By Kara Kennedy
Samford University senior Grace Bowes did not know what to expect when she landed a coveted ESPN internship last summer.
Bowes secured her spot with the sports broadcasting business after eight interviews and a sports knowledge exam. Before pursuing the internship with ESPN, she had the opportunity to meet and spend time with Ben May, senior director of sports management at ESPN/SEC Networks. May is an advisory board member of the Brock School of Business Sports Marketing Program headed by Darin White, chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Management and Marketing.
“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would not have been possible had it not been for the partnership we have with key executives who serve on the Brock School Sports Marketing Program Advisory Board,” White said. “Ben May originally opened the door for Grace last fall after he spoke to a sports marketing class. We are so thankful to executives from the world of sports like Ben who give of their time and resources to help make our students’ dreams come true.”
After Bowes shadowed a senior executive producer of ESPN College Game Day last September in Tuscaloosa, the wheels were put into motion for the internship at ESPN.
“I was very persistent in pursuing the internship position with them,” said Bowes. “I received my offer last April as a professional sales and marketing intern at ESPN after going through the steps of following up and waiting.”
Bowes worked at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, where she said no two days were alike as an intern. Her main job was to schedule commercials for each of ESPN’s networks: ESPN, ESPN2 ESPNU, Deportes and the SEC Network. She was responsible for making sure the commercials scheduled met the guidelines of the clients’ contracts before they were sent to production for airing.
She also got to shadow several popular shows such as SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, Mike and Mike and First Take. She traveled to the New York City office to work on marketing projects like the ESPYS Award Show, the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby and the Wimbledon tennis championships.
In addition, Bowes competed with a team of four in “The Pitch,” an intern competition within ESPN. Seventy-two interns had to come up with a new business idea, venture or show concept. Bowes’ team presented an idea called E-Games that would bring together the largest gaming competition featuring the best video and digital gaming professionals from around the world to compete annually. All of the intern teams presented to higher-level executives within ESPN first. Then the top five interns made final presentations to vice president–level executives.
“Out of 24 teams, my team tied for first place, and our idea may be branded and implemented by ESPN,” Bowes said.
Bowes said it was difficult to pick just one aspect of the internship that she loved most because for her, “working at ESPN was a dream come true.”
She added the atmosphere that ESPN provided interns and its willingness to make sure interns had the best experiences possible was what makes it the “worldwide leader in sports.” Bowes interacted with many key players, including John Skipper, ESPN president; Ed Ernhardt, president of global sales and marketing; and on-air talent Lindsey Cznariak and Scott Van Pelt.
Bowes also came up with ideas for College Game Day that are being implemented in the new season.
“This was truly the experience of a lifetime, one that I am very proud of,” she said. “If you had asked me three years ago if I would be living my dream, I probably would have said, ‘I am not sure, but I am going to work my hardest to make it happen.’ It shows how dedication, hard work and persistence can pay off when you’re determined to making your dream a reality.”
Former Auburn University and NBA star Charles Barkley on Wednesday told ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” that while he likes the Democrat Party’s “open-mindedness,” there is not a single Democrat currently running for president that he is interested in supporting.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time I vote Democrat, but there’s not a Democrat in the race that I like,” Barkley said. “I would like to see Elizabeth Warren or the mayor of San Antonio [Julian Castro], those are the only two Democrats that I would vote for.”
Then Barkley went a step further, surprising the hosts with his current choice of candidate.
“I’ve never voted Republican, but right now, I like John Kasich, the governor [of] Ohio,” he explained. “He’s the only person that I’m really paying attention to right now, to be honest with you… I want to vote Democratic because they’re more … open-minded. But right now, if I had to vote today, I would probably vote for John Kasich, but I haven’t made a decision.”
As for current frontrunner Donald Trump, Barkley said the real estate mogul and reality TV star has always been “nice and cordial to” him, but Barkley said he was concerned Trump is giving hispanics a “bad rap.”
“The Hispanics that I know are amazing people, they do work whites and blacks don’t want to do when there’s 120 degrees in Arizona,” he said. “But to paint with a broad brush Hispanics, I think it’s disingenuous.”
Barkley becomes the second high-profile Alabamian this week to express support for Governor Kasich. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley endorsed the Ohio governor on Monday during a press conference at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Mike and Mike’s full interview with Barkley can be heard here.
(h/t TheBlaze)
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) June 9, 2015