All of a sudden UNC came up on the screen and very quickly it was announced that the Big Red were making the trip to Chapel Hill.  The player’s were happy with this selection, and not at all intimidated at the prospects of having to face the sixth ranked team in the country. I had played baseball myself in Miami, considered playing in college at the D3 level, and knew many players who had either been drafted or gone on to play college baseball.  Of all my teammates, in fact, of all the players who had come through my middle/high school during my seven years there, I was the first to make it to an NCAA Regional, and if it was humanly possible, I felt just as excited as the guys in uniform. 

The next few days were a whirlwind of excitement.  Tuesday was media day which brought many local media groups to Hoy Field to interview the Big Red players.  Naturally, as a member of the media, I was in attendance and got to hear what guys like Rick Marks and Kellen Urbon were saying about the upcoming regional. The consensus among the team was that after playing again each other for over a month, they were ready to face an actual opponent, even if that meant going head-to-head with the Tar Heels.  I was overwhelmed by the sense of confidence the team had and that confidence would remain throughout the next few days.  They may not have convinced the rest of the country, but they had me convinced that they could beat anyone. 

The next day I got to travel on my first privately chartered team jet, which is just as cool as it sounds.  We were flying on a 737 with a full crew and only about a third of the plane filled.  It was one of the most relaxed flight I’ve ever been on. I spread myself out and started putting together my notes for the upcoming games.  Before we took off, Brian Billigen, the senior leader on the team played the role of stewardess, walking up and down the aisle handing out pretzels.  It was a hilarious sight, the Big Red Center Fielder and eventual Arizona Diamondback signee handing out pretzels to his coaches, teammates, and a random freshman broadcaster.   When we arrived at the hotel, I met up with my color guy Jesse Sherman, and the intense preparation began.

For two days, Jesse and I looked through every piece of information we could get our hands on.  I looked through all of my files on the team, wrote notes on each player based on interviews I had listened to, crunched numbers, looked at splits, and everything in between.  I wanted to know the UNC Tar Heels better than anyone else so I even called a few contacts who had seen Tar Heel players in the Cape Cod summer league to get more perspective.   Between Jesse, Brandon, and I, we had talked about every possible scenario that could occur and were trying to play head coach and figure out how the pitchers would be used.  I think I had closer Kellen Urbon starting a game in four different scenarios, which goes to show you how crazy we got with our analysis of the team. The preparation was grueling. It felt like a week had gone by and it had only been a day and a half, but when you're waiting for the biggest game of your life in the booth, time seems to slow down.

It was incredibly special to stay with the team in the team hotel, you get to have certain priceless interactions with players in the elevator or riding to the stadium on the team bus that allows you an entrance into their minds and thought process.  That coupled with all of our preparation, left me armed with much to talk about on the air the next day.

Check out Part 2 next week!