If the title didn’t give it away, I was one of the many eager Newhouse students sitting in the Herg on Thursday waiting for the voice of Monday Night Football to walk through the door. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to listen to an active legend in the broadcasting world speak, especially in an intimate setting. Even less often are they part of a group, like you- a Newhouse student.
Mike (because unfortunately after the lecture I feel like we’re on a first name basis) spoke for a few minutes on his career path. He detailed his time at SU, working at the local radio and TV stations, reporting for UUTV (now CitrusTV), and meeting his current wife who was then a basketball player at SU. As almost everyone else has said, he stressed the importance of internships, and being willing to work your way up to perfect your craft. As someone with twenty years of broadcasting under his belt, they are certainly words to take seriously.
Everyone has been commending the use of social media at the event. Even the D.O. (article written by Alex) mentioned me as being part of the craze.
Brad Slavin, a freshman television, radio and film major, was one of those adding to the cyberscene through Foursquare and tweeting using the hashtag created by S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications officials, #Tirico, on his iPhone.
The viral publicity produced by Slavin and a room full of others created a social media rush centered around Mike Tirico, a 1988 Newhouse graduate.
However, the part that I find most valuable, most relaxing, is that Mike in 1988 was exactly where I am now. It gives me hope that we all have the potential to reach where he is now. We are here, which Mike will tell you, is the first and the next step towards being there- where he is in the national spotlight. It’s that humanizing note that I’ll leave you with. If you don’t believe me, here’s Mike doing SuperSports (which is still one of the shows in CitrusTV’s sports department.)
