Post by bob quarteroni on Oct 23, 2011 9:40:48 GMT -5
I'll keep posting stuff until at least one of the county's walking dead says something, anything. I'll take the wiz guy at this point...
Sharla McBride, sports anchor for WNEP, tells a side of her life most people do not know.
With her blond hair and blue eyes, she may not seem like your typical sportscaster, but Sharla McBride has made a name for herself in Northeast Pennsylvania as one of the best sports reporters in the area.
Ever since Sharla was a young girl, she knew what wanted to do for a career. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do at 14. My dad and I were watching a football game and a reporter came on and I knew then I wanted to be a sports broadcast journalist.” However, for McBride, getting there was no easy task.
Sharla grew up in Austin, Texas and attended Westwood High school where she graduated along with 650 students. “I feel that graduating with that many students made me more competitive. I needed to make myself stand out, you’re one in 650.” In high school, McBride was very involved. “I played basketball, volleyball, was a cheerleader, and did some gymnastics. I was involved with homecoming court, and I wrote sports articles for the yearbook.” She also said that she is a classically trained pianist and took lessons for 18 years since she was five. McBride credits her dedication and drive to her commitments in high school. She said it all helped her to keep her motivated.
She later attended the University of Georgia where she majored in International Affairs with a concentration on National Security and Broadcast Journalism with a focus on sports. She said that she always wanted to be on TV, but she said she never though she would see herself actually on TV. “I auditioned for ‘Georgia Gameday,’ and there were 50 people auditioning for four spots. I was very nervous and talked in a whisper. I was a hot mess and thought ‘This is harder than it looks’” However, McBride landed one of the four spots on the college sports show.
During her college career, she interned at Fox 5 in Atlanta, Georgia. “On my first day as an intern I was asked to cover the NBA draft. Everyone was sick and they said that I was going with a photographer to the NBA draft, because they didn’t have any other reporters. When we got there, the PR people told us that we couldn’t get any interviews.” However, McBride said that after driving all that way, they were going to get an interview with someone. “I was short enough to go under the velvet ropes and I ran into Dominique Wilkins, who happened to be the Vice President of the Atlanta Hawks and I asked if I could ask him a couple of questions. The PR person saw us and came running saying ‘No interviews,’ but Wilkins said, ‘Sure.’ This was all on my first day as an intern.” She said she was proud she got the interview, because they were the only station to get an interview. She was later hired as an associate producer at Fox 5.
From there McBride took another job at KTXS, an ABC affiliate in Abilene, Texas as a sports reporter. She said that the position helped her to get her foot in the door, but she wanted more. She said she wanted to move to a bigger city. She took a sports reporter position at WNEP in Moosic, Pennsylvania. However, she said that the move from Texas to Pennsylvania was not easy. “The culture is very different in PA. The food is different. There are a lot of Italian places here. The language is different. But most of all it was hard to move away from my friends and family and to put my career first.” She said that her parents are one of her driving forces to get better everyday and to chase her dreams. “My dream job would be a college football assignment reporter. I love college football.”
Sharla McBride, sports anchor for WNEP, tells a side of her life most people do not know.
With her blond hair and blue eyes, she may not seem like your typical sportscaster, but Sharla McBride has made a name for herself in Northeast Pennsylvania as one of the best sports reporters in the area.
Ever since Sharla was a young girl, she knew what wanted to do for a career. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do at 14. My dad and I were watching a football game and a reporter came on and I knew then I wanted to be a sports broadcast journalist.” However, for McBride, getting there was no easy task.
Sharla grew up in Austin, Texas and attended Westwood High school where she graduated along with 650 students. “I feel that graduating with that many students made me more competitive. I needed to make myself stand out, you’re one in 650.” In high school, McBride was very involved. “I played basketball, volleyball, was a cheerleader, and did some gymnastics. I was involved with homecoming court, and I wrote sports articles for the yearbook.” She also said that she is a classically trained pianist and took lessons for 18 years since she was five. McBride credits her dedication and drive to her commitments in high school. She said it all helped her to keep her motivated.
She later attended the University of Georgia where she majored in International Affairs with a concentration on National Security and Broadcast Journalism with a focus on sports. She said that she always wanted to be on TV, but she said she never though she would see herself actually on TV. “I auditioned for ‘Georgia Gameday,’ and there were 50 people auditioning for four spots. I was very nervous and talked in a whisper. I was a hot mess and thought ‘This is harder than it looks’” However, McBride landed one of the four spots on the college sports show.
During her college career, she interned at Fox 5 in Atlanta, Georgia. “On my first day as an intern I was asked to cover the NBA draft. Everyone was sick and they said that I was going with a photographer to the NBA draft, because they didn’t have any other reporters. When we got there, the PR people told us that we couldn’t get any interviews.” However, McBride said that after driving all that way, they were going to get an interview with someone. “I was short enough to go under the velvet ropes and I ran into Dominique Wilkins, who happened to be the Vice President of the Atlanta Hawks and I asked if I could ask him a couple of questions. The PR person saw us and came running saying ‘No interviews,’ but Wilkins said, ‘Sure.’ This was all on my first day as an intern.” She said she was proud she got the interview, because they were the only station to get an interview. She was later hired as an associate producer at Fox 5.
From there McBride took another job at KTXS, an ABC affiliate in Abilene, Texas as a sports reporter. She said that the position helped her to get her foot in the door, but she wanted more. She said she wanted to move to a bigger city. She took a sports reporter position at WNEP in Moosic, Pennsylvania. However, she said that the move from Texas to Pennsylvania was not easy. “The culture is very different in PA. The food is different. There are a lot of Italian places here. The language is different. But most of all it was hard to move away from my friends and family and to put my career first.” She said that her parents are one of her driving forces to get better everyday and to chase her dreams. “My dream job would be a college football assignment reporter. I love college football.”