I am about six months into my job as a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for SportsCenter and the best piece of advice I received when I started was simple: “Always have a suitcase packed.†Already, I’ve been very fortunate to visit some great cities for event coverage. However, with a busy schedule – call times are early and SportsCenter “hits" continue until late evening – rarely does a reporter get to truly experience what a city has to offer. The end of a long day is normally reserved for a cold beverage and room service. This past week, however, brought a welcome respite. By virtue of an atypical schedule in Minneapolis, I had an “off-day†in between covering Vikings practice on Thursday and Saturday's preseason game against Arizona. Since I’m frequently asked what it is like on the road, I figured I'd use some of my rare free time to venture out as a tourist and “report†on my experience for Front Row. For this Northwestern alum, the opportunity to write about and experience the Midwest in the summer was too enticing to pass up. Hope you like it! 1. First stop: the Mary Tyler Moore statue. It’s located centrally downtown, and I found it to be a fun, lighthearted contrast to the national monuments I’m used to in Washington. Turns out asking a stranger for a selfie next to the Lincoln Memorial is a lot less awkward than one standing next to Ms. Moore. Minor details. 2. From there, I hopped into my car and drove about 30 miles to Lake Minnetonka. As a native Floridian, I tend to gravitate towards any kind of water and heard rave reviews about Port Excelsior. The little town was absolutely charming, and I snagged a cup of coffee at Haskell’s before window shopping the store fronts. 3. From there, I went to the Mall of America. In Minneapolis, it’s sort of a destination must, right? Even if you detest malls (which my bank account kindly reminds me otherwise), you’d be remiss not to check it out. Being the largest mall in North America, it looks like it’s on steroids; an obvious no-no for the sports we cover but awesome for shopping and entertainment. So, go big or go home. Judging from my photo on the Log Chute Roller Coaster, you can see I went big -- like nearly flying out of the car, big. 4.After the mall, I went back to the hotel and strolled a few blocks to Target Field. It was very tempting to watch the first-place Kansas City Royals play the Minnesota Twins, but the Mall of America wore me out to exhaustion. Sometimes even sports reporters need a day away from the diamond. 5. There are several great rooftop bars in Minneapolis, which makes sense considering warm weather is understandably so precious. I checked out a few of them, including local hot spot Crave, during my stay. 6. However, I unceremoniously ended my off-day the way most of us do on the road: ordering room service. Even on a day off, reporters and producers in the field are still working, usually making calls or writing material for the next day. I logged interviews and reviewed notes for our NFL game coverage, which as I’ve come to learn is made much easier with the help of carrot cake or ice cream...or, to the dismay of my workout regimen, both. The ability to explore new cities is one of the many benefits of being a bureau reporter at ESPN. We don’t always get the chance to see things outside of a practice field or stadium, but when we do it’s worth taking advantage of and, in my case, sharing on the Internet. There’s one familiar sight every city has in common, however, and that never gets old: the camera lens. That I plan to see a lot of this NFL season, and until my next blogging attempt, I hope to see you all on SportsCenter.
