Rob Lyerly insights

Before the game today at Steinbrenner Field, I spoke to the Tampa Yankees’ third baseman Rob Lyerly. He’s the team’s only all-star this year. He moved from low class A ball to high class A ball this year, and it appears the transition has been easy for him.
When I spoke to Lyerly, I learned about his pregame ritual. He gets to the field around 1 p.m. for night games. He lifts until around 2:30 p.m., does some early hitting and stretching at around 3:15 before batting practice. He and the team relax until around 6 p.m. when they hit again and stretch.
While at Tampa, Lyerly doesn’t have a specific goal except to improve in all aspects of his game. He said he believes as long as he’s playing, he’ll achieve that goal. He said he’s grateful he was able to stay healthy this year, and he hopes to learn more from manager Luis Sojo.
He said he doesn’t try to emulate one specific player, but while watching the New York Yankees, he’s picked up a few skills from just about everyone.
Lyerly’s triple and single against Lakeland Friday night resulted in two scores, which helped the team to the win 5-2.

The Journey to Poynter

By Chris Torres

The longest drive of my life. Didn’t think I’d ever have to repeat that again until I had a family one day and have to take them to Disney World. Nevertheless, the 14 and a half hour drive was long yet oddly refreshing at the same time. When I drive my mind wanders all over the place. I guess it’s a good thing because it takes my mind off the stiffness I get which I am reminded of everytime I step out of the car whenever I make a stop for gas or food. Now that I’m here in St. Pete, I can sit back appreciate everything that has happened and will happen to me over the next few months. Motivation is nothing. I think I have more than enough. From seeing the happiness of my family at graduation, to the Sallie Mae loan statements in the mail two days later, to the drive here, I wake up every morning saying it’s go time in my mind. Before I got here, I briefly chatted with SJI 2010 alum and fellow Hampton alum Shemar Woods at graduation on what I was going to experience this week in St. Pete. He told me about the 14+ hour days and everything that comes along with it. I wasn’t surprised, being that he was in this program last year. I noticed how hard he works and how talented he is. Today he is a summer intern at The Washington Post. Anyway, I’ll keep this first post short and sweet. I’m looking forward to all the sports checks (since I’ve done fairly well on them so far) and everything Mr. Carter has to offer. I’m sure he’ll live up to his hype. Let’s have some fun! (By that I mean 95% work.)

Airports are just like Night Clubs

By Tariq Lee

When catching an early flight out of Oklahoma City one would expect the security line to be short and move fast, definitely wrong. After waking up late at about 4:45 a.m., my cousin drove me to the airport that is 30 minutes from Choctaw, Okla., a small city 20 minutes outside of Oklahoma City where I will be interning this summer. We arrive at the airport at 5:36 and my flight departs 6:28 so I’m thinking I’ll slide through check-in and security quickly and make it to my gate around 6:15. When I walk into the airport I see that the line was twice as long as the line at Love Nightclub during Howard Homecoming weekend in Washington, D.C so I just knew I was going to miss this flight. The skycap approaches me after I check in, the time now being 5:50, and he asks, “What time does your flight leave?” I tell him the time and he tells me that he doubts I make it through that line fast enough to make the flight so I begin to worry because Ms. Sandy Rosenbush is supposed to be picking me up around 11 am in Tampa. The skycap then says the words that every Washington, DC native wants to hear, “If you give me ten bucks I can get you to the front of the line.” I had to take this opportunity because missing this flight would have all types of consequences, also being a DC kid ten bucks is a sweet deal to get into the front of any club line. Once we crossed security I slipped the guy ten bucks and at 5:58 I was sitting in front of my gate awaiting boarding for my flight.

Accepting the challenge

by Patricia Lee

Wow, my first two days (or one full day, I suppose) here at SJI have been a real whirlwind. From getting up at 4:30 a.m. to catch my 7 a.m. flight out from L.A. to Dallas/Ft. Worth to St. Petersburg to having gone through two sports checks, it’s been a trip. I should have known what was coming, just following the car ride from the airport to our hotel two blocks from the Poynter Institute. After brief chats about Tampa Bay and Sandy’s time in Florida, the conversation turned to Big-10’s football teams, which, of course, led to discussion about Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor. I definitely came into SJI thinking that everyone would be very knowledgeable about sports, but it still came as a sort of surprise to me. That’s what I took away most from these first days of SJI. I was finally surrounded by people who wanted to do what I want to do, people my age who have a genuine and strong passion for sports journalism. I’ve never been in this type of environment before, where everyone is looking toward a career in journalism, and to be honest, it’s pretty intimidating. But I think I’m ready for the challenge, and I know that I’m prepared for what’s up next. These next nine days will be difficult and strenuous, but I’ll learn so much and take so much out of it. I’ll be meeting people who are top in their business and I feel so lucky to have these people as mentors, as editors, and as connections in the business. It’s exciting to know that I’ll meet people who have the jobs I one day hope to have. I was nervous before I came here and still am. The most important thing I’ve learned so far is to not be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. Sure, I’d love to impress these people, but what’s most important is becoming a better journalist and being even better prepared going into my espnW internship in New York. These next several days are for learning and self-reflection. I’m excited to learn more about the industry and more about what it takes to be a good reporter. I’m ready to work hard and take in as much information as I can. Greg said something last night that really stuck with me—here we are, sacrificing a week of our summer before our internships and though it’s only one week, this week could make all the difference in our future. And I’m ready for that; I’m ready to make the most of my time here in St. Pete.

Nervous energy

By Ignacio Marquez

Day one of the SJI program and I can’t help to feel a little nervous. I would be more nervous if it wasn’t for the small case of jet lag that hit me on the coming from Los Angeles to St. Petersburg, Fla. Headaches are plentiful, but I feel somewhat refreshed, especially after averaging 12-hour sleeping patterns after finishing my undergraduate work about a week ago.
The road to Florida was weird, annoying because I vomited on my way to the airport. I barely made it on time to LAX. After getting through the TSA line and their X-ray vision, I made it to the plane without knowing that a delay was to ensue. Some hatch in the plane was not closing properly and delay my departure time by almost 30 minutes, which would be a problem once arrived in Miami. I am scheduled to arrive at Miami International Airport at about 3:20 p.m., which was the exact time my flight to Tampa was beginning to board. And what happened next? Well it took me about 25 minutes to get off the plane because my seat was in the back. It was about 3:41 p.m. when I got off the plane and I needed to get to Gate 42 before 3:50 p.m… I was in Gate five. Yeah I was not going to make it unless I had a red and yellow superhero jumpsuit with a lightning bolt across my chest. I ran as fast as I could, took the Airtrain at Gate 18 to the last stop. The plane was on time and I was left sweating and sicker than before. There was nothing I could do and went to the American Airlines help desk to see if I could get in a later flight. Luckily for me, there was a flight boarding in the next hour so I was able to get on that with no more problems. I called Sandy Rosenbush right after that because she was going to pick me up at the airport. She did not sound too happy on the phone and I was officially that one person with the flight issue. I was the last to show at Poynter, which was not bad after I meet the rest of the class. Really cool people here. It was great to finally meet Greg Lee and Sandy in person after several emails. As nervous as I was coming in and the little I am now, I am excited to get things started. Getting to sleep was a difficult task after walking around the city and meeting fellow class members. Losing three hours due to west-to-east coast time zone difference was the biggest obstacle. While everyone was asleep at 2 a.m. EST, I was still in Pacific Time. Not tired at all. I was still panting and breathing heavily after the flights, but it was good to be here.

A unique opportunity

\By Caron J. Phillips

Walking into the door, I instantly became the most “unique” member of SJI’s 2011 class. For one, I’m the tallest at 6’4”. I’m the oldest, at age 27 with two degrees. And I’m already two weeks into my internship at The Salt Lake Tribune.

While that entire last paragraph doesn’t make me any better or worse than the rest of my ten colleagues, I thought it does make for a nice anecdotal introduction. “The Man” that I currently work for is one of the managing editors at the Tribune and the newly elected president of APSE, Michael Anastasi. So yes, my boss is “The Man”, in a positive “I’m happy I work for him kind of way”. Not like the ones in the old 70s blaxploitation films.

(Shout out to Shaft and Sho-Nuff.)

Over the past few weeks my life has been in a blur. During that span, I graduated from graduate school, moved to Utah, worked 70 hours in my first week and coming to St, Petersburg, Fla. for the boot camp.

I just want to remind my colleagues and myself that we’re all excited, sleepy, and hot. But we should all realize and remember that we’re here for a reason, so as they would say in those old 70s movies; Lets Get Funky Baby!

Great Expectations

By Chaunte’l Powell

Friday morning I was up early. As I continued to rub the sleep from my eyes, I ran through my mental checklist of things I had packed. I then realized my phone charger was still plugged in the wall and we were too far away to turn back. My 11-week trip seemed to be off to a smashing start.
Lesson number one of the day: do as much as you can in advance.
While this is a repeat lesson, it is still one I’ve yet to master.
The plane ride went amazingly, especially when I was bumped up to first class. As I sat in my cushy seat, I overheard two gentlemen discussing the NBA Finals. I didn’t hear much of the conversation because I immediately fell asleep.
I was awakened by a voice on the intercom stating we were landing. The two gentlemen were still discussing sports and through careful eavesdropping while on my way to baggage claim, I realized there were in the media industry. I had fallen asleep on the job so to speak, and had possibly missed an opportunity to network.
Lesson number two of the day: be alert and ready to seize every opportunity.
That night, after everyone had checked into rooms and had dinner, we were given our first sports check. My paper was a mixture of guesses and blanks. What was most frustrating was I thought I was prepared. I just couldn’t remember the specific part of the story I was now being quizzed on. Lesson number three of the day: pay attention to details, all of them.
These are just the three main items I’ve learned in my first 24 hours of SJI bootcamp. The scary/exciting part is, we’ve only scratched the surface.