Jordan Schuman
 Multimedia Journalist
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Resume & Reel
  • Media
  • Connect with Me
  • Blog
  • Need to Know

Hitting A Home Run

2/2/2015

0 Comments

 
I've never been good with sports. 

I'm not great with the terminology... the courts, the fields, the points, the runs. The longer I sit here writing this I actually feel the embarrassment setting in. Actually, I'm a warrior on a golf course (I thank genetics for that one.)

Picture
That form.
Picture
And I do have my moments. Last night at the Super Bowl, there was a guy on the field at one point who played for the Chicago Bears, and after some time staring at the logo, I proudly announced that was his team. It took me longer than it should have to figure that out, but I did! I'm always proud when I can pair a logo with a team, or a team with the town they play for. I'm being serious. But I don't know positions. And I mostly don't know names. Gah. For more on last night at the Super Bowl, view my tweets below: 
I do know that my junior year, the Miami Hurricanes running back was Duke Johnson. I know this because for weeks on end during NewsBreak, the 90-second news update show I anchored once a week, I'd say, "Running Back Duke Johnson...." but it wasn't until I was editing one day that I realized I didn't know what a running back did, I had just relied on the muscle memory of reading it off the prompter each week. (I know that now, by the way. The 26-78-45 HUT guy hands the ball to someone (maybe the QB??) who then gives it to the running back. I think.) 

So believe me when I say no one was more surprised than I was that in my last semester at the University of Miami, I covered a story that actually required me going to the football stadium and conducting an interview with someone who had an office in the athletic center. To be fair, it was a story about transportation to and from the sporting event, but it was the most I'd ever ventured into the Wide World of Sports. ( <-- that right there was funny because there was an ABC show by the same name.) 
Picture
Picture
They gave me them, though. An all-access pass.
The football stadium at the University of Miami is the same one the Miami Dolphins play at, and it's about a 45-minute ride from campus. Because of this, attendance is historically relatively low considering 10,000 students are eligible for free tickets to all Hurricane sporting events. University Athletics provides free bussing to and from the stadium for students, and they are definitely a widely-relied-on form of transportation, since parking passes for the season can be pricy. 

While it's a great service, administration had been dealing with the issue of students who rode the free buses up to Sun Life Stadium, but just for a parking lot tailgate instead of the intended purpose of actually attending the game. 

I knew I wanted to do the story since my spring semester junior year, but I had to wait for football season to do so. I was attending my minimum one game a year anyway, (I KNOW, ONE GAME. I KNOW.) so for my senior year, I was glad to kill two birds with one stone. Ok, that sounds like I'd really hate going but the main reason I didn't go so frequently is because with the buses, attending the games was an all-day event, and I usually had an RA desk shift to work, or other academic-related commitments. Also because I didn't understand anything that happened there. Go 'Canes! 

The timing of the story worked, because the administration had rolled out new guidelines for the buses and game day rules, and my story would be a way to introduce them to the students. Before game day, I interviewed our Vice President for Student Affairs, a student, as well as a member of the Ticket Operations team.
Picture
Picture
And on game day, I packed a camera bag and went to work, mainly to shoot the footage of students entering the stadium and the physical buses the story was about. I treat all of my stories the same way. I thoroughly research them, if I'm going to be on a long shoot in the sun I bring sunscreen and a snack, I charge extra batteries because you can never be too careful, I try to think about the fairest and most responsible way to say what I need to say, and I dress professionally. Except in this instance, I was allowed to show some bias and I wore my Miami gear. (Anyone surprised I own a Miami Football t-shirt?) And I found the responsible way to say something also included a pun. 
Picture
I have to be honest. I learned a lot on that shoot alone about covering sports. I had an all-access pass to the field, but I didn't go on the field because I was afraid of standing in the wrong place (not kidding.) But I understand why people like to cover athletics. I am not a war zones and Supreme Court type of reporter, and I'm not a puppies up for adoption, little kids build a lemonade stand type either. I'm somewhere happily in the middle for now. Important stories, ones that people care about, and ones with impact. And I can say with all sincerity that sports reporting is important, people do care about it and it does have an impact.

Seriously, with foreign and domestic affairs, you tend to believe people in this country can't agree and don't talk to each other, and then you put a sporting event on the television, and trust me, people are talking. 
Picture

There was an undeniable energy at the stadium, and though I didn't know if I understood it, I recognized it and felt it should be documented. If I'm being entirely honest, I don't think I would have enjoyed myself as much at the game had I not been there working. 

To clarify, I'm not saying what I did that day was sports reporting. But I will say it aired on our news show AND our sports show. And for that, I'd consider it a hole-in-one. 
View the final piece as it aired here: https://vimeo.com/107273158 

You heard it here first,

Jordan 




0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    26.2
    ABC
    A Block
    Al Diaz
    Al Roker
    Ann Curry
    Anxiety
    Arianna Huffington
    Atlanta
    Baby
    Bank United Center
    Bill Clinton
    Birmingham
    Book
    Boston Marathon
    Boston Marathon Bombings
    Brian Stelter
    Brian Williams
    Bureau
    Cameraman
    Campaign
    Career
    CBS
    CBS News
    CBS This Morning
    Coffee
    College
    Columbia
    Commencement
    Company
    Connecticut
    Coral Gables
    Cosmopolitan
    Courthouse
    Coverage
    D Block
    Dolphin Expressway
    Donna Shalala
    DUI
    Ernest Hemingway
    Evening News
    Family
    Fear Of Missing Out
    Finish Line
    First Lady
    Friday
    Fusion
    George Stinney
    Georgia
    Going Away
    Good Morning America
    Hillary Clinton
    Hillary Rodham Clinton
    Inauguration
    Intern
    Internship
    Interview
    Jeff Fager
    Job
    Joe Biden
    Jordan Schuman
    Journalism
    Justin Bieber
    Kate White
    Katie Couric
    Kerry Sanders
    Kindergarten
    Lessons
    Life
    Linda Ellerbee
    List
    Lunch
    Magazine
    Manhattan
    Marathon
    Mark Potter
    Maternity
    Matt Lauer
    Memoir
    Miami
    Michael Dunn
    Millenial
    Mom
    Motherhood
    Motto
    Mr. Rogers
    NBC
    NBC Internship
    NBC News
    Network News
    Newscast
    NewsVision
    Newtown
    New York
    New York City
    Nick News
    Nightly News
    Obama
    Olympics
    Pew Research Center
    POTUS
    President
    Ratings
    Reporter
    Resident Assistant
    Resume
    Sacrifice
    Savannah Guthrie
    School
    Scott Pelley
    Secretary Of State
    Secret Service
    Semester
    Shoes
    Sirius XM
    Sleep
    Social Media
    Someday
    South Carolina
    Special Report
    Sports
    Strangers
    Summer
    Susan Zirinsky
    Television
    The Boston Globe
    The Chicago Tribune
    The Huffington Post
    The Miami Herald
    Thrive
    TODAY Show
    To-Do
    Trial
    Twitter
    UMTV
    University Of Miami
    Valentines
    Washington DC
    Washington Post
    Weather
    Wedding
    Work

    Archives

    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    RSS Feed

    Get in touch. 

    -
    -
Submit