Chirps from Center Ice

Today, this blog passed 30,000 views. For only existing for about 9 months I would have to say for a blog which covers an AHL hockey team in Northeastern Pennsylvania that isn’t too bad. It pales in comparison to the bigger blogs such as The Pensblog, Faceoff Factor and others, which probably get 30K hits a day. Thank you all for reading!

I have no journalistic experience. I was a business major in college and push paper all day long in a big building in the city. However, “covering” the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and the AHL in general has become a sort of a hobby for me. 

That said, I have had the itch to take this “hobby” of sorts to a higher level so to speak and had an open debate on the Twitter side on whether I should apply for press credentials for the 2011-2012 season. None of anyone who chirped in on the Twitter side said it would be a bad idea.

However, I have gotten to 30,000+ views here from giving you the “fan” perspective. Heck, the description of this blog is “A fan blog (emphasis added) about the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins”

One of the things that I worry about if I ever were to apply for and be given access to said credential I would be trading away the “fan” perspective and graduating to actual “media” member. Which means the following,

1)     This blog would be held to a higher standard.

2)     My interaction with the players would change.

3)     My interaction with the team in general (front office, tickets, media) would change.

4)     We already have one of the best, if not the best, individuals in Jonathan Bombulie covering the team since the very beginning. He’s done so for a reason, as in he is extremely good at what he does. Someone with no experience walking into a credential with no journalistic experience covering the second best hockey circuit in the world? Who is going to want that?

I do not want to trade in my opinions which are reserved for fans, that is, say anything I want (with class) without having to worry about upsetting the wrong person. I have gauged some other bloggers from around the AHL and they all say pretty much the same thing in that no matter how involved you get in your credential, you are still held to some standard of accountability. In saying that though, I don’t think I would have any issues operating under that protocol, but the biggest fear for me would be trading in my “fan” card for the credential.

What do you, dear reader, think I should do?