Last Wednesday was the day that the ESPYs were filmed, and the entire day was SO hectic for me. I had to drive around with my broken navigation system to get my ESPY tickets from one hotel, then go over to my publicist's hotel to get the suit that I'd had custom-made. The suit was late, the valet at each place took a good half-hour, and traffic was insane, so my schedule was completely thrown off. On top of that, I was nervous about my first experience as a red carpet correspondent. I kept worrying that I would freeze up and choke, and all I could think was "What did I get myself into?" I finally arrived at the Nokia Theater to meet the Yardbarker folks just as the red carpet opened up. I was sweaty, nervous, and carrying a backpack - basically sort of a mess. On top of that, right as I got there and realized that I had forgotten my tickets for the show, I got stung by a bee. Just some icing on the cake.
Even though things had gone wrong throughout the day, everything worked out great. It was really interesting to see the red carpet from the perspective of the media. Every outlet has their own designated space, but because I was so much bigger than the other reporters, they had to give me some extra elbow room to work with. It was funny, too, because everyone was so surprised to see me there with the media. They kept saying, "Who the hell gave YOU a microphone? Did you steal that?"
I started off a little slow with the interviews, because I was late and didn't have a chance to prepare. All I was told was to be myself and try to work in some of the questions that had been written up for me. I was a little nervous, and for my first interview, I kept holding the microphone up to the wrong person's face while we were talking. After a while, though, I got the hang of it and just started chatting with the guys like it was before or after a game. Once we got talking, it would take me about 10 minutes to actually get to the questions. I was trying to be like Jay Leno or David Letterman and smoothly segue from the small talk to the questions, but I think I could still use a little work on that. Luckily, I wasn't the only one experiencing this for the first time. Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, Kendra, was there as a correspondent, too. When we found out that we were both doing this for the first time, we chatted for a little bit and exchanged interview tips. I'm sure it was all much easier for her, though. No matter what comes out of her mouth, she's got a pretty face and everyone will still want to talk to her. As for me, I need to be a little bit more verbally stimulating or my career as reporter will be over before it even starts.
In the end, everything worked out great. The one thing that was disappointing was not making it in time to actually walk down the carpet myself, but I'm still glad I did this, because it was a lot of fun. The show afterward was amazing, too. It was definitely a SHOW, and Justin Timberlake did a great job hosting. He sang, danced, and really interacted with the audience. At one point he even sat on the floor next to Beckham, grabbed his leg, and sniffed him. And it was hilarious when he started making fun of TO for crying at a press conference. The whole place was dying laughing. Not sure if they were laughing with TO or at him, but Justin must've asked him permission ahead of time because I couldn't believe that he even went there. Another treat was watching one of my favorite artists, Lupe Fiasco, perform with a live band, but my absolute favorite part was the duet that Greg Oden did with Justin. It was funny to see Oden up there singing with Justin and playing the piano.
Well, I hope you guys enjoy watching my interviews, because I really enjoyed doing them. I'll check in again with the Yard soon. Training camp starts Friday, and I'm excited for another season of football!
Even though things had gone wrong throughout the day, everything worked out great. It was really interesting to see the red carpet from the perspective of the media. Every outlet has their own designated space, but because I was so much bigger than the other reporters, they had to give me some extra elbow room to work with. It was funny, too, because everyone was so surprised to see me there with the media. They kept saying, "Who the hell gave YOU a microphone? Did you steal that?"
I started off a little slow with the interviews, because I was late and didn't have a chance to prepare. All I was told was to be myself and try to work in some of the questions that had been written up for me. I was a little nervous, and for my first interview, I kept holding the microphone up to the wrong person's face while we were talking. After a while, though, I got the hang of it and just started chatting with the guys like it was before or after a game. Once we got talking, it would take me about 10 minutes to actually get to the questions. I was trying to be like Jay Leno or David Letterman and smoothly segue from the small talk to the questions, but I think I could still use a little work on that. Luckily, I wasn't the only one experiencing this for the first time. Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, Kendra, was there as a correspondent, too. When we found out that we were both doing this for the first time, we chatted for a little bit and exchanged interview tips. I'm sure it was all much easier for her, though. No matter what comes out of her mouth, she's got a pretty face and everyone will still want to talk to her. As for me, I need to be a little bit more verbally stimulating or my career as reporter will be over before it even starts.
In the end, everything worked out great. The one thing that was disappointing was not making it in time to actually walk down the carpet myself, but I'm still glad I did this, because it was a lot of fun. The show afterward was amazing, too. It was definitely a SHOW, and Justin Timberlake did a great job hosting. He sang, danced, and really interacted with the audience. At one point he even sat on the floor next to Beckham, grabbed his leg, and sniffed him. And it was hilarious when he started making fun of TO for crying at a press conference. The whole place was dying laughing. Not sure if they were laughing with TO or at him, but Justin must've asked him permission ahead of time because I couldn't believe that he even went there. Another treat was watching one of my favorite artists, Lupe Fiasco, perform with a live band, but my absolute favorite part was the duet that Greg Oden did with Justin. It was funny to see Oden up there singing with Justin and playing the piano.
Well, I hope you guys enjoy watching my interviews, because I really enjoyed doing them. I'll check in again with the Yard soon. Training camp starts Friday, and I'm excited for another season of football!
