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Sports Task Force teams up students, mentorsBy Jeff Roulston NABJ Convention Online Staff The goal of the NABJ Sports Task Force Breakfast, hosted by ESPN, was to match young journalists interested in sports with a professional that works in sports journalism. Of course, that wasn’t all ESPN had planned for the morning. While two clipboards —- one for students and one for professionals —- made their way around the room, moderator Roxanne Jones of ESPN the Magazine also talked about what it takes to make it in sports news. The featured speaker for the breakfast was retired National Basketball Association player Mario Elie, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from New York’s Harlem area. “Elie’s career is something us journalists can model ourselves after because he never stopped,” said Gary Howard, an editor at ESPN The Magazine and a long time friend of Elie’s. Elie won three NBA championships in his playing career, two with the Houston Rockets in the mid-nineties and one with the 1999 San Antonio Spurs after bouncing around the minor leagues for several years and nearly giving up professional basketball at age 27. Now retired, Elie said he is moving on to other goals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from American International College, but said that being in the NBA gave him opportunities to do other things. “I had the chance to do some television and I liked it,” he said. “So I might give it a shot.” Elie will join Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on the panel at the Sports Task Force’s plenary titled “Changing Faces in the Game” on Saturday afternoon. Following Elie’s remarks, the Sports Task Force honored retired Washington Post Sports Editor George Solomon. David Aldridge of ESPN’s SportsCenter described him as “a one-man diversity crew.” Solomon gave Aldridge his first break when he hired him to cover the Baltimore Orioles for the Post in 1987. “If it was only me, it would be a great story,” Aldridge said, “but then it wouldn’t be worth celebrating.” The students and young journalists for whom the breakfast was planned seemed to appreciate the program. Northwestern University senior Mike Blake, a broadcasting student, said he was excited about meeting established industry professionals. “If you can have a former NBA player [there], a lead NBA reporter out there talking to us, and then Stuart Scott and Kevin Frazier walking around talking to people, how can you not be satisfied?” Blake said. Collins Phillips, a junior speech communication student at Louisiana State University said, “The mentor breakfast was a way for me to look around and see other black faces, knowing that we all have gone through certain things, we all face the same obstacles. So I can look around and know that I’m not the only one.” |
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