Sports' Blog

For the first show, there is always going to be anxiety and anticipation to get down to the Waterfront studio and see how everything will play out. I was excited to see how things were going to run. On Monday, we had our anchor rehearsal meetings and again on Tuesday for another run-through. 

For show two, my story was about the Beauty and the Beast Event that featured the gymnastics and wrestling team, side-by-side in the WVU Coliseum. It was my first time covering gymnastics and wrestling, which was a very cool experience. I have always wanted to be versatile as a sports reporter and cover things that don't get as much attention on campus and I felt like this was an event that would be a great opportunity for me to pursue. I wanted to do this story because the event made its return for the first time in 3 years, since the pandemic. Mountaineer Fan Fest was also going on in the Coliseum, before the event started. I knew that this event would attract tons of fans who wanted to experience the excitement and give attention to two sports that aren't as publicized. 

This past show, I covered the fiftieth season of West Virginia University Women’s Basketball. This was a really cool story and one that I had fun covering. Terrell and I did team coverage where he reported on 50 years of women’s tennis, which made shooting stand-ups and SOT TZs' really fun. At the end of February, WVU WBB honored their first head coach, Kittie Blakemore, along with hosting a celebration of 50 years of WVU WBB. I went there to film the game, as well as the celebration so that I could put this story together. 

For show four, I did my story on a preview of spring football, as the Mountaineers headed into spring football practice earlier this month. I had a really funny time shooting this story because I got to go to their first official practice that allowed media attendance and I had lots of fun covering it. For my story I got to go to Neal Brown's first official press conference and it was great to hear him talk about the upcoming season. This team has a lot in store with returning players and new transfers.

This semester has been one of the best I have experienced at WVU. I remember finishing up JRL 386 last semester feeling nervous for what was to come. I had high hopes of being a sports anchor or sports reporter and I was anxious to find out what position I would hold in WVU News. I auditioned and was picked to be the sports reporter for this term. I was so excited to start the semester covering the beat that I wanted since my freshman year at WVU. 

It’s been a lot of fun working on my Blaine Stewart story these past two weeks. I had the opportunity to film my first ever football practice and even got the opportunity to meet Adam “Pacman” Jones, which was another surreal experience as a lifelong Mountaineer fan. Being able to be around the team at the start of Spring Practice was a feeling I won’t soon forget. The music was blasting, the vibes were immaculate, and it was one of those moments where you sort of step back and go “Wow, I get to do this for a living.” 

I can’t believe we are about to tape our last show. Seems like just the other day we were just getting our beats and positions assigned. We’ve all come so far in so many ways and it’s been amazing being able to step back and see how much we’ve all improved as journalists throughout these past four months with the help of Professor Dahlia and Professor Marra. I truly believe the unsung hero of this class however has been the camaraderie we’ve built as a team working together to help one another film and edit our stories. 

My first story for WVU News was an absolute success! 

Our second newscast of the semester was a blast to complete and I am so proud of our team for making each show better than the last. We are getting stronger each week! My package for this show made WVU News’ Best of the Rest website and I am elated with how it turned out and the improvements I’m making as a reporter. I was ready to get to work on this package, so as soon as we wrapped up shooting our first show in the studio, I headed out to the Monongalia County Ballpark to start my story. I knew this would be a great newsworthy piece because our baseball team was about to hit the road that Friday for their season opener. 

For show 3, my story was about Mary Roush being named the 68th Mountaineer Mascot. Roush is only the third ever female Mountaineer in WVU’s history. Going in, I went into this story not knowing who was going to win until the announcement of the winner. So, I had to come up with specific questions to ask each candidate if they won. I wanted to do this story because this competition only occurs once a year and the Mountaineer is the most recognizable person in the state of West Virginia. When people think of West Virginia, the Mountaineer is often the first thing that comes to people’s minds.