Football coverage

I’m sitting on the couch, watching the Patriots take on the Jets in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Ten years ago, I never would have imagined this.

One of my funniest memories from my journalism studies in Montreal was my very incompetent ‘coverage’ of a CFL practice. Our assignment was to get a quote in a media scrum but I hadn’t found a scrum to join, so at the last minute I called a classmate who said he was going to the Alouettes practice - there were scrums on the side of the field afterwards.

I knew practically nothing about the Alouettes or the CFL playoffs that year, but I was desperate so I decided to join in. I thought I could hang back, wait for a scrum to form, stick my mic in, get a quote and leave.

When I showed up, I was the only girl among the reporters waiting at the side of the field. They chatted stats and strategy while I tried to eavesdrop without being too obvious. When the practice ended, a coach came over to say we were allowed on the field. I was trying to be inconspicuous, waiting to see what the other guys would do, waiting for them to ask the questions, to start some scrums.

But then I saw that Tracy Ham, the 200lb Alouette quarterback, was making a bee-line straight for me. Maybe he wanted to talk to the only girl reporter, I don’t know and I didn’t want to find out. To put it bluntly, I ran. Well, I scurried sideways. He kept walking toward me. I scurried some more and hid behind a group of guys until Ham get held up by a pack of reporters.

In the end, I did what I went to do. I found my scrum and got my quote. But it was certainly not a shining moment as a fledgling journalist.

Fast-forward ten years and here I sit with my husband, watching the NFL. Sure, I find watching football a good excuse to knit, but I’ve also come to enjoy the game – although this still is the closest I will ever come to writing about football.