On Frozen Blog

With the first 100 days of working for On Frozen Blog under my belt the only way I can think to describe it is by saying it isn’t your typical internship.

My friends at American University intern for formal publications like United Press International, the Washington Post, and the City Paper. Oftentimes they ask me why I work for a blog and not a formal publication for my first internship. My response to them is, “Have you posted any content yet where you work?” Most often their response is “No.”

I love the fact that from day one I have been considered an asset to my bloggermates and not just someone to fetch coffee or file or research.
As the Capitals’ columnist for AU’s student newspaper, the Eagle, I get the opportunity to attend Capitals’ games and write about them once a week. I love my job and wouldn’t change it for anything, but I wanted to do more. While writing about the Capitals is interesting, I wanted to be able to write about the greater hockey world and not be limited by the student community. What I didn’t know was that I would be doing much more than just learning about hockey.

The OFB team put me to work almost as soon as I was brought on. I started working on OFB’s first-ever podcast, On Frozen Pod. At first I thought it would be just a general discussion podcast about the Capitals’ season and what not, nothing special. I never dreamed that I would be helping interview the likes of Comcast Sportsnet’s Lisa Hillary, Miss Virginia 2008, Tara Wheeler, and most recently the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg.
Later in the season we’ll travel up to Hershey and pod-chat with the leading personalities covering the Hershey Bears.

Filming every podcast has been fun whether we are dodging the Capital Police at the National Gallery or Airport Security at Dulles. Pucksandbooks and I had a unique experience while filming February’s pod, with Dan Steinberg, earlier this week at the Washington Post. In the span of about 45 minutes we got to see the whole news room, tour the sports department, sit in Michael Wilbon’s office (pucksandbooks had fun with that!), and even have an accidental encounter with Bob Woodward. Yes, that Bob Woodward!

Things Dan said to me took him years to accomplish. As I was listening to him I was really struck by the early success and influence of OFB across the D.C. sports landscape.

The blog has also taught me lots about hockey and journalism in general. I never really cared or knew anything about the American Hockey League, but since working at OFB I have learned not only about the Hersey Bears but also about the dynasties and large personalities in the AHL in general. I have even learned things about the Caps I never knew. The blog has pushed me to talk to the lesser-known players and has allowed me to build relationships with some of the quieter ones. Following and interviewing a new call-up is not only rewarding to me, giving me a unique story, but also to them as they get some unexpected press coverage.
In the future I would like to increase how often I write. I enjoy writing for the blog and enjoy reading everyone’s comments on my stories, whether positive or negative.

Some of the angles I choose to take are so different than what I write in the paper, and it is an opportunity for me to express my broader opinion on hockey.
As far as the podcast goes, I would really like to get my bloggermates to sit down with a player. The people from the sidelines have been fun to talk to, but I would like to bring the players and their opinions into it, after all it is because of them that we exist. It would be a great opportunity for them to have a little bit more fun in an interview and for us to create some really original and interesting content.

This summer I will be living in Michigan. While I love living and studying in D.C., sometimes nothing can replace the feeling of home. Even though summer will be vacation I still want to do work. Originally I was slated to work for Sports Radio 1130 in Detroit, but Clear Channel decided to fire all of the employees. (Damned recession!) That made keeping that job a little hard. I am hoping to work for the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press as a sports intern and have already contacted both of their sports editors. Hockey will always be my first choice for work, but it would also be nice to see what it is like to report on America’s pasttime, baseball.
I am looking forward to continuing to work for OFB and am looking forward to all of the original content we will be producing.

[OFB  note: We are exceptionally proud -- and fortunate -- to have Andrew as our intern. Now we think you have a good understanding of why.]