Sports Anchor/Reporter
Packages
Packages are the full version of any story. Many times, reporters and anchors will read what's referred to as a VO or a VOSOT. Generally speaking, those are shorter versions of a longer story. Some packages can be as short as an intro, VO line, single SOT, and a tag, while others are more elaborate. Some are just straight reads. These are some of my best stories from my time in local news.
Tiger's Goals Beyond 2020
My first Masters tournament was November 2020. There is so much information that comes flying at you it can be difficult to keep up with all of it. Any time Tiger took the podium, it was the most important topic of the day. In this particular story I created, I showcased how Tiger hoped to play at Augusta so long as he was competitive. We've seen brilliant performances from former champions, here's to hoping we continue to see Tiger play at Augusta for years to come.
2021 World Series Game 4 Recap
Morning sports. It's the bane of every sports person's existence. I haven't met one person in the industry who enjoys doing it. However, with an event as big as the World Series, it's a necessary evil. While this particular story kept me awake until about 3am, it was incredibly worth while. I will admit, after a shift that started at 10am, recording this one close to 1am, continuity slipped my mind and you will hear that continuity issue at the end if you're paying close enough attention. Even outside of Truist Park, the people at The Battery were all kinds of excited.
2020 Jesse Sanders Feature
If you're a Gamecock fan, this is one you want to pay attention to. Jesse Sanders was one of the first local athletes I met while in Augusta. The South Aiken product signed a preferred walk-on letter of intent with South Carolina. He was one of the few guys from the class of 2020 who signed a D1 LOI that year, even if it was just as a PWO. Jesse is a versatile, do it all guy who played offensive line, quarterback, and lastly tight end, which he's listed as with the Gamecocks. Tragedy struck for him in 2020 as he lost his brother, who he said had always dreamed of watching him play at South Carolina. I'm sure his brother is watching from above now, and I can't wait for the day Jesse gets to take a snap at Williams Brice for his brother to see.
2020 First Year D1 Football Prep
Simeon Barrow was among the most talented athletes I got to cover while. He ended up choosing Michigan State over several of his other D1 offers because head coach Mark Dantonio was the only college coach who visited his mother in New York. Even with Dantonio stepping down and Mel Tucker taking over, the Spartans had earned his trust. Many times, TV's don't do enough to show just how big these young athletes are. I used a picture at the end of the story to try and showcase that just a bit more. While Simeon didn't play in 2020, he exploded onto the scene in 2021 and is primed to have a great BIG 10 career and beyond. I loved stories that went beyond just high school success and the big names at the universities we covered. Those guys did too. It always helps to know your hometown is still thinking about you even when you're not playing in the area anymore.
2020 COVID Wedding and Parade
Imagine trying to have your wedding in 2020, especially in the spring. That didn't happen for a lot of people the way they had originally planned. What started as a small wedding turned into a full on parade. The couple was not made aware that I was going to be filming the whole thing and catching their reaction. While I was unofficially invited to cover the wedding reception that was scheduled for November, I had to politely decline due to the Masters happening then.
2020 COVID Birthday for a Veteran
During March, April, and May of 2020, I worked mostly behind the camera. There weren't many sports to cover, so I was given mostly soft-news assignments. Not all of them were, I covered a fatal car crash that killed 2 people in addition to what turned into a murder. By May, we had needed to increase our coverage of Corona Virus related events, and I was asked to step up to the plate. Stories like these drive through birthdays, especially for someone like the colonel, were the relief that I thought people needed. My former station had what was called the quarter hour winner during our 6pm newscast, and as you can see by the time stamp, this story was the winner that day.
2019 Alpena Hockey Conference Title
My time in Alpena, Michigan was far different than what my internship in Greenville, South Carolina was. We had less than 20 high schools in our viewing area, some with graduating classes that barely exceeded 20 students. There was no 4 year college within the viewing area, but the biggest sport was high school hockey. Alpena hadn't won a conference title in 10 years, and for a program that had a lot of hockey pride, that was a big time drought. During my time in Alpena, it was high school hockey that satisfied my desire to cover a big time program. The moxy, the way this team played, it was as exciting as it got up in Northeast Michigan. To get to be a small part of their big season was incredibly special.
2019 Bowling Feature
When you have one of the best bowlers in the state of Michigan in your backyard of a coverage area, it's a story you can't ignore. Raegen Eller was one of the top high school bowlers in the state. I would have never imagined doing a bowling feature while I was in college. Small markets definitely force you to be a little more creative when you don't have college and professional previews to fall back on.
Webb Simpson Golf and Faith 2020
You caught me. This is indeed from the same day that Tiger talked, which is exactly why I'm wearing the same thing. During the 2020 Masters, I spent most of my time shooting broll and getting ready for live hits more so than I did at the quick quotes station, though I did submit this question about Webb Simpson's faith and how it's affected his golf game. Religion is something that can be hit or miss when it comes to telling a good story, you have to know your audience and your interview subject. I'd done some background work on Webb and knew faith was a very important part of his golf story. When you do your research, ask the right questions, you tend to get better answers.
2021 ANWA Family Reunion
As I prepped for the Women's Amateur, COVID was obviously still a major theme. The tournament was cancelled in 2020, and even in March of 2021, many safety protocols were still in place. This is an international event. Some of these international players hadn't seen their families since 2020! This was a reunion that was made possible because of sports! Regardless of how the tournament ended up going for some of these players, I'd argue getting to see their families again was more important. Hearing that really struck me, and I thought it was incredibly important to share a story that many people, myself included, could relate to.
2018 Alpena Hockey Nat PKG
Sometimes, your voice isn't necessary to tell a story. This was 100% the case here and it remains one of the stories that I'm the most proud of today. Alpena hockey hadn't seen this kind of success in a long time, and it was completely because of their senior class. I told their coach for the last regular season home game, I wanted to do a piece on the seniors and wanted to talk to all of them. The underlaying music also help this story a lot as it just continues to build before reaching a climax right before the last (and best) senior says what playing at the home arena all these years has meant. This style of story telling has always been my favorite.
2021 ANWA Cut Day Reaction
Whether it's new and just hasn't caught on yet, the Augusta National Women's Amateur for me was more fun than the Masters itself. I was able to have a lot of direct interaction with the players themselves and even some of the coaches. I got to talk with Georgia's Josh Brewer quite a bit and really started to develop a much better understanding of women's golf. A lot more access to the course itself as well, and Champions Retreat is as nice a course and location as you can get.
2020 Darrell Lemmer
Upon my promotion to sports director in May of 2020, the biggest challenge I faced was coming up with sports related content with no sports going on. I'd seen other stations do stories on facility members of minor league baseball teams. The Augusta GreenJackets didn't field a team in 2020, but their stadium SRP Park remained open and ready for ball. The biggest reason it was ready was because of head groundskeeper Darrell Lemmer. Darrell has lived an incredible life and experienced things most people can only dream of, like attending the Olympics, Super Bowl, and other huge events. He was able to be a part of these things because of his trade and his skills. While most people wouldn't think that cutting grass or working trade may lead to those opportunities, Darrell is the living embodiment of it. In a regular season, that was a story I never would've had the opportunity to tell.
2019 Sno*Drift Rally
I'd never shot a motorsport prior to 2019. My baptism in it was not by fire, it was by snow and ice. That morning it was 20 below 0. I'd never seen a mustache freeze until that day. I was used to tracking a hockey puck when I shot this, so cars were actually a really nice change of pace. Such a unique event too. My biggest regret of my time in Alpena is that I wasn't able to interview Piotr following his win due to my deadline that night. Honestly, when deadlines work against you like they did here, it's very disappointing. I'd much rather work the event to it's full potential than have to miss something because of a deadline, but in news, content is king.
2019 Sit Down Style Interview
Sometimes, small markets can make themselves look like a much bigger market when interviews are conducted certain ways. Full disclosure, I only had 1 camera for this. I knew the questions I was asking, so I did the interview with Tyson first, and then recorded myself asking the same questions Tyson answered with a few facial expressions along the way. Years later when I interviewed Dexter Carter on the death of Bobby Bowden, I had 3 cameras, a custom background, and someone else operating the three cameras. Be sure to watch that one on the main video page. I'd recomend parts 2 and 3 if you're pressed for time.
2018 Furman Baseball
If you've made it to this video, congratulations. This is the first package I ever put together. Now, it's far from perfect. My initial framing is awful, my interview framing needed a lot of work, and my tag framing was also just as bad as the intro. It's just too tight! This was however, one of the most special games I ever got to see. 3 grand slams. Furman only had one of them and still got to win the game. As soon as Furman announced they were canceling the baseball program, I thought back to this story. It was a shame that Furman made that decision, and I feel lucky (despite my poor framing) that I can say I got to cover Furman baseball while it was still active, especially in a game like this.