Media Meets the Media

The life of a local sports broadcaster is not as glamorous as many people think. Sure, you get the "local celebrity" treatment at the grocery store, or you're invited to play a nice golf course or two, but other than that it's a lot of long hours, and little pay, for essentially 7 minutes of TV time per night.


When working in a market like Macon, you focus mostly on the local high schools and colleges. For me, I truly enjoyed every so often you travel to Atlanta (or Athens) and hang with the masses, covering the Braves, Falcons, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, or NASCAR. You're not only talking with the top college and professional athletes in the country, you also get to meet members of the media that we watch on a daily basis... basically the folks from ESPN.

If you've ever wondered what some of the ESPN talking-heads are like, here's a rundown of the ones I have met over the years:

Suzy Kolber - a brief history here. She was the weekend sports anchor at WPEC just before I started volunteering/interning there, so we have mutual friends. She happened to be very nice and pleasant when we spoke on the sidelines of an Atlanta Falcons game, and passed along a "hello" to her friends back in West Palm.


Mike Massaro - He couldn't have been nicer. Mike was ESPN's NASCAR reporter before they even got NASCAR back on their network. I ran into him at the media lunch room at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. I had asked Mike how his day was going, with it being just a practice day and all. Since FOX and NBC had the NASCAR rights, Mike told me the story of how he had to convince drivers to leave the track for the little airport across the street from the Speedway. That was the only place ESPN was allowed to set up or conduct interviews. It's nice to see Mike have a prominent role now that his network is the home for the Chase for the Cup.

Stuart Scott, Stephen A. Smith - I grouped these two together because my encounters with both were brief... basically a handshake and a few words. I met Scott on the sideline of an Atlanta Falcons game. He happened to be walking by in a good mood. I introduced myself, we shook hands, told him I enjoyed his work. He appreciated the kind words, and went on his way. I met Stephen A. in the press box at Turner Field, covering a Braves - Phillies game. I had to wait until the end of the game, as it was one of the few times he wasn't on his cell phone. When I got his attention, he hesitantly turned around, and the rest pretty much went the same way as the Scott meeting. On a personal note, at the time of the meeting, Smith was still relatively new to ESPN. I appreciated the different on-air style, but wasn't a huge fan of his screaming. He has since calmed it down a bit and I now find him very good on the air, and enjoy seeing him debate Skip Bayless on 1st and 10.

Todd Blackledge, Michelle Tafoya - Both are now with ESPN, but I got to meet them when they were still a part of the SEC on CBS coverage (it was my senior year of college). I interviewed both for a behind-the-scenes story on the production of the FSU/Florida game. Neither were made up for TV, as it was the day before the game, but both were more than happy to take time out for an on-camera interview. It certainly left a good impression on me.


I've also had brief run-ins with Mike Patrick, Chris Mortensen, Ed Werder, and Erin Andrews (when she was still in college)... all four were even more brief than the ones listed above, so no way to really gauge personality.


If you had the chance to meet any ESPN talent, who would it be? My top two at this point would be Chris Berman and Mike Greenberg. Who knows what the future may hold? That might still happen at some point.



Now, here's my week 7 NFL picks (sure to go wrong). For the purpose of this blog, I will pick the games straight up. So far this season, in a pool that I'm in that uses the point spread, I'm picking just over 50% right... of course straight up should make it a bit easier for me (hopefully):


San Diego at Buffalo: SAN DIEGO


Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: PITTSBURGH


Baltimore at Miami: MIAMI


Dallas at St. Louis: DALLAS


San Francisco at NY Giants: NY GIANTS


Tennessee at Kansas City: TENNESSEE


Minnesota at Chicago: CHICAGO


New Orleans at Carolina: NEW ORLEANS


Detroit at Houston: HOUSTON


Indianapolis at Green Bay: INDIANAPOLIS


NY Jets at Oakland: NY JETS


Cleveland at Washington: WASHINGTON


Seattle at Tampa Bay: TAMPA BAY


Denver at New England: NEW ENGLAND


I welcome all critiques and opinions. I hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for making this a successful first week for this blog. See you next week!