BY RACHEL STARK
Thousands of people swarmed Beale Street on the morning of Nov. 2 for ESPN’s College GameDay, and three of those helping with the live broadcast were students from the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media.
The students that same evening also assisted with the live television coverage of the Tigers’ big 54-48 win over SMU at the Liberty Bowl.
“College GameDay that morning was absolutely crazy,” said Caleb Suggs, a journalism major. “The energy was unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the people of Memphis so excited or Beale Street so full. While I was out there with Jessica (Benton), one of our other Tiger News reporters, it hit me that we are some of the only reporters in history to cover College GameDay in Memphis, Tennessee.”
The department was also able to host ESPN College GameDay reporters Tom Rinaldi and Gene Wojciechowski at an information session for students the Friday before the broadcast in the Meeman Journalism Building.
Suggs, who has been working with Tiger News to cover sporting events, got involved with College GameDay from Professor Jay Gilmore saying that ABC was looking for students to help work producing sound and images from the game. He said that after doing some research on the show, “someone from Tiger News had to be there to cover it.”
Joshua Rivera, who also helped to cover the event, said his favorite part was getting to learn how to work efficiently and seeing firsthand what it was like to be in sports broadcasting.
Rivera said that it was a great learning experience.
“Getting encouragement to keep chasing what I want to do was special. It felt like I had professionals that cared and it made me want to keep pursuing,” Rivera said.
However, it wasn’t easy work, and ESPN expected the students to get tasks done efficiently, quickly and accurately.
“It has prepared me in the professional stage when things need to get done. I performed under a big deal of pressure and that will help me to do my work right, and not freak out when it gets to feel like it’s too much” Rivera said.
Students were up at 5 a.m. on Beale Street that morning to cover GameDay until about noon. Then they went almost straight to the Liberty Bowl to work on covering the game.
All of that fast-paced work was not over until about 12:30 the next morning, but the two students called it an “incredibly cool experience.”
Suggs said his favorite part was “being right in the middle of the hype downtown during the show,” and Rivera said that not only was it good for his resume but also “something great to tell my children one day. It was a great time to be a Memphian.”
“Memphis pride and energy was at an all time high, and to be the reporter in the midst of that is something I’ll never forget.” Suggs said.