I'm going to tell it to you straight this week, Meredith is with her best friend, Alison, in Florida on vacation. The little focus I have is virtually nil this week, which makes blogging particularly hard. In fact, I am lucky that I can get internet here in Naples, FLA in Alison's grandmother's elderly community. Old people love golf, but WiFi? Not so much. But, I knew the time had come to give in and pull out a blog for the week except the tank was empty for ideas and the combo of too much sun and beverages were certainly not helping. So, while sitting on the beach taking in the sights, Alison and I found ourselves thoroughly entertained for hours by two things: 1. A man in a speedo with legs neither one of us could ever hope to have and 2. Skim Boarders. 
Alison cannot contain her delight. Photo by me.
Number 2 particularly had us in stitches because the two young boys we were watching couldn't ride a wave for more than a second without totally humiliating themselves and wiping out in the surf (note: these boys were all of 14-years-old, yes we find pleasure in watching children hurt themselves, sick I know). But our perverse humor did not stop there, we also took advantage of my camera and tried to catch the wipe outs on film. 
Legs that no man should have. Photo by me.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Mostly because it was the only sports related thing that has happened to me on this trip (besides old people tanning, if there was a contest to see how leathery one could get, every 70-year-old Floridian would beat me), but also because I feel the need to inform you that skim boarding is the lamest sport ever and if you partake, I will probably make fun of you. I have broken down skim boarding into these steps: 1. Get a bro with sun-in in his hair and a scrawny body 2. get an appliance that looks like an overweight skateboard sans wheels, 3. stare at the ocean for a few minutes until a meager wave is about to break near the water's edge, 4. run quickly towards the water's edge with board in hand, 5. throw board, 6. jump onto board, 7. Enjoy 2 seconds "skimming" the water and either A. step off gingerly or B. fall on your derriere to the delight of 20 something year old girls' on the beach. 
Skim boarding bros. Photo by me.
There you have it, that is the sport of skim boarding. The point? I'm not sure. It looks neither fun and apparently it is extremely dangerous. According to the journalistically sound "Wikipedia" skim boarding can cause: "fractures or dislocations of the lower limbs, bruises, and if knocked unconscious, drowning." Seriously, if I die from skim boarding, someone better lie in my Obituary and claim that a surfing accident or sky diving caused my unfortunate early demise. 
Why is this a sport. Photo by me.
Yes I admit this blog is more an opportunity for me to rant than anything else and if you disagree, fine with me, leave a comment and let me know the finer points of skim boarding (what they may be, I do not know). All I'm saying is that if you want to impress chicks (boys) or not lose a bathing suit in the process (ladies) I do not recommend skim boarding. Go to the beach to tan, surf, throw around a football, kick around a soccer ball, heck, float around on a noodle, but stay away from the skim board, you will thank me later for it.
Skim Boarding = Lame
How to Impress in an Internship Interview
There are very few people I will pick up the phone for if they call past 10:12pm M-F (I get up wicked early for work and I fancy even numbers, so that explains that). Claire is one of those people. Claire is my dear friend from high school who is known for having a crazy long last name (for privacy sake I will not include it, but seriously, she has like 15 names, it's insane), being Belgian, and having a wardrobe that any self respecting Connecticut WASP would envy. Claire also happens to be dying for an internship position at a big name news station in NYC. That's right, Claire, an engineering major at RPI wants to go into TV, which is just further proof that you do not need a journalism degree to get into television (or at least land an interview with a major station). The bulk of my time spent on the phone with Claire was to pull her away from the ledge and force her to stop freaking out over her upcoming interview. Naturally I was honored that she called me for tips on interviewing at a TV station, later I realized that I was probably the ONLY friend she had involved with TV but nonetheless, I realized that some of the tips I was dolling out would make for an EXCELLENT blog. 
See Claire, you're already camera ready. Photo from Facebook.com
So, here are my "Tips for Landing that Coveted Internship". They seemed to calm Claire down so hopefully they'll work for you too.
*Dress attire: Business casual. Being a female (and a well dressed one at that). Claire fretted over what to wear to her interview and was worried that since she didn't like the way she looked in the only two piece suit she owned, she wouldn't have anything to wear. Word of advice, you don't have to wear a suit to look professional. In fact, an ill fitting suit just makes you look like you are playing dress up, opt for a pair of dress pants or knee length skirt, a blazer with a shell or a nice blouse on top and a pair of heels and you are set. Gentlemen, unless you are interviewing for the position as drag queen intern, I would instead suggest a pair of khakis, button down shirt and a tie. As an intern you are simply representing the company, but you usually will not have an opportunity to go on air so a full suit is not required. 
Dressed for success. Photo from Flickr.com
*It's ok not to know everything about television. You're an intern, they expect you to not know everything there is to know about the business. They'd rather have someone that is willing to learn than someone who thinks they're a know-at-all already.
*Make sure you understand the job you're getting yourself into. If you don't see yourself doing busywork, maybe you're not cut out to be an intern. Also, it's impressive to an employer if you've done your homework about the job you're about to accept.
* Eye contact, smile, hand shake. You can never make too good of a first impression. A firm handshake shows you're confident, too hard of a handshake just makes you a jerk. And, if you really don't have a good answer to a question, any amount of b.s. can be covered with a pretty smile. Always smile, it makes you seem more trustworthy (unless you have a freaky smile that is).
*Give them something to remember about you. What makes my friend Claire unique is that she goes to an engineering school and while that obviously doesn't give her a solid journalism background, it does give her a solid foundation in problem solving, which is extremely important in the unpredictable world of television.
And most importantly, DON'T over think your interview. Don't try to guess what they are going to ask and pre plan answers, just go in and be you. If you're meant to get the internship, you'll get it, if not, a better suited one will come your way.
Good luck!
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.
Spotlight On An Up and Coming Sports Journalist: Andrew Constant
I decided I would switch things up a bit and do something wild and crazy and interview someone else who is similarly trying to break into the sports journalism biz (I know an aspiring journalist actually conducting an interview, insane! And it only took me two years of blogging to come up with this idea!). So, I rattled my brain for the perfect person to interview; I needed someone around my age, a sports nut who is actively involved in sports journalism, and preferably someone who is taking a somewhat different path to success from myself. After contemplating over some finalists, which I will not name in case this whole "spotlight on" blog concept is a success and I continue doing them, I realized I had to look no further than my own family. 
Already looks like a pro. Photo from Andrew Constant.
The future of sports journalism, with Winnie the Pooh in hand. Photo from Constant family.
Yes, Andrew Constant, the focus of today's blog is also my cousin. Unlike myself who chose to go the broadcast journalism route to break into sportscasting, Andrew is going the other, but just as respectable route into print journalism, or more specifically, sports writing. Andrew is currently a freshmen at Towson University and we met up via the internet highway one day last week to talk about sports journalism and what he has already accomplished (and hopes to accomplish) at Towson.
Andrew, besides your wildly talented cousin, who inspired you to go into sports journalism?
After my freshman year of high school I knew that I wanted to be a journalist. My teacher was really instrumental in my decision. The sports part of it comes from my love for sports.
But why not Broadcast Journalism? Come on! We could have had a show on ESPN: Constantly Talking Sports! Why'd you ruin my dream?
I was never one that was comfortable speaking in front of people or a camera, thus I decided to go into print journalism. Also, I was always a good writer and it came easy to me.
Ok fair enough. So, how did you settle on Towson?
I chose Towson over my other schools for the opportunities. I was offered coverage of the Women's soccer team within weeks of being on campus. It was the best fit for me.
Clearly you're already involved on campus, what did you cover Women's Soccer for? Was it for your school paper?
Yes, our newspaper, The Towerlight, has gotten me into so many things sports related. I have made so many contacts and friends in just a few months thanks to The Towerlight.
What have you covered already?
In the fall I covered Women's Soccer, I just recently finished covering Women's Basketball, and I'll be covering Softball in the spring. I have also helped out by writing about Golf, Track, and Football.
Wow, that's a lot of sports and very different ones at that. What was the most difficult sport to cover?
The biggest challenge I have faced so far was covering the Women's Soccer team. They struggled through the season and after a while it was hard to write articles about a team that wasn't scoring a lot of goals. It was good for me to write about a team that wasn't so good as compared to a team that steamrolled their opponents.
Yeah, no one wants to lose and no one wants to write over and over again about a losing team, but that is good experience for the real world. Any difficult interviews?
I have encountered two difficult, post-game interviews. One was following a Women's Soccer game that they had lost with seconds to go in overtime. They had gone a bunch of games without scoring and they were on the verge of finally gaining a point. But a lapse in the defense cost them the game and the Coach was very upset following the game. It was hard to ask appropriate questions. Another was when I interviewed a member of the Women's Basketball team who was from Lithuania. She didn't speak great English and it was hard to understand what she was saying at times.
Ok, the question I have been waiting to ask, any embarrassing moments? Come on, you can tell your cousin.
I have yet to encounter anything embarrassing so far.
Liar. Fine, I'll let that slide, but if I ask again your senior year of college there better be a different answer. Where do you hope to end up on The Towerlight?
Hopefully by the time I'm a senior, I can be the Sports Editor. I will eventually be an Assistant Sports Editor this year, and I hope to move up to Associate within the next two years. But Sports Editor is the ultimate goal.
Any dream internships?
I would love to work for ESPN or The Boston Globe as an intern, but I also know of one with the Cape Cod Baseball League that would be awesome to do.
A summer at the Cape wouldn't be bad. And hey, if worst comes to worst, you can always cover Cape Cod Community College sporting events. Moving on, where do you see yourself in ten years?
In ten years, I see myself covering a baseball team for a daily newspaper. I can't say where that will be, but ideally I would love to cover the Boston Red Sox or the Atlanta Braves.
Finally, as an almost sophomore in college on the road to becoming a sports writer, what is the most important advice you can give to an aspiring sports journalist?
The most important piece of advice I could give someone interested in getting into Sports Journalism would be that you need to be able to adapt. You need to be able to cover sports that you don't know or like, you need to be able to work well with others, and you need to learn to not be a fan of the team you're covering. That's the hardest part. You can't root for the team you're covering. It's not professional.
There you have it all of you wannabe sports journalists, another perspective of breaking into the biz. The other great thing about sports writing is that even with people buying newspapers less and less, online journalism is a huge market now so as long as people are literate, you will have a job. If you are interested in sports writing, one of the most important things I would recommend is learning all you can about web design and being able to upload videos and pictures onto the web to compliment your articles. It's just another way to make yourself a more marketable employee. 
Just because everyone loves a throwback. Andrew and I as kids. Photo from Constant family.
The Pink Elephant in the Room of Sportscasting
I'm going to get straight to the point on this one. No witty story, no obscure references, no introduction that requires me to take up five paragraphs before getting to the thesis of this blog, none of that will occur today. There are two things about sportscasting that continually irk me; former athletes and hot women. These two groups of people seemingly have nothing in common at first glance, well except that athletes usually date hot women...but that's not the point. The point is, these two groups have some of the greatest impact on your careers as an up and coming sportscasters because they are the ones that will mostly likely steal your jobs from you. That's right, study away at your top notch journalism schools and claw your way to the most coveted internships, but at the end of the day, if it comes down to you and a recently retired athlete or some good looking hussie who thinks that sportscasting is her ticket to breaking into the entertainment industry, you are going to be the odd man out. (Quick note of clarification, I am not saying that all female sportscasters are unqualified, I'm just saying it's an industry where looks count and some women manage to slip through the cracks and make it on air when they quite clearly have little knowledge of sports. It's almost like the opposite of former athletes turned sportscasters who tend to have all the knowledge in the world, but little knowledge of how to act on air.)
This fact is something that has infuriated me for years and over the past two and a half years that I have studied broadcast journalism, I've realized that it's something that is never spoken about. No one wants to admit that all this work and money poured into a sportscasting career could be in vain. You may be the next sports anchor in Eufaula, Oklahoma (that's a real place, I looked it up), but if Derek Jeter retires tomorrow and decides he wants to be a sportscaster, I guarantee ESPN or the YES Network hires him as an analyst the very next day. 
The man himself, Jerry Remy. Photo from Flickr.com
Now, this isn't to say that all sportscasters who were former athletes themselves are incompetent. In my humble (and biased) opinion, Jerry Remy, color commentator for the Red Sox on NESN is the greatest sportscaster ever. He may have been an average ball player for the Sox, but his New England accent and upbeat personality has made him a superstar in Boston. And then there is John Madden who may not always make sense, but he's vivacious and always interesting to listen to, which makes him popular. Plus, he has a whole set of video games named after him, Madden 64 was an essential part of my childhood, I thank you for that John Madden. 
Paul O'Neil lurking in the corner. Photo from Flickr.com
But, on the other hand, there are sportscasters who make me cringe. Paul O'Neil, analyst for the Yes Network? Give me a break, he was barely likable as a player. Jill Arrington? Great she looks like a real life Barbie doll and is the daughter of Rick Arrington, that doesn't make her a good sportscaster. 
Yes, Arrington's hot, doesn't make her talented just genetically gifted. Photo from Flickr.com
And then there is Pam Oliver. I can't even think about something as equally painful that I would rather do than have to listen to Pam Oliver attempt to form a coherent sentence on the sidelines for a FOX Network football game. Remember that Giants-Steelers game where she FORGOT WHAT SHE WAS SAYING and threw it back to the the boys in the box? Isn't the first rule of journalism to always provide a filler no matter what? Seriously Pam, you couldn't have improvised something, anything, for the one minute they let you out of your cage and allow you to speak? Disgraceful.
(I couldn't get the video to upload of Oliver's slip up, but copy and paste this link into your browser to check it out. It's too good to miss).
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1470526920144258267&ei=qvyrSf6GOo2grwLb17TdDA&q=pam+oliver&hl=en
My hope for this blog is that it hasn't discouraged you from becoming a sportscaster, but rather it has open your eyes to the hard facts of breaking into the business that people largely ignore. But, at the end of the day, my optimistic self has to believe that those who are well trained in journalism will nab those dream sportscasting jobs eventually. Can Troy Aikman edit his own footage for a story? Does Paul O'Neil know how to write a post game summary for an online sports site? Does Paul even know how to write? There are certain skills that well trained journalists have that former athletes or hot babes who know little about sports do not have so I suggest learning all you can about sportscasting, both on air and behind the scenes, to mold yourself into the kind of journalist networks cannot turn down.
