Behind the scenes
Today is our last game of the season and its bitter sweet. Our last game was in Dalton, Georgia against the Georgia Rampage. This game started out with high intensity and great defensive. Each single person on the team was passionate and we on the same page. Defense were getting key stops and the offense were scoring. At one point in the game, a couple of players were going at each other. One of our defensive players ended up with two personal fouls and later was ejected from the game. That particular ejection lead to some of our players letting out those egos. A fight broke out in the fourth quarter which lead to both benches clearing. That fight ended up becoming a brawl in front of our Outlawz fans and the Rampage fans. The arena called for local police to come and break up the fight. This brawl was horrible! Helmets were being used as weapons and fists were thrown. I personally haven't witnessed anything like this. I immediately became upset because we talked to the team during halftime about how to handle themselves as professionals which apparently went in one ear and out the other. The game was stopped by the police with significant time left on the clock.
Coach Lee was beyond embarrassed, he was furious! He made a remarked as he watched players clearing the bench "I should have started a hockey team." After the players were escorted back to the lockers rooms, he notified the players that he will never coach a team like this one due to their behavior and that this would be the last time they would put on an Outlawz jersey. He stated that he was tired of being talked about by the Owners in the league and how he could only share his passion for the sport of football to his team. Emotions were definitely high and all I could think of was "What A GREAT EXPERIENCE!" I hated to see the season ended like that but I am thankful for all of the hands on experience I received. I know I did everything I was able to do to make this season great from starting off as just an intern to gaining the trust of the Owner and becoming the manager of game day operations. My growth was definitely measured through out this season. I don't think I can say it enough..."WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!"
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We left Sunday morning to head back to Alabama. It was another silent trip. From this trip I've learned that team building is very important and having strong leadership. Our team lacks strong leaderships but yet we have so many "individuals" and not team players. I challenged myself to think of ways to strengthen the team as a whole including the coaching staff. How can we come together and play as one unit without egos interjecting? It's quite annoying to be subjected to outraged egos every single game. Maybe it's the lighting and introductions that bring out those egos? I'm running out of possible reasons of why we keep getting into fights. We have time this week to work on things during practice before our last game Saturday against the Georgia Rampage.
We traveled one hour to Lakeland, Florida to take on the Florida Marine Raiders. Last night, we went out as a team to build up team chemistry. We had fun laughing at Coach for getting hit on by someone's grandmother. Once we arrived in Lakeland, we checked into the hotel and had about 1 hour for down time. While down time for me consist of making sure each player is checked into their assigned room, doing treatment for players and finally making sure we have accurate directions for the pregame meals.
After the hour was up, we all headed to a local restaurant that provided the pregame meals. From the pregame meals, we head to the arena to start getting ready for the game. The team we through the normal routine of getting taped, getting treatment and going through stretches. After that, Coach started the warm ups for Defense and Offense. Its game time! The team held a strong lead until our quarterback got too relaxed and started throwing interceptions. Those interceptions gave the game away and the marine raiders never stopped scoring. During the game, I was able to network with their manager of game day operations. Josh was very informative of how the X-league worked in terms of funding and how he runs game days. He even offered to email me his game day plans and in game crowd interaction which are games. We ended up getting into another fight! IT IS GAME DAY!
I spent all of Friday coordinating the final details for the trip. I spoke with both Head Coaches about hotel information and where and what time each pregame meal will take place. We left Birmingham around midnight to head to Germaine, Florida. It took us about 11 hours to get to Germaine. The Florida Tarpons was a tough competitor for the Outlawz. The players pretty much defeated themselves, plays weren't executed and our team started a fight which lead to players being ejected. This game was a nightmare! Coach was discourage because he put in so much work with changing plays and giving players more rest between downs. The locker room was in complete silence and it is never silent. The guys hung their heads and headed to the hotel. We had a staff meeting and Coach talked about recruiting new players and just overall changing the culture of the team. We all agreed that a changed needed to happen in order to reverse what owners say about the Outlawz. This week will be a long one. We had our final practice before we head to Florida for two weeks. Practice was very different, the players and coaching staff were very sharp. The players executed their plays right and Coach Lee did not turn red at all. The local news station came out to cover practice and to announce that they we start displaying our final scores from each game. That moment was big for the organization because we need the news station to increase attendance for home game and it is also a great marketing tool. We had a small percentage of attendance from our radio station appearances and radio ads but its much different when people can actually see clips from a live game on the news. This coverage is a move in the right direction.
Along with the guys getting ready to Florida, we had a fun day at Arrington Middle School. The students loved interacting with the players. Some of the players had their helmets with them and allowed the students to try them on. The players spoke to the students about the importance of staying in school and a being a good student. We ended the fun day with a friendly game of flag football. The students of course won the game. Today was our last home game and we failed short of packing out the arena. We had less people there today than we had during the first home game. The fans that were there enjoyed the game and said they would return next season. No one showed for the tailgate so the inflatable was a waste of money. Coach did not run having the inflatable pass the arena manager . The manager had a long stern talk with me about how we can't do whatever we want in his arena. On top of that, two of our players were arrested for smoking marijuana on the property. Those players were immediately kicked off the team before the game ended.
It has been a long day but I have to prepare for another week of experience. We have a fun day at Arrington Middle School coming up right before we leave to go to Florida for two weeks. We went to almost 20 businesses but 7 businesses agreed to help sponsor the t-shirt giveaway. We gave out over 1,000 comp tickets to various businesses, radio stations and schools so we can pack the arena for the last home game. We also paid for an inflatable so we can have a tailgate before the game. We picked the hottest day to go business to business and school to school on but hopefully everything will work out. We raised enough money to get the 200 shirts printed.
Today was the best demonstration on how effective teamwork can be. We didn't argue, we went straight to work with one goal in mind "Getting sponsors!" We kept telling ourselves that we were not going to quit until we had enough sponsors and we accomplished our goal together, just 2 people. Coach was excited for the sponsors and the new team introductions. We are hoping for a packed house Saturday! GO OUTLAWZ! What a meeting! I have never in my life experienced a meeting like this. Mrs. Howse quit after getting into a heated discussed with the Owner. The Owner took her position away and gave it to me and left her in charge of Public Relations. Now on top of doing game day operations, I am now the Director of Marketing. Can we say MORE STRESS! I suggested that we find some more people to be apart of the staff because that is a lot of responsibility for one person. What happen to me being an intern? This industry is not built for the weak. I knew something was going on when she was not invited to the walk through.
After everything calmed down and she left, we got to business. Director of Entertainment and I came up with a plan to go to small businesses and ask for them to sponsor a t-shirt giveaway. For $200, the company logo would be on the back of a Alabama Outlawz t-shirt which will be given away for the first 200 fans. Our last home game is Saturday so we have to work fast. Dr. T, you did not warn me of how crazy an internship can be. I went into today with a much more positive vibe and mindset. The meeting yesterday helped ease my mind of worrying so much and wanting things to be perfect. I had to realize that things happen but its how you fix the situation. It is easier said than done because I was taught never to accept failure and to try to make things work. My Father drilled "Never give up" and "try again" in my head as a teenager and that will always be in me. I just have to develop a way to transplant that mentality in the people I work with because they are so fast to give up. I see first hand that everyone does not share the same passion as you do. I hear people talking about one another, people aren't getting paid on time, some haven't gotten paid at all so they don't care about the outcome.
So far, this has been a learning experience on how to deal with people from all walks of life. Positive attitudes make a huge difference on the outcome of your day. I can scream and yell all day but I know I have to leave all of that negativity at the arena. Life lessons were definitely learned today but i have to live to fight on! Today I had a meeting and walk through with Coach Lee. I discussed some issues with him regarding some obstacles and frustrations I am having. I was a little uneasy because this meeting was without my mentor Mrs. Howse. I asked if she would be attending and he said no. Coach had me go over everything and to break down the game day operation. The break down actually helped find the holes in the plan. It's amazing what patience can do. We walked the arena floor , threw the football and talked about what he expected to happen tomorrow. Only if the corporate world was filled with meetings like that. I was dressed in professional attire throwing a football around.
I still feel uneasy about Mrs.Howse not being at the meeting and it feels like the drama that was building up from before is going to run over. |