College World Series memories

It was a warm summer night in Victorville California on June 26^th 2006 when I was working at the concession stand of the Cinemark movie theater I was employed at. Towards the middle of my shift I couldn’t help but ask customers “Do you know who won the College World Series?” The customers simply shook their heads and headed towards their theater. It was particularly slow on this night and I begged my manager to check the score for me on the computer. But work place policy wouldn’t allow it. Suddenly the person working box office poked her head out of the door and said “Joe, phone call line one.” I picked the phone up and it was my mother telling me that the Beavers had won 3-2 to win the National Championship over North Carolina. I jumped for joy and worked the rest of the night with an even bigger smile.

Flash forward a year later, I am wearing US Army PT cloths and sitting on a bench waiting my turn for an eye exam when the guy next to me nudges me and points at the television. I look up at the highlights to the Beavers repeating as National Champions. I nodded my head with approval because I wasn’t sure what a Drill Sergeant would say or do about my excitement. Luckily once I got my address my family and friends mailed me newspaper clippings about the game. Now it is 2013 and the Beavers are as resilient as they were in 2006, I recently graduated from Oregon State and it would be nice to see the Beavers end my time at the University the way they started it, by winning the College World Series. Go Beavers!

Becoming Notorious

Being an intern for a sports radio show isn’t an easy thing but it is rather fun to do. One of the coolest things to take away from it is becoming a local celebrity. While covering fall football for Oregon State I had the chance to meet with many of our local listeners and put faces to names of those that call. Even when covering high school football I met with people who listened to the Joe Beaver Show who knew who I was. Gaining the notoriety has become slightly interesting. While sitting in class in the fall before a student presentation my instructor looked over at me and asked “Are you Joe the Intern for the Joe Beaver Show?” I nodded my head and he thought it was the coolest thing.

Since being involved with road shows I’ve continued to meet avid fans of the show that supported it. While exiting the drive through at McDonald’s two weeks ago a gentleman entering the drive way started waving at me. I waved and smiled back and my girlfriend asked me who it was. I just told her it was one of the people who shows up at our road shows for the program. She laughed and said the Joe Beaver Show is making me famous. The thing I like most about the waving, the public hello’s, and the kind head nods is how welcoming the community has always been. The first three years I lived in Corvallis I couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone I know. In the last two years that has gone away, but since doing the Joe Beaver Show that feeling is coming back and the recognition by the listeners is nice.