Jan. 29, 2010

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Marist junior and Sports Information intern Dan Kopf sat down with ESPN Radio's Brandon Tierney on Friday after Tierney broadcasted his show live from The Cabaret. Tierney gave advice to a number of Marist student's based on his career path.

Tierney on his first job...

My first radio job I was in Allentown, Pa., it was a small station about 100 miles from the city and it was good because you have a chance to grow and make mistakes, and go on the air and practice and learn what you do well, and what you don't, but the good thing is that not many people were listening. I know that sounds funny but it's actually a good thing. As you make mistakes and get older they're going to write about it, you get to a certain point and you understand that.

Tierney on his future aspirations...

Everybody asks me that, even my friends ask me that, and I really don't have an answer for that. Number one thing as a broadcaster is that I'm constantly evolving and to put a limitation on that would be dangerous. Number two is whatever I'm going to be best at. I don't even necessarily know what that is yet. I know that doing a talk show is definitely one of them. I never thought I'd be able to call a Knicks game. A couple years ago I was able to call a Knicks game, was I good at it no, did I get better at it yes. Do I think that if I did it regularly I'd be great at it. Yes I do? You definitely want to strive and you want to have an idea of what you want to do. But don't say this is it. Don't put a limitation on it.

Tierney on networking...

I think it's probably easier for you guys. We didn't have MySpace, blogs or twitter. When you use these networks you have to remember you can write something now that can bite you two years from now and crush your career. Luckily Marist students are smart, you have to be smart to get in here, but be careful what you write. Just be careful what you do because that stuff doesn't go away.

As far as networking goes you want to come across as proactive. When you go to an internship you have to work hard and be proactive. When you meet someone you have to be humble but you also have to be confident. Sometimes that is a tough balance to strike. I think that I struggled with that when I was young because sometimes it came across as cockiness and I think that hurt me. And playing the game, which I mean in a good way, is vital. If there is somebody that you know that can help you, be smart about that relationship and protect them. I didn't have any coming out of school; I had to knock on a door and fight. I didn't know how I was going to get here. Take advantage of it. I didn't write for the paper or do the radio because I was busy with baseball. But looking back on it, I think if I did those things I would have gotten to where I am today much quicker.

Tierney on interning...

I think that you just have to get stuff to put on your resume. You're going to put together a resume but you're not going to have anything on it. Make sure it's one page by the way always, have a one page resume. If I put together a resume now, and I've worked in three cities and I've done TV shows, I'd have one page. In terms of internships I got a piece of advice by someone I now work with. I was in Pennsylvania and the radio station got sold. So imagine this, you get your first job and you're making peanuts but you're loving it. You're talking sports all day and you're starting to touch your dream and you can actually see it. So you get off the air and they say good show but by the way we no longer exist. The station got sold for 2 million dollars and they flipped it to Spanish salsa......I met a guy who works above me who told me that night that any day you don't spend doing what you want to do is a wasted day. So to answer your question what kind of internship is good, if you want to be on the air don't waste your time doing marketing. Get an internship that is specific to what you think you want to do. And if it changes it changes, that's the best advice I can give you.

Tierney on going from a small radio station in Pennsylvania to a host at ESPN...

I would say that first of all there is no guarantee. You can literally chase a radio or TV dream for 15 years and never make it. I'm not saying you'll never have a job, just not the one you want. It's not always about being good or being great or getting better. It's about having to believe it. I can't say it any other way than when I was in Pennsylvania and I had 500 listeners, two of which were my parents, I just knew I was going to make it......Play to your strength and don't try to be something you're not. Let your internal voice lead you. You just know.... Trust your instincts, it's the strongest thing you have.

Tierney on creating a name for yourself...

What it's all about is finding out who you are. If you're quiet and reserve, but factual that's what you have to be. If you're a little wacky and you're loud and a little zany, that's what you have to be. And the other thing about working hard and being flexible is that you have to be. I'll tell you this right now, if you don't want to go in on a Saturday, there is someone else who went to Duke or Cornell, who might do a good job and then they will never call you back. There were nights when id walk into the station at 10 a.m., and walk out at 3 a.m. I'd be on the radio all day and I'd be exhausted. But you have to do it, you should be so lucky to have that chance.

Tierney on balancing being a fan while also being professional...

I don't hide it; it probably hurts me more times than not because I am more critical. I think that, and I believe that my instincts are correct, that there are more people out there who want to hear someone they can relate too. Nobody wants to hear a robot or someone who's vanilla and just says well I think team `x' could win but team `z' has a chance to win. Tell us what you think. You got into the business for a reason because you're a fan. The reason I'm doing what I'm doing is because I grew up and I loved watching the Knicks, Yankees, St. John's and the Jets. That doesn't leave you. I mean you can't go on the air wearing pom-poms but there is a level of `fandom' that I think is ok. Now if it sways how you actually view a situation than that's not good. But letting people know who you root for, that's fine.

Tierney on how he differentiates his show from others...

I try and go beneath the surface. I know that everyone tries to do that but that's really important to me. Anybody can open up a newspaper and say ok here's what I'm going to start with. But you have to understand that once you get past what everyone knows, you have to identify what the next layer is and what you are going to tell someone that they don't know. There also has to be curiosity to your show. And the way you get the curiosity is by having people believing that you're going to be right. And if you're not right you're going to give a good reason why you're wrong. I also try to play good music I think music is important and keeps it fresh.....you just want to have fun. We are not in front of a microphone splitting an atom open trying to detect what is in there. We are talking about sports. If you talk about sports in a certain way too much it can be boring. Have fun and don't be afraid to be a little nuts but that doesn't work for anyone.

Tierney on preparation...

It really doesn't stop, I don't mean you sit there and take notes 20 hours a day. But what you should be doing is reading. I don't mean just the sports sections, I mean read everything you have to; to know what's going on with our world. Whether it's our finances or the presidency or national disasters, anything you have to know could come up in conversation. I would also read magazines and I don't mean sports I mean GQ, fashion, anything. It creates a database that you can call on when times are slow. Knowing about pop culture and movies gives you the ability to get into that and have fun with it.