Analysts are former football players, basketball
stars, major league pitchers. Broadcasters and journalists may have played
collegiately or became experts within their chosen sports. They played
everything from football to hockey to lacrosse.
Rilwan Ameen played chess.
But don’t discount the game—“sport,” he clarified as he sat down at a table in the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University—for Ameen.
If anything, he said it has better prepared him
for a career in sports broadcasting.
“You have to have analysis, you have to be aware of the game, what’s going on during the game,” Ameen said.
And the analytical world of competitive chess is certainly a way to hone those skills. Born and raised in the Bronx, Ameen played chess for seven years, using the skills he learned to garner high rankings in competition and applying them to his interest in sports. He achieved a Class A ranking while active and succeeded during intense competition seasons.
That alone helps Ameen
relate to and understand the players in the game: what’s going on in their
minds while they are playing their sport, and how they outmaneuver and outsmart
the competition.
“Being
that chess isn’t the most athletic game—it’s more of a mental thing—trying to
tie that in with working with the athletes, basically, maybe, figuring out
during the game where their head’s at,” said Ameen.
He may not have been on the field or running drills in two-a-days, but Ameen understands the players who did, and can share those analyses with viewers everywhere.
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| Rilwan Ameen |
Interview
JT: All right, Rilwan. I would like for you to tell me tell me
about the first time you ever attended a sporting event.
RA: The first time I ever attended a sporting event. Wow, um…I
would have to say it was…a Yankees game against the Oakland A’s. This was
around…I was maybe, nine years old at the time. My uncle took me and a couple
of cousins, and—yeah. It was drizzling that day and the Yankees won. I don’t
remember the score though. (Laughs.)
JT: Was that the first time you had seen baseball?
RA: In person, yeah. I was introduced to baseball by my dad. He
always made me sort of read the New York
Daily News. At the time, the Yankees were very good, and that’s how I was
drawn into being a fan.
JT: So did you grow up playing baseball?
RA: I didn’t grow up playing baseball, in fact. I was never
that athletic. (Laughs.) But I was always following sports very closely.
JT: Did you play anything growing up at all?
RA: I sort of went on the opposite route. I played chess as a
kid. Through my elementary school we had a program called “Chess-in-the-Schools,”
where they taught inner-city kids the game and I followed it up through high
school, K-12.
JT: Tell me about that. How was that atmosphere competitive?
RA: Oh! Well, it’s run by the United States Chess Federation.
There are gradings. You get trophies—playing in scholastic tournaments. The
K-12 field is called scholastic. So, you play in your city, and then, you know,
tournaments for trophies, you know, things like that. When you become pretty
good, you play at the national level. And each year, they have it at different
sites around the country, so you compete against people from all over.
JT: And did you—so would you consider this a solo sporting
event? Comparable to someone who would play tennis? Or did you have teams of people
who would travel together?
RA: Well the thing is—it is comparable to like, tennis or golf.
Different dates and settings for the tournaments. You would compete for like
your school team, if you had a high school team, a middle school team. But you
compete for individual awards, and based off the individual, that factors into
the team’s success.
JT: So what was your best moment from competing in these chess
matches?
RA: I would say my best moment was just being able to travel as
a kid, seeing different sights and things like that was (sic) pretty cool. My best, best
moment, I would say—well, okay, so your rating—like you start off as unrated,
as a beginner, so from 0 to 2800—if you are like, 2500 and above, usually you
are a Grandmaster. So it has—chess has different titles. So I peaked at being a
Class A player, which is like being rated around, like, 1900. I would say
that’s probably been my best moment, reaching that high, because from where I
started, I definitely came a long way.
JT: Absolutely! Well, what did you learn, and what have you
learned, from playing chess that you think will help you with your career
objectives?
RA: Okay. Well, um, definitely what I’ve learned through playing
chess is being analytical. You know, think—trying to factor in how to maneuver
your pieces so that you can definitely outmaneuver the opponent. Chess applies
to me wanting to be a sports broadcaster because you have to have analysis, you
have to be aware of the game, what’s going during the game, and you have to sort
of use—use the tools—the tools that are given to you to sort of create your
success.
JT: And how would you say that your background in chess
can—will help you relate to sports broadcast and relate to athletes who perhaps
at a more physical approach to sport?
RA: Okay well…being um, being that (laughs) I guess chess isn’t
the most athletic game—it’s more of a mental thing—so trying to tie that in
with working with the athletes basically maybe figuring out during the game
where their head’s at. Sort of factor in—in the game—sort of how their
thought process throughout the game.
JT: Well it definitely helps for baseball too, I would say.
RA: Right, right.
JT: What is that—is that a sport that you are sort of hoping to
cover?
RA: Um—more basketball. NBA, I would say.
JT: So then tell me one last thing—what would you say to
someone who said, “Okay, well that’s not the same as being a physical athlete. And chess is not comparable to football or basketball or what American society
thinks of as being a contact sport?
RA: I would definitely say attend an event. You would see like
how intense it gets. People—there are games where you have a time setting of
two hours, and you have to make, like, 40 moves within those two hours. You may
think, “Oh, anyone can do that.” But as you’re in the game, as you’re in the
moment, as you’re thinking at the time, it gets very intense. So I would say
definitely the mental aspect of it is comparable to any physical.
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