SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Nick Richardson understands that being a Buffalo native exposed him to the passions of the Bills' fan base. Freezing temperatures aren't enough to quiet that city down. Rooting for his favorite football team highlights his undying love for sports.
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| Nick Richardson standing in the Newhouse cafeteria |
But now he's moved to Syracuse, N.Y., in pursuit of his masters degree in broadcast journalism. Though he may be a diehard fan who salivates at the thought of hearing the "Bills Shout" song following touchdowns, Richardson has his sights set on becoming one the best sports journalists in the industry. Does that mean he stops being a fan? Not necessarily. But Richardson says he's preparing for a career where the success is fueled by objectivity and passion.
“I think there’s no real sports journalists out there who aren’t fans," Richardson said. "The trick is keeping your bias out of the work, but as long as you stay passionate, there’s no reason for you not to do the work and stay motivated."
Prior to attending the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Richardson received his history degree from Boston University. His journey may be looked upon as a tale of two tapes, but he surely doesn’t view it that way.
"You’re not going to be good in sports journalism if you don’t know the history of what you’re covering,” he said. “It basically comes down to the more you know, the better you’re going to be at your job and I’ve kind of prided myself on knowing things about sports and things in general that maybe not many other people know.”
Richardson credits his dad for sparking his interest in sports at a young age. The mantra was always that sports is “serious business” and something he had to “approach the right way.”
He calls his dad the biggest influence in his life as it pertains to the journey he is embarking on and says he's hoping to hone his skills and use the principles he learned at home to achieve success.
Richardson believes that he'll always bleed blue, but also acknowledges the time has come to prepare himself for unbiased sports reporting.
Interview of Nick Richardson: https://soundcloud.com/tdbsyr/nick-richardson-of-syracuse-university-has-sights-set-on-sports-journalism
Interview transcript:
Interview with Nick
Richardson
Butler: You’re
embarking on a journey, the first stop is Syracuse University Newhouse. What
made you get off at this stop?
Richardson: Uh,
well… Originally when I was looking at undergrad schools, Syracuse was at the
top of the list, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go into journalism right
away, so went with a different school and a different major, which was history
for uhh…for undergrad, but I’m glad I wound up back here because I came to the
conclusion that I wanted to do sports journalism and I know Newhouse’s
reputation as one of the best, if not the best in the country, and I wanted to
be able to learn from the best because uhhh…I want to be able to do something
that I love doing, but be able to do it well and have other people appreciate
what I do.
Butler: Your
ultimate goal is to become a sports reporter, how do you keep yourself
motivated every single day to get to that place that you envision?
Richardson: Uhhh…basically
it’s staying in touch with the world of sports and staying a fan. I think
there’s no real sports journalists out there who aren’t fans. The trick is
keeping your bias out of the work, but uh as long as you stay passionate, um there’s
no reason for you not to do the work and stay motivated.
Butler: So you
want to stay motivated, you want to put the work in, how do you see yourself
like once you leave this earth? What is your…what do you want your legacy to be?
Richardson: Uhh…I
think I want it to be that… I want people to remember me as someone who
contributed something new, something original. Um…I think it’s easy to…especially
these days to be unoriginal…to be boring. Um…and there’s nothing wrong with
that, but I want to be someone who brings a fresh perspective to uh…important…important
subjects and just have it known that I was passionate about what I did and that
I care about what I did.
Butler: So who in
your life has had the profound impact on you? It can be many people. It can be
one person.
Richardson: Umm…probably
my parents…uhhh…my dad has been probably, from a sports perspective, a big
influence uhhh…getting me into any sports he could find when I was younger. I
think I dabbled in just about everything. Um…but as my interest starting to
become more refined uh…he made sure that I was approaching things. Whether I
was playing or watching or doing work on it, approaching it from the right way
uhhh…not to be…not to be uhhh…what’s the word? Ignorant about anything and uh…take
things seriously because sports is…it’s a serious business. It’s a tough
industry and uhh…but the most important thing you gotta have is passion for the
games you cover and I attribute that a lot to my dad, so he’s probably the big
influence in my life.
Butler: How do
you use your history background and how do you implement that into your vision
going forward? Or do you just eradicate that?
Richardson: No, I
think history is real important. Um…obviously the studying I was doing in
college for my major was not really sports related, but uh…it’s important to…you’re
not going to be good in sports journalism if you don’t know the history of what
you’re covering. Um…and I think that applies to any subject because history is
more than any other subject, is the one thing that is applicable to everything.
Everything has a history, uh…sports is no exception and I think the more you
know…it basically comes down to the more you know, the better you’re going to
be at your job and I’ve kind of prided myself on knowing things about sports
and things in general that maybe not many other people know.
Butler: Let’s
have some fun. What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you?
Richardson: In
sports?
Butler: Well, no.
Just in your life?
Richardson: Oh
man, um…that’s tough. I’ve had…I’ve had some pretty interesting experiences on
the field. I was…I’ve played… When I was younger I played soccer pretty much
all through…all through my younger years and uh… we had…growing up in Buffalo,
the sports weren’t always very accommodating and uh…we had a…we had a few games
where it was snow and it was cold, but we always had a lot of fun. I remember
uh…probably my most memorable experience as a player was uh…our senior night
game in high school… and uh…we lost the game, but the seniors got to play most
of the night and uh…I remember missing…missing a wide open net from maybe three
or four feet away and uh…I think the other night I may have gotten some flak
from my friends and the coaches, but uhh…since it was more of a night…in a game
where we were already losing pretty comfortably, we were able to just have fun.
As far as other crazy experiences uhh…not too much uhh...no death defining
experiences uhh…I’ve gone on a couple of really really uhh…cool vacations. I
went to Europe one summer with my family and just being around there, a totally
different environment, I think I was 14 or 15 at the time, that really opened
my eyes uh…getting out of the uhh…the confines of Western New York, so uh…It
was no out of this world experiences, but I’m holding those will come along
someday.
Butler: So I want
to do like a frenzy, real quick. I just want the first answer to pop…that pops
in your mind, just say it. If you were a football player, what position would
you play?
Richardson: Probably kicker uhh…
Butler: How about soccer?
Richardson: Soccer…forward.
Butler: Hockey?
Richardson: Center
Butler: Favorite athlete?
Richardson: Uhh…used to be Tiger Woods, but uhh…now I would
have to say…uh…Jack Eichel uhhh…played for Boston University, my alma mater and
now he’s playing for my hometown team, the Sabres.
Butler: Favorite TVC host uhhh… TV show host?
Richardson: TV show host, uhhh….I like Tony Kornheiser and
Mike Wilbon on PTI.
Butler: So is that your favorite show?
Richardson: One of the favorites, yeah. I watch that when I
can. Uhh...around the horn. I like Tony Reali, I think he’s funny. And uh…I
like some of the older SportsCenter anchors. Some of the new guys I’m not huge
fans of, but uhh…the Steve Levy’s, the Stuart Scott’s uhhh…the John Anderson’s,
I like I like those guys a lot.
Butler: Favorite Newhouse professor so far?
Richardson: Uhhh… That’s probably pretty easy. That’s
probably the easiest one. I’ll have to go with Professor Nicholson.
Butler: Alright.
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