Oklahoman interns NewsOK.com Blogging Community

The last days are upon us. Seems like it all just started and now everything is about to come to a screeching halt.

I can say that I’ve definitely enjoyed my time here. Heck, I enjoyed it so much I’m going to apply again for next year’s internship and try to come back and do it all over again (but that’s only if they didn’t get tired of seeing my face and I didn’t screw up too bad in this years internship!).

Whether I come back or not, I definitely learned a lot. Found out I’m a solid writer, but not nearly as good as I thought I was before I came here.

The experience of it all was great though. Covering events I’ve never covered before. Learning about sports that I’ve never even followed before and hardly know anything about. I also met so many new people and was able to go to so many different places I’ve never been before.  The most important thing is I know I became a better writer through all my experiences.

So now you’ve heard about me. What about you?

1.) How did you feel about the internship overall? Would you like to work for The Oklahoman in the future?

2.) What will be your lasting impressions of Oklahoma? What did you like and dislike about it? Did it match the stereotype you had in your mind before you came?

Thanks so much everyone! Good luck in your future journalism endeavors! Who knows, maybe one of us is the next Tim Russert or Barbara Walters or Stuart Scott or Keith Olbermann or …….??????????

- Dontay Allen, Sports

Since this was our last weekend as Oklahoman interns, it was a chance for many of us to make some lasting memories with the friends we’ve made this summer.

Friday night was a night out at the Oklahoma Redhawks game - courtesy of OPUBCO/The Oklahoman, which provided us with free suite tickets and an all-you-can-eat promotion pass (Thank you, OPUBCO!).

Some interns brought family members or friends to share the night with, while the rest of us made use of each other’s company to share in America’s past-time. But either way, good times were had by all!

Ironically, rather than watching the ballgame, many of us spent the night chatting together with the other Oklahoman employees who joined us: Joe Hight (director of information and development), Patti Shubert (executive assistant) and Jim Beckel (photographer).

I’m sure we provided them with some added entertainment with our intern cameraderie and antics — and maybe a little terror too, in Jason’s case…

The evening passed much too quickly, and before we knew it, the ballgame ended. Even though the Redhawks lost at the bitter end, the night still closed with a bang…

 Then on Saturday, a few of us met up again for an ol’ fashioned board-game night.

Jason and I faced off in a game of Scrabble - since I wasn’t fully convinced of his mastery over the game. He soon put my doubts to shame as he won with more than twice the score of mine. That put me in my place.

When Amy, Jenn and Dontay joined us, we switched to Scattergories, which led to much laughter as we began to question the worth of each other’s answers during the numerous rounds we played.

Some of the best moments?

– Dontay fast becoming the underdog and likely winning more rounds than all of us.

– Amy calling me out on “flakes” actually being “snowflakes,” so I couldn’t use it as an answer for “F” under “Things that are cold.

– Jason and I having some kind of telekinetic link and coming up with the exact same obscure answers as one another.

– Jenn being constantly distracted by my playful kitten and coming up with random answers.

So, as you might tell, it was an exciting and fun-filled weekend with some great friends. It’s amazing how fast you can get used to being around the same friends all the time, and before you know it - that time is up.

One more week of memories, my friends… Let’s make ‘em worth it.

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

The crowd at last night’s Redhawks game in Bricktown got a little more entertainment than they might have expected.

Among the ballplay, hotdogs and other traditions of America’s past-time were some performers of overnight pop-culture fame: The ZOOperstars.

The ZOOperstars were featured on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” showing off their acrobatic hilarities to a national television audience.

But on Friday, the ZOOperstar performers entertained the few thousand baseball fans gathering in downtown Oklahoma City!!

Here’s a glimpse of what the crowd was able to see in Bricktown Ballpark:

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

Stay tuned for more blog updates this weekend
about The Oklahoman interns’ night out at Friday’s Redhawks game!

Hello, Readers:

Check out NewsOK’s podcast page to hear the interns reflect on their past six weeks at The Oklahoman!

— Kristen, Adrielle and Nathan, on interning for the City and Business desks and the Data team.

— Monica and Hailey, on interning for Metro and State.

— Mike and Dontay, on interning for Sports.

And now, we’ve got less than two weeks left — Who would believe two months could go by so fast?

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

For those of you who hadn’t heard, former OU linebacker Brian Bosworth and current Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez helped save two people’s lives a few days ago.

Bosworth was just driving minding his own business when all of a sudden, he saw a woman flip her SUV several times. The woman ended upside down in a ditch. Bosworth rushed to the scene and quickly assisted in the woman’s rescue.

Gonzalez was sitting in a restaurant minding his own business until a man became choked on a piece of steak in a California restaurant. Gonzalez gave the man the Heimlich manuever and the man credits Gonzalez with saving his life.

So many times, we hear fans or announcers and even sports writers who call athletes heroes for what they do on the field of play. But what these two athletes did a few days ago are true examples of heroic acts.

I hope I don’t ever hear anyone call another athlete a hero for making the game-winning shot or hitting the game-winning homerun or scoring the game-winning touchdown. You won’t ever hear me call an athlete heroic for performing those types of feats again.

True heroes are people who are willing to give their life for others or save the lives of others. True heroes are Brian Bosworth and Tony Gonzalez.  They both deserve a big round of applause and a kudos from everyone.

- Dontay Allen, Sports

Each month in The Oklahoman’s News and Information Center, ”Best of the Month” honors are awarded to the top achievements in news-gathering, reporting or presentation. In June’s “Best of the Month,” members of the 2008 Intern Class were selected for several accomplishments!! 

Here’s what Joe Hight, The Oklahoman’s director of information and development, said about this month’s intern winners:

BEST INTERN ACHIEVEMENT: (an annual category for June/July)

— Jennifer Adams (Graphics) and Nathan Curby (Data), for their work to create an interactive map of all public golf courses in the metro area for the “know it: Golf.”

— Hailey Branson (State), for her 16 stories - including five for Page 1A.

Finalists: Amy Rymer (Photo), Kristen M. Daum (City),

Jason Singer (Sports/Metro) and Mike Jeffries (Sports).

SPECIAL RECOGNITION:

— Hailey Branson, Johnny Johnson, Sheila Stogsdill, Ron Jackson, Julie Bisbee, John Sutter and Henry Dolive, for their online and print coverage of the tragic deaths of two girls in Weleetka.

— The City desk (including Kristen M. Daum and Brian Kimball), Metro, Photo, State and Video departments, online editors, Paul Monies, Steve Maupin and the Data Team deserve special recognition for their work on the election filing period. This year, the work included providing candidate information for the new ElectOK.com.

— The Intern Class of 2008 deserves special recognition for its efforts to write the “Intern Blog” and then promote it. The blog rose to No. 1 or 2 during certain days in June and was No. 6 overall on NewsOK for the month.

Congratulations on your achievements, fellow interns!!

Let’s keep the quality journalism flowing!

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk Intern at The Oklahoman.

In my most recent discussion with fellow intern Dontay Allen, the topic of the SuperSonics’ recent transition from Seattle to Oklahoma City was at the center. More importantly, we shared opinions about what the team’s new nickname should be.

Oklahoma has a deep history - rich with a collaborative western and Indian heritage as displayed at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. There are also several top energy companies within the state and a history of tornadic disasters. And though famous outlaws such as George “Machine Gun” Kelley, Bonnie and Clyde, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, among others, may not necessarily be a positive thing, they did commit many heinous acts of crime throughout the state. I hope you’ll forgive me for being unable to name all the wonderful things this state has to offer (I’m not from here), but I hope it gets everyone’s creative juices flowing. Embrace this state and take pride in its culture by naming OKC’s new NBA team after the history of this state.

Here’s my top two picks:

Oklahoma City Cyclones (vs. the Twisters as listed on the NewsOK.com Poll: What should the team in OKC be called?)

Oklahoma City Outlaws

Just a thought for the day!

Adrielle Harvey, Business Intern

Since it’s official now that OKC will have its own team and will change the name from the Sonics, what kind of names do you guys like? And  how well do you think the franchise will do here?

As far as names, me personally, I like the Oklahoma City Titans and the Oklahoma City Storm. Or maybe the Oklahoma City Twisters. I know some of these names are taken by other teams in different leagues (Tennessee Titans, and an Oklahoma based USBL team is named the Storm), but I still like the ring to them.

 I also think the franchise will be successful here over the long haul.

Let me know what you all think! It will be interesting to hear perspectives and opinions from people who haven’t lived in Oklahoma their entire lives (like me!) 

- Dontay Allen, Sports

The verdict is in. The word is official. The Sonics and the city of Seattle have reached a settlement that will allow the Sonics to play in Oklahoma City next season!

What a big day for our city and state! This is one of the biggest days in the history of the state of Oklahoma!

OKC, “the lil city that could” has officially reached rare air. Its finally been launched into big-time status.

Move over New York City and Los Angeles. Boston and Chicago. Philadelphia and Miami. Make way for OKC! Make way for the new kid on the block.

What exhiliration this is for all Oklahomans. After decades of being labeled a “cow town” and a place worthy only of minor league status, OKC has quieted the critics and has an NBA team of its own!

Congratulations OKC! Welcome to the big time! Hope all Oklahomans come out and support our very own team next season!!

And to the Sonics, welcome to OKC!

- Dontay Allen, Sports

All the stuff I mentioned in my previous blog sets us up for Wednesday’s ruling. The good thing about the ruling is no matter what it is, the Sonics will eventually come here. It’s not a matter of if, only a matter of when. This season or in two seasons is the question Pechman will answer.

Two seasons won’t be bad. It’ll give the Sonics time to get better and give OKC more time to prepare for an NBA team. And heck, Oklahoma City natives have been waiting for an NBA team for an eternity. Waiting two more seasons won’t kill us.

Or will it? Well, it won’t kill me, but it might drive me crazy. Even though I’m usually a patient fellow, I feel impatience creeping in.

Impatience because our city deserves it. Impatience because there’s a void inside the Ford Center.

A void that should be filled immediately with the roar of the crowd and the swish of the net. 

One that should be filled with the sound of a basketball on hardwood. 

One that should be filled immediately with friends like Sonic Kevin Durant. And foes too like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.

If we have to wait two years to fill that void, fine.

But there’s no better time than the present. No better time to fill that void than next season. No better time to quench our thirsts and feed our hunger for a team we can call our very own.

It’s time for a new day to dawn on OKC. Time for OKC to become an NBA city.

Time for OKC to become the place to be.

- Dontay Allen, Sports