Not too long from now, the sideline reporter during the big game might just be Bowdoin senior Kaitee Daley. Daley appeared in a one-and-a-half minute segment on ESPNU on Sunday, after the first period of the University of Maine-University of Massachusetts hockey game. The piece focused on the prominently displayed Zamboni in the new Sidney J. Watson arena, which is the fourth collegiate Zamboni to exist in the United States.
Prior to the beginning of the semester, Director of News and Media Relations Doug Boxer-Cook sent out the story to interested sources about Bowdoin's Zamboni. On January 16 he received an e-mail from ESPN's Senior Vice President of College Sports Programming, Burke Magnus, who said ESPNU would be interested in a piece on the Zamboni.
Daley's journey to the ESPNU camera started by a coincidence last year in Smith Union. She gave directions to several visitors, who inquired about her interests. Daley responded that she was interested in sports communication, and one of them told her that her husband was Mangus, the founder of ESPNU.
In fact, prior, to e-mailing Boxer-Cook, Mangus sent a message to Daley telling her about the Zamboni story and asking if she would get involved on Bowdoin's end. After Boxer-Cook received word from ESPN, he told Sports Information Director Jim Caton about the project. Caton sent word to Daley because of her experience with the Bowdoin Cable Network, unaware of her already-established connection with Magnus.
Daley, who is hoping to land a job at ESPN after graduation, was told that her segment would run sometime in February. However, on Thursday, January 29, Daley was informed that the piece had to be completed by noon the next day.
"I was told 'sometime in February,' that turned out to February 1," said Daley.
Daley contacted Zac Skipp '11, the BCN general manager, and the two of them worked from 5:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. that night and then again the next morning from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
According to Skipp, ESPN was very specific in what they wanted, including suggested leads, which Daley wrote. Daley credited Skipp for his editing job.
"Zac was actually my savior," said Daley. "I'm familiar with Final Cut Pro, but [Skipp] is so good."
Boxer-Cook, who used to be a news anchor, came to the BCN studio on Friday morning to help out with the finishing touches. Boxer-Cook said he made a few suggestions but that the clip was already a piece of high quality work.
"I was thrilled to see they could put together such a slick package in such a small period of time," Boxer-Cook said. "Kaitee and Zac are both pros."