By Tammy Rae Matthews (PhDJour, ex鈥�20) and Stephanie Cook (MJour鈥�18)
The numbers alone were eye-popping: 105 combined points, over 1,000 rushing yards, 56 first downs and 10 passing touchdowns.
With less than 2 minutes remaining in the final quarter, the Los Angeles Rams made a game-clinching 40-yard touchdown pass, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 54-51 in the highest-scoring game in Monday Night Football history.
That November 2018 game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a career highlight for Jay Rothman (Jour鈥�84), lead producer of Monday Night Football鈥攎ostly for reasons that have nothing to do with the stats.
鈥淭he highlights of my career have been when events I鈥檝e produced鈥攁苍诲 intimately been involved in鈥攈ave united people and a region, more than the game itself,鈥� he says.
During the weeks leading up to the game, a gunman killed 12 people at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. Meanwhile, a string of fires鈥攊ncluding the Camp Fire near Sacramento and the Woolsey Fire in L.A.鈥攈ad already killed 80 people and forced hundreds of thousands of evacuations. Among the evacuees were several Rams players.
In response, the team passed out thousands of free tickets to local emergency, aid and law enforcement officials. The game brought together survivors of the shooting and fires, and gave exhausted firefighters and rescue workers a moment of reprieve. The night鈥檚 theme, LA Together, became a rallying cry for the entire city. It also showed how sports are about more than just a game鈥攐r even a season.
Ferrucci, who studies the intersection of race, gender and sports in journalism, is the faculty director of CMCI鈥檚 new sports media minor.
Available to all CU students, the minor is designed to be 鈥渁s open-ended as possible鈥� so it can complement any major degree, as well as certificate programs in ethnic studies and business, Ferrucci says.
Cross-discipline exposure is critical for preparing students for a career in the sports world, which spans many industries and often requires a diverse skill set.听
This is made clear by alumni like Joe Nahra (Jour鈥�91), who trained in journalism, sports administration and law on his way to becoming a legal and business affairs executive at Creative Artists Agency.
鈥淎s a journalism student at CU, I did a bunch of sports writing and eventually decided to get a master鈥檚 degree in sports administration,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 shifted to event marketing and operations before going to law school and getting into athlete representation with IMG, then the NFL Players Association and now CAA Sports.鈥�
鈥淚 am always inspired by the people we meet and the countries we have the opportunity to explore. I鈥檝e found Team USA athletes have such a pure love of their sport and a sincere desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They inspire me.鈥�
鈥�Cheryl Preheim (Comm鈥�95), journalist, anchor and Olympic reporter at large for WXIA Atlanta, pictured right.
Students have the flexibility and freedom to explore a number of sports-related issues through the minor, including race and gender dynamics, business and economics, health and wellness, inclusion and safety, fandom and rhetoric, and more.
鈥淚n my class, we use sport as a lens to look at gender, race, class, globalization and who benefits from the way things are structured,鈥� says Senior Instructor Jamie Skerski, who teaches Gender, Culture and Sport in the Department of Communication. 鈥淧eople talk about sports in a way that is very personal. People are passionate about it.鈥�
Alumni working in the sports industry know that this type of theoretical framework transcends the classroom, often coming into play in concrete ways throughout their careers.
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鈥淚 was a college athlete at CU and worked closely with other CU teams aside from my own. The bond that athletes form, and the teamwork needed for success, was and is something I continue to cherish in my field.鈥�
鈥擩ake Loskutoff (Comm鈥�03), founder, director and editor of LIFEinaVAN Studios
鈥淎s far as I know, I was the first female sports editor for the Campus Press newspaper,鈥� says Bonnie Jean Evans (Jour鈥�90), the communications manager for USA Volleyball. 鈥淭hat helped me prepare for what it was going to be like to be a female in the mostly male world of sports journalism and communications.鈥�
Like Evans, students in the new minor can gain hands-on training through a number of student media outlets housed within the college and campus.
Because of Boulder鈥檚 prevalent sporting and outdoor lifestyle and its proximity to Denver鈥檚 major media and sports market, Ferrucci notes, CU has become a sports hub among national universities.
鈥淲e have so much in terms of the breadth of what we can consider sport,鈥� he says. 鈥淐U is a Pac-12 school with its own culture and sport.鈥�
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鈥淗aving spent more than half my career developing sports product, I know that the unique technical education that CMCI combines with journalism makes it one of the most valuable degree programs for anyone focused on delivering sports to fans.鈥�
鈥擭eal Scarbrough (Jour鈥�84), executive editor at Fox Sports
Lindsay Lew (MJour鈥�98), the assistant director of digital and database marketing for CU鈥檚 athletics department, agrees.
鈥淲e live and work in a market where you can see just about any form of professional sports at the highest level,鈥� she says.
For students interested in sports at any level, this is a big advantage. High-level internships and work-study positions located on and near campus can offer networking opportunities and prepare students to enter an evolving job market.
鈥淚 was fortunate to have a two-year sports internship at KMGH-TV in Denver, which provided me with a number of opportunities, including an independent study with the U.S. Ski Team,鈥� Rothman says.
鈥淪taying creative can always be a challenge, especially working in baseball鈥�162 games can become very repetitive, and you just get used to doing the same stuff daily. We try our best to stay creative at all times to make our account different and have fans enjoy following us.鈥�
鈥擭icole Morris (Comm鈥�16), social media assistant for the Colorado Rockies
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鈥淚 began my career with the aspiration of becoming an NFL scout (I played football for CU from 2000 to 2004). I discovered an opportunity with ESPN in the late 2000s, took a risk... and the rest is history.鈥�
鈥擩esse Wallace (Comm鈥�05), vice president of affiliate distribution at the NFL Network, pictured right
