All the JUICE-y Details on Reporting from Spring Training

Ah spring training. Photo from flickr.com

There was a whole lot of Juice this past week during Spring Training for the 2009 MLB season. And I know what you're thinking, "But A-Fraud is having surgery, who else is guilty of taking steroids and who is stupid enough to take them with thousands of reporters milling around the ballparks?" Well, I'm not talking about those kinds of juice (although I'm sure they were there), I am speaking of the man himself, the legend, Johnny "Juice" Russo. Johnny, better known as Juice for reasons previously unknown until last year at Emerson when Johnny asked me if I wanted to hear the long or short version of the birth of his nickname. Wanting to impress him and genuinely curious, I asked for the long version. Big mistake. In fact, just to leave you in suspense, I am not going to even hint at the reason for his nickname, ok I'll give you one, it seriously has nothing to do with juice. Anyway, Juice is a buddy of mine from Emerson who is known for always wearing some sort of Nike apparel (seriously you would think he had an endorsement with them), using strange phrases such as "supa dece" and "toss the rock" (if you can tell me what that means I will give you half of my semester's paycheck from Experience.com), but most of all, Johnny is known for, well, being well known on Emerson's campus. The man might as well be running the school. Besides being an RA he is involved in a slew of Emerson College TV shows and I believe it is safe to say that he either produces or acts as talent for every sports related show on campus.


Always with a mic in hand. Photo by Scott Jackson.

So, I decided to tap into this wealth of knowledge for advice for up and coming sportscasters, especially since Juice has just returned from most sportscasters dream job: Reporting from Spring Training. You don't have to be in a major news market to get access to the ball fields and players at Spring Training; you simply have to be prepared and know your stuff. Here's my interview with Juice on a college reporter's perspective on covering Spring Training for Emerson College's WEBN.

Ok Juice, let's get right to it, what was the purpose of sending a bunch of college kids down to Spring Training?

The main purpose of the WEBN trip was to go shoot interviews and packages for our annual Spring Training Show. Another purpose of the WEBN trip was to gain real live sports reporting experience talking to professional baseball players.

So how does one get picked to go on this trip (and why didn't you pack me in your suitcase and bring me along!?)

Basically the people picked to go on the trip are the people who are dedicated to WEBN Sports, which is a weekly sports TV program. Also you have to have some experience in reporting, and it goes with out saying you have to be very knowledgeable about baseball. My role on the trip was to captain a crew of three everyday, although reporters changed everyday. My job was to get a feel for the ballpark, sometimes talk my way into getting credentials, get interviews and help out my fellow reporters feeding them questions or telling them to get a camera angle of a certain player. Everyone helped everyone out. We had a great crew down in Florida, which made the trip fun and everyone helped out whether it was shooting b-roll, coming up with questions for interviews, researching players, or helping write stand-ups and tags.


Trying his hand at cameraman. Photo by Scott Jackson.

Guess I should have done WEBN. What can viewers expect to see when the final product airs?

The viewer can expect to see good hard reporting on teams and players, and not just reporters talking about which teams they like. The viewer can expect to be taken on a trip throughout the state of Florida to various ballparks and told about stories the Red Sox youth, the Phillies quest for a repeat, how the Tigers will bounce back from a bad year, how the Reds outfield can help Cincinnati climb out of the basement of the NL Central, etc. It will be a thirty minute show, with good interviews and great sports reporting.

So, where'd you go in FLA? And more importantly, who did you see?

We went to Bradenton to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Red Sox and Astros. Then we went to Fort Myers to see the Red Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays. We went to Clearwater to see the Philles take on the Reds and Braves. We went to Lakeland to see the Tigers play the Yankees. We went to Kissimmee to see the Houston Astros take on the Braves. We went to Dunedin to see the Blue Jays play the Pirates.


Throwing the heat. Photo from flickr.com











Wow, you caught all the best teams (besides the Pirates obviously). Ok, who was your favorite interview?

This one is a hard question because I enjoyed all my interviews and I mean talking to major leaguers is awesome, but if I had to say one it would be Carlos Pena first baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was so nice during the ten minute conversation I had with him on the field. He was such a great guy, and answered all my questions. Carlos is just a fun guy to talk to, and you could see his passion for the game. When asked about what’s the difference between this spring training and last years coming off a Cinderella season, you could tell all he was thinking of was getting back to the fall classic.

Carlos Pena seems like a fun guy, but I know if I had been there, Lou Merloni would have been the first guy I spoke to and he doesn't even play anymore. Any bad interviews?

There really wasn’t a bad interview. I wish we had more time to talk to some guys but all the interviews were good. Every guy we talked to was super.

There must have been one bad interview! Fine, I won't press it, onto my favorite question, any embarrassing moments?

I woke up the day of my birthday (March 11th) knowing I was covering my favorite team, the New York Yankees and I opened my contact case, put in my left eye contact, opened the right case and there was no contact. I searched my bed, the floor and the entire room, but no contact. So I had to cover the Yankees Tigers game in my glasses, which I hate.

Well, you could have just worn one contact, but you would have looked sort of goofy and probably would have ended up with a massive headache. Speaking of headache's, what was the toughest part of the trip?

Hardest part was figuring out how every park was run media-wise. For some teams there is a PR guy to go to and ask for interviews, and the PR guy approaches the player for the interview. With other teams you just walk up to the player yourself. It’s all about reading the situation and the team because every team has their own way of doing things.



From one sports reporter to another (that's ESPN's Jason Stark). Photo from flickr.com











Although you're a sportscasting star at Emerson, did you learn anything on this massive trip that you hadn't known before?

I knew this, but on this trip and the Oscars trip (Juice also went to the Oscars, that jet setter, seriously could you have a better three weeks in your life?), you have to be prepared for anything and everything. Preparation is so so so key. You need to do your research and remember to ask questions the guys have not answered 100 million times before. Prep- work makes the production so much easier. Always be prepared, never walk in thinking you are going to wing it.

Any other interesting antidotes?

Got nothing for this one.

Or is it that you just can't share any other stories? A bunch of college guys and a week with no supervision? I'm sure there are plenty of stories to tell off the record for another time.

Just like any reporting gig, you will not get the story you wanted or the final product you dreamed of if you are not 110% prepared. And, it just goes to show you, you don't have to be T.C to score top interviews, you just have to have the credentials, the reporting skills, the drive, and the talent to report from locations that you had previously only witnessed on your TV in the comfort of your own home.