Week 2: Coming of Age

It was an exciting and heart-warming moment for me last weekend, as the University of Calgary basketball teams closed out their regular season home schedule against the University of Lethbridge. While I did my usual dues before the Friday games by digging up information on the playoff picture and sharing it with the on-air talent, for Saturday's games, I got do to something extra-special...post-game interviews with the graduating seniors live on camera.

It was the brainchild of Lance McKenzie, who once again wanted me to get a bigger role in my practicum...he pitched it to Ned Bosnak, who then pitched the job to me, and I accepted it without hesitation. Before the game, Josh Arbuthnot, the play-by-play commentator (and SAIT grad) conducted pre-game interviews with all the graduating seniors (Two from the women and four from the men) and allowed me to shadow him so I could get an idea of the kind of questions I should be asking the players for after their respective games.

The Dinos women ended up winning their game, completing a weekend sweep and improving their record to 15-3 heading into their final regular season tilts next weekend. I got to speak with both graduating players: reserve forward Darian Mahmi and team captain Mya Proctor.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bb18ca_0f830a033a0b487e94e2076ddee24918/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Video Courtesy University of Calgary and Canada West TV

This was a huge coming-of-age moment for me. It also helped that the women won their game, because they were happy...and because I'd already made friends with the players, I felt very comfortable talking to them after the game on camera.

As for the men, they lost in heart-breaking fashion by three points...dropping their record to 14-4 and in a three-way tie for first place in their division. As one can imagine, the guys were not happy with the outcome and it was much harder for me to conduct good interviews with their graduating players without potentially making it awkward for everyone else. Despite the situation I was put in, Josh and Tanner Hill both gave me some positive reassurance...they said I handled myself well in said situation. They did have a some constructive feedback for me regarding the kind of questions I asked the men, and I can use it as motivation to improve myself in that area for the future. Needless to say, I now know just how much harder it is to interview players and coaches following a loss as opposed to after a win.

Looking ahead, all the Dinos basketball and volleyball teams are on the road this coming weekend, but Josh and his colour guy Jamaine will be calling SAIT's basketball games from the U of C this Saturday...Josh hinted to me that if the opportunity presents itself, he may sub me into the play-by-play broadcast at some point during either of the two games if the scores are blowouts. This isn't a sure thing, but it would be great to get in there if it happens.

As for the Dinos, it's likely the men will be hosting playoffs the weekend after, so I am prepared to take on whatever task the Maverick Media guys may have in store for me. More information about playoff dates and times will be made available as the regular season closes this Saturday.