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Cleveland Student Lena Tinker Wins CJ McCollum’s Press Pass Program

Freshman Lena Tinker won the C.J. McCollum Press Pass program with her narrative story about attending a Blazers game. She won some Blazers’ swag, was interviewed on McCollum’s radio show live.

By Mirabella Miller, Reporter
May 8, 2018

Lena Tinker's Winning Story

CJ’s Press Pass: Inside Sports Journalism

By Lena Tinker

I walked into The Nines hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon, tense with nerves. I’d been asking myself the question, “Do you want to be a journalist?” since I started journalism as a freshman at Cleveland High School. Most high schoolers are trying to figure out their next step: what do I want to do with the rest of my life?

I am just one of the masses, wondering where to commit and what to distance myself from. My journalism teacher started talking about CJ’s Press Pass, a mentorship program where students experience what a journalist does when conducting interviews or covering games. This sounded like a perfect opportunity to get an insider’s perspective. I put my name down and was chosen for the program.

I was launched into a community of journalists. We were not just students, we were writers looking to share our voices with the world. We were given this platform by CJ McCollum, a basketball player on the Trail Blazers. McCollum was originally a business major at Lehigh University, but had an aspiration to study journalism. His mom told him if he could write her something good enough, he could make the switch. Whatever he wrote worked. McCollum now uses his passion and background in journalism to give students a hands-on opportunity to follow in his footsteps.

The date for the first Press Pass event seemed to fly out of nowhere. The night before the meeting at The Nines I was looking up the story of McCollum’s life, trying to come up with some kind of question that would give me a good quote for my article. At the very least I was hoping to have a question that would be impressive. The night came, and I arrived at the formal hotel in my jean jacket, knowing I had to walk through the double doors and transform myself from a fearful freshmen into a journalist.

When CJ walked in, I was thinking to myself, “That is McCollum, right?” Needless to say, I wouldn’t call myself an expert in basketball. As the night proceeded, I became more comfortable, but couldn’t overcome my fear. I did not ask a question, but I left determined to come up with questions for the next event.

The weeks passed quickly, and the next Press Pass meeting was at the Moda Center, where we got to cover a Blazers versus Warriors game from the Press section. I was ready to transform myself from that not-so-fearless journalist I had become at The Nines. I walked into the box office looking for someone else in the program I could talk to. Most of the other students were older and had more experience. They were also mostly male. The face of sports journalism is very male-dominated, so this didn’t surprise me. Immediately, I realized we were all in the same position. We were all in a new dynamic, but we were a community of people drawn to journalism. This night was a step above a high school journalism class, and everyone was dedicated and wanted to get the best experience possible.

Tour guides explained how the night would go, and we followed them back into the Moda Center. We walked through areas that are usually off limits, past locker rooms and press getting ready for interviews. I was amazed as I finally began to see what journalism looks like for a professional. We walked into a little room with rows of chairs, and as we filed in we were encouraged to get as close to the front as possible.

Professional journalists stood in the front of the room, and we were given the opportunity to interview men and women who work in the career we were all curious about. It was the first time I had gotten an opportunity like this, and I had the perfect question practically trying to jump out of my mouth. However, I couldn’t bring myself to say it, and afterwards I would wish I had spoken up. I am still learning that if you want to go anywhere in this career, you have to be willing to ask questions, especially the ones that no one else is asking.

We got to talk to Dan and Nigel, the two hosts of Rip City Mornings. We also got to interview Brooke Olzendam, a sportscaster who works with the Portland Trail Blazers. She was the only woman among the journalists present, and she inspired me. She was the person who taught me how to create a good interview, and she did it in one night. She told us that during a good interview, you ask the first question on your list and you don’t even get to the rest of them. I learned how important it is to listen to every detail the interviewee is saying, and pick your questions directly from their words. Lamar Hurd, the Trail Blazers Television Analyst, was also there to talk to us. Finally, Casey Holdahl, a digital reporter, was available for questions alongside his colleagues. They all answered good questions asked by the surrounding journalists in the Press Pass program. Lamar told us, “You never know who can get you through the door.” That perfectly sums up the Press Pass experience, it was an opportunity that was pushing me through the door. M

After interviewing the professionals, we went outside to see the ESPN trucks. They told us that you have to be prepared for anything. They’d had a difficult time getting all the equipment set up that night, and they had to push through and meet their deadlines so they were ready for the game. We were split into three groups, and were taken through the two ESPN trucks, which held millions of dollars of technology. We were able to see where they adapted the games for our televisions at home, and all the screens that showed the court from multiple angles.

The tour continued through the Moda Center, where we saw recording rooms, rooms where journalists can write after the game, and where they all gather pregame to eat. We were then ushered into a huge space that players walk through to get to the court, and where so much was happening it was hard to keep track. When Kevin Durant walked by, one of the people in our group let out a squeal, which earned him a questioning look from Durant. As we waited for all three groups to be done, we built connections to people we never would have met without the Press Pass program. I never realized how many others shared my aspirations.

It was finally time for the game, and the ice had been broken. Everyone there had stories, but I was only there to find my story. The crowd energy was high, the Moda Center was sold out. People in attendance were even crazier than normal, because it was Valentine’s Day and also a match up like no other. Tonight was the Portland Trail Blazers versus the Golden State Warriors. Spotlights swirled around the room as players ran out onto the court, and the crowd was a mass of blue and red jerseys.

As soon as the Blazers made the first basket, the Warriors fell behind. The Blazers didn’t lose the lead for the whole game, but a few tense moments in the third quarter left the score at 99-99. Most people thought the Warriors would be able to pull ahead, but the Blazers did not allow it. The crowd was going insane. Every second stretched, everyone sitting in the Press section was leaning in to the game and hoping for a Blazers win. With 8.8 seconds on the clock a time out was called, and the score was 121-117 Blazers. Everyone was wondering if the Warriors could pull out some stunning play to land them the win, but instead they fouled Lillard. The score reached 123-117 as the clock ran out.

The screaming was unimaginable, every person was on their feet. We filed out pretty quickly so we didn’t get stuck in the crowd, and we all rode the elevator back to the court level. We talked in amazement about the game, which had the perfect outcome. It was easily the best game I had ever watched at the Moda Center, not to mention I usually sit in the nosebleeds.

We walked back to the press room where we got to interview McCollum, Shabazz Napier, and Jim Moran, one of the assistant coaches. It was incredible to be in the position of a journalist. We were told to speak up, raise our hands high, be heard.

I was trying to find a way to work in a question, listening for the right opportunity. I knew what I wanted to ask, I had done my research and I was rehearsing the question over and over in my head. “The Warriors head coach Steve Kerr recently let his players coach a game. If you got the opportunity to coach a game, what is one thing you’d do differently than Stotts, and one thing you’d keep the same?”

The last call for questions was being issued when I raised my hand, telling myself that I could do this. He said he could answer one more question, and his eyes skipped over me without even seeing my raised hand. He called on a person who had already asked a question, and I know that if he had seen me, I would have been picked, because for the whole night he was trying to call on new people. Disappointment sunk in, I had missed my chance.

The night ended, and as we left the Moda Center, I knew that being a journalist would be an amazing job. As the professionals we met before the game told us, it isn’t all glamorous, but I know that being able to tell people’s stories is powerful. Being in the Press Pass program is the closest I’ve come to seeing the kind of future I am building for myself. It was also the definition of a “live and learn” experience for me. You have to ask the questions you need for your article, you can’t depend on other people to ask them for you.

I didn’t even mind that I couldn’t ask the question when I realized that I had learned so much more by not asking it. I understand that in journalism, you speak up or don’t get heard at all.

“I wasn’t even nervous, I was like ‘Oh yeah this will be fun, I definitely won’t win,” said freshman Lena Tinker of arriving at the radio show in mid-March where Portland Trail Blazers star guard CJ McCollum was set to announce the winning entry in his Press Pass journalism contest.

But McCollum read off her name in the first place slot, and amid applause, Tinker put on her headset and began a live radio interview with him.

“I was so surprised… We were on Jammin’ 107.5. Originally I thought it was going to be a small station and not many people were going to hear it, but my uncle was driving home and happened to turn on the radio and hear CJ McCollum interviewing me. It was kind of crazy,” said Tinker of the radio show experience.

This event was the culmination of CJ’s Press Pass, a program designed by McCollum to expose Portland high schoolers to the journalism world and provide them with the opportunity to gain experience in the field. McCollum has a degree in journalism from Lehigh University, and worked as an editor for the student newspaper there his junior and senior years.

“I have been blessed to be able to use my position as an NBA player to explore my passion in sports writing and broadcasting,” said McCollum in an interview with NBC Sports in 2016.

Tinker decided to participate because she likes the Blazers and likes journalism, and saw it as a chance to learn more about a potential career.

“It started out with us going to the Nines Hotel,” said Tinker. “And that was just like a one hour group interview with [McCollum].”

The group then got to attend a game, where they watched the Blazers defeat the Golden State Warriors. Before the game, they got a behind the scenes look at the Moda Center and witnessed professional journalists prepare for interviews and game coverage.

“We got to interview a panel of professional journalists before the game,” said Tinker. “There was only one woman, and apparently is was the first time they had a woman represented. It was cool to see her up there.”

After the game, the Press Pass students were in a group interview with McCollum, as well as Shabazz Napier and Jim Moran, one of the team’s assistant coaches.

Tinker had researched McCollum’s background and paid close attention at every Press Pass event to allow her to come up with a question that would yield a valuable quote for her story.

“But when I got in the interview, I was just so nervous,” explained Tinker. “Toward the end, I finally raised my hand, and [McCollum] had been calling on new people all night, so I knew if I raised my hand he would see me. But I didn’t get called on.”

Tinker had heard that Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, had just allowed players to run one practice and one game, and she wanted to ask McCollum what he would do in that situation.

“I wanted to know what he would keep the same if he was the coach, and what he would change. I thought it would be kind of a different angle than just talking about the game,” she said.

Tinker left the interview without a quote, but she learned a valuable lesson about speaking up, which she wrote about in her piece for the contest.

According to the program’s website, students may submit their entry in any form they want, whether that be story, video, or podcast. The only requirement is that entries must encapsulate the full experience of the program. Tinker chose to write a story, which she revised, edited, and finally submitted.

The radio show with a surprise win was the perfect way to cap off an experience that Tinker is immensely grateful for. Tinker won an autographed jersey and a follow from McCollum on Instagram.

“[McCollum] is still pretty early in his career, so to be doing something like this is very cool. It was just such a good experience,” she said.

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