Classroom chat with SVP

So in sports (journalism) class this week we had an hour-long conference call with Scott Van Pelt. As noted earlier, the key to discussion, as stated by the professor, was to treat celebrities like normal people and normal people like celebrities. We were prepared.

Scott, known as SVP in our class, is a very cool, laid-back, self-deprecating, funny, and articulate guy, just like the one he is on TV (and presumably the radio). He was so happy to answer the questions of a room full of aspiring sports writers, announcers, and marketers. He answered a wide variety of questions: really specific ones addressing past radio segments, hoping to get tips on getting the big break in the industry, how he enjoys acting in the ESPN commercials, how long his days are, and even "What did you think of all ESPN coverage of Brett Favre this summer?"

SVP was very honest in all of his responses. When asked about landing his ESPN job (he got it after 5 or 6 years at The Golf Channel and because of his ability to chase down Tiger Woods interviews when most journalists were unable) he even said, "you have to treat celebrities like they are normal people." Unseen to him, eyes darted around the room at each other, and of course, the professor. She prepared us well.

Well, I was watching SportsCenter last night and it was cool to hear the same relaxed voice anchoring the program a few days after the call. In watching highlights, I can't help but notice SVP's gift for saying my exact thoughts, but in a much more succinct and snazzier way. In reference to a UNC blowout of Rutgers last night, he said, "I've never seen Carolina with that shade of blue trouser. Whatever it is, it works, they win." Prior to the segment, I was aware that Carolina wasn't great at football and was surprised by their performance against a I-A football squad of any caliber not named Duke. When watching the highlight, the whole time I kept thinking "I don't think I've ever seen Carolina wear navy blue pants before. Not a good uniform choice. I miss the Carolina blue." Next thing I know SVP is commenting on the shade of trouser. I would have never put it so eloquently.

Anyway, all in all it's always encouraging to hear of likeable people finding so much success in their lives. Other celebrities (though SVP doesn't seem to think of himself as one) certainly could stand to learn a thing or two.

Reilly on Free Speech and Sports

When I was younger (10 or so, let's say), I remember helping my brothers make cardboard signs for them to take to a Steelers game. I remember vividly the Prang marker set we used and how clever my brothers and I thought we were when we made a sign that said

No
Body likes
Cleveland

when the game was televised on NBC. Oh, we were smart ones all right.

I think I speak for most when I say that signs are a fun and jovial part of the atmosphere at sporting events. Most support their team, sometimes they make small jabs at the opponent, and yet other occasions they call attention to completely different phenomena (for example "Hi Mom, please send $!" pleas). Whatever the inspiration, signs are overwhelmingly a tradition that many sports fans have come to embrace.

Not so at the University of Virginia, according to Rick Reilly's latest story. According to some sort of rule there, no signs of any size are allowed at sporting events anymore. Not even "Go UVA!," not even a message on a sheet of notebook paper. The only exception, unsurprisingly, are advertisements.

As a former UVA student myself, I'm pretty appalled by the school's stance against free speech. Apparently it is some sort of new athletic department policy. Reilly interviewed former UVA football standout Ronde Barber about the situation and Barber said, "Seems odd. You'd think if there was one university that would stand up for free speech, it'd be Virginia. When I was there, the signs were really clever."

I graduated after Ronde Barber, and thankfully, sometime before the new communist revolution. And I'd have to say, my experience was pretty much the same as Barber's. UVA may not have had national championships in football or basketball, but we had clever fans dammit!

Of all of the amusing signs people brought to games, my favorite was one that someone had a picture of Dick Vitale's head Photoshopped into a Duke cheerleader's uniform. Some friends and I had camped out 17 days -- yes 17 days! -- for the big UVA-Duke basketball showdown at UVA's University Hall (U-Hall, because we love to abbreviate everything at UVA). Anyway, my friends and I got front row seats to the contest, and a group with that poster was right behind us. To no one's surprise, Dick Vitale was there to broadcast the game.

I'm not sure this is the exact picture, but it looks exactly how I remembered it in my head. Source: http://www.truthaboutduke.com/news_month.php?m=November&y=2005

And how do you think he responded? He laughed and even autographed the sign for the students! Unbelievable. I think this says in a nutshell why people should be able to make signs; they make for a good laugh, add to the enthusiasm and atmosphere of the game, and hey, the best can take whatever heat is dealt. Like Reilly said about coach-slamming signs, "Who, exactly, is Virginia protecting here? Groh? The man can handle himself. After all, he was once the head coach of the New York Jets." Right on, Mr. Reilly.

The whole controversy is downright disturbing. UVA was founded by Thomas Jefferson. That's right, the very man who penned the Declaration of Independence, our nation's third president, and so fervently stood for rights like free speech. Good ol' TJ (or Teej as I liked to refer to him back in the day) would roll over in his grave if he knew what was going down at The University these days. As Reilly said, it's un-American, and where is the line drawn? Does this mean that in the coming years the Lawn won't have free speech either? No organizations intercepting unsuspecting students in an effort to get them to join their organization/show up to their meetings/donate money/buy their baked goods/rally behind their cause? As annoying as I found those soliciting tables (I'd walk the 2 or 3 minutes out of the way to avoid them), I 100% support their right to be there. Maybe it's time the UVA athletics department took the same stand.

Bandwagon of the moment

Hi. Just wanted to let you know I'm jumping on the East Carolina bandwagon. I want to make that known now, so you know well in advance of when the rest of the bandwagon will jump onboard in the coming weeks.

ECU is whipping up on West Virginia 24-3 with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. This team is for real. After an impressive win against Virginia Tech, ECU now seems even more poised and destined for a great season. Oh by the way, ECU is unranked (that won't be the case come Monday), and oh yeah, WVU is #8 and a sleeper pick for the national championship. Not anymore, if the finale of the 4th quarter is anything like the rest of the game!

Other college football observations:

• I wasn't sure about the Dr. Lou segment on ESPN last week, but now I am. I don't like it. It may cause the occasional "heh" laugh, but it doesn't induce amazement and wonderment like his pep talks of last year. (Dr. Lou is Lou Holtz, and by the way, Skip Holtz, Lou's son, is head coach at ECU.) I did enjoy that they had an "anonymous caller" who complained of migraines caused by Notre Dame football play, as it was very very obviously the voice of Regis Philbin.

• I love ESPN commercials (duh). The latest I saw today was one with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit (the most attractive broadcaster in the history of broadcasters), and USC coach Pete Carroll. They were riding a tour bus to an unknown destination and Herbstreit was ignoring phone calls from Carroll, but unbeknownst to Herbstreit, Carroll was on the bus and caught him. Not the best of their commercials, but amusing nonetheless. ESPN commercials are reason #357 that I wouldn't mind working for Wieden + Kennedy NY.
  

• I miss the East Coast. I have such a hard time finding the games I want to watch. This week UVA was rarely televised for more than 5 consecutive minutes and Texas is on, but not until much later today . SEC and ACC games have been few and far between. Thankfully the weekend's headliner matchup, the big Florida-Miami showdown, will be televised tonight. The Big 10 is ubiquitous, and it makes me want to gag. I was so excited when Ohio State entered halftime earlier today trailing Ohio, but unfortunately they turned it on somewhat in the second half and won by 12. But still, I would have preferred to spend my college football watching on other games or conferences.

• I love Brent Musberger's voice.
  

• The UVA throwback jerseys were interesting today. They won 16-0 in a game my cable plan only allowed me to view for a few minutes. Instead of the usual navy blue ensemble with orange splices and "V-sabers"-emblazoned navy helmets they wore orange jerseys and white pants with white helmets. The pants and helmets donned a similar blue & orange stripe. Here's a look:

Anyway, congrats to the gentlemen in orange and blue on their first victory of the season. Onward to the next 12 wins (because they're going to be in the ACC championship and national championship games for sure)! That was being facetious, just in case you didn't already know.

Also if you're interested in sports "packaging" and design, as in the study of uniforms (color/font/design choices and more) I enthusiastically recommend Paul Lukas's Uni Watch on espn.com. I've been reading it off and on for quite a while, but if you're interested in "the aesthetics of athletics" with a dose of sarcasm, Lukas is your man.

OK, back to the games. Más later.

Best Class Ever?

(No, really!)

So today was my first day of my "sports journalism" class. Assignments include normal activities, like blogging about sports, watching high school football games, and video conferencing with sports celebrities.

Whaaat?

Yeah, so among other "famous" people we'll get to talk to in class, we'll be doing video conferences with both Scott Van Pelt (as in the SportsCenter anchor) and Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated back page columnist-turned ESPN.com writer). Um, yeah, craziness! The professor is even talking about us heading down to interview several of the UT Olympic swimmers. You know, the Brenden Hansens, Garrett Weber-Gales, and Aaron Peirsols of the world. What?!

Well apparently rule #1 (actually #2 if I want to quote correctly from the professor's journalism tips handout from today) is that as writers we're to treat famous people like normal people and normal people like famous people. Clearly I have a long way to go.

In my head I giggled at all the new UT female students going gaga that Matthew McConaughey was at the football game this past weekend. Little did I know I'd fall prey to that same type of "OMG celebrity!!" ludicrousness a few days later. Sigh. Pathetic.

In other (though actually related) news I finally remembered to bring my camera out this past weekend and was able to snag a picture of what I wanted to photograph for the past few weeks. This is the sign just outside Kerbey Lane Cafe on Guadalupe Street. Ian C = Ian Crocker, yet another UT/US Olympic swimmer. Note to self: obsess much? The Olympics ended weeks ago!

Wicked excited about college football!

So "wicked" is one of those words that surfaces in my vernacular about two or three times a year. But yesterday I caught myself saying, aloud, and over phone lines, "I'm wicked excited about college football." I blame a long lost high school friend who moved to my podunk (I say that lovingly!) Virginia town for peppering my vocabulary with these occasional New England-isms.

Anyway, if I say wicked, I actually mean it... or at least in its slang definition.

Yes, college football is back. Last night several games were on, but I tuned in to the NC State-South Carolina game & channel flipped with DNC excitement in Denver. "The other USC" knocked in a field goal in the waning seconds of the 2nd quarter in an otherwise scoreless first half. Despite hanging with the Gamecocks early, the Wolfpack got pummeled in the second half. Spurrier's South Carolina posted 34 to NC State's blank score.

Anyway, the thing I took away most from the game was the halftime show (I'll admit, I did a lot more watching of Obama's speech last night, which by the way was fantastic). I was shocked and dismayed to find out that ESPN is now doing a Dr. Lou segment in lieu (oh, I'm so clever...) of Lou's Pep Talk. Lou's pep talks were awesome last year! I figured they had a long future ahead so long as Lou Holtz continued his broadcasting career with the network.

In this new Dr. Lou segment, Lou Holtz (former Notre Dame and South Carolina head coach), pretends to be a psychiatrist that counsels big names around college football. Yesterday, Dr. Lou dispensed advice to Lloyd Carr, former coach of Michigan. Lloyd Carr had an admirable run at Michigan's helm, but will probably will always be remembered for his team's big upset loss against Appalachian State in the home opener last year. He resigned from his post at last season's conclusion. Dr. Lou articulated the keys to a decent life outside of the realm of coaching to Carr: having someone to love, something to look forward to, and something to hope for. Dr. Lou delivered his wisdom in a faux shrink's office and in front of a phony doctor of football philosophy diploma. While I didn't mind this new segment, it certainly lacked the splendor and firepower of his pep talks of old. Maybe the segment's luster will build in the coming weeks.

Nonetheless, R.I.P. Lou's Pep Talks. You'll be missed. Here was one of my favorites from last year that Lou gave for Michigan right after the Appalachian State loss last year. I guess Michigan is a favorite team for Holtz to reach out and embrace:

June is for Hockey, of course

So other than a very brief stint in elementary school, I've never really watched much NHL. I remember one Christmas when I was younger I got a Pittsburgh Penguins jacket and was pretty psyched, but growing up in the Richmond area, there just weren't rinks around for hockey, let alone ice skating. We eventually did get a rink, in late high school, but by that point I had already picked up just about every other sport and had been playing for years. Other than the semester I briefly considered taking it for a PE credit (and instead opted for skiing), the sport rarely entered my radar.

Anyway, my brother just graduated from college in Pittsburgh and I got to spend a few weeks on the East Coast during this past month, and during much of it I had some quality time to hang out with him. Well apparently in his last year he's become quite a fan of the hometown Penguins. It was fun talking to him about it, and his sudden enthusiasm certainly piqued my interest. We caught a few moments of an early playoff game at a bar right before his graduation dinner (in Pittsburgh) and I caught several more of the Stanley Cup games this week.

Anyway, like any good kid who has over 30 (40? 50?) relatives in the Pittsburgh area, I have (re-)decided my team was the Penguins. I caught several of the games this past week including an unbelievably exciting triple-overtime Stanley Cup game 5. The last 3 minutes of game 6 weren't a slouch either. After an electrifying win in game 5, the Pens fell in the waning tenths-of-a-second in game 6, to the Detroit Red Wings. It was a hard fought series, and hopefully NBC's decision to air several of the final games will result in the sport gaining more fans. I know this is one of them. I look forward to the return of Crosby, Malkin, and the boys, and their taking of the Cup next year (bandwagon much?).

Pittsburgh's game winning goal for 4-3 victory in triple overtime of Stanley Cup game 5.

Other headlines: Celtics vs Lakers in the NBA Finals. I can't bear to listen to any further ESPN analyses rehashing past Celts/Lakers matchups from the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird era. I can almost guarantee that in the coming years the current (2008) Finals will be of no comparison to the nostalgia of the old contests.

Picture Source: NY Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/2008/06/02/2008-06-02_penguins_tie_red_wings_late_in_regulatio.html

He definitely has that sun-kissed, next Dan Marino look.

When you see this face what do you think?


This guy is a total dork.
Is he a scientist? An aerospace engineer?
Man, I bet that guy got beat up a lot as a kid.

Well, believe it or not non-sports fans, but this guy is a football correspondent for ESPN. And no, his talents aren't relegated to writing and behind-the-scenes pursuits. This guy is a regular sportscaster on a number of ESPN programs.

The guy, John Clayton, is actually pretty knowledgeable, and not in that spouting off statistics kind of way. He's qualified. He's well-spoken. I will never know how he broke into the business though, because it's hard to believe an overly nerdy face like this has found a successful career in broadcasting, let alone the television sportscape (is that a word?) which is dominated by ex-players and well groomed guys, who for the most part, look and sound like jocks.

Everyone at some time or another has heard that if you must beautiful and can't have a discernable accent if you want to break in, and furthermore, stay in, broadcasting. Honestly, how many ugly people do you see delivering you your local news? It's not that Clayton's voice soothes the listener either, like a Morgan Freeman or Dennis Haysbert (of 24 and Allstate commercials fame). This guy has somehow slipped through America's harsh judgmental cracks and made a broadcasting career for himself based on merit, not beauty.

This is not to say that Clayton is ugly, as he certainly isn't. He is however, not handsome, and yes, he is outrageously geeky-looking. He looks like the last person you'd expect to know anything about football, and seeing him on TV analyzing the NFL Draft and other such news causes a huge disconnect between my expectations and what I actually see on TV.

Though Clayton has worked in this capacity for ESPN for several years, I still can't get myself to get past his appearance. Perhaps this makes me shallow, but in a glamor-obsessed media landscape (yes, that is a word!) John Clayton is the ultimate enigma. Despite his qualifications however, I will always look at him and think, "What does this guy know about football?", "He would get massacred if he ever stepped on a field and played a down!", and "Why isn't this guy using his intellect to make a killing in the stock market or conducting neurological tests in some obscure wing of a psychiatric hospital?"

Or then again, maybe he is for all that we know, and leading a clandestine double life.

Picture Source: Tan13506's Xanga Site
http://www.xanga.com/tan13506/478323381/item.html