Sports After Dark

I was lucky enough to go to the World Cup this year, thanks to Sportingo and now that I have been back in New Zealand for over a week and have had a chance to reflect on my experiences, I thought I might share a few stories that I find myself telling often.

A 13 hour flight and a 10 hour time difference is enough to exhaust anyone, and with just a few hours sleep I trotted off to Stad de France  for my first experience as a real reporter. Quite why the accreditation centre was on one side of the stadium and the media entrance on the other will remain a mystery to me, but with my ticket and press pass in hand I went into the stadium and stumbled into the media centre.

One of the things that struck me was how much free stuff the press gets; I got a bag full of products from the tournament’s official sponsors, a free drink and sandwich in the media restaurant and the following day in Lyon got a box of products promoting Portugal.

The atmosphere at the game was amazing to experience first hand. After the game I found my way downstairs to the press conference where I sat back and watched the English media tear into Brian Ashton after his team’s poor showing. The experience showed me that journalists should not always be cheerleaders, a trap I find myself still falling into, and they should report the good and the bad as they see it.

The story I find myself repeating most often was about the game in Lyon where the All Blacks played Portugal. We had a little trouble finding our hotel, so as a result I turned up to the game wearing an All Blacks jersey, hardly the picture of impartiality.

After picking up the last available ticket to the game for my wife, I took my seat in the press box. This was actually my first time in a press box, at Stad de France there were so many journalists that the press box was set aside for English and South African media only, the rest of us were in the stands with the fans.

As I looked around me I realized I was right in the middle of the Portuguese media contingent, but they were remarkably friendly and several asked me a number of questions: Who was leading the haka? What was the score against Italy? How do you pronounce this name? among other questions.

Seated next to me was a photo editor from Gettyimages who was hard at work, but around 20 minutes into the game he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to identify an All Black (Isaia Toeava). This happened several times throughout the game, but I was only too happy to help out.

After the game I spoke briefly with former All Black Alan Wetton who was part of the New Zealand broadcaster’s team about the game.  He had enjoyed the game as a spectacle, but like most was not reading too much into the team’s performance.

At the press conference, this time held in a marquee, I had a chance to talk to a number of other people from the New Zealand media, some of whom were very nice, one not so.  I was also amused to hear the voices I knew from TV and radio in the same room as me.

The experience of being at the games and talking to the many people is something I will not soon forget. It has also made me hungry for more, working your dream job for a few days can do that to you. I would like to thank the people at Sportingo for making this once-in-a-lifetime experience possible, and I wish them continued success in the future.

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The Reflections on my World Cup experience by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.