Stories from the Albuquerque Tribune

Traditional signs or electric - what's best when prices fluctuate? July, 14 2007

I was driving home from work one day trying to figure out a new take on the same old gas price stories (it was pushing $3.40 a gallon in Albuquerque at the time). I distinctly remember seeing a ConnocoPhillips just down the street from a local retailer and thinking how awful it must've been to change their sign every morning with prices constantly rising. I wondered if that person got harassed by passing cars, if they needed to change the sign multiple times a day and if their station would change to electric if they had the funds. I pitched it to my editor and the next thing I knew I had a front page story that got picked up by the ScrippsHoward news wire.

Story | Albuquerque Tribune

Isotopes relievers have a lot of time on their hands August, 14 2007

I didn't get to cover the Isotopes on a consistent basis (actually, only two games and the All-Star game) so normal game coverage and trend stories were out of the question for me. I started tossing around other ideas - what happens to ballpark food on $.50 hotdog night, what are players' offseason routines, etc. The idea my editor liked best was about bullpen culture - an idea I came to when I was looking at the team's press kit and calculating what percentage of time on the field bullpen pitchers participated (answer: not much at all. Lots of free time).

Story | The Albuquerque Tribune

Workers profile: The septic tank serviceman August, 13 2007

The Business section of the Trib didn't have an intern so every intern rotated through the section's weekly column. It's was inspired by Mike Rowe's dirty jobs - the "Workers' Profiles." Writers would follow a unique professional for a day, research the field nationally and locally then combine the experiences for a story. The first one I did focused on exterminators but then I opened my mouth and said I saw folks diving into a septic tank in full body suits after work one day. While I never found the septic scubas, I did end up pumping a septic tank by myself and it's a smell I'll never forget.

Story | The Albuquerque Tribune

Albuquerque Tennis: Where have all the pros gone? July, 3 2007

My editor challenged me to tackle a deeper, enterprise story during the summer. I noticed the amount of youth tennis going on in the city and started pitching ideas around the sport. II ultimately settled on the pro angle when comparing Albuquerque tennis to Albuquerque golf and Albuquerque tennis to tennis in other areas with similar climates. I ended up interviewing over 10 people for the article - the local college coach, youth players and parents, former pros from the area, private instructors, high school coaches and even the city director Parks & Recreation.

Story | The Albuquerque Tribune

The Intern Blog / The Sports Intern June, 06 2007 to July 23, 2007

I will attribute all interviews I received after graduating (CondeNast, BusinessWeek, the NCAA, etc.) to the fact that The Albuquerque Tribune wanted all of their interns to relentlessly pursue multimedia work. I needed to record podcasts, film online video and most frequently maintain work on a featured blog. I wrote bi-weekly posts on sports and bi-weekly posts on general life for someone who never traveled west of the Mississippi. The featured articles in my mind are a review of a Bob Dylan concert and my take on the NHL playoffs on Father's Day.

Story | The Albuquerque Tribune

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