Slipping and Sliding on Grass, and More: Dell Technology Open Experience

Well, first of all, my apologies for being late with this post. Second, the week I had at the Dell Technology Hall of Fame Open was one to remember. I'll never forget my first tournament as a media "professional." There was a lot to learn and there was a lot to gain from this experience.

When I first showed up, I just picked a spot at one of the tables not knowing where I should sit. I didn’t say anything, opened my laptop and dug deeper all I could find about the tournament. It wasn’t until the head of the media center introduced himself to me that I said something. I’m not going to lie, it’s funny when someone asks you, “So what’s your blog called?” And I reply Tweener Head. I expect people to laugh like my friends did when I first started this blog, but he just shook my hand and moved on.

The hardest part about doing this on my own is creating content everyday. I'm used to filming short tennis videos, and interviewing players off the court. Now I found myself trying to figure out the schedule, and how to get into the flow. In other words, what's next?! What can I shoot? Who can I talk to? What can I do better each day? Even thought this isn't one of the Majors, I had my hands full with figuring out how to give all of you my best. I hope you enjoyed it, and I promise you that I will get better each tournament. I would like to hear from you though and let me know what I can do to make this even more fun, informative and engaging.

What was special about this tournament is the link to the Tennis Hall of Fame. This experience opened my eyes to the history of tennis, and this great venue in Newport. I have been to the football, baseball and basketball Hall of Fame, but this was awesome to see my favorite sport featured this way. Throw an ATP 250 tennis tournament on top of that, and it becomes a tennis fan's dream. The past, present and future of tennis all come to life here.

While surrounded by the local media, I felt like I was in a different world. Meeting new people, learning new things, and understanding my role as part of the media. Most of the people around me have been doing this for a long time. I was also surrounded by those who were working for the tournament itself. It helped that they were around my age. I made new friends and spent most of the last couple of days with them, enjoying the full Newport, RI experience. (Did I mention that I was born in Rhode Island, but moved when I was four months old?) One of the highlights involved eating lobster mac and cheese, and fried calamari by the marina. If that is not pure East coast, I don't know what is.

Overall, I think that this experience has been energizing, and has motivated me to continue to do more of these tournaments. In fact, on Saturday, I'm on my way to DC to cover the Citi Open. I hope you'll follow me while I follow my first ATP 500 level tournament. See you soon....