The best thing about talking to a sports journalist is that everyone has the same story…not exactly the same, of course, but without exception everyone remembers their first job, their first break, their first smile…Mine came in grad school while researching a story about cable television at Malden Cablevision, a local origination station (LOS) tucked in behind the Boston Gas office on Pleasant Street…an unlikely place to start for sure but an invaluable experience…<\/p>\n
The athletes and coaches couldn’t believe someone wanted to shoot their games, talk to them, record their highlights…and so it was, that they excused my mistakes, glossed over my bow ties and laughed along with me as we made history together….<\/p>\n
And that’s what every newcomer has in store…that place where you go from “nobody” to “Everybody knows your name”\u00a0<\/a>…<\/p>\n Alex Corddry<\/a> from Boston’s WHDH TV and Jeff Kolb<\/a>, working out of WJAR TV in Providence, were newcomers once and now that they are plying their trade in New England, to a degree, they are again…Jeff grew up in Rhode Island and always wanted to come home…Alex tells the story of writing Executive Sports Producer Koon Lam at CH7 years before she ever got here, looking for advice on her “reel” and how she could improve… both knew this was where they wanted to be but had to go elsewhere first…They were guests at the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series recently….<\/p>\n Jeff cut his teeth in Alpena, Michigan, market number 208 (out of 210 markets registered)…Now that’s SMALL!….but Jeff was lucky, he had a mentor there, someone who wasn’t threatened by the kid wet behind the ears: “When you’re looking at the small market, if you have any say in it, I would say if there’s any opportunity to be with someone who has been there 20 years, go for it”…I said to myself “I still need to learn, so I can learn from someone or am I just going to go there and do it however it comes out and not have that teacher?…they know more than you.”…smart thinking…He made his mistakes, tuned his game and made the jump…<\/p>\n For Alex, her first job came in familiar surroundings…She was a student at the University of Alabama when she started covering the Tide football program…She understood the significance, knew the “players” so to speak…Alex was way ahead of Jeff on their first day…<\/p>\n But both faced the daunting task of, first of all, being accepted, and then proving themselves…That might be the most important thing that happens at a first job…”If you carry yourself with professionalism, come in there prepared, show them you’re working hard, they’re gonna hear your questions, they’re gonna get to know you, says Corddy…For the first while I just kinda sat back and took it all in, enjoyed it…But it was definitely coming at me all at once and sometimes that’s the best way to learn, when you’re thrown into the fire like that.”<\/p>\n Corddy went from covering Alabama football to reporting on the Washington Redskins, easily two of the most rabid beats in the country…In a sense Alabama prepared her for Washington …And in turn, Washington set her up for Boston….that’s what you want as you move up the ladder…”You can’t think about it(being new) and always focus on doing your job and being prepared…Make sure you work harder than anyone else”, she maintains…And Corddy shared a little tidbit, a secret of sorts with the students: “I’ve gotten to know a lot of the writers and so, as much as you want to listen to the players, hear what they’re(writers) saying, you’re doing your homework getting to know them and getting to know the beat reporters on these teams and building a rapport with them…you can ask them questions too.”<\/p>\n Chances are pretty good you’ve never been to Cheyenne, WY, (market #197) or Idaho Falls, ID (#163) or Wausau, WI (#134) but you’d better be all smiles when the call comes…You want to start YOUR story and page one gets written when you become \u00a0the New Kid On the Block…whether you get a top ten hit like they did might just depend on you taking Alex Corddy and Jeff Kolb’s advice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The best thing about talking to a sports journalist is that everyone has the same story…not exactly the same, of course, but without exception everyone remembers their first job, their first break, their first smile…Mine came in grad school while researching a story about cable television at Malden Cablevision, a local origination station (LOS) tucked 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