Social networking position tailor-made for Korkedbats.com founder

By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
It’s only fitting that the founder of a comedic sports blog called KorkedBats.com would be in the running to be a social networking intern for the star of the 1989 comedy Major League and its 1994 sequel, Major League II.

We’re talking about Austin Huff, a Brentwood High School and 2010 University of Missouri graduate, and Charlie Sheen. Yes, that Charlie Sheen.

“I’m looking at it as a professional opportunity to work with one of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood.” -- AUSTIN HUFF

Huff is one of 250 finalists for an eight-week internship on Sheen’s staff. More than 74,000 college students and graduates applied for the job, listed on internships.com.

So far the “founder/ chief editor/writer” for Korked Bats has made it to Round 3.

In the first round, interested candidates had to apply by sending in a 75-character (or less) note about why they should be considered. “Basically it was half a Tweet,” said Austin, referring to the popular social networking program Twitter, where messages of 140 characters or less are posted via phone or computer.

Once he made it into the second round, the process became a lot more formalized, Austin said. He completed an in-depth application then waited

Last week he learned he had made it to Round 3. This one involved producing a two-minute video which had to be posted on YouTube.com by 9:59 p.m. last Friday, March 25. In it, he had to answer one of three questions, all of which he described as “very sophisticated.” He selected, “What company do you think utilizes social media best today and why?”

His answer? Shakespeare’s Pizza in his former college town of Columbia, Mo. He’s not sure when he’ll hear if he’s made it to a fourth round, but he expects it will be soon, maybe even  today.

“My goal now is to get as many views as possible” of his video. To see the video, click here.

Details on the eight-week, paid summer internship are slim, but according to the original posting, "This unique internship opportunity will allow a hard-working, self-motivated, creative, resourceful and social media savvy individual to work closely with Charlie Sheen in leveraging his social network."

The troubled actor has made plenty of headlines in recent months, but one accolade may have been overlooked: Sheen earned a Guinness World Record for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Twitter.

If nothing else, the exposure should help Austin's job search, which he said has been a bit frustrating. On Sunday, he was featured on the WKRN Channel 2's newscast. Monday morning, he was interviewed by 97.9.

“I’ve been out of school since August and I still don’t have a full-time job,” said Austin, who earned a bachelor’s of journalism degree with an emphasis in strategic communication. Regardless if the Sheen internship works out, he hopes to land a media position soon where he can “utilize his education, creativity, passion and personality,” his resume reads.

He’s already built quite a resume for himself in addition to the blog that was named ESPN’s SportsNation’s “Site of the Day” on Dec. 11, 2009. Austin and friend Zach Osbourne started KorkedBats ("the best sports blog nobody reads") in July 2008.

He’s currently serving as 560-AM-WNSR’s social media and marketing coordinator for its afternoon radio show, The Afternoon Press Box. He's also interned at 104.5 The Zone, Nashville’s FM sports radio station.

He has comedic skills, too, that might serve him well on Sheen’s staff. At Missouri, he was a member of Comedy Wars, the university’s only student improve comedy troupe. He performed shows in front of 200 to 400 people each week.

Oh, and he’s also freelanced for Brentwood Home Page.

But what about working for Charlie Sheen?

“I know there’s a lot of negative publicity about Charlie Sheen. I’ve had to put in a lot of thought about it, given my character, professional goals and faith most importantly,” Austin said. But he’s been so impressed with how professional the process has been he said he can’t help but feel it could be a great experience.

“I’m looking at it as a professional opportunity to work with one of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood,” Austin added.