November 17, 2015 at 5:53 p.m.
Emotion is key to a great interview
Rays of Insight
No one likes an early deadline.
That’s true for us in the newspaper business. And it was true of the Q&A crowd this week.
Moving up the question and answer column by a week this month resulted in just a handful of queries, with their focus being on NFL football.
So I’ll use one of those, then dig into the archives to answer another that seems appropriate with the high school winter sports season just getting underway.
••••••••••
Who is your NFL midseason winner, loser and surprise teams? Who will win league MVP?
—Jason McGraw,
Portland
Winner: The Indianapolis Colts. Despite looking terrible most of the year they’re still in prime position to win the AFC?South.
Loser: The Dallas Cowboys. They’ve been in every game except a blowout loss to New England, but thanks to another Tony Romo injury they’re 2-7.
Surprise: The Carolina Panthers. Maybe I should have seen this coming after they won four in a row to close 2014 and then beat Arizona in the playoffs, but I didn’t.
MVP: Tom Brady. He’s thrown for 24 touchdowns compared to three interceptions, is on pace for more than 5,400 yards passing and his team is undefeated. No one has been better.
••••••••••
What are a few of your most memorable interviews with a high school athlete?
—Dusty Guggenbiller, Fort Recovery
More than 15 years of interviews, most of which have come here at The Commercial Review, are difficult to sort through in my mind. But the ones that always stand out as the most memorable are those in which an athlete lets his or her guard down and shares pure emotion.
One of my favorites came last season, after the Jay County High School girls swim team won its first sectional championship. I talked to the seniors, and Laurann Schoenlein hit me with this gem:
“It feels so good, so good to finally win this, after four years, to make history, our last year, as seniors. It’s an amazing feeling.”
The words themselves were good, but the pure excitement in her voice was what made them special. It was so good that I saved the audio recording of that interview.
Another that jumps to mind happened in 2006 after the JCHS boys basketball team defeated Mississinewa to win the sectional championship, after which Corey Comer expressed his hope for a long tournament run.
“I feel really good,” he said. “Us underclassmen just want to come out and play as hard as we can for the seniors because it’s their last year and, well, we got them another week. Let’s hope we can get them another one.”
They did, and two weeks later it was Comer who hit the game-winning basket with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to second the Patriots to the Class 3A state championship game.
That’s true for us in the newspaper business. And it was true of the Q&A crowd this week.
Moving up the question and answer column by a week this month resulted in just a handful of queries, with their focus being on NFL football.
So I’ll use one of those, then dig into the archives to answer another that seems appropriate with the high school winter sports season just getting underway.
••••••••••
Who is your NFL midseason winner, loser and surprise teams? Who will win league MVP?
—Jason McGraw,
Portland
Winner: The Indianapolis Colts. Despite looking terrible most of the year they’re still in prime position to win the AFC?South.
Loser: The Dallas Cowboys. They’ve been in every game except a blowout loss to New England, but thanks to another Tony Romo injury they’re 2-7.
Surprise: The Carolina Panthers. Maybe I should have seen this coming after they won four in a row to close 2014 and then beat Arizona in the playoffs, but I didn’t.
MVP: Tom Brady. He’s thrown for 24 touchdowns compared to three interceptions, is on pace for more than 5,400 yards passing and his team is undefeated. No one has been better.
••••••••••
What are a few of your most memorable interviews with a high school athlete?
—Dusty Guggenbiller, Fort Recovery
More than 15 years of interviews, most of which have come here at The Commercial Review, are difficult to sort through in my mind. But the ones that always stand out as the most memorable are those in which an athlete lets his or her guard down and shares pure emotion.
One of my favorites came last season, after the Jay County High School girls swim team won its first sectional championship. I talked to the seniors, and Laurann Schoenlein hit me with this gem:
“It feels so good, so good to finally win this, after four years, to make history, our last year, as seniors. It’s an amazing feeling.”
The words themselves were good, but the pure excitement in her voice was what made them special. It was so good that I saved the audio recording of that interview.
Another that jumps to mind happened in 2006 after the JCHS boys basketball team defeated Mississinewa to win the sectional championship, after which Corey Comer expressed his hope for a long tournament run.
“I feel really good,” he said. “Us underclassmen just want to come out and play as hard as we can for the seniors because it’s their last year and, well, we got them another week. Let’s hope we can get them another one.”
They did, and two weeks later it was Comer who hit the game-winning basket with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to second the Patriots to the Class 3A state championship game.
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