Behind the Scenes

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I have known that I wanted to be involved in television since high school which is why I entered UCLA with the intention of majoring in Communications. However, once there I figured that the internships would probably be too much while training and competing in summer track so, I chose another route; Sociology. Now, that is neither here nor there because I have found my way back to television and I am currently on the right "track" to get there.

I have been a guest commentator for Fox Sports, hosted a live talk show for the IAAF during last year's World Championships in Berlin, currently am an emcee for USATF's Win With Integrity program, and a few other events. All of which helped to prepare me for the crowd that I encountered last week at the 103rd Milrose Games yet none of which prepared me for the behind the scenes chaos that neither the athlete or the viewer is aware of. As the emcee for the evening my duties were to do pre and post interviews and USATF announcements all of which were on the big screen for the entire arena at Madison Square Garden to see. Consequently, my additional duty was to make sure I looked cute which clearly was the hardest job of all!

To begin I was given a script which was perfect down to the minute and I pretty much knew exactly who I was going to interview and when. I had the entire layout of the show and my parts were even highlighted in pink; easy stuff. Well, that script quickly became nothing more than a time guide and scrap paper for my notes because everything changed! I was interviewing people I hadn't planned on before and after races, I was writing notes for my announcements which I only found out about once I was there at the arena and the track meet was about to begin. I was running around in the warm up area looking for athletes who would be willing to do pre race interviews (I'm glad I didn't burn bridges when I was competing as it would have been really to hard to get athletes to cooperate with me) All the while there was this familiar voice in my head - no it wasn't my inner voice telling me "you can do this" it was my producer telling me I HAD to do this and HAD to do that! He was talking to me before, during and after every interview. Yes, during! It was hilarious, I am conducting an interview and not only do I have to keep my words flowing I have to listen to him saying various things to me which continues when the athlete is answering and now I am listening to two people. If I do not listen to one of them either I look ridiculous asking a question that the athlete may have already answered when I was not listening OR I get fired! So either way me, my ears, and my brain were all multi tasking and I loved every minute of it!

The producer was awesome even with a mic malfunction and an ever changing television schedule. Every time I am involved in TV production I remember why I was so interested in it when I was a teen. It is amazing to be behind the scenes of a track meet or any event to see and hear what goes on before, during, and after because as an athlete I am solely focused on competing.  I am able to meet and interact with all of the people who make the event run, such as producers, maintenance people, officials, runners, cameramen, and many more, oh and of course that random guy with the headset who seems to be everywhere. So, while I have not officially retired or made a decision to do so, I will be diligently working on my second career in television. The great thing about this career is that there is always more to learn and I am blessed to know people in the industry who are willing to share their knowledge and help me on my way.

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