Standing Tall with Amar'e Stoudemire

The instant I stepped inside Barnes & Noble at 54th street in New York City for NBA superstar  Amar’e Stoudemire’s signing of his newly-released children’s book, Home Court, I could tell by the excited children – and even adults – that were beginning to line up, that this would be a special day!  I would be interviewing Stoudemire about Home Court, which is the first book in his STAT (Standing Tall and Talented) series, an autobiographical set of books about his childhood.

My dad and I were led into a small conference room. It was only around 10:45 a.m., and it would still be awhile before Stoudemire’s arrival. Two people from a New York Knicks website were already waiting, and over the next 20 minutes more and more reporters and media personalities gathered, many of whom I knew from their journalism work on TV or the Internet. I was able to meet Tina Cervasio, a two-time Emmy award winner for her fantastic work on New York Knicks and New York Redbulls broadcasts for MSG Networks. It was also a pleasure to also meet Jared Zwerling, whose articles on the Knicks and NBA I read almost daily on ESPN.com.

As I was reviewing my interview questions, Amar’e Stoudemire, standing 6’11” tall, walked quietly through the door! Nearly all the reporters sitting down got to their feet in a hurry and cameramen and women quickly set up their equipment. The Barnes & Noble representative that had escorted me to the room earlier announced to all of us: “Amar’e will be on this side back wall taking your open questions.”

As if they were all tied together by a long string, the entire pack of reporters, writers, and camerapeople moved at once towards the area of the room where Stoudemire stood. I immediately picked up my tape recorder, gave my personal camera to my dad so he could film the “press conference,” and hustled over to join the pack of reporters that had formed a crowd around Amar’e.

Cervasio started the interview with three questions about Home Court. After several more book-related questions, the interview shifted to the subject of basketball. I was able to squeeze through the throng of bodies so I could stand– crouch at times – at the side of Amar’e. It was extremely tough for me to try and interject my questions, as all the other reporters were assertively asking theirs! Eventually, I managed to ask Stoudemire a few of my questions about his thoughts on training camp and how the Knicks can improve through the training.

When the Q&A session was over, I went back to my seat excitedly. Now was the moment I was waiting for -- my one-on-one interview with Amar’e Stoudemire!

Amar’e made his way to the table where I was seated and sat down across from me. As the camera crew set up their equipment, I told Amar’e my name, and my small hand shook his huge hand to begin the interview.  Admittedly, I was a bit nervous as I asked him my first question. There were a great deal of cameramen with video recorders and microphones, but mainly there were a lot of reporters watching me. And, of course, I was interviewing a NBA superstar. How could I not be nervous? However, after the first question, I think I calmed down. I was able to go through all twelve of my questions perfectly, all of which were kindly answered by Amar’e.

After about 15 minutes of talking with Amar’e, the interview came to a close. I was extremely excited as I shook hands with him, and then he signed my personal copy of Home Court! Seemingly all of the other reporters came up to me and said “nice job,” or “you’ll be taking my job soon” as I said my final regards to Amar’e.

I had a fantastic time in New York City meeting professional reporters and talking with Amar’e Stoudemire. I truly enjoyed every single second of the experience. Hopefully, I can do it again when Double Team, the second book in the STAT series, is released in October!

You can watch my interview with Amar’e on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

—Kid Reporter Amiri Tulloch

Photo: Kid Reporter Amiri Tulloch with Amar’e Stoudemire after their interview in New York City. (Dante A. Ciampaglia/Scholastic)

What I learned from ESPN's Dick Vitale

It's March, which means March Madness! And March Madness means that Dick Vitale is doing what he does best: announcing college basketball games.
 
It's no surprise that one of college basketball most recognized voice is that of ESPN's Dick Vitale. Vitale is a Hall Of Fame broadcaster and has been announcing college basketball games for ESPN since the 1979-1980 season.

His passion and enthusiasm has made him the most well known college basketball announcer today. With his trademark sayings, such as, "awesome baby" and "diaper dandies," fans everywhere tune in to listen to Vitale's thorough knowledge and spirited style of broadcasting.

When I interviewed him at ESPN The Weekend in Orlando recently, he gave me some helpful tips on what kids should do if they want to become sports broadcasters, too.   His first tip was that you have to overcome the fear of the camera. To do this, ask your mom or dad to practice filming you on camera.

"I treat the camera like I'm talking to my buddies, my friends," Vitale said. "Make believe you're talking to all of your buddies."

He also suggested that kids watch some of their favorite people on television and study them. Take a microphone and practice auditioning by pretending to interview your favorite celebrity.

"Try to study the people they think the world of and take the microphone and shut the sound off. Into a tape recorder, tape themselves doing a game," Vitale said.


Preparation is also very important. There is short-term preparation and long-term preparation. Long-term preparation consists of all the information you gather before an interview. Short-term preparation is the work you do the day of an interview or telecast. Much goes into total preparation of announcing and interviewing. Dick Vitale makes sure to sit with coaches and Sports Information Directors at univeristies to get all of the necessary information.

"You don't go on TV and start talking without having knowledge to be able to give back to the people," Vitale said.

In order to acquire information, make sure to do research by using the Internet and other resources.

"Today there is so much information out there, because of the Internet," said Vitale.

Once you have your information, you have to sort it all out and find what you believe is good for a telecast or an article.

Vitale's talents and influences extend way beyond just game analyst. When he isn't busy telecasting or writing children books, he is very much involved in raising money for charitable events.

"I try to raise a lot of money for charities. My goal this year is to raise one million dollars for pediatric cancer to help kids battle cancer," Vitale said.

For more on Dick Vitale, visit dickvitaleonline.com.

And be sure to watch my interview with Dick Vitale on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

—Kid Reporter Topanga Sena

Photo: Kid Reporter Topanga Sena with ESPN's Dick Vitale after their interview. (Courtesy Topanga Sena)

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Would you ever want to be a sports broadcaster like Dick Vitale? What sport would you like to cover as an announcer or journalist? Let us know in the comments below!