-Sports
-Journalism
-News
-Music
-History
Eric Hobeck
- Farmville US-VA
Interest
Summary
I'm a sports fanatic who loves telling the story through print or over the airwaves. I'm on an award-winning sports radio team, was elected sports editor at a Division I college newspaper as a freshman and received the highest honor (Chi Commendation) for a student during my sophomore year. I also achieved the rank of Star in Boy Scouts and played lacrosse for five years in high school and college, finishing as a conference champion and state runner-up my senior year of high school.
At this point in my academic and professional life, I'm aiming to finish my degree by May 2015 and my short-term plan is to complete an internship with a highly recognizable media outlet or a sports team during the summer of 2014. I am willing to relocate for the summer provided that housing is available, but I would strongly prefer to stay in the Washington market.
As the sports editor of The Rotunda, I view my role as a coach. I recruit by going to students that I know love sports and asking them if they're interested in writing for me. If they decide join my team, I train them to become the best writers that they can be by bringing the most out of them. I go over their work as needed and work with them on syntax and interview tactics - much like how a football coach helps his quarterback go through his progressions and fine-tune his mechanics. I promote the team through social media and maintaining a public presence on press row and in the press box. John Wooden once said that it takes ten hands to score baskets. In that vein, it takes more than just one or two sets of hands and brains to get great copy in print - it takes the writer, editor, coach and/or athlete, and sometimes the professor, to get great, thought-provoking articles out there for people to read. No great week is solely due to the editor's work, and not every mediocre week rests entirely on the shoulders of the reporters. Whether you win the championship game or lose by more than a 2:1 margin, you walk off the field together and support each other.
Portfolio
A theoretical look at truck advertisements for Communication Theory, Summer 2012
A story on the Sep. 2011 meeting of the Longwood Board of Visitors
A preview of the annual pep rally and soccer game for the Longwood community at the start of the year for The Rotunda's 2012 Freshman Issue.
A news story on the departure of longtime Longwood head men's basketball coach Mike Gillian in March 2013.
A news story on the arrival of former Cleveland State associate head men's basketball coach to Jayson Gee to Longwood.
A preview of the 2012-13 Longwood men's basketball season.
A story on new scoreboards coming to Longwood's facilities for the first time in decades.
A story on two major coaches on campus reacting to being accepted into the Big South.
A column dedicated to highlighting five big basketball games (men's and women's) for students to go to in 2012-13
A feature story on the Big South Network as it relates to Longwood.
LU AD Troy Austin discussing the men's and women's basketball teams and their results up to that point in the season in mid-January 2013.
A discussion column on if LU had a football team.
A preview of the 2011-12 Longwood men's basketball season.
A blog critiquing sports television shows for a 400-level class in Spring 2013.
A blog entry critiquing sports blogs for a 400-level class in Spring 2013.
On a different subject, here's a review of the series premiere of "Touch."
A blog critiquing Twitter for a 400-level class in Spring 2013.
A story on the Dec. 2011 meeting of the Longwood Board of Visitors
Skills
AP Style
Newsroom management
Assigning stories and beats to writers, working with people on a near-daily basis
Board operation
10-channel radio board, used for my radio show and sports broadcasts. Heavy use of two-microphone broadcasts, auxiliary cables, telephone lines and CD decks.
Color commentary
Play-by-play
Graphics operations
I've filled in starting lineups and adjusted bugs and graphics as necessary under the instruction of director Gary Maiorano.
Stage management
As a Big South Network stage manager, I've kept our announcer teams up-to-date on broadcast details and worked with referees when necessary.
Editing
Writing
Work experience
Apr 2012 - Present
Sports Editor
The Rotunda
Running the sports department at a weekly student-run college newspaper covering Division I athletics. Responsibilities include:
-Making story lists with the reader in mind
-Delegating beats and stories to reporters
-Editing those stories and briefs
-Compiling and writing football picks during the season
-Writing 2+ articles a week, and a column most weeks
-Communicating with reporters, the editor-in-chief and advisers
Oct 2012 - Present
Staff
Big South Network
Ran cameras for soccer, softball and lacrosse. During basketball season, I've served as a stage manager and graphics operator.
Sep 2011 - Present
DJ/Sports Team Member
WMLU
As a DJ, I host my own show that consists of an hour of sports talk and an hour of diverse music. On the sports team, I've ran the board during several broadcasts to ensure successful transmission, provided color commentary for basketball and play-by-play and color for baseball.
May 2013 - Present
Sports Stringer
Prince William Today
At NVMS/Prince William Today, I have performed generally similar tasks to those at Media General/News & Messenger. To date, I've covered soccer, lacrosse, baseball and track, with likely others to come (i.e. basketball or football). I was credentialed to cover Battlefield High School's boys' lacrosse and girls' soccer teams at the VHSL Group AAA championships at Westfield High School in June 2013.
May 2011 - Dec 2012
Sports Stringer
Media General (News & Messenger)
-High school sports recaps (lacrosse, baseball, soccer, basketball, softball, football) -Beat reporting for the Haymarket (now Aldie) Senators for two summers -Local athlete profiles -As an intern, took call-ins from managers and coaches about pertinent game statistics for the daily roundup I started as an intern a month before I graduated from high school, and continued to write as I was available until the News & Messenger's closing in December 2012.
Sep 2011 - Apr 2012
Contributor
The Rotunda
As a contributor, I covered events across campus, ranging from sports to Board of Visitors meetings.