Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Everybody's Working for the Weekend
9/24/2013 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 24, 2013
In 1981, the rock band Loverboy released “Working for the Weekend,” an upbeat song that fit perfectly with that glorious feeling when the clock strikes five on Friday. Well, at least for those who don’t work in the sports industry. For those who do work in athletics, the weekend generally includes all-day events, tons of time spent outside, crazy hours and saying “I can’t wait until Monday” at least once.
Last weekend was packed with action that began and ended with two victories for men’s soccer. Between 7 p.m. Friday to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, FAU hosted five games on campus. This caused a lot of commotion for the media relations department during the week as we each prepared for gameday by creating programs, game notes, prepping the press box and distributing media credentials. The weekend’s festivities kicked off with a men’s soccer game and a volleyball match on Friday evening. Both teams came from behind as men’s soccer beat Jacksonville in overtime and volleyball rallied from two sets down to defeat UCF. The two wins certainly gave everyone the energy needed as we left campus just 12 hours before FAU’s first home football game of the season.
It seems as though there is some sort of conspiracy against those of us who work in sports. If you are tired, hungry or sick, if you have post-game plans or if you simply just want the day to be over, the game will go into overtime. By the time I sent my post game files, put the game statistics online and wrote my recap story, I had about six hours to sleep before returning for the football game. I woke up Saturday with the completely wrong mindset. I was tired from the long day before and already thinking about work on Sunday. Therefore, football went into overtime for the first time since the stadium opening. It was the most exciting game I have worked since starting at FAU last year so despite my fatigue it was an incredible day.
It is difficult to describe the attachment you start to feel about a team when you are working for them as opposed to being a regular fan. Regardless of the outcome, I was incredibly proud of the team and the coaching staff. The response to the game was incredible and everyone working definitely fed off of the excitement coming from the full student section. The weekend was not over yet as FAU hosted back-to-back soccer matches on Sunday. The men’s team closed the weekend’s excitement with their fifth consecutive home win.
Enjoying what you do for a living is great, but with the crazy schedule you have working in sports, it is essential. So, while most people are “working for the weekend,” the classic rock song has yet to have any relevance to my work week.
