Page 11 of Home of the Brave

“The easy route being?”

“Focusing on the men.”

“You’re assuming a lot about me.”

I was.

“I asked for this, begged, actually. I wanted to cover this event more than anything else this year. I told my boss, Teresa, that I’d get the content. I’d keep the social media team flush with options.”

“And yet you let Piper walk away,” I reminded him.

“Because we might have gotten one video, but she’d go back to her teammates and the other athletes and warn them about us. We’d burn a whole lot of bridges on day one. You were right to stop me, but I did promise I’d ask.”

We both had things we needed to do and people to answer to, but I was relieved he seemed to be able to see how dumb this was.

“Let’s agree that unless it’s the athlete’s idea, we don’t do any stupid trends like that.” I needed him to be on the same page as me with this.

“Sure, but we do need clips.”

I nodded. “We’ll get them.”

Somehow.

Unfortunately, he didn’t mean of the women talking about how hard they’ve worked to get here and how great it feels to finally begin to get the recognition they deserve. That isn’t what the internet wants.

After another quick interview with one of the women, I turned to him. “Maybe we can set up little competitions, like with mini sticks or trick shots. Something still fun and unique to see from professionals, but also related to hockey and showing off their skills.”

He began to nod slowly. “A daily challenge could be fun.”

“Something for viewers to look forward to,” I agreed.

“Might take a lot of planning,” he warned.

In addition to everything else we have to do.

“It’s better than the alternative. I could even ask them questions while they’re trying to do the challenge, like a fun distraction to add pressure.”

He cracked a grin. “That would be entertaining, not just for viewers but for us and the athletes. It’s better than the generic questions.”

Great, getting him on board was a major win; now we just had to figure out execution. But this was better for everyone and would be worth the extra work.

I didn’t care that my contract was coming up for negotiation…Okay, I cared a lot. But I wasn’t going to sacrifice the athletes, some I considered to be my friends, just to appease the higher-ups to keep my job.

I was going to do better.

Give Sports Now unique and authentic content that didn’t sacrifice my journalistic integrity.

Plus, if it was a hit like we were hoping, then it would add to my argument of getting me off written online material and shift to the mainstream side of things. A promotion I’d been working for since I was hired.

Noise erupted behind us, and we both turned to see a mass of people arriving.

Based on the excitement of the few guests who happened to be in the lobby, and the sudden direction all cameras were pointed, the men were here.

Miles was already filming. He glanced over to me. “Do you want to make your way over?”

It seemed like a genuine question, but I still prickled at the idea of having to deal with them.

In my experience, female athletes were professional, poised, and genuinely excited to be talking about their profession. They were grateful for the attention the media was giving them.